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These are some shots of my niece, Heather Brooks, and her partner Mike Rogers. They are popular and talented musicians who perform in the Ft. Myers, FL area.
To understand the Afghan War, one basic point must be grasped: In poor nations with weak state services, agriculture is the foundation for all politics, binding villagers to the government or warlords or rebels. The ultimate aim of counterinsurgency strategy is always to establish the state’s authority. When the economy is illicit and by definition beyond government control, this task becomes monumental. If the insurgents capture that illicit economy, as the Taliban have done, then the task becomes little short of insurmountable.
Opium is an illegal drug, but Afghanistan’s poppy crop is still grounded in networks of social trust that tie people together at each step in the chain of production. Crop loans are necessary for planting, labor exchange for harvesting, stability for marketing, and security for shipment. So dominant and problematic is the opium economy in Afghanistan today that a question Washington has avoided for the past nine years must be asked: Can anyone pacify a full-blown narco-state?
The answer to this critical question lies in the history of the three Afghan wars in which Washington has been involved over the past 30 years — the CIA covert warfare of the 1980s, the civil war of the 1990s (fueled at its start by $900 million in CIA funding), and since 2001, the U.S. invasion, occupation and counterinsurgency campaigns. In each of these conflicts, Washington has tolerated drug trafficking by its Afghan allies as the price of military success — a policy of benign neglect that has helped make Afghanistan today the world’s No. 1 narco-state….More…
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…Although the carbon dioxide-laden atmosphere allowed sunlight to pass through, when the solar rays hit the surface of Venus and changed into heat waves, they could not escape the carbon dioxide cover. So the heat had nowhere to go and accumulated at the surface, where temperatures exceed 800 degrees Fahrenheit.Earth has as much carbon dioxide as Venus. But instead of the gas blanketing the sky as happened on Venus, much of the carbon dioxide on Earth has been locked up inside and on the surface. This has made all the difference in the story of the two planets — one, a heaven bountiful with life, the other a hellish place where nothing animate as we understand it can survive….
Trees Helped Make this Planet Heaven on Earth
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What Pope Benedict Must Do — Politics Daily
Ironically, for all the bad press he is getting, Benedict has done more to confront the abuse crisis than anyone else in the Vatican. But he must choose between governing and upholding his theological vision as a moral absolutist. As many a president and prime minister has learned, the shift from an ideological stance to a pragmatic one can be laden with risk.The root crisis lies in the church’s view of apostolic succession. The pope and bishops consider themselves descendants in a spiritual lineage from Jesus’s apostles. Apostolic succession is as much a part of Catholicism as icons and stained glass windows. But Judas was also an apostle — a reminder that all humans, regardless of proximity to the Word, are capable of betraying the faith. Apostolic succession has fallen victim to hubris, the pride and entitlement of a religious elite who consider apology or penance a substitute for human justice….
Empire State Building Gets Energy Efficient Makeover, Window by Window – AOL News
“No one in the world has done anything like what we’re doing,” Kevin Surace, CEO of Serious Materials, which is outfitting the windows, told AOL News. “This is a groundbreaking energy retrofit.”
How to build an eco-village in five easy steps
Ever wanted to live in a truly green town, full of energy-efficient homes and people working together for the environment? Then follow the lead of Craik, Sask., and start up an eco-village.
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Fatty foods may cause cocaine-like addiction – CNN.com
A new study in rats suggests that high-fat, high-calorie foods affect the brain in much the same way as cocaine and heroin. When rats consume these foods in great enough quantities, it leads to compulsive eating habits that resemble drug addiction, the study found.
Measure to legalize marijuana will be on California’s November ballot – latimes.com
An initiative to legalize marijuana and allow it to be sold and taxed will appear on the November ballot, state election officials announced Wednesday, triggering what will probably be a much-watched campaign that once again puts California on the forefront of the nation’s debate over whether to soften drug laws.
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The weird world of food obsessives – Slide Shows – Salon.com
For anyone with an unfulfilled dream of holding a world record, Ken Bannister is offering the deal of a lifetime.
Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal reported that the Hesperia Recreation and Park District is evicting Bannister’s International Banana Club and Museum after housing the museum, rent-free, since 2005. Bannister is the founder, curator and self-proclaimed “top banana” of the museum, and holds the Guinness Book of World Records title for the “world’s largest collection devoted to any one fruit.” Now he’s put his entire collection of more than 17,000 banana-themed curios for sale on eBay.
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