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Whores is whores...
Well, yes, and no...#msg-15063314
Brazilian town's free Viagra gives elderly a boost
BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- The mayor of a small Brazilian town has begun handing out free Viagra, spicing up the sex lives of dozens of elderly men and their partners.
"Since we started the free distribution of sexual stimulants, our elderly population changed. They're much happier," said Joao de Souza Luz, the mayor of Novo Santo Antonio, a small town in the central state of Mato Grosso.
Souza Luz said 68 men over the age of 60 already had signed up for the program, which was approved by the town's legislature and has been dubbed "Happy Penis," or "Pinto Alegre" in Portuguese.
But the program also has had the unforeseen consequence of encouraging some extramarital affairs, Souza Luz said.
"Some of the old men aren't seeking out their wives. They've got romances on the side," he said.
Robert Scheer has no respect...
===============================
The Vietnam Analogy That Doesn't Hold
November 26, 2006
(The Nation) This column was written by Robert Scheer
President Bush has said many dumb things in defense of his Iraq policy. Citing the Vietnam War as a model, however, is perhaps his most ludicrous yet.
This past week found the President sitting before a bust of the victorious Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, seemingly unaware that the United States lost its war with the Communist-led country. Having long and vehemently denied parallels between the invasions of Vietnam and Iraq, he nevertheless admitted now to seeing one.
"Yes," Bush said. "One lesson is that we tend to want there to be instant success in the world, and the task in Iraq is ... just going to take a long period of time to — for the ideology that is hopeful, and that's an ideology of freedom, to overcome an ideology of hate.... We'll succeed, unless we quit."
Bush seems not to have noticed that we succeeded in Vietnam precisely because we did quit the military occupation of that nation, permitting an ideology of freedom to overcome one of hate. Bush's rhetoric is frighteningly reminiscent of Richard Nixon's escalation and expansion of the Vietnam War in an attempt to buy an "honorable" exit with the blood of millions of Southeast Asians and thousands of American soldiers. In the end, a decade of bitter fighting did not prevent an ignominious U.S. departure from Saigon.
Now, however, Vietnam is at peace with its neighbors and poses no security threat to the United States. Many of the "boat people" have returned as investors, and successive American Presidents have made visits to the second fastest-growing economy in Asia. While Vietnam is still run by its Communist Party, eventually post-war leaders on both sides have accepted that peace is practical.
The lesson of Vietnam is not to keep pouring lives and treasure down a dark and poisonous well, but to patiently use a pragmatic mix of diplomacy and trade with even our ideological competitors.
The United States dropped more bombs on tiny Vietnam than it unloaded on all of Europe in World War II, only hardening Vietnamese nationalist resolve. Hundreds of thousands of troops, massive defoliation of the countryside, "free fire zones," South Vietnamese allies, bombing the harbors ... none of it worked. Yet, never admitting that our blundering military presence fueled the native nationalist militancy we supposedly sought to eradicate, three U.S. Presidents — two of them Democrats — lied themselves into believing victory was around some mythical corner.
While difficult for inveterate hawks to admit, the victory for normalcy in Vietnam, celebrated by Bush last week, came about not despite the U.S. withdrawal but because of it.
Iraq and Vietnam are not the same country, yet both have long experience with imperial meddling, and fiercely resist it. Bush has said Iraq "is in many ways, religious in nature, and I don't see the parallels" to Vietnam, but that is just another sign that he probably cut most of his history classes at Yale.
He — and apparently the mass media, as well — seems to have forgotten that the United States tried to stoke a religious war in Vietnam by intervening to install a Roman Catholic exile in power in this primarily Buddhist country. The struggle to overthrow that U.S. puppet dictator, Ngo Dinh Diem, began with Buddhist monks immolating themselves on the streets of Saigon.
To be sure, there followed a decade of constant talk about bringing democracy to the country we had occupied and a never-ending series of elections and new power arrangements that followed the U.S.-engineered murder of Diem, who (like Iraqi exile Ahmad Chalabi) had been deemed by U.S. officials as "the George Washington" of his country. At least Chalabi is still alive to complain, as he did to The New York Times this month, "that the Americans sold us out."
But the final collapse of our puppet regime in Vietnam did not produce the domino effect of other nations surrendering to communism any more than a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq will inevitably lead to the spread of terrorism. This is why the wiser voices in the Bush dynastic circle — Daddy Bush's clean-up crew, led by James Baker — are calling for involving Syria and Iran in the effort to stabilize Iraq. Iran is to host a summit with Iraq and other nations in the area, while on Monday Syria and Iraq resumed long-broken diplomatic relations.
The lesson of the Vietnam debacle is that yesterday's enemy is more likely to become today's trading partner if we remove the specter of U.S. imperialism and leave the fate of Iraq to the Iraqis.
By Robert Scheer
Reprinted with permission from The Nation.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/22/opinion/main2205512.shtml
National Science Foundation: Science Hard
June 5, 2002 | Issue 38•21
INDIANAPOLIS—The National Science Foundation's annual symposium concluded Monday, with the 1,500 scientists in attendance reaching the consensus that science is hard.
Farian explains the NSF findings.
"For centuries, we have embraced the pursuit of scientific knowledge as one of the noblest and worthiest of human endeavors, one leading to the enrichment of mankind both today and for future generations," said keynote speaker and NSF chairman Louis Farian. "However, a breakthrough discovery is challenging our long-held perceptions about our discipline—the discovery that science is really, really hard."
"My area of expertise is the totally impossible science of particle physics," Farian continued, "but, indeed, this newly discovered 'Law of Difficulty' holds true for all branches of science, from astronomy to molecular biology and everything in between."
The science-is-hard theorem, first posited by a team of MIT professors in 1990, was slow to gain acceptance within the science community. It gathered momentum following the 1997 publication of physicist Stephen Hawking's breakthrough paper, "Lorentz Variation And Gravitation Is Just About The Hardest Friggin' Thing In The Known Universe."
This weekend's conference, featuring symposia on how hard the Earth sciences are, how confusing medical science is, and how ridiculously un-gettable quantum physics is, represented a major step forward for the science-is-hard theorem.
"We now believe that the theorem is 99.999% likely to be true, after applying these incredibly complex statistical techniques that gave me a splitting headache," Farian said. "A theorem is like a theory, but, I don't know, it's different."
Members of the scientific establishment were quick to affirm the NSF discovery.
The scientists' assessment of a recent MIT paper on quantum physics.
"To be a scientist, you have to learn all this weird stuff, like how many molecules are in a proton," University of Chicago physicist Dr. Erno Heidegger said. "While it is true that I have become an acclaimed physicist and reaped great rewards from my career, one must not lose sight of the fact that these blessings came only after studying all of this completely impossible, egghead stuff for years."
Dr. Ahmed Zewail, a Caltech chemist whose spectroscopic studies of the transition states of chemical reactions earned him the Nobel Prize in 1999, explained in layman's terms just how hard the discipline of chemistry is, using the periodic table of the elements as a model.
"Take the element of tungsten and work to memorize its place in the periodic table, its atomic symbol, its atomic number and weight, what it looks like, where it's found, and its uses to humanity, if any," Zewail said. "Now, imagine memorizing the other 100-plus elements making up the periodic table. You'd have to be, like, some kind of total brain to do that."
As hard as chemistry and other traditional sciences may be, scientists say such newer disciplines as quantum physics are even more difficult.
"Quantum physics has always been a particularly tough branch of science," UCLA physicist Dr. Hideki Watanabe said. "But in addition to being some of the smartest Einstein-y stuff around, it is undeniably a really stupid, pointless thing to study, something you could never actually use in the real world. This paradoxical dual state may one day lead to a new understanding of physics as a way to confuse and bore people."
"I guess there's cool stuff about science," Watanabe continued, "like space travel and bombs. But that stuff is so hard, it's honestly not even worth the effort."
© Copyright 2006, Onion, Inc. All rights reserved.
CNN Renews This Week At War For Next Eight Seasons
November 22, 2006 | Issue 42•47
ATLANTA—CNN officials announced that they will be carrying the popular news show This Week At War through the 2014 season. "We're confident that we'll have at least eight full seasons worth of material for this property," said CNN President Jonathan Klein during the dedication of the new 11-story TWAW news headquarters in Kuwait City. "And believe me, we're going to be going in some surprising new directions. A premise like this can go on for a generation." In addition to TWAW's extended renewal, CNN is retooling existing news shows to give them a more martial focus, most notably The Situation And War Room, and Lou Dobbs Tonight In The Middle Of A Pitched Street Battle Between Sunni And Shiite Extremists.
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55532
Is it true they come from Nova Scotia?
Chicago Rolls Out Cold-Weather Prostitutes
November 24, 2006 | Issue 42•48
CHICAGO—From the barren tree branches to the colorful Christmas decorations, the signs of another Windy City winter are everywhere you look. And with the chilly air and fresh snow comes the sight of local residents replacing their regular three-season hookers with prostitutes better capable of handling the tough Chicago streets.
Across the city, residents are swapping out regular hookers with more dedicated, cold-weather prostitutes in their cars.
Unlike many other parts of the country, where milder temperatures and lighter snowfalls allow for the convenience of all-year prostitutes, citizens of Chicago must turn to thicker, sturdier working girls who can provide the high performance needed to get through the worst their notorious winter has to offer.
"When temperatures drop below zero, you need prostitutes you can depend on when they're needed most," said area resident Phillip Eadie, who mounted four cold-weather hookers earlier this month. "The last thing you want during a raging blizzard is to get stuck with a prostitute who's not up to the task."
"Seriously, if it weren't for cold-weather prostitutes, I don't think I'd ever leave the house," he added.
More resistant to heavy wear and tear than ordinary street whores, these high-performance prostitutes provide Chicago residents with optimal handling under the roughest of conditions, a firmer grip on ultra-slick surfaces, as well as greater rear-end balance. In addition to improved start and stop capabilities, the prostitutes are also able to absorb the bumpiest of rides.
"I'm the kind of guy who likes to feel in control at all times, and cold-weather prostitutes give me just that," said resident Charles Wentel, adding that he was first turned on to the seasonal whores by his father. "With other prostitutes I would always worry about how they'd react to unpredictable situations or whether they had the flexibility to take on any and all jobs."
"I've shelled out a lot of money for a lot of hookers in my life, and let me tell you these cold-weather babies are by far the best," Wentel added. "You won't find me riding around with anything less this winter."
"I've shelled out a lot of money for hookers in my life, and let me tell you, these cold-weather babies are the best."
Satisfied customer
Charles Wentell
According to local dealers and distributors of cold-weather prostitutes, most summer hookers "have very little life left in them" by Thanksgiving and can "hardly be trusted" to manage street corners through the winter.
"You can rotate your old whores, tie them up in chains, dress them up any and each way you like, but it won't make a bit of a difference," said Dale Huza, who peddles cold-weather prostitutes in nine different downtown locations. "Since getting in the business five years ago, I've yet to hear of a single customer who's been let down by these hookers. Hell, I even use them myself."
Often selected as among the safest whores on the market, cold-weather prostitutes are also a popular choice for those who have families to think about.
"As a husband and father of two boys, I demand a lot from my call girls," said Henry Greenman, who admitted to having an easier time sleeping at night since picking up some cold-weather prostitutes. "After all, there's no way I can be taking risks with unsafe tramps knowing the effect they could have on my family."
"Sure they may cost a little more, but as I've always said, you can't put a price on peace of mind," he added.
Many members of the Chicago business community have come out in favor of cold-weather prostitutes.
Managers, employees, and two custodians at South Side Automotive strongly recommend the hookers this season, claiming that in a series of "side-by-side" tests conducted behind their premises, cold-weather prostitutes outperformed regular prostitutes in every winter trial.
"More than any other prostitutes we've come across, there's nothing these hookers can't and won't withstand, no environment you can put them in where they won't do what's required of them," owner Mike Watlak said. "I give cold-weather prostitutes my and my company's personal stamp of approval."
Added Watlak: "One thing's for sure: They can really take a beating."
© Copyright 2006, Onion, Inc. All rights reserved.
Did an eco-disaster spawn complex life?
19:00 23 November 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Jeff Hecht
The upper portion of the image represents marine life in the time before the mass extinction; the lower portion represents marine life after the mass extinction (Graphic: Ron Testa, manipulated by Scott Lidgard)
The greatest mass extinction of all time led to the proliferation of complex marine life that quickly dominated the undersea scene, according to a new analysis of the fossil record.
Palaeontologists have long assumed that ecosystems grew steadily more complex since the first hard-shelled animals evolved about 540 million years ago. But Peter Wagner of the Field Museum in Chicago, US, found something different when he examined data on 1176 marine ecosystems stored in the massive Paleobiology Database.
The Permian extinction occurred 251 million years ago and wiped out 95% of marine species. Before this “great dying”, simple and complex marine ecosystems were equally abundant. But afterwards, complex ecosystems became three times as common - a ratio that has persisted ever since, Wagner says.
Stationary filter-feeders
Simple marine ecosystems consist of a few very abundant but stationary animals, such as crinoids and brachiopods (lamp-shells), which filter food from the water and leave few resources for less common species, whose population sizes remain low as a result.
Complex ecosystems divide resources among many more active organisms, such as clams and snails, and include many more species that interact in complex ways.
"We don't really have a mechanism [to explain the shift],” Wagner told New Scientist. Other mass extinctions did not change the ratio. But the end-Permian may have devastated the marine ecosystem so severely "that basically something new grew in its place", he speculates.
Our modern marine world may never have come into existence if it were not for the Permian extinction, he adds.
Journal reference: Science, vol 314, p 1254
Thank you for showing this perspective. Do you think I should get a market order in today?
Because a minister put his 2 cents in? Hmmm, wonder if that's the origin of the expression?
And a navel salute to you.
you show your complete lack of intelligence with your profane language!
You calling the V.P. stupid?
==========================
Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity
Clash With Leahy About Halliburton
By Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, June 25, 2004; Page A04
A brief argument between Vice President Cheney and a senior Democratic senator led Cheney to utter a big-time obscenity on the Senate floor this week.
On Tuesday, Cheney, serving in his role as president of the Senate, appeared in the chamber for a photo session. A chance meeting with Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (Vt.), the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, became an argument about Cheney's ties to Halliburton Co., an international energy services corporation, and President Bush's judicial nominees. The exchange ended when Cheney offered some crass advice.
"Fuck yourself," said the man who is a heartbeat from the presidency.
Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, yesterday confirmed the brief but fierce exchange. "The vice president seemed to be taking personally the criticism that Senator Leahy and others have leveled against Halliburton's sole-source contracts in Iraq," Carle said.
As it happens, the exchange occurred on the same day the Senate passed legislation described as the "Defense of Decency Act" by 99 to 1.
Cheney's office did not deny that the phrase was uttered. His spokesman, Kevin S. Kellems, would say only that this language is not typical of the vice presidential vocabulary. "Reserving the right to revise and extend my remarks, that doesn't sound like language the vice president would use," Kellems said, "but there was a frank exchange of views."
Gleeful Democrats pointed out that the White House has not always been so forgiving of obscenity. In December, Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry was quoted using the same word in describing Bush's Iraq policy as botched. The president's chief of staff reacted with indignation.
"That's beneath John Kerry," Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. said. "I'm very disappointed that he would use that kind of language. I'm hoping that he's apologizing at least to himself, because that's not the John Kerry that I know."
This was not the first foray into French by Cheney and his boss. During the 2000 campaign, Bush pointed out a New York Times reporter to Cheney and said, without knowing the microphone was picking it up, "major-league [expletive]." Cheney's response -- "Big Time" -- has become his official presidential nickname.
Then there was that famous Talk magazine interview of Bush by Tucker Carlson in 1999, in which the future president repeatedly used the F-word.
Tuesday's exchange began when Leahy crossed the aisle at the photo session and joked to Cheney about being on the Republican side, according to Carle. Then Cheney, according to Carle, "lashed into" Leahy for remarks he made Monday criticizing Iraq contracts won without competitive bidding by Halliburton, Cheney's former employer.
Leahy, Carle said, retorted that Democrats "have not appreciated White House collusion in smears" that Democrats were anti-Catholic for blocking judicial nominees such as William H. Pryor Jr. Democrats demanded that Bush disavow the allegations by conservative groups, but the White House did not.
The Democratic National Committee has declared this to be "Halliburton Week" to portray administration ties to the controversial company. "Sounds like it's making somebody a little testy," Kerry spokesman Chad Clanton said.
Republicans did their best to defend the vice president. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), while pointing out that he was unaware of the incident, described Cheney as "very honest" and said: "I don't blame anyone for standing up for his integrity."
There is no rule against obscene language by a vice president on the Senate floor. The senators were present for a group picture and not in session, so Rule 19 of the Senate rules -- which prohibits vulgar statements "unbecoming a senator" -- does not apply, according to a Senate official. Even if the Senate were in session, the vice president, though constitutionally the president of the Senate, is an executive branch official and therefore free to use whatever language he likes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3699-2004Jun24.html
...the freedom to opinionate is a constitutional right...
ok - so the draft with no loopholes would have done what?
Allow gays in the military?
Beer goggle effect explained...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/manchester/4468884.stm
What part of that story doesn't make sense to you?
Report: More U.S. Soldiers Suffering From Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder
November 15, 2006 | Issue 42•46
NORFOLK, VA—Pre-traumatic stress disorder, a future-combat-related psychological condition previously thought to afflict only young soldiers drafted against their will, is now found in growing numbers among National Guard members, Army, Navy, Marine, and Air Force reservists, semi-retired officers, and the newly recruited, according to a government study released Monday.
Marines prepare to be shipped off to Iraq.
"When soldiers are put in the extreme situation of facing the possibility of large-scale death and shocking violence, many experience sleeplessness and outbursts of anger," said Walter Reed Army Hospital psychologist Capt. Sidney Mullenthauer. "We're seeing more victims experience vivid, ultra-realistic flash-forwards of roadside bombings that tear through a group of innocent children, or rocket attacks on their convoys that leave fellow soldiers charred and smoldering."
"Many of these poor souls are forced to prelive, over and over again, a landmine blowing their legs off, or large pieces of shrapnel becoming lodged in the sides of fellow soldiers' faces," he added.
Army Pfc. Henry Gerard, 19, who suffers from acute Pre-TSD, said he blames the federal government for putting him in this mentally debilitating state.
"The government knows exactly what they intend to put me through, and they still haven't done a damn thing about it, man," said Gerard, who, nearly three weeks before reporting to Fallujah, suffers from nightmares in which his potential best friend is beheaded. "I can't sleep, I can't eat, my hands constantly shake. I'm going to a place where people I don't even know will try to kill me. What the fuck?"
"I'm not the same man I once was," Gerard said, adding that he spends every night drinking to drown out the screams and cries for help he expects to hear. "War is going to be hell."
The study, conducted by the Department Of Future Veterans Affairs, found that 80 percent of part-time soldiers reported no signs of Pre-TSD while carrying out their obligatory one weekend of duty a month, but quickly developed severe symptoms upon receiving orders for active combat.
"This is also the first time we have observed both pre- and post-traumatic stress disorders occurring simultaneously," said Mullenthauer, who explained that the phenomenon is found most often among reservists who have returned home after completing their tour of duty and before being called up for an extra assignment.
A growing number of reservists suffer from flash-forwards of gruesome urban combat in Iraq.
Researchers said the disorder can be brought on by the thought of holding a lifeless body in one's hands, the unshakable sense of dread accompanying an imagined nighttime ambush, and the stress of realizing one will spend 18 to 24 months in a foreign land thousands of miles from home in which death or severe injury seem all but inevitable.
In addition, a significant number of those who will enter a war zone say they are plagued by repeated visions of atrocities, torture, and the CNN logo.
One reservist, who has chosen to take the disease head-on by reporting to Iraq on his scheduled date, is Pvt. Franklin Mitchell, 31, husband and father of two. According to Mitchell's wife, Marian Mitchell, her husband's Pre-TSD was brought on by the proto-memories of being taken hostage.
"At first, of course, he was excited to get some money for college to study computer programming," Mitchell said. "But when he came home after learning he was going to Iraq, he broke into a cold sweat and grew extremely depressed remembering how he will eventually have to shoot and kill another human being at close range."
Researchers have recently identified new segments of the population also considered to be at risk for Pre-TSD, including parents of children approaching military age, Iraqi citizens, and any person who watches more than three hours of television news per day.
© Copyright 2006, Onion, Inc. All rights reserved.
Yeah, I just noticed.
unchievable
A surface where chives don't stick?
(Know anybody you could ask about this?)
So what kinds of programs do you have on pubic tv?
Rangel Says He Will Revive Legislation to Impose Military Draft
By Nadine Elsibai
Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Democratic Representative Charles Rangel said he will again introduce legislation to revive a U.S. military draft when his party takes control of Congress in January.
Broad-based conscription for the military or public service would make U.S. leaders more cautious about going to war, Rangel, of New York, said on CBS's ``Face the Nation.''
``There's no question in my mind that this president and this administration would never have invaded Iraq, especially on the flimsy evidence that was presented to the Congress, if indeed we had a draft and members of Congress and the administration thought that their kids from their communities would be placed in harm's way,'' said Rangel, who is in line to become chairman of the Ways and Means Committee next year.
Military leaders spoke out against reinstating the draft when Rangel introduced such legislation in January 2003, prior to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Commanders such as Air Force General Richard Myers, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the current volunteer force was better trained and capable than the conscripted troops in the past.
Rangel's proposal didn't gain widespread support when he first made it, and it was rejected by the House. He's reviving the legislation as lawmakers and some military commanders say the armed forces are being stretched thin by the war in Iraq.
``I don't see how anyone can support the war and not support the draft,'' said Rangel, 76, an Army veteran who opposed the Iraq war. ``I think to do so is hypocritical.''
Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said that while the U.S. needs more military personnel to deal with Iraq and potential challenges elsewhere, the draft isn't needed now.
If the volunteer military fails to meet the needs of the U.S., ``we'll do what we have to, to win this war and defend this nation,'' Graham said on the CBS program.
Rangel said the draft would require ``a couple of years'' of service in the military or in other public agencies.
The U.S. military draft ended in 1973 as the nation disengaged from Vietnam. The government still requires most men to register once they turn 18 with Selective Service, which maintains a list of those who may be eligible for a draft in a crisis.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nadine Elsibai in Washington at nelsibai@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: November 19, 2006 14:13 EST
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awVQrDKZUzvY&refer=home
Climate talks fail to set post-Kyoto timetable
Updated 18:56 18 November 2006
NewScientist.com news service
Fred Pearce, Nairobi
In the final hours of the UN climate conference in Nairobi, Kenya, due to end Friday evening, delegates failed to set themselves a deadline for reaching agreement on new targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions after the Kyoto Protocol ends.
The delay threatens to leave the world in climatic limbo after 2012. Key economic instruments for tackling climate change, such as carbon trading, could collapse without a firm timetable, according to environmentalists and industrialists at the conference.
Delegates from 174 governments have not responded to strictures from UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, who on Wednesday scolded them for failing to respond to the warnings of scientists that "global warming trends are perilously close to a point of no return". He added: "The Nairobi conference must send a clear, credible signal that the world's political leaders take climate change seriously."
"What has been startling here is the lack of urgency from ministers. There is little collective spirit or common agenda," says Catherine Pearce of Friends of the Earth International.
Some government delegates have defended events, pointing out that the conference is early in a cycle of negotiations to produce a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, so big breakthroughs are not to be expected.
Burying carbon
Delegates have, however, agreed to launch a scientific assessment of new technology for capturing and burying carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. Britain and Norway are currently trialling a scheme to bury liquefied gas in old oilfields beneath the North Sea.
"Carbon capture and storage technologies will reduce the need for increasing international expenditure on renewable energy since it will provide clean and environmentally sound oil supplies," says Saudi Arabian oil minister Ali Ibrahim Naimi, who backs the assessment.
The technology could in future qualify for carbon credits that companies could offset against increased emissions. But the UN's top climate official Yvo de Boer warns that it is unknown how permanently carbon can be buried. "Who would be responsible if it escapes?" he asks.
In another initiative, Brazil and Papua New Guinea won support for a similar scientific assessment of the potential for rewarding developing countries that acted to halt deforestation.
Focus on Africa
The first climate conference in sub-Saharan Africa spent most time discussing how to help the continent. It formally established an Adaptation Fund to help poor countries cope with climate change through work like developing drought-tolerant crops and protecting coastlines from rising sea levels. But currently there is only $3 million in the fund.
New plans were also announced to help African countries benefit from the Kyoto Protocol's Clean Development Mechanism. This promotes carbon-saving technologies by allowing rich-world corporations to gain carbon credits by investing in those technologies in the poor world. But applying for project approval is cumbersome, and while Brazil has 193 projects, the whole of Africa has just four.
Many rural parts of Africa without access to electricity grids could use the CDM to develop local solar, wind or micro-hydro electricity, said de Boer. But such gains will mean little if the big industrial emitters do not accept their responsibilities.
In the final session, the meeting agreed to conduct a review of the Kyoto Protocol at its next meeting. Some delegations, including the European Union, saw this as a back-door way of eventually introducing emissions targets for developing countries. But in the end this was excluded by a clause debarring the review from introducing any new commitments.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn10601-climate-talks-fail-to-set-postkyoto-timetable.html
Think those 150 million are in Iraq?
Iraq — Population: 26,074,906
According to http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html
Market beginning to look strained and on the whane.
Well then, no planchette for you.
Use Ouzo instead of fennel.
According to the NEC that would make you well grounded.
Left you red-faced, eh?
lol. That was in response to "good oscillations to you", so "hear" was deliberately spelled that way for the punfest we were having. Admittedly, the pun was pretty feeble; certainly not as good as the two you put up that night.
Sounds like we've really gone back and forth hear.
Biased?
Getting about time to sine off.
Alternating confliction?
Great. I'd feel tripped out if you weren't.
You don't seem to be...
en-gauged.
As long as nobody blows a fuse.
Thanks joules, for showing your linguistic capacity.
Fred got things charged up.
Fried already?
You should be...
arrested.