- What if we’re not broke?
GOP (Republican Party) the 'Party of Science Deniers'
By Andrew Restuccia
Published 03/07/11 on The Hill
The Republican Party is the "party of science deniers," a top House Democrat said Monday.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), an ardent proponent of climate-change legislation, criticized Republicans for their attempts to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions during a speech at the Center for American Progress Monday.
"I’ve never been in a Congress where there was such an overwhelming disconnect between science and policy," Waxman, the former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said.
"Republicans in Congress have become the party of science deniers, and that is profoundly dangerous," he said.
Waxman lamented the growing divide between liberal Democrats and Republicans on climate change, accusing the GOP of ignoring the consensus among scientists that human activity is contributing to warming.
"The gulf between what science tells us and what the governing party in the House believes makes it difficult to find common ground," he said, adding later, "The Republican party is increasingly the anti-environment party."
Waxman’s comments come as Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are preparing to mark up legislation that would permanently eliminate EPA’s climate authority. The legislation, which was officially introduced last week in both the House and the Senate, has won the support of four Democrats.
Waxman acknowledged Monday that House Democrats can do little to stop Republicans, who now have a majority in the chamber, from passing such legislation.
"We will lose a vote in committee. We may even lose a vote on the House floor," he said.
But Waxman nonetheless offered three recommendations for a path forward.
First, lawmakers must work to protect the Obama administration’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Second, he called on policymakers to "educate the public" about the dangers of climate change. Third, he appealed to Republicans to work with Democrats to find a consensus on legislation to address the country’s energy and environmental problems.
"We want to work with them on other approaches," Waxman said, noting he’d be happy to start from scratch on energy legislation.
- [Wisconsin Republican Governor] Walker, of course, used the "we’re broke" rationale to justify his attack on public-worker collective bargaining rights. Yet the state’s supposedly "broke" status did not stop him from approving tax cuts before he began his war on unions and proposed all manner of budget cuts, including deep reductions in aid to public schools.
- "Today, we read reports that the Pentagon has begun pulling out of the Pech Valley, an area that had previously been considered 'vital' in the U.S. war in Afghanistan. The withdrawal comes with a tacit admission that we never should have been there in the first place. According to a military official quoted in The New York Times, ‘What we figured out is that people in the Pech really aren’t anti-U.S. or anti-anything; they just want to be left alone…our presence is what’s destabilizing this area.’
- "Human cheese is initially a pretty shocking concept to most people," she told the Daily News. "I understand the visceral reaction - drinking milk from a woman other than your mother is a pretty big taboo in many cultures.
- Simun analyzed people's reactions and questioned why they found it so distasteful.
"Why is cow or goat milk not disgusting? Vegans tend to get this pretty quickly," she said.
- Scientists think people who eat a lot of meat like lamb, roast beef and ham have a higher risk of bowel cancer. In 2005, a large European study found people who ate about 160 grams (5.6 ounces) of red meat a day bumped up their bowel cancer risk by one third compared to people who ate the least meat. On average, people have about a one in 19 chance of developing bowel cancer in their lifetime.
- Experts suspect that haem, the pigment which gives red meat its color, damages cells in the digestive system, which may lead to cancer. Cooking meat at high temperatures, like on a barbecue, may also produce cancer-causing chemicals.
- Roger Ailes wanted Judith Regan to keep quiet about affair with man shortlisted to head US homeland security department...
- Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.
- Many mainstream media outlets have profited greatly from reporting on WikiLeaks’ scoops. But this hasn’t stopped them from publishing a series of smear pieces against Assange and WikiLeaks.Media coverage about WikiLeaks has become awash with tabloid-style hit pieces and tell-all books. The real news, WikiLeak’s exposure of US "diplomacy", has often been sidelined.
- It shouldn't be much of a surprise that State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley has resigned his post in wake of his too-candid assessment of the incarceration conditions of suspected Wikileaker Private First Class Bradley Manning.
- Last Thursday, Crowley told a panel at MIT that the Pentagon's treatment of Manning at the Marine bring at Quantico, Va., was "ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid."
The very next day, President Obama told reporters that he felt Manning's confinement conditions were "appropriate."
- So, in Barack Obama's administration, it's perfectly acceptable to abuse an American citizen in detention who has been convicted of nothing by consigning him to 23-hour-a-day solitary confinement, barring him from exercising in his cell, punitively imposing "suicide watch" restrictions on him against the recommendations of brig psychiatrists, and subjecting him to prolonged, forced nudity designed to humiliate and degrade. But speaking out against that abuse is a firing offense. Good to know.
- This is becoming rather comical. The Republican Noise Machine has ginned up a nasty crusade to undermine public radio and get it defunded, but oops! they forgot to form a coherent reason for why the venerable news institution deserves to be undercut.
- The Christianizing of the armed forces, Weinstein believes, has implications for national security as well as for civil rights. In addition to ingrained anti-Semitism, his work reveals a simmering Islamophobia in the ranks that, when flushed to the surface by media exposure, has been leveraged by jihadi groups overseas for propaganda purposes.
- As [Republican] Representative Peter King begins his [McCarthy-like witch] hunt for Islamic radicals in our midst, including infiltrators of the US government and military, I hope that part of his inquiry focuses on those who really advocate Sharia law in the United States. I have a suggestion for a witness for that panel: Joseph Schmitz, the former inspector general of the Department of Defense. Schmitz was among a group of conservative activists and former senior CIA and military officials, led by Lt. Gen. William "Jerry" Boykin and Lt. Gen. Edward Soyster, who last September issued a report: "Shariah: The Threat to America."....So, why should Schmitz be called to testify on this? Because Schmitz himself has advocated for the United States to recognize Sharia law.
- Protesters who marched at the home of Wisconsin state senator Randy Hopper (R-Fond du Lac) were met with something of a surprise on Saturday. Mrs. Hopper appeared at the door and informed them that Sen. Hopper was no longer in residence at this address, but now lives in Madison, WI with his 25-year-old mistress.Sen. Hopper has worked closely with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker to implement the state's new anti-labor laws and enact policies favorable to the interests of big business.
Mrs. Hopper intends to sign the recall petition against her husband. The petition has already been signed by the family's maid.
- Let’s take a look at which nuclear power plants sit in the seismically active areas of the United States...
- Today (Feb 26), as we celebrate Johnny Cash’s birthday today (he would have been 79), many will focus on Cash as a brash balladeer and rebel. A truer portrait of the music star, however, would extol Cash as an engaged citizen and artist concerned about the human condition.
GOP (Republican Party) the 'Party of Science Deniers'
By Andrew Restuccia
Published 03/07/11 on The Hill
The Republican Party is the "party of science deniers," a top House Democrat said Monday.
Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), an ardent proponent of climate-change legislation, criticized Republicans for their attempts to block the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gas emissions during a speech at the Center for American Progress Monday.
"I’ve never been in a Congress where there was such an overwhelming disconnect between science and policy," Waxman, the former chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said.
"Republicans in Congress have become the party of science deniers, and that is profoundly dangerous," he said.
Waxman lamented the growing divide between liberal Democrats and Republicans on climate change, accusing the GOP of ignoring the consensus among scientists that human activity is contributing to warming.
"The gulf between what science tells us and what the governing party in the House believes makes it difficult to find common ground," he said, adding later, "The Republican party is increasingly the anti-environment party."
Waxman’s comments come as Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are preparing to mark up legislation that would permanently eliminate EPA’s climate authority. The legislation, which was officially introduced last week in both the House and the Senate, has won the support of four Democrats.
Waxman acknowledged Monday that House Democrats can do little to stop Republicans, who now have a majority in the chamber, from passing such legislation.
"We will lose a vote in committee. We may even lose a vote on the House floor," he said.
But Waxman nonetheless offered three recommendations for a path forward.
First, lawmakers must work to protect the Obama administration’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Second, he called on policymakers to "educate the public" about the dangers of climate change. Third, he appealed to Republicans to work with Democrats to find a consensus on legislation to address the country’s energy and environmental problems.
"We want to work with them on other approaches," Waxman said, noting he’d be happy to start from scratch on energy legislation.
Sean
