Tag Archives: television

We Spent Millions so Afghans Could Film Live Sports With Headless Goat Carcasses—And Screwed It Up

by HunterWVCO Posted on October 24, 2014

Mother Jones

In August 2011, the State Department purchased broadcast trucks for Afghan TV stations, for $3.6 million (206 million Afghanis), to help them tape live sporting events, like “buzkashi, soccer, cricket, and other sports.” (Buzkashi, Afghanistan’s national sport, translates to “goat grabbing” where horse-mounted players drag a headless goat carcass towards opposing goals.)

But no one has been able to watch any goat carcasses filmed by those trucks in the past two years, because those trucks didn’t show up until late July. And now, they’re sitting around under tarps, unused—because the State Department could cancel the contract whenever it wants.

A scene from Buzkashi Boys depicting men playing buzkashi. Buzkashi Boys

John Spoko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), sent Secretary of State John Kerry a letter demanding an explanation for the delayed TV trucks on Friday.

According to the letter, in addition to the late delivery, the price of the television trucks “more than tripled” since the original order date. And, one of the trucks “was damaged in transit.” As of September, the trucks are still sitting under tarps as the SIGAR staff waits for the State Department to accept delivery.

Spoko claims that, because the trucks were delivered so late, the State Department may elect to end the contract and take the trucks back. After the late delivery, the tripled unit cost and several contract modifications, Spoko is wary of how aboveboard this deal really is: “If this information is accurate, it suggests that something is seriously wrong with the way this contract was managed.”

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that SIGAR had “teamed up” with State to purchase the trucks. SIGAR is investigating the arrangement. It was not involved in it.

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We Spent Millions so Afghans Could Film Live Sports With Headless Goat Carcasses—And Screwed It Up

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If You Have Allergies or Asthma, Talk to Your Doctor About Cap and Trade

by Myrna Posted on August 29, 2014

The cost of limiting carbon emissions would pay for itself in human health benefits. LeventKonuk/Thinkstock The polar ice caps feel remote. The threat of orioles permanently leaving Baltimore for cooler climates might be a little more compelling. But researchers are learning that the most effective way around climate-policy ambivalence is to invoke imminent dangers to human health. “What’s killing me today?” with emphasis on killing and me and today. For one, when there is more carbon dioxide in the environment, plants produce more pollen, which is no good for allergies and asthma. Rutgers allergistLeonard Bielory recently warned that pollen counts are projected to double by 2040. Likewise, U.S. foresters recently calculated that trees seem to be averting around $6.8 billion in human health costs annually, largely due to mitigating effects of air pollution (even if they do produce pollen). And already the World Health Organization is warning that air pollution is responsible for one out of every eight human deaths, largely because combustion of fossil fuels results in invisible airborne particles that get lodged in our lungs and suspended in our blood. But is that worth the cost of implementing policies that limit carbon emissions? Some say yes. Yesterday researchers released findings that say an economy-wide cap on carbon emissions stands to pay for itself about 10 times over in near-term human medical benefits, specifically reductions in costs associated with respiratory diseases, like asthma, and premature death. A standard, economy-wide cap and trade program, the MIT-based research team found, would result in a net benefit of $125 billion in human health costs. The work is published in the journal Nature Climate Change. Read the rest at The Atlantic. Source –  If You Have Allergies or Asthma, Talk to Your Doctor About Cap and Trade ; ;Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Accounting for the Expanding Carbon Shadow from Coal-Burning PlantsWorld’s top PR companies rule out working with climate deniersAccounting for the Expanding Carbon Shadow from Coal-Burning Plants ;

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If You Have Allergies or Asthma, Talk to Your Doctor About Cap and Trade

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Musician Jenny Lewis on "Sipping the Kool-Aid" of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos

by Dorcas82Euh Posted on July 26, 2014

Mother Jones

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Jenny Lewis, the musician best-known for fronting Rilo Kiley and singing in the Postal Service, has a packed schedule at the Governors Ball Music Festival in New York City, but she never gives off the impression that she’s in a rush. She homes in on every person she’s introduced to with genuine enthusiasm. Lewis is tiny, with long red hair, a mega-watt smile, and a tie-dyed blazer inspired by, “Cosmos, man!”—the television show beloved by geeks that helped inspire her new solo album, The Voyager, out on July 29 (stream it here.)

The Voyager is a frank examination of womanhood, buried under a layer of sugary alt-pop. Lewis is largely known for her songwriting, often about relationships, and this record is no different: She covers topics like late bloomers, “When I turned 16, I was furious and restless,” troubled romances, “I told you I cheated and you punched through the drywall,” and marriage, “I could love you forever. I could love you until all the Polaroids fade.”

Lewis’s music video for the album’s first single, “Just One of the Guys,” is a star-studded affair, featuring her friends Anne Hathaway and Kristen Stewart all dolled up—but as men. The song is a partly a meditation on ticking clocks (“When I look at myself, all I can see/I’m just another lady without a baby.”) Lewis tells me her lyrics speak for themselves and there is, “that lady pressure, as you called it, that is just biological in some ways.” She adds that, “Despite hanging out with dudes for my entire life and trying to fit in, ultimately, I’m a woman, and I’m becoming more comfortable with that the older I get.” She adds, “I’ve fought to be where I am today, and I’m absolutely a feminist.”

Lewis wrote the album, her first solo record since 2008, while struggling with a two-year bout of insomnia that she says almost took her out of the game. “I became an asshole,” she jokes. While sleepless nights didn’t really help her creativity, they did prompt her to watch a lot of late-night boxing and Cosmos, the television series by Carl Sagan, which became inspiration for her album. “I would watch that over and over and some that imagery really made it into the songs,” she says. Which isn’t to say that the title track is “a science fiction song.” Instead, it’s more about personal voyages. As she sings, “Nothing lasts forever when you travel time/ I’ve been sipping that Kool-Aid of the cosmos.”

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Musician Jenny Lewis on "Sipping the Kool-Aid" of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos

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In War, Truth Is the First Casualty

by DenisSuggs Posted on April 16, 2014

Mother Jones

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David Herszenhorn reports that Tuesday marked yet another day of “bluster and hyperbole, of the misinformation, exaggerations, conspiracy theories, overheated rhetoric and, occasionally, outright lies” that have marked the Russian response to the crisis in Ukraine:

It is an extraordinary propaganda campaign that political analysts say reflects a new brazenness on the part of Russian officials. And in recent days, it has largely succeeded — at least for Russia’s domestic audience — in painting a picture of chaos and danger in eastern Ukraine, although it was pro-Russian forces themselves who created it by seizing public buildings and setting up roadblocks.

….To watch the television news in Russia is to be pulled into a swirling, 24-hour vortex of alarmist proclamations of Western aggression, sinister claims of rising fascism and breathless accounts of imminent hostilities by the “illegal” Ukrainian government in Kiev, which has proved itself in recent days to be largely powerless.

The Rossiya 24 news channel, for instance, has been broadcasting virtually nonstop with a small graphic at the bottom corner of the screen that says “Ukrainian Crisis” above the image of a masked fighter, set against the backdrop of the red-and-black flag of the nationalist, World War II-era Ukrainian Insurgent Army, which inflicted tens of thousands of casualties on Soviet forces.

Over the course of several hours of coverage on Tuesday, Rossiya 24 reported that four to 11 peaceful, pro-Russian “supporters of federalization” in Ukraine were killed near the town of Kramatorsk in eastern Ukraine when a mixed force of right-wing Ukrainians and foreign mercenaries strafed an airfield with automatic gunfire from helicopter gunships before landing and seizing control.

In fact, on the ground, a small crowd of residents surrounded a Ukrainian commander who had landed at the airfield in a helicopter, and while there were reports of stones thrown and shots fired in the air, only a few minor injuries were reported with no signs of fatalities.

Thank God we live in America, where this kind of thing doesn’t happen.

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In War, Truth Is the First Casualty

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Sorry, But Childhood Obesity Hasn’t Budged in the Past Ten Years

by EstelaPalfreyma Posted on March 19, 2014

Mother Jones

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Remember that CDC study showing a dramatic drop in obesity among 2-5 year olds that I wrote about last month? I was skeptical that it was real, and today Sharon Begley of Reuters follows up. Her conclusion? The whole thing is almost certainly bogus:

The latest study is based a well-respected data set taken from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES….The 2011-2012 version of the survey included 9,120 people; 871 of them were 2 to 5 years old….”In small samples like this, you are going to have chance fluctuations,” said epidemiologist Geoffrey Kabat of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City.

….A study of preschoolers in the federal WIC (Women, Infants and Children) program, which provides food vouchers, nutrition classes and counseling to low-income families, found virtually no change in obesity rates….”We agree there is a slight downward trend in obesity among 2-to-5-year olds,” said Shannon Whaley, a co-author of the WIC study. “But a 43 percent drop is absolutely not what we’re seeing.” The WIC study included more than 200,000 children

….Other studies also raise questions about the 40 percent claim. An earlier CDC study, reported in JAMA in December 2012, found that the prevalence of obesity among 2-to-4-year olds in low-income families fell to 14.9 percent in 2010 from 15.2 percent in 2003. That represents an improvement of less than 2 percent.

….For obesity rates to drop, researchers reckon, young children have to eat differently and become more active. But research shows little sign of such changes among 2-to-5-year olds, casting more doubt on the 43 percent claim….In 2010 Whaley and her colleagues examined the effectiveness of WIC classes and counseling to encourage healthy eating and activities for women and children in the program. Their findings were discouraging: Television watching and consumption of sweet or salty snacks actually rose, while fruit and vegetable consumption fell — changes that could lead to weight gain. One positive was a rise in physical activity.

To recap: the CDC study was small and had large error bars; other, larger studies find only slight drops in obesity; and there’s no indication of any behavioral changes that might have produced a dramatic weight loss. I’d add to that the fact that the CDC data showed no correlation between lower weight at ages 2-5 and lower weight a few years later at ages 6-11.

Bottom line: I hate to be such a buzzkill, but the CDC result seems highly likely to be nothing more than statistical noise. Childhood obesity has barely budged in the last decade.

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Sorry, But Childhood Obesity Hasn’t Budged in the Past Ten Years

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Healing ADD Revised Edition – Daniel G. Amen

by Myrna Posted on February 5, 2014

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

Healing ADD Revised Edition

The Breakthrough Program that Allows You to See and Heal the 7 Types of ADD

Daniel G. Amen

Genre: Psychology

Price: $9.99

Publish Date: December 3, 2013

Publisher: Penguin Group US

Seller: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.


All-New Revised Edition Attention deficit disorder (ADD) is a national health crisis that continues to grow—yet it remains one of the most misunderstood and incorrectly treated illnesses today. Neuropsychiatrist Daniel G. Amen, MD was one of the first to identify that there are multiple types beyond just purely hyperactive or inattentive ADD, each requiring a different treatment. Now, in this all-new, revised edition, Dr. Amen again employs the latest medical advances in the field, including the largest brain imaging study ever completed on patients with ADD, to identify, examine, and demystify the 7 distinct types of ADD and their specific treatments. With updated recommendations for nutraceuticals and/or medications targeted to brain type, diet, exercise, lifestyle interventions, cognitive reprogramming, parenting and educational strategies, neurofeedback, and more, Dr. Amen’s revolutionary approach provides a treatment program that can lead sufferers of ADD to a normal, peaceful, and fully functional life. Sufferers from ADD often say, “The harder I try, the worse it gets.” Dr. Amen tells them, for the first time, why, and more importantly how to heal ADD. See Dr. Amen's Public Television Special on ADD!

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Healing ADD Revised Edition – Daniel G. Amen

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America’s kids eating healthier, getting fitter

by Lubao2pzs Posted on September 17, 2013

America’s kids eating healthier, getting fitter

By

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Yay for exercise and healthy food.

Here’s news as sweet as a fistful of blueberries: American kids aged 11 to 16 were eating more fruit and vegetables in 2009 than those who came before them just eight years earlier, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics.

Kids are also cutting back on sweets and sugary drinks, eating breakfast more regularly, spending more time exercising, and spending less time in front of the television, the study found:

PediatricsClick to embiggen.

The following graph shows the modest rise in the number of days per week that American kids engaged in physical activity (PA) and the decline in the hours per day that they sat in front of the television:

PediatricsClick to embiggen.

These healthier habits have begun making a difference.

The average body mass index of thousands of kids studied increased between 2001 and 2005, then started falling between 2005 and 2009. That’s in line with the results of other studies, which have shown a plateau in childhood obesity rates. (Though as we told you last week, America’s most obese kids, primarily children of poor black and Hispanic parents, continue to get fatter.)

“Over the previous decades, the pattern had been that kids were getting less physical activity, and it’s been very hard to increase their fruit and vegetable consumption,” Ronald Iannotti, coauthor of the study and chairman of the department of exercise and health sciences at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, told USA Today. “We’ve got a long way to go, but the good news is that those are increasing.”

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Food

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America’s kids eating healthier, getting fitter

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Advertising: FEMA Promotes Its Wireless Emergency Alert System

by Myrna Posted on May 28, 2013

The agency is releasing radio, television and digital ads to educate the public about the system, which began two years ago. Source:  Advertising: FEMA Promotes Its Wireless Emergency Alert System ; ;Related ArticlesWal-Mart Is Fined $82 Million Over Mishandling of Hazardous WastesIsraeli Electric Car Company Files for LiquidationBooks: ‘Storm Kings’ Review – Where Tornadoes Dug In, So Did They ;

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Advertising: FEMA Promotes Its Wireless Emergency Alert System

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Shark, Sexposition, and "Game of Thrones" Season 3

by xntaw2b Posted on March 5, 2013

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In 2006, when David Benioff and Dan Weiss, cocreators of the hit HBO series Game of Thrones, sat down with author George R.R. Martin to talk about adapting his epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin’s Hollywood bullshit detector was on high alert. “He gave us a pop quiz,” Weiss told one interviewer, but they passed the test because their passion for Martin’s books “was real and natural and completely unforced.”

Their geek-boy résumés probably didn’t hurt: Benioff, a D&D dungeon master in his youth, did the screenplay for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Weiss had a video-game-themed novel under his belt. Nor did their willingness to shelve all other creative pursuits—no small sacrifice for Benioff, who had adapted his own first novel, The 25th Hour, into the Spike Lee film starring Edward Norton, and followed that up with the fabulous 2008 book City of Thieves.

For the uninitiated, Game of Thrones is an engrossing tale of clans struggling for dominion in the fictional realm of Westeros. (Benioff’s two-second elevator pitch: “The Sopranos in Middle Earth.”) With a stellar crew and ensemble cast anchored by Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, the dwarf scion of a power-hungry family, the show has raked in 17 Emmy nominations and eight wins, including Dinklage as outstanding supporting actor. Benioff and Weiss told me via email about their favorite characters, learning to “fail better,” and the challenges of shooting Season 3, which premieres March 31 on HBO.

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Shark, Sexposition, and "Game of Thrones" Season 3

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China keeps making new green pledges

by Pauline80x Posted on March 4, 2013

China keeps making new green pledges

By John Upton

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Shanghai, along with the rest of China, might soon be getting a little cleaner.

The West has long turned a collective blind eye to China’s human rights abuses, its disregard for democracy, its complicity in the mistreatment of its low-wage workers, its occupation of Tibet, and its environmental sins. By turning that blind eye, we’ve ensured a cheap and steady flow of everything from McDonald’s Happy Meal toys to iPhones and other toxic consumer goods.

But something remarkable has been happening of late: China’s despotic leaders seem to be working to clean up the country’s environmental practices.

In February, the leaders announced they would introduce a carbon tax and new pollution discharge fees.

Also last month, China finally came clean and admitted to the existence of so-called cancer villages. “The toxic chemicals [used in China but banned elsewhere] have caused many environmental emergencies linked to water and air pollution,” the country’s environment ministry acknowledged in a landmark report.

And now, Bloomberg is reporting that China has issued environmental protection guidelines for companies to follow when they make foreign investments. Chinese companies operating abroad are being directed to curb pollution and consider their impacts on local communities. From the article:

The guidelines call on companies to follow local environmental laws, assess the environmental risks of their projects, minimize the impact on local heritage and draft plans for handling emergencies.

“We want our companies to realize that they must look after environmental issues in domestic and overseas investments,” Bie Tao, a policy department official from the Chinese environment ministry, said at the briefing. “No side will win if the environment is neglected, and we have many lessons in this regard.”

Zambia last week revoked the license of a Chinese-owned coal mine in the south of the country after violations of safety and environmental laws. In Myanmar, construction of a $3.6 billion hydropower plant by a venture between China Power Investment Corp., Myanmar’s Ministry of Electric Power-1 and a local private company was halted after the project drew the criticism of environmentalists and local residents protested.

And there’s more. From a separate Bloomberg article regarding the country’s latest effort to curb its killer air pollution:

China’s largest oil companies have announced plans for billions of yuan of upgrades after air pollution in the Chinese capital hit hazardous levels on 20 days in January. China Petrochemical Corp. Chairman Fu Chengyu said in an interview with state broadcaster China Central Television last month that the nation’s biggest refiner would spend about 30 billion yuan [$4.8 billion] a year to upgrade its plants to produce cleaner fuel.

So far, this is all mostly talk. But if China carries through with these and other pledges, it may soon have fewer environmental sins that we would need to overlook. That should make it even easier for us to turn a collective blind eye to its human rights abuses, its disregard for democracy, its complicity in the mistreatment of its low-wage workers, and its occupation of Tibet.

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