Wednesday News Bucket

17 Comments

1. 

   Knoxville Progressive on August 30, 2006 at 9:39 am

   Today’s focus:  Water

   Some good news, if accurate:  Meeting at a conference in Stockholm, experts said that reports of impending water wars are scare tactics, not an accurate prediction of the future.  “Water wars make good newspaper headlines but cooperation (agreements) don’t,” says Arunabha Ghosh, co-author of the upcoming Human Development Report 2006 themed on water management. The annual report, commissioned by the U.N. Development Program (UNDP), is to be released in December.  In reality, Ghosh told the meeting in Stockholm, there are plenty of bilateral, multilateral and trans-boundary agreements for water-sharing — all or most of which do not make good newspaper copy.  “What [the world] is facing is a crisis of bad water management,” argued Prof. Asit K. Biswas of the Mexico-based Third World Center for Water Management, who was awarded the 2006 international Stockholm Water Prize for “outstanding achievements” in his field.  He said the world is not facing a water crisis because of physical water scarcities. “This is baloney,” he said.

   But that’s not to say supplies are plentiful everywhere…  The long-term recovery of the Iraq marshlands is in doubt because of uncertainties over water supplies to the wetlands, research suggests. The first study to look at the marshes’ recovery warned that increased water demand from farmers and cities could lead to only a portion being restored.

   …And half a world away, another conference agreed poor water management is a root of the problem:  A third of the world is facing water shortages because of poor management of water resources and soaring water usage, driven mainly by agriculture, the International Water Management Institute said on Wednesday.  Water scarcity around the world was increasing faster than expected, with agriculture accounting for 80 percent of global water consumption, the world authority on fresh water management told a development conference in Canberra.  Globally, water usage had increased by six times in the past 100 years and would double again by 2050, driven mainly by irrigation and demands by agriculture, said Frank Rijsberman, the institute’s director-general.  Billions of people in Asia and Africa already faced water shortages because of poor water management, he said.

   Pope Benedict XVI will host a private seminar this week to firm-up the Catholic Church’s stance on Darwinian evolution.  One of the key guests, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn from Vienna, Austria, is known to sympathize with Intelligent Design, the idea that the development of life is masterminded by an unidentified designer, usually assumed to be God.  It is rumored that the seminar will be aimed at finding a way to stop the church giving out mixed messages, with some senior figures supporting Darwinism and others denouncing it.  

   About one quarter of World Bank development programs may be at risk because of climate change, the organization warned Tuesday.  Maybe their projects need better engineering and design (see next story)…

   …A new generation of small green companies is emerging with radical but proven ideas to revolutionize engineering and create anything from intelligent fridges to colossal wind turbines moored at sea.  The designers hope their projects will transform energy supplies and cut carbon emissions in the next 20 years. They include huge wind turbines, more powerful than any seen before, anchored to the seabed 20 miles off the coast; fridges that monitor the national grid to use less power; a desalination plant that is also a theater; and a tidal lagoon that protects the coast while generating electricity.  The new companies are rethinking major infrastructure projects using natural objects as their basis. The aero-generator turbine, now being laboratory tested before sea trials next year, mimics sycamore seeds that spin like propellers in the slightest breeze. Its twin arms could each be as tall as the Eiffel tower, and the structure could be moored like an oil platform in 450 feet of water.

2. 

   Nag on August 30, 2006 at 9:49 am

   Link

   Fox News’ Ratings Take a Nosedive

   Somewhere, Keith Olbermann is sticking pins in a Bill O’Reilly voodoo doll: Fox News’ ratings, TVNewser reports, are down since August of last year. Like, way down. Like down 28 percent in primetime among all viewers, down 20 percent in primetime in the “money demo” (viewers aged 25-54) and down 7 percent in daytime viewership overall.[snip]

   And lest you think this is an industry-wide trend, consider this: over the same time period, CNN and MSNBC are up. CNN’s up 35 percent during the day — 46 percent in the money demo — and up 21 percent in primetime overall, 25 percent in the money demo.

   This one really made me smile. 🙂

3. 

   Nag on August 30, 2006 at 9:56 am

   Link

   Brain injury budget faces cut
   Military research, treatment at risk

   Brain injuries are so common among U.S. troops that they’re called the signature injury of the Iraq war, but Congress is poised to cut military spending on researching and treating them.

   House and Senate versions of the defense appropriation bill would chop funding for the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center from $14 million to $7 million. The center runs 10 facilities across the country, including one at Fort Bragg that has performed research and treated soldiers’ injuries since 1998.

   “It’s just ridiculous,” said Sgt. Maj. Colin Rich, a Fort Bragg soldier who has been legally blind since he was shot in the head while serving in Afghanistan in 2002. “Whoever is cutting the budget must have a head injury themselves.”

   This is infuriating… it’s also sadly predictable. Republicans truely look at those in uniform as disposable cannon fodder.

4. 

   CabinGirl on August 30, 2006 at 9:58 am

   how I just love Katie Couric…(oh, this is so catty)…HuffPo picked up on the photo alterations to make her look better in her publicity photos.

   • 

     Nag on August 30, 2006 at 10:01 am

     Too bad they couldn’t alter her photos to make her smarter. (snort)

     • 

       CabinGirl on August 30, 2006 at 10:04 am

       Yeah, I guess that’s why she gets out the eyeglasses as a prop for her more “hard-hitting” (snort) interviews.

   • 

     dada on August 30, 2006 at 10:50 am

     CNN says sorry for live mic gaffe

     US broadcaster CNN has apologised after an anchorwoman’s chat with a colleague was accidentally broadcast live during a speech by President George W Bush.

     The conversation between Kyra Phillips and another woman was clearly heard as Mr Bush talked in New Orleans to mark the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

     During the chat, Ms Phillips talked about her husband and called her sister-in-law a “control freak”.

     CNN apologised to viewers and the president, citing “audio difficulties”.

     BBCNews

5. 

   ask on August 30, 2006 at 10:03 am

   Doubts Grow Over Bush’s Syria Policy

   WASHINGTON, Aug 30 (IPS) – A growing debate within Israel over whether United States President George W. Bush’s Middle East policies really serve the interests of the Jewish state has spread to Washington, where influential voices within the U.S. Jewish community are questioning the administration’s hard-line positions in the region.

   Coming in the wake of the month-long war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, during which Washington provided virtually unconditional support and encouragement to Tel Aviv, the debate has focused initially on the wisdom of Bush’s efforts to isolate, rather than engage Syria, the indispensable link in the military supply chain between Iran and the Shia militia.
   (more)

   • 

     CabinGirl on August 30, 2006 at 10:08 am

     From the same article:

     `’Bush has been convinced by self-appointed spokesmen for Israel and the Jewish community that endless war is in Israel’s interest,” asserted the lead editorial in the U.S.’ most important Jewish newspaper, `Forward’, immediately after the cease-fire took effect.

     `'(Bush) needs to hear in no uncertain terms that Israel is ready for dialogue, that the alternative — endless jihad — is unthinkable,” declared the paper, which argued for Israel’s participation in a regional dialogue with its Arab neighbours, including Syria, for a comprehensive peace settlement…

     Unfortunately, I don’t think Bush will listen to anything that doesn’t involve more war and destruction.

     • 

       ask on August 30, 2006 at 10:16 am

       He won’t listen and he won’t learn; see Jeffrey Feldman’s diary at kos today.

   • 

     Nag on August 30, 2006 at 11:26 am

     ”The idea that current American policy advances Israeli security and national interests is thoroughly discredited — something that is now openly aired in the Israeli media, and raised, albeit in more discreet circles, by Israeli Cabinet ministers,”

     The neocons are using Israel to keep war on the front burner. After reading that article, it’s apparent that Bush and the neocons are trying to start WWIII. It’s all dancing to the tune of upcoming US elections.

6. 

   ask on August 30, 2006 at 10:05 am

   Triage for an Ailing Planet

   WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (IPS) – The Global Environment Facility (GEF), the world’s largest environmental funding body, received a shot in the arm Tuesday after 32 countries agreed to contribute a whopping 3.13 billion dollars for environmental projects over the next four years amid rising concerns about the impact human activities are having on the Earth.

   The agreement was endorsed by the GEF Council in Cape Town, South Africa, where the GEF is holding its third assembly on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Washington-based World Bank announced the funding in a press release.

7. 

   CabinGirl on August 30, 2006 at 10:45 am

   on the birht-control pill price increase: Chicago Tribune

   Public health service providers have worried since last month that dramatic price increases for a popular birth control pill could mean a loss of protection to thousands of clients.

   On Friday, they were relieved to hear the spike in costs has been rolled back…

   … The price increase would have had the greatest impact on 4,500 family planning clinics nationally that rely on a federal program meant to lower the cost of drugs for public health entities, industry experts say.

   Jennifer Lockwood-Shabat, public policy director for the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, was thrilled to learn of the promised price decrease.

   “That’s a huge victory for family planning clinics across the country,” she said.

   Nice.

8. 

   idredit on August 30, 2006 at 11:45 am

   Former president Jimmy Carter said we should talk and is open to meet with former Iranian President  Mohammad Khatami during his visit here next week.

   “Carter’s term as president was dominated by the rupture in relations after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days until the day he left office.

   Iranians made the overture for the meeting, and the Carter Center in Atlanta is working on the possible timing, said Phil Wise, the former president’s aide.

   “President Carter, in his role since leaving the White House, has made his office and services and center available to basically anybody who wants to talk. He believes that it is much better to be talking to people who you have problems with than not to, and that’s the approach he takes now,” Wise said. “I can confirm that President Carter is open to a meeting if the former president of Iran would like to have one.”

   (H/T: Thinkprogress)

9. 

   ask on August 30, 2006 at 1:29 pm

   Gender imbalance ‘threatens social stability’

   Cultures that favour male babies have a sex-ratio imbalance that could result in a destabilized society, researchers say.

   Health care for women has improved, but the gains are offset by increases in sex-selection abortion since the mid-1980s.

   “Largely as a result of this practice, there are now an estimated 80 million missing females in India and China alone,” ..
   (snip)
   “The large cohorts of ‘surplus’ males now reaching adulthood are predominantly of low socioeconomic class, and concerns have been expressed that their lack of marriageability, and consequent marginalization in society, may lead to antisocial behaviour and violence, threatening societal stability and security,” the study concluded.

   When single young men congregate, “the potential for more organized aggression is likely to increase substantially and this has worrying implications for organized crime and terrorism,” they said.

   No surprises here.

10. 

    Damnit Janet on August 30, 2006 at 2:28 pm

    BBC article

    “Man refused to board plane due to shirt We Will Not Be Silent” is a slogan adopted by opponents of the war in Iraq and other conflicts in the Middle East.

    It is said to derive from the White Rose dissident group which opposed Nazi rule in Germany.”

    My husband sent this to me… says he wants that shirt. Of course, he has a shirt that will get him arrested at a VA hospital…  

    • 

      ask on August 30, 2006 at 4:25 pm

      So no wearing the Booman Tribune t-shirt in airports, then!

      My kids and I were taken aside for ‘special’ scrutiny when leaving for vacation back in July.  It was an explosives screening – sort of ironic, considering my line of work.  This bag got extra attention: