It’s been a busy year for climate scientists, who have been trying to explain why there has been no global warming for nearly two decades.The Daily Caller News Foundation reported in February there were eight mainstream explanations for the pause, but there are now a whopping 52 explanations for why there has been no warming trend for the last 215 months.
via There Are Now 52 Explanations For Pause In Global Warming | The Daily Caller.
Published on Sep 12, 2014
President Obama has effectively declared war on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, announcing that “we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIS through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy.”
But here are three reasons we should not be fighting ISIS in the Middle East.
1. ISIS isn’t that powerful.
War hawks such as Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) claim that “the threat ISIS poses cannot be overstated.” That is itself an overstatement. The FBI and Homeland Security both say ISIS isn’t a credible threat to the American homeland. The group may be great at using social media to exaggerate its power, but estimates of its troop strength range between 10,000 and 30,000 and most analysts talk about a core group of a few thousand fighters.
2. It’s a regional conflict.
ISIS controls territory inside Iraq and Syria. But even President Obama concedes that ISIS does not currently pose a threat “beyond that region.”
Iraq and Syria—and their neighbors, including Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and the Kurds—are the ones that must deal with this problem. Iraq’s army has more than one-quarter of a million U.S.-trained troops, the Peshmerga almost as many. Iran’s active forces number over half a million.
3. What counts as victory?
In announcing bombing runs and sending more American soliders to the Middle East, President Obama not only failed to call for congressional authorization, he neglected to discuss any sort of exit strategy. That’s a prerequisite for any responsible war plan. As important, his definition of success—we will “ultimately destroy” ISIS—is a goal nobody has ever achieved against any terrorist group.
Let’s be clear: The U.S. should do everything it can to defend its citizens and its interests.
But if the past dozen years have taught us anything—in Iraq and elsewhere—it’s that war is more complicated than our leaders ever want to admit. And it’s a lot easier to start wars than to win them—or even know when they’re over.
About 2 minutes.
Written by Nick Gillespie and produced by Meredith Bragg. Camera by Todd Krainin and Amanda Winkler.
Visit http://www.reason.com/reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason TV’s YouTube channel for automatic notifications when new videos go online.
Related reading: “Ending Evil vs. Defending the Country,” by Jacob Sullum.
In my work as a diabetes researcher, I’ve learned two important lessons about type 2 diabetes: First, it does not have to be a one-way street—it can get better and sometimes even disappear. Second, to successfully turn around the disease, it pays to have support—from family, friends, or a class.For the past few months, the Physicians Committee has been hosting free five-week-long series of Food for Life diabetes workshops for Washington, D.C.-area residents hoping to manage type 2 diabetes by adopting a healthful, plant-based diet. Since starting in February, the program has put more than 200 people on the path toward improved health.
Continued:
via Drive Away Diabetes with Community-Based Food for Life Classes | Dr. Barnard’s Blog.
Better Breathing from Diet
Asthma medication sales were $15 billion in 2008 and projected to reach $17 billion by 2010 with an estimated 300 million people in Western societies suffering with breathing difficulties. Asthma is the active airway constriction bronchospasm component of a triad that makes up chronic obstructive pulmonary disease COPD. Bronchitis is the inflammatory part of COPD and the end result of years of inflammation is emphysema fibrosis or scarring.
Continued:
PCRM: Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The Physicians Committee is leading a revolution in medicine—putting a new focus on health and compassion. The Physicians Committee combines the clout and expertise of more than 12,000 physicians with the dedicated actions of 150,000 members across the United States and around the world.
Watch Creating a Better World to learn more about the Physicians Committee
Read Dr. Barnard’s Blog about many of our important issues
Our efforts are dramatically changing the way doctors treat chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and cancer. By putting prevention over pills, doctors are empowering their patients to take control of their own health.
And we are also building a new way of viewing research. Since 1985, the Physicians Committee has been working tirelessly for alternatives to the use of animals in medical education and research and advocating for more effective scientific methods.
Our staff of physicians, dietitians, and scientists is working with policymakers, industry, the medical community, the media, and the public to create a better future for people and animals.
Our priorities include:
Dr. Barnard’s YouTube videos: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dr.+neal+barnard
I have been asked by several people to comment on the recent study from Tulane that was featured prominently in The New York Times purporting to show that a low carb diet was not only more effective at losing weight than a “low fat” diet but also was better for your heart.
Here are my thoughts:
via Forks Over Knives | Embracing Fat for a Healthy Heart Is a Notion Based on Flawed Science.
In 2008, shortly after Bill Gates stepped down from his executive role at Microsoft, he often awoke in his 66,000-square-foot home on the eastern bank of Lake Washington and walked downstairs to his private gym in a baggy T-shirt, shorts, sneakers and black socks yanked up to the midcalf. Then, during an hour on the treadmill, Gates, a self-described nerd, would pass the time by watching DVDs from the Teaching Company’s “Great Courses” series. On some mornings, he would learn about geology or meteorology; on others, it would be oceanography or U.S. history.
Continued:
via So Bill Gates Has This Idea for a History Class … – NYTimes.com.
http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/schooling_the_world_2010/
Full Film Watch TrailerWant this ad to go away?TagsCultureEducationSustainabilityFilms by SubjectActivismAnimal RightsBig IdeasBig MediaCitiesClimate ChangeCommunityConsumerismCorporationsCultureDrug ProhibitionEducationElections & DemocracyEmpireEnergyEnvironmentFoodGlobalizationGovernmentHealthHuman RightsIndigenous IssuesIndy MediaMedia LiteracyMoney & EconomicsNet NeutralityPeak OilPermaculturePhilosophyPolice StatePoliticsRelocalizationSocial IssuesSolutionsSustainabilityTechnology & DesignTerrorism?The Big PictureVisionWar & PeaceFilms by CategoryDocumentary Presentation Short Film Trailer VideoAdd ContentAdd Video Add Article Add ActionFacebookTwitterMoreRate This 4.4 · 11 ratingsA note from Films For ActionFor the next month, the film-makers who created Schooling The World have generously made their film available to us in the spirit of the Gift.Instead of setting a price and transacting before you’ve seen the film, they are turning the tables and allowing you to experience the film and gift back according to your values, your means, and the quality of how the film may have gifted you. Let’s show the film-makers that the gift economy can work!Support the film via PayPalYou can also visit the store to buy the DVD or a digital download sliding scale – $5 – $25All contributions will go towards the recuperation of production costsand also to supporting the film’s continued outreach and distribution.Host A ScreeningJoin Schooling The World on Facebook Film summary:If you wanted to change an ancient culture in a generation, how would you do it? You would change the way it educates its children.The U.S. Government knew this in the 19th century when it forced Native American children into government boarding schools. Today, volunteers build schools in traditional societies around the world, convinced that school is the only way to a ‘better’ life for indigenous children. But is this true? What really happens when we replace a traditional culture’s way of learning and understanding the world with our own? SCHOOLING THE WORLD takes a challenging, sometimes funny, ultimately deeply disturbing look at the effects of modern education on the world’s last sustainable indigenous cultures.Interested to read more? Check out the film director’s blog for several excellent essays. Questions? Contact the film-maker.
via Schooling the World 2010 | Watch the Full Documentary Online.
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