Miscellaneous

The Baffling Brain Disorder That Now Plagues 1 in 10

From Dr. Mercola’s website

The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum

Excerpt

When I was in medical school, more than 30 years ago, the incidence of autism was one in 100,000. Today, the incidence has climbed to 1 in 50, according to CDC statistics. This is a startling increase from 2008 data,2 which showed one in 88 children had the condition. Some experts believe that if you consider the full range of neurological disorders that could fall under the wider umbrella of “Autism Spectrum Disorder,” the incidence may be as high as one in 10! The video above features Dr. Temple Grandin, author of The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum. In it, she discusses the transformation that has occurred since autism first became recognized. Originally, the study of autism was primarily confined to the fields of psychology, and then genetics. Today, much of the research has moved into neurology, and Dr. Grandin shares some of the more exciting discoveries, including the use of neuroimaging. This echoes the comments of Dr. Daniel Amen, a psychiatrist specializing in the use of SPECT imaging, which can be of profound use when trying to diagnose a wide variety of neurological disorders, whom I previously interviewed. For example, Dr. Amen’s work shows that most cases of depression and anxiety are really symptoms of underlying brain dysfunction, commonly caused by toxic exposures, and/or a combination of poor lifestyle habits such as a poor diet and lack of exercise.

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Are you opposed to fracking? Then you might just be a terrorist

From North America to Europe, the ‘national security’ apparatus is being bought off by Big Oil to rout peaceful activism

Excerpt

Over the last year, a mass of shocking evidence has emerged on the close ties between Western government spy agencies and giant energy companies, and their mutual interests in criminalising anti-fracking activists.
Activists tarred with the same brush

In late 2013, official documents obtained under freedom of information showed that Canada’s domestic spy agency, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), had ramped up its surveillance of activists opposed to the Northern Gateway pipeline project on ‘national security’ grounds. The CSIS also routinely passed information about such groups to the project’s corporate architect, Calgary-based energy company, Enbridge.

The Northern Gateway is an $8 billion project to transport oil from the Alberta tar sands to the British Columbia coast, where it can be shipped to global markets. According to the documents a Canadian federal agency, the National Energy Board, worked with CSIS and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to coordinate with Enbridge, TransCanada, and other energy corporations in gathering intelligence on anti-fracking activists – despite senior police privately admitting they “could not detect a direct or specific criminal threat.”

Now it has emerged that former cabinet minister Chuck Strahl – the man appointed by Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper to head up the CSIS’ civilian oversight panel, the Security Intelligence Review Committee (SIRC) – has been lobbying for Enbridge since 2011.

But that’s not all. According to CBC News, only one member of Strahl’s spy watchdog committee “has no ties to either the current government or the oil industry.” For instance, SIRC member Denis Losier sits on the board of directors of Enbridge-subsidiary, Enbridge NB, while Yves Fortier, is a former board member of TransCanada, the company behind the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

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Further to last message re. conflict of interest at the ACCC

An expanded pdf version of the last message has been added to my website. the url is: http://www.emfacts.com/download/ACCC_conflict_of_interest_.pdf

Title: Conflict of interest in the ACCC and its possible affect on Tasmania’s energy future

Excerpt:

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is the independent Commonwealth statutory authority whose role is to enforce the Competition and Consumer Act of 2010 and a range of additional legislation, promoting competition, fair trading and regulating national infrastructure for the benefit of all Australians. The ACCC is closely allied with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), Australia’s national energy market regulator with the AER’s staff, resources and facilities are provided by the ACCC. Besides recently recommending the privatization of Australia Post, Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC has recommended the sell-off of all state-owned energy companies. As for the justification of a wide ranging government sale of assets Sims claimed it “ensures productivity and the greatest benefit”.
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A potential conflict of interest at the ACCC?

COMMENTARY

January 8, 2014

ACCC Chairman recommends that Australia sell off its government owned assets – including energy

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is an independent Commonwealth statutory authority whose role is to enforce the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 and a range of additional legislation, promoting competition, fair trading and regulating national infrastructure for the benefit of all Australians. The ACCC is closely allied with the Australian Energy Regulator (AER), Australia’s national energy market regulator with the AER’s staff, resources and facilities are provided by the ACCC. Besides recommending the privatization of Australia Post, Rod Sims, chairman of the ACCC is also pushing for the sell-off of all state-owned energy companies. As for the justification of a wide ranging government sale of assets Sims claims it “ensures productivity and the greatest benefit”. Greatest benefit to whom I wonder?

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A really dumb smart idea: 4G Smart Trench Coat Tells You When It’s Raining

Progress in technical fields has been enormous and we’ve come to rely on it in our day-to-day lives, so much so that we apparently need technology to tell us it’s raining outside. Techies have developed a coat that comes laden with a built-in 4G data connection, smart phone charger and a weather app that tells us it’s raining outside.

The folks at Motiif have designed this sleek, waterproof coat and advertised it as the “Smart Trench Coat”. They call the complex coat simply, “M.”

The data connection to the coat will come through Karma’s pay-as-you-go network. It comes with 1GB of free data per month for the first three months. But after three months, your coat will require a $14 monthly subscription to keep giving you 1GB of data. (For the really dumb consumer it even comes with a weather app that tells the wearer when it’s raining !)
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