We may have lost the battle for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in the House last Thursday, but there's no question we are winning the war. The House voted 225-201 on H.R. 5429 to open the Arctic Refuge to oil drilling. But here's the real news: 30 Republicans voted to save the Arctic! And so did a handful of Democrats who voted for Arctic drilling in the past. So even though 27 Democrats voted with the oil industry, we still tallied the largest number of votes against Arctic drilling in recent years.

To see how your representative voted go to: http://www.nrdcactionfund.org/arcticphotos/arcticvote.asp

Bottom line: even in the face of rising gas prices, more and more members of Congress are tiring of the same old drilling scheme that benefits only the oil companies and does nothing to lower gas prices or solve our long-term energy problems.

Make no mistake: House leaders know full well that this bill is highly unlikely to pass the Senate, where members from both parties have blocked Arctic drilling in the past. The only reason they rushed this bill to a vote was to give the appearance of doing something -- anything -- about rising gas prices.But the American people are no longer fooled by empty political stunts -- and neither are a growing number of Representatives.

Thanks to thousands of phone calls last week from online activists like you, the tide is turning our way even in the House of Representatives, where Big Oil has tremendous clout. This vote was meant to be an overwhelming show of support for the drill-it-all solution to America's energy problems. Instead, it revealed the ever-shrinking base of support for Big Oil's agenda.

Congress is finally getting the message: it had better start finding real ways to end our nation's addiction to oil -- or they will be held accountable back home. Thank you again for doing your part to save America's greatest sanctuary for Arctic wildlife.

	Wolf Shooting Ban Petition Certified On October 30, a petition sponsored by Alaskans for Wildlife--a panel of prominent Alaskans-- was certified by Lieutenant Governor Loren Leman. This action may allow Alaskans to once again vote on the issue of public aerial shooting of wolves and grizzly bears on next year’s ballot. Alaskan residents voted twice to ban public aerial wolf gunning; however, the state legislature overruled the ban in 2003 and reinstated the practice. Alaskans for Wildlife must now obtain 31,000 signatures in order for this initiative to be included on the November 2006 ballot. Adoption of this measure would limit aerial shooting to Department of Fish and Game personnel, and only then in cases of biological emergencies. To date, 423 wolves have been gunned down by shooters in aircraft. June 2005 Defenders of Wildlife The second season of aerial wolf gunning in Alaska ended this past spring. All told, 276 wolves were gunned down by shooters in aircraft in an effort to artificially boost moose and caribou populations for sport hunters. The Alaska Board of Game plans to allow aerial hunters to kill hundreds more wolves starting late fall, but thanks in part to Defenders' efforts, aerial wolf gunning will not be allowed on national park and national wildlife refuge lands in the state. The board also approved the baiting and killing of 80 grizzly bears along the Canadian border. ALASKA AERIAL WOLF KILL TOLL SURPASSES 200 Hundreds More Wolves Targeted as Aerial Killing Programs Continue March 4, 2005 Anchorage, AK – The death toll from Alaska’s aerial wolf killing program has reached at least 210, with hundreds more scheduled for elimination by April 30. Wolves are being shot directly from airplanes or being chased to exhaustion by aerial gunning teams, who then land and shoot the wolves point blank. The citizens of Alaska have twice voted in statewide measures (1996 and 2000) to ban the aerial killing of wolves. Nonetheless, Governor Murkowski signed a bill two years ago overturning the most recent ban. “It’s deplorable that Governor Murkowski continues to back the extermination of wolves in key areas across the state even though his so-called predator control programs lack scientifically-based standards and guidelines to monitor the program,” stated Karen Deatherage, Alaska Associate for Defenders of Wildlife. “Lower 48 and urban trophy hunters are clearly the only beneficiaries of the governor’s ill-advised policy.” So far, over a hundred aerial gunning teams have obtained permits from the state to kill wolves in five relatively wild and pristine areas of interior Alaska. Plans call for up to 610 wolves to be killed in these areas by late spring. The programs are expected to last for four to five years. Eighty grizzly bears, including sows and cubs, could also be killed this spring as part of the program. “These programs are the equivalent of short-sighted clear-cutting programs in our National Forests, only this time its wolves and bears instead of trees, in one of the few places in America where these animals still exist in natural, sustainable numbers,” says Deatherage. The objective of this year’s program is to kill 80-100 percent of the wolves in a 50,000 square mile area in an attempt to boost moose populations for hunters, despite the fact that insufficient data has been gathered on the number of wolves and moose in this area. Aerial gunners can kill males, females and even wolf pups as part of the program. Update on Alaska - 1/2005 The state of Alaska is in the tenth week of its aerial wolf gunning program and already 71 of the 610 wolves targeted this winter have been killed. According to Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulation 5AAC 92.125, seven aerial wolf killing programs have been approved with a goal to kill between 1,200 and 1,400 wolves. Permits have been issued to aerial gunning team to kill 610 of these wolves this winter. Recently, 16 more permits have been issued for a fifth area along the Canadian border near Tok, Alaska. There is a scientifically significant group of wolves in this area, which as a result of years of intense study and research using aircraft, are particularly vulnerable to aerial gunners. Though this group of wolves spends a majority of their time on the federally protected Yukon Charley Preserve, they leave the preserve in winter to follow the caribou herd, making them easy targets for aerial gunners. Terrible news from Alaska - 11/2004 Wittness Wolves being Slaughtered by Aerial Gunners The anti-conservation Board of Game has just voted to allow up to 900 wolves to be killed by the barbaric practice of aerial gunning. This is six times as many as were killed last winter. Easy targets against fallen snow, wolves can be gunned down from airplanes or chased to exhaustion, then shot at point blank range. Alaska Game Board Targets Grizzlies, More Wolves - 11/2004 In order to artificially boost numbers of moose and caribou for sport hunters, the Alaska Board of Game recently approved plans to kill 80 grizzly bears by allowing hunters to bait the bears with human food. Hunting grizzlies by baiting is currently illegal in Alaska. The Department of Fish and Game may also provide a "bounty" to grizzly bear hunters in this area, pending legislative approval this winter. In addition, the board approved expanding land-and-shoot wolf killing for two additional areas, where up to 400 wolves will be killed by aerial gunning teams. All six of Alaska's aerial wolf killing programs will target nearly 900 wolves this season. These deaths, coupled with legal hunting and trapping, will result in approximately 2,500 wolves, or one-third of the Alaska's total estimated wolf population, being killed this winter. Although the Board of Game attempted to include federal lands such as Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge in the wolf killing plan, efforts by Defenders and others helped ensure that these areas were excluded. For more information about wolves in Alaska, please visit http://www.defenders.org/wildlife/wolf/alaska.html. To take action, visit http://www.savealaskawolves.org/ Since January 2003, bloody paw tracks have spread across Alaska after Gov. Murkowski reinstated the state-sponsored aerial wolf "control" scheme. As many as 147 wolves in 2003 were chased down and shot or shotgunned from planes in Alaska. The wolf killing is in response to hunting groups wanting to up the Moose population. Murkowski being in the pockets of the hunting lobby, especially out of state hunters, he approved the aerial assisted killing which has not been used since the late 1980s. Alaskans voted in 1996 and again in 2000 to end all related same-day use of airplanes for public wolf hunting and trapping. In 2003 only 14% of Alaskans held hunting or trapping license. During this state-sponsored killing, the state issues permits to selected private pilots and their passengers who will then shotgun the wolves from the air after tracking them down in small, fixed-wing airplanes and helicopters. In some cases the aircraft will not be able to land to retrieve dead wolves and put dying wolves out of their misery. This will continue for at least 2-3 winters, to kill additional wolves as they enter the area. After this formal control effort ends, the state will continue indefinitely with de facto control, to be carried out by private ground trappers and hunters. I hate to show this site but in hopes that it will give you more information about what is happening to the wolves, I am listing this site. This will show you what happens and will demonstrate what the real truth is about predator control. The pictures are very disturbing - Wolf Hunting (this site use to have a page about wolf hunting with photos - he recently took it down. Maybe all the publicity and emails got to him. He does show a white wolf murdered by someone named Paul from Florida. Keep writing!). Also, look at all the bears killed. Look at the prices, you get free wolf kills and the tags are a third less than all the rest. And while you are there, let him know what you think about his wolf hunting. Petition signing is a great way to go but it just doesn't get the attention that a boycott of tourism will mean to Alaska. A boycott of Alaska will put the screws to the administration of Murkowski who is responsible for the wolf murder program. We need to send Murkowski letters, emails, faxes stating that we want be visiting Alaska until the wolf eradication program is stopped. The wolf "control program" ends April 30th for this season (just in time for the tourist season) but will start again in August. So far, 147 wolves have been killed. This summer is the time to let Markowski know that we can affect the tourist dollars spent in his state. It is time to boycott tourist agencies, to tell people not to go to Alaska, to let Alaskan tour operators know that you won't come until the killing stops. We can make an impact and try to get this stopped before the season starts again in August but now is the time. A number of web sites have been setup with petitions, and email addresses. Wolf Howl-Ins have taken place in many cities accross the U.S. as well as worldwide. Postcards are available to send in your comments. Advertisments are showing up in the New York Times and other papers. It is important that we act in any way we can to let the Governor know that we will not stand for the slaughter of wolves. Let your friends know - tell them not to go to Alaska until the shooting stops. Below are some of the sites with information online that y Thank you, Henry Patton paws@laughingwolf.com ou can go to and respond! I am not endorsing any of these sites, just passing on the information. If we work hard, we can stop the slaughter. Thank you, Henry Patton paws@laughingwolf.com				Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907.269.7460 Fax: 269.0263 Email: ltgovernor@ltgov.state.ak.us Alaska Game Board Email: wolfcomments@fishgame.state.ak.us Other People to Contact about Boycott Tell them you are not coming to Alaska until the killing stops! info@alaskatours.com editor@alaska.com Cruise Holidays reservations@alaska-wildland.com Robin Feder at Pricess Cruises Alaska Travel Industry Association Alaska Chamber of Commerce Commisioner of Fish and Game - Kevin C. Duffy Deputy Comm. of Wildlife - Wayne Regelin Comments at Wildlife Jim Marcotte - Acting Executive Director of Board of Game Web Sites: Help Save Alaska's Wolves Additional Information on Wolves Speak Up for Wolves Defenders of Wildlife Friends of Animals The Sanctum, Inc. The Petition Site What Aerial Hunting Looks Like Stop Aerial Slaughter Some photos of wolve hunters and their murders!

Amid a flurry of new data showing a dramatic increase in the water temperatures in the north Atlantic ocean, forecasters Monday said something of a perfect storm is developing, and raised the specter that a major hurricane will threaten New England this summer.

"The chances of a hurricane hitting the East Coast are exceptionally high," said Ken Reeves, the director of forecast operations at AccuWeather in State College, Pa.

Conditions are prime for a major tropical system to race up the Eastern Seaboard, maintaining its strength when it encounters the warm waters off the Middle Atlantic coast, he said. A buoy 200 miles off the New Jersey coast recorded a water temperature of 70 degrees in mid-April. It's typically 42 degrees at that time.

"It's only a matter of time before a major landfall happens in New England," Reeves said. "It could be this year."

Though Hurricane Gloria was the last storm to directly hit the region when it struck Connecticut as a robust Category 2 storm in September 1985, "The Long Island Express" storm in 1938 devastated Danbury with flooding and wind damage

Experts warn of New England hurricane

By Emerson Clarridge NEWS-TIMES CORRESPONDENT Amid a flurry of new data showing a dramatic increase in the water temperatures in the north Atlantic ocean, forecasters Monday said something of a perfect storm is developing, and raised the specter that a major hurricane will threaten New England this summer.

"The chances of a hurricane hitting the East Coast are exceptionally high," said Ken Reeves, the director of forecast operations at AccuWeather in State College, Pa.

Conditions are prime for a major tropical system to race up the Eastern Seaboard, maintaining its strength when it encounters the warm waters off the Middle Atlantic coast, he said. A buoy 200 miles off the New Jersey coast recorded a water temperature of 70 degrees in mid-April. It's typically 42 degrees at that time.

"It's only a matter of time before a major landfall happens in New England," Reeves said. "It could be this year."

Though Hurricane Gloria was the last storm to directly hit the region when it struck Connecticut as a robust Category 2 storm in September 1985, "The Long Island Express" storm in 1938 devastated Danbury with flooding and wind damage.

A group of longtime residents discussed memories of the great storm Monday at the Danbury Senior Center.

Granville Varian, 90, was working at Mallory's hat shop on Rose Street when the storm hit. He drove his Oldsmobile to Main Street to pick up his wife.

"I had to drive up on the sidewalk to get her," Varian said. "The roads were all dirt and they all washed out."

It took the couple an hour and half to make the trip to their house on Middle River Road, where he still lives. The trip usually takes 15 minutes.

The factory where Varian worked flooded and closed for a week.

C. Rodney Dow was working with his brother picking apples at a farm in Milford, Mass., when the great storm struck.

"Chickens were flying through the air," said Dow, 86, of Danbury. The squawking foul were not the only objects floating through the sky. Buildings also were uplifted by fierce winds, he said.

The Northeast ranks behind only the Carolinas as the region that it is most likely to be hit this year, forecasters said.

The heightened risk for Connecticut begins with the peak of the season in mid-August and will last until early October, Reeves said.

The outlook for Connecticut came as the National Weather Service predicted there would be fewer named tropical systems this year than last.

An above-normal tropical storm season could produce between four and six major hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico this year, but conditions don't appear ripe for a repeat of 2005's record activity, the National Hurricane Center predicted Monday.

There will be up to 16 named storms, the center predicted, which would be significantly less than last year's record 28. Still, people in coastal regions should prepare for the possibility of major storms, said Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center.

"One hurricane hitting where you live is enough to make it a bad season," Mayfield said.

Should a storm hit Danbury, residents can expect to contend with rain and high winds. The storm surge would impact residents along the coast.

Emergency operations officials plan to conduct a drill next month in Hartford, where they will simulate the response to a category 3 storm.

Connecticut emergency management officials said they recently updated the state's storm evacuation plan.

AccuWeather's prediction that a major storm would likely hit New England this year drew criticism Monday from experts who said that it is difficult, if not impossible, to predict where a hurricane will strike.

"Will this year be the one? No one really knows," said Bill Jacquemin, a meteorologist at the Connecticut Weather Center in Danbury.

Reeves defended his forecast, saying critics "over-rely on computer models." He and his team look at patterns that indicate where a storm might hit, and they correctly predicted that the Gulf Coast would be a focus of activity last year, he said.

"There is no mystery about them."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

MIAMI - The 2006 Atlantic hurricane season will be very active with up to 10 hurricanes, although not as busy as record-breaking 2005, when Hurricane Katrina and several other monster storms slammed into the United States, the U.S. government's top climate agency said on Monday.

“NOAA is predicting 13 to 16 named storms, with eight to 10 becoming hurricanes, of which four to six could become 'major' hurricanes of Category 3 strength or higher,” said Conrad Lautenbacher, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The most damage is caused by storms that reach Category 3, with winds of 111-130 mph, or higher on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane activity

Katrina's real name

By Ross Gelbspan | August 30, 2005

THE HURRICANE that struck Louisiana yesterday was nicknamed Katrina by the National Weather Service. Its real name is global warming.

When the year began with a two-foot snowfall in Los Angeles, the cause was global warming.

When 124-mile-an-hour winds shut down nuclear plants in Scandinavia and cut power to hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland and the United Kingdom, the driver was global warming.

When a severe drought in the Midwest dropped water levels in the Missouri River to their lowest on record earlier this summer, the reason was global warming.

In July, when the worst drought on record triggered wildfires in Spain and Portugal and left water levels in France at their lowest in 30 years, the explanation was global warming.

When a lethal heat wave in Arizona kept temperatures above 110 degrees and killed more than 20 people in one week, the culprit was global warming.

And when the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai) received 37 inches of rain in one day -- killing 1,000 people and disrupting the lives of 20 million others -- the villain was global warming.

As the atmosphere warms, it generates longer droughts, more-intense downpours, more-frequent heat waves, and more-severe storms.

Although Katrina began as a relatively small hurricane that glanced off south Florida, it was supercharged with extraordinary intensity by the relatively blistering sea surface temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico.

The consequences are as heartbreaking as they are terrifying.

Unfortunately, very few people in America know the real name of Hurricane Katrina because the coal and oil industries have spent millions of dollars to keep the public in doubt about the issue.

The reason is simple: To allow the climate to stabilize requires humanity to cut its use of coal and oil by 70 percent. That, of course, threatens the survival of one of the largest commercial enterprises in history.

In 1995, public utility hearings in Minnesota found that the coal industry had paid more than $1 million to four scientists who were public dissenters on global warming. And ExxonMobil has spent more than $13 million since 1998 on an anti-global warming public relations and lobbying campaign.

In 2000, big oil and big coal scored their biggest electoral victory yet when President George W. Bush was elected president -- and subsequently took suggestions from the industry for his climate and energy policies.

As the pace of climate change accelerates, many researchers fear we have already entered a period of irreversible runaway climate change.

Against this background, the ignorance of the American public about global warming stands out as an indictment of the US media.

When the US press has bothered to cover the subject of global warming, it has focused almost exclusively on its political and diplomatic aspects and not on what the warming is doing to our agriculture, water supplies, plant and animal life, public health, and weather.

For years, the fossil fuel industry has lobbied the media to accord the same weight to a handful of global warming skeptics that it accords the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- more than 2,000 scientists from 100 countries reporting to the United Nations.

Today, with the science having become even more robust -- and the impacts as visible as the megastorm that covered much of the Gulf of Mexico -- the press bears a share of the guilt for our self-induced destruction with the oil and coal industries.

As a Bostonian, I am afraid that the coming winter will -- like last winter -- be unusually short and devastatingly severe. At the beginning of 2005, a deadly ice storm knocked out power to thousands of people in New England and dropped a record-setting 42.2 inches of snow on Boston.

The conventional name of the month was January. Its real name is global warming.

Ross Gelbspan is author of ''The Heat Is On" and ''Boiling Point

U.S. Lags in Quake Warning
By Alicia ChangAssociated Pressposted: 29 May 200608:12 am ET

PASADENA, Calif. (AP)—The ground heaves, an earthquake is born. Underground sensors along fault lines detect rumblings humans can't and relay signals to a central computer. Precious seconds before anything is felt, wailing sirens blare that a big one is on its way.
That sliver of time could be used to warn people to flee from windows and take cover.

Companies such as gas and electric utilities could take actions to protect their systems. And speeding trains could have enough time to brake to a halt.
Such alert systems already exist in parts of Japan, Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey where the main users are businesses such as railway companies, power plants and manufacturers.

But that's not the case in the United States—except for a handful of schools, firehouses and airports that use commercially available, battery-powered seismic gadgets that warn a limited region.

This summer, the U.S. Geological Survey is cautiously taking another look at early warning, beginning with a three-year test to gauge how well three experimental systems around California would work in the real world.

Scientists will gather data without broadcasting alerts to residents or businesses. While a working system is still years and tens of millions of dollars away, many see the pilot project as a first step toward catching up with the rest of the world.

Many existing global networks sprang from killer quakes, and some scientists fear it would take a catastrophe to jolt the U.S. into action.

"If the capital of the United States were Los Angeles, we would have had an early warning system a long time ago,'' said Tom Heaton, professor of earthquake engineering at the California Institute of Technology and developer of one of the test systems.

It's not the first time the idea has surfaced in the United States. A decade ago, while Southern California was upgrading its seismic monitoring stations following the deadly 1994 Northridge quake, some scientists had high hopes the U.S. would develop its own system. But liability issues and fears of false alarms hampered progress. Finally, federal funding ran out.

Early warning systems can't predict quakes. Instead, a sprawling network of sensors near the epicenter estimates a temblor's size once the ground ruptures and sounds an alarm before shaking starts by exploiting the lag time it takes for different seismic waves to travel to the surface.

This is possible because shock waves coursing through the Earth move slower than electronic signals transmitted via a computer data network.

Weak tremors called primary, or P waves, spread from the epicenter and travel faster than the destructive shear, or S waves, which cause severe shaking. A warning is issued when the P wave signal passes a certain intensity, though there's debate about how much to read into the signals.

The amount of forewarning depends on the distance from the epicenter, so early warning won't work for areas directly above the ruptured fault, where the P and S waves are nearly simultaneous and shaking is the most intense. According to some estimates, communities radiating miles from the deadly San Andreas fault—which cuts through most of California and caused San Francisco's disastrous 1906 quake—could receive up to 60 seconds of warning.
Supporters say that gives communities a fighting chance to reduce injuries and damage. Skeptics contend seconds are hardly enough time to make a real difference and say there's no evidence that existing systems have saved significant lives.

"When people think of early warning, they think they'll get time to do something useful before shaking starts,'' said David Wald of the USGS National Earthquake Information Center in Colorado. "But in reality, you don't get a lot of time.''

Japan pioneered seismic early warning in the 1980s with a system that automatically halted its high-speed trains during major quakes. Mexico, Taiwan and Turkey followed, though their alert systems are much less complex.

Since 2004, Japan has been experimenting with an advanced system that warns a select group of 250 government agencies, businesses and schools. The government plans to expand the service this summer and eventually make it broadly available after educating the public about its limitations, said Makoto Saito of the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Early warning isn't foolproof: About 10 percent of the 245 warnings that the newest Japanese system sent between February 2004 and last August were false alarms.
Mexico's $2 million alert system, installed after the 1985 quake flattened much of Mexico City, was suspended twice during its inaugural year after a computer glitch failed to detect a major quake and a false alarm caused a subway stampede. Mexican officials tweaked the system so that an alert is sent only if there is confirmation from two seismic stations instead of just one.

The USGS project will test three experimental early warning systems—two developed by Caltech and one by the University of California, Berkeley. Initial funding will start at $250,000.

Scientists have tested the three computer algorithms using historical earthquake data to see how well they can accurately estimate a quake's magnitude, or how much energy is released. For example, the Berkeley model can correctly guess a quake's size from as little as four seconds of data.

The trick will be to see how well the models fare in real time.
The three models will be incorporated into existing seismic networks around Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, which monitor the hundreds of quakes that hit the state each year including those too small to be felt. The systems currently gather information about a quake's strength, location and intensity minutes after it occurs.

It'll be up to the experimental systems to sort incoming data and estimate a quake's size within seconds. Scientists will then compare the computer's guess to the actual magnitude and monitor for false alarms.

Even if the models work, the U.S. must first upgrade its seismic monitoring networks and resolve the nagging cost issues of building a national system. Congress has only funded a fraction of the $170 million needed to upgrade and install digital sensors in seismically active zones.

Still, early warning proponents are encouraged.
"Early warning isn't a panacea,'' said Richard Allen, a Berkeley seismologist who developed one of the models. "But I do think it can reduce the impacts of earthquakes.''

Anti-Aging Competitions Go Head-to-Head
By Ker ThanLiveScience Staff Writerposted: 26 May 200609:41 am ET

Anyone debating the scientific feasibility of extending the human life span will find that it's only a matter of time before the name "Aubrey de Grey" comes up.
The controversial Cambridge University researcher has been making news in recent years by claiming that humans could soon enjoy thousand-year lifetimes and by helping to establish two contests: one to spur anti-aging research and another to debunk his own audacious claims.

In 2003, de Grey helped establish the Methuselah Foundation and create the M-Prize, a $1.5 million award available to any scientist who can slow or reverse the effects of aging in mice.
Private donations made since 2003 have bumped the prize value up to nearly $3.5 million, according to the latest update on the Methuselah Foundation website.
Just getting started

About $100,000 of award is reserved for a "Longevity Prize" that focuses on extending total lifespan; the hefty remainder of the award is reserved for a "Rejuvenation Prize," which aims to reverse the effects of aging in the elderly.

The unequal distribution of the money between the two prizes reflects the wishes of the donors,
says Methuselah Foundation director David Gobel.

"People who happen to be alive want to be fixed," Gobel said.
The M-Prize has been awarded three times to date, all in 2004:

The Longevity Prize went to Southern Illinois University researcher Andrzej Bartke for a mouse genetically modified mouse that lived for 1819 days, or nearly 5 years.

The Rejuvenation Prize was won by University of California, Riverside researcher Steve Spindler and colleagues for a mouse that lived for 1,356 days, or about 3.7 years, due to caloric
restriction.

The Foundation also awarded a no-longer-active "Reversal Prize" to animal breeder Sandy Keith for "Charlie," a mouse that lived to 1551 days without any kind of genetic or dietary intervention.

None of these previous winners received any substantial cash award; rather, their efforts were used to set the standard that future entries had to beat, Gobel said.

SPECIAL REPORT Toward Immortality
Living forever, or at least well past 100, is within reach of today's youngest generation, some scientists say. In a recent 3-part series, LiveScience looked at the implications of the path toward immortality.

PART 1 > The Social Burdens> Top 10 Immortals
PART 2 > The Ethical Dilemmas> The Truth on Longer Life Spans
PART 3 > The Psychological Strain> Extending Life: The Science So Far
Both Bartke and Keith received $500 for their accomplishments; Spindler received a "Methuselah of champagne."

The M-Prize was modeled after the Ansari X-Prize, a $10 million dollar award created to spur the creation of reusable manned spacecraft. The X-Prize prize was won in October 2004 by Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne.

In addition to sponsoring M-Prize, de Grey has also put forward his own research proposal to slow the process of aging. Called "Strategies for Engineered Negligible," or SENS, de Grey's approach focuses on repairing the damage aging inflicts on our cells.
SENS is highly controversial among biogerontologists, or scientists who study aging. Many believe it is overly optimistic science fiction.
Prove me wrong

In response to the criticisms, de Grey teamed up with one of his detractors to create another contest—this time to debunk his own claims.In July, 2005, de Grey and the MIT-affiliated magazine Technology Review announced the SENS Challenge, a $20,000 award for anyone who can show that SENS is scientifically impossible.

"It seems absurdly far-fetched to me…but the plan behind the SENS Challenge is to give de Grey's idea a chance," said Jason Pontin, Technology Review's editor-in-chief.
The competition is open to any molecular biologist with a Ph.D. from a recognized institution. Submissions will be judged by a distinguished five-person panel that includes Craig Venter, who led the private effort to decode the human genome, and Nathan Myhrvold, a former chief technologist at Microsoft.

The SENS Challenge "was designed to shine some very bright lights on what was basically behind-closed-doors badmouthing of the hypotheses Aubrey was putting out," Gobel told LiveScience. "The thought was 'If you want to say something is wrong, then you ought to put your name on it.'"

The SENS Challenge award will be paid by matching funds from both the Technology Review and the Methuselah Foundation. Pontin told LiveScience that numerous scientists have accepted the challenge and that the top submissions will be published in the magazine's July issue.

SPECIAL REPORT: Toward Immortality
Hang in There: The 25-Year Wait for Immortality
First Methuselah Mouse Rejuvenation 'M Prize' Awarded
Long Live The Klotho Mice
Top 10 Immortals

Deserts Might Grow as Tropics Expand
By Ker ThanLiveScience Staff Writerposted: 25 May 200602:07 pm ET

Rivers of air that move both storms and airplanes around the planet have been creeping poleward over the past 26 years. The migration of these so-called "jet streams" has widened the planet's tropical belt and could expand dry regions around the world in coming decades, a new study reports.

"If they move another 2 to 3 degrees poleward in this century, very dry areas such as the Sahara desert could nudge farther towards the pole, perhaps by a few hundred miles," said study team member John Wallace from the University of Washington.
The researchers used satellites to measure heat in the form of microwave radiation emitted by oxygen molecules in the atmosphere from 1979 to 2005.

The troposphere at 30 degrees latitude in both hemispheres—roughly the location of Austin, Texas and Cordoba, Argentina in the Americas—has warmed by about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit during that time. The troposphere extends up to about 7.5 miles from the Earth's surface and is the part of the atmosphere in which most weather occurs.
Anatomy of the air

The warming of the atmosphere at these latitudes causes the troposphere to expand and bulge poleward. This nudges the westerly moving jet streams that blow through the troposphere farther away from the equator.

The finding was detailed in the May 26 issue of the journal Science.
The tropical zone is the portion of Earth's surface located between the Tropic of Cancer at 23.5 degrees north latitude and the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.5 degrees south latitude. The tropics are characterized by hot weather and are among the richest sources of plant and animal species in the world.

Jet streams mark the northern and southern boundaries of the tropics, so their movements away from the equator means the tropics are expanding.
Expanding deserts

The new results suggest that the tropics have expanded by 2 degrees latitude, or 140 miles, over the past 26 years.

"It's a big deal," said study team member Thomas Reichler, a meteorologist at the University of Utah. "If this is true, it also would mean that subtropical deserts are expanding into heavily populated mid-latitude regions."

The current study support previous findings which found that accelerated subtropical warming of the troposphere could shift the paths of rain and snow storms poleward. This would reduce winter rainfall in places such as southern Europe and southern Australia, scientists say.
Less rainfall

The researchers think the overall effect of the tropical expansion could be similar to that of El Nino, a phenomenon in which warm water in the west Pacific moves eastward toward the Americas.

El Nino can cause warmer, drier summers, so tropical expansion might have contributed to the unusually dry conditions seen in the subtropical American Southwest and Mediterranean Europe in recent years.

It's still unclear whether the jet stream migration and tropical expansion were triggered by natural climate variation or human-caused global warming, the researchers said.

"One can certainly think of various mechanisms of how global warming-related changes in the atmosphere could induce the changes we see," Reichler said. "But it's very speculative at this point."

Another possibility, the researchers say, is that the depletion of Earth's ozone layer from pollutant such as refrigerated gases is mimicking patterns created by global warming and heating up the troposphere that way.

GALLERY: Sky Scenes
Evolution Occurs Faster at the Equator
Conflicting Claims on Global Warming and Why It's All Moot
Surprising Side Effects of Global Warming
Weather 101: All About Wind and Rain
GALLERY: Blue Marble Art

Alaska’s Cook Inlet beluga whales are in serious trouble. Facing pressures ranging from pollution to increased ship traffic, their numbers have dropped by half in the last decade. Now, this isolated population of white whales may disappear forever.

But there is hope. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is now considering listing the Cook Inlet belugas as endangered under the Endangered Species Act -- perhaps the best chance yet for these special creatures.

Help protect the Cook Inlet belugas before it’s too late! Urge NMFS to list the Cook Inlet belugas as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The deadline for submitting your comments is next Tuesday, May 30.

The beluga whale relies on its sophisticated sonar, using clicks and squeaks to hunt, navigate and communicate. Their unique and varied sounds have earned these extremely social animals the nickname “sea canaries”.

Cook Inlet belugas rear their young and feed just offshore from one of the most populated -- and fastest growing -- regions in Alaska. It's an area that's getting more and more inhospitable to the whales.

Sewage and polluted run-off pour directly into the beluga’s home. Planned development projects threaten to fill in over 135 acres of beluga whale habitat. The toxic waste and spills from region’s oil industry can poison and kill these creatures and their young. Seismic blasting to search for oil can disrupt their sonar and disorient the belugas, causing them to drown.

An endangered listing would require protection not only for the critters themselves, but for the fragile habitat essential for their survival.

Beluga whales need your help. Please send your comments to NMFS before next Tuesday’s deadline.

Just last month, international experts classified this group of whales as “critically endangered” -- the most urgent category for imperiled wildlife. NMFS’s own scientists have charted the dramatic decline of these whales -- and their best estimate is that fewer than 280 remain. Without the protection of the Endangered Species Act, the Cook Inlet beluga whales could become extinct within our lifetime.

Now is the time to act. Please help these animals get the protection they deserve. Write to NMFS today and urge them to protect Cook Inlet belugas by listing them as an endangered species-- before they are gone forever.

With your help, we can ensure that these magnificent white whales live on for generations to come.

Thank you for all you do to protect imperiled creatures everywhere

Just when you thought oil-friendly Members of Congress had run out of excuses for destroying the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, they come up with a new reason to do Big Oil's dirty work.

This week they're dangling jobs and money in front of the American public. Their so-called "American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act" (H.R. 5429) uses wildly inflated numbers to claim that drilling the Arctic Refuge is good for labor and good for the federal treasury.

The truth? The big winner in this plan is ExxonMobil; who will be stuffing its already bloated coffer with billions more in profits. And the biggest losers are the American people; we'll sacrifice our greatest wildlife sanctuary while feeding our addiction to high-priced oil.

Click here to express your outrage at this bill by emailing your member of Congress right now.

The federal government estimates that oil from the Refuge wouldn't be available for at least another ten years. Drilling wouldn't lower gas prices for at least twenty years and then only by ONE penny per gallon!

This Arctic destruction bill is being rushed to the floor for a vote tomorrow!

Click here to express your outrage at this bill by emailing your member of Congress before it's too late!

Please spread the word to your friends and family and ask them to join you in contacting their representatives, too.

Thank you for your help,

Charging Ahead for America's Horses

Great strides have recently been taken to prevent the annual slaughter of more than 90,000 horses in the United States for human consumption abroad. Congress passed an amendment to the Agriculture Appropriations bill to stop horse slaughter during 2006, and the House unanimously approved an amendment to the Interior Appropriations bill for FY 2007 to end the slaughter of wild horses, but unbelievably, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has refused to implement this temporary ban on horse slaughter and instituted a plan to continue the killing. Such blatant, bureaucratic corruption is more evidence for why we must immediately pass a permanent ban on horse slaughter -- we cannot rely on the agency to do its job. We are in court working to force the agency to do its job, but even if we win, this will be a temporary reprieve for the horses.

Congress must move now to enact legislation that will permanently protect horses. The American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (H.R. 503 and S. 1915) has been introduced in Congress and would permanently ban horse slaughter. H.R. 503 and S. 1915 would forever remove horses from the whims of back-room negotiations, and place them beyond the reach of slaughterhouse butchers.

It is vital that these bills keep building support and pass, so that America's horses are protected for good -- and so that we are not constantly facing efforts to undo protections for these beloved animals.

TAKE ACTION

Please make a short polite phone call to your two U.S. Senators and U.S. Representative today to say you're glad Congress approved the horse slaughter ban amendments, but that we must institute a permanent ban on horse slaughter in America. Ask that they co-sponsor the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act -- H.R. 503 in the House and S. 1915 in the Senate. You can reach your federal legislators by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121, or click here to find their office phone number.

Here's an example of a letter you can write

Dear [ Legislator ] ,

As you know, Congress passed an amendment by overwhelming and bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate to shut down horse slaughter for human consumption for Fiscal Year 2006. The United States Department of Agriculture has refused to implement that ban and is resisting all efforts to implement the will of Congress.

As an American citizen who cares about horses, this is disturbing to me in two ways. First, I want to see our beloved horses protected from the abuses inherent in the slaughter process that more than 90,000 horses endure each year to satisfy the European demand for horsemeat. Second, I would like to believe that when Congress speaks, the administrative branches of our government listen and our democracy functions as it should.

It is now crystal clear that we must pass a permanent ban on the slaughter of American horses for foreign export. I am asking for your immediate help in passing S. 1915/H.R. 503

Wealthy special interests currently provide more than 80% of all political contributions.
In each of the last four election cycles, more than 98% of incumbents who ran for reelection were successful, and one in six incumbents ran unopposed.

Federal campaigns spend an estimated 20% to 30% of the money they raise on fundraising.
Over the last three election cycles, incumbents raised 500% more than their challengers.
The considerable tax breaks, subsidies, and relaxation of regulations given to large donors and contributing industries cost taxpayers at least $100 billion each year, far exceeding the approximately $1.8 billion that it would cost for voluntary public funding.

Raising the money to finance a successful campaign frequently consumes more than 30% of a congressional candidate's time, while some presidential candidates report spending half of their time raising campaign funds. Some US Senators spend as much as 50% of their working hours in pursuit of funds.

These facts clearly illustrate the disparity of who gets elected, and who's buying access to our elected officials. We, the individual voters, are increasingly left out of the process altogether. Send these facts to your friends and ask them to join you in taking back control of our elections by clicking here:

http://www.just6dollars.org/invite_facts

At a meeting in late April, the Manitoba government failed to set a firm date for fulfilling its promise to permanently protect a stretch of the Canadian boreal forest that provides crucial habitat for North America's migratory birds and other wildlife. Manitoba officials have repeatedly pledged support for designating 10.6 million acres of this ancient forest as a United Nations World Heritage Site. But first, the province must put in place lasting protections for the traditional territory of the Poplar River First Nation. Poplar River completed a land use plan last November that called for protection of approximately 90 percent of its traditional lands. With the threat of hydropower development, logging and other destructive activity looming over these wildlands, it is critical that Manitoba officials take immediate action to formally safeguard the area.

» Urge the Manitoba government to grant permanent protection to the Poplar River's traditional territory by the end of June. (2006)

New Jersey Cross-State RAIL Trail Becoming Reality

(View Map)

The trail system will be a work-in-progress for several years at least, but portions of it can now be used for hiking, cycling, horseback riding and cross-country skiing.
Maps for trail use have been added to the Liberty-Water Gap Trail Web site,

www.libertygap.org. Much of the eastern portion is hiking-only.

In 2000 Liberty-Water Gap Trail was first runner-up among New Jersey trails to be named a State Millennium Trail. “A lot of people take hiking seriously here in New Jersey,” says Al Kent, of the Morris County Park Commission. “They might say, ‘I’m going to take several Saturdays and walk across the state.’”

Whether it’s across the state or a morning’s hike, the emerging Liberty-Water Gap Trail system, conceived by Kent in the late 1990s, lets people experience on foot—or by bicycle—parts of New Jersey they normally see as just a blur from their car. In rural or wooded areas, Kent says, a trail may be the only way to view the scenery.

As Brian Kladko, of the Hackensack, N.J. Record, put it in his July 7, 2002, article, “The 156-mile route isn't an escape into bucolic splendor, but a journey across America in miniature: Bustling ethnic neighborhoods in Jersey City and Newark, suburban subdivisions in Essex County, small country towns in Warren and Sussex counties, and yes, wooded hills, culminating with the dramatic cliffs of the Delaware Water Gap.” Kladko walked the entire route in 11 days, reporting for The Record.

About three-quarters complete, the envisioned 156-mile path begins at Liberty State Park on the Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City. The path will traverse five counties—Hudson, Essex, Morris, Sussex and Warren—through a mix of urban, suburban, wooded and rural settings. Its terminus will be the Delaware Water Gap.

“It’s a system of many different trails,” says Kent. Primarily these are recreational hiking trails in the east, and multi-use trails created from inactive railroad corridors in the west. Trails will retain their local identities. Lenape Trail, Patriots’ Path, Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail are the major links, but other trails include portions of the Morris Canal Towpath, and the Highland Trail.

Connecting the trails across north Jersey—an ongoing goal of the system’s organizers—will offer more miles of trails and an improved recreational experience. Organizers have begun a program to improve or construct linking sections of trail. A recent grant from the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission will help close one especially challenging gap: $25,000, awarded to Knowlton Township, will fund a study on completing the last half-mile needed to connect with a foot bridge near Delaware Water Gap.

Signs identifying Liberty-Water Gap Trail will supplement local trail signage to avoid confusion for through-hikers, long-distance cyclists and other users. The new signage program will be piloted in 2006 on the Sussex Branch Trail and the Paulinskill Valley Trail in cooperation with Hopatcong State Park and Kittatinny Valley State Park. It is funded by part of a $25,000 Recreational Trails Program grant awarded last fall through the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. The grant was received through the technical assistance of the Northeast Regional Office of Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.

“This unique trail network will offer people many different experiences,” notes Tom Sexton, RTC Northeast Regional director. “They’ll find a variety of trail surfaces and a vast range of landscapes—all within convenient distance from this country’s largest metropolitan area.”
Also in this Issue

One year ago this month, the House of Representatives passed legislation to expand stem cell research. Yet so far, Senate Republican Leader Bill Frist - Doctor Frist - has refused to schedule a vote in the Senate, caving instead to the far religious right. Take action!

The vast majority of Americans - 72% in a recent poll - support stem cell research. And under pressure this week from members of Congress and the public, Senator Frist said he would bring the issue to a vote, but still has not scheduled a date or announced which specific measures would be discussed. The American people deserve better.

Tell Senator Frist: we want a vote on stem cell research!

Stem cells are "blank" cells that have the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body -- nerve cells, heart cells, kidney cells. This gives scientists hope that stem cells could one day treat diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's, and heart disease. This is a rare opportunity for Congress to significantly improve the quality of people's lives. It's time for Senator Frist to stop playing politics with our health, and hold a vote on stem cell research.

Please demand a vote today!

Thanks for taking action today,

DEVAL PATRICK ON THE ENVIRONMENT

We are often asked to choose between economic development and environmental stewardship. From my experience in the energy industry, I am convinced that this is a false choice. In Massachusetts, I believe we can and must have both. The time is right to show how we in Massachusetts can balance our common interests in growth and the environment.

I will support renewable energy projects whenever the benefits for all of us outweigh the disadvantages. I believe the Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound is just such a project.

The state will not be in the forefront of developing alternative sources of energy without leaders willing to back projects like this in the face of opposition. The one candidate running for Massachusetts governor who has shown that kind of moxie is Democrat Deval L. Patrick…

Patrick gets points for supporting Cape Wind at a time when other elected officials are more attuned to political winds. - "Cape Wind Politics," Boston Globe Editorial, Nov. 7, 2005.

DEVAL PATRICK ON THE ECONOMY!
From www.devalpatrick.com

Deval on Moving Massachusetts Forward

"I see Massachusetts as a place in which businesses invest because of a well-educated and well-prepared workforce and because they are assured that neither taxes nor regulation will be unreasonable. Massachusetts will be where people with ideas and initiative want to be, whether they are the next software giant or the next local grocer. Supporting this economic renaissance, state government will become an active partner with businesses and workers. As governor, I will be personally involved in expanding opportunity and business growth." [Deval Patrick] knows how business decisions are made and which factors matter most. Massachusetts has suffered for too long at the hands of politicians, locally and nationally, with little active engagement in expanding jobs and the economy.

…Patrick understands that a strong private economy is essential to the American Dream. He can get the Massachusetts economy moving again. - "Patrick Works for Workers," Robert Reich and Alexis Herman, Boston Globe, Sept. 5, 2005.

SO , WHO IS DEVAL PATRICK?

Beating the odds:
An inspirational life story, a journey of hope.

From the South Side of Chicago to the highest levels of government to the boardrooms of two Fortune 500 companies, Deval Patrick has lived the American dream. Through almost four decades of that journey, the values, institutions, and people of the Bay State have been fundamental to his success.

Born in 1956, Deval grew up in one of Chicago's toughest neighborhoods, living on welfare and sharing a single bedroom with his mother and sister. Public leadership and the power of possibility captured Deval's imagination early on when his mother brought him to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak in a South Side Chicago park. "I remember feeling connected to all these people who were like me - of limited means, but limitless hope. People build whole lives on hope."

First in his class in middle school, Deval's potential was recognized by a teacher who recommended him to A Better Chance, a Boston-based organization that awarded him a scholarship to Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts. "Coming here [to Massachusetts] was like coming to a different planet," Deval explained years later. "Other kids were complaining about how small and sparse their dorm rooms were…And here I had my own bed and desk. I thought, 'this is pretty nice.'" Deval thrived in his new surroundings. He excelled in the classroom, served as editor of the school paper, and delivered newspapers on campus and in surrounding neighborhoods, including the one his family now calls home. While he was at Milton, Deval returned to Chicago on school breaks and worked in a small factory, as a janitor with his grandfather, and bussing tables in a downtown restaurant.

After graduating from Milton in 1974, Deval attended Harvard College, the first in his family to be formally educated beyond high school. When he called home to tell his family he had been admitted, his grandmother paused in her excitement and asked, "Where is that anyway?" Of that comment, Deval says, "it was the opportunity, not the prestige that mattered."

Graduating from Harvard with honors in 1978, Deval then lived and worked in Africa for a year, most of that time on a United Nations youth training project in the Darfur region of Sudan. While abroad, he applied and was admitted to law school and returned to Cambridge to attend Harvard. There, he was elected president of the Legal Aid Bureau and gained his first trial experience defending poor families in the Middlesex County Courts. He also won the prestigious Ames Moot Court Competition and was named best oral advocate in his class.

Serving the public interest:
A distinguished record of service and advocacy.

After serving as a law clerk for a year to a federal appellate judge, Deval joined the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) in 1983 where he devoted most of his time to death penalty and voting rights cases. It was at LDF that Deval first met then-Governor Bill Clinton whom he sued in a voting rights case in Arkansas. Clinton worked with Deval to settle the case and the two began a relationship of strong mutual respect and admiration that continues today.

During this time, Deval married Diane Bemus, an attorney specializing in labor and employment law whom he met after friends set them up on a blind date. "It was supposed to be a costume party, but I was the only one there in costume," recalls Deval.

Deval left LDF in 1986 to join the Boston law firm of Hill & Barlow, where he became a partner in 1990. In addition to his private practice, he spent much of his time on pro-bono work, including a landmark lending scam case on behalf of Massachusetts' senior citizens. He also served as volunteer Chairman of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's New England Committee and as a member of its National Board of Directors.

In 1994, President Clinton appointed Deval Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, the nation's top civil rights post. Deval worked on a wide range of issues at the Justice Department including the investigation of church burnings throughout the South in the mid-1990s, prosecution of hate crimes and abortion clinic violence, cases of employment discrimination, and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Raising the bar:
Bold, decisive leadership determined to make a difference.

Deval returned to private practice in 1997 with the Boston firm of Day, Berry & Howard. That same year, he was appointed by a federal district court to serve as the first chairperson of Texaco's Equality and Fairness Task Force, following the settlement of a significant race discrimination case at the company. He and his Task Force carefully reexamined and rebuilt the company's entire system of employment practices in a successful effort to create a more equitable workplace for everyone. Recognizing his unique ability to bring people together to get things done, Texaco hired Deval as Vice President and General Counsel in 1999, placing him in charge of its global legal affairs.

Next, Deval joined The Coca-Cola Company as Executive Vice President and General Counsel. He was elected to the additional position of Corporate Secretary in 2002. In these roles he was responsible for the company's worldwide legal affairs. He also served on the Company's Executive Committee - its senior leadership team. After nearly six years of commuting to Atlanta and New York, Deval resigned his post at Coca-Cola last year.

Restoring Faith:
A commitment to the principles and ideals that work to benefit all of the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Deval has served on several charitable and corporate boards, as well as the Federal Election Reform Commission under Presidents Carter and Ford, and as Vice Chair of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Council by appointment of Governor Weld. He is the recipient of seven honorary degrees, including from Clark University in Worcester, Suffolk Law School in Boston, Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, and Curry College in Milton.

Deval and Diane have two daughters, Sarah, 19, and Katherine, 15. They have lived in Milton, in that house on Deval's old paper route, for 16 years. His sister and her family are also residents of Milton, as were his late mother and grandmother

Sam Kelley endorsed Deval Patrick at Plymouth County League Dinner by: merbex March 19, 2006 at 08:03:41 EST

(The latest trail gossip, served fresh and tasty at BMG. - promoted by Bob) Sam Kelley at the end of his remarks allotted to him at the annual St Patrick's Day Dinner put on by the Plymouth County Democrat League endorsed Deval Patrick for Governorlast evening at Halifax Country Club. I was there and along with other Democrats from nearly every town in Plymouth County we gave both men a great ovation. Tom Reilly did not show nor did he send a representative to speak for him.

merbex :: Sam Kelley endorsed Deval Patrick at Plymouth County League Dinner

Tim Murray was there and made remarks; the ladies, Silbert and Goldberg, were no shows although Silbert did send a representattive to speak for her. Deval Patrick spoke and the energy is extremely high for him. He made the rounds to each table and many times got into lengthy conversations with those who showed an an interest in a topic. Phil Dunklebarger, the man who is challenging Stephen Lynch in the primary was also there but he did not make remarks. I spoke to Phil and asked how his campaign was going(I would not be in his district): he said the campaign was going great in those parts of Plymouth County that are included in the 9th District and that 15% of every door he knocks on in Southie the occupants have resided there for less than 9 months. Southie is changing. He says things are going great for him in Brockton. One more tidbit that bodes well for Patrick: a friend of mine was waiting in line at the bar and was wearing a Deval Patrick button. Another woman who was apparently waiting /watching her daughter(part of the Irish Step Dancing troupe) said to my friend "Is he going to be here?"pointing to her Patrick button. My friend said "Yes,he's already made his remarks" The other woman said"Oh, I really wanted to hear him speak. What I've read about him I like." My friend said "I think he's still here, you could probably go up to him and meet him" So, to Deval Patrick:You know you've connected when regular voters, not just activists, are trying to meet you.

Excerpts from Deval Patrick’s speech explaining the character of his supporters:

You have been dismissed by the competition and trivialized by the press. But take none of that to heart. I know who you are.

You are Democrats and Independents and Republicans.

You are liberals and moderates and pragmatists and true conservatives, the ones who believe that good things should be preserved.

Some of you are activists and some of you – like Dar Hiekkenen who kicked us off this afternoon — have joined a campaign or participated in a caucus for the very first time.

You are laborers and professionals, teachers and small business owners, journalists and health professionals. Some of you are retired. Some of you are looking for work and are discouraged.

You speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, Chinese, Vietnamese, Patois, Thai.

You come from every city, town and hamlet in every corner of this state.

You are Paul and Joanne Hush, retired on Cape Cod, who are renting out their home this summer and moving up to Charlestown so they can volunteer full time on this campaign.

You are Tom McGrath from Pepperell, who fell and broke a vertebrae a few days before the caucuses but asked his doctor to postpone his surgery so that he could show up and participate.

You are David Place from Milton and Eleanor Bleakie from Scituate, staunch and active Republicans who changed your party allegiance for the first time in your long political lives to support this cause.

You are Greg Lippolis and Greg Lipshutz, my old freshman college roommate, from Newton who are participating for the first time in politics because they see a chance to keep government out of their private decision to marry.

You are John O’Connor from Plymouth and Steve Falvey from Saugus, both union carpenters who took me around job sites— without press and without fanfare — to help me understand what it means in everyday people’s lives when the law is not enforced.

You are Sonny and Sandy Gauss from Plymouth, who remember nearly 12 years ago when we sat together in their Brockton living room and solved a problem they had with a predatory lender, or Jacqueline Jean-Pierre from Cambridge, who remembers more than 25 years ago when I defended her and her family in the against an unscrupulous landlord in the Somerville District Court

Each and every one of you thinks for him- or herself. You are as tired as I am of being crammed into an ideological box. And none of you is buying a hundred percent, frankly, of what either party is selling.

That’s who we are. You see for yourself how broken our state is and how fractured our communities are.

You feel for yourself the widespread anxiety about our future.

You see for yourself the yawning lack of leadership on Beacon Hill.

And you are as hungry as I am for candor and leadership.

Deval Patrick quietly forges ahead in gubernatorial race

Howard Manly

The candidacy started as a whisper at first, slowly building momentum, an endorsement here, a donation there, and all of a sudden, it appears that Deval Patrick, without much help from the state democratic political insiders, many of whom believed and said publicly that he should wait or take his time, has shown why he couldn’t wait.

“Lets be candid about our politics,” Patrick told a spellbound crowd at Faneuil Hall over the weekend. “Here in Massachusetts, we have the latest in a series of governors who seem more interested in having the job than actually doing the job.”

“And let’s be clear,” Patrick went on, “We have two other candidates in this race today who were also in power while Big Dig costs soared, the health care system broke down, property taxes skyrocketed, classrooms became over-crowded, gun and gang violence increased, homelessness rose and wage and hour laws were un-enforced.”

No, Patrick couldn’t wait: the stakes are too high for him to simply sit back and rest on his individual successes to allow the state to continue hemorrhaging people, corporations and brain power.

After all here is a man who came out of the Chicago projects, and through sheer determination, worked his way through Harvard and Harvard Law School to reach a seminal moment in his life when the president of the United States, Bill Clinton, had a meeting in the Oval Office and turned to Patrick, at the time the nation’s lead civil rights attorney, and asked, “What do you think?”

Oh no, Patrick couldn’t wait, not for another four years of bland leadership.

“A lot of us seem resigned to accept the same lack of imagination and creativity that over many years and many administrations got us to where we are — which is stuck in neutral and sliding backwards.”

The facts are the facts.

“We have a health care system that is not just grossly inefficient and seriously inadequate, but a moral disgrace — a system that you and I pay $300 million every week to administer, but still leaves over a half a million of fellow souls with no coverage at all,” Patrick said.

“We are the only state in the nation to have lost population in each of the last two years,” Patrick said. “The people leaving are mostly young and well educated — our future is walking right out the door.”

It’s not just the best and the brightest that are leaving. “In the past few years we have seen Gillette and Fleet and Filenes and John Hancock leave the state, taking jobs and civic leadership with them — exposing just how poorly we have been building capacity and opportunity behind them,” Patrick said. “And we are failing to train the workforce we need for the technical and health care jobs we have.”

But every political candidate should be able to determine the problems. And the good ones should be able to devise solutions.

The magic about Patrick, however, is that he is tapping into the intangible, the state’s subconscious, that things should be better but aren’t because of the political inertia on Beacon Hill. Patrick likened the situation to his heroin-addicted uncle.

“Cynicism is an opiate, too, a comfort drug,” Patrick explained. “It helps us brace ourselves against the pain of disappointment, to endure the letdown we have come to expect. Some of our politicians and some of the media, frankly, are dealers peddling cynicism by tearing down anything positive and hopeful… It leads us to expect less and demand less of our leaders and of ourselves.”

Patrick’s message is taking hold. In last month’s Democratic caucuses, for instance, Patrick crushed Attorney General Tom Reilly by a two-to-one margin, and won in Middlesex County by a nine to one margin. Recent polls are also showing that Patrick is gaining solid strength, and would probably beat Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, the Republican candidate.

The reason is pretty clear. Patrick, a former high-ranking corporate executive for several Fortune 500 companies, is more than a cheerleader for democratic political ideology. He is a leader, a problem solver, a man who doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty in the business world.

Patrick said he got his hands dirty at Texaco and at Coca-Cola and at Ameriquest.

“And it will take getting my hands dirty and forging unlikely alliances to build the collaborations with other problem solvers on Beacon Hill, in business, in nonprofits and in communities to get Massachusetts moving forward again,” he said. “I have helped solve more problems in more different settings than any other candidate in this race. And that matters because the challenges facing us today are not ordinary challenges.”

But Patrick understands the political realities here in Massachusetts. By all accounts, he is an extraordinary man running at an extraordinary time. It’s unclear whether the state is ready.

“In this race,” Patrick said, “it may not be our turn, but it is our time.”

He might be right about that, but at least he didn’t wait for his time to pass by.

Pacific Ocean Grows More Acidic
By Corey BinnsSpecial to LiveScienceposted: 06 April 200608:42 am ET

Scientists recently traveled from Tahiti to Alaska, testing the waters of the Pacific Ocean and finding a considerable rise in the ocean's acidity.

The Pacific has grown more acidic over the past 15 years largely because of the water's intake of carbon dioxide released by humans burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. The study found a decrease of about 0.025 units in pH, which indicates the rise in acidity.
The findings are consistent with previous studies done in other oceans.

The seas serve as the biggest reservoirs for carbon dioxide belched by burning oil, gas and coal. They absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere each year.
Scientists say the oceans will absorb about 90 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans during the next millennium.

As carbon dioxide levels in oceans climb, marine life suffers.
Skeletons of pteropods, free-swimming planktonic mollusks, grow at a slowed pace in waters laden with carbon dioxide. These mollusks serve as an important food source for North Pacific salmon, mackerel, herring and cod.

Similar detrimental effects in microscopic algae and animals could impact marine food webs and significantly change the biodiversity and productivity of the ocean, said team member Victoria Fabry of California State University, San Marcos.

"As humans continue along the path of unintended carbon dioxide sequestration in the surface oceans, the impacts of marine ecosystems will be direct and profound," Fabry said.
The research cruise ended last week in Kodiak, Alaska. The results were announced yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Beach Pollution Worse During Full Moon
Acid Buildup in Oceans Threatens Food Chain
Power of the Future: 10 Ways to Run the 21st Century
Silver Contaminates 'Pristine' North Pacific
The Mysterious Origin and Supply of Oil

Pacific Ocean Grows More Acidic
By Corey BinnsSpecial to LiveScienceposted: 06 April 200608:42 am ET

Scientists recently traveled from Tahiti to Alaska, testing the waters of the Pacific Ocean and finding a considerable rise in the ocean's acidity.

The Pacific has grown more acidic over the past 15 years largely because of the water's intake of carbon dioxide released by humans burning fossil fuels, the researchers said. The study found a decrease of about 0.025 units in pH, which indicates the rise in acidity.
The findings are consistent with previous studies done in other oceans.

The seas serve as the biggest reservoirs for carbon dioxide belched by burning oil, gas and coal. They absorb about a third of the carbon dioxide humans put into the atmosphere each year.
Scientists say the oceans will absorb about 90 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans during the next millennium.

As carbon dioxide levels in oceans climb, marine life suffers.
Skeletons of pteropods, free-swimming planktonic mollusks, grow at a slowed pace in waters laden with carbon dioxide. These mollusks serve as an important food source for North Pacific salmon, mackerel, herring and cod.

Similar detrimental effects in microscopic algae and animals could impact marine food webs and significantly change the biodiversity and productivity of the ocean, said team member Victoria Fabry of California State University, San Marcos.

"As humans continue along the path of unintended carbon dioxide sequestration in the surface oceans, the impacts of marine ecosystems will be direct and profound," Fabry said.
The research cruise ended last week in Kodiak, Alaska. The results were announced yesterday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Beach Pollution Worse During Full Moon
Acid Buildup in Oceans Threatens Food Chain
Power of the Future: 10 Ways to Run the 21st Century
Silver Contaminates 'Pristine' North Pacific
The Mysterious Origin and Supply of Oil

HELP SAVE NEW ENGLAND'S COTTONTAIL RABBITS
ADOPT A RABBIT TODAY!

Give a gift that hops for that special person in your life when you adopt a snuggly New England Cottontail Rabbit. We’ll send that special someone in your life a Certificate of Adoption suitable for framing, and a Plush Cottontail Rabbit Toy.

Adopt a Cottontail Rabbit today,and we'll send that special someone a Certificate of Adoption suitable for framing and a Plush Rabbit.

Sadly, populations of New England cottontail rabbits have sharply declined in the last 50 years. Once found in abundance throughout the Northeastern United States, deforestation, fragmented habitat and competition with non-native species have left this cuddly little animal on the brink of extinction. No New England cottontails have been seen in Vermont in over a decade.

Your wildlife gift adoption today will help Defenders of Wildlife ensure protection for the New England cottontail rabbit under the Endangered Species Act. This landmark law is the safety net for so many species on the brink of extinction. You will also help Defenders work to keep the Endangered Species Act intact for all imperiled wildlife.

Unfortunately, anti-conservationists in Washington are attempting to gut the Endangered Species Act. But with your gift adoption today, Defenders of Wildlife will do all it can ensure the New England cottontail rabbit and all endangered species are afforded the full federal protection they deserve.

So enjoy the satisfaction of protecting wildlife with a New England Cottontail Rabbit Gift Adoption today.

New England Cottontail Fact: A vitally important part of the ecosystem, New England cottontail rabbits can sometimes be seen thumping the ground with their hind legs. This is believed to be a form of communication.

HELP SAVE THE MANATEES

Faced with the largest number of manatee deaths in a decade, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is considering an inconceivable reaction: downlisting the manatee, a gentle creature known to body surf or barrel roll when playing, from endangered to threatened. Act Now!

Last year was the second highest manatee mortality year on record. Just in the last five years, 1682 manatees have died in Florida waters and of those, 398 were killed by boats. That is almost an 18% increase over the previous five-year period. Furthermore, state scientists estimate the manatee population could drop by half in the next 50 years because of habitat loss, red tide poisoning and boat collisions.

This latest move is a triumph of politics over science. Manatees are poised to be downlisted regardless of how they are faring in the wild because of a calculated effort by special interest groups opposed to boat speed zones and restrictions on development. Speak Out!

And Gov. Bush's conservation commission — he appointed the members — doesn't offer wildlife much hope for protection. Commissioners include a banker, a real-estate investor, a ranch owner, a developer, and a vice president of the St. Joe Co., Florida's largest landowner.

Another belongs to the Safari Club International, which offers recipes for antelope, bear, moose and other wild game on its Web site.Later this summer, the FFWCC will vote to finalize the manatee’s listing status. Gov. Bush once called the manatee his favorite animal.

Urge him to take a stand and ensure that protections for the manatee remain in place.

Tipping Point: Half of America Wants a Hybrid CarBy LiveScience Staffposted: 10 April 200605:28 pm ET

More than half of all Americans say they would seriously consider buying or leasing a fuel-saving hybrid car, according to a new poll.
Price is the obstacle for many, however.

The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll found 48 percent of Americans have cut back significantly on the amount they drive because of higher gas prices. The figure is 59 percent for those living in households earning less than $50,000 per year and 36 percent for those making $50,000 or more.

More than half of all Americans (54 percent) said they have reduced household spending on other items because of high gas prices.

Hybrids, meanwhile, aren't selling because of the added cost, even though 57 percent of those polled said they would seriously consider one.

Ford Motor Company is now offering zero-percent financing on its Ford Escape SUV hybrid because of slower-than-expected sales, the Gallup organization points out. The vehicle's base price is $26,900, whereas the regular Escape starts at $19,380.

Age makes a difference in hybrid interest.
Among poll respondents age 18 to 49, 64 percent said they'd consider a hybrid, while only 39 percent of people 65 and older would.

The telephone poll of 1,001 adults was done March 10-12 and released today. It has a margin of error of ±3 percentage points.

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