Chatting with a friend about current events and 9/11 prompted me to look at Loose Change – Final Cut, a documentary about 9/11. An eponymous Colonel is mentioned in the first 15 minutes, so I looked up Colonel Steve Butler on the web, which led to a comprehensive reference on History Commons and a 9/11 …
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Author:astraea
Japan to lead climate change fight?
Incoming Prime Minister Hatoyama has said that Japan will adopt a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 25% at the Copenhagen talks in December. This is the bottom end of the range proposed by the UN (15%-40% cuts), but far more than considered by Japan and other rich emitters so far. Japan is the …
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Arctic warmest for 2,000 years, and getting warmer fast.
Evidence from ice cores, tree rings and lake sediments shows that arctic temperatures are now higher than at any time in the last 2,000 years. The arctic cooled slowly over the past 2,000 years as Earth’s orbit changed, but in the past 100 years greenhouse gas emissions have fuelled fast temperature rises. 23 sites sampled …
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BT notes – What a summer!
What a summer! It’s passed so quickly it almost seems as if it hasn’t yet happened. But in fact so much was going on, time just flew by. Having the children at home all the time changes the schedule. Having the whole family at home is lovely though it can pose some scheduling challenges. They …
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Change in The East too.
Japan has voted for change. After more than half a century of nearly unbroken rule the LDP was defeated in a landslide victory by the Democratic Party of Japan. Of course, it is not easy to win an election in the face of an economic recession – people are naturally unhappy with the status quo. …
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Do you want to live without trees?
An article in today’s news suggests that we can turn back the tide of carbon by installing thousands of artificial carbon capture trees. OK, it might help. But it’s just the wrong kind of thinking and a tremendous waste of materials. It is real trees that we need. Building steel structures with solar panels and …
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Getting real about the high price of cheap food
An informative story from Time magazine. Somewhere in Iowa, a pig is being raised in a confined pen, packed in so tightly with other swine that their curly tails have been chopped off so they won’t bite one another. To prevent him from getting sick in such close quarters, he is dosed with antibiotics. The …
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Videos in magazines – another step beyond extravagant consumption
Video advertisements will be published in a traditional paper magazine in September. The video-in-print ads will use slim-line screens, around the size of a mobile phone display, which also have rechargeable batteries. The chip technology used to store the video – described as similar to that used in singing greeting cards – is activated when …
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The most powerful people you’ve never heard of.
Forbes published The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women – a ranking of globally influential females. The list of roles and occumpations is impressive, including leaders of countries and international companies. But it is embarrassing to note that people would recognise few names on the list. That is a sad reflection on humanity today. Here are …
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The problem with PowerPoint
25 years of power point presentations and its almost become a part of our vocabulary. “Let’s see the powerpoint” or “Send me the ppt”. Here’s a potted history and some tips on making it work well for you. BBC: The problem with PowerPoint – 25 years of PowerPoint