PC energy saving specialists Verdiem have today released free downloadable software designed to help users slash their energy use up to a massive 80 percent.
According to Allison Cornia, vice president of product management at Verdiem, “If we could get just 10 per cent of the world’s one billion PCs using [the product] properly we could save 32 billion kilograms of CO2 a year. That’s equivalent to taking half a million cars off the road.”
Incredibly, as Afghanistan sinks back into the anarchy which became its natural state these past 29 years, Afghan film-makers are producing movies of international quality, turning out pictures which prove—even amid war—that a country’s tragedy can be imaginatively recreated for its people.
For thousands of years, Buddhist meditators have claimed that the simple act of sitting down and following their breath while letting go of intrusive thoughts can free one from the entanglements of neurotic suffering.
Now, scientists are using cutting-edge scanning technology to watch the meditating mind at work. They are finding that regular meditation has a measurable effect on a variety of brain structures related to attention -- an example of what is known as neuroplasticity, where the brain physically changes in response to an intentional exercise.
Meditation May Protect Your Brain
Michael Haederle, Miller-McCune.com
1. Jeremy Scahill's Alternet article: This Is Change? 20 Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House. 2. Scahill and Mother Jones' s David Corn on Democracy Now: Agents of Change or Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons? A Discussion about Barack Obama’s Advisers and Transition Team
"I think . . . this is the precise moment when this kind of journalism matters, when we have to remind people of the history and the previous policies implemented by the people that are at the center of Obama’s foreign policy team right now, because we’re going to be living with these people for the next four years running the show. And I think it’s incredibly important to be all over this right now, before they’re named."
LIFE and Google have teamed up to put 10,000,000 historic images online -- about 20 percent of the images are live now. The Disneyland images are great -- here's the old Submarine Ride. LIFE photo archive hosted by Google (Thanks, Neil and SlasLA GUAJIRA, COLOMBIA–In the Guajira, a remote northern region of Colombia, the human and environmental costs of coal extraction go beyond the climate crisis, and it is Atlantic Canadians who are fueling part of the demand for Colombia's mineral fuel.
The Cerrejon mine, the world's largest open-pit coal mine, produces half of Colombia's annual 52 million tons.
The Steep Price of Power
Moira Peters
Naomi Klein Every sweetheart deal the Bush administration makes threatens to hobble Obama's ability to deliver on his promise of change.
Noam Chomsky called for people to vote for Obama 'without illusions'. I fully share Chomsky's doubts about the real consequences of Obama's victory.
In The News: 'Use Your Illusions' by Slavoj Zizek
Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:20:00 GMT
By Ed Ward
Do we really need another book about Mississippi Delta blues? Hasn’t this topic been covered adequately by now?More on Obama's new chief of staff.
I had really wanted to celebrate Barack Obama's remarkable victory for a day or so before becoming cynical again. I really did.
And yet, less than 24 hours after the first polls closed, the president-elect chose as his chief of staff -- perhaps the most powerful single position in any administration -- Rahm Emanuel, one of the most conservative Democratic members of Congress.
Is Obama Screwing His Base with Rahm Emanuel Selection?
Stephen Zunes, AlterNet
Book review.
The good news is that Canada's unique capacity for success can be found like a buried treasure in this country's history. The bad news is that not only has it been buried, but it has been intentionally covered up.
Not so long ago, the dollar stood for a sum of gold, and bankers knew the people they lent to. The author charts the emergence of an abstract, even absurd world--call it Planet Finance--where mathematical models ignored both history and human nature, and value had no meaning.
Wall Street Lays Another Egg
Niall Ferguson
Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:00:00 GMT
Worth a listen!
Congratulations pour in from around the world for President-elect Barack Obama after his historic victory Tuesday night. But what are Obama’s foreign policy positions, and what are the concerns for those living in countries at the target end of US foreign policy? We host a roundtable discussion with filmmaker and investigative journalist John Pilger in Britain, Columbia University professor and Africa scholar Mahmood Mamdani, Laura Carlsen of the Center for International Policy in Mexico City, Iraqi analyst Raed Jarrar, Pakistani author Tariq Ali, and Palestinian American Ali Abunimah of Electronic Intifada. [includes rush transcript]
President-Elect Obama and the Future of US Foreign Policy: A Roundtable Discussion
mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:09:55 GMT
