February 24, 2011
Mr. Taubes's appearance on the Dr. Oz television show will be aired on March 7.
Monday, February 28, 2011
From the Chronicle of Higher Ed
AFP: Indigenous Ecuadoran woman humbles US oil giant
Yahoo
How responsible are Americans in general for this? "We just use the gasoline, we don't tell them how to get the oil..." Still, shouldn't we feel badly about the environmental costs to maintain our way of life?
RUMIPAMBA, Ecuador (AFP) – She has no legal training, and doesn't speak the Spanish that dominates government in Quito but indigenous villager Maria Aguinda helped bring a landmark judgment against US oil giant Chevron for polluting the rain forest she calls home.
The diminutive grandmother whose modest home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil has been at the heart of the David-and-Goliath case, and spoke out after Chevron was slapped last week with a $9.5-billion fine, among the heaviest ever handed down for environmental damage.
How responsible are Americans in general for this? "We just use the gasoline, we don't tell them how to get the oil..." Still, shouldn't we feel badly about the environmental costs to maintain our way of life?
Bishop Elliott's Address to Ordinariate Festival
The Anglo-Catholic
Ordinariate Portal
Bishop Peter Elliott - Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne
Related:
The Saint Bede Studio Blog: Oratory of Bishop Peter Elliott
Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Ordinariate Portal
Bishop Peter Elliott - Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne
Related:
The Saint Bede Studio Blog: Oratory of Bishop Peter Elliott
Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Peak Oil Resolutions as a Necessary First Step for Civic Planning
Rob Hopkins, Ingredients of Transition: Peak oil resolutions (EB)
Given the primary locus of authority is the state, not the county or municipality, I think peak oil resolutions passed by towns and counties will be of limited effectiveness. Because it is the state that is sovereign, concerns about population and sustainability have to be addressed at that level, I believe.
Given the primary locus of authority is the state, not the county or municipality, I think peak oil resolutions passed by towns and counties will be of limited effectiveness. Because it is the state that is sovereign, concerns about population and sustainability have to be addressed at that level, I believe.
PCR Trying to Protect the Power of Congress
Why a Government Shutdown Would Imperil the Power of Congress (American Conservative)
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
I don't think it would be the first time that the imperial presidency has taken over for Congress, but Congress probably doesn't have have the backbone to shut down the government in the first place. The Republicans wouldn't even think of impeaching Obama for failing to defend DOMA.
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Congress should think twice before forcing a government shutdown as the consequences could be the loss of the power of Congress to control spending through authorization and appropriation bills.
Congress permitted President George W. Bush to accumulate new powers in the executive, and these powers have passed to Obama. Bush succeeded in establishing that as a wartime commander-in-chief he had the “inherent power” to disobey the laws against torture, spying on Americans without obtaining warrants, and indefinite detention. In addition, Bush used signing statements in ways inconsistent with his oath and obligation to uphold the laws of the United States, and he took the U.S. to war based on lies, deception, and fabricated “evidence,” an offense that qualifies as treason.
With these precedents, it is a simple matter for President Obama to declare that, with the U.S. at war in a world of growing instability, he has the inherent power to ignore the debt limit and to continue financing the government with the creation of new money by the Federal Reserve.
Congress could try to protect its loss of the power of the purse by impeaching Obama. But how credible would it be to impeach a wartime president who is using the same “inherent power” of his office that Congress permitted the previous president to use?
The powers that Bush asserted not only violated statutory law, but also set aside constitutionally guaranteed rights that are the essence of American liberty. Yet, Congress made no attempt to restrain him with impeachment. How then does Congress impeach a president who is merely using his power to keep a government at war operating?
As President Bush’s acts were not deemed impeachable offenses, it seems likely that Congress has lost its power to impeach through default.
I don't think it would be the first time that the imperial presidency has taken over for Congress, but Congress probably doesn't have have the backbone to shut down the government in the first place. The Republicans wouldn't even think of impeaching Obama for failing to defend DOMA.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Army Combatatives
Union Army combatatives? More like the transformation of warriors into MMA fighters.
Soldiers may need to restrain prisoners, but they really shouldn't be used as police or be employed in nation-building.
And female fighters beating males? What are they doing wrong? (Yes, there are co-ed tournaments. Like I said before, the Union Army has been messed up for some time, and social engineering is not new.)
Last night I was at Red Robin in Dublin with my sisters and their families... Dublin, like Pleasanton (and the surrounding areas), is quite white. How many of the people living in those areas used to live in the Bay Area but decided to move because they wanted to live in white areas? And where did all the other whites go?
There's a word commonly used to describe this juxtaposition...
At the 5 PM Mass tonight, one of the local LC priests gave the homily at the local parish... the subject of the homily? Matthew 6:24 and following. “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." And yet it is alleged that the founder of the Legionaries of Christ and many of those in leadership positions have been using the order as a way to make money.
I did note that the priest, whom I had not seen before, is young and rather good-looking. How would he respond if he were told that he was deliberately targeted for recruitment because of his good looks?
I did note that the priest, whom I had not seen before, is young and rather good-looking. How would he respond if he were told that he was deliberately targeted for recruitment because of his good looks?
The Perfect Human Diet?
In Search of the Perfect Human Diet
Karen De Coster recommended the website...
Plus: Strong is the New Skinny and Blogs for the SINS Body Transformation Challenge…
Karen De Coster recommended the website...
Plus: Strong is the New Skinny and Blogs for the SINS Body Transformation Challenge…
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