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Wednesday, May 18
Power Failures and Rising Energy Costs
by
Caroline Vernon
on Wed 18 May 2005 06:11 PM CDT
 Power Failures and Rising Energy Costs
by Caroline Vernon
IEA Warns of Coming Power Failures
United Press International
The Paris-based International Energy Agency has said Europe and North America could face power blackouts this summer.
The
agency said utility groups have failed to invest enough in electricity
generation and transmission capacity, the Financial Times reported [May
7]. Energy companies are also underinvesting in new oil and gas
production capacity by up to 20 percent, the IEA said.
London,
New York and several cities across southern Europe have experienced
large-scale power failures during the past three summers because
growing numbers of air-conditioners have driven demand to peak levels.
Fatih Birol, IEA chief economist, said electricity generation capacity
in the European Union's 25 member states increased by only 1 percent
last year - less than half the 2.3 percent increase in electricity
demand.
Birol said the trend in the European power sector was mirrored by trends in North America and much of the developing world.
To read the entire article, click here.
FERC Sees Higher Summer Power Prices
WASHINGTON - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said [May4] that most of
the United States will have adequate electricity supplies this summer,
but that parts of Connecticut continue to struggle with tight supplies.
The commission, in its annual summer assessment, warned that the
outlook for hydroelectric supplies in the western states was "not good"
due to lingering drought in the Northwest, and that rising fossil fuel
prices would likely drive up the cost of electricity bills nationwide.
To read the entire article, click here.
University of Iowa Makes Waves
by
Chad Thompson
on Wed 18 May 2005 04:32 PM CDT
 University of Iowa Makes Waves
Judging
from reactions on radio and television, there is one way to garner
attention - put the name "pornography" in a class title.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle: " U. of Iowa to Offer Pornography Course".
First, the course background:
Jay
Clarkson has had no trouble getting students at the University of Iowa
to sign up for his fall class examining pornography in popular culture.
...
Clarkson, a graduate student, says students seeking a cheap thrill should look elsewhere.
"There are probably some students who will be titillated by the title," he said. "They will be disappointed."
The one-time course is being offered by the communications program at
the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences — and it's already full with
20 students, and a growing waiting list.
Clarkson said his goal is to get people to think about how pornography
has moved from the adult bookstore to everyday advertising.
"It's not a class about enjoying or viewing pornography," Clarkson
said. "We will certainly be talking and reading critics who are against
pornography."
This
class is likely being offered through the "Issues" courses offered by
the University of Iowa to lead a class of undergraduate students
through what can be rather controverisial material. These classes
are usually interesting for the discussions and readings alone -
sometimes class discussions can get rather in depth and heated.
(These are not courses for students that don't want to be engaged.)
What is more striking from the same article is the reaction from House Leader Christopher Rants:
One
person who isn't a fan, however, is Iowa House Speaker Chris Rants, who
is questioning whether tax dollars should be spent on the elective
class.
"Do
they know that we're not done with their budget yet?" Rants, R-Sioux
City, said. "I'm pretty sure we don't need to increase state funding by
$40 million to teach critical pornography studies."
Knowing
how these courses go, this is something I would think someone
"conservatively" tilted might actually encourage. I, for one,
think that courses like this are a good idea - particuarly when
offering courses to students who are studying mass media.
Why?
For one, pornography is everywhere
in 2005 America. Commercials for a long time - particuarly those
geared toward males - have relied on a tried and true formula:
whenever you want to sell something, it has to involve "sex".
It's to the point where I am squeamish about watching televised
sporting events with my nieces and nephews. Now, when you walk
into the local bookstore, books written by pornographic "starlets"
appear on the best-seller shelves. When I check my e-mail, my
"Junk Mail" folder is full of solicitations (sometimes explicit
solicitations) for pornographic websites. Pornography in the
unrestricted free market is inescapable.
So, if
you're a young college graduate trying to make a career in media and
advertising, one message seems to come through crystal clear: sex
sells without negative consequences.
Of course, that's not true. We know that there are consequences
to the use of pornographic images in media and advertising -
particularly in the social development of gender roles amongst children
and increasingly in adults. College students who plan to make a
career in media and broadcasting should be forced to address the issues
related to the marketing techniques they will one day use to buy and
sell airtime - maybe this course, if well done, should become a regular
offering.
Making
blanket threats to cut funding because of the mention of the word
"pornography" is nothing more than a cheap political ploy - Rants needs
something to justify his attack on the education budget, even if it
means attacking a good idea.
Codex Threatens Our Health Freedoms
by
Linda Thieman
on Wed 18 May 2005 07:17 AM CDT
 Codex Threatens Our Health Freedoms
By Nancy Lee Bentley, Co-Author, Dr. Mercola's Total Health Program
There's
a plain and simple fact about your health and health care choices you
won't find covered in any of the mainstream media today: Your health
freedom is under attack!
Codex
is a threat to your healthy lifestyle and your ability to access what
you need to maintain it. Your rights have not been taken away ... yet. But, if we don't act right now, here's what will happen:
1) Your access to nutritional supplements to prevent, treat or cure health problems and diseases will vanish.
2)
Your access to clean, uncontaminated food, which hasn't been
genetically modified, treated with hormones, antibiotics, growth
stimulants or irradiation, including organically grown food, will
disappear.
3) Your access to alternative, complementary or holistic treatment practices will disappear.
Don't
panic, but now is the time to become concerned, get educated quickly
and take action immediately. You may be asking yourself, "What is this
threat? Where is it coming from? I've never heard of it!" Keep reading.
What is Codex?
The origin of Codex Alimentarius (CO-DEX' AL-A-MEN-TARE'-Y-US): A stealthy foreign threat that means:
Food rules that are about to be imposed upon you.
An
international regulation designed to control food trade and food
standards all over the world, created by the United Nations more than
40 years ago.
A hidden
danger to your health and freedom, masquerading as food safety and
protection, the U.S. Congress is going to pass into law in a few weeks
unless we act now!
Where is it Coming From?
Codex,
part of the attempt by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to
"harmonize" the world's food and edible health products, has been
moving with increasing speed toward its culmination on January 1, 2010.
Attempts at "HARMonization" have already made inroads through backdoor
politics in the European Union, Canada and Australia. Already, zinc in Germany costs $54 a bottle and three to four days worth of synthetic Vitamin E costs close to $200!
A final,
unchangeable ratification of restrictive vitamin and mineral standards,
preceding all its food-unfriendly, health-unfriendly provisions, is
virtually assured at the Codex Alimentarius Commission meeting this July 4-9 in Rome, unless we act now.
The United States is Next!
Here in the United States, "HARMonization"
legislation, which will trigger the implementation of Codex, has been
defeated by a narrow margin in Congress several times. This year, drug companies are boasting that they will make sure Codex gets through.
Passage of Codex, per the WTO treaty, may take place through stealth
legislation in Congress as early as this month or early June, i.e. in a few weeks!
At the
same time, there is a concerted effort here in the U.S. Congress to gut
the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), our legal
assurance that food supplements are classified as foods, not drugs.
Canada and other countries already have provisions that make
supplements drugs, and therefore inaccessible.
What Can I Do?
Don't wait. Become educated and take action against Codex. If you want to retain your right to make your own health choices, go to healthfreedomUSA.org right away to learn what you can do. Go to the "What Can I Do" Section.
Use the link provided on the site to find the names and fax numbers of
your Congressional delegation. Download all three sample letters, sign
and fax (do not mail or e-mail) all three of these letters to everyone
in your Congressional Delegation.
(Click here to read the complete article.)
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