Brasschecktv.com - Overpopulation: The Making of a Myth

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/5567.html

It seems that a lot of people really believe in the myth of
overpopulation, but where does this myth come from and how is it so
persistent?

Well, for one, it's easy to believe when you live in a city crammed
full of people stacked on top of one another. It's easy to forget
that there are still wide open spaces, and plenty of them.

It's also an idea that has been crammed into our heads our entire
lives, but the people doing the cramming are the same ones that
have lied to us over and over again to justify just about anything. 

Check out this animated short on the the making of a myth...

Video:

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/5567.html

ENENEWS Staff - University Researcher: U.S. topsoil with up to 8,000 pCi/kg of cesium from Fukushima — Over 10,000% higher than highest levels found by UC Berkeley

Published: November 1st, 2011 at 12:00 AM EDT

By ENENEWS Staff

http://enenews.com/university-researcher-topsoil-8000-pcikg-cesium-fukushima-10000-higher-highest-levels-found-uc-berkeley

Oct. 31 — Monday morning in Washington D.C., Marco Kaltofen, PE, of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts,discussed current issues concerning radiation exposure in Japan.

Kaltofen is a Massachusetts Registered Professional Engineer engaged in the investigation of nuclear material release. He investigated the transport of radioactive particles in his dissertation research at WPI.

Here are excerpts from the description for his presentation, ‘Radiation Exposure to the Population in Japan After the Earthquake’:

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BBC News - Belgium plans to phase out nuclear power

BBC NEWS, 31 October 2011 Last updated at 08:31 ET 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15521865

Belgium's main political parties have agreed on a plan to shut down the country's two nuclear power stations, but they have not yet set a firm date.

A new coalition government is being set up and the nuclear shutdown will be on its agenda, officials say.

If alternative energy sources are found to fill the gap then the three oldest reactors will be shut down in 2015.

Germany is the biggest industrial power to renounce nuclear energy since Japan's Fukushima disaster in March.

Belgium has seven reactors at two nuclear power stations, at Doel in the north and Tihange in the south. They are operated by Electrabel, which is part of GDF-Suez.

The agreement reached on Sunday night confirms a decision taken in 2003, which was shelved during Belgium's political deadlock following the last government's collapse in April 2010.

Belgium will need to replace 5,860 megawatts of power if it is to go ahead with the nuclear phase-out.

Oregon State University - Climate change causing massive movement of tree species across the West

Oregon State University, November 3, 2011

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/w-thc110311.php

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A huge "migration" of trees has begun across much of the West due to global warming, insect attack, diseases and fire, and many tree species are projected to decline or die out in regions where they have been present for centuries, while others move in and replace them.

In an enormous display of survival of the fittest, the forests of the future are taking a new shape.

In a new report, scientists outline the impact that a changing climate will have on which tree species can survive, and where. The study suggests that many species that were once able to survive and thrive are losing their competitive footholds, and opportunistic newcomers will eventually push them out.

In some cases, once-common species such as lodgepole pine will be replaced by other trees, perhaps a range expansion of ponderosa pine or Douglas-fir. Other areas may shift completely out of forest into grass savannah or sagebrush desert. In central California, researchers concluded that more than half of the species now present would not be expected to persist in the climate conditions of the future.

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Reuters Health - Is it mind over meds in depression treatment?

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_118276.html 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - When it comes to the odds of getting better with depression treatment, people's beliefs may matter even more than the treatment itself, a new study suggests.

Clinical trials in all areas of medicine turn up some degree of "placebo effect" -- the phenomenon of people who are given a sham treatment, instead of the real thing, getting better anyway. Placebo responses are particularly common in certain disorders, depression being one.

In the new study, researchers re-analyzed findings from a 2002 clinical trial that compared the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft), the herbal depression treatment St. John's wort and a placebo.

The original study, which included 340 people with moderate depression, had found that neither treatment was any more effective than the placebo when taken for up to six months.

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Medical News Today - Elevated Body Temperature Plays A Vital Role In The Generation Of Effective T-Cell Mediated Immune Response

Medical News Today, 03 Nov 2011

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/236984.php

With cold and flu season almost here, the next time you're sick, think twice before taking something for your fever. That's because scientists have found more evidence that elevated body temperature helps certain types of immune cells to work better. This research is reported in the November 2011 issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.* 

"An increase in body temperature has been known since ancient times to be associated with infection and inflammation," said Elizabeth A. Repasky, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Immunology at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, New York. "Since a febrile response is highly conserved in nature (even so-called cold blooded animals move to warmer places when they become ill) it would seem important that we immunologists devote more attention to this interesting response." 

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Phillip Geertson - Roundup Ready Alfalfa Damages US Seed Industry

Wednesday 19 October 2011

by: Phillip Geertson, Activist Post 

http://www.truth-out.org/roundup-ready-alfalfa-damages-us-seed-industry/1319042829

Phillip Geertson has spent the last 30 years farming and raising many diversified crops, and has been a partner in alfalfa breeding programs for 25 years. Alfalfa is a perennial plant, which makes it extremely vulnerable to contamination.

When Roundup Ready (hereafter “RR”) alfalfa was first suggested I did not think that it would be developed and introduced because most alfalfa fields are never sprayed for weed control. And, if a chemical weed control was needed, there is a long list of off-patent low-cost herbicides that are effective if used properly.

Alfalfa hay is usually cut on a schedule of 24 to 30 days for each crop harvest. The entire plant above ground is removed along with any weeds.  This frequent cutting and removal suppresses weed growth and will control, and sometimes even eliminate, persistent perennials and noxious weeds that Roundup will not control.

When alfalfa is properly fertilized and growing in appropriate soil conditions (correct Ph, well drained, etc.), alfalfa will outgrow and choke out most weeds.  When alfalfa stands become weedy, non-thrifty, and otherwise poor performing it is usually because of poor fertility, insects, water logging, or winter damage. Weeds in an alfalfa forage field are a symptom of problems and simply spraying with Roundup to kill the weeds will not correct the underlying problem that is causing poor performance. A weedy alfalfa field should be plowed out, the soil conditions corrected, and then rotated to another crop that is not a host for alfalfa diseases, insects, or nematodes so that they die away. Afterwards, a new stand of alfalfa can be replanted.

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Bill Moyers - "Our Politicians Are Money Launderers in the Trafficking of Power and Policy"

Thursday 3 November 2011

by: Bill Moyers, Truthout | Speech

http://www.truth-out.org/how-did-happen/1320278111

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery
Public Citizen 40th Gala
Washington, DC
October 20, 2011

I am honored to share this occasion with you.   No one beyond your collegial inner circle appreciates more than I do what you have stood for over these 40 years, or is more aware of the battles you have fought, the victories you have won, and the passion for democracy that still courses through your veins.  The great progressive of a century ago, Robert LaFollette of Wisconsin – a Republican, by the way – believed that “Democracy is a life; and involves constant struggle.”  Democracy has been your life for four decades now, and would have been even more imperiled today if you had not stayed the course.    

I began my public journalism the same year you began your public advocacy, in 1971. Our paths often paralleled and sometimes crossed. Over these 40 years  journalism for me has been a continuing course in adult education, and I came early on to consider the work you do as part of the curriculum – an open seminar on how government works – and for whom.   Your muckraking investigations – into money and politics, corporate behavior, lobbying, regulatory oversight, public health and safety, openness in government, and consumer protection, among others – are models of accuracy and integrity. They drive home to journalists that while it is important to cover the news, it is more important to uncover the news.  As one of my mentors said, “News is what people want to keep hidden; everything else is publicity.”  And when a student asked the journalist and historian Richard Reeves for his definition of “real news”, he answered: “The news you and I need to keep our freedoms.”  You keep reminding us how crucial that news is to democracy.  And when the watchdogs of the press have fallen silent, your vigilant growls have told us something’s up.

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Bernie Sanders - The Veil Of Secrecy At The Fed Has Been Lifted, Now It's Time For Change

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Veil-Of-Secrecy-At-The-by-Senator-Bernie-San-111102-950.html

November 3, 2011 By Bernie Sanders Sen. Bernie Sanders describes his plans for reforming the Federal Reserve system. As a result of the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street, the American people have experienced the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Millions of Americans, through no fault of their own, have lost their jobs, homes, life savings, and ability to send their kids to college. Small businesses have been unable to get the credit they need to expand their businesses, and credit is still extremely tight. Wages as a share of national income are now at the lowest level since the Great Depression, and the number of Americans living in poverty is at an all-time high. Meanwhile, when small-business owners were being turned down for loans at private banks and millions of Americans were being kicked out of their homes, the Federal Reserve provided the largest taxpayer-financed bailout in the history of the world to Wall Street and too-big-to-fail institutions, with virtually no strings attached.

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Paul Craig Roberts: Western Democracy: A Farce And A Sham

November 3, 2011

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Western-Democracy-A-Farce-by-paul-craig-roberts-111103-702.html

By paul craig roberts In America the people have no voice whatsoever. The sheeple are content to be protected by "security," porno-scanners, warrantless wiretapping, indefinite detention, and sexual groping. To carry on the hoax "war on terror," the US government has elevated itself above the law. Every day that passes adds to the fraudulent image of what is called Western democracy.   Consider that the entire Western world is outraged that the Greek prime minister announced that he is going to permit the Greek people to decide their own fate instead of having it decided for them by a handful of banksters, politicians, and bureaucrats living it up at taxpayer expense at "talks" in the French resort of Cannes on the Mediterranean.  The Greek economy is facing its fourth year of decline and lacks the revenues to service its national debt held by private European banks. The banks don't want to lose any money, so a handful of power brokers reached an agreement with representatives of the Greek government to write off some of the debt in exchange for EU capital subsidies to be financed by inflicting severe austerity on the Greek population. Wages, salaries, pensions and medical care are being cut while the rate of unemployment rises to depression levels. Government employees are laid off. Valuable public properties are to be sold to private parties for pennies on the dollar. In short, Greece is to be looted.

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