MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'global warming'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:50:53 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4952803&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FbC4DuEg6ftg%2F By Ilya ShapiroIn the important global warming case decided today, American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court unanimously reached the correct result but one that still leaves room for plenty of mischievous litigation.  While it’s clearly true that, as the Court said, the Clean Air Act and the EPA exist to deal with the claims the plaintiffs made here—that the defendants’ carbon dioxide emissions are pollutants that cause global warming—the Court left open the possibility of claims on state common-law grounds such as nuisance.  And it unfortunately said nothing about whether any such disputes, whether challenging EPA action or suing under state law, are properly “cases and controversies” ripe for judicial resolution. The judiciary was not meant to be the sol... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4952803 Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:58:18 +0100 4952803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893393&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOZ9e91N17Gw%2F By Neal McCluskeyToday the Washington Post has a big story on efforts by the coal industry to get public schools to teach positive things about — you guessed it — coal. The impetus for the article is no doubt a recent kerfuffle over education mega-publisher Scholastic sending schools free copies of the industry-funded lesson plan “The United States of Energy.” Many parents and environmentalists were upset over businesses putting stealthy moves on kids, and Scholastic eventually promised to cease publication of the plan. Loaded curricula designed to coerce specific sympathies from children, however, hardly come just from industry, as the Post story notes. Indeed, as I write in the new Cato book Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and Our Live... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893393 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 16:21:54 +0100 4893393 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4862515&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fhu_TAotJGc0%2F By George Scoville “Vouchers and tax credits differ from one another in important ways, and Pennsylvanians deserve to have their representatives consider them one at a time.” “So, if the Supreme Court’s precedents defer to Congress’ assessments of its powers, but Congress is relying for ‘constitutional authority’ on the Supreme Court’s precedents, then NO ONE is actually looking at the Constitution itself to see if a bill is within Congress’ enumerated powers.” “Carbon dioxide, thought to be a significant cause of the warming of surface temperature since the mid-1970s, is currently the respiration of the world’s economic civilization. Getting rid of it isn’t as simple as banning CFCs and switching to another refrigerant.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4862515 Tue, 24 May 2011 15:23:20 +0100 4862515 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734053&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FaZoSG5ocmyE%2F By Walter OlsonYesterday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in American Electric Power v. Connecticut, the massive greenhouse-gas suit. Like the other “big” global warming/climate change suits, this one suffers from a basic and incurable defect: it seeks to undermine the separation of powers established under the U.S. Constitution by inviting the courts to address “political questions” of a sort properly resolved by other branches of government. As Cato’s amicus brief by Ilya Shapiro and Evan Turgeon explained in the case of Comer v. Murphy Oil: “[W]hile it executes firmly all the judicial powers intrusted to it, the court will carefully abstain from exercising any power that is not strictly judicial in its character, and which is not clearly confi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734053 Wed, 20 Apr 2011 19:35:14 +0100 4734053 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4723958&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F04%2F17%2Fthe-psychological-situation-of-climate-change%2F Situationist friend, Daniel Gilbert, Professor of Psychology, describes the psychological impulses that make it difficult for humans to confront the threat of global warming. Related Situationist posts: Dan Gilbert on Why the Brain Scares Itself “Dan Gilbert To Speak at Harvard Law School,” “Dan Gilbert on the Situation of Our Decisions,” “Dan Gilbert on the Situation of Psychology,” “The Situation of Climate Change,” “The Heat is On,” “The Situation of Happiness,” and “Conversation with Dan Gilbert.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4723958 Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:54:35 +0100 4723958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4714726&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fnj_4KnPBahk%2F By George Scoville One thing is clear after President Obama’s speech yesterday: He envisions a smaller national debt, but a much bigger government. One percent is better than nothing, but it’s still pretty close to nothing. One thing is clear about climate change: it’s causing a rising tide of red ink in Washington. See the forthcoming book Climate Coup: Global Warming’s Invasion of Our Government and Our Lives and join us for the accompanying book forum, featuring MIT meteorologist Richard Lindzen and American Meteorological Society fellow Bob Ryan, on Wednesday, May 4 at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Complimentary registration is required of all attendees by 12:00 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday, May 3. If you cannot join us in person, we hope you’ll watch live online. One can... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4714726 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:23:25 +0100 4714726 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4570522&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPc_OKJPdstk%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsThe Current Wisdom is a series of monthly posts in which Senior Fellow Patrick J. Michaels reviews interesting items on global warming in the scientific literature that may not have received the media attention that they deserved, or have been misinterpreted in the popular press. The Current Wisdom only comments on science appearing in the refereed, peer-reviewed literature, or that has been peer-screened prior to presentation at a scientific congress. **********  The recent publication of two articles in Nature magazine proclaiming a link to rainfall extremes (and flooding) to global warming, added to the heat in Russia and the floods in Pakistan in the summer of 2010, and the back-to-back cold and snowy winters in the eastern U.S. and western Europe, have gotten a ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4570522 Thu, 10 Mar 2011 21:26:05 +0100 4570522 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4482815&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fheptastic-science-news.html The full list: The Twitter 100 – Its 200 million users share 110 million messages a day – and if you don't know who rules the twittersphere, you don't understand the 21st-century world. This guide is a definitive who's who of the UK's tweet elite. Although for some reason they included me on the list (at #47, same as Armando Ianucci). Why haven’t we cured cancer yet? – How many times have you been asked this question, how many times have you asked this question yourself? The answer boils down to the fact that cancer is not a single disease, it's hundreds of different diseases. Asking that question is like asking, "why haven't we cured viral infection?" or "why haven't we cured car accidents?". Even if we can cur... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4482815 Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:00:17 +0100 4482815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4450279&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPnQYX822xdQ%2F By Ilya ShapiroAs Congress debates cap-and-trade, new fuel standards, and subsidies for "green" companies, some still feel that political solutions to global warming are not moving fast enough. In the present case, American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut, eight states and New York City sued several public utilities (including the federal Tennessee Valley Authority), alleging that their carbon dioxide emissions contribute to global warming. This is the third major lawsuit to push global warming into the courts (another being Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, in which Cato also filed a brief). All of these suits try to use the common law doctrine of nuisance—which, for example, lets you sue your neighbor if his contaminated water flows onto your land and kills your lawn—to attack carbon emitt... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4450279 Tue, 08 Feb 2011 15:22:34 +0100 4450279 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4394517&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Feven-more-science-news.html Science news snippets from the net meanderings of David Bradley Sir David King on climate change – King said, “We hear enough from the climate change skeptics that I have to repeat some fundamentals that you’ve probably heard before.” Fifty-five million years ago, atmospheric CO2 concentrations stood at about 1,000 ppm and global temperatures were much higher and ocean levels were about 110 m higher than they are today. Large mammals developed on Antarctica because the climatic conditions on all of the other continents were inhospitable to such development.<br /> <br /> In the past 500,000 years, every ice age was characterized by atmospheric CO2 concentrations around 200 ppm; every short interglacial period by concentrations around 285 ppm, which was a... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4394517 Wed, 19 Jan 2011 10:00:06 +0100 4394517 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4394518&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fscience-news-5.html Latest science news snippets from Sciencebase Bee team funded by Bayer – It is revealed that the lead investigator in the study that recently published results suggesting that bee colony collapse disorder (CCD) is due to the combined effect of a virus and a fungus is funded by the insecticide company (Bayer). The researcher denies that this funding is connected to the research, it pays for other work, but you can't help but wonder whether there is a conflict of interest here. Who’s your favourite scientist? – Who's your favourite scientist? For me it has to be Feynman, although Faraday would be a close second, oh and perhaps Sagan, and then there's Curie, and Kroto…oh the list goes on… Definition of a chemistry research paper – I've ... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4394518 Mon, 17 Jan 2011 10:56:48 +0100 4394518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4337918&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FRo_Zy-0hwG8%2F By Ilya ShapiroWhile all the hot constitutional action of late, on issues ranging from Obamacare to gay marriage to immigration, has been in the lower courts — or even in Congress! — the Supreme Court still goes about its daily business.  After last year’s blockbuster term, however, this term is pretty low-profile aside from a spate of First Amendment cases (funeral protests, violent video games, school choice tax credits, public financing of election campaigns, etc.).  And so it was yesterday, when Supreme Court arguments over securities law and Western water rights were overshadowed by news of cases on which the Court decided not to rule: Without comment, the Court denied an unusual request — a petition for a writ of mandamus — in the Gulf Coast global warming la... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4337918 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 18:16:41 +0100 4337918 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4266089&cid=t_100841_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FypwyaXVAGxs%2F photo: Brennan Cavanaugh By Brennan Cavanaugh This story begins with my killing several of my Facebook friendships last holiday season. In one of my “let’s fix the world we’ve ruined” moments, I updated my FB status thusly: “So let me get this straight. We celebrate the supposed virgin birth of Jesus by cutting down a tree, only to throw it out a couple weeks later? Maybe this year we try decorating a cactus instead, or a chair, or a bike?” Subtle, right? But I forgot: You can’t mess with people’s unquestioned rituals and traditions. The crazies came out of the firewall calling me a Scrooge, wishing me a Merry Christmas, fa la la la la, dripping with sarcasm, and accusing me of self-righteous over-stepping. One woman actually told me to &#822... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4266089 Thu, 16 Dec 2010 18:48:07 +0100 4266089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4258842&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fju0qZPSZcWg%2F This study provides an elegant solution to one of the two key ice sheet instability problems” noted by the United Nations in their last (2007) climate compendium.  “It turns out that, contrary to popular belief, Greenland ice sheet flow might not be accelerated by increased melting after all,” he added. I’m not so sure that those who hold the “popular belief” can explain why Greenland’s ice didn’t melt away thousands of years ago.  For millennia, after the end of the last ice age (approximately 11,000 years ago) strong evidence indicates that the Eurasian arctic averaged nearly 13°F warmer in July than it is now. That’s because there are trees buried and preserved in the acidic Siberian tundra, and they can be carbon dated.  Where there is no forest today—because it... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4258842 Mon, 13 Dec 2010 20:04:58 +0100 4258842 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4233155&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FDdXc4yKp1gc%2F By Ilya ShapiroThe Supreme Court is finally starting to put some interesting non-First Amendment cases on this term’s docket. Today, the Court agreed to review American Electric Power Co., Inc. v. Connecticut, in which eight states, some non-profits, and New York City are suing a number of energy companies and utilities for harms they allegedly caused by contributing to global warming.  This is the third major lawsuit to push global warming into the courts (another being Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, in which Cato also filed a brief).  It’s America, after all, where we sue to solve our problems — even apparently, taking to court the proverbial butterfly that caused a tsunami. Mind you, you can sue your neighbor for leaking toxic water onto your land. Courts are well posi... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4233155 Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:38:27 +0100 4233155 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4219724&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fb62q3LyCjcs%2F By Johan NorbergThe financial crisis and global warming have reinforced an age-old criticism of our traditional ways of measuring wealth, and a number of alternative indexes have been proposed that would instead measure people’s well-being and environmental sustainability. There are problems with using GDP. It involves an incredible amount of guesswork; and even if it were perfect, it would be bizarre to use production of goods and services as the only yardstick to evaluate our societies. But finding problems is one thing; it is something completely different to find an alternative that is better. Any sort of well-being index would require agreement on what well-being is, and there is a risk that governments would be tempted to find a one-size-fits-all standard and try to make us all wea... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4219724 Wed, 01 Dec 2010 21:58:36 +0100 4219724 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4205977&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F11%2F27%2F7-quick-tips-to-avoid-a-meltdown%2F When you feel like strangling the guy in front of you at Target, read these 7 Quick Ways to Calm Down, I laughed at the art that went with it because, well, I sort of looked like that the other day. I needed a reminder of them, and I thought maybe you could use one too. 1. Walk Away Know your triggers. If a conversation about global warming, consumerism, or the trash crisis in the U.S. is overwhelming you, simply excuse yourself. If you’re noise-sensitive and the scene at Toys-R-Us makes you want to throw whistling Elmo and his buddies across the store, tell your kids you need a time-out. (Bring along your husband or a friend so you can leave them safely, if need be.) My great-aunt Gigi knew her trigger points, and if a conversation or setting was getting close to them, she sim... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4205977 Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:30:52 +0100 4205977 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4205980&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F11%2F27%2Fwarming-world-or-just-world%2F From UCBerkeley News: Dire or emotionally charged warnings about the consequences of global warming can backfire if presented too negatively, making people less amenable to reducing their carbon footprint, according to new research from the University of California, Berkeley. “Our study indicates that the potentially devastating consequences of global warming threaten people’s fundamental tendency to see the world as safe, stable and fair. As a result, people may respond by discounting evidence for global warming,” said Robb Willer, UC Berkeley social psychologist and coauthor of a study to be published in the January issue of the journal Psychological Science. “The scarier the message, the more people who are committed to vi... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4205980 Sat, 27 Nov 2010 04:48:29 +0100 4205980 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4151747&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FgKhRO7iRgbM%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsNovember’s Scientific American features a profile of Georgia Tech atmospheric scientist Judith Curry,  who has committed the mortal sin of  reaching out to other scientists who hypothesize that global warming isn’t the disaster it’s been cracked up to be.  I have personal experience with this, as she invited me to give a research seminar in Tech’s prestigious School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences in 2008.  My lecture summarizing the reasons for doubting the apocalyptic synthesis of climate change was well-received by an overflow crowd. Written by Michael Lemonick, who hails from the shrill blog Climate Central, the article isn’t devoid of the usual swipes, calling her a “heretic,, which is hardly at all true.  She’s simply another hardworking sci... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4151747 Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:48:35 +0100 4151747 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4036623&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FWFxUx2Kc9Nw%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsNOTE:  This is the first in a series of monthly posts in which Senior Fellow Patrick J. Michaels reviews interesting items on global warming in the scientific literature that may not have received the media attention that they deserved, or have been misinterpreted in the popular press. The Current Wisdom only comments on science appearing in the refereed, peer-reviewed literature, or that has been peer-screened prior to presentation at a scientific congress. The Iceman Goeth:  Good News from Greenland and Antarctica How many of us have heard that global sea level will be about a meter—more than three feet—higher in 2100 than it was in the year 2000?  There are even scarier stories, circulated by NASA’s James E. Hansen, that the rise may approach 6 meters, alt... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4036623 Wed, 06 Oct 2010 20:33:17 +0100 4036623 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4003244&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F0rJN-rH7ys4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere’s a wise old saying about “don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” But perhaps we need a new saying along the lines of “don’t subsidize the foot that kicks you.” Here’s a good example: American taxpayers finance the biggest share of the budget for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which is an international bureaucracy based in Paris. The OECD is not as costly as the United Nations, but it still soaks up about $100 million of American tax dollars each year. And what do we get in exchange for all this money? Sadly, the answer is lots of bad policy. The bureaucrats (who, by the way, get tax-free salaries) just released their “Economic Survey of the United States, 2010” and it contains ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4003244 Mon, 27 Sep 2010 11:14:02 +0100 4003244 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3933057&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2Fice-jewelry-to-stay-cool-why-didnt-we-think-of-that%2F photo via Ecouterre Do you know how many times we held an ice cube against our wrist this summer? Dozens. The hottest summer on record in New York really made us sweat, whine, and search desperately for ways to cool off. That’s why we slapped our hands on our foreheads when we saw design team 01Mathery’s DIY solution for cooling off — ice-cube gems. Simply stick some chains or string in an ice cube tray, and let them freeze. Then you’re ready to have your own personal cooling system. We’d recommend only wearing these in the comfort of your own home or yard, though. Greeting your boss might be weird with water running down your chest. via Ecouterre Post from: BlissTree Ice Jewelry to Stay Cool: Why Didn't We Think of That? (Source: Healthbolt) Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3933057 Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:34:15 +0100 3933057 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3920805&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fclimate-change-cynic-changes-his-mind-in-new-book%2F photo via Guardian One of the most high-profile climate change skeptics in the world has decided that he was wrong. Bjørn Lomborg, a Danish scientist who has been compared to Hitler by the United Nation’s climate chief, has a book coming out next month recommending that tens of billions of dollars be spent every year to fight climate change. This is a man who, in the past, would aggressively challenge climate change activists, scientists, and advocates. We’re wondering what made him do such an about-face. Of course, this could’ve been his plan the whole time — to vehemently argue against the significance of global warming, only to later admit he was wrong in a potential best-seller. Is this just a ploy to make money, or did Bjørn really do a genuine 180º? via The ... Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3920805 Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:45:27 +0100 3920805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911671&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Flike-coffee-stop-driving-your-car%2F photo: Thinkstock If you’re one of millions who can’t fully function without a cup of coffee in the morning, you might want to rethink your driving habits. The coffee berry borer beetle thrives in warm weather, which the world is seeing a lot more of lately. When the temperatures in South America climb, the beetle is able to spread to more locations, destroying coffee crops along the way. Farmers haven’t yet found a way to kill the pest, so for now, coffee drinkers should do their best to work against climate change and global warming. Would you make your life a little greener to save your much-loved cup of Joe? via Treehugger Post from: BlissTree Like Coffee? Stop Driving Your Car (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911671 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:03:30 +0100 3911671 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3911673&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fyou-know-youre-unwell-if-you-spend-10-days-in-a-traffic-jam%2F like hundreds and hundreds of bummed-out people recently did on China’s National Highway 110 outside Beijing. Nothing was moving for more than 60 miles. Drivers were playing board games in the middle of the highway. And all involved were lucky, because the tie-up was actually supposed to last for more than a month. Blame road construction and freight traffic for this vehicular madness. Oh, and the fact that there are a lot of people in China. But somehow, the whole mess just magically cleared up this week. All righty then: So no one else on earth is allowed to complain about their work commute for a good long while. via The Economist video via CNN Post from: BlissTree You Know You're Unwell If...You Spend 10 Days In a Traffic Jam (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3911673 Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:09:22 +0100 3911673 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3907574&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fjohn-cleese-makes-climate-change-funny-tortoise-makes-it-cute%2F Sick of all the depressing photos of the effects of climate change? Then you’ll be glad to watch this adorable video courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium (and John Cleese). Personally, we don’t think a dose of cutesiness will kick most people into high gear as far as taking better care of the planet – but even we can’t resist that little tortoise.via The Huffington PostPost from: BlissTreeJohn Cleese Makes Climate Change Funny, Tortoise Makes It Cute (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3907574 Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:00:42 +0100 3907574 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3899367&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Fgreenimation-video-of-the-day%2F We know that global warming is destroying polar bears’ habitats. But, more importantly, what is it doing to their personal lives? Post from: BlissTree Polar Bears: Losing Their Homes – and Their Sanity (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3899367 Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:00:56 +0100 3899367 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3889065&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2F196204%2F Global Warming: The rising temperatures that have occurred in the last ten years have diminished plants’ ability to soak up carbon from the atmosphere. (via Guardian) Post from: BlissTree (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3889065 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:06:21 +0100 3889065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3881048&cid=t_100841_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2010%2F08%2F18%2Fglobal-warming-hardly%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on Politics Daily. Global Warming? Hardly. Who ya gonna believe? Me? Or your fryin’ eyes? Filed under: Politics Daily Tagged: climate change, comics, global warming, gop, humor, political cartoon, republican (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3881048 Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:25:21 +0100 3881048 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3854494&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2F194001%2F If You Were in a Good Mood, Sorry: Check out ten visions of what a post-apocalyptic earth will be like. New York actually looks pretty idyllic, aside from the whole “no-humans” part. (via Ecorazzi) Post from: BlissTree (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3854494 Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:00:22 +0100 3854494 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671648&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Feco-friendly-living-more-energy-efficient-air-conditioning-coming-soon%2F photo via Treehugger Air conditioning is one of those things that we feel bad about using, but really can’t make ourselves give up. The heat makes us cranky, so imagine how overjoyed we were today to learn that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has invented a new air conditioning process that would use 50-90% less energy than today’s most energy-efficient units. There will also be no CFCs of HCFCs used in the machines. One pound of either of those chemicals contributes to global warming as much as 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide. Whoa. Get us these A/Cs, pronto, please. via Treehugger Post from: BlissTree Eco-Friendly Living: More Energy-Efficient Air-Conditioning Coming Soon (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671648 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 22:05:35 +0100 3671648 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3621654&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fyn2y30BTYWE%2F By Ilya ShapiroWe have reached a denouement of sorts in the “blame XYZ companies for causing global warming which caused Hurricane Katrina which damaged my property” lawsuit that I’ve previously discussed and in which Cato filed an amicus brief.  When last I blogged about this, the Fifth Circuit had apparently lost its en banc quorum — a late judicial recusal left only 8 of 16 judges available to hear the appeal — and was figuring out what to do.  Well, on Thursday the court issued an order determining that it lacked a quorum, but that the panel opinion — the one that allowed the tendentious causation claims to proceed — remained vacated.  The money quote: “In sum, a court without a quorum cannot conduct judicial business. . . .  Becau... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3621654 Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:30:39 +0100 3621654 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3566603&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FiAghBQTZcm8%2F By Ilya ShapiroNearly two weeks ago, I blogged about some strange procedural developments in the big global warming case coming out of the Gulf Coast, Comer v. Murphy Oil USA.  On the eve of final briefing deadlines before the en banc Fifth Circuit, an eighth judge of that court recused from the case (we don’t know the reason, but the previous seven recusals were presumably due to stock ownership) and so the court was faced with an unprecedented situation: losing an en banc quorum after previously having had enough of one to vacate the panel decision and grant en banc rehearing in the first place.  We were all set to file our brief when the Clerk of the Fifth Circuit issued an order notifying the parties of the lost quorum and canceling the scheduled hearing — and nothing more.... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3566603 Sat, 15 May 2010 11:09:38 +0100 3566603 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3560214&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ftbj9Cdviku0%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsI see that my colleague Sallie James has already blogged on the inherent protectionism in the Senate’s long-awaited cap-and-tax bill.  A summary was leaked last night by The Hill. Well, we now have the real “discussion draft” of  “The American Power Act” [APA], sponsored by John Kerry (D-NH) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT).  Lindsay Graham (R-SC) used to be on the earlier drafts, but excused himself to have a temper tantrum. So, while Sallie talked about the trade aspects of the bill, I’d like to blather about the mechanics, costs, and climate effects. If you don’t want to read the excruciating details, stop here and note that it mandates the impossible, will not produce any meaningful reduction of planetary warming, and it will subsidize just about every fo... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3560214 Wed, 12 May 2010 19:42:53 +0100 3560214 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3529764&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FKfDaa9S6bb4%2F By Ilya ShapiroLast October, I blogged about Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, a lawsuit in Mississippi alleging that the defendant oil, coal, utility, and chemical companies emit carbon dioxide, which causes global warming, which exacerbated Hurricane Katrina, which damaged the plaintiffs’ property.  Mass tort litigation specialist Russell Jackson called the case “the litigator’s equivalent to the game ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.’”  In a brief that Cato was due to file this week, I framed the operative question as, “When a butterfly flaps its wings, can it be sued for the damage any subsequent tsunami causes?” The plaintiffs asserted a variety of theories under Mississippi common law, but the main issue at this stage was whether the plaintiffs had standing, or ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3529764 Tue, 04 May 2010 12:47:50 +0100 3529764 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3460130&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Ffeel%2Fpoll-of-the-day-should-our-country-quit-coal%2F Last week in Montcoal, West Virginia, an explosion inside a Massey Energy Company coal mine killed 29 men. Just four short years ago, 12 miners died inside West Virginia’s Sago coal mine. Nationwide, the powerful coal mining industry provides consistent jobs to many people in low-income areas. But at what cost? Just a few dozen human lives every couple of years. Should the U.S. continue its dependency on this dirty fossil fuel, even if it means risking the lives of many of its workers on a daily basis? Or should our nation phase out coal mining in favor of cleaner and safer alternative methods of energy production that could potentially spare the environment – not to mention lives? Take our poll below. #MicroPollDiv_247083 { width: 250px; margin: 0px auto; } via The New York Time... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3460130 Sun, 11 Apr 2010 18:52:54 +0100 3460130 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3403862&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F7qokWFmTTM0%2F By Chris Moody Too bad no one saw this coming: Social Security is now in the red. Now that the health care bill is law, you should know exactly how it’s going to affect you, your premiums, and your coverage over the next few years. Here’s a helpful breakdown. As the health care overhaul crosses home plate, global warming legislation steps up to bat. Appreciate this: Chinese currency rise will have a negligible effect on the trade deficit. For more, read the whole paper. Podcast:  “A Plea for Divided Government” featuring John Samples, author of the forthcoming book The Struggle to Limit Government. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3403862 Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:43:18 +0100 3403862 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3326962&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQGopcnt3yBs%2F By Chris Moody Kids these days…New study shows that most Millennials think “the government should do more to solve problems.” But if you take a closer look at the data there’s also some good news. Al Gore’s  latest global warming whopper. David Rittgers: Why both the Left and Right are wrong about using drones to counter terrorism worldwide. The case for reviving the “Privileges or Immunities” clause. Podcast: “Why McDonald Matters” featuring Timothy Sandefur. UPDATE: Cato Vice President for Legal Affairs Roger Pilon can scarcely believe it himself: The New York Times got it (mostly) right on the gun case argued today before the Supreme Court, while The Wall Street Journal missed the main point. In a piece for National Review... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3326962 Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:51:51 +0100 3326962 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3311763&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F02%2F26%2Fvalue-affirmation-and-the-situation-of-climate-change-beliefs%2F On NPR’s All Things Considered, Situationist Contributor Dan Kahan and Donald Braman were interviewed this week by Christopher Joyce regarding their important work on cultural cognition.  Here is an excerpt. * * * Over the past few months, polls show that fewer Americans say they believe humans are making the planet dangerously warmer, and that is despite a raft of scientific reports that say otherwise. And that puzzles many climate scientists, but not social scientists. As NPR’s Christopher Joyce reports, some of their research suggests that when people encounter new information, facts may not be as important as beliefs. CHRISTOPHER JOYCE: The divide between climate believers and disbelievers can be as wide as a West Virginia valley, and that’s where two of them square... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3311763 Fri, 26 Feb 2010 04:01:47 +0100 3311763 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3290950&cid=t_100841_132_f&fid=35024&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FBlindscientist%2F%7E3%2FNOilbk564rc%2F The read this Phil Jones holds himself defensively, his arms crossed tightly in front of his chest as if shielding himself from attack. Little wonder: Jones has spent the past three months being vilified for his central role in what is now called ‘climategate’ (sic, arch). and “I don’t think we should be taking much notice of what’s on blogs because they seem to be hijacking the peer-review process.” and concluding It is now essential for climate researchers to stand up for their science, he says. “[I'd] like to see the climate science community supporting the climate science more. Lots of them are trying but they’re being drowned out.” Some points: 1- He was and still is vilified, not because we (the public) think he is a villain, but his acti... Blind.Scientist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3290950 Fri, 19 Feb 2010 20:18:29 +0100 3290950 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3279961&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F2_4pez2nMmg%2F By Chris Moody How the Tea Party movement can prove its authenticity. Why Americans’ first loyalty must be to the Constitution “Snowmageddon!” If you’ve been watching the news, recent snow storms both prove and disprove global warming, depending on who you talk to. According to Pat Michaels, both sides are wrong: “The fact of the matter is that global warming simply hasn’t done a darned thing to Washington’s snow. The planet was nearly a degree (Celsius) cooler in 1899, when the previous record was set. If you plot out year-to-year snow around here, you’ll see no trend whatsoever through the entire history.” Did last week’s government shutdown actually save American’s billions of dollars? Podcast:”Scrap ‘... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3279961 Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:40:30 +0100 3279961 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3243780&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FsDY0XenFj-I%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsToday’s New York Times reports that President Obama has “ordered the rapid development of technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of coal,” as well as mandating the production of more corn-based ethanol and financing farmers to produce “cellulosic” ethanol from waste fiber. You’ve got to like the president’s moxie.  Faced with his inability to pass health care reform and cap-and-trade, he now chooses to command the impossible and the inefficient. Most power plants are simply not designed for carbon capture.  There isn’t any infrastructure to transport large amounts of carbon dioxide, and no one has agreed on where to put all of it.  Corn-based ethanol produces more carbon dioxide in its life cycle than i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3243780 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:01:00 +0100 3243780 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3239547&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTVYWjIqunY0%2F By David BoazAs I hope you know by now, John Stossel is on the Fox Business Network every Thursday night at 8 p.m. Don’t miss it. But if you do, there are rebroadcasts at 10 p.m. Friday, 7 p.m. Saturday, and 11 p.m. Sunday. But some people complain that their local cable station doesn’t carry the Fox Business Network. Well, contact them and tell them you want Stossel! (I’ll wait while you do that.) And now, since the cable company won’t add the network instantly, you should also know that clips and full shows are also available at Hulu.com. Just go to http://www.hulu.com/stossel for lots of recent shows — on health care, global warming, Ayn Rand, Whole Foods, and more. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3239547 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:39:35 +0100 3239547 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3149020&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36069&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffrankiespeakingfrankly.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fdoes-global-warming-really-exist-my.html My local MP (member of parliament, for those of you reading not in the UK), Gary Streeter, recently confessed in our local newspaper (‘Plymptom, Plymstock and Ivybridge News’, Friday 18th December) and on his blog that he his sceptical of global warming. He agrees that the climate is changing, but questions whether it is us that are causing it or whether it is happening naturally.He says ‘I have a confession, which will disappoint some. I have tried really heard to buy into the hard-core green agenda over the past few years but something inside prevents me from going the whole way. I realise that pumping carbon into our atmosphere can hardly be a good thing, but is it really causing a change in weather patterns of this awesome globe on which we live? I want to believe and yet…’Ga... Frankie Speaking Frankly blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3149020 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:11:00 +0100 3149020 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3115253&cid=t_100841_136_f&fid=37852&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdonnatrussell.com%2F2009%2F12%2F23%2Fneutral-news-network-tackles-climate-change%2F New cartoon by Trussell & Trussell on AOL’s Politics Daily. Neutral News Network Tackles Climate Change. Posted in Politics Daily Tagged: chaos theory, climate change, cnn, global warming, mainstream media, msm, political cartoon, propaganda (Source: Donna Trussell) Donna Trussell blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3115253 Wed, 23 Dec 2009 15:08:05 +0100 3115253 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104988&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FO5_ZsC2Ze5g%2F By David BoazDec. 17 (Bloomberg) – World leaders flying into Copenhagen today to discuss a solution to global warming will first face freezing weather as a blizzard dumped 10 centimeters (4 inches) of snow on the Danish capital overnight. Copenhagen (CNN) – In a strange twist, a Washington snowstorm is forcing Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to make an early departure from a global warming summit here in Denmark. Pelosi told CNN that military officials leading her Congressional delegation have urged the 21 lawmakers to leave Copenhagen several hours earlier than scheduled on Saturday. The Speaker said she has agreed to the new travel plan so that lawmakers can get back to Washington before much of the expected storm wallops the nation’s capital. Washington Post: Before l... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104988 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:32:21 +0100 3104988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104990&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FFC4-rdlcDkw%2F By Patrick J. MichaelsLate Friday afternoon, the White house announced a “meaningful agreement” at the Copenhagen climate summit.  Details are currently unavailable, but a White House official said that developed and developing countries have agreed to list their national actions and commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with a “target” of a two degree (Celsius) limit to any further global warming. In other words, there are no specific emissions reductions targets and timetables.  A country may choose no national reductions, or maybe a national program and that would be their “list.” And just what carbon dioxide level will stop warming over two degrees? No one knows, at least until computer models stop forecasting warming that isn’t happ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104990 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:40:35 +0100 3104990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104996&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FSSVKuxXsqbI%2F By Roger PilonPolitico asks, “Was he convincing?” My response: In Copenhagen this morning, President Obama convinced only those who want to believe — of which, regrettably, there is no shortage.  Notice how he began, utterly without doubt:  “You would not be here unless you, like me, were convinced that this danger is real.  This is not fiction, this is science.”  The implicit certitude is no part of real science, of course.  But then the president, like the environmental zealots cheering him in Copenhagen, are not really interested in real science.  Theirs, ultimately, is a political agenda.  How else to explain the corruption of science that the East Anglia Climate Research email scandal has brought to light, and the efforts, presently, to dismiss the s... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104996 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:49:18 +0100 3104996 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3104997&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FJPUOod4bfg0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellPat Michaels and others are working heroically to save America from global central planning for purposes of combatting global warming (or climate change, or whatever they’re calling it now). But let’s also be thankful this holiday season for our Founding Fathers, who wisely created a system based on separation of powers. If the United States had a parliamentary system, there would be no hope of derailing some of the statist schemes being discusssed in DC, even if Pat worked 24 hours a day. The secretary of state, for instance, is issuing pronouncements about putting American tapxayers on the chopping block to help finance $100 billion per year of new “climate change” foreign aid. This money can only be squandered, however, if the House and Sen... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3104997 Fri, 18 Dec 2009 16:44:29 +0100 3104997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3082389&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FEhrIgHk52wE%2F By Andrei IllarionovAs the Copenhagen Climate Conference is taking place, it is appropriate to clarify once again what is more or less accurately known about the climate of our planet and about climate change. Obviously, a brief post can not substitute for detailed studies of professionals in a variety of scientific disciplines – climatology, atmospheric physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and economics. However, a short post can summarize basic theses on the main trends in climate evolution, on its forecasts, and on its actual and projected effects. 1. The Earth’s climate is constantly changing. The climate was changing in the past, is changing now and, obviously, will be changing in the future – as long as our planet exists. 2. Climatic changes are largely cyclical in nature. T... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3082389 Fri, 11 Dec 2009 22:33:41 +0100 3082389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3075484&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FnclzWcxzEUg%2F By David BoazCould it be the Washington Post? Bannered across the top of the Post’s op-ed page today is a piece titled “Copenhagen’s political science,” titularly authored by Sarah Palin. I’m delighted to see the Post publishing an op-ed critical of the questionable science behind the Copenhagen conference and the demands for massive regulations to deal with “climate change.” But Sarah Palin? Of all the experts and political leaders a great newspaper might call on for a critical look at the science behind global warming, Sarah Palin? What’s even more interesting is that the Post also ran an op-ed by Palin in July. But during this entire year, the Post has not run any op-eds by such credible and accomplished Republicans as Gov. Mitch Daniels; ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3075484 Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:33:02 +0100 3075484 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3067013&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FyefUWEV1P1c%2F By Patrick J. Michaels25,000 bureaucrats, factota, hangers on, and representatives of various environmental organizations have just converged on Copehagen for the UN’s latest “Conference of the Parties (COP) to its infamous 1992 climate treaty. Expect a lot of heat, not much light, and a punt right into our next election. President Obama says that the US will agree to a “politically binding” reduction of our emissions of carbon dioxide to a mere 17% of 2005 levels by 2050. This will allow the average American the carbon dioxide emission of the average citizen in 1867. Obama’s pronouncement has stepped all over the toes of the US Senate, which really doesn’t want to vote on similar legislation this election year. Jim Webb, a democrat heretofore very loyal to the President recent... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3067013 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 04:01:37 +0100 3067013 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3706916&cid=t_100841_147_f&fid=39211&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.insighthealthcaresolutions.com%2Ffiles%2FScience_lies_and_stolen_emails.php%23unique-entry-id-81 As this is a blog about medicine, I haven’t written much about global warming. Moreover, until a few months ago, I was a bit of a skeptic about the science behind global warming. My skepticism was centered on a few key points that I didn’t feel had been adequately addressed: • First, I was unconvinced that current temperatures exceeded that of the Medieval Warm Period, a period of warm climate in the North Atlantic from about 800 to 1300. During this time, the weather was warm enough for the Vikings to colonize Greenland and to support a settlement in Newfoundland. • Second, California glaciers (yes California has numerous glaciers), like Palisade Glaciers in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges were only about 700 years old, so obviously (to me), it’s col... Medical Products Insight RSS Feed blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3706916 Fri, 04 Dec 2009 00:00:00 +0100 3706916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3044733&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FQ1ccO3jpQ_s%2F This has not been a good week for the global warming alarmists. They’ve been caught with their pants down on the Climate-gate email scandal, and they are terrorized by my colleague Pat Michaels. So this is the time to add some insult to injury with a very amusing video. On the topic of amusing videos, here’s one on health care put together by Ladies4Liberty, featuring Cato’s Nena Bartlett. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3044733 Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:43:59 +0100 3044733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3012368&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Ful9uy7lpje4%2F There are two different stories coming from the same political party on global warming, leading to only one conclusion: President Obama is about to (or has) ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to mandate some type of cap on U.S. carbon dioxide emissions. Harry Reid and other democratic leaders in the Senate have clearly indicated that cap-and-trade legislation will be put off at least, until what they call “spring”, which is long after the upcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen next month. At the same time, President Obama has said that the U.S., along with China, will announce some type of emissions cap in Copenhagen. Obviously this cannot refer to legislation that has yet to be voted on in the Senate. President Obama keeps using the language “operati... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3012368 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:25:54 +0100 3012368 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2970199&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F1fh_fPOPVfI%2F Even though the climate change summit in Copenhagen next month is likely to yield very little, domestic shenanigans continue. The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works passed a bill on Thursday amid controversy, and the farmers’ friends in the Senate (notably Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D. Mich) are looking to send goodies their way by filing an amendment that would pay farmers for not cutting down trees, not farming, and will likely see states such as — well, how about that! —  Michigan “cashing in” (see here). Meanwhile, those concerned about the cost of climate change regulations may have lost an ally. Often, but not always, one can depend on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to defend free enterprise, or at least free trade. On climate change, however, t... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2970199 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:55:16 +0100 2970199 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2908570&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGhLITcCmrOs%2F The New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit, the federal court of appeals where I once clerked, has allowed a class action lawsuit by Hurricane Katrina victims to proceed against a motley crew of energy, oil, and chemical companies.  Their claim: that the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions raised air and water temperatures on the Gulf Coast, contributing to Katrina’s strength and causing property damage.  Mass tort litigation specialist Russell Jackson calls the plaintiffs’ claims “the litigator’s equivalent to the game ‘Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.’” In Comer v. Murphy Oil USA, the plaintiffs assert a variety of theories under Mississippi common law, but the main issue at this stage was whether the plaintiffs had standing, or whether they coul... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2908570 Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:20:08 +0100 2908570 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898991&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fclimate-change-action.html It’s Blog Action Day 2009 and the subject this year is Climate Change. So, here are a few resources for readers seeking out climate information: IPCC – Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – The IPCC assesses the scientific, technical and socio-economic information relevant for the understanding of the risk of human-induced climate change. EPA – The US EPA Climate Change site provides comprehensive information on the issue of climate change and global warming in a way that is accessible and meaningful. BBC Weather Centre – Aims to inform people about the potential changes in our weather over the next 100 years. RealClimate – A commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists for the interested public and journalists. Island of Doubt ... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898991 Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:00:01 +0100 2898991 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2851739&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FNbCPxJgC9Vg%2F Here’s a nice follow up to my blog post on Tuesday: firms importing solar panels to the United States face a $70 million bill because of unpaid duties. It seems to me that a government truly concerned about global warming–putting aside the merits of that position–would want to encourage the adoption of solar panels, including by keeping them as cheap as possible. Nor, I would have thought, is this the time to add more fuel to the fire that is starting to characterize the U.S. trade relationship with China. There’s plenty enough fuel for that already. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2851739 Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:23:46 +0100 2851739 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774920&cid=t_100841_151_f&fid=36896&url=http%3A%2F%2Fsuboxonetalkzone.com%2Fcoolworld.pdf Every chronic pain patient and opiate addict looks forward to the day someone finds the Holy Grail for opiates:  an agent that blocks or reduces tolerance and that eliminates withdrawal.  The two phenomena are linked and so the same agent may help with both problems,  or perhaps instead there will be a better understanding of the myriad interactions involved in opiate tolerance and not a single cure, but rather a number of medications beside the current, insufficient gold standard, clonidine.  A few weeks ago I decided to do some reading on opiate tolerance to see what we have learned lately,  and I started out with Google, searching the phrase “opiate dependence mechanism of tolerance”.  To my surprise, the first ‘hit’ was a NIDA monograph– try it for y... Suboxone Talk Zone blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774920 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:49:13 +0100 2774920 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2712065&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FacawJ5E21T8%2F Since the June House vote on the Waxman-Markey “cap-and-trade” bill, lawmakers from both chambers have backed significantly away from the legislation. The first raucous “town hall” meetings occurred during the July 4 recess, before health care. Voters in swing districts were mad as heck then, and they’re even more angry now. Had the energy bill not all but disappeared from the Democrats’ fall agenda, imagine the decibel level if members were called to defend it and Obamacare. But none of this has dissuaded the editorial boards of the The New York Times and Washington Post. Both newspapers featured uncharacteristically shrill editorials today demanding climate change legislation at any cost. The Post, at least, notes the political realities facing cap-and-trade and ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2712065 Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:41:08 +0100 2712065 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2657586&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4Pc9P-lMicE%2F Conor Clarke at The Atlantic blog, raised several issues with my study, “What to Do About Climate Change,” which Cato published last year. One of Conor Clarke’s comments was that my analysis did not extend beyond the 21st century. He found this problematic because, as Conor put it, climate change would extend beyond 2100, and even if GDP is higher in 2100 with unfettered global warming than without, it’s not obvious that this GDP would continue to be higher “in the year 2200 or 2300 or 3758”. I addressed this portion of his argument in Part I of my response. Here I will address the second part of this argument, that “the possibility of ‘catastrophic’ climate change events — those with low probability but extremely high cost — becomes real after 2100.” The examples o... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2657586 Thu, 30 Jul 2009 12:53:05 +0100 2657586 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2605950&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2Fp8YF_NBYC1U%2F Last week Conor Clarke at The Atlantic blog , apparently as part of a running argument with Jim Manzi, raised four substantive issues with my study, “What to Do About Climate Change,” that Cato published last year. Mr. Clarke deserves a response, and I apologize for not getting to this sooner. Today, I’ll address the first part of his first comment. I’ll address the rest of his comments over the next few days. Conor Clarke:  (1) Goklany’s analysis does not extend beyond the 21st century. This is a problem for two reasons. First, climate change has no plans to close shop in 2100. Even if you believe GDP will be higher in 2100 with unfettered global warming than without, it’s not obvious that GDP would be higher in the year 2200 or 2300 or 3758. (This depends cru... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2605950 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 12:51:11 +0100 2605950 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2556403&cid=t_100841_180_f&fid=38613&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stevepavlina.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F06%2Fclimate-change%2F This report is limited to how climate change is affecting the USA, but some of these impacts can be generalized to other parts of the world as well. Is climate change happening? The USGCRP scientists report that climate change is already occurring in a measurable way, and those changes are primarily caused by human activity. They were very clear and direct about that. During the past 50 years, average U.S. temperatures have risen by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. This change is due to human activity, most notably from the rise in greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. During the 50-year period before that, there was no net change in average temps. This recent increase isn’t due to natural fluctuations — the scientists were able to rule that out as... Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2556403 Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:03:56 +0100 2556403 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2517207&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FODHHpGih82A%2F Pat Michaels and I have written an op-ed on the climate change bill due for a vote tomorrow in Congress, and our opinions on its provisions are summarized pretty well there. In short, the bill appears to offer very little in the way of reduced global warming in return for harm to the domestic economy and to international relations. Yesterday’s New York Times energy and environment section (online) contains an article picking up on the increasingly harmful trade-related parts of the bill. Apparently the House Ways and Means Committee is trying to assert language that would make imposing carbon tariffs more likely than did the original Energy and Commerce Committee bill, bad enough that it was. So what say you, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), chairman of the House Ways and Means Commit... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2517207 Thu, 25 Jun 2009 16:05:30 +0100 2517207 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452375&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F3-9_Z-Dlfq8%2F Dana Milbank has the evidence: For the past few years, liberal activists have gathered in Washington each spring for the Take Back America conference…. But now that Obama has actually taken back America, the activists at this year’s gathering feel a bit like the dog that finally caught up with the car. Organizers changed the name from Take Back America to America’s Future Now, but that didn’t prevent a sharp decline in participation. … Hickey estimates attendance dropped from 2,500 last year to 1,500 this year, and even that may overstate things. At yesterday morning’s four concurrent “issue briefings,” 585 chairs were set out. Only 213 of them were occupied, including just 15 for the session on global warming. (Source: Cato-at-liberty) Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452375 Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:29:51 +0100 2452375 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2452385&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FTTLjvcnbj2g%2F The Washington Post writes about how President Obama became obsessed with grabbing our complex energy systems by the scruff of the neck and shaking them into something more appealing to Ivy League planners. I was struck by this vignette: But even before the late-night session in July, Obama had begun to educate himself about energy and climate and to use those issues to define himself as a politician, say people who have advised him. He read a three-part New Yorker series on climate change, for instance, and mentioned it in three speeches. It’s great that he read a three-part series in the New Yorker. But has the president ever actually read anything by a climate change skeptic? Actually, a better term would be “a climate change moderate.” Leading “skeptic” Pa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2452385 Wed, 03 Jun 2009 17:28:33 +0100 2452385 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2441360&cid=t_100841_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F05%2Fvideo-game-poisoning.html If you use a generator to power your X-box after a hurricane, you might get sick. And you might cause Al Gore to have angina.So use a long extension cord.Money quote: “We usually have patients arriving in the emergency department with carbon monoxide poisoning because they tried to keep food fresh, run a fan or home air conditioner, but not power electronic gadgets,” Dr. Caroline Fife, a UT associate professor of medicine, said in a news release. (Source: Scalpel or Sword?) Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2441360 Wed, 27 May 2009 23:08:00 +0100 2441360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2405114&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fmichael-barone-on-how-global-warming-is.html When science becomes ideology or quasi-religion, it ceases to be science and becomes something else. The brilliant political analyst Michael Barone has weighed in on this concern in a new column (which also deals with gun control, beyond our scope here.) He notes that despite the constant propaganda of the last few years, fewer people today believe in man-made global warming then just last year. And he ponders the whole thing. From his column (with gun references deleted):For liberal elites, belief in... global warming has taken on the character of religious faith. We have sinned (by...driving SUVs); we must atone (by...recycling); we must repent (by supporting...cap and trade schemes). You may notice that the "we" in question is usually the great mass of ordinary American citizens.The lib... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2405114 Mon, 11 May 2009 14:56:00 +0100 2405114 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386855&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F05%2Fmore-science-word-engineering-global.html The science intelligentsia and our betters among the liberal elite want what they want--and they aren't about to be constrained by the rules of fair and honest debate to get it. Thus, in the euthanasia debate--which itself is a word that once did not mean mercy killing but was co-opted by early euthanasia activists--changed to euphemistic phrases such as "death with dignity," and we were told that dying people can't commit "suicide," rather they seek "aid in dying." (For a detailed overview of the euthanasia movement's many iterations of words and phrases for mercy killing, see Rita Marker's and my, "Words, Words, Words.")As we have discussed often here at SHS, Big Biotech and its advocates have completely roiled the waters by creating a postmodern science lexicon in which terms cease to b... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386855 Sun, 03 May 2009 20:31:00 +0100 2386855 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376171&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2009%2F04%2F29%2Fthe-situation-of-climate-change%2F From Pop!Tech and YouTube, here is Situationist friend, Harvard Professor Daniel Gilbert speaking  about the psychology of global warming. * * * * * * For related Sitautionist posts, see “Jeffrey Sachs on the Situation of Global Poverty,” “The Need for a Situationist Morality,” “The Heat is On,” and “Captured Science.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376171 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 05:11:53 +0100 2376171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2353787&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F04%2Ftoo-much-sex-causes-global-warming-take.html A famous global warming scientist issued an alarming study today finding that too much sex is a major cause of global warming. "All that heavy breathing releases tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere," Dr, Raymond Sunburn, the head of the Aspen/Davos Collective's think tank, Keep Earth Cool, said today. Sunburn, who earned the world's first Ph.D. in biospheric computer modeling studies, added, "Our computer models show that if people don't reduce their rate of intercourse and heavy petting to, at most, once a month, the polar bears will become extinct by 2050."When asked what people should do who get "pent up," the ironically named Dr. Sunburn said, "Take a cold shower. In that way, you both avoid using more than your fair share of exhales and you save the earth by heating less water.... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2353787 Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:12:00 +0100 2353787 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2348538&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F04%2F18%2Fvideo-7-ways-to-manage-anxiety%2F Do you avoid Disney World because the life-sized rodents trigger a panic attack? Or does a conversation about global warming throw you into a tailspin? If so, listen up. Click through to watch the video. (Source: World of Psychology) World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2348538 Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:20:12 +0100 2348538 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2306727&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FE8F9LmYINnI%2F Our friends at www.realclimate.org and www.ryanavent.com have been taking shots at the statements in our ad, so I’d like to offer a little commentary. We make three factual assertions. First, we say that “surface temperature changes over the past century have been episodic and modest”. We cite Brohan et al., Journal of Geophysical Research (2006 and updates) and Swanson and Tsonis, Geophysical Research Letters, 2009. The first is the latest update of the East Anglia temperature history, which long has been the IPCC staple. It is the one most cited over the years by the IPCC because it was the first long history that contained much more than simply World Weather Records data updated with local records at the end of a month. At any rate, both it and other global histories i... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2306727 Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:04:00 +0100 2306727 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2258162&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2F12%2F12-things-i-learned-from-my-therapist%2F I’ve spent more time in therapy than I care to think about. More hours on that bloody couch than I’ve spent in the shower, brushing my teeth, or on the phone with telemarketers, because let’s face it, when I’m home, there really are no decision makers at my house. If I calculate one hour a week for 12 years, that’s 600 hours, which is 25 DAYS. What do I have to show for it? Lots of wisdom and advice. Journals and journals of it. But for your sake, I’ll just list 12. And after you get done reading my shrink insights, I want you to tell me yours, because I’m compiling such pearls for a writing project. 1. Know your triggers. From the first year of therapy: know your triggers. If a conversation about global warming, consumerism, or the trash crisis in the U.S. is overwhelming yo... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2258162 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:58:03 +0100 2258162 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2255999&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGAH40DzT1Jo%2F Thursday, March 12 Climate of Extremes 12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow) BOOK FORUM: Cato senior fellow in environmental studies Patrick J. Michaels will discuss his new book, Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don’t Want You to Know with David Legates, Delaware state climatologist and director of the Delaware Environmental Observing System. The book illustrates the crucial unreported news about climate change: that changes in hurricanes will be small, that global warming is likely to be modest, and that contrary to daily headlines, there is no apocalypse on the horizon. Free registration for this event is now open, and it will be simulcast live on Cato’s Web site. Transportation Reauthorization: Looking Beyond the Recession 1:30 PM (Refreshments Provided) CAPITOL HIL... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2255999 Mon, 09 Mar 2009 19:42:58 +0100 2255999 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2249694&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F4WbIZOjtlk0%2F Here’s a round-up of bloggers who are writing about Cato this week: Writing at the Adam Smith Institute blog, Phillip Salter discusses Patrick J. Michaels’s proposal that scientific articles should be available online for public comment. Penning his thoughts on Obama’s plan to raise taxes on oil and gas usage, Wintery Knight cites Jerry Taylor’s research that shows why similar price control programs didn’t work in the 1970s. Reihan Salam quotes William Niskanen on The Atlantic’s Washington blog in a post about the “starve the beast” theory that says lawmakers can slow government’s growth by lowering taxes and running up deficits. Think Progress blogger Matthew Yglesias responds to Michael Cannon’s work on health care reform... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2249694 Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:57:08 +0100 2249694 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2234425&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F5GM6ufRTijc%2F With a polarized debate among the scientific community over climate change, what about experts who admit that climate change is real, but don’t think it’s the end of the world? In today’s Cato Daily Podcast, Cato Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies Patrick J. Michaels explains the problem with the global warming debate. Either it seems you think the world is coming to an end from climate change, and pronto, or you say there is no such thing as climate change.…Now it’s gotten to the point where if you say climate change is real, but it’s not the end of the world, both poles of the debate get angry at you.…But, in fact, that is the truth: climate change is real; it’s modest. It’s proceeding at a rate that is below the statistical rates predicted by the climat... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2234425 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:55:17 +0100 2234425 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2194864&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2009%2F02%2F18%2Fits-possible-to-nurture-yourself-and-mother-nature%2F Midweek Mental Greening Last week, I told you about a Boston Globe article that discussed the negative mental health effects global warming is having on some people, and promised you some tips on how to deal with those kinds of effects – whether the issue is global warming, poverty, animal rights or any other matter that has you upset. Check them out below. Take action and get involved. As I mentioned last week, sitting around and twiddling my thumbs has never been my thing. One of the best ways you can ensure something is being done is to do something. Whether it’s as easy as making sure your signature is on the petitions for causes you believe in or as involved as organizing a local chapter of your favorite nonprofit. You’ll feel better about yourself and the problem or issue ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2194864 Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:19:44 +0100 2194864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2149893&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F527411426%2F To receive this segment by email, subscribe to the Cato Weekly Dispatch. Cato Leads Opposition to Fiscal Stimulus In reaction to statements from Obama administration officials who say “all economists agree” that the only way to fight the economic recession is to go on a massive government spending spree, the Cato Institute took out a full page ad in the nation’s largest newspapers that showed that those words were not true. Signed by more than 200 economists, including Nobel laureates and other highly respected scholars, the statement was published this week in The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other publications. On the day the ad ran in The New York Times, Cato executive vice president David Boaz added more names to the list of economists who are skeptical of the spe... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2149893 Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:05:36 +0100 2149893 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2112630&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F514102343%2F USA Today reports on Obama DOE nominee Steven Chu: The Nobel Prize winner nominated to head the Energy Department said Tuesday that he would focus the agency in part on global warming, a sharp departure from the agency’s priorities during the Bush administration. Citing new evidence in the debate over the legitimacy of global warming, Senior Fellow in Environmental Studies Patrick J. Michaels explains scientific bias in his new book, Climate of Extremes: Global Warming Science They Don’t Want You to Know. Watch Michaels discuss the possibility of a carbon tax on Fox Business and global warming on CNN’s Lou Dobbs. Senior Fellows Jerry Taylor and Peter Van Doren examine the true cost of climate change and defend the case against government support for alternative energy. (Source: C... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2112630 Fri, 16 Jan 2009 15:36:27 +0100 2112630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2078733&cid=t_100841_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F01%2Fglobal-warming-or-not.html "(Climate change) is the biggest whopper ever sold to the public in the history of humankind." - the Huffington PostAn inescapable truth. (Source: Scalpel or Sword?) Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2078733 Sun, 04 Jan 2009 09:45:00 +0100 2078733 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2035997&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F12%2F15%2Fjohn-jost-on-political-psychology%2F Here is an excellent interview by an intern from the Breakthrough Institute of Situationist contributor John Jost. * * * Why is the study of political psychology important? At its best, political psychology has the potential to improve, on the basis of reason and evidence, our political institutions and public policies so that they are more congruent with what we know about human behavior.  Social and political psychologists have, over the decades, offered sophisticated analyses and practical interventions with regard to stereotyping, prejudice, authoritarianism, sexism, aggression, nationalism, terrorism, war, and conflict resolution.  [See Political Psychology book here.] You conclude that fear motivates conservatism, but does this mean progressives should avoid fear-based appeals enti... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2035997 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 04:42:33 +0100 2035997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2017450&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F12%2Fwhen-science-and-media-becomes-ideology.html This blog doesn't deal with global warming per se, but it does worry about the corrupting influences on science and media exerted by ideology. Mostly, we have deconstructed this problem in the area of biotechnology. But the corruption has permeated the physical sciences, too, most particularly the supposed "fact" of catastrophic, human-caused climate change.As Secondhand Smokette pointed out in a column earlier this week, not only is the issue not beyond debate, but the attempt to stack the deck is becoming all too obvious by following the money trail. From her column:Over 10 years, not one study challenged the orthodoxy [of global warming] - does that sound right to you? If that were true, it would strongly suggest that, despite conflicting evidence in this wide and changing world, no sci... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2017450 Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:20:00 +0100 2017450 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2463379&cid=t_100841_180_f&fid=38616&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Flifelearningtoday%2Fwlyf%2F%7E3%2Ff_EMnnr0DPo%2F The answer is a resounding “Yes!” according to Matthys Levy, who wrote “Why the Wind Blows: A History of Weather and Global Warming.” Why? Levy states that reversing the global warming course will help future generations. My belief is that through choosing greener ways of living, we improve our own lives today as well. I think you will enjoy reading Mr. Levy’s personal insights to questions I posed to him recently. I know I did! I recently read “Why the Wind Blows” and I found it very enjoyable, interesting, and easy to read. I also feel that it is an important book that has the power to motivate people to live more “green lives.” I’ve written before on “Green Living” and how you can reduce your impact on the environme... Life Learning Today blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2463379 Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:50:10 +0100 2463379 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1911499&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F433057287%2Fbrainpower_eludes_victims.html Two forces powerfully at work in global markets also work within each workplace, so that an urgency exists for a human response. People line up on either side of these two divides, creating a sort of mental tug-a-war between courage and fear. It's also combat between seritonin and cortisol. On one side you'll find progressive innovators and on the other side, victims vent. Two polar ends remain at odds, in that innovators stand courageously and take new risks, while victims create anxiety and spread victimhood within their words. Have you heard it lately?Victims tell how some  pollute the planet. Innovators seek sustainability plans. Victims describe poorly met health needs. Innovators seek healthcare change. Victims dwell on who caused market to crash. Innovators re-invest fo... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1911499 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 01:04:20 +0100 1911499 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1859845&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F10%2F08%2Fthe-situation-of-risk-perceptions-abstract%2F We describe the results of a study to determine the synthetic-biology risk perceptions of a large and diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,500). The survey found that hierarchical, conservative, and highly religious individuals - one who normally are skeptical of claims of environmental risks (including those relating to global warming) - are the most concerned about synthetic biology risks. We offer an interpretation that identifies how selective risk-skepticism and risk-sensitivity can convey a cultural commitment to traditional forms of authority.        (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1859845 Wed, 08 Oct 2008 05:59:27 +0100 1859845 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1834760&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D920 global oneness project 17-min video: south african soccer activist teaches HIV/AIDS prevention (973) “poverty cannot conquer you for the rest of your life. you can conquer poverty as well.” — Nolusindiso “Titie” Plaatjie today is napwa’s first national gay men’s HIV/AIDS awareness day (ngmhaad 9-27) (972) sean strub at POZ: renewing the denver principles (971) The [1983] Denver Principles expressed a fundamental truth: to be successful, the fight against the [AIDS] epidemic must include—as equal partners in the battle—the people who have the disease. . . . From the earliest days of the epidemic, we have had to fight horrific stigma against those who hate or fear us. But when they would not allow us to hold their children, work at their side, touch their dishes, ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1834760 Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:26:08 +0100 1834760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1788630&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F09%2Fif-its-good-enough-for-animal.html This is a disturbing turn of events. I noted to myself, but did not bring it up here, that a UK jury acquitted vandals who attacked a coal plant because it felt that fighting global warming justified their lawlessness.I bring it up now because it turns out that result was helped to be brought about by James Hanson, the NASA scientist and apple of Al Gore's eye, who testified for the defense. From the NRO article, byline Henry Payne:Hansen's controversial turn stems from testimony he gave this month in a London criminal trial against Greenpeace supporters who were accused of defacing--at a cost of $60,000 in property damage-- Kingsnorth, an English coal plant. Hansen testified in support of the defense's assertion that the Greenpeace members had a "lawful excuse" because they were acting to... Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1788630 Sat, 13 Sep 2008 02:43:00 +0100 1788630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1750273&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D892 H.I.V. Is Spreading in New York City at Three Times the National Rate, a Study Finds By SEWELL CHAN August 28, 2008 The virus that causes AIDS is spreading in New York City at three times the national rate — an incidence of 72 new infections for every 100,000 people, compared with 23 per 100,000 nationally — according to a study released on Wednesday by the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The findings, based on a new formula developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, estimated that 4,762 New Yorkers contracted H.I.V. in 2006, the most precise estimate the city had ever offered. But the city stressed that because the method of estimating infections was new, it could not be said definitively whether the number of new infections in the city... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1750273 Mon, 01 Sep 2008 14:01:18 +0100 1750273 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1717258&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D866 Engagement and Deliverance at the CDC, Part 1 Nedra Weinreich spare change . . . Last week at the CDC’s 2nd National Conference on Health Communication, Marketing and Media, . . . So many sessions were scheduled, and nearly every one was spot-on as to the topics I want to learn about, that it was hard to choose which ones to attend. . . . [here are notes & links from two of the many conference presentations on spare change —rk] . . . Plenary session • James Surowiecki, author of The Wisdom of Crowds, talked about how, under the right conditions, a group’s decisions can be smarter than those of the smartest person in the group. He used examples like Google’s pagerank algorithm, racetrack betting and Best Buy’s yearly gift card sales. His point is ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1717258 Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:05:11 +0100 1717258 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1593757&cid=t_100841_125_f&fid=34819&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflapsblog.com%2F2008%2F07%2F07%2Fharry-reid-watch-killing-las-vegas%2F Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) proclaims that the hidden cost of coal and oil is that they make us sick. As Flap heads back to Las Vegas for the World Series of Poker, the Las Vegas Journal excoriates their Senior Senator for his remarks above on Gobal Warming. Nevada’s own Harry Reid has become a YouTube sensation for continually combining his gloomy disposition with rhetoric that makes even his most partisan supporters cringe. His latest hilarious monologue came a few days ago on the Fox Business channel when, in trying to defend the exorbitant costs (and federal subsidies) of renewable power, he asserted that money is overrated in debating the country’s energy policy. “Coal makes us sick. Oil makes us sick. It’s global warming. It’s ruining our co... FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1593757 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 17:15:07 +0100 1593757 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1563989&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D849 Conclusions Mortality rates for HIV-infected persons have become much closer to general mortality rates since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy. In industrialized countries, persons infected sexually with HIV now appear to experience mortality rates similar to those of the general population in the first 5 years following infection, though a mortality excess remains as duration of HIV infection lengthens. [my bolding —rk] thanks for the heads-up to john james at aids treatment news daily alerts (Source: aids-write.org) aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1563989 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:00:28 +0100 1563989 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1563990&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D848 Drug war on moms Toddler, newborn wrongly torn from family in stepped-up screening of pregnant women> By Troy Anderson, Staff Writer Article Last Updated: 06/28/2008 10:31:39 PM PDT Awakened by late-night pounding and his doorbell ringing, Palmdale resident Jesus Bejarano found a social worker and two sheriff’s deputies demanding he turn over his 20-month-old daughter, Kelly. The social worker said Bejarano’s 29-year-old wife, Cheila Herrera, had tested positive for amphetamines and PCP at Antelope Valley Hospital after giving birth to the couple’s son a week earlier. Their son, Jesse, who was born prematurely and was still at the hospital, had already been placed in protective custody. “It was terrible,” Herrera said of the Feb. 14 ordeal. “It wa... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1563990 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 01:47:04 +0100 1563990 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1563929&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=35762&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgrrlscientist%2F%7E3%2F325003224%2Fpenguins_canaries_in_our_clima.php tags: bpr3.org/?p=52, global warming, climate variation, climate change, penguins, El Nino, marine zoning, P. Dee Boersma Adélie penguins, Pygoscelis adeliae, and chicks. (a) Adélie penguin chicks may get covered in snow during storms, but beneath the snow their down is warm and dry. (b) When rain falls, downy Adélie chicks can get wet and, when soaked, can become hypothermic and die. Images: P. Dee Boersma. According to an article that was just published in the journal BioScience, penguin populations are declining sharply due to the combined effects of overfishing and pollution from offshore oil operations and shipping. Dee Boersma, professor of biology and the Wadsworth Endowed Chair in Conservation Science at the University of Washington in Seattle, has been studying Pata... Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1563929 Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:03:59 +0100 1563929 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1556235&cid=t_100841_125_f&fid=34819&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflapsblog.com%2F2008%2F06%2F30%2Fharry-reid-watch-coal-and-oil-make-us-sick%2F Democrat Senate Majority leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) proclaims that “coal makes us sick and oil makes us sick…” Harry Reid who last year proclaimed that the Iraq War was lost now says that coal and oil make us sick. So, what do you propose Senator lay off all of the coal and oil industry workers and do what? Nuclear power? No, you are against that too. Back to the horse and buggy, and candles I presume…… (Source: FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog) FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1556235 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:43:09 +0100 1556235 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1531058&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34825&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wesleyjsmith.com%2Fblog%2F2008%2F06%2Fcbs-changes-history.html CBS News has taken down the ridiculous story about global warming causing increased earthquake activity. But there is no acknowledgment that the "news" was pure junk. Just the statement: This page cannot be foundThat is utterly inadequate. The story was linked on the Drudge Report for awhile, meaning it might have been accessed by millions of people. (When I last checked, it remains on the MSNBC site.)It seems to me that the media--Drudge included--have a duty to formally retract a bogus story, not just make it disappear. The fact that they may be utterly embarrassed for running it does not excuse this duty to the public.Is it any wonder the public is fast losing confidence in the MSM? I sure have. (Source: Secondhand Smoke) Secondhand Smoke blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1531058 Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:15:00 +0100 1531058 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1475482&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F28%2Fal-gores-situationism-and-call-for-urgency%2F For a related post, see “Al Gore - The Situationist.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1475482 Wed, 28 May 2008 23:04:24 +0100 1475482 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1466830&cid=t_100841_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F5%2F24%2Fdispatches-from-israel-2-where-science-reigns-supreme.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.DSunday, May 18, 2008.Israel is a country of unrelenting tensions: between religious and secular, between left-leaning peaceniks and right wing uncompromising hawks, between rich and poor. These are universal tensions; we have them here as well. But here is one that is unique to the history of Israel: tension between those who saw Israel as a place of refuge and renewal of a nation, and those who saw it as a spiritual place, radiating enlightenment and reason to the rest of the world—the embodiment of the biblical “light unto the nations”. The “practical” wing of Zionism was headed by young socialists from Eastern Europe like David Ben Gurion, who advocated the creation of “facts on the ground” in the form of collective farms... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1466830 Sat, 24 May 2008 23:38:54 +0100 1466830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1458635&cid=t_100841_137_f&fid=35357&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FAlzheimersNotes%2F%7E3%2F294788053%2F AlzheimersNotes.com   With summer approaching (in the Northern Hemisphere), we begin to pull our shorts and bathing suits out of the closet and see if we can can fit into them.  If they’re a bit snug (a lot sung) we begin thinking of losing a few pounds.   We’re not obese, but want to be comfortable in our clothes, can breathe without puffing up the stairs, and can run easily if we have to chase after a wandering Alzheimer’s patient. Also, by losing some of those pounds, we may be helping the environment and cutting down on global warming!  “What!”  you say.  “Obesity/overweight and global warming are connected?. Yes, a study has come out that obesity may contribute to global warming.  My co-blogger, Liz Lewis, also writes at b5 media’s He... Alzheimer's Notes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1458635 Wed, 21 May 2008 05:00:05 +0100 1458635 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1454342&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F05%2F20%2Fobesity-and-global-warming-one-mans-personal-view%2F Okay, so enough with what the scientists are saying about ‘obesity and global warming’. I want to hear what the man on the street blogosphere has to say about it all. Luckily, I’ve found just the man. Israel over at Fatman Unleashed was ahead of the game on this one. He weighed in on the subject last month with this post  ‘Fat People Cause Global Warming: Fat Isn’t Very Green.’  Lately, we have noticed an increasing push for “going green.” We have seen changes in everything from transportation to food preparation to the internet. This got me thinking about how I could make my life greener. My immediate realization was that I was a walking global warming vessel. I’m fat. Being fat can’t be very green. Can it? We need to reduce our emissions of h... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1454342 Tue, 20 May 2008 10:53:58 +0100 1454342 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1451778&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=34872&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.healthbolt.net%2F2008%2F05%2F19%2Ffact-or-ficton-obesity-is-contributing-to-global-warming%2F Okay, don’t shoot the messenger but the word out on the streets is that ‘obesity is to blame for global warming.’ So is there merit to this hypothesis or is it just one more way of laying a guilt trip on those who are overweight? Let’s look at the facts. This recent discussion relating obesity to global warming started when The Lancet published a letter by two British scientists that stated the obese population consumes 18% more food energy than the normal weight population. And as a result… “…more transportation fuel energy will be used to transport the increase mass of the obese population, which will increase even further if, as is likely, the overweight people in response to their increased body mass choose to walk less and drive more.” T... Healthbolt blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1451778 Mon, 19 May 2008 08:10:44 +0100 1451778 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1436864&cid=t_100841_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F05%2Fglobal-warming-alert.html Don't look now, but we're about to be surrounded by great tits.h/t Ace. (Source: Scalpel or Sword?) Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1436864 Mon, 12 May 2008 16:32:00 +0100 1436864 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1419708&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F05%2F04%2Fthe-second-national-risk-and-culture-study-abstract%2F Situationist contributor Dan Kahan, Donald Braman, Situationist contributor Paul Slovic, John Gastil, and Geoffrey Cohen posted their paper, “The Second National Risk and Culture Study: Making Sense of - and Making Progress In - The American Culture War of Fact” on SSRN. We’ve pasted the abstract below. * * * Cultural Cognition refers to the disposition to conform one’s beliefs about societal risks to one’s preferences for how society should be organized. Based on surveys and experiments involving some 5,000 Americans, the Second National Risk and Culture Study presents empirical evidence of the effect of this dynamic in generating conflict about global warming, school shootings, domestic terrorism, nanotechnology, and the mandatory vaccination of school-age g... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1419708 Sun, 04 May 2008 21:00:20 +0100 1419708 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1404107&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E5%2F279517458%2Fx2q6BxtbF2E%26amp%3Bhl%3Den Living in Vermont, I get to meet really interesting people sometimes -- and this weekend, I had the serendipitous fortune to meet a woman who decided she, one person, was going to try and make a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1404107 Mon, 28 Apr 2008 17:07:47 +0100 1404107 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1391265&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=35677&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FBrainBasedBusiness%2F%7E3%2F275376673%2Ffloat_your_business_on_the_wat.html Entrepreneurs built it and entrepreneurs are buying it. Innovative thinkers are increasingly moving their brainpower east … where creativity’s moving out to sea.Dubai … to be exact …  is touting an entrepreneur’s brain child … building organizations over seabeds … and it's already working wonders. The plan is to protect human lives ... organizations ... and properties from global warming dangers. Why Dubai? It's said to be the place of opportunity ... where  innovations of every kind survive, grow, and thrive. Would you move your firm there to jumpstart research and development in your field? For some … life in Dubai demands too big a sacrifice. Check out 20 reasons not to move t... BrainBasedBusiness blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1391265 Tue, 22 Apr 2008 13:34:53 +0100 1391265 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1366722&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2F268378447%2Fmanufactroversy.html Leah Ceccarelli has just penned a fascinating analysis of how so-called scientific controversies are created to serve political purposes: "With all the sophisticated sophistry besieging mass... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1366722 Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:42:51 +0100 1366722 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1352089&cid=t_100841_132_f&fid=35001&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nodalpoint.org%2F2008%2F04%2F03%2Fconferences_perk_or_peril_to_the_planet Not long ago I thought that conference travel was a perk of the trade, and helped compensate for the academic salary and lack of six-figure bonuses. This was despite the fact that I have been a leftie/green for as long as I can remember. Denial works in mysterious ways. Now I have read Six degrees by Mark Lynas and see airport expansion potentially going crazy in London - and I think maybe all this conference travel can be reduced. read more (Source: nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog) nodalpoint.org - A bioinformatics weblog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1352089 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:03:29 +0100 1352089 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1325009&cid=t_100841_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F3%2F25%2Forigins-of-major-human-infectious-diseases.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D While researching yesterday’s blog (“The Anatomy of an Exotic epidemic: When Science and Politics Collide”), my interest was piqued by an interesting article in the journal Nature by none other than Jared Diamond and his colleagues at UCLA. It examined the origins of 15 temperate and 10 tropical diseases. Why is it important? This question is not only of practical importance to physicians, and to all the rest of us as potential victims, but also of intellectual interest to historians and evolutionary biologists. Historians increasingly recognize that infectious diseases have had major effects on the course of history; for example, on the European conquest of Native Americans and Pacific Islanders, the inability of Europeans to conquer the Old Worl... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1325009 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 05:35:31 +0100 1325009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1322338&cid=t_100841_117_f&fid=34612&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedoctorweighsin.com%2Fjournal%2F2008%2F3%2F24%2Fthe-anatomy-of-an-exotic-epidemic-when-science-and-politics.html By Dov Michaeli MD, Ph.D In October of 2007 Julie Volberding, chief of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was supposed to testify before a senate panel on the health consequences of global warming. At the last minute (literally the day before) White House political hacks prevented her from telling the story she intended to tell. This is not unusual: this administration has waged an undeclared war on Science, especially when the facts are inconvenient. So, in the interest of telling the unvarnished truth, here are a couple of examples of the effect of globalization and global warming on health. The case of Bluetongue Disease From the British New Scientist magazine: Bluetongue is an animal virus, spread by tiny flies called midges – also called biting gnats, or no-see... The Doctor Weighs In blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1322338 Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:53:08 +0100 1322338 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1322049&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D744 The Pharmaceutical Innovation Conundrum intro by john james at aids treatment news daily alerts Here is one credible view on why the pharmaceutical industry has become much less productive than before in creating valuable new drugs — and some ideas on what might be done to move forward. AIDS Treatment News Daily Alerts - www.aidsnews.org/now December 16, 2007 Breathless reports highlighting the latest medical breakthroughs are a staple of the media landscape, but they mask a darker reality. Pharmaceutical innovation is on the decline. Large sums poured into medical research by the private and public sectors have not produced the promised payoff. The number of important new drugs and biologics introduced into medical practice has dropped precipitously in recent years and has... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1322049 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:15:15 +0100 1322049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1321803&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D743 Hello, ASA Members and Friends! As some of you may have heard, six medical marijuana dispensaries were raided in the Los Angeles area on Thursday. In response to this latest attack on Medical Marijuana, we are calling on our members to join us on Tuesday as we stand up to this latest threat and voice our opposition to the DEA. You can help turn out a crowd for Tuesday’s protest at the DEA Offices/Federal Building downtown. We need to turn out a crowd to make an impression on the DEA and the community. Be sure to invite your friends and loved ones. You can also take a more active role by downloading the protest flyer at http://www.asaaction.org/files/stopdea.pdf print a copy of the full page, which includes four flyers. Then, take the page to your neighborhood copy shop and have it cop... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1321803 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:47:31 +0100 1321803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1321804&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D742 Thank You Congressman John Conyers, Jr. After a very tough Year 2007 – nearly 50 raids in Southern California on patients and collectives – it ended on a fairly positive note. Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Congressman John Conyers, Jr., provided a statement that was read by Nancy Pelosi’s district aid during an emergency press conference coordinated by Axis of Love San Francisco and PAN in San Francisco on December 7, 2007. The emergency – the DEA announced on December 5, 2007, that every landlord renting to a dispensary in Northern California was on notice and would be receiving the well-known threat letter. Congressman Conyers stated, “I am deeply concerned about recent reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration is threatening private landlords with asset f... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1321804 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 01:23:15 +0100 1321804 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1321805&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D741 from wikipedia An equinox in astronomy is that moment in time (not a whole day) when the centre of the Sun can be observed to be directly above the Earth’s equator, occurring around March 20 and September 23 each year. More technically, at an equinox, the Sun is at one of two opposite points on the celestial sphere where the celestial equator (i.e. declination 0) and ecliptic intersect. These points of intersection are called equinoctial points—the vernal point and the autumnal point. By extension, the term equinox may be used to denote an equinoctial point. There is either an equinox (autumn and spring) or a solstice (summer and winter) on approximately the 21st day of the last month of every quarter of the calendar year. On a day which has an equinox, the centre of the Sun wil... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1321805 Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:44:25 +0100 1321805 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1321133&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D739 U.S. PATENT OFFICE REJECTS KEY HIV/AIDS DRUG PATENTS AT PUBPAT REQUEST: Government Finds Prior Art Submitted by PUBPAT Invalidates All of Gilead Sciences’ Claims New York, New York — January 23, 2008 — The Public Patent Foundation (”PUBPAT”) announced today that the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office has rejected four key HIV/AIDS drug patents held by Gilead Sciences that relate to the drug known generically as tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), a key weapon in the battle against HIV/AIDS. Gilead markets TDF in the United States under the brand name VIREAD and as a part of its ATRIPLA combination product. Roughly 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS, including more than 1.2 million Americans. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1321133 Sat, 22 Mar 2008 20:32:31 +0100 1321133 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1307759&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D736 ruel nolledo: march schac meeting rescheduled to 3-20 (807) richard zaldivar @ the wall/las memorias — “spend a day at casa hogar las memoria” 4-5-08 (806) International Carnival of Pozitivities 2.9 is now available at Creampuff Revolution (805) aahivm begins pilot program to credential HIV-expert docs of pharmacy (804) eric bailey @ latimes: gays fear an influx of hate (803) “This was not a hate crime; this was a street fight,” said Roman Romasco, executive director of the Slavic Assistance Center in Sacramento. ryan gierach @ weho news, 3-13: 70-year-old weho man knifed; spends hour calling for help & dies (802) West Hollywood, California (Thursday, March 13, 2008) - A West Hollywood man layed bleeding for an hour before help was summoned after what authorities sugg... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1307759 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 17:34:49 +0100 1307759 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1307760&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D734 From: Ruel Nolledo [mailto:RNolledo@apla.org] Sent: Friday, March 07, 2008 10:40 AM To: Richard Kearns Subject: SCHAC Meeting Rescheduled Richard— Just wanted to give you a heads up. Next week’s March SCHAC meeting has been rescheduled to Wednesday the 20th from 10:30am to 12:30pm I know you were thinking of going. other months: Ordinarily, SCHAC holds its workgroup meetings on the second Wednesday of every month, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. For 2008, workgroup meetings take place at the Office of AIDS Programs & Policy, located at 600 S Commonwealth Ave 6th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90005. http://www.schac.org/MGMInfo.php I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. Hope all is well. Ruel Nolledo | Manager, State and Local Affairs AIDS Project Los Angeles The David Ge... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1307760 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 15:39:01 +0100 1307760 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1306562&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D733 Invites you to Spend a day at Casa Hogar Las Memorias AIDS Hospice in Tijuana, Mexico (Please bring your passport) We are looking for donations for the Hospice. Items include: Food: Beans, Rice, Sugar, Flour, Canned food, Etc… Toiletries: Toilet paper, Shampoo, Toothpaste, Toothbrush, Razors, Etc… Other: Clorox, Pinesol, Trash bags, Sanitizer, Supplies, Etc… Anything that can be donated (no clothes)!!! We are also taking cash, to buy products or to help them pay a bill or two. For more information contact: Enrique Topete Program Coordinator Phone: (323) 257-1056 ext. 24 Fax: (323) 257-1625 etopete@thewalllasmemorias.org http://www.thewalllasmemorias.org Tijuana Hospice Trip Info: Saturday, April 5, 2007 Meet at 8:30am @ The Wall Las Memorias Project 1... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1306562 Mon, 17 Mar 2008 07:13:58 +0100 1306562 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1303335&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D727 aids-write.org is a virtual public artspace, meetingplace and hometown/npo for a diverse, inclusive community of activist artists, thinkers and persons whose aim is to compose, record, document, listen to, reflect upon, feel, communicate and “mythologize” our aids/hiv stories and experiences, intending to create a cultural context for social change, and thus to be a significant pro-active voice in all health, social and environmental public-policy-related decisions by offering wise counsel drawn from our accumulated visions. the war that can’t be won (001) (LOS ANGELES, POSTED JUNE 2, 2005) here begins the journal of an AIDS shaman. what is AIDS? AIDS—HIV disease—is not a blessing, contrary to the sentimental testimonials of many of my brothers and sisters in ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1303335 Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:52:38 +0100 1303335 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1291084&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D726 the times they are a’changing (799) daylight saving time begins reprint: sister blogger nedra weinreich: the meaning of definitions 3-13-2007 (798) Richard Kearns, the poet-activist at aids-write.org, writes about two issues that at first seem entirely unrelated: the CDC’s description of AIDS, and the designation of Daylight Saving Time. After his requisite lovely poem, . . . The implicit point that Richard makes with this juxtaposition of concepts is that definitions are powerful. The words we use to describe something can mean the difference between health and disease, between light and darkness. reprint: new aids-write poem “when does the sun rise?” w/meditation on dst as social justice 3-09-08 (797) monday 3-10 is national women & girls HIV/AIDS awareness day (NWGHA... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1291084 Mon, 10 Mar 2008 16:45:52 +0100 1291084 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1289123&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D725 chers— daylight saving time begins tonight at 2am. we loose an hour. ah, but the sun is back in the morning. change your clocks & enjoy! namaste —rk (Source: aids-write.org) aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1289123 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 05:41:47 +0100 1289123 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1289125&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D723 chers— when does the sun rise? i say now. i woke & watched the time change watched the hour vanish at two waited for the sun at seven-ten & saw the half-furled moon sail by mid-sky & blue & west-headed at dawn when the day was all eastpink’d i reset ground time, life time (the phone was fine) manually on my computer manually on my clockfaces by hand by heart by breath this day defiant in my love just in my action commanding light —lyr seventeen years ago i belonged to a la-based gay men’s HIV-positive ASYMPTOMATIC support group. ASYMPTOMATIC was the functional word: it distanced us as far as we could get from AIDS. it was having it without having it. fear and shame and stigma captured in a moment of language. had a love there whom i’ll call jerry, ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1289125 Sun, 09 Mar 2008 04:54:29 +0100 1289125 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1284909&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2008%2F03%2F07%2Fnuclear-power-makes-individualists-see-green-2%2F [This post was first published in October. It is being re-published this week because of its relevance to this Saturday’s conference at Harvard Law School, hosted by the Project on Law & Mind Sciences (for details, go to the conference webpage here).] A while back I posted an entry about the “cultural cognition of nanotechnology risks.” The entry described a study that members of the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School had done that showed that exposure to just a small bit of information about nanotechnology — a subject the vast majority of Americans have heard nothing or little about — can instantly polarize people along cultural lines. I promised that I would post another entry describing techniques for ameliorating this type of cultural polarizat... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1284909 Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:01:56 +0100 1284909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256303&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D712 AHF to Schwarzenegger: “AIDS Cuts Are Deadly” AS CDC Prepares to Release Alarming New HIV Rates; Governor Should Cut Bureaucracy, Corporate Loopholes 10 JANUARY 2008 LOS ANGELES - AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) today urged California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reconsider and reverse $11 million of proposed budget cuts in AIDS services that will reduce and threaten vital lifesaving care and services for Californians living with HIV/AIDS as he seeks to close a $14 billion deficit in the state budget. Late last year, the Governor asked state department and program heads to submit proposed 2008 budgets which included across the board cuts of ten percent. AHF is urging the governor to instead seek budget cost savings by cutting bureaucracy and eliminating corporate loopholes rathe... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256303 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:54:13 +0100 1256303 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256304&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D711 TOTAL CALIFORNIA HIV/AIDS PROGRAM CUTS: $11,022,000 rk’s NOTE: a number of one-time augmentations made to various programs in FY 2007-08 are not included in the proposed FY 2008-09 budget. These include: an additional $4 million requested by advocates for the Therapeutic Monitoring Program; $5.6 million to prevention and education; and $3 million for care services. Epidemiology and surveillance also received an additional $2 million in 2007 to boost HIV surveillance efforts; it is doubtful that funding will be renewed. AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP): -$7,000,000 the proposal would cut $7 million from the program by eliminating several classes of drugs from the formulary, while preserving all anti-retroviral medications. The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), within the Califor... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256304 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:42:07 +0100 1256304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256305&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D710 Medi-Cal provides essential services to a majority of californians with HIV/AIDS. the proposed cuts in the three Medi-Cal categories below would also result in a corresponding loss of $774.6 million in federal matching funds, totaling $1.55 billion. they include Medic-Cal Provider Rates: fee-for-service provider rates would be cut by 10 percent to save $602.4 million in FY 2008-2009. An additional $33 million cut is proposed for the current fiscal year as well. This cut will reduce access to doctors, hospitals, and specialists knowlegeable in HIV/AIDS. California already has one of the lowest reimbursement rates in the nation. As such, more than half of the state’s doctors to not take Medi-Cal. Medicare Part II Premiums: the budget proposes cutting $50.1 million in payments for ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256305 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:20:22 +0100 1256305 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256306&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D709 whether you write or call, you want to cover the following five points: 1. identify yourself as a constituent — a. name b. where you live c. are you an HIVer? do you have AIDS? d. other significant details about yourself I am a 56-year-old gay man alive with AIDS in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. I live in an assisted care institution. I began drafting this letter to protest Governor Schwarznegger’s proposed program cuts to FY2008-09 California HIV/AIDS and Medi-Cal budgets this past Friday (2-15-08) in the Emergency Room at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. 2. identify the issue you’re talking about, usually a bill number, but in this case we’re talking about governor schwarznegger’s proposed budget cuts for FY2008-09 3. tell your story—pick specific, concrete wa... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256306 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 07:12:27 +0100 1256306 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256307&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D708 Kaiser network: Baltimore Sun Examines Concerns About Overuse of CT Scans [Feb 25, 2008] The Baltimore Sun on Saturday examined concerns about the number of patients who undergo CT scans, which many critics consider “untested, overused, risky and a prime example of health care ruled by profit and fad, rather than hard science.” Some experts estimate that each year, U.S. patients undergo between several hundred thousand and one million CT scans. The debate over the issue has increased since January, when CMS proposed restrictions on Medicare reimbursements for CT angiographies, which cost about $1,000 to $1,200 each, in response to reports that the procedure exposes patients to high levels of radiation and unnecessary health risks. CMS in March plans to make a final dec... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256307 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:52:01 +0100 1256307 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256309&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D705 I’m Biking Backwards coast to coast August 17th 2007. I’m Raising Awareness for the Homeless, HIV/AIDS and Medical Marijuana. While crossing America you will be able to track me as I cross the country at www.bikingbackwards.net I’ve had the HIV virus for a little over a year now. I’m currently homeless and living with the HIV virus. February 24, 2008 - Hello! America… I arrived into New Orleans, Louisana yesterday… It was raining the day before… It was still a Rad ride day… I made it from Biloxi over to Bay St.Louis, Mississippi and from Bay St.Louis to New Orleans on Highway 90… I will be resting and getting ready to start crossing Texas… Backwards… It’s all up Backwards Across America… I do plan to ride the ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256309 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:26:38 +0100 1256309 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1256310&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D704 New wave of drug-resistant HIV predicted Tuesday, February 19, 2008 LOS ANGELES, Feb. 18 (UPI) — A mathematical model predicts a new wave of drug-resistant HIV infections in San Francisco, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles said. However, paradoxically at same time, the evolution of drug-resistant HIV may have actually reduced the severity of the city’s epidemic, saving many men from becoming infected, the study said. UCLA biomathematics professor Sally Blower said the model enabled the researchers to reconstruct the epidemic’s past and predict its future by calculating the evolution of several classes of drug-resistant HIV strains in San Francisco. The researchers examined the rise of HIV strains resistant to the three major classes of drugs &... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1256310 Tue, 26 Feb 2008 06:17:31 +0100 1256310 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1236228&cid=t_100841_107_f&fid=35762&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgrrlscientist%2F%7E3%2F235808576%2Foceanic_dead_zones_on_west_coa.php tags: bpr3.org/?p=52, climate change, global warming, oceanic dead zones, west coast, North America, Oregon state, Washington state Millions of dead crabs are washing up onto Oregon and Washington state beaches from the offshore "dead zone". Ever since it was first noticed by crab fishermen in 2002, the "dead zone" that popped up in the waters along the northwestern coastal shelf just off the coast of Oregon has claimed unknown millions of lives. This oxygen-depleted region has transformed formerly rich seafloor communities teeming with life into vast graveyards filled with the bodies of crabs, echinoderms, molluscs, sea worms and other creatures. This carnage was easily visible to a team of research scientists from Oregon State University, who sent an underwater vehicle, equipped ... Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1236228 Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:05:45 +0100 1236228 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1213304&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D698 awo’s kearns to attend CA emergency AIDS/HIV state budget meeting at precious blood church today (775) jasmyne cannick video: black LGBT ‘08 presidential election forum parts 1-5 (774) emergency la community meeting 2-06-08: $11 million slashed from ca HIV/AIDS budget (773) david evans at poz: special report on growing older with HIV (772) According to the study, 70 percent of HIV-positive New Yorkers surveyed are living alone—more than double the percentage of elderly HIV-negative New Yorkers. The study also uncovered fairly high rates of social isolation, fear of HIV disclosure and loneliness among the participants. sorting it out at lulu’s #1 (771) beverly & detroit, north & west seven-fifty before eleven on unoccasions lean’d against the bookster bricks i’... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1213304 Thu, 07 Feb 2008 01:19:19 +0100 1213304 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1182874&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D689 chers— up for air. this has been a moment-filled time for me. i’ve been struggling to stay well which seems to require massive amounts of sleep (thus very little writing, except my dreams) when awake, i have also been strugglng to keep up with with a flood of events that have become deeply personal • many of the recent dea raids were on mmj dispensaries where i volunteer for aids advocacy. hivers and pwas make up 25 percent of the la-area medical cannabis population. • i have been fending off another annual insurance threat to my housing because i’m still alive. harnessing my rage. film some other time. • i’ve realized i’m part of the rapid demographic shift that’s taking place in the hiver community over the next 5-10 years: we’re getting older. today 1... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1182874 Mon, 28 Jan 2008 15:33:36 +0100 1182874 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1180092&cid=t_100841_125_f&fid=34819&url=http%3A%2F%2Fflapsblog.com%2F%3Fp%3D6366 Day By Day by Chris Muir Sorry Al, Flap does NOT believe your vision of global warming. You have politicized a world scientific issue for your own financial gain. Many scientists have refuted your findings and many countries wish to exploit your hysteria to put a damper on American business. To Flap this is LOSE LOSE for America. (Source: FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog) FullosseousFlap's Dental Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1180092 Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:34:23 +0100 1180092 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1114452&cid=t_100841_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwomensbioethics.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F12%2Fglobal-warming-spreads-tropical-disease.html (Source: Women's Bioethics Blog) Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1114452 Mon, 24 Dec 2007 00:07:00 +0100 1114452 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1065858&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D686 my world AIDS day 07 txt msg poem: nu fone 2day. i trnsfr AIDS- dead cntacts w/the living. miss u, want u back. what profit can b in no cure? med cannabis keeps us more alive. –richard kearns & weho/la mmj cmnty (Source: aids-write.org) aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1065858 Mon, 03 Dec 2007 02:59:18 +0100 1065858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=982550&cid=t_100841_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fglobal-warmingcalifornia-fires.html It's no surprise to hear that some politicians are blaming the recent California wildfires on global warming. But I haven't heard anyone consider just how much excess global warming is going to be CAUSED by these fires. How many thoughtful hybrid purchasers and considerate carbon offset dupes had their efforts negated by this single week of tragic infernos?I wonder.In 2002, CO2 emissions due to wildfires in Colorado equaled an entire year’s worth of the state’s transportation emissions, according to the National Center for Atmospheric Research.Once again, I humbly suggest that Earth > man. (Source: Scalpel or Sword?) Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=982550 Fri, 26 Oct 2007 22:36:00 +0100 982550 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=952103&cid=t_100841_88_f&fid=34857&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscalpelorsword.blogspot.com%2F2007%2F10%2Fglobal-warming-indoctrination.html One of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".Dr. William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth."We're brainwashing our children," said Dr Gray, 78, a long-time professor at Colorado State University. "They're going to the Gore movie [An Inconvenient Truth] and being fed all this. It's ridiculous."click here for the storyIt's happening right now in public schools all over the country, I can assure you.My daughter arrived home from school just last week, skipping down the sidewalk after gett... Scalpel or Sword? blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=952103 Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:45:00 +0100 952103 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=948411&cid=t_100841_93_f&fid=34826&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffrommedskool.com%2F2007%2F10%2F13%2Fwhats-scarier%2F Al Gore Becomes President In Time To Be There As Washington Gets Swallowed Up By The Atlantic What’s scarier? The news Al Gore has joined the ranks of Noble Peace Prize winners or the rising worldwide temperature? The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Al Gore, the former vice president, and to the United Nations’ [...] (Source: From Medskool) From Medskool blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=948411 Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:09:54 +0100 948411 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=1034975&cid=t_100841_113_f&fid=36670&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2Fmsdn%2Fhealthblog%2F%7E3%2F184363140%2Fscience-and-technology-in-society-forum-how-software-could-help-save-the-planet.aspx Today I attended the opening of the 4th Annual Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum in Kyoto, Japan.  I'm here at the invitation of Mr. Koji Omi, Member of the House of Representatives and former Finance Minister for Japan.  Mr. Omi is also notable as the founder of the STS Forum.  It is a genuine honor to be here; both to attend the conference and be invited to speak during one of the sessions.  I say it's an honor because the attendees at this conference are amazing; world famous scientists, educators, Nobel Prize winners, captains of industry and high-ranking government officials.  On one panel discussion alone this afternoon there were three Nobel Laureates among the speakers. The day started with a short address from Japan's new Prim... HealthBlog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=1034975 Sun, 07 Oct 2007 08:33:00 +0100 1034975 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=919185&cid=t_100841_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2007%2F10%2F02%2Fnuclear-power-makes-individualists-see-green%2F A while back I posted an entry about the “cultural cognition of nanotechnology risks.” The entry described a study that members of the Cultural Cognition Project at Yale Law School had done that showed that exposure to just a small bit of information about nanotechnology — a subject the vast majority of Americans have heard nothing or little about — can instantly polarize people along cultural lines. I promised that I would post another entry describing techniques for ameliorating this type of cultural polarization on risk issues. Well, I waited about 6 months or so, not just to let suspense build but also to gather some data so that it wouldn’t seem I was just engaged in wild-eyed conjecture (although truth be told, I’m pretty partial to that mode of ex... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=919185 Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:16:31 +0100 919185 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=915389&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D679 Posted by John S James at 7:55 PM Friday, September 28, 2007 AIDS Treatment News Achieving health equity: from root causes to fair outcomes The Lancet September 27, 2007 “This paper is an abridged version of the Interim Statement of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health” “More than any other global health endeavour, the Commission focuses on the “causes of the causes”—the fundamental structures of social hierarchy and the socially determined conditions these create in which people grow, live, work, and age. … The outcry against inequity has been intensifying for many years from country to country around the world. These cries are forming a global movement. The Commission on Social Determinants of Health places action to ensure fair health at the ... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=915389 Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:09:30 +0100 915389 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=875297&cid=t_100841_93_f&fid=36200&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.jammedph.com%2Fmy-green-plan-to-save-the-planet%2F I recently joined Yahoo! Green, a Yahoo! campaign on saving the planet from emission of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas behind global warming. By joining, you will know how many tons of carbon dioxide you will save per year with your pledged tasks. Here are my pledged tasks: 1. Air dry my clothes instead of using the dryer. It also saves power! 2. Carpool, take public transit one day per week instead of driving to work. I don’t have my own car so I always take public transportation. 3. Replace my old refrigerator with new energy star one. We’ve been using one ever since. 4. Go meatless for one meal each week. 5. Go meatless for one day each week. 6. Recycle all steel (”tin”) cans in my garbage. I can use them as flower pots. 7. Buy locally grown foods. 8... Jammed: Full into Capacity blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=875297 Fri, 14 Sep 2007 16:24:56 +0100 875297 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=867347&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D676 kearns’ collected september widgets @ aids-write (756) kearns’ new poem: river beast (755) i roll into monday brightness feetseeking earth a sundayless listener waiting to wake (medicating for non-heaval sun-burnishing the pain) i hear the riverroadcall deep humm’d feel the pull of my wet-trailing blue-shoe-sailing one-at-a-time soles-don’t-fail-me pre-steps practiced dreamed & planned to imaginary imperfection traipsed to my inner port & back in unanticipation & urgency & certain-seem’d sureity about returnity (shots & prepills & ointments & more pre) river song river call river might river thrall river beat river on fire shivering heat risen like a dawn wind from gilded waves as they burn aroused now my river beast sallies the day batt... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=867347 Wed, 12 Sep 2007 19:18:19 +0100 867347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=867348&cid=t_100841_135_f&fid=35246&url=http%3A%2F%2Faids-write.org%2F%3Fp%3D675 The HIV / AIDS news headlines shown above are provided courtesy of Medical News Today and are subject to the terms and conditions stated on the Medical News Today website. HIV / AIDS News from Medical News Today Please click on this sentence and donate tax-deductibly to aids-write.org. adventures in unimaginable numbers: from the npp (national priorities project), a nifty little counter of the ever-accumulating dollar-cost of the iraq war. npp estimates the war money could have fully funded world-wide aids/hiv programs for 27 years, though that much bang for warbucks difficult to imagine. the need is so underestimated. i thought medicine was expensive. war is obscenely expensive, unless you are ceo of halliburton as well as vp. then it can’t cost enough. original text and gra... aids-write.org blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=867348 Wed, 12 Sep 2007 17:51:38 +0100 867348