Lefty Blogs
williampfaff ++ ++
Russian News ++
seaton-newslinks. USA expat in Europe ++
bilegrip Asu spleen ++
us-rockstroh a rant, not a blog ++
aboutmyplanet eco ++
sfgate ++
crookedtimber ++
onthecommons ++
sjlendman ++
....
abutamam freeiraq ++
airamericaradio +
amygdalagf +
angryarab ++
annezook +
antiwar ++
norwegianity
terrorism-news
blogspot
ourtomorrow
politickybitch
welcome-to-pottersville
aviraqi
billmon ++ whiskeyB
consortiumnews ++
dahrjamailiraq
dailywarnews ++
drforbush +
english +
fallujahinpictures
freespeechradio
halcyondays ++
healingiraq
hereticalideas ++
icasualties
maru
om
boxspinning boxes

jamaicaobserver newspaper
jameswolcott +
lefarkins +
liberalgirlnextdoor ++
lonehighlander Libya, not lefty
mahablog +++ solid
maruthecrankpot +
indymedia melbourne
messopotamian +7Apr06
monkey ++
motherjones ++
fisk
nocapital +
norightturn +NZ
peakoil ++
pilger +
politicalhumor +
raedinthemiddle
rafahtoday Feb05?
rense w= wacko conspiracies
rigorousintuition x
hegemon ++
ruckus ++
rudepundit ++
satiricalpolitical +
scaramoucheblog ++
secretsinbaghdad ++15Ap06
Energring
aliveinbaghdad ++
riverbendblog ++
sideshow +++
signs-of-the-times +++
slashdot ++techy
talkleft ++
thinkprogress ++
thismodernworld +++
uncapitalist ++
velorution ++ bicycles
org ++Brazil peasants
warandpiece +
warfare.ru +russia military
greenpeace
allhatnocattle
alternet ++
americanpolitics
antiwar
gbruno ++YT
axisoflogic ++
blackcommentator
bobharris +
bradblog +
buckfush +funnies
buggery +
buzzflash ++
changeforamerica
countercurrents
counterpunch +++
crisispapers
crooksandliars ++?
csmonitor
dahrjamailiraqhref="http://www.dailykos.com/
davidcorn
democracynow
democracyuprising
dissidentvoice
earthfirstjournal
earthstation5
empirenotes
foodfirst
fpif
fromthewilderness
geocities
granta
grist ??
gristmagazine
guerrillanews
gulf
hizbollah
huffingtonpost ++
informationclearinghouse
infoshop +
inthesetimes x
iranmania x
ivaw
jihadunspun
juancole ++
kuro5hin ++ notlefty
kurtnimmo ++
lrb ++ Iraqi?
mahablog
lewrockwell ++
marklynas climate change
mnftiu get your war on comics
motherjones
nilemedia
nybooks
occupationwatch
oriononline
palestine
prisonplanet
rall ++ Ted Rall cartonist
ratical
redpepper
rense
robert
rollingstone
scoop
selvesandothers ++
smirkingchimp
snappingturtle
socialistworker
spiked
tblog
theiraqiroulette
theleftcoaster +
thepoorman +
tnr ++ magazine
tompaine ++ mag
traprockpeace ++
truthout +
boondocks ++
crowning3
. . . helix
Base
rain radar
Weather
worldtribunal +
worldwatch ++ $ required
zaman + Turkish news
youcantmakeitup + ?
youngfox ????????????
bareknucklepolitics videos?
popdrain videos??
discovery videos??
cs videos??
aegisIraq video??
mariyaguchi video??
iwilltryit video..
baghdadtreasure
ahram cairo newspaper
felbers
thepartyline
jfaughnan 28/04/2006 10:25AM
shrillblog +
thinkprogress +
marchforjustice + pictures
messopotamian + Iraqi not so radical, but scared (also see IraqTheModel which was a USA front, but is now also scared)
scaramoucheblog +
counterpunch
.............
blogads liberal blogs by CPM $ per view
malakandsky ++ stolid?
republicoft + black gay parent??
dailykos ++
rawstory ++
democraticunderground ++
atrios ++
workingforchange +
leftinthewest +
dembloggers +
talkingpointsmemo +
firedoglake ++
vastleft ++
pamspaulding +
americablog +
washingtonmonthly ++
mydd +
politics1 +
bartcop ++
politicalwire +
sisterstalk black lesbian?
culturekitchen ++
alternet
wonkette +++
billstclair +
freefreedomtoldhere ++ pipe bomb

......
almuajaha defunct
whynot defunct
winstonsmith defunct
samadams dormant
mquinn02 defunct
iraqblogcount ++14Apr06 suspended
iraqicomments most recent: jan2005
iraqidoctor most recent: Aug2005
georgemustgo + moved?
vialls ++Dormant (joe is dead)
warblogging Defunct
hammeroftruth quiescant?
mediastorm quiescant? +
bushwhackedusa defunct
hamasonline defunct
4Jul06

20 June 2009

al-Shabab, Ipilimumab, XBD173

al-Shabab back in Mogadishu
Police chief, Security minister & former Ambassador to Ethiopia killed in 2 days
I dont know if ICU promotes schools for girls, or midwife training - essential features of any state. I will ask my Somali friends, when I get to know them a little better. ...
I distrust USA backed regimes, such as Ethiopia, and ARPCT.
....
Adan Hashi Ayro was described in USA as ElQaida, and returning "with Hezbollah fighters" both absurd claims, indeed contradictory, adding to credibility, if you invert USA propaganda. (Hezbollah seem to have totally freaked out Washington/TelAviv ...upcountry Iranian accents have been described as Hezbollah,see Fisk who is somehow still on the ground in MiddleClass Tehran)

USA was gleeful when they killed Adan Hashi, just another "we bomb anywhere, fuck international law" of the BushObama junta. Way to make the world fearfull of planes/drones overhead

where al-Shabab [he youth] gets its support. The US has in the past accused Eritrea and some Arab nations of funding the conflict being waged by al-Shabab in Somalia. It is a claim Eritrea has vehemently denied....
No doubt the death of Adan Hashi Ayro [May 08 not 09] will be a huge setback to the al-Shabab. He was not only their patron but chief militia trainer. Ayro hailed from one of the most influential clans in Southern Somalia
Glossary:
...ICU Islamic Courts Union (ICU)
...ARPCT US-backed Mogadishu-based warlords and businessmen known as the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) now seems to be called Transitional Federal Government (TFG) "backed by Ethiopia, the United States, and the United Nations" (wikip)


aljazeera
aaa
__________________________________________________

Ipilimumab.
Prostate cancer
The results were so startling that researchers decided to release details of the two cases before the drug trial..was complete. ..Mayo Clinic in Minnesota .......
.....after one infusion of the drug ipilimumab, a monoclonal antibody that stimulates the immune system, given with conventional hormone therapy, their tumours shrank enough to be surgically removed. Both men have since made a full recovery..
...had a hard time finding any cancer. I have never seen anything like this before. The pathologists were floored."
....Ipilimumab.. being trialled on malignant melanoma, .Hodgkin's disease, lung cancer and prostate cancer. ....
independent


flixel
make games



Anxiety
the team gave XBD173 to rats twice a day for 5 days. When anxiety was chemically induced in the animals [!?!}, the compound seemed about as effective as a common benzodiazepine, alprazolam, at alleviating it (measured partly by the rats' interest in exploring or playing with other rats). But the side effects associated with benzodiazepines, such as drowsiness, were missing...
Next, the scientists turned to humans. .. a CCK-4 challenge. Here, a chemical called CCK-4 is injected and induces a panic attack [!?!], leading to feelings of intense anxiety, fear, sweating, nausea.
...71 healthy young men got a placebo, alprazolam, or XBD173 for 7 days. Then they were given CCK-4.. XBD173 worked about as well as alprazolam at relieving anxiety...far fewer problems than with alprazolam... 57% of those on alprazolam experienced withdrawal symptoms, compared with less than 7% on the new compound.
What fascinates me is the "CCk-4 challenge" - just what you always dreaded the SecretPolice would shoot you up with.. Or maybe the next RealityTV show?
meanwhile, I'll try to maintain my delight in "exploring and playing with other rats"


Blu-Ray
How to Copy?
com


aaa
google
We may never drive so far again, gone like the Concord

18 June 2009

Iran, McChrystal, Flint

Iran
lots of spooky rumours ... But:
An independent, objective poll was conducted in Iran by American pollsters prior to the election. The pollsters, Ken Ballen of the nonprofit Center for Public Opinion and Patrick Doherty of the nonprofit New America Foundation....
The poll results, the only real information we have at this time, indicate that the election results reflect the will of the Iranian voters. Among the extremely interesting information revealed by the poll is the following:

“Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin...
counterpunch


McChrystal notorious psychopath
On June 15,.. "Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a four-star American general with a long history in special operations, took charge of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan ..
McChrystal is a hired gun, an assassin, a man known for committing war crime atrocities as head of the Pentagon's infamous Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) -.. de facto death squads writer Seymour Hersh described .. as an "executive assassination wing" operating out of Dick Cheney's office.
In his May 17 article titled "Obama's Animal Farm: Bigger, Bloodier Wars Equal Peace and Justice," James Petras called him a "notorious psychopath"
His rise through the ranks was "marked by his central role in directing special operations teams engaged in extrajudicial assassinations, systematic torture, bombing of civilian communities and search and destroy missions. He is the very embodiment of the brutality and gore that accompanies military-driven empire building."
sjlendman

http://petras.lahaine.org/articulo.php?p=1777
Obama’s restoration of all of the most notorious Bush Era policies and the appointment of Bush’s most brutal commander is based on his total embrace of the ideology of military-driven empire building.


Orlov, long rant
orlov
Second, shocking though this seems, it can be observed that most societies are able to absorb sudden increases in mortality without much fuss at all. There was a huge spike in mortality in Russia following the Soviet collapse, but it was not directly observable by anyone outside of the morgues and the crematoria. After a few years people would look at an old school photograph and realise that half the people are gone! When it comes to death, most people do in fact make it easy on themselves and come along quietly. The most painful part of it is realising that something like that is happening all around you.


Monbiot

monbiot brief history of British Empire


Top nuclear expert Eaten by Leopard?
.. One of India's leading nuclear scientists has gone missing ..12 Jun 2009 Lokanathan Mahalingam .. ..worked at the Kaiga Atomic Power Station in Karnataka..
..He went for a walk early on Monday morning and has not been seen since. ..the Indian Intelligence Bureau is investigating whether he has been eaten by leopards... ..A manhunt is under way in the 1000 acres of dense forest of the Western Ghats that surrounds the Kaiga plant.
..Five years ago, a heavily armed gang attempted to kidnap an official from India's Nuclear Power Corporation in the same forest
telegraph


whaleoil likes HTC magic google phone
aaa
But: no plug...Samsung's latest effort is thinner and looks just as nice, but still manages to pack a headphones socket.
techradar
_________________________________________________________

aaa
Brazil ...how half the world is... no room for casava
____________________________________________
Flint doesnt Micheal Moore live there?

Local politicians believe the city must contract by as much as 40 per cent, concentrating the dwindling population and local services into a more viable area.

In Detroit, shattered by the woes of the US car industry, there are already plans to split it into a collection of small urban centres separated from each other by countryside."
Urban Praire
UrbanPrairie
mouse over to see the little houses go away...

15 June 2009

N-Acetyl-Cysteine, Humpback Whales

NAC
Cancer patients have complained for years about the mental fog known as chemobrain. Now in animal studies at West Virginia University (WVU), researchers have discovered that injections of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an antioxidant, can prevent the memory loss that breast cancer chemotherapy drugs sometimes induce. ScienceDaily (Sep. 7, 2008) — sciencedaily
I used to take NAC for protection against alcohol. Mail order from USA. Not seen in Aus. NZ has it at typical NZ-criminal-gauging-price. I dont bother now, may get onto mail-order again...
I dont know if NAC during chemo contradicts my idea that one should avoid anti-oxidants during RT/chemo.
My theory is that one should let the oxidative radicals kill the cancer cells.
Another school of thought says "dont go about proffering half-baked ideas to people in life-threatening situations"
I'll just munch another Brazil nut (Selenium) and consider retiring from the amateur medical advice scene


Humpbacks

Joe Heavily, out of Marlborough sounds, is out counting Humpbacks in Cook Strait. Last year he saw 37. I guess they are heading North to Tonga. Feel like joining them.
Joe says last year he saw the same whale in the same place on the same day as the year before. "You can bet I'll be out looking on that day this year" he said.


this blog needs a page-count boost so some reprints:
aaa
gratutious scarifiacation
___________________________________________________
aaa
\
___________________________________________________



aaa
Monica... Lavventura
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14 June 2009

Peak Food , Alan Garcia, Nitrogenase

Peak Food
One of the recent economic behaviors an economy is never supposed to exhibit is the way the prices of food and fuel ...began a rapid exponential divergence from their prior stable level for the 6 years from 2002 to 2008. They increased at ~25%/yr, until the world economy collapsed. They seemed to be following some altogether new “law of unlimited price” instead of the usual “law of supply and demand”. That’s not supposed to happen.
When demand exceeds supply, the increase in price is supposed to stimulate increasing supply and lower the price again. The opposite is what actually occurred, investment increasing and prices rising faster. That produced a progression of successively more radical changes in global price relationships.
Continually increasing prices like these would naturally be expected to upset financial expectations and add to what caused the financial collapse. Clearly such a price spiral also is a sign of profound inelasticity in the global economic system as well.

aaa
theoildrum
The exponential shape of the curve strongly suggests there was an emergent system of multiplying feedbacks operating,
__________________________________________________
Food Crisis
A good fast direct speaker on rnz...Associate Professor Hugh Campbell ..talks to Chris Laidlaw
radionz

otago
Is the world food crisis more important to New Zealand than the world financial crisis? That will be one of the fundamental questions to be asked at the University of Otago's 44th Foreign Policy School next month.
HC himself recommends Bob Walton ...
HC said that Climate Change's main effect may be upon 3rd world food production.
(see Bill Clintons mea culpa below)

peakoil
On March 5th, ASPO President Kjell Aleklett, was invited to give a lecture at University of Aberdeen in their lecture series Energy Controversies. Kjell gave a presentation called "Global Energy Resources: The Peak Oil View" abdn
Kjell Aleklett gives a good talk.
His position is that Peak Oil trumps ClimateChange..... the temperature bump barely happens, because we run out of oil..
Hugh Campbell might say that Food trumps Oil
the Coal & Gas positions are not so clear


"The peakists have won
CERA’s interpretation is that US gasoline demand peaked in 2008.. the reasons .. are economic and geopolitical.. rather than .. geologic factors... "peak oil is here".
...At the ASPO 6 Conference former US secretary of Energy Dr James Schlesinger ..."The peakists have won ... to the peakists I say, you can declare victory. You are no longer the beleaguered small minority of voices crying in the wilderness
You are now mainstream. ...
peakoil


Now that Peak Oil has won, we can forget about global warming, the crash will reduce economic activity such that we wont be able to burn enough carbon to matter.
What will happen to those in cold cllimates who need carbon furnaces to avoid freezing?
From my experience they will move slower and slower in their cold rooms and then die.

In hot climates it aint so bad. When the fans go off we move slower and slower and lie about smoking cigarettes - 3rd world tyrants mercifully allow us fags at $1 a pack. Not a long life but a full one. The house will be full, with the crash people will be crowding into houses. Not so much in the hot tropics where a few hollow blocks and ply and tin can make a house.
When food gets too expensive, I guess infants will die first, then women? I am just off to have another cig to ponder it.

USA presidents will continue to blather about International law. Pakistani children have learned not to gather in groups when they hear the bomb-drones overhead. Some buzzcut in OK has been taught to bomb groups of people he sees on his screen. I suppose some popular mechanic is working on a silencer for the drones so they can sneak up on groups of kids unheard.



Burj Dubai, the world's tallest man-made structure
.. skilled carpenters at the site earned UK£4.34 a day, and labourers earned UK£2.84.[34]
Most tall buildings ahve been postponed or cancelled, but the BJ is still supposed to be done this year
dxbae
Gigabyte pic (zoomin)


if the Dreamliner fails, Boeing could become the General Motors of the skies, with enormous repercussions for the U.S. economy and the U.S. manufacturing base. Although Boeing announced in January that it was laying off 10,000 workers, it still employs more than 150,000 people in the U.S. and is the nation’s No. 1 exporter
portfolio
maybe Boing sabotaged the Brazil Airbus?
This portfolio story is a great yarn about USAs #1 exporter



Peru's Alan Garcia now uses helicopter gunships to fire upon indigenous people resisting oil company polluters...
this only really hit the news whenn the indigines killed a bunch of cops they had taken hostage.
Garcia's first presidency ended in 1990 with hyperinflation and an unresolved conflict with fanatical Shining Path insurgents. Then a leftist, Garcia had alienated Wall Street by defaulting on foreign loans.

Now he is a free-market champion who is opening vast tracts of jungle to oil and gas exploration by companies including France's Perenco SA, Spain's Repsol-YPF and U.S.-based ConocoPhillips.

even Daniel Ortega, well known market-convert is revolted...
aljazeera
On Wednesday, Nicaragua granted political asylum to a protest leader charged with sedition after the protests.
Alberto Pizango had accused the Peruvian government of "genocide" following Friday's clashes.



Nitrogen
On a Billion Year TimsScale: the Suns hotting up, we cant cut CO2 much More
... "we're nearing the point where there's not enough carbon dioxide left to regulate temperatures following the same procedures."
Kirschvink and his collaborators Yuk L. Yung, a Caltech professor of planetary science, and graduate students King-Fai Li and Kaveh Pahlevan, say that the solution is to reduce substantially the total pressure of the atmosphere itself, by removing massive amounts of molecular nitrogen, the largely nonreactive gas that makes up about 78 percent of the atmosphere. This would regulate the surface temperatures and allow carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere, to support life, and could tack an additional 1.3 billion years onto Earth's expected lifespan.
sciencedaily
- Seems we have finally found a purpose.... use Gene Splicing to put nitrogenase into grasses, or dicotyledons.
So far only bacteria fix Nitrogen, sometimes in an intimate union with legumes (bacteria makes the Heme, clover makes the protein)
Seems its very hard for the DumbDesigner to fix N.
Smil claimed "the total mass of nitrogenases in the biosphere may be less than a dozen kilograms.."
I think they are finding more bacteria lurking N fixing bacteria but if we want to deal to the atmosphere, we need forests full of it.