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Nasa to unveil region-specific manifesto – Daily Nation

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Sunday June 18 2017

Nasa leaders address a rally at Mikinduri market in Tigania East on June 17, 2017. PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

Nasais set to unveil its campaign manifesto containing region-specific programmes on Monday ahead of the August 8 polls.

The manifesto is tailored to address the needs of every corner of the country in a bid to appeal to all Kenyans.

Unlike the 2013 Cord manifesto that was based on a 10-point action plan, Nasas region-specific promises have been collapsed into seven pillars addressing national reconciliation and healing, resolving historical injustices including implementing the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) report, realising equality of women, youth and persons with disabilities, strengthening devolution, transforming government by implementing servant leadership, realising social and economic rights as enshrined in Article 43 of the Constitution, and eradicating poverty and unemployment.

In its 2013 manifesto, Cord had sought to create jobs, address food and national security, form a people-led government, eradicate poverty and reduce the high cost of living, guarantee social equality, put in place infrastructure and address land reforms, quality education, health care and national cohesion.

The Nation has learnt that the Nasa manifesto to be launched at the Racecourse Grounds in Nairobi on Monday heavily borrows from the Okoa Kenya proposal by which the opposition wanted to amend the Constitution.

The manifesto is very strong on 45 per cent of resources being devolved to the counties and is also very strong on agriculture and food security.

It borrows a lot from the Okoa Kenya manifesto.

For instance, it states that governors or county governments for that matter must have a say in security matters within their counties, said Mr Paul Mwangi, the director of legal affairs in the Raila Odinga Presidential Campaign Secretariat.

The Okoa Kenya proposal failed to proceed to the national referendum after failing to meet the required threshold of one million signatures according to Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). But the opposition then accused IEBC of working in cahoots with the government to sabotage the process.

Under the Okoa Kenya Bill, the coalition promised to raise from 15 per cent to 45 per cent the revenue allocation to the counties by the national government.

The manifesto also has the input of each of the five Nasa affiliate parties among them ODM, Amani National Congress (ANC), Chama cha Mashinani, Wiper Democratic Movement and Ford Kenya.

With just 50 days to the General Election, Nasa hopes to rally the electorate behind it using the pledges that are specific to the needs of each region.

Guided by the seven pillars and a resolve to address the unique needs of the counties Nasa, for instance, will be promising residents of arid and semi-arid regions a Pastoralist Livelihoods Protection Marshall Plan (PALIPMAP).

The plan promises to establish permanent storage facilities for hay, fodder, and supplements as part of drought mitigation; development of sources and watering infrastructure; animal processing facilities and access to international market for livestock and livestock products.

The plan also proposes the establishment of leather processing facilities for local and export markets, development of tourism facilities including filming sites, desert safaris and eco-tourism to make youth transit from militia activities related to cattle rustling to becoming owners of tourism services facilities, establishment of small-scale and large-scale irrigation projects to provide animal feed and water; and effective livestock disease control mechanism including creation of disease-free zones.

With the current maize, milk and sugar shortage in the country, the opposition plans to go big on food security under a plan dubbed Kenya Integrated Food Security Marshall Plan (Keinfose Plan), a martial plan to make farming attractive and food available at prices that Kenyans can afford.

The plan terms the state of food insecurity pathetic, noting that prices for staple foods are out of reach of most Kenyan families.

The opposition attributes the prevailing situation to a serious disconnect between the existing policy framework and the reality on the ground.

This includes low and unstable agricultural production and productivity occasioned by over-reliance on rain-fed agricultural production systems, poor or no access to affordable agricultural credit by resource-poor producers and inadequate infrastructure.

Also, high cost of production vis-a-vis low producer prices, coupled with high uncertainty in income flows due to price volatility in agricultural commodities, and inadequate institutional support.

Keinfose Plan aims at enhancing food production, storage, processing and availability to the final consumers (from-farm-to-table-value chain). Under the plan, Nasa government will provide necessary support to farmers to access adequate and high quality agricultural inputs, credit, irrigation equipment and services and access to the market, the highlights of the manifesto states.

It notes that the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) has storage capacity that far exceeds its current need and utilisation.

The reserve capacity of NCPB storage will be released for warehousing of farmers produce at minimal cost. At full capacity NCPB storage structures would take care of three million households (18 million Kenyans) for a year.

The key elements of Keinfose Plan include incentives to land owners in areas of good agricultural potential to put land currently lying idle to agricultural use; provision of water for irrigation to small-scale farmers by developing water sources, water pans, dams and reticulation systems; revamping the agricultural extension services; and, strengthening post-harvest handling of cereals and other grains to reduce losses by installing driers at close proximity to the farmers to enable harvest of cereals and grains at their biological maturity stage so as to free land for second crop during the season.

The opposition will also be promising to support farmers with a measure to mitigate the high cost of production that often causes high food prices.

This will be achieved through reducing taxes on fertilisers, chemicals, equipment and other farming related services, the opposition says.

It adds that the Nasa government will formulate and implement a Marshal plan to build sustainable integrated programmes and plans that would recognise the critical role played by the pastoralists communities in meat production for local and export market.

Under the plan, Nasa also pledges to build water reservoirs including dams and water pans in the agricultural belt to enable small scale agricultural producers access water for domestic use, irrigation, crop production, livestock and other farm activities, enable County Governments to establish bulk storage, aggregation centres and preservation facilities for various farm products particularly for drought resistant produce, and provide necessary support to farmers to access adequate and high quality agricultural inputs, credit, irrigation equipment and services and access to the markets among others.

Nasa insiders also spoke of attractive incentives for mineral rich counties, including sharing of billions of shillings from oil revenue.

In the past, the coalitions presidential candidate Raila Odinga had criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta for rejecting a Bill proposing a formula for revenue sharing.

Nasa flagbearer promises to revive economy and end theft of public funds.

Cartels in Kenyas financial sector are not happy with his firm stand on graft.

President Kenyatta and William Ruto take their hunt for votes to Kakamega County.

Nasa to unveil region-specific manifesto - Daily Nation

Yale University, Cambridge scientists discover process they hope will lead to cure for MS – New Haven Register

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

NEW HAVEN >> Scientists from Yale University and the University of Cambridge in England have teamed up to develop a potential cure for multiple sclerosis.

Its the first treatment that addresses the disease by disarming the immune cells that have turned against the bodys nerve cells, rather than simply suppressing them. An autoimmune disease, MS begins when parts of the bodys immune system, rather than fighting off disease, begin to attack healthy cells.

Su Metcalfe, senior research associate in the University of Cambridge Clinical School, discovered the molecular process that stops the attack on the protective myelin sheath around nerves in the brain and central nervous system. Its that destruction of myelin that causes MS.

Tarek Fahmy, associate professor of biomedical engineering and of immunobiology in the Yale School of Engineering and Applied Science, created the delivery system that brings Metcalfes treatment to the site of the disease.

Multiple sclerosis is a devastating disease that can attack people as young as 30, slowly reducing their brain volume, Metcalfe said. Theyre looking forward to 40 years of slowly getting worse, she said. Its a horrible disease and it costs the global economy $100 billion a year.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, there are more than 2.3 million cases worldwide, but the society doesnt provide an estimate of U.S. cases because doctors are not required to report new cases. There are a wide variety of symptoms, including fatigue, numbness and tingling muscles, slurred speech, walking difficulties and muscle spasms.

Among the cells in the immune system are T lymphocytes, or T cells. One of their functions is to produce molecules called cytokines, which specialize in alerting immune system cells to infection, cancer or any foreign intrusion in the body, Fahmy said. The immune cells then rush to the site to fight the disease, he said.

However, T cells can go awry and turn from fighting disease to attacking the bodys own cells. In these disease states the T cells make an error whose root cause is still an enigma to scientists and clinicians, Fahmy said. If this happens, then these malfunctioned T cells will produce cytokines that bring in more T cells to the site and the illness cascade of events begins.

He said the same process also is involved in other autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes and lupus.

Metcalfe said that in 2005 she discovered that another cytokine, called leukemia inhibitory factor, or LIF, regulates the immune response to stop autoimmune attack. The molecule controls a switch that turns the T cells from destroyers to protectors. The way LIF acts on T cells was a critical discovery, she said.

That was a world first, and we discovered that theres a binary switch in the cell so the cell can either become tolerant or aggressive and that switch is operated by LIF, Metcalfe said.

LIF comes in and cuts off the signal that calls in more T cells, Fahmy said.

The challenge to getting LIF to the diseased site was that it is a short-lived molecule. It breaks down within 20 minutes, Metcalfe said. So a way had to be found to deliver it to the T cells. Thats where Fahmys engineering expertise came in.

Fahmy confronted two issues in addition to LIFs delicate nature. One is to avoid having LIF turn off the immune properties of cells throughout the body, the way chemotherapy attacks both healthy and cancerous cells. It has to be targeted to those areas and it has to be a long-lasting signal as well, Fahmy said.

A third factor is we need a high concentration of LIF in that area, he said. The question then becomes, how do you get a high amount of nullifying molecules to the area thats affected and to have those LIF molecules sustained over a long period of time.

Fahmys solution was to create a nanoparticle, one ten-thousandth the width of a human hair follicle (100 to 200 nanometers), which carries the LIF molecules to the T cell like a truck carrying cargo. He used the same material used in soluble stitches and coated it with a protein that only binds to those immune cells that are attacking the rogue T cells. Then, the nanoparticle was loaded with LIF molecules and freeze-dried.

When theyre exposed to water again, they start degrading and as they degrade they release the LIF, Fahmy said. So its like a new drug, except its using older materials, combining them together. Im very hopeful that this is going to work like how natural processes in the body work.

Fahmy said the nanoparticle delivery method is important because, given alone by itself, this drug LIF is a very toxic drug if administered to people without a delivery apparatus. Using the nanoparticle, the amount of LIF that needs to be delivered is 10,000-fold lower than if it were given directly.

Metcalfe and Fahmy have formed a company called LIFNano, which will bring their treatment to clinical trials by 2020. Im committed, Metcalfe said. Ive given my whole career, switched it over to treat patients.

Ive just received 1 million pounds from the U.K. government to do pre-clinical, pre-regulatory work. Part of that million pounds is going to Yale. So Yale remains very closely involved alongside and were continuing this synergistic value in taking this nano-medicine approach to treat patients, she said.

Metcalfe and Fahmy hope their therapy, treating the cells with a naturally occurring molecule, will eventually replace the standard treatment of giving immune-suppressant drugs, which carry their own risks.

This really is a whole new field of study that we call immune-engineering, and it promises to change how therapy will happen for cancer and autoimmune diseases, Fahmy said.

Theres nothing specific controlling the root cause of disease, which is what were doing, and in addition were repairing the myelin and protecting the nerves and theres nothing out there today that protects the nerves, Metcalfe said.

She said she has been at Cambridge her whole career and working to understand what controls lymphocytes and I found LIF. Its been a long journey.

Call Ed Stannard at 203-680-9382.

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Yale University, Cambridge scientists discover process they hope will lead to cure for MS - New Haven Register

These spelling bee fathers love being DADS – Press-Enterprise

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Coronas Happy Randhawa and Yusheng Chen of Chino Hills have at least two things in common.

Theyre devoted to their kids education. And, boy, can their kids spell.

Their commitment has helped their children excel in school and taken the dads on trips sometimes more than once to the nations capitol as their kids battle it out against the countrys top spellers.

But its the time spent with their kids not chasing the spelling bee crown thats most valuable to these fathers.

This is absolutely the most important job I can have, Randhawa, 43, said of being a father.

Both helped and supported their children as they moved through competitions to reach this years Scripps National Spelling Bee in late May.

Daniel Chen, 14, finished 23rd. Aisha Randhawa, 11, came in 35th at the event held outside Washington D.C.

Happy Randhawa encourages other dads to invest in their kids learning. He points out that studies show that having both parents involved leads to less poverty, higher levels of education and other positive outcomes.

The leader of a group that promotes involved fathers agrees.

When men engage themselves in their kids education, whether its at home coaching them academically on a spelling bee or something like that, it serves to further reinforce the work that teachers are doing, said Eric Snow, president and co-founder ofWatch D.O.G.S., whichstands for Dads of Great Students.

The nonprofit founded in 1998 in Arkansas aims to get fathers to volunteer on school campuses. It has programs in more than 300 schools in California, including at least 100 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Children spend more time working on a math or spelling problem if their father is doing it with them, he said.

The kids are wanting that attention and wanting that connection, Snow said. Its important for the guys to make time to do that.

Happy Randhawa has high expectations for his four kids. But he also knows when to let them have fun.

Aisha unwinds from her homework and daily spelling bee preparation by playing basketball and golf with her dad.

I feel like he puts in so much effort to help me, Aisha said. Im so grateful for all the time he puts in every evening. He makes sure Im doing OK and if I ever need anything. I love him so much.

Happy tells a story about his late father.

Ajit came to the United States from India in 1969 and worked as a microbiology researcher at Loma Linda University. He later opened veterinary clinics in Beaumont and Hemet.

Ajit liked to garden in his spare time and asked his kids to help. When his soncomplained about tilling the soil, Ajit would give him a choice.

He would say, Is it easier to study or is it easier to dig this dirt up?'Happy recalls his dad telling him. When I said, its easier to study, he said, Good. Then go do that.

Many years later, Happy is passing on the same lessons to his daughters Aisha and Lara, 8, and his 6-year-old twin boys, Avi and Arav.

After becoming a doctor, Happy furthered his studies and wanted to become a researcher specializing in diabetes and growth-related disorders in children.

But he abandoned that dream and decided to work in pediatric practice so he could spend time raising Aisha with his wife, Sundeep, who is also a doctor.

When you get home from work, your job is not over, he said. You have a second job. And that is to sit down with your children and see what theyre doing with their schooling.

Chen, 50, a part-time Christian minister who is studying theology, said he tries to set the example for his two sons.

He regularly checks out library books and videos to learn new skills such as plumbing and drywall installation.

The most important thing will be to glorify God, said Chen, who was born in Taiwan and came to the United States in 1991 to pursue a doctorate in molecular medicine at Emory University in Atlanta.

After graduating, he got a faculty position at the University of Chicago doing research and teaching statistical genetics and advanced molecular neuroscience.

He gave up that career when God called him to become a pastor.

Theone thing I want to teach my kids is its never too late or youre never too old to learn, said Chen, whose other son, Samuel, is 12.

Link:

These spelling bee fathers love being DADS - Press-Enterprise

New Molecular Pathway Underlies Impaired Social Behavior and … – Cornell Chronicle

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

A calcium-dependent molecular mechanism discovered in the brain cells of mice by Weill Cornell Medicine investigators may underlie the impaired social interactions and anxiety found in neuropsychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and autism.

The study, published June 6 in Molecular Psychiatry, reports that reduced function of a calcium channel at synapses, the site of contact essential for communication between neurons, impairs social behavior and heightens anxiety. The findings also illuminate how this occurs: over-activation of a molecule within protrusions in neurons, called spines, which receive communicating signals from adjacent neurons. Blocking the action of this molecule in adult mice repaired the abnormal social interactions and elevated anxiety, a finding that may lead to the development of new treatments for patients with certain neuropsychiatric and anxiety disorders.

Our study suggests that if we can repair malfunctioning synapses in humans, we can reverse behavioral abnormalities and potentially treat specific symptoms, such as social impairment and anxiety, in patients with these neuropsychiatric disorders, said senior study author Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha, an associate professor of neuroscience in pediatrics and of neuroscience in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute, and director of the Weill Cornell Autism Research Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. We believe that targeting this molecule and its pathway may provide us with a molecular framework for future exploration of treatment of patients.

The top image shows the movement of a mouse in a behavioral test that measures social interaction. The blue to green color represents least to most time spent interacting with another mouse. The bottom set of images measures anxiety-like behavior exhibited by a mouse. The amount of filling in the vertical bars represents levels of anxiety. Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha and her team utilized rodent tests that are commonly used to study human disease symptoms, demonstrating that mice that were missing the CACNA1C gene in the brain showed less preference for interactions with another mouse and developed high anxiety. Treatment with the small molecule ISRIB corrected these symptoms. Photo credit: Dr. Zeeba Kabir

Dr. Rajadhyaksha and her colleagues focused on a calcium channel gene called CACNA1C that has emerged as a significant risk gene across major forms of neuropsychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Impaired social behavior and elevated anxiety are common symptoms observed in patients with these disorders.

Studies using mice lacking CACNA1C production in neurons in a part of the brain, called the prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for cognition, personality and decision-making, made mice less social and more anxious. This finding seemingly confirms those of human studies, which suggests that defects in protein production may underlie the symptoms of patients with neuropsychiatric disorders and autism.

The investigators then identified the culprit for the social impairments and elevated anxiety: increased activity of a molecule called eIF2alpha that has been linked to cognitive deficits in neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers disease.

Dr. Zeeba Kabir, the studys first author and a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Rajadhyakshas lab, tested a small molecule called ISRIB, which had previously been shown to block the action of eIF2alpha and improve learning and memory in mice, in rodents missing the CACNA1C gene. ISRIB reversed the aberrant behavior found in these mice, improving their social interactions and reducing anxiety.

Dr. Anjali Rajadhyaksha. Photo by John Abbott

Some studies have revealed that ISRIB has side effects that may be harmful to human cells, Dr. Rajadhyaksha said, but research shows that there are two alternative small molecule inhibitors of eIF2alpha that may be safer for use in humans. A next step is to study these ISRIB alternatives in mice to determine whether they have a similar effect.

Neuropsychiatric disorders are complex and treatments remain suboptimal, Dr. Rajadhyaksha said. To be able to treat specific symptoms that are common across multiple disorders is an exciting possibility. We would also like to determine whether alterations in the eIF2alpha pathway are held in common among other rodent models displaying social deficits and anxiety that result from risk genes other than CACNA1C. If so, molecules like ISRIB could be widely applicable for treating these symptoms, in general.

The research team also included Weill Cornell Medicine researchers Dr. Natalia DeMarco Garcia, an assistant professor of neuroscience, and Dr. Michael Glass, an associate professor of research in neuroscience, both in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute.

New Molecular Pathway Underlies Impaired Social Behavior and ... - Cornell Chronicle

YouTube’s New Father Figure – National Review

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Like countless men, I recently discovered the online lectures of Jordan P. Peterson, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto who rose to Internet fame and notoriety in November of 2016. The obscure professor had posted videos to his small YouTube channel voicing opposition to Canadas Bill C-16, which prohibited discrimination on the basis of gender identity a concept that can include misgendering people by refusing to refer to them by their preferred pronouns. Peterson denounced the postmodernist motivations of the law, whose totalitarian end game, he believed, was to criminalize free speech.

As things are wont to unfold on the Internet, Petersons videos and media coverage snowballed until he eventually caught the eye and became a three-hour guest on popular YouTube channels such as the Rubin Report and the Joe Rogan Experience. Petersons animated divertissements won instant fans through his particularly engaging mix of topics: free speech and political correctness, the history of totalitarianism, personality traits and psychological well-being, heros-journey mythology, and the stories of the Old Testament.

Wise nuggets from his interviews and lectures were uploaded at an accelerating pace, and Peterson amassed millions of views. His own channel leapt from obscurity to 300,000 subscribers and counting. Peterson next set up a Patreon account to raise money, vowing to fast-track the video uploading and promising a lengthy series of lectures on the Bible, and his newfound flock ponied up over $40,000 in monthly support, which Peterson says he wants to use to create an online university. Though his book Twelve Rules for Life: An Antidote for Chaos isnt due out until September September of 2018, that is it is fast climbing the Amazon ranks from preorders. Hes tweeted out that he has all ten of the top ten higher-education podcasts on iTunes. Reddit communities, memes, and clever-slogan-stamped products are popping up every day.

Peterson says his online audience is 90 percent male. These huge numbers of men, many of whom are willing to donate $5 or $10 per month, have embraced a 54-year-old paternal authority figure who tells them that theyre a mess and need to get their lives in order. It works because Peterson connects his message to something eternal, offering mytho-intellectual fatherly advice that men, especially Millennial men, are starved for in an age of perpetual and trivial digital distraction.

To use one of his own refrains, he has ascended to the top of the dominance hierarchy when it comes to motivating males in the digital age.

Peterson has become an Internet hero partly by being a cartographer of the human soul. He talks at length about mapping your environment, ever weighing goals and results, risks and rewards, and what happens when unexplored territory chaos, the flood, the serpent in the garden suddenly appears and shatters your world.

One of his popular lecture series, taken directly from his UT classroom, is called Maps of Meaning, also the title of his 1999 book. Peterson presents men a roadmap for dealing with their past, the unresolved alarms that discordantly sound in our minds clamoring to be attended to, but that we are all too keen to tune out. If you have a memory thats more than 18 months old but still causes negative emotions, says Peterson, then its something you have yet to resolve. The brain needs to mark case closed on negative experiences to understand what went wrong so as to avoid making the same mistake in the future. Thats pretty intuitive when youre five and learning to ride a bike, but it gets a lot harder the older you get.

Id always thought I was a pretty well-adjusted person, free from things like petty envy or road rage. Sure I had problems, but I always thought they were worries about the future, not demons from my past. Then I discovered Peterson on YouTube, and he helped me understand that I share in the human condition, which is to say, Im a mess.

* * *

In this bleak midwinter, years into a midlife crisis, I received some bad news I didnt take very well. I fell into my habit of aversion and avoidance, and in doing so built up a dragon in my mind that could torment me at will. After five days of subconscious alarms going off, unattended to, everyday life suddenly fell to pieces.

I became wracked with fear and sorrow, constantly weeping in a way Id never experienced before. At one point misguided by meditation teaching and wrapped up in knots about consciousness, thinking, and trying not to think about not thinking I was ready to dial 911 for an ambulance to come sedate the torment away. But the idea of waking up in a New York mental institution with real loonies emboldened me to ride out the panic, which eventually subsided, as such episodes always do.

From that near crack-up things gradually improved as I clawed my way out of the dark place by tapping the instinct for self-preservation, and by seeking wisdom from a variety of books from different traditions from Nietzsches thoughts on affirming life by viewing its sufferings as an aesthetic phenomenon, to James Allens classic 1903 self-help tome As a Man Thinketh, and to the surprisingly entertaining and enlightening 1948 book by Dale Carnegie called How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, which combined stories of everyday folks conquering their demons with wise words from the great minds of Western literature. Gradually my world inched back toward messy normalcy.

All this coincided with the rise of Jordan Peterson, whom I discovered as if by fate, and his words became a daily regimen. I joked to friends that I was in therapy, and that it was actually quite sophisticated in a 70s Woody Allen kind of way. With Dr. Ps constant message of sort yourself out, each day the little epiphanies grew larger. There were times when Dr. P described my issues so precisely it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. This made me realize that all human problems are pretty much the same, and that its Petersons archetypal, big-picture approach that is resonating with men at this particular moment in time.

Although the medium he uses is cutting-edge, giving his therapy sessions near-infinite reach, what Peterson teaches is not new but timeless: 4,000-year-old Biblical tales, mythologies of the past two millennia, and ideas from 19th- and 20th-century figures such as Nietzsche, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn, and Jung. Dr. P isnt just a therapist for men at a time of masculine crisis; no, the man who draws so much on patriarchal archetypes is fast becoming YouTubes new ideal male authority figure.

Firm but caring, Peterson is not a rigid drill sergeant out to eradicate your knee-jerk adolescent revolt. Thats a different kind of self-help guru for a different kind of man. Instead, Dr. P encourages, which, as he points out, means to instill with courage. In cognitive therapy, removing fear doesnt work. You dont make the bad stuff go away be retreating to a safe space, to use a popular buzzword; you do so by making yourself stronger. Peterson doesnt tell you what you should do, because only you can figure out your purpose but he can point out a few places to look. In short, Peterson speaks the way I always wished my father had.

But we cant choose our parents, and accepting them for who they are is another part of sorting yourself out. My own dad, kind and supportive as hes been to his adult son, would score in the 99th percentile for conscientiousness (work, discipline, order) in the Big Five personality test that Peterson often mentions, and in single digits for openness (variety, intellectual curiosity, aesthetic sensitivity, in touch with feelings) hardly the ideal for a writer son in search of wisdom and truth.

Imagine if you did everything you know you should be doing but arent, Dr. P says, and imagine what your life would be like in ten years. Then imagine the opposite, a complete cave-in to the worst of your tendencies. But change is so difficult as to seem impossible, as Dr. P himself says and right on cue I found a lecture in which he tells the story of Noah. What do you do when your Great Flood comes along and destroys your sense of external identity, when you lose your job or your spouse leaves you? Why, you be like Noah, who had Gods favor for his ability to adapt, to reinvent himself as shipbuilder and captain in order to survive, and in so transforming himself saved the world.

You dont wall yourself inside a safe space of ideology, territory, or experience. Learning and what is a life well lived but constant learning? requires the constant tearing down and transformative rebuilding of the boundaries of your experience as you acquire new information.

* * *

Change starts with little things, which despite being little feel immovable from the density of their weight. For years I would rise, often from a restless night, and go directly to my desk, hoping for some good news on the computer to jump-start my day. Id soon become distracted with all the trivialities of the news. Then, coffee ingested and ready to work, Id find my back was a wreck from sitting too soon after rising, which Id been told repeatedly by a chiropractor not to do.

With Dr. Ps voice in my head encouraging me to imagine what I could be if I stopped doing the things I know I shouldnt be doing, and started doing the things I know I should, I wondered what to do first thing in the morning. I mean besides the obvious and necessary.

I settled on something embarrassingly banal, the kind of thing old folks do: I would take a walk around the block, and have my first impressions of the day come from outside rather than a computer screen.

This simple act of will kicked my brains positive emotions into overdrive. Doing something different makes you feel different, which makes you think different, and finally be different. The front stoops of my neighbors, which I had so often passed, averting my eyes to the red-brick eyesores, were suddenly radiant with the beauty of flowers. Birds and squirrels went about their business of daily survival, oblivious to human folly and existential dread. And then I beheld a tree I had never noticed before, covered with heart-shaped messages I assumed were there to commemorate the site of some tragic accident. But when I investigated, the messages turned out to be timeless quotes on happiness and friendship put there to inspire and uplift anyone willing to notice. And I never had. One of the Old Testaments central messages, according to Peterson, is quite simple: pay attention.

Pay attention. Sort out your past. Author your future. Take responsibility for something. Identify not with that part of you that can be shattered, but the part that rebuilds itself from shatters. Face your fears one step at a time, and note with each voluntary approach how you didnt perish, but instead were strengthened.

I slept soundly last night and awoke with the sun. As I strolled on Day Two of the new walk-around-the-block routine, my mind was fertile and alert. What could come of this glorious day? When I eventually sat down at my desk, I began writing this.

Countless men are grateful to Jordan Peterson for having the courage to speak his mind on a contentious social matter. This temporal issue brought him many enemies, but his timeless messages earned followers that vastly outnumber them. The sheer numbers testify that he is the right man at the right time, someone capable of showing young men that cleaning up their room has cosmic significance, and that imposing a little order upon chaos is good for the soul, which in turn is good for the world.

READ MORE: Q&A Stephen Mirarchi: Fatherhood as Heroism Q&A Greg Popcak: The Standards of Fathers and Fatherhood The Transformative Power of Fatherhood

Christian Chensvold is a New Yorkbased writer whose op-eds have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, among other places. He is the founder of Ivy-Style.com.

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YouTube's New Father Figure - National Review

Sixty-Four Percent Of US Households Have Amazon Prime – Forbes

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Forbes

Sixty-Four Percent Of US Households Have Amazon Prime
Forbes
A customer can upload a photo and try on different shades of lipstick and makeup. When the customer likes the look, the program lets the ... Keep in mind that if content is king, then context is the queen bee. Not only does the content need to be ...

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Sixty-Four Percent Of US Households Have Amazon Prime - Forbes

Spotlight on green news & views: NY Council votes for environmental justice; Al Gore optimistic – Daily Kos

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

CRITTERS AND THE GREAT OUTDOORS

OceanDiver writesThe Daily Bucket - old friends at the bay: Paddled around my local bay a couple of afternoons recently while Mr O was working on the boat. Its finally gotten partly sunny after our unusually cold wet spring in the Pacific Northwest. It was very pleasant..short-sleeved shirt and dawdling around, meeting up with old friends there. Its been many months since Friendly Seal has played with us. Ive seen her frequently but shes been super busy hunting. On one of the afternoons she met up with us after Mr O had gotten back in his kayak. She swam right up to me and gave me a big hug! My kayak that is. Arm (front flipper) wrapped around the side. All I could see was big claws since she was behind me as usual, but I could feel her below the kayak. No pics of that but she swam around and under our boats, being quite as sociable as before.

m2c4 writesTrump administration gets rid of new protections for West Coast whales, dolphins, and sea turtles: On Monday, the Trump administration ended a new rule that was aimed at protecting endangered marine life off the West Coast from the fishing industry.Economically, the new rule would have had "a much more substantial impact on the fleet than we originally realized," said Michael Milstein, a spokesman with the federal fisheries service, which killed the rule. The rule would have applied to fewer than 20 fishing vessels that use mile-long fishing nets to catch swordfish off California and Oregon. The change would have shut down the drift gillnet fishing for swordfish for up to two seasons if too many of nine groups of whales, sea turtles ordolphinswere getting caught in the nets.According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, the fishing industry has proactively taken many steps towards lessening the chances of hurting these animalsincluding creating underwater pinging devices that can warn off some of the marine animals from getting too close and tangled into the nets.

6412093 writesThe Daily Bucket--When Swamp Plants Attack! Several years ago, I flooded an excavation for what was supposed to be a house remodel, and turned it into a backyard pond. I put cattails, which are tall plants, in the south end to hide the black plastic pond liner from view.This Fall and Spring I pulled up a couple of the cattails, and trimmed a couple of others. In response they spread to the northwest, taking over 2/3rds of the Pond. They encroach into the lilies. That is forbidden. I even found a baby cattail growing in the unconnected Frog Mitigation Area pond, twenty feet away. How did it get there? Did a rhizome pull itself out of the water and slither across land to the other pond, one rainy night? The Cattails also have accomplices; the Bullrushes.

Besame writesDaily Bucket: Canadians take nature selfie to celebrate the nation's 150th birthday: I dont cry over ecosystem devastation, losses, and threats (much). That news stiffens my resolve and I commit to doing more. But hearing about a nationwide bioblitz, seeing people exploring, taking photos, uploading them to iNaturalist, and documenting the natural world of their everyday lives this brings tears because its personal, precious, and precarious. The video announcing Canadas nature selfie made me cry. Over 10,000 Canucks are bioblitzing their country this summer to celebrate Canadas 150th birthday. BioBlitz Canada 150involves 35+ different bioblitz events (map). Volunteers and expert naturalists are photographing and documenting Canadas natural biodiversity to celebrate and to collect data used in tracking wildlife and ecosystem changes over time. The events began in April and will continue into September (calendar). Most of the bioblitzes mingle community members with scientists. But ten science-intense events in remote areas are closed to the public and involve only specialists. All participants will use theiNaturalist.caapp to upload photos,locations, and notes. Canadian Wildlife Federation organized thenature selfie bioblitz.

Walter Einenkel writesTrump administration gets rid of new protections for West Coast whales, dolphins, and sea turtles: On Monday, the Trump administration ended a new rule that was aimed at protecting endangered marine life off the West Coast from the fishing industry. Economically, the new rule would have had a much more substantial impact on the fleet than we originally realized,said Michael Milstein, a spokesman with the federal fisheries service, which killed the rule. The rule would have applied to fewer than 20 fishing vessels that use mile-long fishing nets to catch swordfish off California and Oregon. The change would have shut down the drift gillnet fishing for swordfish for up to two seasons if too many of nine groups of whales, sea turtles ordolphinswere getting caught in the nets.

RonK writesThe Daily Bucket: A trip to our 100 Aker Wood*:*With apologies to A. A. Milne and Christopher Robin. This is a short story with a bunch of photos about our 100 Acre Wood that, like Milnes is loaded with critters scurrying about and singing. This one is an urban forest in Bellingham, WA that was saved by a 2010 bank crash from becoming a housing development. The wood is now a rusticity community park but almost wasnt. As with most areas in close proximity to an urban center, it was a primal forest until about 150 years ago when it was logged for its ancient Douglas fir and Western Red Cedar. The undergrowth of salal, ferns, numerous flowering plants and various berry vines covered huge deposits of50 million year oldChuckanut Sandstone. After logging, portions of this area became a gravel pit that has since closed and is recovering from those ugly scars to its landscape. It now boasts a curtain of huge Douglas Fir and Western Red Cedar, Black Cottonwood, Alder, Big Leaf and Vine Maple and more. The wood is laced with hiking and biking trails and is home to numerous critters including chipmunks, squirrels, deer, frogs, turtles, possum, raccoon, and birds of all kinds.

Agelbert writesBiological Extinction Conference Video #11: The video in this post covers a lot of ground that will help the viewer to begin to objectively assess the importance and severity of the present Sixth Mass Extinction, its causes, and what governments can do to lessen the damage. In the [...] video, you can learn from eminent scientists, economists and scholars about the limits of the stability of biological systems, negative feedbacks, positive feedbacks, population trends,ocean acidificationand the veryimportant issue of increasing anoxic (oxygen starved) conditionsin the oceans directly caused by the continued burning of fossil fuels. [...]The geological record shows that there have been five major extinction-events in the past, the first of them about 542 million years ago, and suggests that 99% of the species that ever lived (5 billion of them?) have become extinct.The last major extinction event occurred about 66 million years ago,at the end of the Cretaceous Period, and, in general, the number of species on earth and the complexity of their communities has increased steadily until near the present.

CLIMATE CHAOS

rktect writesA Growing Rift: In a new international rift, Larsen C, an Ice Shelf the size of Delaware, is about to leave Antarctica. Larsen C ice is the leading edge of one of the world's largest glacier systems. A single large crack in the ice shelf has grown in spurts since 2010, lengthening to about 120 miles. But sometime between January 1 and May 1, the crack forked in two directions. One fork continued traveling parallel to the Southern Ocean, while the other turned northward toward the water. That 6-mile fork has increased by another 11 miles, leaving precious little ice holding back a catastrophic calving event. When it calves, the Larsen C ice shelf will lose more than 10% of its area to leave the ice front at its most retreated position ever recorded,Luckman and O'Leary wrote in a blog post on May 1. They say that the slab's breaking off "will fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula."

Pakalolo writesStudy: Russia's Arctic cities could begin to collapse as early as the 2020's: Thomas Nilson writing for The Independent Barents Observerin January of 2017 on a US-Russianstudythat was funded by the Russian Science Foundation, the US Science Foundation and the George Washington University. The study(Russian text) found a A significant (at least 25%) climate-induced reduction in the urban infrastructure stability throughout the Russian permafrost region should be expected by the mid-21st century.A worst-case scenario could lead to a 75-95% reduction in bearing capacity throughout the permafrost region by 2050, the researchers write in the publication. Last autumn, theBarents Observerreported that Russias Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) issued a warning claiming by the year 2050, the extension of the permafrost in Russia might be reduced by 25% and be the end of the century by up to 56%. This will imply growing risk for a breakdown of buildings, transport infrastructure and pipelines, Acting Head of the Ministrys Center of Emergency Monitoring and Prognosis, Konstantin Moskin said.

Michael Brune writesMeanwhile, in the Real World: President Trump may have decided he wants to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, but the rest of the country isnt ready to give up quite so easily.More than 270 U.S. mayors representing 58 million Americanshave now announced that they remain committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement, and 30 cities across the nation have upped the ante by officially committing to transition to using 100 percent clean, renewable energy. Last week, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works announced that it wouldput new gas-fired power plants on holdas it considered cleaner alternatives. In another major Southern California victory, the California Energy Commission announced last Friday that it would study ways toavoid building a new gas plantin the city of Oxnard. At the state level, California, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Hawaii have all joined aU.S. Climate Alliancecommitted to both uphold in U.S. commitments under the Paris Agreement and to meet or exceed the goals of the Clean Power Plan.

Meteor Blades writesOpen thread for night owls: For the climate fightless PowerPoint, more POWER: Steve Kretzmanat Oil Change International writes:Less PowerPoint. More Power.After that paranoid, delusional babble in the Koch-sponsored Rose Garden last week, it has been truly impressive and relieving to witness the diversity and depth of support for the Paris Accord, and for strongclimateaction across the board. As many have observed, Trump has united and energized the globalclimatemovement like never before. Incredibly, but not surprisingly, we are told thatclimatescience was not a factor in Trumps decision. While this is obviously dismaying, its also quite revealing. For decades,climatepolicy fights have often boiled down to dueling spreadsheets and PowerPoints. Now, in an accidental moment of clarity, Trump has confirmed what an increasingly large section of theclimatemovement has been saying for a while now: dont bring a spreadsheet to a knife fight.

Meteor Blades writesIn London speech, Al Gore says Trump will not wreck the Paris agreement or sustainability revolution: Former Vice President Al Gore gavean upbeat speechat the Ashden Awards 2017 before the Royal Geographic Societyin London Thursday night. The awards are financial prizes given to groups that provide practical assistance to organizations that promote renewable energy, cleaner air and sustainable transportation. So far, those awards have gone to 200 groups serving 80 million people. Gore told those present that the climate movement is akin to great movements of the pastsuch as the abolition of slaverywhich encountered fierce, long-lasting resistance along the way to ultimate triumph. [...]No one person can stop the climate movement or the sustainability revolution we are going to win no matter what President Donald Trump says.The Paris Agreement, I believe, is actually stronger today. I say that with all sincerity and conviction.

ClimateDenierRoundup writesNew Denier Study So Bad Even Deniers are Somewhat Skeptical: Most recently, Daily Callers Michael Bastasch,our favoriteKoch operativemasquerading as a reporter, covered a new study by veteran statistician Stan Youngclaiming to expose huge flaws in EPA science.Surprisingly, Bastasch included a number of reasons to question the accuracy of the study. The post starts with an indication that Youngs study had been shopped around for three years before being peer-review published. Bastasch also includes a quote from reviewers who rejected the study from other journals, and a surprisingly lengthy section about the EPAs decades-old establishment of the lethality of PM 2.5 pollution.

ClimateDenierRoundup writesContinuing Trend, Watts Takes Break from Blogging While Paid Posters Continue Apace: We cant say were surprised to what depths fossil fuels have permeated the administration. But what is surprising is the growing malaise among the climate denial blogosphere. Were sensing that instead of feeling rejuvenated, bloggers appear to be slowing down in the Trump era. Most recently and notably,Anthony Watts announced on Tuesdaythat after ten years of near-constant denier nonsense, hes taking a month-long break from Watts Up With That (and asking for donations to fund a vacation). He has been relying on others to keep up a steady stream of content, and those guest contributors will continue posting, so the site isnt going dark. But the announcement is interesting as a benchmark, since Watts is one of the biggest blog names in the denier space. However, he is far from the only one weve noticed slowing down. Beyond Judith Currys retirement from Georgia Tech, Roger Pielkes halfhearted attempts to stay away from the climate debate and the retirement of Steve McIntyre (andhis ClimateAudit blog) that Watts mentions in his post, a number of blogs that were once main drivers of denial have quieted considerably.

AmericaAdapts writesCan Evangelical Christians adapt to Climate Change? Faith is evidence of what we dont see; science is evidence of what we do see. We are deliberately told by people we trust.that global warming is a false religion, requiring worshipping the earth Regarding climate changeif you only look for negative information, thats what youll find.In episode 44 ofAmerica Adapts, Doug Parsons talks with world famous climate scientist Dr.Katharine Hayhoe,professor in theDept. of Political Scienceand director of theClimate Science Centerat Texas Tech University! Katharine and Doug dig deep into the issue of religion and what are some solutions in reaching out to skeptical audiences on the issue of climate change.

kennethpouchet writesThe future might be rainier that expected: Here is an interesting input from NASA (I am a massive fan of their climate repots). Eventhough many observers and specialists suggest coming days will be warmer and dry, an interesting fact has been addressed by Hui Su of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. Below article has been written by Carol Rasmussen from NASA. A new study suggests that most global climate models may underestimate the amount of rain that will fall in Earth's tropical regions as our planet continues to warm. That's because these models underestimate decreases in high clouds over the tropics seen in recent NASA observations, according to research led by scientist Hui Su of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. Wait a minute: how can fewer clouds lead to more rainfall? Globally, rainfall isn't related just to the clouds that are available to make rain but also to Earth's energy budget incoming energy from the sun compared to outgoing heat energy.

Extreme Weather & Natural Phenomena

ARodinFan writesRecord High Temps Forecast For the Southwest This Week - Where and when was your hottest day? In the summer of 1964 my midwestern family of six took a summer vacation camping in national parks in the western US and Canadian Rockies. The Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Jasper. On our return drive east to Ohio at the end of that trip we drove across South Dakota on a bright sunny 106 degree day. There was no AC in our Dodge station wagon and in my brief experience that seemed awfully hot. That remained by personal high for the next 30 years, until June of 1990. [...] This weekend high temps across wide swaths of the Southwest may rise above 115 Notorious hot spot Death Valley, home to the world's all-time hottest temperature of 134 degrees, will soar to 123 degrees by Sunday. Nights won't provide much relief: the low temperature will drop to only the low 90s.www.usatoday.com/...if youre working outside or travelling in this heatwave stay hydrated, keep plenty of water on hand, be extra careful and watch out for people in distress. So, where and when was your hottest day?

OCEANS, WATER, DROUGHT

Jen HaydenwritesMichigan's public health director charged with manslaughter relating to the Flint water crisis: A Michigan district judge has given a green light to new charges in relation to the lead-poisoned water in Flint:Michigan's public health director and chief medical executive have been charged with criminal wrongdoing related to the Flint water crisis, moving an investigation by state Attorney General Bill Schuette closer than ever to Gov. Rick Snyder. Genesee District Judge David Guinn authorized charges Wednesday, June 14, for Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon and Chief Medical Executive Dr. Eden Wells. Lyon, appointed by Snyder to lead DHHS in April 2015, was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, a 15-year felony. He also faces a single count of misconduct in office.

rflctammt writes So Colorado Groundwater Contaminated; CO GOP Rep. Lamborn pens "Pro-life" ACHA letter to Senate ???: Colorado health authorities have stopped monitoring the plume of groundwater contaminated with PFCs at levels exceeding a federal health advisory limit that is spreading south from Colorado Springs toward Pueblo, state and federal officials confirmed. This widensthe challengeof dealing with the perfluorinated chemicals, or PFCs, whichdo not break downand have been linked to birth defects,cancersand other health harm. [...] This is tragic, disturbing, and frightening...if you read the article you will see that Petersen Field Air Force Base in Southern Colorado Springs is likely the source of the poison...but the 65,000 affected residents are in the dark, and the investigation is not only not moving forward its being shut down. So how is the Republican Congressman who represents this area stepping up to protect his constituents?

Dan Bacher writesDecision on Jerry Brown's Delta Tunnels anticipated in September: Since 2007 when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revived the plan to build a peripheral canal or tunnels around or under the Delta, fishermen, Tribal leaders, conservationists, environmental justice advocates and Delta residents have been fighting to stop this plan pushed by corporate agribusiness interests and Southern California water agencies. After Jerry Brown became Governor for a third term, he embraced the revived plan, reincarnated as two 35 mile long tunnels under the Delta, as his environmental legacy,along with the completion of the privately funded Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative to create so-called marine protected areasin California. In the latest saga in the California water wars, Delta and public trust advocates are gearing up for a heated battle against the continuation of planning for the Delta tunnels this summer,according to a statement from Restore the Delta (RTD). Next week the official official biological opinion necessary for the operation of the tunnels will be released. To date, every federal panel that has examined the tunnels plan has concluded that the tunnels plan will devastate salmon and other fish species.

CANDIDATES, STATE AND DC ECO-RELATED POLITICS

aleurophile writesCLIMATE CHANGE! Blue tidal wave to wash away woman-shaming, NRA-loving, poor-hating DOCTOR (VA-73): Dr. John M. O'Bannon III, a Richmond neurologist, is the Republican incumbent for House district 73. He hasn't had a challenger in years, but the rising blue tide is lapping at his feet: The 73rd went for Clinton-Kaine by SEVEN points and FOUR Democrats took the plunge to oppose O'Bannon. Dr. Debra Rodmanemerged as the winner of the firehouse caucus, and we in the district are psyched. With Democratic energy on the rise, the Trump scandal turning away rational Republicans increasingly by the day, and primary turnout for Ed Gillespie gaspingly flaccid, this district is FLIPPABLE. [...] Not that we won't have a battle: O'Bannon has the reputation of being a nice guy and he gives off a moderate vibe. But when you dig into his voting record - not so much. I was shocked at what I found, and other voters will be, too. For example, O'Bannon voted tocriminalizeself-inflicted abortions and to make it possible to bring a wrongful death civil cause of action when a fetus dies because of the mother's [alleged] negligence. And these are just two examples (see below).

ENERGY

Fossil Fuels

Mark Sumner writesDonald Trump just keeps lying about coal: From the way Donald Trump keeps talking about coal, you would think hes spent years underground with a pickax. But Trumps connection to coal is simply that talking about it worksfor him. It provides a faux, working-man connection through an industry that most people associate with images theyve only seen in films and the idea of industrial decline. At Mondays televised cabinet meeting, Trump against referenced big stories about a new mine opening. He also included this minein his morning tweets. Not surprisingly, the tweet connects to a story onFox News.What does that story sayabout the new mine? Dethlefsen told Leland Vittert that for the 70 positions available in the mine, 400 people applied.Seventy jobs. Thats the news Trump is crowing about. Its the first new mine of the Trump era according to the Fox story. However, is not thefirst news about mine jobsin the Trump era.In April, US coal production wasup 17%compared to a year ago. At the same time, however, coal mining jobs weredown 8%(about 6,000 jobs).

Jen Hayden writesEPA and Dept. of Interior held a private briefing with 45 gas and oil CEOs at Trump's D.C. hotel: The Big Oil fix is in. EPA Chief Scott Pruitt held a private briefing with the chief executive officers of 45 gas and oil companies. The topic? No doubt it was coming up with plans to deregulate their industry, roll back pollution and air quality controls, all those things that cost money and get in the way of even bigger profits for Big Oil and Gas. The kicker? Donald Trump himself was enriched by the private swamp meeting, which was held at Trumps D.C. hotel. Because of course it was. [...]Only weeks later, Donald Trump made it a whole lot easier for oil companies to drill in National Parks.

workingwords writesUnderstanding Coal Miners' Concerns: I hear a lot of liberals talking about how stupid Trump supporters in "coal country" are. I think it's important to think about this. Granted: There aren't going to be a lot of coal jobs created. Granted: Coal is dangerous to the climate. Granted: Coal jobs are unhealthy. [...]Coal miners need real alternatives. Guarantee every coal miner an equally-well paying job or an equally-paying pension, and you'd get less resistance. When the government takes away a person's property using eminent domain, it's not supposed to simply give the homeowner a class on finding a new home. The homeowner should be paid a fair price for the property which will allow them to get a similar home. Coal miners have done hard, dangerous work which society has previously told them was necessary for society. If society wants them to leave behind that source of income and benefits, the government should offer them a comparable income and benefits - not just a class which might lead to another job. Is that too high a price to save the climate?

Renewables, Efficiency & Conservation

Mark Sumner writesDOE closing office that works with other countries to develop clean energy technology: Trump announced that he was taking the United States out of the Paris agreement, under the pretense that a program in which America got to set its own goals and define its own path to reach them was actually a draconian attempt at One World Government. But the Department of Energy still has a section dedicated to reaching out to other countries on the climate. Clearly thats something thatneeds to change.The Energy Department is closing an office that works with other countries to develop clean energy technology, another sign of the Trump administrations retreat on climate-related activities after its withdrawal from the Paris agreement this month.Wind energy is thefastest growingenergy source. Thefastest growing jobin America is wind turbine service technician. Together, wind and solarreached 10 percentof Americas energy production last month for the first time. So clearly this is the ideal time todestroy the office that develops clean energy technology.

Meteor Blades writesGood news department: U.S. generated 10 percent of March electricity from solar and wind power: Data in a publication of the U.S. Energy Information Administrationshow that for March, monthly generation of electricity from wind and solar in the United States exceeded 10 percent of the total generation for the first time. This includes utility-scale facilities as well as smaller-scale systems. At the same time, EIAsElectric Power Monthlyreports that wind and solar made up 7 percent of total U.S. electric generation in 2016.[...] While saying that wind and solar should be part of the U.S. energy mix, right-wingers (including prominent members of the Trump regime and the man squatting in the White House himself) support policies that favor fossil fuel sources, including coal. A slight majority of states, however, have adopted policies favorable to the growth in renewable sources. Key among these are so-called renewable portfolio standardsthat set deadlines for generating a certain percentage of electricity from renewables by a certain date. Californias RPS leads the pack, calling for 50 percent renewables generation by 2030.

Pipelines & Other Fossil Fuel Transport

Meteor Blades writesDakota Access Pipeline ruling favoring Standing Rock Sioux a victory, but the battle is not over: The91-page decisionissued Wednesday by a federal court ruling against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for violating the law with an inadequate environmental review of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline garnered some long-delayed activist hurrahs this week. But it is a victory with caveats. [...]In his ruling D.C. Circuit Court JudgeJames Boasberg, an Obama appointee, stated: Although the Corps substantially complied with NEPA in many areas, the Court agrees that itdid not adequately consider the impactsof an oil spill on fishing rights, hunting rights, or environmental justice, or the degree to which the pipelines effects are likely to be highly controversial. To remedy those violations, the Corps will have to reconsider those sections of its environmental analysis upon remand by the Court. [...]Even though a spill is not certain to occur at Lake Oahe, the Corps still had to consider the impacts of such an event on the environment.

Back Porch philosopher writesJust heard: Standing Rock wins "major victory" in court. Trump's hasty permits violated law: Fantastic News! Those BRAVE Water Protectors who are facing the racist kangaroo court right now might at least take heart that their cause carries on!!! Here is the email I just got from EarthJustice: The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a major victory today in their ongoing battle to protect their drinking water and ancestral lands from the Dakota Access Pipeline.This victory is the result of the Tribes inspiring and courageous fight, supported by hundreds of thousands of people like you who spoke up and made your voices heard.Just days after President Trumps inauguration, his administration hastily issued federal permits authorizing construction of the pipeline across the Missouri River, just upstream of the Standing Rock Reservation.Today a federal judge ruled that those permits violated the law.

TOXINS, AIR POLLUTION, RADIOACTIVE AND OTHER HAZARDOUSWASTE

MarineChemist writesWhat is the optimum level of ionizing radiation exposure for Life? An interestingopen access, peer-reviewed study was published earlier this year in Frontiers in Microbiologythat examined how lower than background doses of ionizing radiation affected the growth of bacteria. [...]Life emerged on our planet billions of years ago when levels of environmental radioactivity were about5-fold higher than they are today. On average living organisms experience a background ionizing radiation dose of ~1-2 milliSievert(mSv) per year although there is significant geographical variation across the globe given local geology (radioisotope content of rocks and minerals) and altitude (exposure to cosmic radiation). Deviations from background occur due to proximity to medical exposure or nuclear energy or weapon related events that only act toincreasethe dose livings things must tolerate. Castillo and Smith (2017)conducted experiments to understand how bacteria responded when they were grown inlowerthan background ionizing radiation dose conditions. How did they do this and what did they find?

REGULATIONS & PROTECTIONS

Earthjustice writesRESISTING TRUMPS ENVIRONMENTAL ROLLBACKS, LOCALLY: The New York City Council recentlypassedthe most comprehensive environmental justice legislation ever achieved in any U.S. city. The breakthrough marked a major win for the Harlem-based organizationWE ACT for Environmental Justice, which recently boosted its local and state advocacy efforts. WE ACT is not alone. Many environmental justice groups are redoubling their efforts at the local level given thebacksliding on the federal levelunder President Trump. The new legislation gives communities the tools to fight for equitable environmental policies, said WE ACT Deputy Director Cecil Corbin-Mark. Furthermore, the city now has a legal mandate to alleviate environmental problems in communities of color and low-income neighborhoods that are disproportionately impacted by pollution known as environmental justice communities.Now theres going to be a requirement that the city conduct its own study or aggregate existing studies so that residents who live in environmental justice communities have clarity around issues impacting their own communities,Corbin-Mark said.

ClimateDenierRoundup writesPruitts Back to Basics EPA Will Send Americans Back to Sick Bay: According to a report from former EPA employeescovered by Rebecca Leber at MotherJones, Trumps proposed budget would cut the EPAs science programs by 47 percent, while also cutting the state grants for air and water programs by a third. Overall, the EPA is looking at a slash of 3,800 jobs - a quarter of its staff. Pruitts Back to Basics rhetoric jibes with Trumps nostalgia, and like Trumps slogan, Pruitt evokes a past that never was. Because the basicsof the EPA are protecting the environment and public health, and Trumps budget will destroy the programs (and jobs) that keep America safe and healthy. EvenRepublican-appointed EPA administratorsthink so. But we will give credit where its due - Trump is creating tremendous, fabulous, absolutely phenomenal number of jobs in coal mining. The first coal mine to come online in the Trump Era (even though its technically been in the works since before he was elected) is certainly delivering on Trumps jobs promise by employing 70 individuals! (Which for reference, is fewer employees than an average supermarket, which employs 92 people.) Now cutting 3,800 EPA jobs and creating 70 coal jobs for a netlossof 3,730 jobs seems like a great deal to us, but then again, we arent fantastic, incredible, truly blessed businesspeople who turned tens of millions of dollars from daddy into a string of failed companies, so what do we know.

WILDERNESS, NATIONAL FORESTS AND PARKS, OTHER PUBLIC LANDS

Walter Einenkel writesTrump's secretary of the Interior suggests we 'trim' down national monuments: Utahs Republican Renfield Jason Chaffetz has already made it clear that the Republican agenda, when it comes to privatizing public lands, knows no boundsand can even begin in his state. Specifically, Republicans are looking to trim downBears Ears National Monument in Utah. Trumps Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has left the confines to Montana and has been wining and dining theoil and gas industry over at Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.Dont worry, Trumps hotel is totally in a trust with his sons so theres no conflict of interest theresays nobody with even half a brain. Today theAPreports that Zinke will be recommending that Bears Ears National Monument be reduced in size, and that Congress should step in and designate how the various areas get categorized.

Meteor Blades writesPitiful 'report' urges shrinking of Bear Ears Nat'l Monument. American Indians screwed again: From the moment in April that Donald Trump put a 45-day deadline on a report on the Bears Ears National Monument, it was obvious that a skimpy document the likes of thedraft that Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke released Monday would be forthcoming. Its essentially a four-page boilerplate preface with a one-page reportand set of recommendations that will presumably be spelled out more fully when the full review of Bears Ears and the other 26 monuments is done 72 days from now. Bottom Line: The 1.35-million-acre monument designated by President Barack Obama is too damned big and should be downsized. The amount of acreage in this proposed shrink job is yet to be determined. [...] E&E News (paywall) reported that Arizona Rep. Ral Grijalva, who is the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, labeled Zinkes report nonsense.

durrati writesdrumpf's Forest Service Seeks to Allow Coal and Methane Leases in Sunset Roadless Area in Colorado: EarthjusticeThe Forest Service is attempting to give Arch Coal, the nation's second largest coal company, the right to expand its mining into 1,700 acres of the Sunset Roadless Arealands that belong to all Americans.A rolling landscape of aspen and spruce-fir forests and beaver ponds,the Sunset Roadless Areais within Gunnison National Forest, 40 miles from Aspen, Colorado. The lush, wild forest is public landprime habitat for goshawk, black bear, elk, cutthroat trout and the imperiled lynx, and enjoyed by hikers and recreationists visiting from near and far. Some of the spruce may be centuries old.

officebss writesSave America the Beautiful - National Parks Under Attack!With so many Right-Wing attacks on so many fronts, its hard to focus and choose what battle to fight next. But this week, Im working on saving our National Parks and Monuments. I live in California, and Public Comments are open concerning the reviewof our National Parks and Monuments, which is doublespeak for preparing to sell off parts of them to the lowest bidder for drilling and mining. Heres my letter to the Secretary of the Interior [...] Preserving the special beauty of our country is one of the greatest ideas that the U.S.A. ever came up with, and it has sparked national preservation movements in many other countries. The world is indebted to thinkers like John Muir and Teddy Roosevelt and so many other Americans who have nurtured and continued to expand our National Parks and Monuments. If ever there was an example of American exceptionalism, this is it.

Ojibwa writesPublic Lands: A Small Urban Park (Photo Diary): Public landsare lands which are set aside for public use.Public landscan range from large areas of undeveloped, rural landsnational parks, wilderness areasto small urban areas. In general, wealthy people and aristocrats dislike the idea ofpublic landssince these lands are not generating more wealth for them. For other people, however,public landsprovide them with space, with a sense of community, and a refuge from the daily world. One example of a small urban park is the C.W. Moore Park in Boise, Idaho. It provides a nice, quiet place to sit, to visit, and to view pieces of Boises history.

AGRICULTURE, FOOD & GARDENING

Missys Brother writesSaturday Morning Garden Blog V.13.24: gardening hodgepodge: This diary contains photographs of what is going on around my yard this week, a couple of old house photos, an attempted cat rescue in Kentucky and a side trip to the Berkshires Mountains in MA in other words a hodgepodge of things. I am very late planting this season as I am still putting in my vegetable garden! Yet my tomato plants that are already in the ground have really put out a lot of green fruit this week because of a northeast heat wave we just had. Perfect weather now as the high yesterday was lower 70s with the low being lower 60s. Connecticut Governor Malloy on Thursday lifted the statewide drought advisory as our water levels are back to normal. The last three years were the worst drought that Connecticut has had since the 1960s.

gmoke writesCity Agriculture - June 13, 2017: InFarm for supermarkets who want to grow their own food. Editorial Comment: This may be my favorite of the shipping container farms now as they seem to be thinking most seriously about reducing energy and water requirements. Forest cities to fight air pollution in China.Greenhouse for the Moon and Mars[...]

lowt writesSo Long Whole Foods, Long Live...As everyone knows by nowAmazon has agreed to buy Whole Foods. Depending on what Amazons intentions are, this could lead to an important transformation or a critical disaster for those of us who depend on Whole Foods for our staples. Just to get it out of the way, I know that most people likely have a basic dislike for Whole Foods. This is especially true if one is on the traditional American diet. I get it, Whole Foods is a niche store, just like Traders Joe. If you have a bad first impression, as I did with Joes, it doesnt become your go to shop. In my case, I saw the fruits and vegetables wrapped in plastic in styrofoam trays, and thought who would do that int he 21st century with plastic piling up in the ocean, the I tried the two buck chuck and wonder who is desperate enough to drink this swill. Saint Genevieve can be had for four bucks, and it is at least two time less disgusting. So everyone has a least favorite. I also understand that Whole Foods is now large national chain, which is why it was difficult to manage costs, which is why it was difficult to increase profits, which is why it was ripe for a buyout.I dont like chains either.

m2c4 writesDemocrats Need To Oppose Amazon/Whole Foods Merger On Strong Antitrust Grounds: Amazon announced today that it has agreed tobuy Whole Foods for $13.4 billionas Jeff Bezos retail monopolistic predator moves into the grocery business in the biggest way. Whole Foods stock rose by around 25% at one point in the day, essentially meaning that Amazon was buying it for virtually nothing and implying that the price of this deal may have to rise. In addition to merging Amazons delivery capabilities with a large grocer, the Whole Foods acquisition provides Amazon with nearly 500 brick-and-mortar outlets for its other retail products. The announcement of this deal also drove the stock of other competing grocery chains and retail outlets down by anywhere from 5%-10%. This is almost a perfect merger for Democrats to vociferously oppose on antitrust grounds and use it as a teaching moment to explain the inadequacies of our current antitrust law and lay the groundwork for reforming those laws in the future. I am under no illusion that the Trump administration will do anything to stop this merger. But fighting this admittedly losing battle is important if we are to win the war in the future.

LiberalTexan11 writesBrazil approves Insect Resistant Sugarcane GMO: Reutersreports, Brazil has approved the commercial use of genetically engineered sugarcane. Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira developed it and made the application seeking approval in December of 2015, Chief Executive Officer Gustavo Leite told Reuters. The crop was bred to be resistant to the insect Diatraea saccharalis, known locally as the cane borer. According to Reuters, the cane borer is responsible for an estimated $1.52 billion in annual losses for producers. The cane has been modified with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (or BT). This adds sugarcane into the list of GE crops that have been modified with BT genes. It will likely take some time before the sugarcane is widely adopted by sugarcane growers.

TRANSPORTATION & INFRASTRUCTURE

Mike F Morales writesCould Self-Driving Cars Be A Bust For Industry-Driven Trump Administration?From the start, President Trump has been largely focused on American industry, from coal mining to car manufacturing. Since he was elected, confidence in the economy hasreached a nine-year high.Trump has made some lofty promises about economic investment, so its no surprise that self-driving cars would be of interest to the administration. If America became the first country to put self-driving vehicles on the market, it could mean big things for our economys growth. However, it may not have the effect many are hoping. Sure, it would mean a huge commodity for the United States. But at what risk? How will it affect the auto industry, including the sale of autos and anyaccessories people would normally buy? There are some potential negative side effects that we cant pretend to understand at this stage in the game.

MISCELLANY

GreenpowerCA writesThis Week in the Environment 6.15.17: Sea Change: Hello, and welcome back for another edition of Greenpowers This Week in the Environment. As always, these storiesloosely focused this time on a theme of cause and effect (no surprise:currentconditions suggest the Trump Administrations new climate policies will make things worse for land and sea)have been meticulously curated by our environmental scientist, Dr. Jon Conway. This set of stories may not be as dramatic as in recent weeks, but the essential narrative remains the same: the red flags are flying, thanks in no small part to our presidents determination to please fossil fuel interests.5.Trump is handing the federal government over to fossil fuel interestsVox[...] 3.April marked the 388th month in a row that the global temperature was warmer than averageDiscover Magazine.

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Spotlight on green news & views: NY Council votes for environmental justice; Al Gore optimistic - Daily Kos

Dr. Overstreet made ‘monumental’ contributions to Black Belt medicine – Montgomery Advertiser

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Alvin Benn, Special to the Advertiser 8:21 p.m. CT June 17, 2017

Dr. Don Overstreet of Selma originated the UAB Family Residency Program, a pilot project that prepared dozens of doctors to practice in rural areas of Alabama.(Photo: Advertiser file)Buy Photo

SELMA Dr. Donald Overstreet was a doctor who refused to retire, even as illnesses and injuries sapped his strength and macular degeneration dimmed his vision.

Osteoarthritis added to his personal pain as he tried to use his new titanium hips and knees. They didnt stop him, either. He just kept plugging along as best he could.

Overstreet and medicine had been carrying on a continuing love affair for decades and when he set up a small private practice as he entered his 80s it only seemed to rev up his batteries.

Father Time eventually took control of him as his 90th birthday neared. Nobody had to tell this doctor that enough was enough.

His heart finally stopped ticking at the age of 89 on June 1 and those who loved him the most knew there wasnt much they could do except mourn the passing of a physician who broke the mold in his profession.

His contributions to family medicine in the rural Black Belt are monumental, said the Rev. Jerry Light, who officiated at a memorial service for Overstreet on Saturday afternoon.

Friends and relatives from Alabama and neighboring states were on hand to honor him at Selmas First Baptist Church. Some had studied under him at the Selma Family Medicine Center.

Dr. Boyd Bailey succeeded Overstreet as director of the family medicine program and it was evident that he was still very much in awe of an amazing man.

He brought life to the program and those who studied under him have never forgotten him, said Bailey. Half of those who learned from him began their medical careers in Alabama.

A few hours before Overstreet was memorialized at the church, some of his former students were on hand for an annual program honoring those who had become resident doctors.

Dr. Melissa Behringer who directs the current family practice program said the number of physicians who successfully completed it now total 155 over a period nearly 40 years long.

She sounded a bit apprehensive as she mentioned Overstreet, Bailey and now me but those who have watched her direct the program give her high marks.

I can still remember when I ran into a tough problem Id stop and ask myself What would Dr. Overstreet do now? And then Id move on to handle it.

Overstreet was born in Flatwood, a tiny settlement in Wilcox County, and served in the Navy as a corpsman during World War II.

He used the GI Bill at the University of Alabama and then it was on to medical school. He eventually moved to Selma where he joined two veteran doctors.

Family practice doctors arent surgeons, but they are familiar with more than their share of daily challenges due to daily life in rural regions.

I was born during a gale and there wasnt a hospital anywhere near our house, he recalled one day during an interview at his clinic. My brother developed pneumonia and almost died. It wasnt like living in a city.

When he became a physician he soon developed a following with patients lined up for some healing in the boondocks where he practiced.

Bailey said family medicine is quite a departure from one involving specialists because thats what we are in so many cases.

Family physicians are able to take care of 85 percent of medical problems, he said. Thats the goal of family medicine and our patients shouldnt have to rely on specialists.

Dr. Don Overstreet felt the same way. Could be it was because he rarely had to call one.

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Dr. Overstreet made 'monumental' contributions to Black Belt medicine - Montgomery Advertiser

Martin Wolfe, doctor specializing in tropical and travel medicine, dies at 82 – Washington Post

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Martin S. Wolfe, a tropical disease specialist who founded one of the countrys first medical practices devoted to ailments incurred in travel and who, in the 1970s, accompanied Henry Kissinger as his personal physician, died June 15 at his home on Block Island, R.I. He was 82.

The cause was a failure of his artificial heart pump, said his son, David Wolfe.

Dr. Wolfe developed an interest in tropical diseases as a medical student and, early in his career, spent five years doing field research in Ghana and Pakistan.

As a staff medical officer for the State Department, he traveled the world with then-Secretary of State Kissinger. He also served as a tropical medicine expert for the World Bank.

In 1980, Dr. Wolfe opened Travelers Medical Service, believed to be the first medical office of its kind in Washington. He also had an affiliated parasitology laboratory and a private practice.

Dr. Wolfe advised people making overseas trips about potential health risks and administered immunizations. If travelers returned with mysterious ailments, he often had to become a medical detective.

He determined a diagnosis by retracing a patients journeys to pinpoint where exposure to various maladies might have occurred. Dr. Wolfe often consulted with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about infectious diseases found in other parts of the world but rarely seen in the United States, such as malaria, cholera and yellow fever.

He wrote more than 100 academic papers and textbook chapters about tropical medicine and travel medicine, which as become a recognized medical specialty.

Through his research and his work with diplomats and other international travelers, Dr. Wolfe became an authority on such exotic conditions as giardiasis and schistosomiasis, both of which are caused by parasites. The ailments, often linked to exposure to contaminated water, can lead to severe physical problems if left untreated.

Perhaps the most commonplace complaint of travelers returning to the United States with diarrhea. Dr. Wolfe recommended that people travel with a supply of Pepto Bismol or Imodium.

The question we always ask in tropical medicine, he told The Washington Post in 2008, is where have you been and what have you been doing?

Martin Samuel Wolfe was born April 9, 1935, in Scranton, Pa. His father was a tavern owner.

He was an Eagle Scout and captain of his high school basketball team before entering Cornell University, where he received a bachelors degree in 1957 and a medical degree in 1961.

One of his medical school professors encouraged his interest in tropical medicine, and Dr. Wolfe did research in Ghana from 1962 to 1964. After a residency in New York, he trained at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Dr. Wolfe conducted additional medical research in Pakistan from 1967 to 1970, when he joined the State Department.

He taught courses in tropical medicine and parasitology the Georgetown and George Washington University medical schools and was a consultant for many years to the State Department, Peace Corps and World Bank.

Dr. Wolfe was a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine and the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, which presented him with its top award. He was a member of the Cosmos Club and Adas Israel Congregation.

Dr. Wolfe retired in 2015. The Travelers Medical Service in Washington is now operated by his son, a physician; its New York branch is run by a daughter, a registered nurse and public health specialist.

Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Lotte Brunes Wolfe of Washington; three children, Rebecca Wolfe Acosta of New York City, David Wolfe of Bethesda, Md., and Miriam Strouse of McLean, Va.; a sister; and seven grandchildren.

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Martin Wolfe, doctor specializing in tropical and travel medicine, dies at 82 - Washington Post

Yes, those ‘kids’ are doctors and they can see you now – The News Tribune

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

The News Tribune

Yes, those 'kids' are doctors and they can see you now
The News Tribune
The three-year residency program, which will graduate its first class this summer, is part of a considerable regional growth in residency programs for family medicine, which runs from delivering babies to seeing the elderly. For patients across the ...

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Yes, those 'kids' are doctors and they can see you now - The News Tribune

St. Jude Medicine Room Tour – WSAV-TV

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

WSAV-TV

St. Jude Medicine Room Tour
WSAV-TV
Patients receive chemotherapy (cancer-fighting drugs), blood products, and other medicines in the Medicine Room on an outpatient basis. The Medicine Room is located on the northeast side of the Ambulatory Care Unit on the first floor of the Patient ...

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St. Jude Medicine Room Tour - WSAV-TV

Y-Speak: Herbal medicine vs. synthetic drugs: What’s better? | SunStar – Sun.Star

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

EVER since the start of the Modern Age, it has always been a debate whether whats the better treatment: herbal medicine or synthetic drugs.

When you ask your mothers and grandmothers, theyll tell you that the natural way is the right way in treatment. But, when asking the more modern-minded people, theyll pick the scientific drugs over any alternative medicine. So, whats the real deal?

According to a World Health Organization, there are 250,000 practitioners of traditional medicine in the Philippines. Natural medicine users have been growing ever since the Traditional and Alternative Medicine Act of 1997 (or Tama) was implemented. Because of this, the country has been majorly supporting the use of alternative medicine, and is more inclined towards it over the latter years.

There are a lot of advantages to herbal medicine, according to Health Guidance. Its a lot less cheap than most synthetic medicine and its also very easily attainable. Most, if not all, herbal medicines are mostly considered over-the-counter medicine, which do not need any doctors prescription to buy it. These alternative medicines also dont really have serious side-effects and are mainly promoting general wellness.

But, they have disadvantages as well. Its ineffective against very serious conditions. You cant really fix a broken arm with herbal medicine, can you? It may also trigger allergies, if youre not careful.

Steven Salzberg, a prominent biology researcher at University of Maryland, calls alternative medicine as cleverly marketed, dangerous quackery.

He even said that the more time they spend getting fraudulent treatments, the less time theyll spend getting treatments that work and that could save their lives.

This brings us to the advantages of modern medicine.

According to Elizabeth Blackburn, a biologist at the University of California at San Francisco and a Nobel laureate, modern medicine was formed around success in fighting infectious diseases. This means that while alternative medicine promotes the general well-being of a person, modern medicine aims to attack a specific disease.

The biggest advantage of modern medicine is actually the biggest disadvantage of alternative medicine its effective on more serious conditions.

Imagine breaking a leg. Would you consider going to an herbalist instead of a doctor whose expertise are more inclined towards your injury?

In the Philippine Health System Review for 2011, it is said that in the 2006 FIES, the average Filipino household spends about P4,000 per year on medical care. Drugs account for almost 70 percent of total household out-of-pocket (OOP) payments while less than 10 percent of total OOP is spent on professional fees. Especially in the world today, most people opt to go to modern medicine.

But, it has its disadvantages as well. Modern medicine is more expensive when it comes to the more serious diseases. There are other cases where the chemicals are too strong for some bodies to handle.

So, with the advantages and disadvantages of both interchanging, which really is the better one?

"For as long as BFAD approved, okay lang man yan (Herbal medicine is okay. Meron yang (It has) scientific basis na pwede siya for consumption. Pero, hindi parin (But it is not) priority ang non-medicinal [Herbal] over medicinal [Synthetic] because there are illnesses or medical conditions that cannot be treated or managed using non-medicinal or herbal regimens, Mari Pearl Agawin, an obstetrician/gynecologist, shared.

Dr. Agawin also added that there are no scientific bases that the synthetic medicine is proven more effective if not any, over the herbal medicine. With this, as long as your illness gets cured, the opinion of the more effective treatment depends on you.

Whether human-made or natural, the most important criteria for a medicines use is safety, effectiveness and quality: identity, purity, potency and stability, Joe Albers, Pharmacist, Pharm.D., Ph.D., said. (Fhrea Zenntine Malinit)

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Y-Speak: Herbal medicine vs. synthetic drugs: What's better? | SunStar - Sun.Star

He wondered if he would ever be a father. Then this happened. – Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

He wondered if he would ever be a father. Then this happened.
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer
He was struggling in medical school and had just learned he would have to retake a board exam. Adding to this stress was the fact that he and his wife Chelsey had been trying unsuccessfully for four years to have children. Now they were in church, ...

He wondered if he would ever be a father. Then this happened. - Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

A License to Mow Lawns? Occupational Licensure and Liberty – The New American

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

If teenagers in Gardendale, Alabama, want to earn money this summer mowing lawns, theyll need to comply with a city ordinance requiring them to get a lawn mowing license, permission that will cost $110.

Learn Liberty reports on its blog how the city government came to require a business license before mowing a lawn:

Young Alainna Paris was mowing her neighbors lawns for $20$40 each. Now, many teens earn extra money mowing lawns, and yet there dont seem to be a lot of law-enforcement resources dedicated to licensure enforcement.

So how did Alainnas illegal lawnmowing come to the attention of the authorities? Someone with a lawn company, upset by the prospect of competition, filed a complaint.

Occupational licensure is an egregious denial of basic liberty and an all too common example of crony capitalism and the monopolies they establish.

Consider this comical example of the ridiculousness of these regulations as published by the Foundation for Economic Education:

[Sherry] Japhet is a veteran in the makeup industry and, according to Idaho laws and regulations, something of a criminal. Because she doesnt hold a cosmetology licenses, Japhet breaks the law each time she applies makeup to Idaho politicians, TV personalities, and corporate leaders.

Plus, she usually does her work on-site, not in a licensed, state-inspected salon or shop. That, too, is against Idaho law.

Thats why Japhet found true irony in a call she received last week. The caller sought her mobile makeup services for Idaho First Lady Lori Otter.

Yeeeah No.

The first ladys husband, three-term Gov. Butch Otter, vetoed cosmetology reform legislation this year that would have exempted makeup artists like Japhet from state regulations. Had Otter signed the legislation, Japhet would have been able legally to provide her services to the governors wife.

"I was more than happy to remind them of what just recently happened.

The sensible reform bill that Otter vetoed would have also lowered training hours required for cosmetologists to secure the state license. And, the bill would have provided a legal grace period for cosmetology schools that missed license application deadlines.

In his veto statement, Otter pointed to the grace period as the reason he rejected the bill.

How did we come to a place where the powers that be can demand people apply for permission to earn a living? Is occupational licensure not a contemporary cousin to the Stamp Act that sparked a revolution?

In a 1975 article reviewing Milton Friedmans demolition of the practice of prohibiting work without permission of the government, Melvin D. Berger wrote:

Pressures are created to produce licensing that effectively protects the producer groups from competition and makes entry to the field more difficult for persons who might otherwise challenge the practices and pricing arrangements of the current practitioners. Friedman says that licensure almost inevitably becomes a tool in the hands of a special producer group to obtain a monopoly position at the expense of the rest of the public. There is no way to avoid this result. One can devise one or another set of procedural controls designed to avert this outcome, but none is likely to overcome the problem that arises out of the greater concentration of producer than of consumer interest. The people who are most concerned with any such arrangement, who will press most for its enforcement and be most concerned with its administration, will be the people in the particular occupation or trade involved Once licensure is attained, the people who might develop an interest in undermining the regulations are kept from exerting their influence. They dont get a license, must therefore go into other occupations, and will lose interest. The result is invariably control over entry by members of the occupation itself and hence the establishment of a monopoly position.

In other words, once the authorities mandate official approbation of this or that line of work, those who comply with such strictures demand the licensing regulations be perpetuated so as to drive up the cost they can charge for their services. Members of the public will perceive the possession of a government-issued license as some sort of sign of superior quality of service, thus preventing unlicensed practitioners from making a living, until such time as they decide to play ball and petition the powerbrokers for permission to earn a living.

Peering into the committee meetings and city council deliberations that result in these licensure regulations, Adam Smith famously wrote, People of the same trade seldom meet together even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public or some contrivance to raise prices.

Supporters of the scheme, however, insist that if the government didnt stand as sentinel, protecting the public from poorly performing providers of this or that service, the people would suffer unspeakable harm. Barger has an answer to such a silly assertion:

The customer himself should be the supreme judge of who is competent to perform the services he requires. If the members of a trade or profession believe that certain standards or practices are considered desirable in their field, they ought to have a right to publicize this fact and even to urge customers to accept such standards and practices before making service commitments. But it is wrong to use the police power of the state to make the views of a producer group binding upon all people within the occupation and upon all customers. There is, in every field, a great deal of personal opinion about what is necessary for good service and what constitutes acceptable practice.

Ultimately, requiring a license to do anything converts an act that was once a right into a privilege, a privilege to be granted and revoked by rulers according to their whim.

Occupational licensure is an example of this transformation and it artificially inflates prices, prevents people from practicing the livelihood of their choice, and exchanges genuine capitalism for crony capitalism and all the corruption with which that institution is concomitant.

Photo: Thinkstock

A License to Mow Lawns? Occupational Licensure and Liberty - The New American

10 facts about the Statue of Liberty | 9news.com – 9NEWS.com

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Caitlin Mullan , WTSP 6:37 AM. MDT June 17, 2017

(Photo: iStock)

In 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty arrived in New York after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean. Lady Liberty was delivered in 350 pieces and carried in 214 crates. We're taking a look at 10 facts to celebrate her arrival 122 years later.

France gifted the Statue of Liberty to the United States to celebrate America's first 100 years as a nation.It symbolizes the alliance between France and the U.S. during the Revolutionary War.

You have to climb 154 steps to climb from the pedestal to the head of the Statue of Liberty.There are 354 steps inside the statue from the pedestal to the crown, which was open to visitors prior to September 11, 2001.

7 rays make up Lady Liberty's crown. The rays represent the seven continents of the world.

The War Department was in charge of the statue's care from 1902 to 1933. Before that, the U.S. Lighthouse Board cared for her. Since 1933, she's been in the care of the National Park Service.

Copper covers the bulk of the Statue of Liberty. The natural weathering of the copper, called "patina" is what gives her the light green color.

Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi designed the Statue of Liberty.

Liberty Island was once known as Bedloe's Island. A Dutch colonist named Issac Bedloe obtained a land grant for the Oyster Island in 1667.

From the ground to the tip of the flame, Lady Liberty stands at 305 feet, 6 inches tall. That's the heigh of a 22-story building.

There are chains at the feet of Lady Liberty. The broken shackles represent the freedom from tyranny and oppression.

2017 WTSP-TV

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10 facts about the Statue of Liberty | 9news.com - 9NEWS.com

Douglas student receives Liberty scholarship – The Record-Courier

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Douglas High School valedictorian Hunter Celio was awarded a $500 scholarship from Liberty Utilities.

Celio was one of eight students to receive scholarships from the company.

Coleville High School student Slone McCann also received a Liberty scholarship, according to the company.

This is the fifth consecutive year that Liberty has provided these awards.

A Liberty Utility representative attended each of the school's awards ceremony to personally congratulate the student and present the check.

"We're very pleased to once again offer these scholarships to deserving students," said Jeanne-Marie Bruno, President of Liberty Utilities-California. "We truly enjoy supporting the communities we serve in this manner."

Also receiving awards were:

South Tahoe High School Emily Doyle

Loyalton High School Sequoia Bergstrom

North Tahoe High School Lionel Pascal

Portola High School Christina Silva

Truckee High School Julia Meyer

Lake Tahoe Community College Hannah Brown

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Douglas student receives Liberty scholarship - The Record-Courier

Former Japanese Residents To Fly To Disputed Russian-Held Islands – RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

Former Japanese residents are traveling to two Russian-held islands in the Pacific Ocean to pay their respects at family graves, Japanese officials say.

The visit set to begin on June 18 will mark the first time Japanese citizens will be allowed to travel by air to the disputed island chain, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories and Moscow calls the Southern Kuriles. Previous Japanese visitors were forced to travel by ship under a complicated procedure.

About 70 visitors will travel aboard a charter flight by Russian airline Aurora from the Japanese city of Nakashibetsu to the islands of Iturup and Kunashir, officials said.

Although Russian-held, Japan still claims the islands, which the Soviet Union seized in the closing days of World War II.

Lingering tensions over the islands have prevented Japan and Russia from signing a peace treaty to formally end the war.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on June 17 said the visit and continued cooperation with Russia regarding the islands could mark a big step toward the eventual signing of a peace treaty.

"The joint economic activities in the Northern Territories and the fact we are going to jointly consider their future is no doubt a big step toward signing a peace treaty by solving the issue of sovereignty [over the islands]," Kishida told Japanese NHK TV.

On March 20, Moscow and Tokyo pledged closer economic and security cooperation related to the island chain.

A month later, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had agreed with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to start flights for former Japanese residents to "visit graves of ancestors" on the islands.

He said the move was made to help create an atmosphere of trust and mutual understanding as the two sides sought a more-permanent solution to the dispute.

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Former Japanese Residents To Fly To Disputed Russian-Held Islands - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

France road trip: La Rochelle, Cognac and the Atlantic coast islands – The Guardian

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

La Rochelle is a lively, sparkling seaside town with a great reputation for seafood, three urban beaches and the best vieux port on the French Atlantic. Spend a day strolling under the arcades of the rue du Palais, exploring the maritime museum, and the aquarium, open until 11pm in the summer. Spend the late afternoon watching the pleasure boats and the evening on the seafront, eating a platter of shellfish. Sleep at Des Tours La Rochelle, a family-run chambres dhtes with a pool, five minutes drive from the centre (doubles from 75 B&B, each named after one of La Rochelles medieval stone towers).

In the morning, join the avenue de la Repentie and drive across the bridge (16 toll) to the le de R, an island of nautical chic and sandcastle charm, the kind of place Monsieur Hulot might have gone on holiday. Lots of traditional marinire tops, bicycles with baskets, ice-cream and excellent campsites. Two of its main towns, Saint Martin and La Flotte, are pleasantly breezy, even in high summer, with a permanent sound of fluttering mast wires in the harbour, a sprightly market in La Flotte and seafood bistros. Hire a bike and cycle out to the lighthouse near Saint-Clment-des-Baleines, a great ride past the salt pans of Loix and the black-and-white church spire at Ars-en-R. Spend three nights at Le Snchal (doubles from 79) or at the eco-campsite Camping Les Baleines (pitch from 19.50) near La Conche beach.

On day five, drive down the E602 coast road, past Rochefort to Marennes and over the bridge to Olron, mainland Frances oyster capital and its second largest island (after Corsica). First stop is the Chateau dOlron, for a visit to the citadel and a plate of oysters in one of the colourful floating cabanes; try the red-and-black painted Cabane du Sans Souci .

Stay in Hotel LEcailler (doubles from 58), which serves trays of crab and crayfish overlooking La Cotinire harbour. Or, for a couple of days calm in the pine forests of the west coast, try Hotel Le Vert Bois, which has a heated pool, a space for bikes, table tennis and apartments (doubles from 70).

Just off Olrons northern coast is Fort Boyard. The oval-shaped Napoleonic fortress, usually only accessible to contestants in the eponymous TV gameshow and former soap stars, can be part of an islands day trip (adult 20, child 13, under-four 4). More rewarding is the car-free le dAix, a 20-minute ferry ride from Fouras, which has a museum dedicated to Napoleon, as this was his last stop on mainland France before exile on Saint Helena. The islands Hotel Napoleon (doubles from 80) has, of course, a Chez Josphine restaurant.

On day seven, head eastwards on the D728 to Saintes, past the many signs for Pineau des Charentes. Saintes has a huge Roman arch and the ruins of an amphitheatre, which can take up an afternoon if the visit includes the crypt of the Basilique St-Eutrope.

Spend a night at the tastefully decorated chambres dhtes Les Persiennes (doubles from 75) just outside the centre, which also does an evening assiette gourmande to eat on the terrace (12), a lunchtime picnic (8) and, most spectacularly, chicken marinated in Pineau and then flambed in cognac.

Leave Saintes for a detour north on the dead-straight D137 to the Chateau de la Roche Courbon in Saint-Porchaire, a sumptuous 18th-century castle, which has its own prehistoric caves, turrets, and has launched a new escape game for summer 2017.

From there, drive east through the vineyards towards Cognac, the smell of which can be detected long before arrival. Most of the big brandy companies offer guided tours of their warehouses, with Camus being well-recommended spiders in the roofs of its distilleries are so drunk they make crooked webs. Spend two nights at the Maison Gaudin B&B (doubles from 72) in the old town, which has a little pool in a tranquil garden. Madame Gaudin, the owner, suggests Le Bistro de Claude nearby for a typical Charentais three-course lunch (25).

Return towards La Rochelle via medieval Saint-Jean-dAngly and Surgres on the D731, where, at Migron, theres a museum focused on cognac also with permanent exhibitions of coffee, cigars and chocolate. Otherwise, Bordeaux is just 1 hours south on the E5. Total distance: 220 miles Brittany Ferries sails from Portsmouth to Le Havre, Caen and Cherbourg, and from Poole to Cherbourg; Condor Ferries sails Portsmouth-Cherbourg. Ryanair flies to La Rochelle from Stansted and easyJet flies from Bristol and Gatwick

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France road trip: La Rochelle, Cognac and the Atlantic coast islands - The Guardian

Senate Democrats weigh blockade to protest GOP health care plan – CNN

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

The Democratic leadership and rank-and-file members are planning to prevent the chamber from conducting routine business, including allowing committees to meet for extended hearings when the Senate is in session. And they will demand an open process to consider health care when the Senate reconvenes Monday.

Democrats might use parliamentary maneuvers to prevent committees from meeting for longer than two hours.

If carried through, the hardball tactics would make it difficult for Republicans to schedule votes even on uncontroversial bills and nominees, further slowing down the already slow-moving body.

One Democratic source cautioned that the caucus may not go that far given the bipartisan atmosphere following the shooting at a congressional baseball practice Wednesday.

But other Democrats said they wanted to escalate the fight to give more prominence to the GOP's closed-door process of drafting health care legislation, which Republican leaders want to pass by month's end.

"As of yesterday, no decisions had been made about procedural tactics, but the message was that everything is on the table," a Democratic aide said.

A spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer declined to comment.

Senate Democrats weigh blockade to protest GOP health care plan - CNN

Does Bad Health Care Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment? – The Atlantic

Posted on June 17, 2017 by Danzig

CHICAGOIn 2010, the court of the Northern District of Illinois received a handwritten complaint from Don Lippert, a diabetic inmate at Stateville Correctional Center outside of this city, claiming he was being denied his twice-daily dose of insulin. In the roughly six years since, that case has snowballed into a lawsuit filed on behalf of every prisoner in Illinois.

Lippert v. Baldwin argues that health care inside the Illinois Department of Corrections systematically puts inmates at risk of pain, injury, and death. By failing to address fundamental needs, it alleges, Illinois is not meeting its constitutional mandate to protect against cruel and unusual punishment. If someone has a broken arm and you let them suffer, thats really no different than putting them on the rack and stretching them, said Alan Mills, one of the lead attorneys on the suit. If conditions cause treatable pain and there is a failure to treat the causes of that pain, then thats punishment for no good penological reason.

Prisons and jails are difficult settings for the delivery of medical care, between high illness rates among offenders and worries about safety. Inmates also dont have a right to the countrys best health resourcesno American does. But they do, uniquely, have a right to care that prevents needless suffering.

The Lippert case formally began when the court decided his story had merit and assigned him a pro bono attorney, Jason Stiehl. Stiehl had never before handled a prisoners case, so he started searching for similar ones in Illinois to understand the basic legal terrain. He found hundreds.

After about a month of background research, Stiehl made what he considered to be a reasonable demand from the state as restitution for his client: moderate financial compensation and changes to the management of Lipperts insulin regimen. The state refused, arguing that payment over one complaint would open public coffers to a flood of health-care claims. It could indicate that the state was open for business, so to speak, Stiehl said. With Lipperts consent, he decided to pursue the case as a class-action suita designation that means a particular problem has been shown to be systemic in nature. In April, Judge Jorge Alonso formally granted the lawsuit that status.

As part of their work on the case, Stiehl and Mills traveled across Illinois to take depositions from medical staff in different prisons. (Mills, who directs a legal-advocacy organization, has handled prisoner health-care cases for decades and joined Stiehl early on.) They subpoenaed state agencies for medical records and began slogging through documents, looking to compile information about why the system wasnt working, Stiehl said. They also sought documentation from Wexford Health Sources, a private correctional health-care company to which Illinois started outsourcing the majority of its prison health services in 1992. The most recent contract, signed in 2011, covers 10 years and pays out $1.36 billion.

After two years of Stiehl and Millss digging, a temporary truce went into effect. There was an agreement between the parties to stand down for an expert report, said Camille Bennett, an attorney at the ACLU of Illinois, which joined the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs in 2013. Dr. Ronald Shansky, an internist in Chicago at the time, was appointed to lead the audit, along with another medical doctor, a registered nurse, and a dentist. They were charged with investigating a sample of eight prisons statewide. Their final reportwhich the Associated Press called scathingconcluded that Illinois has been unable to meet minimal constitutional standards with regards to the adequacy of its health-care program for the population it serves.

The findings offer a dire picture of medical care in the states prisons. Facilities were significantly short-staffed35 percent of budgeted medical positions at Stateville were vacantand slips in routine care, like the irregular administration of necessary medication that Lippert reportedly faced, were widespread. Inmates with health issues in solitary confinement received medical consultations conducted through a solid steel door. In 60 percent of inmate deaths from nonviolent causes, the audit found significant lapses of care.

These issues are by no means exclusive to Illinois. Jails and prisons can make the practice of medicine challenging. For one, their inhabitants are under a much heavier disease burden than the broader American public. When the Bureau of Justice Statistics compared illness in jails and prisons with rates in the general population, it found a striking divide. While the average rate of infectious disease, like tuberculosis or hepatitis, among those incarcerated is 21 percent, the rate for those outside of prison is under 5 percent. Estimates suggest that, on average, prisoners bodies function at a physiological age 10 to 15 years older than their chronological age. A growing geriatric population also complicates the work of doctors and nurses.

There are logistical factors, too, that make providing care tough. Like other states with strict budget constraints, Illinois is running its facilities above capacity, at 147 percent, and its per capita funding for prisoner health care ranks 48th out of 50 states, according to a 2014 report. Facilities nationwide also maintain an unusual chain of command, in which guardswhose primary focus is securityare often the first to encounter inmates with medical complaints. Under this informal system of triage, urgent symptoms may go unrecognized.

Health-care providers must also balance treatment against legitimate safety concerns. In a recent example, an inmate from Illinoiss Kane County Jail was granted medical furlough to visit a nearby hospital. While in the emergency room, he took a nurse hostage, and was eventually shot and killed after broken negotiations and a SWAT team standoff.

At the same time, the negligence of prison medical staff sometimes seems baffling in its callousness. Predating Shanskys report, in the spring of 2012 an inmate in Illinoiss Taylorville Correctional Center, who had lost 42 pounds in three years, was diagnosed for a second time with hemorrhoids after he complained of bleeding from his rectum. Within weeks he was placed in diapers and having up to 40 bloody and watery bowel movements a day. Not until July was the man sent to a hospital, where he was diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer that had metastasized to his liver and lungs. He died one month later.

In his report, Shansky documented numerous deaths similar to this one that he said were caused by a failure to identify serious instabilitya severe case of internal bleeding that went unmanaged, sepsis that went undiagnosed. In sum, he found an unacceptably high rate of deviations from the standard of care. (Shansky declined a request for comment, as he will likely be called to testify in the case. The state corrections department, which criticized his report, and Wexford Health Sources both declined to comment.)

After his findings were released in 2014, both the plaintiffs and the state of Illinois began moving toward a consent order that included court oversight of prison health care, according to Bennett from the ACLU. But the election of Republican Governor Bruce Rauner shifted the political winds. Rauners administration, she suggested, preferred a private settlement that precluded that oversight, which was a deal-breaker. Negotiation fell apart and the case returned to active litigation.

Class-action suits over prison health care are not uncommon; some target the system as a whole, others focus on a failure to provide one or another specific treatment or service. Illinois, for instance, settled a suit focused on the provision of mental health in 2015, and a similar case is now working its way through Alabama courts. California settled a class-action lawsuit in 2017, as did Florida in 2016though they now face another one. And Wisconsin settled a suit in 2010. This is a pervasive nationwide problem that our class-action in Illinois is not going to solve, Stiehl said. He alleged that privatization of prison health care is one of the factors driving this litigation: They underbid, then overrun costs, and end up having these huge gaps in the way that services are delivered.

Compounding Illinoiss issues are financial woes so severe that Politico recently labeled it a failed state. The government holds $14.6 billion in unpaid bills and, despite running a deficit of $6 billion, has been unable to negotiate a budget in nearly two years. Throughout the case, Stiehl said, the state has argued it cannot pay for many of the recommendations in Shanskys reportrecommendations like hiring to fill vacancies, or updating medical equipment, or scheduling more frequent appointments for chronically ill patients. My response, Stiehl said, is that you shouldnt incarcerate tens of thousands of people if you cant take care of them. If the case is eventually found in the plaintiffs favor, the state will likely be forced to comply with the orders for reform, despite its budget problems.

With class-action status now approved, the plaintiffs lawyers are trying to determine whether the state corrections department has heeded any of the recommendations from the expert report. The team has asked the state to present a witness for deposition who is most knowledgeable on the subject. In the meantime, occasional contact with the six named plaintiffs is the only slim view of the inside they have.

Roughly two months ago, Lippert faced a crisis situation, Stiehl said. For three days he received no insulin shots, and his blood sugar climbed dangerously high. Stiehl talked to his client on the phone, and he considered a court injunction to get Lippert back on his regimen before the prison resumed treatment. Such ongoing complications signal to him that conditions have not improved inside the facility. He checks on Lippert, but is not there to monitor his care each day. They literally missed him for three days, Stiehl alleged. They forgot about him.

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Does Bad Health Care Constitute Cruel and Unusual Punishment? - The Atlantic

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