Thursday, July 31, 2008
Schwarzenegger backs McCain while praising Obama
After reading this AP story that was posted this evening I sent the Governor this message:
AS GOVERNOR AND LEADER OF SUCH A DYNAMIC STATE AS CALIFORNIA ------ ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY - ENVIRONMENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, BIO RESEARCH, ENERGY TRANSFORMATION - AND YOU SELL YOURSELF OUT TO THE SAME GROUP THAT GAVE US THESE DISASTROUS 7 1/2 BUSH YEARS. I EXPECTED YOU TO STAND UP AND BE A MAN - ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MCCAIN AND BUSH ARE DEFUNCT - THEY HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO SELL US DOWN THE RIVER TO BIG OIL AND BIG BUSINESS. MCCAIN IS TOO WEDDED TO THE PAST, TOO WEDDED TO A MILITARY MENTALITY AND TO WHAT DDE - ONE OF OUR REALLY GREAT REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS - REFERRED TO AS THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. WE NEED FRESH LEADERSHIP AND SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HISTORY, SOMEONE WHO HAS A GOOD MIND; AND WHO AT THE SAME TIME IS NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP TO TYRANNY.
WE DEMOCRATS ARE NOT WISHY WASHY TREE HUGGERS - IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT IT WAS TWO DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS WHO RALLIED OUR COUNTRY TO TWO OF THE MAJOR WARS OF THE 20TH CENTURY - FDR AND HST. WE ARE NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP TO TYRANNY WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES CALL FOR SUCH RESPONSE.
A REAL LEADER SHOULD READ AND ENDORSE THE KIND OF AMERICA THAT TOM FRIEDMAN OF THE NYT HAS BEEN WRITING ABOUT FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS - - AL GORE, BARAK OBAMA, T. BOONE PICKENS, RICHARD BRANSON ---- THESE ARE THE KINDS OF MEN ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER SHOULD BE ASSOCIATING AND ALIGNING WITH.
MR. SCHWARZENEGGER - I ASK YOU TO RETRACT YOUR ENDORSEMENT AND COME OVER TO THE GOOD SIDE.
Herbert Peress, NYC
AS GOVERNOR AND LEADER OF SUCH A DYNAMIC STATE AS CALIFORNIA ------ ON THE FOREFRONT OF THE MOST IMPORTANT MOVEMENTS OF THE 21ST CENTURY - ENVIRONMENT, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, BIO RESEARCH, ENERGY TRANSFORMATION - AND YOU SELL YOURSELF OUT TO THE SAME GROUP THAT GAVE US THESE DISASTROUS 7 1/2 BUSH YEARS. I EXPECTED YOU TO STAND UP AND BE A MAN - ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY OF MCCAIN AND BUSH ARE DEFUNCT - THEY HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO SELL US DOWN THE RIVER TO BIG OIL AND BIG BUSINESS. MCCAIN IS TOO WEDDED TO THE PAST, TOO WEDDED TO A MILITARY MENTALITY AND TO WHAT DDE - ONE OF OUR REALLY GREAT REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS - REFERRED TO AS THE MILITARY INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. WE NEED FRESH LEADERSHIP AND SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS HISTORY, SOMEONE WHO HAS A GOOD MIND; AND WHO AT THE SAME TIME IS NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP TO TYRANNY.
WE DEMOCRATS ARE NOT WISHY WASHY TREE HUGGERS - IT'S WORTH NOTING THAT IT WAS TWO DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTS WHO RALLIED OUR COUNTRY TO TWO OF THE MAJOR WARS OF THE 20TH CENTURY - FDR AND HST. WE ARE NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP TO TYRANNY WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES CALL FOR SUCH RESPONSE.
A REAL LEADER SHOULD READ AND ENDORSE THE KIND OF AMERICA THAT TOM FRIEDMAN OF THE NYT HAS BEEN WRITING ABOUT FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS - - AL GORE, BARAK OBAMA, T. BOONE PICKENS, RICHARD BRANSON ---- THESE ARE THE KINDS OF MEN ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER SHOULD BE ASSOCIATING AND ALIGNING WITH.
MR. SCHWARZENEGGER - I ASK YOU TO RETRACT YOUR ENDORSEMENT AND COME OVER TO THE GOOD SIDE.
Herbert Peress, NYC
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
MITOCHONDRIA
Mitochondria is an important mechanism in human cell biology and is everywhere since it exists in every cell of a living organism - neurons included. It plays a strong role in certain diseases, in longevity...........and a host of other biological functions. It's particular role(s) in brain cells (neurons) are manifold. Scientific American Magazine frequently has articles on new research in this area. A good introduction to the subject is of course Wikipedia's entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrion. Here are links to a few additional introductory articles on the subject.
Eat (Less) to Live (Longer)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=eat-less-to-live-longer
Mitochondrial dysfunction and molecular pathways of disease
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WFB-4MVDVNX-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=63031efae27fc37edae2badc0736abeb
Brain mitochondrial dysfunction as a link between Alzheimer's disease and diabetes
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T06-4N3H17B-3&_user=10&_origUdi=B7W6D-4T25XX0-2V5&_fmt=high&_coverDate=06%2F15%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_orig=article&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=afa804969850b7e54245aa96b64d90df
With their central place in cell metabolism, mitochondria damage - and subsequent dysfunction - is an important factor in a wide range of human diseases. These include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke, cardiovascular disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and diabetes mellitus. The common thread linking these seemingly-unrelated conditions is cellular damage causing oxidative stress and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. These oxidants then damage the mitochondrial DNA, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. [From the Wikipedia article]
Eat (Less) to Live (Longer)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=eat-less-to-live-longer
Mitochondrial dysfunction and molecular pathways of disease
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WFB-4MVDVNX-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=63031efae27fc37edae2badc0736abeb
Brain mitochondrial dysfunction as a link between Alzheimer's disease and diabetes
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T06-4N3H17B-3&_user=10&_origUdi=B7W6D-4T25XX0-2V5&_fmt=high&_coverDate=06%2F15%2F2007&_rdoc=1&_orig=article&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=afa804969850b7e54245aa96b64d90df
With their central place in cell metabolism, mitochondria damage - and subsequent dysfunction - is an important factor in a wide range of human diseases. These include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, stroke, cardiovascular disease, retinitis pigmentosa, and diabetes mellitus. The common thread linking these seemingly-unrelated conditions is cellular damage causing oxidative stress and the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. These oxidants then damage the mitochondrial DNA, resulting in mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. [From the Wikipedia article]
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bush's Legacy in a 1 Minute Recap
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Bush Abdicates Any Responsibility for Addressing Global Warming
George W. Bush is absolutely the worst president in modern history. Read this NYT Editorial* from Sunday July 13, '08 - it talks about the World's global warming and energy problem, our role in leading to a better place and the stance that Bush & Co. has taken. This is the most important problem facing The World today: the necessity for a revolution in energy production that will rid everyone of dependence on oil and at the same time reduce greenhouse gases; a revolution everywhere as critical as the Industrial Revolution and the Information Technology Revolution. Read the editorial and then swear that no way will you allow another republican - no matter how sweet/maverick like/anti-establishment like......he may "appear" to be.........to become the next president. We have got to get this country moving again and on the right paths. There is a whole lot of c_ _ p to be flushed out. it will not be easy, but our only hope is w/ someone who has the right ideas and is not beholden to big business, big oil and all of the fat cats that feed off of the republican party.
*Posturing and Abdication
The Bush administration made clear on Friday that it will do virtually nothing to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. With no shame and no apology, it stuck a thumb in the eye of the Supreme Court, repudiated its own scientists and exposed the hollowness of Mr. Bush’s claims to have seen the light on climate change.
That is the import of an announcement by Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, that the E.P.A. will continue to delay a decision on whether global warming threatens human health and welfare and requires regulations to address it. Mr. Johnson said his agency would seek further public comment on the matter, a process that will almost certainly stretch beyond the end of Mr. Bush’s term.
The urgent problem of global warming demands urgent action. And the Supreme Court surely expected a speedier response when — 15 months ago — it ordered the E.P.A. to determine whether greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles (and, by extension, other sources) endangers human welfare and, if so, to issue regulations to limit emissions.
Mr. Bush initially promised to comply, and last December, a task force of agency scientists concluded that emissions do indeed endanger public welfare, that the E.P.A. is required to issue regulations, and that while remedial action could cost industry billions of dollars, the public welfare and the economy as a whole will benefit.
The agency sent its findings to the White House. The details of what happened next are not clear. But investigations by Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Edward Markey have established that the White House, prodded by Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, decided to ignore the findings — refusing at first to even open the e-mail containing them and then asking Mr. Johnson to devise another response that would relieve the administration of taking prompt action.
Along the way, the administration engaged in what Senator Boxer has aptly called a “master plan” to ensure that the E.P.A.’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision would be as weak as possible.
This campaign of obfuscation and intimidation included doctoring Congressional testimony on the health effects of climate change; ordering the E.P.A. to recompute its numbers to minimize the economic benefits of curbing carbon dioxide; and promoting the fiction that the modest fuel-economy improvements in last year’s energy bill would solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.
All this is unfortunate but not surprising. Mr. Bush spent years denying there was a climate change problem. And while he no longer denies the science, he still insists on putting the concerns of industry over the needs of the planet.
We were skeptical last week when Mr. Bush joined other world leaders in a pledge to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century. We worried that without nearer-term targets there would be too little pressure on governments to act. Now we have no doubt that he was merely posturing. The next president, armed with the E.P.A.’s findings, can and must do better.
*Posturing and Abdication
The Bush administration made clear on Friday that it will do virtually nothing to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. With no shame and no apology, it stuck a thumb in the eye of the Supreme Court, repudiated its own scientists and exposed the hollowness of Mr. Bush’s claims to have seen the light on climate change.
That is the import of an announcement by Stephen Johnson, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, that the E.P.A. will continue to delay a decision on whether global warming threatens human health and welfare and requires regulations to address it. Mr. Johnson said his agency would seek further public comment on the matter, a process that will almost certainly stretch beyond the end of Mr. Bush’s term.
The urgent problem of global warming demands urgent action. And the Supreme Court surely expected a speedier response when — 15 months ago — it ordered the E.P.A. to determine whether greenhouse gas pollution from vehicles (and, by extension, other sources) endangers human welfare and, if so, to issue regulations to limit emissions.
Mr. Bush initially promised to comply, and last December, a task force of agency scientists concluded that emissions do indeed endanger public welfare, that the E.P.A. is required to issue regulations, and that while remedial action could cost industry billions of dollars, the public welfare and the economy as a whole will benefit.
The agency sent its findings to the White House. The details of what happened next are not clear. But investigations by Senator Barbara Boxer and Representative Edward Markey have established that the White House, prodded by Vice President Dick Cheney’s office, decided to ignore the findings — refusing at first to even open the e-mail containing them and then asking Mr. Johnson to devise another response that would relieve the administration of taking prompt action.
Along the way, the administration engaged in what Senator Boxer has aptly called a “master plan” to ensure that the E.P.A.’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision would be as weak as possible.
This campaign of obfuscation and intimidation included doctoring Congressional testimony on the health effects of climate change; ordering the E.P.A. to recompute its numbers to minimize the economic benefits of curbing carbon dioxide; and promoting the fiction that the modest fuel-economy improvements in last year’s energy bill would solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions from automobiles.
All this is unfortunate but not surprising. Mr. Bush spent years denying there was a climate change problem. And while he no longer denies the science, he still insists on putting the concerns of industry over the needs of the planet.
We were skeptical last week when Mr. Bush joined other world leaders in a pledge to halve global greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century. We worried that without nearer-term targets there would be too little pressure on governments to act. Now we have no doubt that he was merely posturing. The next president, armed with the E.P.A.’s findings, can and must do better.
