February 2008
“Pablo Casals, he was a past master of the cello. He was the virtuoso in the 20th...”
– George Carlin - In an interview for Salon.com.
The World's Growing Food-Price Crisis →
For the world’s poorest people, the price rises are already proving devastating, since the speed at which prices have risen has wrought havoc on government relief programs. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that millions more people who were previously earning enough to feed their families can now no longer afford the food in their local stores, and are now swelling the ranks of those...
Buried Seed Vault Opens in Arctic →
No one questions the vulnerability of many of the world’s seed stores. Iraq’s bank of ancient wheat, barley and other crop strains in the town of Abu Ghraib — made infamous for other reasons — was looted during the war (mainly for the containers holding grain samples, not for the grain itself). An international rice repository in the Philippines was shredded by a typhoon.
Link Between Excessive Food Intake and Insulin... →
For quite some time now, scientists suspected the so-called hexosamine pathway — a small side business of the main sugar processing enterprise inside a cell — to be involved in the development of insulin resistance. But they could never quite put their finger on the underlying mechanism. Researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have uncovered the long-missing molecular link: the...
Bufo Alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran... →
In October, a Kansas City man was charged with... →
“The only kinds of fights worth having are those you’re going to lose, because...”
– I.F. Stone who shaped my political perspective when I was a teenager.
“If one includes prisoners when calculating unemployment rates, joblessness among...”
– Punishment and Inequality in America-Princeton sociologist Bruce Western
Guatemalan farmers seize police →
Police spokesman Faustino Sanchez told AP news agency: “They told us they are going to kill them one by one.” Among those being held were the police station head, a police district head and four other commanders, local media reported.
“Hypothetically, what do you think of hypothetical questions posed for no...”
– Game Informer magazine (Issue 179) Video Game Trivia quiz.
The Million Year War →
In the land the Bush administration “liberated,” violence remains at a staggering daily level; electricity is a luxury; the national medical-care system has been largely destroyed; perhaps 4.5 million Iraqis have either fled the country or become internally displaced persons; approximately 70% lack access to clean water; and 4 million, according to the UN, don’t know where their...
Wild Bill Jones - Clifton Hicks voice and banjo.
14 Grand Engineering Challenges of the 21st... →
Make solar energy affordable. Provide energy from fusion. Develop carbon sequestration methods. Manage the nitrogen cycle. Provide access to clean water. Restore and improve urban infrastructure. Advance health informatics. Engineer better medicines. Reverse-engineer the brain. Prevent nuclear terror. Secure cyberspace. Enhance virtual reality. Advance personalized learning. Engineer...
Finally a Reason Why I Can't Shake Metabolic...
I’m 5’6”, have an inseem of 29”, and weigh 175 lbs. - the perfect form for scrabbling across glaciers in pursuit of whooly mammoth. Not so great for living in South Carolina in a climate controlled house with a full fridge. So, I’m diabetic, with heart disease and am over weight. (See Post Below)
“Our earliest human ancestors lived in a hot humid climate that placed a premium...”
– Anna Di Rienzo, professor of human genetics at the University of Chicago in a press release from Newswise.
Flaunting your fertility makes for big tips. The... →
Psychologist Geoffrey Miller and colleagues tapped the talent at local gentlemen’s clubs and counted tips made on lap dances. Dancers made about $70 an hour during their peak period of fertility, versus about $35 while menstruating and $50 in between.
Maude Barlow: The Growing Battle for the Right to... →
“Twentieth century biology was structured according to a linear Newtonian...”
– Carl Woese in an interview for Wired conducted by Brandon Keim.
Global Warming: Nine Things that Will Put us Over... →
Irreversible changes * Arctic sea ice: some scientists believe that the tipping point for the total loss of summer sea ice is imminent. * Greenland ice sheet: total melting could take 300 years or more but the tipping point that could see irreversible change might occur within 50 years. * West Antarctic ice sheet: scientists believe it could unexpectedly collapse if it slips into the sea at its...
"Biofuels" could worsen climate crisis →
Diverting food crops into biofuel production leads to the clearing of yet more native ecosystems for crop production. Converting ecosystems such as rainforests and into fields of corn, sugarcane, palm or soybeans, would release 17 to 420 times more carbon than would be gained by replacing fossil fuels. The researchers identify this release as a “carbon debt,” which must be paid before...
Buff Wear
Found a elegant headgear product for all outdoor activity - the Buff. Here’s a video montage showing how people have used it.
Worried Mary - Clifton Hicks’ banjo
