Friday News Bucket

18 Comments

1. 

   Knoxville Progressive on June 30, 2006 at 9:25 am

   An all-environmental posting today, because some days I just feel that way:

   A new way to make plastics out of the sugar fructose could help reduce the world’s reliance on petroleum. The technique could ultimately allow industry to make plastics from high-fructose corn syrup or other plant materials.

   Never can say goodbye, no, no, no, no:  Mucky agricultural soils containing residues of DDT, a banned insecticide, will contaminate the atmosphere for more than a generation, much longer than previously believed.  More than 40 years after Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring indicted DDT with harming eagles, and 30 years after the insecticide was banned in North America, historic residues in soil remain the largest source of contamination to the air worldwide.

   Grist reports that the Sierra Club is suing the Defense Department for effectively halting new development of wind farms in the name of homeland security. The suit charges that the department failed to complete a congressionally mandated study on how wind turbines affect military radar by a May 8 deadline; at least 15 new wind projects await completion of the study. “If the military can have windmills and effective radar at Guantanamo, why can’t we have both in the Midwest?” asked Sierra Club attorney Kristin Henry, who noted that delayed construction could make wind developers ineligible for federal tax credits that expire after 2007.

   Researchers in the UK and US have managed to trigger nodulation in legumes, a key element of the nitrogen fixing process, without the bacteria normally necessary. This is an important step towards transferring nodulation, and possibly nitrogen fixation, to non-legume crops, which could reduce the need for inorganic fertilizers.  This would both save the energy used to manufacture and apply fertilizer, and help avoid the serious pollution resulting from fertilizer runoff.

   While some observers consider offshore oil and gas platforms to be an eyesore on the horizon, new data shows they are performing a critical function for marine life.  For the first time, scientists have documented the importance of oil and gas platforms as critical nursery habitat for some species of rockfishes on the California coast.

   A global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world’s electricity bill by nearly 10%.

   Carnegie Mellon University chemists say they have discovered an environmentally friendly way to destroy female sex hormone contamination in rivers, streams, and sometimes drinking water, using an iron-based catalyst and hydrogen peroxide.  Estrogens enter the environment after being excreted by livestock that naturally produce these chemicals, or are flushed into sewers by the estimated 16 million American women who take birth control pills.  [While not stated in this article, the technique likely would work against other pharmaceutical pollution as well.  Full disclosure:  I participated in research in an industrial lab on a similar iron-catalyzed peroxide system in the 1980’s; we found it was very effective in treating paper mill wastewater. – K.P.]

   Hey, remember when Bush wanted to poison us with arsenic? (Back before 9-11 changed everything.)  Well, it’s back as an issue (these guys never give up, do they?)  Just months after a new standard took effect to limit levels of arsenic in drinking water, Sen. Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) will introduce a measure today to suspend enforcement of the rule for small water systems.  (Like arsenic isn’t just as toxic if you live on a farm?)

   Well worth a read:  A thought-provoking editorial appears today at the BBC science website:  Modern humans have lost a vital connection to “animate Earth”, says ecologist Stephan Harding.  Re-connecting with the natural world and the true place of humans in the cosmos is the best route, he argues, to sustainable societies and economies.

   • 

     olivia on June 30, 2006 at 9:44 am

     The Harding editorial was really interesting!

     The fatal flaw is this: that for us, the entire cosmos, including the Earth and all her living beings, her rocks and air and atmosphere is no more than a dead machine that we are free to exploit without limit in the furtherance of our own interests.

   • 

     Nag on June 30, 2006 at 9:51 am

     The news about plastics is wonderful. Maybe it will be the first of many such discoveries that can some day show us a way forward without oil.

     Female hormones can be fought with peroxide? There’s a blonde joke in there somewhere!

     • 

       Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 12:53 pm

       I wonder what the energy requirements for this process are? The NewScientist article doesn’t say.

       Keep in  mind that corn is already over-produced in the US (& needs subssidies to compete), so there’s great impetus to find new uses for it. Unfortunately, the techno-fix can create as many or more problems if it’s not done in a wholistic way.  Writing about bio-fuels, Chrisptopher Cook cautions:

       Equally critical is the matter of what a carbohydrate economy means for America’s two million farmers (by no means a monolithic lot), and for the future of sustainable agriculture. Will biofuels benefit smaller growers, or just large-scale producers and agribusiness? How will pressures for increased production and reduced energy prices effect farmers? Would small and mid-sized growers fare any better in the energy economy than they have in a rapidly consolidating food economy that has driven so many off the land and into poverty?

       The stakes are significant: Protecting smaller-scale, diversified farms is intrinsic to ecological stewardship and rural economic health, sustainable farming advocates (and some biofuels proponents) argue. A major biofuels expansion could spur yet more large-scale industrial agriculture, which often relies heavily on petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides and deploys fuel-guzzling farm machinery. Pressures for large-volume production and cheap energy might ultimately harm smaller farmers and the environment — unless there are explicit policies to protect both.

       In a similar vein, see also CorpWatch’s Green Fuel’s Dirty Secret

       • 

         Knoxville Progressive on June 30, 2006 at 2:02 pm

         You bring up an excellent point, as do your references.  

         At least one analysis I’ve seen (can’t find the reference) says that the crop that does best in terms of leaving an overall net energy surplus is switchgrass.  (Switchgrass produces twice as much biomass per acre as corn, which is why folks are promoting its potential.)  Unfortunately, work needs to be done on developing enzymes to more efficiently digest the cellulose to sugars for ethanol production.

         The story above about nitrogen fixation makes me think we could eventually shift the energy balance, ecological effects, and economics of farming for energy to a more positive position if we weren’t still dependent on a century-old technology for fixing nitrogen for fertilizer.

         But then, I’m sure folks in 1908 would have also found it ludicrous if someone told them that, a century later, we’d still be generating electricity from coal using steam turbines.

         • 

           Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 2:33 pm

           I’ve read some promising things about switchgrass as well, but for the life of me, have no idea where I saw it. Would love it if you posted a link if you come across it sometime in your reading.

           & how ridiculous is it when Midland-Archer wants to burn coal to produce bio-fuel to reduce oil-dependency? that’s worse than the enviro’s who have jumped on the ‘clean’ nukes bandwagon . . .

2. 

   Nag on June 30, 2006 at 9:42 am

   Link

   Trouble for everyone from Coulter to Limbaugh to O’Reilly, big smile for the rest of us:

   Web Traffic to Washington Times, Drudge Report, Rush Limbaugh.com Is Down; Is Era of Right-Wing Site Popularity Over?

   An odd thing seems to have happened to mighty right-wing talking head media juggernaut. They are still talking, but fewer people seem to be listening — at least on the Internet.
   [snip]

   At U.S. Politics Today, we thought it might be interesting to see how the right-wing media machine was doing. Not well, it turns out.

   Here are some of the basic delicious facts:
   Limbaugh traffic down %18
   FoxNews down %13
   Coulter down %10
   O’Reilly down %40
   Drudge Report down %21
   Washington Times down %27

   During the same time, Moveon.org is up %13
   Other Progressive sites have seen numbers go up as well, so you can’t attribute this to summer doldrums. What’s that sound? Could it be the right wing echo machine getting a bit muffled?

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on June 30, 2006 at 11:39 am

     I cannot tell you how happy this story makes me!
     Could the tide really be turning?  Just maybe so!
     😀

3. 

   Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 11:53 am

   Guardian finds Afghan witnesses US couldn’t

   The US government said it could not find the men that Guantánamo detainee Abdullah Mujahid believes could help set him free. The Guardian found them in three days.

   Two years ago the US military invited Mr Mujahid, a former Afghan police commander accused of plotting against the United States, to prove his innocence before a special military tribunal. As was his right, Mr Mujahid called four witnesses from Afghanistan.

   But months later the tribunal president returned with bad news: the witnesses could not be found. Mr Mujahid’s hopes sank and he was returned to the wire-mesh cell where he remains today.

   The Guardian searched for Mr Mujahid’s witnesses and found them within three days. One was working for President Hamid Karzai. Another was teaching at a leading American college. The third was living in Kabul. The fourth, it turned out, was dead. Each witness said he had never been approached by the Americans to testify in Mr Mujahid’s hearing.

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on June 30, 2006 at 2:04 pm

     I love that the Guardian found them in three days.
     Doesn’t look too good for the home team, eh?

4. 

   Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 12:02 pm

   Thursday, June 29, 2006:    
   Listen     D’load    Podcast

   Israel kidnaps 87 members of the elected Palestinian government and resistance leaders as the attacks continue in Gaza; we’ll speak with Ali Abunimah on the escalating crisis in occupied Palestine; also the United States Supreme Court votes against the Bush administration in a surprising move to give civil rights to Guantanamo detainees; on Earth Matters, a look at the science of glacial ice cores and climate change; and the Knight Report.

    01:00 The Knight Report

   The Supreme Court outlaws military tribunals at Guantanomo; and
   Israeli troops arrest most of the Palestinian parliament

   06:00 Criminal Israeli Attacks in Gaza Continue; Palestinian Leaders Kidnapped
   While insisting that the capture of an occupation soldier after dozens of Palestinian civilian deaths is an act of terrorism justifying destruction of infrastructure in Gaza, Israeli invaders kidnap scores of Palestinian officials in an outrageous brazen criminal act. Ali Abunimah, co-founder of ElectronicIntifada.net, discusses the need for US citizens to pressure political leaders, and calls for a boycott and divestment as one way to hold Israel accountable. Visit http://www.electronicintifada.net and http://www.pacbi.org for more information on boycott, divestment and sanctions.

   21:00 Musical Break

   22:00 Supreme Court Says No Exemption for Bush Administration

   “The Supreme Court has firmly rejected President Bush’s attempt to sidestep American courts. Now the President must act: try our clients in lawful U.S. courts or release them. The game is up. There is no way for President Bush to continue hiding behind a purported lack of judicial guidance to avoid addressing the illegal and immoral prison in Guantánamo Bay. Significantly, the Court decided that the Geneva Conventions apply to the so-called ‘War on Terror’ – people must be treated humanely and the administration cannot put itself above the law. (Michael Ratner, CCR President)

   Barbara Olshansky, lead attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York, interviewed by Nora Barrows-Friedman, discusses the implications of today’s decision for detainees and the Bush administration.

   34:00 Musical Break
   After the Garden is Gone, Neil Young

   36:00 Earth Matters – Environmental News with Amanda Bellerby
   Dr. Lonnie Thompson, research scientist at the Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University, interviewed by Amanda Bellerby, discusses the importance, challenges and implications of tropical glacier ice core paleoclimatology, ecosystems, human impact and global climate change. Melting has been accelerating in the last five years.

5. 

   Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 12:16 pm

   Gaza Power Plant Hit by Israeli Airstrike is Insured by US Agency

   The Palestinian power plant bombed by Israeli forces Tuesday is insured by a US government agency, and US officials say they expect American funds to be used to pay for the damage.

   The destruction of the 140-megawatt reactor, the only one in the Gaza Strip, threatens to create a humanitarian disaster because the plant supplies electricity to two-thirds of Gaza’s 1.3 million residents and operates pumps that provide water supplies.

   But paying a claim on the plant, which was insured for $48 million, could prove problematic for the United States, which cut off funding for all infrastructure projects in the Palestinian territories after the militant group Hamas won legislative elections in January.

   Administration officials said the restrictions on working with a Hamas-led government could further complicate the repair of the electric facility, which could take weeks, if not months, to fix because of the escalating violence in Gaza.   [snip]

   The power plant cost about $150 million and took more than five years to build.

   Plans for it began in 1999, when two private investors — the now-defunct Enron Corp. and a Palestinian-born construction mogul, Said Khoury — laid down the blueprint for making the Palestinian territories less reliant on buying electricity from Israel.   [snip]

   In 2002, the plant began operating, becoming the first such facility regulated by the Palestinian Energy Authority. In 2004, it reached full commercial capacity and its owners were able to purchase $48 million in “political risk” insurance from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation , an arm of the US government that provides American businesses with financing abroad and promotes US interests in emerging markets.

   The US Investment Corporation — set up in 1971 with US taxpayer funds — had been supportive of the project from the beginning, arranging the first meeting between investors for the plant, according to the Bloomberg news service.

   Few commercial insurance companies insure such projects against political violence, but the US Investment Corporation does so to encourage development in emerging markets, according to Lawrence Spinelli, a spokesman for the Investment Corporation.

   The insurance that Morganti purchased covers “political violence,” which includes “wars, acts of terrorism, things like that,” Spinelli said. To be paid for the damage, the company must file a claim, and the Investment Corporation must determine whether the claim is covered by the policy, Spinelli said.

   The corporation raises its reserve funds through insurance premiums and other charges to its clients, but its funds are kept in the US Treasury and are controlled by Congress.   [snip]

   “If you take out two-thirds of the power in a place like Gaza, and if this is the source of electricity that powers pumps for water, you may have a major crisis on your hand in short order,” said Ed Abington , a former consultant to the Palestinian Authority.

   Not to worry. US papers will do their best to the  news quiet when Palestinian kids start dying because of this.

6. 

   ask on June 30, 2006 at 12:57 pm

   UN rights office, jurists welcome Guantanamo ruling

   GENEVA, June 29 (Reuters) – The U.N. human rights office on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court ruling striking down the military tribunal system set up to try Guantanamo prisoners, saying it would restore the judiciary to its rightful place.

   Jose-Luis Diaz, spokesman for United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, said the decision also appeared to vindicate “the need for vigilance” in protecting basic rights, including those of terrorist suspects.

   By a 5-3 vote, the highest U.S. court declared that the tribunals, which Bush created after the Sept. 11 attacks, violated the Geneva Conventions and U.S. military rules. “The decision is to be welcomed on two fronts: the decision is a case of restoring the judiciary to its proper place in a system of checks and balances, which is essential in upholding the rule of law,” Diaz said.

   • 

     Knoxville Progressive on June 30, 2006 at 2:12 pm

     A question for our legal scholars out there from Mrs. K.P.:

     We were listening to NPR over breakfast, and the reporter noted that some GOP congressmen were going to try and change the law to allow Bush to run terrorist trials out of Guantanamo like he wanted.

     Now, it’s been a few years since we had high school civics, but wouldn’t that be an ex post facto law unless it only covered future captives?  I know, I know, how quaint to think the constitution still matters, 9-11 changed everything, yada-yada.  But I told her I would ask the opinion of the experts in the Boomanosphere…

     • 

       Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 2:53 pm

       I haven’t checked w/ my habeas expert, but my impression is that Hamdan would apply only to pending cases before the proposed commissions, which presumably alllows them to bring new charges under a ‘properly constitued court’ against existing detainees.

       My wife was trying to figure out this morning why Stevens (who wrote the majority opinion), the most liberal of the judges, didn’t join in the written opinion (largely concurring) of Souter (joined by Kennedy, Ginsburg & Breyer). Her speculation was that it was because in theirs (which was in some repsects was even better –went further, for example saying that conspiracy charges were bogus in this instance –than the majority) they practically invite Congress to go back & legislate something to Bush’s liking that would pass constitutional muster. Stevens may not have wanted to give them even that.

     • 

       Arcturus on June 30, 2006 at 4:37 pm

       of the National Lawyer’s Guild, explains:

       The Bush administration filed a motion to dismiss Hamdan’s challenge to the military commission after Congress passed the Detainee Treatment Act on December 30, 2005. In the DTA, Congress purported to strip US federal courts of jurisdiction to hear habeas corpus petitions filed by Guantánamo detainees.

       But the Court held Congress did not intend to deny federal court jurisdiction to detainees like Hamdan, whose cases were already pending on the date the DTA was enacted.

       Although this is a narrow ruling, leaving open the door for Bush to argue that Congress effectively denied other detainees the right to file future challenges to their confinement, the Court clearly stated it was reserving any decision on whether Congress could constitutionally deny a prisoner the right to federal habeas corpus jurisdiction.

       She also notes that:

       The Court also held that Congress’s Authorization for the Use of Military Force, passed shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, did not expand Bush’s authority to convene military commissions that do not comport with UCMJ safeguards. This is an important precedent that opponents of Bush’s warrantless surveillance of Americans can cite in opposition to administration claims that the AUMF authorizes the spying program.

       So we’re likely to see the repubs try to propose legislation authorizing something once they’ve combed through it & figure out how best to get around the law (which is pretty much what the DTA was in reaction to the Rasul decision).

7. 

   olivia on June 30, 2006 at 2:02 pm

   From CBC:

   Five U.S. army soldiers in Iraq are being investigated in connection with the rape and murder of a young Iraqi woman, and the killings of three members of her family, a military official says.

   The soldiers allegedly burned the woman’s body after the assault, the official told the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

   The commander of coalition forces in Iraq, Maj.-Gen. James D. Thurman, ordered the investigation. The killings are alleged to have taken place in March, in the town of Mahmoudiyah, south of Baghdad.

   (…)

8. 

   cruz del sur on June 30, 2006 at 7:36 pm

   Yesterday, the UN adopted a resolution endorsing the draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which was proposed by Argentina and France. Now this is a Crime
   Against Humanity.It was unanimously approved by all 47 countries that make up the new United Nations’s Council for Human Rights.

   Forced dissapearence is defined as   .

   detention, abduction, or deprivation of liberty by state agents followed by a refusal to acknowledge deprivation and a placing of the disappeared outside the protection of the law    

   Hey Bush, these crimes NEVER prescribe,you hear me???