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marmar
marmar's Journal
marmar's Journal
December 1, 2012
from Media Matters:
Meet The Climate Denial Machine
Blog ››› November 28, 2012 3:16 PM EST
Despite the overwhelming consensus among climate experts that human activity is contributing to rising global temperatures, 66 percent of Americans incorrectly believe there is "a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening." The conservative media has fueled this confusion by distorting scientific research, hyping faux-scandals, and giving voice to groups funded by industries that have a financial interest in blocking action on climate change. Meanwhile, mainstream media outlets have shied away from the "controversy" over climate change and have failed to press U.S. policymakers on how they will address this global threat. When climate change is discussed, mainstream outlets sometimes strive for a false balance that elevates marginal voices and enables them to sow doubt about the science even in the face of mounting evidence.
Here, Media Matters looks at how conservative media outlets give industry-funded "experts" a platform, creating a polarized misunderstanding of climate science.
* Heartland Institute And James Taylor
* Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Chris Horner And The American Tradition Institute
* Manhattan Institute And Robert Bryce
* Heritage Foundation
* Cato Institute And Patrick Michaels
* American Enterprise Institute
* Marc Morano
* Anthony Watts
* Steve Milloy
* Joe Bastardi
* Matt Ridley
* Larry Bell
Heartland Institute And James Taylor
The Economist has called the libertarian Heartland Institute "the world's most prominent think tank promoting skepticism about man-made climate change." Every year, Heartland hosts an "International Conference on Climate Change," bringing together a small group of contrarians (mostly non-scientists) who deny that manmade climate change is a serious problem. To promote its most recent conference, Heartland launched a short-lived billboard campaign associating acceptance of climate science with "murderers, tyrants, and madmen" including Ted Kaczynski, Charles Manson and Fidel Castro. Facing backlash from corporate donors and even some of its own staff, Heartland removed the billboard, but refused to apologize for the "experiment."
Heartland does not disclose its donors, but internal documents obtained in February reveal that Heartland received $25,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2011 and anticipated $200,000 in additional funding in 2012. Charles Koch is CEO and co-owner of Koch Industries, a corporation with major oil interests. Along with his brother David Koch, he has donated millions to groups that spread climate misinformation. Heartland also receives funding from some corporations with a financial interest in confusing the public on climate science. ExxonMobil contributed over $600,000 to Heartland between 1998 and 2006, but has since pledged to stop funding groups that cast doubt on climate change. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/28/meet-the-climate-denial-machine/191545
Meet The Climate Denial Machine
from Media Matters:
Meet The Climate Denial Machine
Blog ››› November 28, 2012 3:16 PM EST
Despite the overwhelming consensus among climate experts that human activity is contributing to rising global temperatures, 66 percent of Americans incorrectly believe there is "a lot of disagreement among scientists about whether or not global warming is happening." The conservative media has fueled this confusion by distorting scientific research, hyping faux-scandals, and giving voice to groups funded by industries that have a financial interest in blocking action on climate change. Meanwhile, mainstream media outlets have shied away from the "controversy" over climate change and have failed to press U.S. policymakers on how they will address this global threat. When climate change is discussed, mainstream outlets sometimes strive for a false balance that elevates marginal voices and enables them to sow doubt about the science even in the face of mounting evidence.
Here, Media Matters looks at how conservative media outlets give industry-funded "experts" a platform, creating a polarized misunderstanding of climate science.
* Heartland Institute And James Taylor
* Competitive Enterprise Institute
* Chris Horner And The American Tradition Institute
* Manhattan Institute And Robert Bryce
* Heritage Foundation
* Cato Institute And Patrick Michaels
* American Enterprise Institute
* Marc Morano
* Anthony Watts
* Steve Milloy
* Joe Bastardi
* Matt Ridley
* Larry Bell
Heartland Institute And James Taylor
The Economist has called the libertarian Heartland Institute "the world's most prominent think tank promoting skepticism about man-made climate change." Every year, Heartland hosts an "International Conference on Climate Change," bringing together a small group of contrarians (mostly non-scientists) who deny that manmade climate change is a serious problem. To promote its most recent conference, Heartland launched a short-lived billboard campaign associating acceptance of climate science with "murderers, tyrants, and madmen" including Ted Kaczynski, Charles Manson and Fidel Castro. Facing backlash from corporate donors and even some of its own staff, Heartland removed the billboard, but refused to apologize for the "experiment."
Heartland does not disclose its donors, but internal documents obtained in February reveal that Heartland received $25,000 from the Charles Koch Foundation in 2011 and anticipated $200,000 in additional funding in 2012. Charles Koch is CEO and co-owner of Koch Industries, a corporation with major oil interests. Along with his brother David Koch, he has donated millions to groups that spread climate misinformation. Heartland also receives funding from some corporations with a financial interest in confusing the public on climate science. ExxonMobil contributed over $600,000 to Heartland between 1998 and 2006, but has since pledged to stop funding groups that cast doubt on climate change. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://mediamatters.org/blog/2012/11/28/meet-the-climate-denial-machine/191545
December 1, 2012
from Right Wing Watch:
Perkins: Ex-Gay Therapy a 'Nonjudgmental' Way for Gays to Find 'Wholeness'
Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 11/30/2012 11:00 am
After his group said that discredited and dangerous sexual orientation conversion therapy is “designed to bring homosexuals out of bondage and into healthy behavior,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins maintained that such counseling is simply a “compassionate” and “nonjudgmental” way for gays and lesbians to find the “wholeness that has been eluding them in their current lifestyle.”
While speaking today with con man and ex-gay group leader Arthur Goldberg, who once again compared his embattled group to Weight Watchers, on Washington Watch Weekly, Perkins lauded conversion therapy as a way for gays to pursue “this path of wholeness.” Earlier this year, Perkins argued that gays and lesbians seek to “redefine the norms of behavior” because “there is an emptiness within them.”
Goldberg even claimed that gay rights activists are only pretending to claim that sexual orientation cannot be changed as part of a “pre-planned agenda,” and that people who failed at conversion therapy simply didn’t try hard enough. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/perkins-ex-gay-therapy-non-judgmental-find-wholeness
Tony Perkins: Ex-Gay Therapy is 'Nonjudgmental'
from Right Wing Watch:
Perkins: Ex-Gay Therapy a 'Nonjudgmental' Way for Gays to Find 'Wholeness'
Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 11/30/2012 11:00 am
After his group said that discredited and dangerous sexual orientation conversion therapy is “designed to bring homosexuals out of bondage and into healthy behavior,” Family Research Council president Tony Perkins maintained that such counseling is simply a “compassionate” and “nonjudgmental” way for gays and lesbians to find the “wholeness that has been eluding them in their current lifestyle.”
While speaking today with con man and ex-gay group leader Arthur Goldberg, who once again compared his embattled group to Weight Watchers, on Washington Watch Weekly, Perkins lauded conversion therapy as a way for gays to pursue “this path of wholeness.” Earlier this year, Perkins argued that gays and lesbians seek to “redefine the norms of behavior” because “there is an emptiness within them.”
Goldberg even claimed that gay rights activists are only pretending to claim that sexual orientation cannot be changed as part of a “pre-planned agenda,” and that people who failed at conversion therapy simply didn’t try hard enough. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/perkins-ex-gay-therapy-non-judgmental-find-wholeness
December 1, 2012
Researchers are probing the health and economic fallout from this year's record allergy season to understand how warming weather and shifting rainfall may lead to more widespread and costlier allergy problems in the future.
Already, doctors are seeing climate change alter how allergens disperse. "It played out in the form of the duration of the pollen season," said Leonard Bielory, an attending physician and allergist at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and a professor at Rutgers University's Center for Environmental Prediction.
"The worst was in the beginning of the year," he said, noting that New Jersey faced record high pollen counts in February (ClimateWire, April 30).
As the pollen and dust settle, researchers throughout the United States are calculating just how bad this year was and how much worse it can get. Itchy eyes and runny noses are rarely fatal, but the risk of allergen exposure is increasing as insects migrate north to newly hospitable land while oak, birch and ragweed disperse pollen more intensely and for longer stretches of the year. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-price-tag-for-allergies-will-rise-because-of-climate-change
Yet another reason to dread climate change........
Researchers are probing the health and economic fallout from this year's record allergy season to understand how warming weather and shifting rainfall may lead to more widespread and costlier allergy problems in the future.
Already, doctors are seeing climate change alter how allergens disperse. "It played out in the form of the duration of the pollen season," said Leonard Bielory, an attending physician and allergist at the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and a professor at Rutgers University's Center for Environmental Prediction.
"The worst was in the beginning of the year," he said, noting that New Jersey faced record high pollen counts in February (ClimateWire, April 30).
As the pollen and dust settle, researchers throughout the United States are calculating just how bad this year was and how much worse it can get. Itchy eyes and runny noses are rarely fatal, but the risk of allergen exposure is increasing as insects migrate north to newly hospitable land while oak, birch and ragweed disperse pollen more intensely and for longer stretches of the year. ..................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-price-tag-for-allergies-will-rise-because-of-climate-change
December 1, 2012
by Robert Reich
Organizing McDonalds and Walmart, and Why Austerity Economics Hurts Low-Wage Workers the Most
Friday, November 30, 2012
What does the drama in Washington over the “fiscal cliff” have to do with strikes and work stoppages among America’s lowest-paid workers at Walmart, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza?
Everything.
Jobs are slowly returning to America, but most of them pay lousy wages and low if non-existent benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that seven out of 10 growth occupations over the next decade will be low-wage — like serving customers at big-box retailers and fast-food chains. That’s why the median wage keeps dropping, especially for the 80 percent of the workforce that’s paid by the hour.
It’s also part of the reason why the percent of Americans living below the poverty line has been increasing even as the economy has started to recover — from 12.3 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2011. More than 46 million Americans now live below the poverty line. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/36892075499
Organizing McDonalds and Walmart, and Why Austerity Economics Hurts Low-Wage Workers the Most
by Robert Reich
Organizing McDonalds and Walmart, and Why Austerity Economics Hurts Low-Wage Workers the Most
Friday, November 30, 2012
What does the drama in Washington over the “fiscal cliff” have to do with strikes and work stoppages among America’s lowest-paid workers at Walmart, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza?
Everything.
Jobs are slowly returning to America, but most of them pay lousy wages and low if non-existent benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that seven out of 10 growth occupations over the next decade will be low-wage — like serving customers at big-box retailers and fast-food chains. That’s why the median wage keeps dropping, especially for the 80 percent of the workforce that’s paid by the hour.
It’s also part of the reason why the percent of Americans living below the poverty line has been increasing even as the economy has started to recover — from 12.3 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2011. More than 46 million Americans now live below the poverty line. ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://robertreich.org/post/36892075499
December 1, 2012
from the Chicago Sun-Times:
When a soccer player at Maine West High School was sexually assaulted on the school campus in July in an apparent act of hazing, Des Plaines police were told the school’s varsity soccer coach watched it happen.
He even allegedly congratulated the victim, welcomed him “and asked him if it was all good.”
That was reported to police by the school’s principal Oct. 3, right after she learned of it and days after a group of varsity soccer players allegedly did the same thing to three 14-year-old players Sept. 27.
An attorney for two of the 14-year-olds said their teammates pulled down their underwear and sodomized them with fingers and sticks. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/16675179-418/police-report-maine-west-coach-witnessed-sexual-hazing-congratulated-victim.html
Police report: Ill. high school coach witnessed sexual hazing, congratulated victim
from the Chicago Sun-Times:
When a soccer player at Maine West High School was sexually assaulted on the school campus in July in an apparent act of hazing, Des Plaines police were told the school’s varsity soccer coach watched it happen.
He even allegedly congratulated the victim, welcomed him “and asked him if it was all good.”
That was reported to police by the school’s principal Oct. 3, right after she learned of it and days after a group of varsity soccer players allegedly did the same thing to three 14-year-old players Sept. 27.
An attorney for two of the 14-year-olds said their teammates pulled down their underwear and sodomized them with fingers and sticks. .................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/16675179-418/police-report-maine-west-coach-witnessed-sexual-hazing-congratulated-victim.html
November 30, 2012
http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/8689645/serena-williams-named-wta-player-year
LONDON -- Serena Williams has been named the WTA's Player of the Year after winning major titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and claiming gold at the London Olympics.
Williams, who has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals, was 48-2 over the final seven months of the season.
It is the fourth time Williams has won the award, which is voted on by international tennis media. She also was named Player of the Year in 2002, 2008 and 2009.
Only Steffi Graf (eight times) and Martina Navratilova (seven times) have won the award more than Williams.
Serena Williams named WTA Player of the Year
http://espn.go.com/tennis/story/_/id/8689645/serena-williams-named-wta-player-year
LONDON -- Serena Williams has been named the WTA's Player of the Year after winning major titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and claiming gold at the London Olympics.
Williams, who has won 15 Grand Slam singles titles and four Olympic gold medals, was 48-2 over the final seven months of the season.
It is the fourth time Williams has won the award, which is voted on by international tennis media. She also was named Player of the Year in 2002, 2008 and 2009.
Only Steffi Graf (eight times) and Martina Navratilova (seven times) have won the award more than Williams.
November 30, 2012
from Civil Eats:
First In-Depth Report on Potential Impact of Fracking on Food
November 29th, 2012
By Paula Crossfield
In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying, according to the latest report by [font color="blue"]Food & Environment Reporting Network[/font]. Elizabeth Royte wrote the cover story, “What the Frack Is in our Food,” for the December 17, 2012, issue of The Nation magazine.
“In Pennsylvania, the oil and gas industry is already on a tear—drilling thousands of feet into ancient seabeds, then repeatedly fracturing (or ‘fracking’) these wells with millions of gallons of highly pressurized, chemically laced water, which shatters the surrounding shale and releases fossil fuels,” Royte writes. “New York, meanwhile, is on its own natural-resource tear, with hundreds of newly opened breweries, wineries, organic dairies and pastured livestock operations—all of them capitalizing on the metropolitan area’s hunger to localize its diet. But there’s growing evidence that these two impulses, toward energy and food independence, may be at odds with each other.”
The story, the first in-depth look at the potential impact of fracking on food, cites the first and only peer-reviewed report, published earlier this year, suggesting a possible link between fracking and illness in food animals. It includes 24 case studies of farmers in shale-gas states whose livestock have experienced neurological, reproductive, and acute gastrointestinal problems after being exposed—either accidentally or incidentally—to fracking chemicals in the water or air.
Farmers are not required to prove that livestock are free of contamination before selling them to middlemen, and federal authorities are not testing for these compounds at slaughterhouses. “[Exposed livestock] are making their way into the food system, and it’s very worrisome to us,” says one of the authors of the report, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca, New York, veterinarian. “They live in areas that have tested positive for air, water, and soil contamination. Some of these chemicals could appear in milk and meat products made from these animals.” ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/11/29/first-in-depth-report-on-potential-impact-of-fracking-on-food/
First In-Depth Report on Potential Impact of Fracking on Food
from Civil Eats:
First In-Depth Report on Potential Impact of Fracking on Food
November 29th, 2012
By Paula Crossfield
In the midst of the domestic energy boom, livestock on farms near oil-and-gas drilling operations nationwide have been quietly falling sick and dying, according to the latest report by [font color="blue"]Food & Environment Reporting Network[/font]. Elizabeth Royte wrote the cover story, “What the Frack Is in our Food,” for the December 17, 2012, issue of The Nation magazine.
“In Pennsylvania, the oil and gas industry is already on a tear—drilling thousands of feet into ancient seabeds, then repeatedly fracturing (or ‘fracking’) these wells with millions of gallons of highly pressurized, chemically laced water, which shatters the surrounding shale and releases fossil fuels,” Royte writes. “New York, meanwhile, is on its own natural-resource tear, with hundreds of newly opened breweries, wineries, organic dairies and pastured livestock operations—all of them capitalizing on the metropolitan area’s hunger to localize its diet. But there’s growing evidence that these two impulses, toward energy and food independence, may be at odds with each other.”
The story, the first in-depth look at the potential impact of fracking on food, cites the first and only peer-reviewed report, published earlier this year, suggesting a possible link between fracking and illness in food animals. It includes 24 case studies of farmers in shale-gas states whose livestock have experienced neurological, reproductive, and acute gastrointestinal problems after being exposed—either accidentally or incidentally—to fracking chemicals in the water or air.
Farmers are not required to prove that livestock are free of contamination before selling them to middlemen, and federal authorities are not testing for these compounds at slaughterhouses. “[Exposed livestock] are making their way into the food system, and it’s very worrisome to us,” says one of the authors of the report, Michelle Bamberger, an Ithaca, New York, veterinarian. “They live in areas that have tested positive for air, water, and soil contamination. Some of these chemicals could appear in milk and meat products made from these animals.” ...................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://civileats.com/2012/11/29/first-in-depth-report-on-potential-impact-of-fracking-on-food/
November 30, 2012
(Bloomberg) The international effort to slow global warming is so lacking in ambition that delegates from both rich nations and poorer ones are expressing frustration with the process.
“I don’t see as much public interest for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions,” Christiana Figueres, the diplomat organizing the talks, said at a briefing today. “Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It’s not just about national governments. It’s about individuals. It’s about civil society.”
Her comments were echoed by delegates at the 190-nation talks from the European Union to Swaziland and Switzerland, underscoring concern this year’s round of discussions organized by the United Nations will accomplish little to protect the environment from fossil-fuel emissions.
“We’ve achieved nothing this week, and I’m very concerned,” Bolivian delegation chief Rene Orellana said in an interview. “We’re fried.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-30/climate-effort-lacking-ambition-frustrates-envoys-at-un-talks.html
Quelle Surprise !!!: Another climate summit going down in flames.....
(Bloomberg) The international effort to slow global warming is so lacking in ambition that delegates from both rich nations and poorer ones are expressing frustration with the process.
“I don’t see as much public interest for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions,” Christiana Figueres, the diplomat organizing the talks, said at a briefing today. “Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It’s not just about national governments. It’s about individuals. It’s about civil society.”
Her comments were echoed by delegates at the 190-nation talks from the European Union to Swaziland and Switzerland, underscoring concern this year’s round of discussions organized by the United Nations will accomplish little to protect the environment from fossil-fuel emissions.
“We’ve achieved nothing this week, and I’m very concerned,” Bolivian delegation chief Rene Orellana said in an interview. “We’re fried.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-30/climate-effort-lacking-ambition-frustrates-envoys-at-un-talks.html
November 30, 2012
(Bloomberg) The international effort to slow global warming is so lacking in ambition that delegates from both rich nations and poorer ones are expressing frustration with the process.
“I don’t see as much public interest for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions,” Christiana Figueres, the diplomat organizing the talks, said at a briefing today. “Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It’s not just about national governments. It’s about individuals. It’s about civil society.”
Her comments were echoed by delegates at the 190-nation talks from the European Union to Swaziland and Switzerland, underscoring concern this year’s round of discussions organized by the United Nations will accomplish little to protect the environment from fossil-fuel emissions.
“We’ve achieved nothing this week, and I’m very concerned,” Bolivian delegation chief Rene Orellana said in an interview. “We’re fried.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-30/climate-effort-lacking-ambition-frustrates-envoys-at-un-talks.html
They're not even trying to rearrange the deck chairs in Doha
(Bloomberg) The international effort to slow global warming is so lacking in ambition that delegates from both rich nations and poorer ones are expressing frustration with the process.
“I don’t see as much public interest for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions,” Christiana Figueres, the diplomat organizing the talks, said at a briefing today. “Each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It’s not just about national governments. It’s about individuals. It’s about civil society.”
Her comments were echoed by delegates at the 190-nation talks from the European Union to Swaziland and Switzerland, underscoring concern this year’s round of discussions organized by the United Nations will accomplish little to protect the environment from fossil-fuel emissions.
“We’ve achieved nothing this week, and I’m very concerned,” Bolivian delegation chief Rene Orellana said in an interview. “We’re fried.” ....................(more)
The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-30/climate-effort-lacking-ambition-frustrates-envoys-at-un-talks.html
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