ISIL Channels

“Hey, ho, where’s the cash flow? Wasn’t the bailout supposed to get those streams of credit flowing again? But while the titans of trickle-down and the free-reign rainmakers pray for new rivers of revenue to float their boats, some venerable bodies of water beyond the canyons of Wall Street are in danger of literally evaporating — and all the money in the world won’t bring them back once we pass that terrible tipping point.” (10/10/08)

http://tinyurl.com/5y8qbz

“A great frustration for those who (a) really care about reducing CO2, and (b) believe in the power of well-structured market mechanisms is that the current discussion around carbon policy has bastardized the language of environmental economics. There are tremendous economic and environmental benefits to be gained by a true cap-and-trade CO2 system. Unfortunately, all the plans that are currently being bandied about as cap-and-trade structures are really carbon taxes.” (10/10/08)

http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/9/1014/00490

“France, Germany and Austria called on Friday for an easing of EU climate ambitions to help industries facing an economic downturn, causing green groups to warn that the battle against climate change was in jeopardy. The European Union hopes other nations will follow its lead by agreeing a global deal, mindful of United Nations warnings that climate change will lead to droughts, floods and rising sea levels. But Austria said tumbling stock markets necessitated a cautious line on making industry pay to emit carbon dioxide, as this policy could raise costs and hand an advantage to rivals outside the bloc.” (10/10/08)

http://www.enn.com/business/article/38383

“In just four months the average price of a gallon of gas nationwide has plummeted 78 cents to $3.39. In some places, it’s even lower: In New Jersey, gas is $2.90 a gallon. In Texas, it’s $2.88, and in Kansas it’s a mere $2.83. It’s the flip side of global financial turmoil.” (10/09/08)

http://tinyurl.com/3th7fu

“The Energy Department moved ahead Thursday on further restricting the nation’s most dangerous nuclear material, part of a plan to scale back and modernize management of the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile. The department gave preliminary approval to an environmental impact study on the consolidation program, which includes limiting plutonium and highly enriched uranium to just five sites, compared with seven today.” (10/09/08)

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/ap10-09-08.htm

“Sedona’s character and identity may hinge on something as mundane as a low-pressure sodium lightbulb. That is why the Great Lamppost Debate of 2008 is raging. At issue is whether the Arizona Department of Transportation should illuminate Arizona 89A as it winds through town. Opponents of the lightbulbs say they would mean the destruction of Sedona’s stunning night sky, hurt the city’s identity as a place that embraces beauty and could possibly eliminate Sedona as a character that has stayed true to itself. Proponents of the lightbulbs think they would be a good way to light the road and keep pedestrians safe. They both may be right.” (10/09/08)

http://tinyurl.com/48fxjn

“Our constitutional right to liberty is systematically being attacked by government agencies flanked by anti-competitive forces in the food industry. Nowhere, is this more obvious than on the raw milk issue. California Governor Arnold Swartzenegger [sic] recently vetoed SB201, a bill to preserve consumers rights to access farm fresh milk, while guaranteeing its safety.The Governor, who likely consumed raw dairy in his rise to stardom as a body builder, thwarted the freedoms of the over 40,000 raw milk devotees in his state. He ignored the will of the people in favor of the milk processors and the government regulators bent on crushing the raw dairy producers in their state — two of which are the most successful in the nation.” (10/09/08)

http://counterpunch.org/hartke10082008.html

“With oil prices setting records every week and gas prices topping $4 per gallon, voters are getting increasingly angry. This naturally makes the politicians nervous, so they do what they can to divert blame from themselves at all costs. Two easy targets are ‘Big Oil’ and speculators. In this article we’ll see that the politicians’ accusations against these scapegoats are nonsensical, while the corresponding policy recommendations will only push oil prices higher.” (10/09/08)

http://www.fee.org/in_brief/default.asp?id=2393

“In the summer of 1968, while youth was redefining itself in Paris, San Francisco and elsewhere, a committee at the Harvard Medical School was busy redefining the end of life. Following its recommendations, almost all rich countries adopted a definition of death based on the extinction of activity in the brain, rather than in the heart or any other organ. In some places, notably America, that means monitoring the brain’s electrical chatter to make sure the whole organ has died. In others, such as Britain, the brain’s stem is regarded as the crucial part. In this case simpler tests can be applied, such as whether a patient’s pupils react to light. Either criterion, however, seems more reasonable than just registering a pulse, since it is the brain, not the heart, that makes the individual.” [editor’s note: We could say this is just the other end of the abortion debate, which asks when human-life begins … but we won’t - SAT ] (10/09/08)

http://tinyurl.com/53osub

“‘Of people currently classified as uninjured, a conservative estimate says about 45 percent of them would be able to get health insurance right now if they wanted it,’ says economist Glen Whitman. That estimate comes from a study headed by a Johns Hopkins University researcher, which separates those who could get insurance into one of two categories: Those who earn enough money to buy it, and those who qualify for existing government programs. So how about some real straight talk for a change? If we separate those who can’t get coverage from those who can, we can focus more on helping the needy. ‘So if you can get coverage,’ says Gillespie, ‘don’t wait for Washington. Go on out and get some.’ Get Some is written and produced by Ted Balaker. The director of photography is Alex Manning.” (10/09/08)

http://reason.tv/video/show/560.html