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Carbon's the New Calorie: Japan to Label Goods with Footprint

LibertySugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 11:00:13 -0700

Japan has plans to label consumer goods like beer and detergents with their carbon footprints. Officials think the standardized label will raise corporate and consumer awareness of global warming. Britain and France already place similar labels on products.

So say you want to eat a bag of potato chips. Forget the calories — you have a carbon footprint to think about. Each bag emits 75 grams (2.63 ounces) of carbon dioxide. If you want to break it down, like you'd break down saturated and trans fats, 44 percent of the carbon dioxide comes from growing the potatoes, 30 percent comes from producing the chips, 15 percent comes from packaging, 9 percent comes from delivery, and 2 percent comes from tossing the bag. I'm guessing these figures are estimates, since each product must have a unique footprint.

While certainly more work needs to be done to make the footprint calculations accurate and globally standard, the label will provide information to consumers who want it, while everyone else can ignore it. And who knows, maybe businesses will become more efficient in hopes of attracting customers.

Film Crew Helps Extra with Face Tumor Get a Happy Ending

LibertySugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Joel, a 10-year-old extra in the Oscar-winning movie The Last King of Scotland, had a large tumor removed from his face, thanks to the kindness of the film crew. The tumor made it look as if his eye were outside his skull.

Doctors in Joel's home country of Uganda did not have the facilities or specialized skills to perform the surgery Joel needed, so the film's producer arranged for him to fly to the UK for the 10-hour operation. The benign tumor, which distorted his nose and eye would have continued to grow if not removed. During the procedure doctors removed the tumor and then put Joel's facial features into place.

Joel wants to help others get access to the medical care he fortunately received. He told BBC:

"I am so happy to be alive and that everything went so well. I'm looking forward to going home and will work hard and study to become a doctor so that I can help people also."

It's hard to imagine the hardships Joel would have faced if he didn't receive this expensive and specialized treatment — I'm glad this story has a happy ending!

Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?

LibertySugar — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:00:30 -0700

Last year Americans named fake-news host Jon Stewart their fourth most admired news anchor, tied with Brian Williams, Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, and Anderson Cooper. A recent New York Times article tried to figure out how a comedian became a trusted news source. The article noted that The Daily Show does things other news programs can't like, "speaking truth to power in blunt, sometimes profane language, while using satire and playful looniness to ensure that their political analysis never becomes solemn or pretentious."Jon Stewart gets to interview politicians and world leaders outside their comfort zones, pass on digestible scoops from a range of experts, and filter each day's big news stories in a humorous way. While Jon makes his opinions known (he says he's looking forward to the end of the Bush Administration "as a comedian, as a person, as a citizen, as a mammal"), it's not Republicans that Jon dislikes. He claims contempt for the empty rhetoric of both conservative and liberal politicians. I think his critique of talking points makes many Americans tune-in for an alternative to television's usual partisan shouting match. What do you think?

Is Jon Stewart the Most Trusted Man in America?

Yay! Jon Stewart fills his jokes with substantive information and smart observations.

Nay. Jon Stewart is a mouthpiece for the left.

Not really. It's entertaining, but I don't trust simplified comedy as a news source.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.

Aussie Mayor Asks Ugly Women to Move to His All-Male Town

LibertySugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 11:00:36 -0700

One Australian mayor thinks he came up with the perfect way to fix his town's glaring gender imbalance: invite all the country's ugly women to move in. John Moloney, the mayor of Mount Isa, has invited the "beauty-disadvantaged" to relocate to the outback mining town because it's the perfect place "for ugly ducklings to flourish into beautiful swans."

You would think the mayor's comments would offend women, but he also managed to upset his biggest constituency — men. Apparently implying that the men are desperate for some ugly women didn't go over too well. The town's city councilor criticized Mayor Moloney for "returning us to the Dark Ages and making the guys that live in this town seem like sex-hungry starved men that will pounce upon the first girl that they see walking down the street."

While unlucky-in-love women might want to tap a town full of eligible bachelors, implying that they come because they're ugly probably won't motivate a whole lot of ladies to make the move.

Source

Thousands of Police Circle Kabul Ahead of Independence Day

CitizenSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:00:15 -0700

According to recent data by the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, insurgent attacks in Afghanistan have jumped 50 percent in the first half of 2008. The stats are prompting more strenuous efforts on behalf of NATO and Afghan police to counter Taliban resistance, the latest of which has claimed 88 lives. In response, 7,000 police have set up checkpoints to secure the nation’s Independence Day celebration in an unprecedented show of force.

Taliban violence is rising across Afghanistan including a deadly attack on a NATO convoy, attacks on police, and roadside bombings. The violence indicates that the Taliban is gaining footholds in the provinces surrounding Kabul. Hamid Karzai's government is desperate to "create an environment of trust and prevent any disruptive actions by the enemy," while celebrating the country's 89th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Despite the upswing in violence, NATO officials believe that the seven-year effort to stabilize Afghanistan is making progress. Residents however, feel differently — most are afraid to leave their houses after 7 p.m. More than 3,200 people have been killed in insurgency related violence this year.

Source

Charity Helps 50 Couples Get Married in Afghanistan

LibertySugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 12:15:06 -0700

Afghanistan witnessed the country's first mass marriage, yesterday. Thanks to the Islamic charity Comfort Aid International, 50 couples got hitched in the city of Herat.

The charity of love covered the big cost of weddings in Afghanistan, which includes dowries and lavish parties with hundreds of guests. The marriages 50 cost $30,000 total, and each set of newly weds walked out with a $600 gift. About 1,500 guests attended, and the brides and grooms were separated for the ceremonies, according to the conservative tradition.

While the disadvantaged turn to charity, affluent Afghan couples increasingly enjoy Vegas-style weddings on their own dime, which some signaled as a sign of changing times. Popular Hindi music and neon lights come from wedding halls with names like Kabul-Paris Wedding Hall or Wedding Hall of the Evening Star. Limousines fill their parking lots. During its rule, the Taliban forbid lavish weddings and music. But the industry of lovebirds has made a comeback — there are more than 80 wedding halls in Kabul, compared to four in 2001.

Would you give to a charity that helps disadvantaged couples tie the knot? Can a Vegas-style wedding be a sign that better times have come?

Source

Do Teachers With Guns Make a Secluded School Safe?

LibertySugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:45:25 -0700

Teachers in a 110-student Texas school district can soon carry guns at school. Those advocating the new policy argue that teachers and students feel unprotected because the school is 30 minutes from the closest sheriff. Staff that want to carry a gun must have a Texas concealed gun license, be approved by the district, receive crisis-management training, and use ammunition designed to minimize the risk of ricochet in school halls.The district's superintendent thinks the guns are a great idea:
When the federal government started making schools gun-free zones, that's when all of these shootings started. Why would you put it out there that a group of people can't defend themselves? That's like saying 'sic 'em' to a dog.

While it's important for school staff to take the possibility of violence seriously, having multiple guns on campus sounds like it could present a danger in itself.Source

Do Teachers With Guns Make a Secluded School Safe?

Yes. You can't wait 30 minutes for the sheriff to arrive in an emergency.

No. School security can have a weapon, but not teachers!

No way! There should be no guns on campuses. Schools are not war zones.

Other. I'll tell you in the comments.

Iraqi Hit Squads to Target Officials and Troops Training in Iran

CitizenSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 09:00:52 -0700

Iraqi Shi'ite assassination teams are being readied in four locations in Iran, with the mission to return to Iraq and kill specific Iraqi officials before targeting US and Iraqi troops. The info comes from captured militia fighters and sources within Iraq. A senior US military intelligence officer confirmed the story under the condition of anonymity, acknowledging that disclosing the info is an attempt to pressure Iran to suspend the training and prevent militia fighters from returning to Iraq. To this end, "Wanted" posters picturing the men thought to be involved.

The fighters are expected to return to Iraq between now and October, and the US is encouraging the Iraqi government to confront Iran on the issue. It's thought that part of the reason violence has declined is that the militants have moved from Basra and Sadr City to Iran. The fighters are thought to be offshoots of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's militia having made their own groups after al-Sadr declared a cease-fire with the Iraqi government in August 2007.

Are the training pockets small and isolated incidents, or does it put the notion that the surge has worked to quell violence into question?

Source

Georgian Conflict Created by Cheney to Make Obama Lose?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 08:00:57 -0700

Russians were told yesterday morning that the true nature of the conflict in South Ossetia is this: it's a plot hatched by Vice President Dick Cheney to make sure Barack Obama isn't elected president. Is Cheney creating a Cold War 2.0?

This revelation, that the conflict is orchestrated to wing Obama, was first announced on the radio and has been getting wide play. A senior political analyst close to Putin and Medvedev says, “George Bush's Administration is promoting interests of candidate John McCain. Defeated by Barak Obama on all fronts, McCain has one last card to play yet — the creation of a virtual Cold War with Russia . . . Bush himself did not want a war in South Ossetia but his Republican Party did not leave him any choice.”

The notion has reinvigorated Cold War-era talk like this from a former ambassador to the EU:

The West has spent a lot of time, energy and money to teach Georgia the tricks of the trade . . . to make the country look like a democracy. We and many other nations see through this deceit. We understand that the seditious tactics of the so-called color revolutions are a real threat to international law and the source of global legal nihilism.

To see where this idea came from,

TSA Puts ID-less Travelers on Terrorist Watch List?

LibertySugar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 12:15:23 -0700

Recently domestic airline passenger Sherri Davidoff wrote about her experience boarding an airplane without ID. Security required only basic information before Sherri could board the plane: she provided her name and the street and a state where she had lived previously. Sherri later said that she probably could have skipped even that much questioning by printing two boarding passes at home, and tossing the first one marked for further screening.

Sherri may have arrived at her destination, but the Transportation Security Administration has not forgotten that she showed up ID-less. The TSA has been adding ill-prepared passengers to their database of individuals who have violated security laws or were questioned for suspicious behavior. To see why the TSA wants to keep all the info on hand,