UnrepentantLiberal
UnrepentantLiberal's JournalNew study connects global warming to recent year heat
Associated Press
August 4, 2012
WASHINGTON — The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the United States and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare that it can’t be anything but man-made global warming, says a new statistical analysis from a top government scientist.
The research by a man often called the “godfather of global warming” says that the likelihood of such temperatures occurring from the 1950s through the 1980s was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by NASA scientist James Hansen. He says that statistically what’s happening is not random or normal, but pure and simple climate change.
“This is not some scientific theory. We are now experiencing scientific fact,” Hansen told The Associated Press in an interview.
Hansen is a scientist at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York and a professor at Columbia University. But he is also a strident activist who has called for government action to curb greenhouse gases for years. While his study was published online Saturday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, it is unlikely to sway opinion among the remaining climate change skeptics.
More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/study-by-global-warming-godfather-texas-drought-europe-heat-waves-are-climate-change/2012/08/04/2c0753a8-de87-11e1-8ad1-909913931f71_story.html
Syria rebels renew assault on Damascus as Assad hits money trouble
Source: NBC
Video: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_nv/api/media/getMobileVideo?videoId=48509042
Rebels and regime forces continue their fight to control Syria's largest city.
Urban warfare intensifies in Aleppo
By Ayman Mohyeldin
August 4, 2012
Rebels and regime forces continue their fight to control Syria's largest city. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports. By NBC News wire services Heavy explosions shook the Syrian capital Saturday and helicopters circled overhead as rebels appeared to be renewing their offensive in the city, witnesses and activists said.
The fresh battles show that President Bashar Assad's victories could be fleeting as armed opposition groups regroup and resurge, possibly forcing the regime to shuffle military units to react to attacks across the country.
The country's civil war has intensified in recent weeks as rebels focused on the country's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.
"We heard heavy bombing since dawn," a witness in Damascus told The Associated Press, asking that his name not be used out of fear for his personal safety. "Helicopters are in the sky."
Read more: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/08/04/13117527-syria-rebels-renew-assault-on-damascus-as-assad-hits-money-trouble?lite
Syria fighting rages amid UN warning
Source: AFP
By Iskandar Kat
August 4, 2012
Syrian government troops with air cover have fought rebels for control of a television centre in Syria's commercial hub Aleppo as clashes also rage in Damascus, a watchdog reports.
Loud explosions shook Aleppo as fighter jets and helicopter gunships overflew the northern city and rebels attempted to storm the state TV building on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
"Rebel forces planted explosives (at the TV station) and regime forces shelled the area" before the rebels withdrew, the Observatory said.
In Damascus, the Observatory reported that the southern suburb of Tadamun was hit by some of the "most violent" shelling that it has seen since government forces launched a huge offensive against rebels in the capital last month.
Read more: http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/syria-fighting-rages-amid-un-warning-20120804-23mcf.html
Americans miss the best of the Olympic Games
By Frida Ghitis
CNN
August 3, 2012
If you've been mesmerized by the drama, like millions of other viewers watching coverage of the Olympic Games, you have heard the most heroic, inspirational stories of athletes reaching the pinnacle of international competition. Or, at least you think you have.
Coverage of the Olympics in the United States understandably focuses on American athletes. That is as it should be, but not to this degree. By concentrating mainly on Americans' stories, the NBC network is depriving U.S. viewers of some of the most fascinating, moving and exciting aspects of the Olympics.
How much have you heard, for example, about Guor Marial, who marched in the opening ceremony under the banner of "Independent Olympic Athletes"?
Marial became a marathoner after running for his life since he was a young boy in Sudan, growing up in the middle of one of the deadliest wars of the 20th century. He learned to run as he fought to escape from those who killed his siblings and relatives and later kidnapped and enslaved him. Imagine such a story of tragedy and redemption, from slavery to triumph.
His life is a most unbelievable odyssey, culminating at the Olympic Games. His parents live in a village with no electricity or running water. He hasn't spoken to them in years and hopes someone will get word to them to try to get to a television to watch their son.
More: http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/03/opinion/ghitis-nbc-olympic-coverage/index.html
Wait, what?
I'm not even going to bother reading the replies.
Amway faces boycott over donation to anti-gay group
By Eric W. Dolan
The Raw Story
August 2, 2012
LGBT rights activist Fred Karger announced Thursday a global boycott targeting the direct-sales giant Amway over its founder’s contribution to an anti-gay group.
Tax records obtained by Karger show that Amway president and owner Doug DeVos donated $500,000 to the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) Education Fund through his Douglas & Maria DeVos Foundation.
“I have been closely tracking NOM for over four years,” Karger said. “NOM always tries to hide the names of its donors and often breaks state election reporting laws in the process. NOM is currently under active investigations for election law violations in Maine and California”
“I imagine NOM leaders Maggie Gallagher and Brian Brown thought that no one would uncover the huge Amway contribution which appears to be the largest family donation to NOM in its history. Only the Catholic Church’s political arm the Knights of Columbus has given more to the ‘Hate Group’ NOM.”
More: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/08/02/amway-faces-boycott-over-donation-to-anti-gay-group/
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Obama authorizes secret support for Syrian rebels
By Mark Hosenball
Reuters
Aug 1, 2012
President Barack Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to depose Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government, sources familiar with the matter said.
Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence "finding," broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad.
This and other developments signal a shift toward growing, albeit still circumscribed, support for Assad's armed opponents - a shift that intensified following last month's failure of the U.N. Security Council to agree on tougher sanctions against the Damascus government.
The White House is for now apparently stopping short of giving the rebels lethal weapons, even as some U.S. allies do just that.
More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/02/us-usa-syria-obama-order-idUSBRE8701OK20120802
Worrying signs of lawlessness in Libya
Seven Iranian Red Crescent members were abducted in downtown Benghazi yesterday. Today there were bomb blasts and a jail break.
People gather to inspect the damage to the Libyan intelligence building after a bomb explosion, in Benghazi, on Aug. 1.
By Dan Murphy
The Christian Science Monitor
August 1, 2012
A lot has gone right in Libya since the successful war to topple the regime of Muammar Qaddafi last year. An election was finally held last month and the country's new political leaders have avoided open fighting for power that some feared would follow in the wake of Mr. Qaddafi's ruinous time in power.
But some of the militias who fought Qaddafi resemble little more than criminal gangs today. Generally untouchable, they continue to swagger through Libya's towns and cities, demanding special treatment as a reward for their role last year. Many of them are now technically integrated into the security services, but continue to operate with impunity.
The Associated Press reports that a bomb blast hit a military intelligence building in Benghazi early this morning, and overnight a militia raided a local jail, releasing Salem al-Obeidi, who is accused of being behind the murder of Abdel Fateh Younes outside of Benghazi last summer. Mr. Younes was a longtime military enforcer for Qaddafi who defected to the rebellion. He was vying for its military leadership at the time of his murder.
It hasn't been a good week for security in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city and at the heart of the uprising. In the early hours yesterday, seven Iranian members of that country's Red Crescent were kidnapped there. The Iranians were invited there for a conference to discuss coordinating aid efforts with their Libyan counterparts and were kidnapped as they sought to return to the high-rise Tebesti Hotel where much of the foreign press that covered the war based themselves.
More: http://csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2012/0801/Worrying-signs-of-lawlessness-in-Libya
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Name: BradGender: Male
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Current location: Jersey City, NJ
Member since: Sat Mar 15, 2008, 12:21 PM
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