Thursday News Bucket

19 Comments

1. 

   CabinGirl on July 6, 2006 at 9:15 am

   Is it a $50 million dollar fake?  TimesOnline

   A PAINTING that was hailed as a 14th-century masterpiece when it was bought last year by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York for a reported $50 million is a 19th-century fake in the view of a leading American scholar.

   James Beck, Professor of Art History at Columbia University in New York, believes that Duccio’s Madonna and Child, which the Met dates to 1300, is the work of a much later hand. He says that it could never have come from the hand of a towering genius considered, with Giotto, to have been a principal founder of Western European painting.

   “It is a fake based upon indications found in works by or associated with Duccio,” he said. “It is not even a good forgery.”

   Ouch.

   • 

     boran2 on July 6, 2006 at 9:27 am

     I hadn’t realized that there’s so much money in art forgeries.  Hmm…

     • 

       CabinGirl on July 6, 2006 at 9:29 am

       Thinking of a new career, or just a side job?

       • 

         boran2 on July 6, 2006 at 9:38 am

         Baby needs a new, umm, Mercedes.

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 9:27 am

     For those into art forgeries and related matters, I just found something called The Art Law Blog.

     Included in recent entries is an update on the Dale Chihuly lawsuit.

     I guess there really is a blog for everything these days…

     • 

       CabinGirl on July 6, 2006 at 9:56 am

       Thanks for the link…and look what I found there!

       Looks like it might be a cool day trip from here…

       • 

         Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 10:07 am

         Oh wow!  You gotta go – and post photos for the rest of us!  Seeing those photos of the Chihuly pieces integrated into the water pond setting takes them to an entirely new level.  

         Not only stunningly beautiful, but making an unmistakable statement of where we need to go as a species in our relationship with nature, if we are to avoid both cultural and ecological collapse.

2. 

   Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 9:17 am

   Time for your daily dose of worry about The Big Issues:

   “Who authorized this report?!?!”  Scientists at NOAA say worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine life. The landmark report released Wednesday by the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on marine organisms.

   “Who knew scientists were such cynics regarding politicians?”  An expert panel convened by BBC News has concluded that climate change is “real and dangerous”.  Temperatures are likely to rise by 3C to 5C by the end of the century, with impacts likely to be “severe” but not “catastrophic”, the panel said.  It also concluded that politicians are unlikely to cut emissions sufficiently to prevent dangerous global heating.

   Human activities have caused some 500 bird species worldwide to go extinct over the past five millennia, and 21st-century extinction rates likely will accelerate to approximately 10 additional species per year unless societies take action to reverse the trend.

   Environmental damage not enough to worry you?  How about this:  

   Trident nuclear warheads damaged in a vehicle pile-up or a plane crash could partially detonate and deliver a lethal radiation dose, according to a newly declassified report from the UK Ministry of Defense obtained by New Scientist.

   And the daily worry report wouldn’t be complete without one of these.  (That’s actually quite pretty.)

   And after all that, who’d blame you for wanting some escapist diversions?

   The space shuttle Discovery’s crew found no damage Wednesday after inspecting the orbiter’s nose and wings for damage with a special robotic arm, a top NASA official said.

   A mysterious shiny coating found on rocks in many of Earth’s most arid environments could reveal whether life once existed on Mars. Research published in the July edition of the journal Geology suggests the dark coating known as desert varnish creates a record of life around it by binding traces of DNA, amino acids and other organic compounds to desert rocks.

   A huge sunshade a million miles from Earth could help astronomers search for signs of life on planets orbiting distant stars, a study says. The daisy-shaped “occulter”, as it is known, would use a powerful telescope trailing thousands of miles behind.  The shade, described in the journal Nature, would stop light from the planet’s star swamping the telescope.  The device could be launched within 7 years and operate in conjunction with the planned successor to the Hubble Space Telescope.

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 9:24 am

     Yes, I know it’s the 6th.  I found out when I saved today’s entry on top of yesterday’s on my hard drive.  Ouch.

   • 

     CabinGirl on July 6, 2006 at 9:30 am

     Oops.

     Nice volcano, though.  🙂

     • 

       Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 10:10 am

       Mount St. Helens, from Spirit Lake.

       I thought the new little cone still smoking a little bit inside the remnant of the old volcano was really cool.  Life goes on, even for volcanoes; the only constant is change.

3. 

   Nag on July 6, 2006 at 9:31 am

   Sirota’s on a tear: Link

   Salazar gives middle finger to Democratic voters & democracy – what other Dems will, too?

   Salazar gives middle finger to Democratic voters & democracy – what other Dems will, too?
   In an explosive story, the Rocky Mountain News reports that freshman Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) has become the first Democrat to publicly say he will ignore the will of Connecticut Democratic primary voters and support Sen. Joe Lieberman even if Lieberman loses the primary, leaves the Democratic Party and runs as an independent. Before this, only Sens. Chuck Schumer and Chris Dodd indicated they might do this – now we have a Democratic U.S. Senator officially on record saying he will use his power to thwart both the Democratic Party and the small “d” democratic process, undermining his party and giving a big middle finger to voters.

   As I told the Rocky Mountain News reporter, This behavior really lays bare what’s going on: Democratic candidates are more than happy to use the democratic process to obtain elected office, but once they are in, many of them show an open disdain for that same democratic process. They are so focused on protecting their own, preserving the Senate club, and preventing the public from weilding power they are willing to sell out their party and the democratic principles this country was founded on. It is, in a word, disgusting.

   Chuck Schumer, Chris Dodd and Ken Salazar are doing their best imitation of the Three Stooges. (Sorry, Moe, Larry and Curley) What self-serving creeps!

   • 

     Alice on July 6, 2006 at 10:13 am

     Join the People’s Email Network in expressing your feelings about the insiders club.  Here’s their message of today:

     DEMOCRATS FOR DEMOCRATS . . . NOT LOSERS WHO RUN AS INDEPENDENTS

     ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/pnum344.php

     Joe Lieberman has been given the privilege of sitting as a US Senator for 18 years. He’s even been given the extraordinary privilege of being nominated for The Democratic Party’s choice for Vice President. He was almost one heartbeat away from the Presidency . . . and all this as a Democrat because of you, the Democrats across this nation.

     Yesterday he announces, “I have higher loyalties than my Party.” He admits for the first time, on CNN, he is pulling signature petitions to run as an Independent if he loses the primary on August 8th in Connecticut. It seems Lieberman believes he will lose, or he would not be taking this extraordinary step to betray the very Party that put him in office and nearly into the Vice Presidency. It is an outrage!

     Until now the leadership of the Party, perhaps out of respect for his 18 years, has either backed his candidacy or refused to pledge their support to the Democratic Party Winner of that primary.

     Today, and every day until it is done, we must demand that our leadership stand as one and repudiate this man who would so dishonor our Party and our system of candidate choice that has worked for the many decades. Joe Lieberman is being challenged at a primary by a previously unknown opponent. If he loses he should be a man and support the winner on to victory in the General Election. And then quietly walk off stage. He does not deserve our respect, in any form, if he does not.

     And who must we hammer home this message to: Chuck Schumer, Chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, Barack Obama and every other Democratic Senator [if you have Democratic senators in your state] whose heart must be torn tonight to see this outright betrayal of our Party and its ideals.

     We, the voters of the Democratic Party and our Party itself, must oppose this man, if he runs as an Independent. Even the consideration of such an act is an insult to every real Democrat.

     This is a terrible day for the Democratic Party and this betrayal must not be allowed to stand.

     Send your message to the Democratic Caucus . . . make it emotional and searing with heat. This must not be allowed to stand.

     ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/pnum344.php

     This alert is brought to you through the activism of Stacey Tallitsh, running for the U.S. House in the 1st Congressional district, and one of the leading progressive voices in the state of Louisiana. Many of you have already submitted his action page calling for the troops in Iraq to start coming home now, a policy that is more surely correct with every passing state of emergency in Baghdad.

     Stacey has already produced his first call to action radio spot, calling for an end of the obstinate occupation of Iraq, a military escapade which has brought nothing but death and destruction to both their country and our own. Thanks to your generosity, Stacey needs just a couple more donations to start running these radio spots on his local stations, to build the consensus to actually start bringing our brave troops home. You can hear the new spot on this page.

     ACTION PAGE: http://www.usalone.com/stacey/donations.php

      

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on July 6, 2006 at 10:16 am

     It’s like putting a sign on your back saying “Challenge me in the primaries – I dare you!”

     I expect some will rise to the challenge.
     Will the left wing of the blogosphere?

     At a minimum, any party leadership with balls would strip these three of any committee chairmanships if we retake the Senate.

     We’ll see if Mr. Reid has the spine for that job.

4. 

   Arcturus on July 6, 2006 at 12:22 pm

   Dated Sunday, but new to me:

   Rumsfeld Subpoenaed Over Abu Ghraib

   A Congressional committee subpoenaed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld on Friday at the request of U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays.

   Shays, R-4, sought the subpoena after the Pentagon refused to answer questions regarding allegations that an Army whistleblower faced retaliation for discussing abuses at the Abu Ghraib prison.

   Shays, chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on national security, is investigating allegations made by Army Spec. Samuel Provance that his attempts to provide information to investigators about prison abuses were rebuffed and that he then was retaliated against for providing unclassified information to the media.

5. 

   Arcturus on July 6, 2006 at 1:14 pm

   Wednesday, July 5, 2006

   Listen   D’load   Podcast
    
   Today on Flashpoints: US occupation forces continue to expand their killing fields in Iraq. We’ll hear from an Iraqi investigative journalist; also Defense Secretary Ronald Rumsfeld subpoenaed on the cover up of torture and abuse in Abu Graib prison in Iraq; the US House of Representatives takes their anti-immigration election show on the road and we’ll have an update on the South Central Farm in L.A.

   01:00  Rana, investigative journalist from Iraq

   22:00 Whistle Blower on Abuses in Abu-Graib
   Sibel Edmonds, founder of the
   National Security Whistleblowers Coalition

   35:00 Press Conference on the US-Mexico Border
   Arnoldo Garcia, National Network for Immigrants Rights, http://www.nnirr.org/

   51:00 An Update on the Central Farm in L.A.
   Pablo Gonzalez and Rosa, East Side Cafe and La Otra Campaña

6. 

   Arcturus on July 6, 2006 at 1:34 pm

   Beyond GM Food: New Cutting Edge MAS Technology Makes GM Food Obsolete, by Jeremy Rifkin

   For years, the life science companies—Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Pioneer, etc.—have argued that genetically modified (GM) food is the next great scientific and technological revolution in agriculture, and the only efficient and cheap way to feed a growing population in a shrinking world. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including my own, The Foundation on Economic Trends, have been cast as the villains in this unfolding agricultural drama, and often categorized as modern versions of the English Luddites, accused of continually blocking scientific and technological progress because of our opposition to GM food.

   Now, in an ironic twist, new cutting edge technologies have made gene splicing and transgenic crops obsolete and a serious impediment to scientific progress.

   The new frontier is called genomics and the new agricultural technology is called Marker Assisted Selection, or MAS. The new technology offers a sophisticated method to greatly accelerate classical breeding. A growing number of scientists believe that MAS— which is already being introduced into the market— will eventually replace GM food. Moreover, environmental organizations, like Greenpeace, that have long opposed GM crops, are guardedly supportive of MAS technology.  

   Rapidly accumulating information about crop genomes is allowing scientists to identify genes associated with traits like yield and then scan crop relatives for the presence of those genes. Instead of using molecular splicing techniques to transfer a gene from an unrelated species into the genome of a food crop to increase yield, resist pests, or improve nutrition, scientists are now using Marker Assisted Selection to locate desired traits in other varieties or, wild relatives of a particular food crop, then cross breeding those plants with the existing commercial varieties to improve the crop. With MAS, the breeding of new varieties always remain within a species, thus, greatly reducing the risk of environmental harm and potential adverse health effects associated with GM crops. Using MAS, researchers can upgrade classical breeding and reduce by 50% or more the time needed to develop new plant varieties by pinpointing appropriate plant partners at the gamete or seedling stage.

   While MAS is emerging as a promising new agricultural technology with broad application, the limits of transgenic technology are becoming increasingly apparent. Most of the transgenic crops introduced into the fields express only two traits, resistance to pests and compatibility with herbicides and rely on the expression of a single gene- hardly the sweeping agricultural revolution touted by the life science companies at the beginning of the GM era.   >cont.

   • 

     CabinGirl on July 6, 2006 at 3:09 pm

     I hadn’t heard of this approach before…What do you think of MAS?

     • 

       Arcturus on July 6, 2006 at 4:30 pm

       This is the first I’ve heard of it too, so I want to learn more. If I read it corrrectly, it could also be a step in preserving genetic diversity, so that’s encouraging. Ever read Gary Nabhan on seeds?

       I’m not a techno-phobe, so would like to hope that it has positive possibilities. The discussion in the article talked about a more whole-ecology approach, which I appreciated. I’m pretty convinced at this point that the GM movement is something to oppose on both environmental & social justice grounds.

       & don’t get me even started on the patenting of DNA . . .