Stealth Bananas!!!

BBC News - UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger

Thu, 16 May 2013 06:00:45 -0400

BBC News - UN urges people to eat insects to fight world hunger:

…Wasps, beetles and other insects are currently “underutilised” as food for people and livestock, the report says. Insect farming is “one of the many ways to address food and feed security”.

“Insects are everywhere and they reproduce quickly, and they have high growth and feed conversion rates and a low environmental footprint,” according to the report.

The authors point out that insects are nutritious, with high protein, fat and mineral content.

They are “particularly important as a food supplement for undernourished children”.

Insects are also “extremely efficient” in converting feed into edible meat. Crickets, for example, need 12 times less feed than cattle to produce the same amount of protein, according to the report.

Most insects are are likely to produce fewer environmentally harmful greenhouse gases than other livestock.

The ammonia emissions associated with insect-rearing are far lower than those linked to conventional livestock such as pigs, says the report….

School yoga tries to avoid religious controversy - MontereyHerald.com :

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 06:03:10 -0500

School yoga tries to avoid religious controversy - MontereyHerald.com ::

…Encinitas is believed to be the only public school system that will have yoga instructors teach full-time at its nine schools as part of an overall wellness curriculum that includes nutrition and a school garden program, among other things.

“This is 21st century P.E. for our schools,” said Encinitas Superintendent Timothy B. Baird. “It’s physical. It’s strength-building. It increases flexibility but it also deals with stress reduction and focusing, which kickball doesn’t do.”…

"…If you are one who has been a part of the pro-life movement because you really do believe in..."

Sat, 08 Dec 2012 09:00:30 -0500

“…If you are one who has been a part of the pro-life movement because you really do believe in “saving unborn babies,” it’s time to cut your ties with the movement. You may be an honest and kind-hearted person, but you’ve been had. You’ve been taken in. It’s time to let go. It’s time to support Obamacare’s birth control mandate, it’s time to call off opposition to birth control, and it’s time to get behind progressive programs that help provide for poor women and their children. It’s time to make your actions consistent with your motives….”

- How I Lost Faith in the “Pro-Life” Movement

"…slowing the oceans’ rise is not as hard as it’s been made out to be—certainly not..."

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:27:37 -0500

“…slowing the oceans’ rise is not as hard as it’s been made out to be—certainly not compared to nearly eradicating slavery worldwide, to making once-routine infant and maternal mortality a rare tragedy in all but the poorest countries, to going from typewriters to iPads in a generation. Just make it expensive to needlessly pump carbon into the atmosphere, and capitalism does much of the rest….”

- Public Opinion Has Moved on Climate Change. Will Obama Follow—or Fiddle? | Mother Jones

mslorelei: A revolutionary idea: even little girls get to own...

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 17:34:47 -0500

mslorelei:

A revolutionary idea: even little girls get to own their own bodies.

katelucia:

Jada Pinkett-Smith is aware of the critics that frown up their noses at the way she raises her daughter, Willow. Willow cuts, dyes and styles her hair as she pleases, a fact that bothers many who feel girls shouldn’t have that much control over their appearance at such a young age.

Jada decided to address the criticism in a Facebook post:

“A letter to a friend…This subject is old but I have never answered it in its entirety. And even with this post it will remain incomplete. The question why I would LET Willow cut her hair. First the LET must be challenged. This is a world where women, girls are constantly reminded that they don’t belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination. I made a promise to endow my little girl with the power to always know that her body, spirit and her mind are HER domain. Willow cut her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. It’s also a statement that claims that even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother’s deepest insecurities, hopes and desires. Even little girls should not be a slave to the preconceived ideas of what a culture believes a little girl should be.”

Natural Pools or Swimming Ponds

Sat, 22 Sep 2012 06:00:14 -0400

Natural Pools or Swimming Ponds:

There are literally millions of ways to have modern living at a lower level of consumption, using less energy, fewer chemicals, & etc. Here’s a way to have more sustainable swimming pools … . :)

Just that we can see, so far, with the limited ‘scopes...

Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:28:46 -0400

Just that we can see, so far, with the limited ‘scopes we’ve used to date (almost entirely Earth-bound ones), out of the billions & billions of star systems we can see . … . ;)

The Right's Leading Argument Against Wind Power Is For The Birds | Blog | Media Matters for America

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 01:40:18 -0400

The Right's Leading Argument Against Wind Power Is For The Birds | Blog | Media Matters for America:

“…according to the National Research Council, wind turbines account for less than 0.003% of bird deaths caused by human activities. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife service estimates that wind turbines kill 150,000 - 200,000 birds annually. Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of birds are killed every year by collisions with buildings, cars, and power lines. And many more are killed by oilfield production pits and coal mining, which has destroyed numerous bird habitats.

“A 2009 comparison of the impact of six electricity generation types on wildlife in New England found that wind power poses “no population-level risks to birds.” Factoring in the effects of pollution and climate change, it concluded that “non-renewable electricity generation sources, such as coal and oil, pose higher risks to wildlife than renewable electricity generation sources, such as hydro and wind.”…”

Mittens Romneybot's 'Good Will Tour'

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 23:28:11 -0400

Mittens Romneybot's 'Good Will Tour':

“…the bankers of yore operated by building relationships; Bain made its investors money in large part by breaking relationships, e.g. by walking away from implicit promises to workers. It’s not a style that makes for good diplomacy.”

YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!

Fri, 27 Jul 2012 17:15:24 -0400

YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!YES!

Heh.

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:07:00 -0400

Heh.

"In the long run, we are all extinct."

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 00:41:05 -0400

"In the long run, we are all extinct.":

…The normal, cautious thing is to say that there’s no way to attribute any particular event, like a heat wave in the Ukraine, to global warming — and news media have basically been bullied by this argument into rarely mentioning climate change even when reporting on extreme weather. But Hansen et al make an important point: this argument is much weaker when we’re talking about really extreme events, like temperatures more than 3 standard deviations above historical norms. Such events would almost never happen if there weren’t a rising trend in global temperatures; so when they become quite common, as they have, it’s fair to call them evidence of warming.

The second point is how we know that climate change is a bad thing — a question I sometimes get asked. The questioners wonder why the fact that, say, more of Canada becomes agriculturally viable doesn’t offset the damage in places that get too hot.

My first-pass answer is that we have a global economy that is adapted to historically normal climate — not just in terms of what is grown where, but in terms of where we locate our cities. In the long run, after a couple of centuries’ worth of urban development and infrastructure has been drowned by rising sea levels and/or made useless because previously habitable regions need to be abandoned, we might be able to reconstruct an equally productive economy; but in the long run …

But Hansen et al make a stronger point: life as we know it evolved to fit the historical range of planetary temperatures. In the long run it might be able to adapt to a changed world — but now we’re talking millions of years.

In the long run, we are all extinct.

Growth of real hourly compensation (inclusive of benefits) for...

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 16:40:25 -0400

Growth of real hourly compensation (inclusive of benefits) for production / nonsupervisory workers and productivity, 1948-2011.

Let’s try to stick to the real world when we talk about Medicaid | The Incidental Economist

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 11:35:49 -0400

Let’s try to stick to the real world when we talk about Medicaid | The Incidental Economist:

…

I get a bit annoyed when people claim that we can’t “afford” more government intervention or, god-forbid, single-payer. That kind of statement willfully ignores the fact that every country that has MORE government intervention spends LESS.

I get a bit annoyed by the claim that an expansion of government insurance leads to lines and waiting when lots of countries have universal access and less of a wait-time problem than we do. Moreover, almost no one makes this argument when we expand private insurance, only government.

I get a bit annoyed by blanket claims that doctors won’t accept Medicaid. Such statements often ignore the fact that the majority of Medicaid beneficiaries are children and pregnant women. We don’t need all types of doctors to accept Medicaid patients in equal numbers. They also ignore the fact that lots of doctors won’t accept new patients with Medicare or private insurance, either.

I get a bit annoyed when people just claim government programs are “unpopular”. Like Medicare? I don’t think so. Is there any evidence that Medicaid is unpopular? I’d like to see it. Personally, I think that the fact that (a) all 50 states have bought in over time and (b) the Supreme Court just ruled that threatening to take it away is “coercive” speaks to the opposite. Additionally, polling shows the opposite of what Tyler (and lots of others) suggest.

I get a bit annoyed at the blanket acceptance of the awesomeness of the free market in health care, when there is no phenomenal evidence of its success. And again, those countries with less free market are cheaper, universal, and often just as good. So why are we always trying to run away from them?

Look, I get that people may not like the political implications of those systems. They may not like the governments that produce them. They may not like the lack of choice inherent in such systems. They may not like the potential limitations within them for making money, and therefore for innovation. But we need to stop making stuff up about them.

"The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the..."

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 18:11:03 -0400

““The goal of the future is full unemployment, so we can play. That’s why we have to destroy the present politico-economic system.” This may sound like the pronouncement of some bong-smoking anarchist, but it was actually Arthur C. Clarke, who found time between scuba diving and pinball games to write “Childhood’s End” and think up communications satellites. My old colleague Ted Rall recently wrote a column proposing that we divorce income from work and give each citizen a guaranteed paycheck, which sounds like the kind of lunatic notion that’ll be considered a basic human right in about a century, like abolition, universal suffrage and eight-hour workdays.”

- The ‘Busy’ Trap - NYTimes.com (via freeopensociety)

"…There’s an unsightly churning phenomena that takes place within the right-wing media..."

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 07:36:47 -0400

“…There’s an unsightly churning phenomena that takes place within the right-wing media these days and it revolves around the constant need for unsavory content. There does not actually exist enough shocking news and information to sustain the Obama-hating press apparatus, or The Outrage Machine. Therefore, lots of the outrages have to be not only exaggerated, but at times completely fabricated or even recycled….”

- That Comically Awful Doctor Survey And The State of Right-Wing Propaganda | Blog | Media Matters for America

How the NY Times Went Too Far in Slamming Big Organic | NYTimes eXaminer

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 16:10:20 -0400

How the NY Times Went Too Far in Slamming Big Organic | NYTimes eXaminer:

…In other words, despite 20 years of effort by Big Food to make organic friendly to GMOs, monocrops, dodgy fertilizers like sewage sludge, and more, the organic label remains the single most accessible way for consumers to avoid supporting the worst ecological practices of industrial agriculture. And consumers should know this, and not get the idea that the organic label has been drained of all meaning. (Consumers can also seek out nearby farmers and learn directly about their practices, but not everyone has the time or resources to do that.)…

As ICC Issues First Sentence, NYT Continues to Play Imperial Politics | NYTimes eXaminer

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 07:45:09 -0400

As ICC Issues First Sentence, NYT Continues to Play Imperial Politics | NYTimes eXaminer:

…this story, of one of the richest countries in minerals and natural resources (Democratic Republic of Congo) who has seen up to ten million of its people killed while Western companies and foreign governments help themselves to Congo’s treasures, is unworthy of even the faintest of mention. Coupled with a 2010 UN report that found Rwanda guilty of serious war crimes, resource exploitation, and even went so far as to suggest that what Rwanda did in Congo was genocide, Simons’ silence is even more troubling.

In Simons’ defense, she is not alone. The New York Times — as a whole — has provided very poor coverage of the recent UN report. They have only published one article—”Congo: Rwanda Tied to Rebels“—consisting of 90 words, where they describe rebels as being “aided by neighboring Rwanda.” There is no mention of the extent of the “aid,” or how the U.S. used its power in the Security Council to try and derail the release of the 2012 UN report.

How this squares with the Times’ slogan of “all the news fit to print” is a mystery. Elsewhere it can be noted that it is Rwanda who is fuelling the conflict in Congo, not Joseph Kony, or Thomas Lubanga, or Bosco Ntaganda, but the U.S-backed Rwanda. But the New York Times finds such an important story unworthy of attention, cropping it to less than one hundred words, and burying it in the back of its paper.

The New York Times pattern of focusing on real, imagined, or inflated crimes of “enemies” while ignoring the U.S. and its allies raises serious questions about the Times as a media institution. Is it an impartial news source informing the general public with journalistic integrity, or is it a public relations firm manipulating the opinions of the general public in service of the prevailing economic and political power systems?

Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare - CNN.com

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 05:21:04 -0400

Gene Sharp: A dictator's worst nightmare - CNN.com:

…Now 84, the American academic has dedicated most of his life to the study of the bold, some might say reckless, idea that nonviolence — rather than violence — is the most effective way of overthrowing corrupt, repressive regimes….

…His practical manual on how to overthrow dictatorships, “From Dictatorship to Democracy,” has spread like a virus since he wrote it 20 years ago and has been translated by activists into more than 30 languages.

He has also listed “198 Methods of Nonviolent Action” — powerful, sometimes surprising, ways to tear power from the hands of regimes. Examples of their use by demonstrators and revolutionaries pop up over and over again….

As Mohandas Gandhi said, “”Things undreamt of are daily being seen, the impossible is ever becoming possible. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence. But I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence.”

We haven’t even begun to explore a world without war. for instance, tho’ it’s visibly more achievable ever sooner . .. :)

Wow. Well, not actually ‘wow’ cuz I totally expect...

Sun, 27 May 2012 18:02:04 -0400

Wow. Well, not actually ‘wow’ cuz I totally expect to see big protests get virtually no coverage in the media, but still, wow, no coverage of the protests in my Google news aggregator.