People’s Economic Summit

By Betsey Piette
New York
Workers World
Published Jun 7, 2009

Gathering under a banner stating, “Another World is Urgently Needed—But We Must Fight for It!” more than 200 community, labor, youth, immigrant rights, housing, health care and social justice activists met on May 31 in Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza for the People’s Economic Summit.

Major Victory for Ivory Coast's Rainforests as Oil Palm Successfully Resisted

Rainforest Portal

Finally the oil palm scourge threatening primary rainforests and life giving ecosystems worldwide faces a setback as local protests are again successfully supported internationally by Ecological Internet, Rainforest Rescue and others.

We Can't Be Trapped by History

Peter Richards, Inter Press Service

President Barack Obama had promised that his administration would be different. His, he said, would be a listening, caring one, even though like previous United States leaders, he came to the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago bearing gifts - no doubt hoping for support for his new initiatives...

Article on Null Physics from Wikibin

The Null Physics theory is a cosmological model developed as an alternative to current models such as the Big Bang theory and Steady State theory. Unlike other theories, Null Physics begins by deriving why the universe exists in order to eliminate the numerous numbers of constants that are necessary in order to support other cosmology theories. The Null Physics theory’s primary assertion is that the universe has always been in existence; therefore, the universe never had an origin.

This theory has recently been released and is under review by a number of members of the scientific community...

http://wikibin.org/articles/null-physics.html

Chill Your Power Bill

by Carl Pope
Sierra Magazine
March/April 2009

Retrofitting America could jump-start our economy...

...Quite simply, we need to rebuild America. We need to retrofit our entire housing stock, and in a hurry. Economically it makes sense. Most older buildings could halve their energy consumption with improvements that pay for themselves. Homeowners and small-business owners ought to be able to call a toll-free number to arrange for an energy audit and the necessary retrofit work. Their utility bills would decrease, and half the savings could go to repaying their loans. GreenSaver, a nonprofit in Toronto, has embraced this concept and is already making money; Berkeley, California, is letting citizens who install solar power systems pay for them over 20 years through their property taxes.

Happily, this prescription is no longer being promoted solely by the Sierra Club and a handful of progressive cities and states: President Barack Obama himself has embraced the vision described here. His first economic recovery package emphasized retrofitting public buildings--it's easy and fast. This will jump-start the green building industry by requiring worker training and new factories to make energy-efficient windows, insulation, furnaces, and air conditioners. Local and state governments will see their operating costs plummet (utility bills are often their second-biggest expense after salaries) and could repay the loans with the savings.

And once we finish with public buildings, we will have the infrastructure in place to rebuild the rest of the country. Every year the federal government gives out $5 billion to help poor people pay their utility bills; why not spend $100 billion, once, to insulate and retrofit homes to slash power bills permanently? (continued)


http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200903/create.aspx