Solar, conservation tips, KyotoPlus, drugs, climate, aspartame

[angela bischoff]

Greenspiration News

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What is compassion? It is not simply a sense of sympathy or caring for the
person suffering, not simply a warmth of heart toward the person before
you, or a sharp clarity of recognition of their needs and pain, it is also
a sustained and practical determination to do whatever is possible and
necessary to help alleviate their suffering.

---Sogyal Rinpoche

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Solar future brightens as oil soars
The Guardian, June 16

Solar photovoltaics (PV), which convert sunlight into electrical power,
have long been dismissed as too expensive to make a meaningful
contribution to the battle against climate change. But costs are falling
as PV production booms, and with electricity prices rising rapidly in line
with soaring oil and gas prices, demand for solar panels is increasing
sharply.

"The great thing about solar power is that although you have an upfront
cost, the fuel is free and is not controlled by another country," he said.
PV costs were falling rapidly and would continue to do so as the
efficiency of panels improved and installation costs dropped, Stokes said.
Moreover, the price of silicon - which can be 70% of panel costs - is also
likely to fall as new production comes onstream.

40% The expected increase in Germany's solar power market this year

30% The predicted fall in the cost of PV panels over the next four years

Full article here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jun/16/renewableenergy.energy?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

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An Environmental Victory for Grassy Narrows First Nation!

Last week, the Grassy Narrows First Nation in Ontario won a decades-long
battle to end logging on their traditional lands when forest-products
giant AbitibiBowater announced its decision to stop logging in the area.
Several environmental groups campaigning in support of Grassy Narrows
noted how this victory underlines the importance of protecting the Boreal
Forest and the rights of aboriginal communities across Canada.

http://freegrassy.org/media_center/news_article/?uid=4764

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The ABOUT YOUR HOUSE fact sheets are intended to assist home owners in
taking appropriate measures to address existing problems in their house or
to make informed decisions about changes or upgrades they may be planning.
- Measuring humidity in your home
- insulation
- combustion gases
- attic venting
- fighting mold
and much much more.

By Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation

<http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/co_001.cfm>http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/co_001.cfm

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House passes Kyotoplus bill

The Canadian House of Commons passed the Climate Change Accountability Act
last Wednesday. The bill, moved by NDP leader Jack Layton and supported by
the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois, commits the country to reducing its
greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 1990 levels by 2050. It sets
an interim target of 25 per cent reductions by 2020 and requires progress
reports from the government every five years.

Read the story:

<http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/437244>http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/437244

House of Commons adopts Layton's Kyoto Plus bill:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55uB6kyElUM>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55uB6kyElUM

Climate Action Network Canada news release:
http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2008/bill-c377-2008-06-05.html

With the passage of NDP Leader Jack Layton’s private member’s bill, The
Climate Change Accountability Act (Bill C-377), Canada’s House of Commons
has become the first elected chamber in the world to adopt science-based
targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent, from 1990
levels, by 2050.

http://www.ndp.ca/page/6487?refer=subtext

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New York Times, June 14, 2008

Legal Drugs Kill Far More Than Illegal Drugs

An analysis of autopsies in 2007 released this week by the Florida Medical
Examiners Commission found that the rate of deaths caused by prescription
drugs was three times the rate of deaths caused by all illicit drugs
combined.

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?ref=us>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/14/us/14florida.html?ref=us

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US Congressman Dennis Kucinich Moves to Impeach Bush

Written by Belfast Telegraph   
Wednesday, 11 June

Former Democratic presidential contender, Dennis Kucinich, has called for
the impeachment of George W Bush claiming that the president set out to
deceive the nation, and violated his oath of office with the Iraq war.
The Ohio representative yesterday introduced 35 articles of impeachment
against Bush on the floor of the US House of Representatives. <snip>

http://activistmagazine.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=894&Itemid=143

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Canadian Labour Congress passes climate change, green jobs and tar sands
resolutions

The Canadian Labour Congress devoted two sessions to climate change at its
recent convention in Toronto, and unanimously passed a resolution on
climate change and green jobs. The resolution supports emissions
reductions of 25-40% by 2020 and 50-85% by 2050, as recommended by the
IPCC. The group also passed a resolution on the tar sands, proposing a
moratorium on future tar sands projects.

CLC paper: Climate Change and Green Jobs: Labour's Challenges and
Opportunities :
<http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/climatechangeEn.pdf>http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/climatechangeEn.pdf

See Resolutions 11 and 12:
<http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/CountryCommitteeReportEn.pdf>http://canadianlabour.ca/updir/CountryCommitteeReportEn.pdf

Watch the discussion:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdCbCvoEyjU>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdCbCvoEyjU

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Ontario and Quebec to establish interprovincial cap-and-trade system

Ontario and Quebec signed an agreement last Monday to establish a
market-based emissions credit trading system, which could be operating as
early as 2010. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty called the initiative the
first step toward a national cap-and-trade system, which he predicts the
United States will soon introduce, putting pressure on Harper to abandon
his intensity-based plan for greenhouse gas reductions. Monday’s meeting
between Ontario and Quebec, which represent Canada’s two largest economies
and together are home to almost two thirds of all Canadians, also produced
an agreement to work on clean energy initiatives and on increasing energy
efficiency and conservation.

Interprovincial cap-and-trade plan could be working by 2010:

<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080603.wcarbon03/BNStory/National/homeCanada>http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080603.wcarbon03/BNStory/National/homeCanada

McGuinty, Charest team up on feds:

<http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/435881>http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/435881

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Canada takes top spot as Fossil of the Week

On Monday, June 9 in Bonn, the Climate Action Network awarded three
“Fossil of the Week” awards to countries that were the most active in
attempting to undermine the United Nations negotiations to save the world
from dangerous climate change being held in Bonn, Germany. These awards
recognized key disruptive actions taken during the first week of
negotiations. Canada came first, Japan second, and Australia third.

See the write-up from the Climate Action Network:
<http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2008/bonn-fow-2008-06-10.html>http://www.climateactionnetwork.ca/e/news/2008/bonn-fow-2008-06-10.html

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How the wrong drugs could be causing your depression

Daily Mail, June 9, 2008


Feeling worn out? Having trouble getting out of bed each day? Finding it
hard deciding what to do with your time? Turn up at your GP's surgery with
these symptoms and the chances are you will be diagnosed with depression.

Two million people in Britain are taking antidepressants, yet according to
a new book, many of these people aren't mentally ill at all but have been
misdiagnosed. <snip>

<http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025318/How-wrong-drugs-causing-depression.html?printingPage=true>http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1025318/How-wrong-drugs-causing-depression.html?printingPage=true

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JUNE 12, 2008
NDP MP TAKES STRONG STAND AGAINST UNETHICAL WEAPONS
BC Southern Interior MP tabled a motion on abolishing depleted uranium arms

NDP MP Alex Atamanenko (BC Southern Interior)  tabled a motion (M-509) on
Wednesday calling on the government to take a leading role in helping to
abolish the use of depleted uranium (DU) in armaments and munitions. The
motion also calls for the government to cease the deployment of our
military and civilian personnel in regions where these weapons have been
or will be used.
http://peaceinspace.blogs.com/nuclear_free_zone/2008/06/post.html

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<http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/06/08/dark-history-of-aspartame/>http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/06/08/dark-history-of-aspartame/
Dark history of aspartame

June 8th, 2008
By: D. H. Williams

Brain cancer in a can or as one singer song writer calls it, Stoopid juice.

Drinking a lot of diet soft drinks lately? Not feeling so well,
experiencing headaches, migraines, dizziness, unsteadiness,
confusion or memory loss. Concerned about brain tumors, brain
lesions and lymphoma? If so you may want to check your favorite soft
drink for aspartame, an artificial, non-saccharide sweetener.

Marketed under the trade names; Equal, NutraSweel, Tropicana Slim
and Canderel it is used as an ingredient in approximately 6,000
consumer goods. Most commonly used in soft drinks it is also in
chewable vitamin supplements and sugar-free chewing gums.

In 1995, FDA Epidemiology Branch Chief Thomas Wilcox reported that
aspartame complaints represented 75% of all reports of adverse
reactions to substances in the food supply from 1981 to 1995.

Concerns about aspartame frequently revolve around symptoms and
health conditions that are allegedly caused by the sweetener. A
total of 92 different symptoms and health conditions were reported
by physicians and consumers.

A brief history of this substance begins with a 1980 FDA Board of
Inquiry confirming that aspartame "might induce brain tumors." The
FDA actually banned aspartame based on this finding but fortunately
for Monsanto which purchased the patent in 1985, then Searle
Chairman Donald Rumsfeld ( Yes the former Sec. Def.) vowed to "call
in his markers," to get it approved. The FDA panel upheld the ban in
a 3 - 2 decision, but FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr.
appointed a sixth person to the panel creating a deadlock, Hull then
stepped in to break the tie in favor of approval. Hull was later
rewarded by Monsanto with a contract to perform duties as chief
public relations. Hull has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

Still thirsting for that diet drink?

You may want to listen to this original song by CC Williams, Stoopid Juice.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CCulRHssg>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0CCulRHssg
<http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/06/08/dark-history-of-aspartame/>http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/06/08/dark-history-of-aspartame/
More information on aspartame on <http://www.mpwhi.com/>www.mpwhi.com,
<http://www.dorway.com/>www.dorway.com, and
<http://www.wnho.net/>www.wnho.net Aspartame Toxicity Center,
<http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame>www.holisticmed.com/aspartame 
Aspartame Information List,
<http://www.mpwhi.com/>www.mpwhi.com scroll down to banners.
Aspartame Documentary:  Sweet Misery:  A Poisoned World,
<http://www.soundandfury.tv/>www.soundandfury.tv
Aspartame Disease: An Ignored Epidemic, H. J. Roberts, M.D.,
<http://www.sunsentpress.com/>www.sunsentpress.com
Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, Russell Blaylock, M.D.,
<http://www.russellblaylockmd.com/>www.russellblaylockmd.com  

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