Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Mexican chief hopes Republicans change on climate

Mexican President Felipe Calderon says he can understand why U.S. voters in an economic crisis turned to the opposition party, but he hopes the Republicans will eventually accept the need to protect the planet's climate for "new generations." (Click on image for larger pictures)

"I hope they can realize sooner or later how important it is for the future," Calderon said Monday.

At the same time, in an implicit criticism of China, the Mexican leader also spoke of poorer nations taking a "radical" position against any legally binding commitments to rein in their emissions of carbon dioxide and other industrial, transport and agricultural gases blamed for global warming, something he said Mexico is willing to do.

Calderon met with The Associated Press annual negotiating conference of parties to the 193-nation U.N. climate treaty.

Mexican warships patrolled off the beaches as Calderon's government, in a bloody struggle with drug cartels, threw a thick security cordon around the sprawling hotel zone in this Caribbean resort for the two weeks of talks.

The diplomatic effort to impose stronger controls on global warming gases has been stymied in recent years by friction between the two biggest emitters, China and the United States.

The U.S. has long refused to join the rest of the industrialized world in the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 climate treaty adjunct that mandated modest emissions reductions by richer nations. The Americans complained it would hurt their economy and it exempted such emerging economies as China and India.

The Chinese, for their part, have resisted pressure from the U.S. and others in recent years to take on binding commitments not to reduce, but to limit the growth in their emissions, saying they were still too poor to risk slowing down their economy. (Right: who signed Kyoto; click on picture for larger image)

The election of a Republican majority in the House of Representatives in the Nov. 2 elections has made it all but impossible for at least two years that any U.S. legislation would pass to cap carbon emissions, essential for drawing other nations into a new, more stringent pact to succeed Kyoto, which expires in 2012.

Many Republicans dismiss scientific evidence of global warming, and fought against Democrat-sponsored energy legislation the past two years.

Asked about the impact of the U.S. November election on global climate efforts, Calderon said it was difficult to comment on a neighbor's internal affairs, but "the economic crisis in the United States was a setback to the quality of life for millions and millions of Americans, and it is a very important factor in the opinion of the people. I can understand that."

But, in an echo of President Barack Obama, Calderon, a former Mexican energy secretary, said political leaders must explain better to their people that a climate-friendly transformation from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy would actually boost their economies.

"We need to persuade people that we are going to help them to recover the economy, to recover their jobs and at the same time we need to take action in favor of new generations, and probably they can find their new jobs in this new green economy," he said.

Asked whether he believed bigger developing nations, such as Mexico, would ever join with industrial nations in a new binding treaty on climate, Calderon said Mexico "has the will" to do it - on condition it's done on the basis of "common but differentiated responsibilities," climate treaty language taken to signify that poorer countries would not be required to actually roll back emissions, but only to institute other controls.

But he cited "other countries, especially big emitters, that express the radical position that they will not accept by any means any kind of binding commitments."

Is China among them? "It could be China, and other countries," he replied.

But he quickly added that "in my experience, the Chinese government is starting to take action in terms of these issues, particularly in terms of the energy efficiency program, very aggressive."

Calderon, Mexico's president for the past four years, was animated and engaged in a 40-minute interview on the climate crisis. He's expected to take a personal hand next week in trying to resolve disputes over secondary treaty issues debated here,while the world waits for an end to the gridlock on a new global accord to ward off the worst of climate change.

He lamented that the "big players" are stalling progress for everybody else, and said others "need to start already on what is possible."

As an example, he cited his government's soon-to-be-announced plan to replace traditional incandescent light bulbs with new energy-saving bulbs.

Source:
Washington Post,
"Mexican chief hopes Republicans change on climate", by Charles Haney of AP, accessed November 30, 2010

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, December 1, Morning 

“Thou hast made summer and winter.” - Psalm 74:17

My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to his Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in his dealings with his own well-beloved Son.
Winter in the soul is by no means a comfortable season, and if it be upon thee just now it will be very painful to thee: but there is this comfort, namely, that the Lord makes it. He sends the sharp blasts of adversity to nip the buds of expectation: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes over the once verdant meadows of our joy: he casteth forth his ice like morsels freezing the streams of our delight. He does it all, he is the great Winter King, and rules in the realms of frost, and therefore thou canst not murmur. Losses, crosses, heaviness, sickness, poverty, and a thousand other ills, are of the Lord’s sending, and come to us with wise design. Frosts kill noxious insects, and put a bound to raging diseases; they break up the clods, and sweeten the soul. O that such good results would always follow our winters of affliction!

How we prize the fire just now! how pleasant is its cheerful glow! Let us in the same manner prize our Lord, who is the constant source of warmth and comfort in every time of trouble. Let us draw nigh to him, and in him find joy and peace in believing. Let us wrap ourselves in the warm garments of his promises, and go forth to labours which befit the season, for it were ill to be as the sluggard who will not plough by reason of the cold; for he shall beg in summer and have nothing.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, December 1, Morning 

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 30, Evening

“Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels.”
- Revelation 12:7

War always will rage between the two great sovereignties until one or other be crushed. Peace between good and evil is an impossibility; the very pretence of it would, in fact, be the triumph of the powers of darkness. Michael will always fight; his holy soul is vexed with sin, and will not endure it. Jesus will always be the dragon’s foe, and that not in a quiet sense, but actively, vigorously, with full determination to exterminate evil. All his servants, whether angels in heaven or messengers on earth, will and must fight; they are born to be warriors-at the cross they enter into covenant never to make truce with evil; they are a warlike company, firm in defence and fierce in attack. The duty of every soldier in the army of the Lord is daily, with all his heart, and soul, and strength, to fight against the dragon.
The dragon and his angels will not decline the affray; they are incessant in their onslaughts, sparing no weapon, fair or foul. We are foolish to expect to serve God without opposition: the more zealous we are, the more sure are we to be assailed by the myrmidons of hell. The church may become slothful, but not so her great antagonist; his restless spirit never suffers the war to pause; he hates the woman’s seed, and would fain devour the church if he could. The servants of Satan partake much of the old dragon’s energy, and are usually an active race. War rages all around, and to dream of peace is dangerous and futile.

Glory be to God, we know the end of the war. The great dragon shall be cast out and for ever destroyed, while Jesus and they who are with him shall receive the crown. Let us sharpen our swords to-night, and pray the Holy Spirit to nerve our arms for the conflict. Never battle so important, never crown so glorious. Every man to his post, ye warriors of the cross, and may the Lord tread Satan under your feet shortly!

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 30, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Monday, November 29, 2010

Experts claim 2006 climate report plagiarized

A pivotal 2006 congressional report that raised questions about the validity of global warming research was partly based on material copied from textbooks, Wikipedia and the writings of one of the scientists criticized in the report, plagiarism experts say.

A report by George Mason University statistician Edward Wegman (right)
criticized earlier research led by scientist Michael Mann that said global temperatures were highest in the last century than the previous 1,000 years.

But according to plagiarism experts, 'significant' sections of the 91-page report were lifted from 'textbooks, Wikipedia and the writings of one of the scientists criticized in the report'.

The Wegman report called into question Michael Mann's so-called 'hockey stick' graph which suggested a rapid rise in recent global temperatures.

The study was lauded as 'independent, impartial, expert' work and helped shape the
US's policy on climate change but its credibility has now been called into question.

The allegations come as some in Congress call for more investigations of climate scientists like the one that produced the Wegman report.
"It kind of undermines the credibility of your work criticizing others' integrity when you don't conform to the basic rules of scholarship," Virginia Tech plagiarism expert Skip Garner said.

"The report was integral to congressional hearings about climate
scientists," says Aaron Huertas of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, D.C. "And it preceded a lot of conspiratorial thinking polluting the public debate today about climate scientists."

But in March, climate scientist Raymond Bradley (right) of the University of
Massachusetts asked GMU, based in Fairfax, Va., to investigate "clear plagiarism" of one of his textbooks.

Bradley says he learned of the copying on the Deep Climate website and through a year-long analysis of the Wegman report made by retired computer scientist John Mashey of Portola Valley, Calif. Mashey's analysis concludes that 35 of the report's 91 pages "are mostly plagiarized text, but often injected with errors, bias and changes of meaning." Copying others' text or ideas without crediting them violates universities' standards, according to Liz Wager of the London-based Committee on Publication Ethics.

Allegations under review

"The matter is under investigation," says GMU spokesman Dan Walsch
by e-mail. In a phone interview, Wegman said he could not comment at the university's request. In an earlier e-mail Wegman sent to Joseph Kunc of the University of Southern California, however, he called the plagiarism charges "wild conclusions that have nothing to do with reality."

The plagiarism experts queried by USA TODAY disagree after viewing the Wegman report:
  • "Actually fairly shocking," says Cornell physicist Paul Ginsparg by e-mail. "My own preliminary appraisal would be 'guilty as charged.'

  • "If I was a peer reviewer of this report and I was to observe the paragraphs they have taken, then I would be obligated to report them," says Garner of Virginia Tech, who heads a copying detection effort. "There are a lot of things in the report that rise to the level of inappropriate."

  • "The plagiarism is fairly obvious when you compare things side-by-side," says Ohio State's Robert Coleman, who chairs OSU's misconduct committee.
As an example, one section of the Wegman report reads: 'The average width of a tree ring is a function of many variables including the tree species, tree age, stored carbohydrates in the tree, nutrients in the soil, and climatic factors.'

A book by Prof Bradley, meanwhile, states: 'The mean width of a ring in any one tree is a function of many variables, including the tree species, tree age, availability of stored food within the tree and of important nutrients in the soil, and a whole complex of climatic factors.'
The report was requested in 2005 by Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas (left), then the
head of the House energy committee. Barton cited the report in an October letter to The Washington Post when he wrote that Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann's work was "rooted in fundamental errors of methodology that had been cemented in place as 'consensus' by a closed network of friends."

The Wegman report criticized 1998 and 1999 reports led by Michael
Mann (Bradley was a co-author) that calculated global temperatures over the last millennium. It also contained an analysis of Mann's co-authors that appears partly cribbed from Wikipedia, Garner says.

Lisa Miller, a spokeswoman for Barton, reiterated the congressman's support of the Wegman report on Monday, saying it "found significant statistical issues" with climate studies.

A 2006 report by the National Research Council (NRC), which examines scientific disputes under a congressional charter, largely
validated Mann, Bradley and the other climate scientists, according to Texas A&M's Gerald North, the panel's head. The NRC report found that Wegman report-style criticisms of the type of statistics used in 1998 and 1999 papers were reasonable but beside the point, as many subsequent studies had reproduced their finding that the 20th century was likely the warmest one in centuries.

In a 2007 presentation at the university, report co-author Yasmin Said of GMU said that a Barton committee staffer, Peter Spencer, provided the background material for the report. "Although Dr. Said's presentation seemed to imply that we were being coached by the
Republicans by being given only their selected materials to look at, this was not true," Wegman said in response to a USA TODAY freedom-of-information act request.

In an updated response that he authorized on Monday, Wegman said, "In fact, when we had our initial interview with Peter Spencer, he made it very clear that the Committee wanted our opinion as statisticians as to the correctness of the mathematics used to develop the Hockey Stick (the 1999 and 1998 papers), and he explicitly told us that they wanted the truth as we saw it."

Wegman added, "I will say that there is a lot of speculation and
conspiracy theory in John Mashey's analysis which is simply not true... These attacks are unprecendented in my 42 years as an academic and scholar. We are not the bad guys and we have never intended that our Congressional testimony was intended to take intellectual credit for any aspect of paleoclimate reconstruction science or for any original research aspect of social network analysis."

Information not forthcoming

The Wegman report called for improved "sharing of research materials, data and results" from scientists. But in response to a request for
materials related to the report, GMU said it "does not have access to the information." Separately in that response, Wegman said his "email was downloaded to my notebook computer and was erased from the GMU mail server," and he would not disclose any report communications or materials because the "work was done off-site," aside from one meeting with Spencer.
"It's nothing personal. I don't want these guys fired or anything," Bradley says. "They should just retract or withdraw the report as you would any scientific publication that has these sort of problems."
Source:
USA Today,
"Experts claim 2006 climate report plagiarized", by Dan Vergano, accessed November 25, 2010
DailyMail, "Influential climate change report 'was copied from Wikipedia'" , accessed November 25, 2010

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 30, Morning 

“And Amaziah said to the man of God, But what shall we do for the hundred talents which I have given to the army of Israel? And the man of God answered, The Lord is able to give thee much more than this.” - 2 Chronicles 25:9

A very important question this seemed to be to the king of Judah, and possibly it is of even more weight with the tried and tempted O Christian. To lose money is at no times pleasant, and when principle involves it, the flesh is not always ready to make the sacrifice. “Why lose that which may be so usefully employed? May not the truth itself be bought too dear? What shall we do without it? Remember the children, and our small income!” All these things and a thousand more would tempt the Christian to put forth his hand to unrighteous gain, or stay himself from carrying out his conscientious convictions, when they involve serious loss. All men cannot view these matters in the light of faith; and even with the followers of Jesus, the doctrine of “we must live” has quite sufficient weight.
The Lord is able to give thee much more than this is a very satisfactory answer to the anxious question. Our Father holds the purse-strings, and what we lose for his sake he can repay a thousand-fold. It is ours to obey his will, and we may rest assured that he will provide for us. The Lord will be no man’s debtor at the last. Saints know that a grain of heart’s-ease is of more value than a ton of gold. He who wraps a threadbare coat about a good conscience has gained a spiritual wealth far more desirable than any he has lost. God’s smile and a dungeon are enough for a true heart; his frown and a palace would be hell to a gracious spirit. Let the worst come to the worst, let all the talents go, we have not lost our treasure, for that is above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Meanwhile, even now, the Lord maketh the meek to inherit the earth, and no good thing doth he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 30, Morning 

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 29, Evening

“Spices for anointing oil.” - Exodus 35:8

Much use was made of this anointing oil under the law, and that which it represents is of primary importance under the gospel. The Holy Spirit, who anoints us for all holy service, is indispensable to us if we would serve the Lord acceptably. Without his aid our religious services are but a vain oblation, and our inward experience is a dead thing. Whenever our ministry is without unction, what miserable stuff it becomes! nor are the prayers, praises, meditations, and efforts of private Christians one jot superior. A holy anointing is the soul and life of piety, its absence the most grievous of all calamities. To go before the Lord without anointing is as though some common Levite had thrust himself into the priest’s office-his ministrations would rather have been sins than services. May we never venture upon hallowed exercises without sacred anointings. They drop upon us from our glorious Head; from his anointing we who are as the skirts of his garments partake of a plenteous unction. Choice spices were compounded with rarest art of the apothecary to form the anointing oil, to show forth to us how rich are all the influences of the Holy Spirit. All good things are found in the divine Comforter. Matchless consolation, infallible instruction, immortal quickening, spiritual energy, and divine sanctification all lie compounded with other excellencies in that sacred eye-salve, the heavenly anointing oil of the Holy Spirit. It imparts a delightful fragrance to the character and person of the man upon whom it is poured. Nothing like it can be found in all the treasuries of the rich, or the secrets of the wise. It is not to be imitated. It comes alone from God, and it is freely given, through Jesus Christ, to every waiting soul. Let us seek it, for we may have it, may have it this very evening. O Lord, anoint thy servants.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 29, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Warning over desertification

Forestry experts warned degraded grasslands are likely to speed up the processes of soil erosion and desertification, feeding the sandstorms that usually sweep North China in the spring.

"Overgrazing causes about 90 percent of grassland erosion,
extending from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to the arid reaches of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region," Zhang Xinshi (right), professor of the Institute of Botany at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Friday at the Sino-German expert consultation on climate change and combating desertification project in Beijing.

"Erratic rainfall coupled with serious desertification; these may both
be the 'root cause' of the problem," added Dr Zhang Qianggong, research assistant at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Institute of the China Academy of Sciences. He expressed that as the Qinghai-Tibet plateau is situated in the middle to upper reaches of the troposphere, the atmospheric conditions are severely unstable which allows sand and dust to enter the atmosphere and is having far-reaching effects.

In addition, the large shifting sand dunes and desertification of the
land of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau also account for the increased sand and dust levels in the atmosphere. Now there are large and active sand dunes at the headlands of the Brahmaputra and its tributary valleys, the Yellow river and the Yangtze. Moreover, the area of desertification of the land has increased dramatically.

Restoring grasslands and controlling desertification have become an important part of China's fight against climate change, said Liu Tuo, director-general of the State Forestry Administration's national bureau to combat desertification.

While grasslands cover more than 40 percent of China, comprising about 400 million hectares, growing urbanization and overgrazing are encroaching on and damaging the country's green areas.

China already suffers from severe desertification (left), with about 2.6 million square kilometers of land - or more than 25 percent of the country's total land area - affected by the process, according to the latest statistics from the forestry administration.

It is estimated that desertification poses a threat to 400 million people who live in arid regions of China, which cover more than 33 percent of the country.

Zhang said sandstorms (right) follow a general route in China from the
northwest to the southeast of the country.

Scientists found that sandstorms form above the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau from December to March every year, before gradually moving to the north, Shanghai Morning Post reported earlier this month.

The newspaper quoted scientists from the Chinese Academy of
Sciences as having said that the plateau is likely to succumb to desertification if no effective measures are taken to halt the process, especially with less rain and rising temperatures in the area.

The average temperature in China has risen 1.1 degrees over the past five decades, while there has been a corresponding rise of 0.77 degrees on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the same period, according to Yang Weixi, chief engineer of the national bureau to combat desertification.

With the rising temperatures, the glacial area has contracted in western China and is currently 5.5 percent smaller than in the 1960s,
Yang said.

Since the 1980s, the country's glaciers have lost nearly 587 billion cubic meters of water capacity, comparable to 10 times the annual runoff from the Yangtze River, he said.

There is expected to be a water shortage of about 20 billion cubic meters in western China by 2030, said Jiang Youxu, a scientist with the Research Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection at the Chinese Academy of Forestry.

Source:
China.org
, "Warning over desertification", accessed November 24, 2010
The Daily Planet, "Sandstorms on the plateau", accessed November 24, 2010

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 29, Morning 

“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people ... Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” - Leviticus 19:16, 17

Tale-bearing emits a threefold poison; for it injures the teller, the hearer, and the person concerning whom the tale is told. Whether the report be true or false, we are by this precept of God’s Word forbidden to spread it. The reputations of the Lord’s people should be very precious in our sight, and we should count it shame to help the devil to dishonour the Church and the name of the Lord. Some tongues need a bridle rather than a spur. Many glory in pulling down their brethren, as if thereby they raised themselves. Noah’s wise sons cast a mantle over their father, and he who exposed him earned a fearful curse. We may ourselves one of these dark days need forbearance and silence from our brethren, let us render it cheerfully to those who require it now. Be this our family rule, and our personal bond-SPEAK EVIL OF NO MAN.

The Holy Spirit, however, permits us to censure sin, and prescribes the way in which we are to do it. It must be done by rebuking our brother to his face, not by railing behind his back. This course is manly, brotherly, Christlike, and under God’s blessing will be useful. Does the flesh shrink from it? Then we must lay the greater stress upon our conscience, and keep ourselves to the work, lest by suffering sin upon our friend we become ourselves partakers of it. Hundreds have been saved from gross sins by the timely, wise, affectionate warnings of faithful ministers and brethren. Our Lord Jesus has set us a gracious example of how to deal with erring friends in his warning given to Peter, the prayer with which he preceded it, and the gentle way in which he bore with Peter’s boastful denial that he needed such a caution.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 29, Morning 

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 28, Evening

“Seeking the wealth of his people.” - Esther 10:3

Mordecai was a true patriot, and therefore, being exalted to the highest position under Ahasuerus, he used his eminence to promote the prosperity of Israel. In this he was a type of Jesus, who, upon his throne of glory, seeks not his own, but spends his power for his people. It were well if every Christian would be a Mordecai to the church, striving according to his ability for its prosperity. Some are placed in stations of affluence and influence, let them honour their Lord in the high places of the earth, and testify for Jesus before great men. Others have what is far better, namely, close fellowship with the King of kings, let them be sure to plead daily for the weak of the Lord’s people, the doubting, the tempted, and the comfortless. It will redound to their honour if they make much intercession for those who are in darkness and dare not draw nigh unto the mercy seat. Instructed believers may serve their Master greatly if they lay out their talents for the general good, and impart their wealth of heavenly learning to others, by teaching them the things of God. The very least in our Israel may at least seek the welfare of his people; and his desire, if he can give no more, shall be acceptable. It is at once the most Christlike and the most happy course for a believer to cease from living to himself. He who blesses others cannot fail to be blessed himself. On the other hand, to seek our own personal greatness is a wicked and unhappy plan of life, its way will be grievous and its end will be fatal.
Here is the place to ask thee, my friend, whether thou art to the best of thy power seeking the wealth of the church in thy neighbourhood? I trust thou art not doing it mischief by bitterness and scandal, nor weakening it by thy neglect. Friend, unite with the Lord’s poor, bear their cross, do them all the good thou canst, and thou shalt not miss thy reward.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 28, Evening

On this site you can also find: Encouragements for Christian / Christian encouragements / Encouragements Quotes / Poem encouraging believers / Christian encouragement quotes / simple Christian sermons on encouragement / christian encouragements / biblical sermon on encouragement / Christian bookmark templates / 2010 Christian calendar template / Free printable Bible quotes / Free encouraging sermons / Biblical verse of encouragement for the believers and sermons / Free Christian encouraging images / Free christian encouraging pictures /  Christian encouragements phrases

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Indonesia's billion-dollar forest deal in danger

Greenpeace on Tuesday warned that a billion-dollar deal between Norway and Indonesia to cut carbon emissions from deforestation is in danger of being hijacked by timber and oil palm companies.

The environmental group said "notorious industrial rainforest destroyers" such as palm oil and pulp producers intended to manipulate the funds to subsidize further conversion of natural forests to plantations.

The allegations came in a new Greenpeace report called "REDD Alert: Protection Money", expressing doubts about Indonesia's plans to use a
UN-backed scheme to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD).

It said Indonesia's greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction proposals "may
create perverse incentives to clear forests and peatlands, create opportunities for corruption... and actually drive an increase in GHG emissions".

Under a REDD scheme announced in May, Norway has agreed to contribute up to a billion dollars to help preserve Indonesia's forests, partly through a two-year moratorium on new clearing of natural forests and peatlands from 2011.

Indonesia is the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, due mainly to rampant deforestation by the palm oil and paper industries, fueled by corruption.

"Expansion plans show that these sectors intend to utilize the Indonesian government's ambiguous definitions of forests and degraded land to hijack the funds and use them to subsidize ongoing conversion of natural forests to plantations," the group said in a statement.

The industries' current expansion plans -- which have support within some government ministries -- seek to treble pulp and paper production by 2025 and double palm oil production by 2020, the report said.

"This expansion, coupled with weak definitions for degraded land in Indonesia, could see REDD funds which are designed to support protection of Indonesia's forests and peatlands actually being used to support their destruction," it added.

The areas earmarked included 40 percent of Indonesia's remaining natural forest -- an area the size of Norway and Denmark combined.

It also risked up to 80 percent of the country's remaining peatland --
which stores massive amounts of carbon -- and nearly 50 percent of the remaining forested orangutan habitat in Kalimantan, on Borneo island.

The forest and peatland carbon at risk amounted to four years? worth of global greenhouse emissions, the report said.

Greenpeace applauded Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono's "progressive vision" on the need to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

But Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner Bustar Maitar said his plans were being "systematically undermined by the influence of the palm oil and pulp and paper industry".

With increased focus on productivity and higher yields, the palm and paper industry could reach its production targets without further deforestation, he added.

The report also criticized Indonesia for bundling plantation activity up with REDD-funded schemes to "rehabilitate" degraded or "idle" land, leading to forest replacement.
"Consequently, international REDD funds earmarked for forest protection may actually be used to subsidize their destruction, with significant climate, wildlife and social costs," it said.
Source:
Google Newsfeed
, "Indonesia's billion-dollar forest deal in danger", accessed November 24, 2010

Seizures Triggered by Strawberry Syrup


Fig 1A (modified from Blauwblomme et al., 2010). Top: coronal and lateral representation of the stereotaxic implantation scheme. Bottom: reflex seizure showing ictal onset in the right insula and secondary spreading in the hippocampus.

Reflex epilepsy is a rare neurological condition in which seizures are triggered by a specific type of sensory input (Xue & Ritaccio, 2006). The most common reflex seizures are induced by light, but other reported triggers have included reading, Mah-Jong, music, the voice of a specific television performer,1 bathing, orgasm, and eating.

The present case involved a 28 year old woman who had refractory partial seizures triggered by eating, which were preceded by an unpleasant taste in her mouth. Strawberry syrup ingestion was noted to be the easiest way to induce seizures. Nine years earlier, she had surgery to remove a vascular malformation from the right frontal operculum/insular cortex. This region contains gustatory cortex encoding for taste. Because of the uncontrolled nature of her seizures, the surgical team implanted intracranial electrodes to determine the focus of abnormal EEG activity.
Two reflex seizures to strawberry syrup intake were recorded, which started with loss of consciousness, followed by facial flushing, oro-alimentary automatisms, repeated swallowing and sialorrhoea [excessive salivation], and ended with postictal confusion and amnesia. From a visual analysis of SEEG (Fig. 1A), seizures began in the anterior inferior portion of the insula with a high-amplitude spike followed by a low-voltage high-frequency discharge with secondary spreading to the hippocampus and then to the temporal neocortex.
In the early ictal state, fast gamma band activity (30-120 Hz) showed increased power in the anterior inferior portion of the insula, accompanied by decreased power in the hippocampus.

Functional MRI was also performed during strawberry syrup intake to map gustatory cortex, and another session recorded simultaneous resting state fMRI/EEG activity.


Fig. 1C (modified from Blauwblomme et al., 2010). Overlay of fMRI and SEEG results. Left: crosshairs on the dorsolateral fronto-parietal region. Right: crosshairs on the anterior insula.

The authors reported three major findings from the fMRI/EEG mapping (see Fig 1C):
  1. The dorsolateral anterior parietal cortex showed pre-ictal γ [gamma] power decrease (red) and belonged to the fMRI gustatory network (yellow). In the vicinity, the dorsolateral posterior frontal cortex showed preictal γ power increase (magenta) and interictal fMRI/EEG activations (green).

  2. Early ictal γ power increase (cyan) showed up in the inferior/middle part of the anterior insula, which also responded to taste fMRI (yellow). A preictal increase in γ power (magenta) was observed in the upper part of the anterior insula.

  3. Hippocampus showed early ictal decrease in γ activity (blue).


The surgical team identified the specific region of the insula that was the problematic seizure focus (the middle short gyrus in cyan), and removed it. Two years later, the patient remains seizure-free, and presumably can enjoy strawberry syrup once again.


Footnote

1 The identity of said performer was revealed to be Mary Hart, host of Entertainment Tonight. From Science News (Vol. 140, No. 3, p. 45):
...the woman had seizures only while watching "Entertainment Tonight."

Systematic testing ruled out all but one of the cast members -- cohost Mary Hart, whose voice pattern consistently caused the seizures. [Dr. Venkat] Ramani prescribed anticonvulsant drugs and advised the patient not to watch the program. In the two years since, she has remained "relatively seizure free," he reports.

References

Blauwblomme, T., Kahane, P., Minotti, L., Grouiller, F., Krainik, A., Vercueil, L., Chabardes, S., Hoffmann, D., & David, O. (2010). Multimodal imaging reveals the role of γ activity in eating-reflex seizures. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry DOI: 10.1136/jnnp.2010.212696

Xue LY, Ritaccio AL. (2006). Reflex seizures and reflex epilepsy. Am J Electroneurodiagnostic Technol. 46:39-48.

Short encouraging devotional or articles or writing by CH Spurgeon for encouragements

Believer Encouragements

Taken from CH Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 28, Morning

“For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth.” - 3 John 1:3

The truth was in Gaius, and Gaius walked in the truth. If the first had not been the case, the second could never have occurred; and if the second could not be said of him the first would have been a mere pretence. Truth must enter into the soul, penetrate and saturate it, or else it is of no value. Doctrines held as a matter of creed are like bread in the hand, which ministers no nourishment to the frame; but doctrine accepted by the heart, is as food digested, which, by assimilation, sustains and builds up the body. In us truth must be a living force, an active energy, an indwelling reality, a part of the woof and warp of our being. If it be in us, we cannot henceforth part with it. A man may lose his garments or his limbs, but his inward parts are vital, and cannot be torn away without absolute loss of life. A Christian can die, but he cannot deny the truth. Now it is a rule of nature that the inward affects the outward, as light shines from the centre of the lantern through the glass: when, therefore, the truth is kindled within, its brightness soon beams forth in the outward life and conversation. It is said that the food of certain worms colours the cocoons of silk which they spin: and just so the nutriment upon which a man’s inward nature lives gives a tinge to every word and deed proceeding from him. To walk in the truth, imports a life of integrity, holiness, faithfulness, and simplicity-the natural product of those principles of truth which the gospel teaches, and which the Spirit of God enables us to receive. We may judge of the secrets of the soul by their manifestation in the man’s conversation. Be it ours to-day, O gracious Spirit, to be ruled and governed by thy divine authority, so that nothing false or sinful may reign in our hearts, lest it extend its malignant influence to our daily walk among men.

Taken from Charles H Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, November 28, Morning

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