Recent events in Solar Power

some articles on the price/ availability of solar panels and discussion on metafilter today for those who haven't taken a look for a while.

Solar power continues to become more economical with every passing month. The price of standard monocrystalline/polycrystalline 210W to 300W modules has halved, from above $3/watt to below $1.70/watt in the past 12 months. The Canadian province of Ontario has become the first location in North America to offer an aggressive feed-in tariff comparable to the feed-in tariffs in Germany and Spain, paying above 80 cents/kWh for power generated by small rooftop photovoltaic installations. The US federal government is also offering massive tax breaks for solar installations as part of the 2009 ARRA act.

Recent events in Solar Power | MetaFilter

Independent Latin America Forms Its Own Organization (U.S. and Canada Aren't Invited)

smart move of the year so far

By Mark Weisbrot; February 26, 2010 - Znet
Source: The Guardian Unlimited

Latin America took another historic step forward this week with the creation of a new regional organization of 32 Latin American and Caribbean countries. The United States and Canada were excluded.

Independent Latin America Forms Its Own Organization (U.S. and Canada Aren't Invited) | Mostly 
Water

Developing world, what developing world?

Traveling around Asia quickly teaches that "growth" is more than economic statistics - it increasingly means efficient airports, good roads and quality service that mock "developed-world" counterparts. Asia, with the financial muscle and determination to continue this trend, is developing an apparen...

Asia Times Online :: Global Economy

Maxime Bernier: strike nineteen

We had a lot of fun here at the blog cataloguing Maxime's exploits while Foreign Affairs Minister. Some long time readers may remember the strike watch, which started out innocently enough. Strike one, strike two, strike three, you're out was the idea. Little did we know that the tally would climb so high. It took sixteen strikes for Maxime to be finally called out although we were really losing count during the tumultuous Couillard era. So here we are, hauling it out for old time's sake and a special occasion.

Impolitical: Maxime Bernier: strike nineteen

Haiti: The Aid Racket

Ashley Smith documents how the NGOs in Haiti have provided the means for the U.S. government to circumvent the Haitian state and impose neoliberal polices.

Haiti: The Aid Racket By Ashley Smith

Spray On Liquid Glass

Spray On Liquid Glass

Now here is a product that should soon find its way into the NANO Supermarket soon. At least, if supermarkets are willing to put it on their shelves, as they currently make huge profits from cleaning products and spray-on liquid glass would make virtually all of them obsolete.
According to its creators “Spray-on liquid glass is transparent, non-toxic, and used to protect virtually any surface against almost any damage from hazards such as water, UV radiation, dirt, heat, and bacterial infections. The coating is also flexible and breathable, which makes it suitable for use on an enormous array of products.”

pray On Liquid Glass « NextNature.net

Canada Uses Aid Politics to Further Palestinian Division

By Jesse Rosenfeld
The Daily Nuisance

In a uniquely Canadian polite and subtle way, the country’s Conservative government has made a clear statement in support of Israel’s continued siege on Gaza and entrenched Palestinian division. Slashing its funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) while transferring that support to the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) judicial sector – specifically towards training prosecutors, judges and police – Canada is using aid to make its political intentions clear.

Canada Uses Aid Politics to Further Palestinian Division | Mostly Water

Australia: Five Muslim Men Jailed for Thought-Crimes

By Tony Iltis, Sydney - 21 February 2010

So I guess ' be careful what you think' has a whole new meaning now. Things are moving right along.

On February 15, five men — Mohamed Ali Elomar, Khaled Cheikho, Moustafa Cheikho, Abdul Rakib Hasan and Mohammed Omar Jamal — who were convicted in October under “anti-terror” laws, were each sentenced in Parramatta court to between 23 and 28 years in jail. The shortest non-parole period was set at 17 years and three months.

The “anti-terror” laws introduced by the former Howard government allow for conviction for terrorist conspiracy on the basis of very broadly-defined intent. The five were not convicted of planning any specific act.


Australia: Five Muslim Men Jailed for Thought-Crimes | Mostly Water

Tactile Maps of Coastlines and Buildings

Two years ago, Colleen Morgan of Middle Savagery pointed out these amazing tactile maps of the Inuit, "3D wood carvings of the East Greenland coastline, with the details of inlets and islands in sculptural relief. These could be employed by [travelers] at night in conjunction with the stars, feeling your way along the coastline, navigating at an intimate scale."


BLDGBLOG: Tactile Maps of Coastlines and Buildings

PRESS CONFERENCE: 1,000 Architects and Engineers Call for New 9/11 Investigation

Across the United States, members of a group called "AE911truth" are holding press conferences listed in every major city.

Colorado Press:

PRESS CONFERENCE:

1,000 Architects and Engineers Call for New 9/11 Investigation

Cite Evidence of Explosive Demolition at WTC

PRESS CONFERENCE: 1,000 Architects and Engineers Call for New 9/11 Investigation

Canada and Venezuela

By Yves Engler

The government of Hugo Chavez was correct last week when a representative said Ottawa supports "coup plotters" and "destabilizers" in Venezuela.

But it's not because Harper is of the "ultra right" as suggested. In fact, both Liberal and Conservative governments have tacitly supported the U.S. campaign to replace the government of Venezuela.

In April 2002 a military coup took Chavez prisoner and imposed an unelected government. While most Latin American leaders condemned the coup, Canadian diplomats who were working under the direction of a Liberal government were silent.

Canada and Venezuela | Mostly Water

New ceramic sculptures by Connie Kiener

Ebay removes High Times

eBay’s long been a white knight, protecting would-be shoppers from allegedly scandalous products like sex toys and porn. This is not to say that you can’t find those things on eBay — you certainly can — but they must comply with bizarre criteria to make it on the site. If there’s even a chance that a product might be made illegal, you can expect the eBay cops to shut that shit down lickety-split.

Sometimes, though eBay white knights a seller on their site for reasons seemingly steeped in their own ideology. Take Fred Carwile who, last week, found his entire collection of High Times back issues stripped from the site.

'I Am Clinically Sane'

A short interview with my favorite living film director, Werner Herzog.

Werner Herzog is head of the jury at this year's Berlin International Film Festival. He spoke with SPIEGEL ONLINE about why he agreed to judge the competition, his sanity in an insane industry and why his books will outlast his films.

Interview with Director Werner Herzog: 'I Am Clinically Sane' - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

Shanghai's older residents turn to drugs for mahjong marathons

In a city once synonymous with decadence, a new drug menace has emerged in Shanghai. Recreational users are bingeing on ketamine, cocaine and methamphetamine to keep them playing into the early hours.

This time it is not the young and reckless fuelling late-night tours of nightclubs. Instead, says a state newspaper, retired and middle-aged residents are turning to drugs to stay awake through marathon sessions of mahjong.

hanghai's older residents turn to drugs for mahjong marathons | World news | guardian.co.uk

Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord

“I used to like ‘My Way,’ but after all the trouble, I stopped singing it,” he said. “You can get killed.”
The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars over the years in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”
Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord - NYTimes.com

Smoke and ash rise as the World Trade Center tower burns after terrorists fle...

Some amazing pictures, just released, taken by a N.Y. police helicopter of the W.T.C coming down.

Smoke and ash rise as the World Trade Center tower burns after terrorists fle...

British Library to offer free ebook downloads

MORE than 65,000 19th-century works of fiction from the British Library’s collection are to be made available for free downloads by the public from this spring.

Owners of the Amazon Kindle, an ebook reader device, will be able to view well known works by writers such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Thomas Hardy, as well as works by thousands of less famous authors.

The library’s ebook publishing project, funded by Microsoft, the computer giant, is the latest move in the mounting online battle over the future of books.

British Library to offer free ebook downloads - Times Online

strains with china. what's with the u.s. sending more arms to taiwan ? and blasting china about trade laws. the logic of 'me'. what country didn't put up borders while tooling up their industry? why couldn't they be more open like haiti was. lowering their tariff on rice to 3%. and then all of a sudden they're importing all their rice from the u.s. and all their farmers have to leave their land and end up in the shanty-towns, to be repeated all over the world. free trade, bla, bla bla.
i'm turning into a sino-chauvinist. fuck the u.s. and their freedom to fuck every over!

InvAID

This list of 100+ links—in reverse chronological order—was created in preparation for the next issue of Press for Conversion! (the magazine of Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade). The theme of that issue (#65) will be the hyper-militarisation of development assistance to Haiti.

InvAID: "'"

In the Realm of Hungry Ghost

In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts”: Dr. Gabor Maté, Physician at Vancouver Safe-Injection Site, on the Biological and Socio-Economic Roots of Addiction and ADD

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight

Image by jurvetson via Flickr

Compelling talk by neuro-scientist , Jill Bolte, about her stroke and discoveries regarding right/left brain and spirituality.

Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight | Video on TED.com

Haiti Earthquake & Voodoo: Myths, Ritual, and Robertson

Anthropologist and National Geographic explorer-in-residence* Wade Davis is the author of The Serpent and the Rainbow and Passage of Darkness, books that explore Haitian voodoo, magic, and zombies.

Davis recently spoke with National Geographic News about how voodooists might view the recent Haiti earthquake, the concern many Haitians are feeling as they bury loved ones without proper rituals, and U.S. televangelist Pat Robertson's remark that Haiti's earthquake is God's retribution for a voodoo "pact with the devil."

Haiti Earthquake & Voodoo: Myths, Ritual, and Robertson

Canadian Network on Cuba

CNC Launches "Cuba for Haiti" Fundraising Campaign

January 18, 2010

Dear Friends,

In response to the horrendous suffering of the Haitian people resulting from the earthquake and its many aftershocks, many Canadians have been wondering what is the most effective way to provide aid. The Canadian-Cuban Friendship Association of Toronto has proposed the Cuba for Haiti fundraising campaign which is also endorsed by the Canadian Network on Cuba as a national effort.

Download printable version of this fundraising appeal here

Download 'Cuba for Haiti' brochure with fact sheet about Cuba's internationalist work in Haiti here

Canadian Network on Cuba

9/11, Deep Events, and the Curtailment of U.S. Freedoms

A talk delivered to the New England Antiwar Conference, MIT, January 30, 2010.

by Prof Peter Dale Scott

I can’t see you, but I’m going to ask you to raise your hands if you haven’t heard about COG. If you haven’t, please google for Cheney and COG when you get home (2.5 million hits), and perhaps even add “peter dale scott” to the search (9,470 hits).

You will find that officially “COG” stands for “Continuity of Government” planning. I always say that we should think of it as “Change of Government” planning, since it was well summarized 22 years ago by Alphonso Chardy in the Miami Herald as plans for “suspension of the Constitution…emergency appointment of military commanders…and declaration of martial law.”[14]

9/11, Deep Events, and the Curtailment of U.S. Freedoms

Good and Boring

Some words on the Canadian banking system from down south.

by Paul Krugman

In times of crisis, good news is no news. Iceland’s meltdown made headlines; the remarkable stability of Canada’s banks, not so much.

Yet as the world’s attention shifts from financial rescue to financial reform, the quiet success stories deserve at least as much attention as the spectacular failures. We need to learn from those countries that evidently did it right. And leading that list is our neighbor to the north. Right now, Canada is a very important role model.

Good and Boring | CommonDreams.org

Dawg's Blawg

... a new find. Very informed of the goings on of the Canadian political scene.

Never mind a "long march through the institutions": Stephen Harper and his ideological confederates far prefer the blitzkrieg approach.

Independent watchdogs have been muzzled or fired. Government ministers have meddled in the work of arms-length agencies. Respectable charities have been blacklisted with bogus charges of "anti-Semitism." And the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development has apparently been targeted for outright destruction.

Dawg's Blawg