Mike Presky's Weblog : Weekly Archive : October 20, 2002

October 21, 2002

Gender-bender chemicals.

The Independent reports on a new study that indicates that PCBs and other chemicals are having some strange effects on young children.

The study � carried out by doctors and scientists at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam � is the first in the world to show that normal levels of the chemicals affect humans. It follows a host of studies showing that gender-benders can turn wildlife species, from gulls and alligators to fish and turtles, into hermaphrodites. In the case of the children in the study, the chemicals caused girls to play with guns and pretend to be soldiers, and boys to play with dolls and tea sets and dress up in female clothes. ...

The girls exposed to higher levels of PCBs were more likely to engage in masculine play, while similarly exposed boys were more likely to enjoy feminine play. Dioxins produced more feminine play in boys and girls.

permalink, posted by mike on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 11:07 AM

Old Jewish New York fading away.

The New York Times reports that the old Jewish centers in the city are fading into history.

Last month, Ratner's Delicatessen on Delancey Street sold its last onion roll and closed after 97 years. Two years ago, the owners of Schapiro's Kosher Winery on Rivington Street rolled their barrels out of the basement and called it quits, selling the building for $2.3 million. Two weeks ago, H&M Skullcap moved from its home on Hester Street, where it had been for half a century, to 13th Avenue in Borough Park, Brooklyn, a thriving Jewish business thoroughfare. "The Chinese don't want to buy yarmulkes," said Mendel Fefer, a salesman. Some of the remaining small synagogues have so few members that they must import teenagers from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to help make the minyan of 10 required for daily prayers.

Maybe the Chinese don't wear yarmulkes, but I'll bet they manufacture them, probably right next to the factories where they make the berets American special forces wear.

permalink, posted by mike on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 10:40 AM

Ask Jeeves joins the no pop-ups bandwagon.

CNET News reports that search engine Ask Jeeves is the latest site to ban the ever irritating ads. Although the article notes that they will be replacing them by targeted ads in search results. But it's still encouraging. It almost makes me hope that maybe some day we can deal with the spam as well. At the same time it also indicates the continuing difficulty in finding ways to fund the net, through advertising or anything else.

In an unrelated note, I noticed that the CNET News web address is "news.com.com." Yes, a double dot com. Don't know why I find that funny. The official name of the Moscow Times, one of my favorite news sites by the way, is Moscow Times dot com, although it's actual address is dot ru. Interesting the way language evolves.

permalink, posted by mike on Monday, October 21, 2002 at 09:57 AM

October 20, 2002

Energy industry's dirty little details about to see light.

The San Francisco Chronicle's David Lazarus reports that Enron's former top trader, who has pleaded guilty to manipulating the California energy supply, is cooperating fully with investigators and is ready to disclose the full extent of the conspiracy.

Sources close to the matter say Timothy Belden, who previously ran Enron's trading office in Portland, Ore., is prepared to implicate a number of other industry players in what could shape up to be one of the biggest conspiracies in U.S. corporate history.

And that it extends to other companies such as Dynergy, and ChevronTexaco, their largest shareholder.

It also tells how they went about it, chilling details of blatant corporate greed.

Belden said he and his cronies would provide bogus data on how much juice was available at any given time to state utilities.

This would create the impression of congestion on power lines when none in fact existed, driving up demand and, better still, allowing Enron to charge an extra fee to relieve the congestion that wasn't actually there in the first place.

Enron also exported power generated in California to other states and then turned around and sold it back to us at a big markup as electricity generated elsewhere. ...

"We scheduled energy that we did not have, or did not intend to supply," Belden told a judge in San Francisco. "I did it because I was trying to maximize profits for Enron."

permalink, posted by mike on Sunday, October 20, 2002 at 05:41 PM

The hypocrisy behind our compassion.

In this open letter in the Observer, Guy Verhofstadt, the Prime Minister of Belgium, argues that the west must stop giving with one hand and taking away with the other.

Surely the question of this century should be: How can we prevent a violent class struggle between the world's poorest and richest people? Between two billion people who are trying to survive every day in a fight against hunger and disease, and a half billion others whose main concern is to second-guess the plot of their favourite soap opera. Today, the difference in income between the two groups is, on average, 30:1. The problem is that this difference is not shrinking; it is growing.

Between these two extremes, there are around three billion people who have also benefited from globalisation. In the space of a single generation, these peoples - especially in Asia - have escaped from their daily struggle to ensure a roof over their head, clothes on their back and food in their stomach. They are evidence that globalisation, the free market and free trade are the best method - indeed, the only proven method - for driving off poverty.

But the very poorest two billion people are evidence that free trade and globalisation are not enough. We in the European Union should know that. Ever since the Union was founded, we have helped new member states throw off the shackles of poverty (and we will be trying to do the same this decade with all of Central and Eastern Europe). We have achieved this through free trade, intensive cooperation, financial support and, in particular, partnership with the countries in question.

So let's stop running from one mega-conference to the next in Monterrey, Rome or Johannesburg. We Europeans and Americans have to stop hassling each other about what it means to be "for" or "against" globalisation. What we need is a consensus on greater development and a consensus on having both Europeans and Americans make greater efforts - including those efforts that are in their own interest.

An important statement, especially coming from someone in power. The Observer labels this as a letter to the anti-globalization protesters, but it seems to me to be directed at everyone. He seems to basically agree with the protesters, except he says what we need is not talk but action. And he follows up with some concrete suggestions. And a heartfelt conclusion.

World poverty demands a united approach. The line that must be followed - free trade, but not free trade alone - has already been traced out for some time. The time has now come for action and intervention in those areas where the free market falls short. As Benjamin Barber puts it: "If there cannot be equity of justice, there will be equity of injustice; if all cannot partake of plenty, impoverishment - both material and spiritual - will be the common lot. That is the hard lesson of interdependence." This is the challenge that we must meet. It is in our own interest.

This open letter is a call for reform proposals to be discussed at the Second International Conference on Globalisation on 26 November 2002 in Leuven, Belgium. Young people in particular are encouraged to take part in the debate. For more information see www.globalisationdebate.be.

permalink, posted by mike on Sunday, October 20, 2002 at 03:03 PM

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