Steve Klein Weekly Update

UPDATES ARCHIVE FOR JANUARY 2007

Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 29, 2007

"Pink performs "Dear Mr President" Live in NYC. It's a controversial song from her new album that all people should hear." [Ed. Note: This writer has not heard a ballad like this since the early 70’s during the end of the Viet Nam War era!] link here For more, see items #11 & 12 below!

1. THERE IS AN AREA IN YOUR BRAIN WHERE YOU HAVE ALWAYS BEEN [WHATEVER YOU DESIRE]! "Damage to a coin-sized spot deep in the brain seems to wipe out the urge to smoke, a surprising discovery that may shed important new light on addiction. The research was inspired by a stroke survivor who claimed he simply forgot his two-pack-a-day addiction — no cravings, no nicotine patches, not even a conscious desire to quit. 'The quitting is like a light switch that went off,' said Dr. Antoine Bechara of the University of Southern California, who scanned the brains of 69 smokers and ex-smokers to pinpoint the region involved. 'This is very striking.' The finding, reported in Friday's [Jan. 26] edition of the journal Science, points scientists toward new ways to develop anti-smoking aids by targeting this little-known brain region called the insula. And it sparked excitement among addiction specialists who expect the insula to play a key role in other addictions, too...Why? The insula appears to be where the brain turns physical reactions into feelings, such as feeling anxious when your heart speeds up. When those reactions are caused by a particular substance, the insula may act like sort of a headquarters for cravings," quoting the AP on CBS News. [Ed. Note: This writer first heard JZ Knight describe this very phenomenon she discovered for herself four years ago and ever since, taught at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment open-to-the-public classes worldwide. link here ]
link here Please see the ScienceNow story and brain mapping here: link here You must be a subscriber to access the journal Science text on this story. Here is the abstract: link here .

2. NEW STUDY: “BRAIN DOOMS MOTION TO INCONSISTENCY” “If you've ever wondered why your golf swings, fastballs or free throws don't quite turn out the same way each time, even after years of practice, there is now an answer: It's mostly in your head. That's the finding of new research published in the Dec. 21 issue of the journal Neuron by electrical engineers at Stanford University. ‘The main reason you can't move the same way each and every time, such as swinging a golf club, is that your brain can't plan the swing the same way each time,’ says electrical engineering Assistant Professor Krishna Shenoy, whose research includes study of the neural basis of sensorimotor integration and movement control. He, postdoctoral researcher Mark Churchland and electrical engineering doctoral candidate and medical student Afsheen Afshar authored the study. It's as if each time the brain tries to solve the problem of planning how to move, it does it anew, Churchland says. Practice and training can help the brain solve the problem more capably, but people and other primates simply aren't wired for consistency like computers or machines. Instead, people seem to be improvisers by default. A major conclusion of the study, in fact, is that movement variability is not primarily a mechanical phenomenon, as had widely been thought. After looking at neural activity and muscle activity, the Stanford researchers concluded that less than half the reason for inconsistency in movement lies in the muscles. ‘This is the first study to successfully record neural activity during the planning period and link it on a trial-by-trial basis to performance during those trials,’ Churchland says,” quoting the Stanford Report. link here .

3. “HACKING THE HUMAN LIFE SPAN” “After three years researching a compound found in red wine called resveratrol, which has been shown to extend life and reduce disease in lab animals, he [Stuart Cracraft , an IT worker] began taking 50 milligrams a day… Hope for a fountain of youth may spring eternal, but these days it is surprisingly active among the ranks of highly educated and even scientifically trained professionals -- despite what experts say is a lack of compelling clinical evidence for any particular treatment. Inventor and artificial intelligence theorist Ray Kurzweil has promoted life extension for years, and revisited the theme in his latest books, Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever and The Singularity Is Near, When Humans Transcend Biology. PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel recently donated $3.5 million to the Methuselah Foundation, the longevity research organization created by Aubrey de Grey, a computer programmer who claims that humans could live for 1,000 years,” quoting WIRED News. link here .

4. "BATTERY BREAKTHROUGH?” “A secretive Texas startup developing what some are calling a "game changing" energy-storage technology broke its silence this week. It announced that it has reached two production milestones and is on track to ship systems this year for use in electric vehicles. EEStor's ambitious goal, according to patent documents, is to "replace the lectrochemical battery" in almost every application, from hybrid-electric and pure-electric vehicles to laptop computers to utility-scale electricity storage. The company boldly claims that its system, a kind of battery-ultracapacitor hybrid based on barium-titanate powders, will dramatically outperform the best lithium-ion batteries on the market in terms of energy density, price, charge time, and safety. Pound for pound, it will also pack 10 times the punch of lead-acid batteries at half the cost and without the need for toxic materials or chemicals, according to the company. The implications are enormous and, for many, unbelievable,” quoting Technology Review. link here .

5. “DATA STORAGE ON A PHOTON: SCIENTISTS SAY IT’S POSSIBLE” “Scientists are claiming a breakthrough in the ability to attach an image to a photon of light and retrieve it later. Scientists at the University of Rochester in New York used their college logo, consisting of a few hundred pixels, for the experiment and were able to attach the image to a single photon of light. The photon or pulse of light was slowed down 100 nanoseconds and compressed to 1% of its original length. The scientists claim that the technology could one day store tremendous amounts of information very densely… Previous optical buffering trials have found that most information carried by the light is lost. This latest achievement is important because engineers are trying to speed up computer processing and network speeds using light. Their systems slow down when they have to convert light to electronic signals to store information, even for a short while,” quoting TechWorld on ComputerWorld.
link here .

6. “HUNTING FOR PLANETS – ON YOUR PC” "Amateur astronomer William Bianco doesn't huddle over a backyard telescope to hunt for undiscovered planets. He logs onto his computer. Bianco, who was mesmerized by the intricacies of the universe as a young boy, is part of a growing online community that sifts through mountains of data collected by professional scientists in search of other worlds. While Bianco has yet to make a landmark discovery, he savors the rush of teetering on the cutting edge of research. Never before have amateur astronomers had so much unfettered access to celestial data once available only to scientists with huge telescopes. In the latest frontier of astronomy, professionals are increasingly enlisting the aid of novices with personal computers to help pore through images and data - all in pursuit of the next great breakthrough," quoting CBS News.
link here .

7. PICTURES FROM GROUND LEVEL & SPACE OF ERUPTING VOLCANO "On January 8, 2007, the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat erupted, shooting a cloud of volcanic ash and gas 8 kilometers (5 miles) into the sky. According to the Associated Press, the director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory described this eruption as a warning of possible future activity. The volcano’s lava dome continued growing as it had since December 24, 2006, and authorities worried that, because the January 8 eruption did not collapse the lava dome, pressure building inside the dome could cause an explosive eruption," quoting NASA.
link here See this AP picture from gorund level: link here .

8. EMERGENCY & DISASTER INFORMATION SERVICES MAP This is an interesting map showing all the hazardous occurrences in the US over the last 24 hours: earthquakes, airplane accidents, storms, fires, biohazard events, chemical accidents, explosions and a lot of other information. Data collecting and monitoring by: National Association of Radio-Distress Signalling and Infocommunications, Havaria Emergency and Disaster Information Services Budapest Hungary. link here .

9. GLOBAL WAMRING MAKES FRONT PAGES LAST WEEK A. “GLOBAL WARMING: THE FINAL VERDICT” "Global warming is destined to have a far more destructive and earlier impact than previously estimated, the most authoritative report yet produced on climate change will warn next week. A draft copy of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, obtained by The Observer, shows the frequency of devastating storms - like the ones that battered Britain last week - will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread; oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more prevalent. The impact will be catastrophic, forcing hundreds of millions of people to flee their devastated homelands, particularly in tropical, low-lying areas, while creating waves of immigrants whose movements will strain the economies of even the most affluent countries. 'The really chilling thing about the IPCC report is that it is the work of several thousand climate experts who have widely differing views about how greenhouse gases will have their effect…This is a very conservative document - that's what makes it so scary,' said one senior UK climate expert," quoting UK's The Observer. link here The Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) can be accessed here: link here then click the red PLAY box in the upper-center of the page.
B. US CHIEF EXECUTIVES URGE BUSH TO TACKLE GLOBAL WARMING” “Some of corporate America's largest companies, including Alcoa, General Electric and DuPont, urged US President George W. Bush and Congress to act swiftly to tackle global warming. The chief executives of nine US corporations, who formed the United States Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), displayed a united front as they called on Bush to support mandatory caps on businesses' greenhouse gas emissions. ‘It's time for the nation's political leaders to come together and act,’ Duke Energy chief executive Jim Rogers told reporters at a press conference at the National Press Club here,” quoting Agence France Presse.
link here And: link here
C. “CLIMATE CHANGE UNITES SCIENCE AND RELIGION” “Some leading scientists and evangelical Christian leaders have agreed to put aside their fierce differences over the origin of life and work together to fight global warming. Representatives met recently in Georgia and agreed on the need for urgent action. Details on the talks will be disclosed in Washington on Wednesday [Jan. 17]. ‘Whether God created the Earth in a millisecond or whether it evolved over billions of years, the issue we agree on is that it needs to be cared for today,’' said Rich Cizik, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, which represents 45,000 churches. Eric Chivian, director of the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, agreed, saying: ‘Scientists and evangelicals have discovered that we share a deeply felt common concern and sense of urgency about threats to life on Earth and that we must speak with one voice to protect it,’” quoting the AP. link here Here is the Statement of the Evangelical Climate Initiative:
link here
D. RAMTHA TEACHINGS ON ENVIRONMENT DECADES AGO NOW PROVEN The Ramtha School of Enlightenment Newsletter was released last week with direct quotes from the mid 80’s about the environmental changes in the days to come and what is happening today. [Ed. Note: This newsletter’s quotes from the 1980’s gave me chills when read with the corresponding news stories listed of the 2000’s. What were once very controversial teachings by Ramtha have now been proven as fact.] link here
E. These sites provide more information: Union of Concerned Scientists: link here Earth Communications Office: link here You can take action to stop global warming by signing this petition: link here .

10. "CAUGHT DAYDREAMING? BLAME BRAIN'S SETTINGS" "Daydreaming seems to be the default setting of the human mind, and certain brain regions are devoted to it, U.S. researchers reported on Friday [Jan. 19]. When people are given a specific task to do, they focus on that task, but then other brain regions get busy during down time, the researchers report in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. 'There is this network of regions that always seems to be active when you don’t give people something to do,' psychologist Malia Mason of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital said in a telephone interview," quoting Reuters.
link here You must be a subscriber to access the journal Science text on this story. Here is the summary:
link here .

11. WHAT DO OUR LEADERS KNOW THAT WE DON’T KNOW??? This writer recommended the book Wild Fire a few weeks ago as excellent reading [get yours here: link here , then type in Wild Fire]. This is a “fictional” story of how those inside the US government will plot to destroy two American cities with nuclear devices (S. F. & L. A.) to further their desires to get the public to require an immediate retaliation against the Muslim world in the Middle East, – a modern day: ”Wag The Dog” scenario [ link here ]. Last week, “Echoing the plotline of a popular television show [24], Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House and a potential Republican candidate for president in 2008, warned attendants at a conference that Israel and the United States could face a potential "second Holocaust" in the future, and that if two or three cities were destroyed the two democracies may devolve into ‘greater dictatorial societies,’” quoting Raw Story.
link here Mr. Gingrich directly mentions San Francisco in his speech, “Similarly the US needs to consider what policies it would advance if in twenty four hours, Atlanta, Boston and San Francisco were destroyed. These threats will become even more imminent in two or five years time.” [Ed. Note: What do our leaders know that we don’t know.] Full text of Mr. Gingrich’s Israel speech:
link here
THIS IS A MUST VIEW VIDEO: That should be seen by all Americans, stating the last time Congress declared war was December 7, 1941. The US Constitution says only Congress can declare war: “FOR TOO LONG the full length 90 min. version of this documentary has been unavailable. Only a 20 minute version has been circulating. Here now as of January 10, 2007 this failure of access ends. Bill Moyers, the respected TV journalist, analyzes the threats to constitutional government posed by an illegitimate network operating from within the government but using secrecy to set itself up outside of the government / peoples oversight. All this back in 1987. This documentary gives a fascinating overview of what has actually happened in the last 50 years regarding the CIA and the Cold War (including Iran, Guatamala (sic), Cuba, Vietnam and Chile). The foundation for the massive push towards greater secrecy in government going on today. Posted by Robert Carrillo Cohen, producer of Hacking Democracy," quoting Google. link here .

12. DOES ANYONE CARE ABOUT THE U. S. CONSTITUTION ANYMORE? This is a thought provoking op-ed contributed by Garry Wills in the New York Time titled: “At Ease: Mr. President.” “WE hear constantly now about “our commander in chief.” The word has become a synonym for “president.” It is said that we “elect a commander in chief.” It is asked whether this or that candidate is “worthy to be our commander in chief.” But the president is not our commander in chief. He certainly is not mine. I am not in the Army…The president is not the commander in chief of civilians. He is not even commander in chief of National Guard troops unless and until they are federalized. The Constitution is clear on this: “The president shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States...That title is rarely — more like never — heard today. It is just “commander in chief,” or even “commander in chief of the United States.” This reflects the increasing militarization of our politics. The citizenry at large is now thought of as under military discipline.”
link here And, former Presidential Candidate George McGovern gave a speech last week at the National Press Club deserving attention and review: link here .

RAMTHA STUDENT'S NEWS A. New requirements for international students to remain current are in effect beginning this year and will match USA students’ requirements: one 8-day Retreat anywhere in the world and one 5-day Follow-up anywhere in the world - a true international academy! link here Duetsch: link here Espanol: link here Italiano: link here Francais: link here Japanese: link here B. “Knowledge precedes experience. You cannot create or experience anything that is not first properly mapped in the brain, and there is a precise formula for doing this. If you understand the 'Observer Effect' in quantum physics, then you will know the one piece of information human beings need to know to be free. You can learn how to access the part of the brain that is connected to the quantum field that was once called 'The Kingdom of Heaven' with Special Guest Faculty member for the SHOCKphilosophy Institute of Advanced manifestation, Greg Simmons from the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, who has spent 23 years in a school of ancient wisdom learning these principles,” quoting Rev. Philippe Matthews SHOCKphilosophy Institute of Advanced Manifestation site, who now has Master Greg’s talk available for sale as an MP3 download. link here
Read the January issue of the Bleeping Herald & Will Arntz’s byline: link here .

LOCAL NOTES Covered on the Yelm Community Blog last week: A. Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” allowed in Thurston County Schools (Jan. 21) B. Chelan Wal-Mart allowed to open despite judge’s ruling (Jan. 22) C. Public Notices now posted on City of Yelm’s website (Jan. 23) D. Follow-up to NVN story: “Yelm Water Concerns Reach Boil” (Jan. 24) E. Record tie for high temperature on Jan. 23 (Jan 25) F. City open House for Steven’s St Extension Project (Jan. 25) G. “Take Back Washington Waters” (Jan. 26) H. Check your city’s water quality (Jan. 27)
link here .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK "A time comes when silence is betrayal." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American Civil Rights Leader Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City.
link here .

Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com .

Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 22, 2006

This writer was first educated about the wisdom of storing food & water and to prepare to take care of myself and family by my teacher Ramtha over 20 years ago. In those days and for many years that followed, that was controversial advice. Now, this same information is being broadcast to the world by former Presidents Bill Clinton & George Herbert Walker Bush (Bush 41) in joint public-service commercials touting the new government website: Ready.gov link here
The Ready.gov Kit to which the Presidents refer has exactly the contents I learned from Ramtha in the late 80's & heard referenced again in recent weeks. Keep one in your vehicle, as well. link here
Here is the information on the ad itself: link here

1. ARE YOU PREPARED? All homes should have these books: “No Such Thing as Doomsday - How to Prepare for Earth Changes, Power Outages, Terrorism, War and Other Threats.” by Philip L. Hoag. 2001 Revised Edition. "This book is your key to preparing for and dealing with the uncertainties of the future. It will help you understand potential threats in the near future and show you how to maneuver around these threats. No Such Thing as Doomsday shows how to prepare for food shortages; prepare for prolonged power failures; deal with breakdowns in law and order; deal with the psychological aspects of disaster; deal with medical emergencies when help in not available and how to protect you and your family against nuclear and biological warfare, plus much, much more.....,” quoting the RSE website. Get yours here. link here
"Basic Preparedness - A "How To" Guide for Preparedness and Self-Reliant Living" "This is an Emergency Preparedness Manual that teaches the reader How - To prepare for most anything that threatens their Survival. The idea of preparedness is spreading rapidly among those waking up to the reality of today's chaotic economic, geologic, political and environmental climate. There are many reference books available that deal with specific areas of preparedness for an uncertain future. That's the problem. There are too many books. Most of us are busy, and reading time is precious, this is why Basic Preparedness was written," quoting the Survival Center. Order here:
link here .

2. HAVE YOU CONSIDERED A PORTABLE WATER PURIFIER? “Remember the difference between a filter and a purifier. While both remove bacteria from water particles using a mechanical process of pumping then forcing water through a filtering device, only purifiers can render viruses inactive using either an additional chemical or electrostatic process… SteriPEN water purifiers meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for microbiological water purifiers and have been independently tested by the Oregon Health Sciences University and the universities of Arizona and Maine. For complete test results visit www.steripen.com. Imported,” quoting REI. [Ed. Note: This writer never leaves home without one.] link here .

3. “NEW SOURCE OF STEM CELLS DISCOVERED” "Scientists on Sunday [Jan. 7] reported the discovery of a new source of human stem cells that have the capability to develop into many different types of cells, including muscle, bone, fat, blood vessel, nerve and liver cells. These stem cells, found in amniotic fluid, could one day lead to a readily available supply of stem cells that don't come with the ethical problems surrounding embryonic stem cells. ‘These cells are easier to get, and from acceptable medical procedures [for example, amniocentesis] that are done on a routine basis’ said study senior author Dr. Anthony Atala, director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University School of Medicine...The discovery of the cells, known as amniotic fluid-derived stem (AFS) cells, is reported in the Jan. 7 issue of Nature Biotechnology," quoting HealthDay News in Forbes. link here .

4. “EVEN IF THEY’RE OFF, CELLPHONES ALLOW THE FBI TO LISTEN IN” “It should come as no surprise that cellphone calls may be tapped by law enforcement. But authorities also can use cellphones to eavesdrop on suspects, even when the devices are off. The FBI converted the Nextel cellphones of two alleged New York mobsters into "roving bugs," microphones that relayed conversations when the phones seemed to be inactive, according to recent court documents. Authorities won't reveal how they did this. But a countersurveillance expert said Nextel, Motorola Razr and Samsung 900 series cellphones can be reprogrammed over the air, using methods meant for delivering upgrades and maintenance. It's called ‘flashing the firmware,’ said James Atkinson, a consultant for the Granite Island Group in Massachusetts. ‘These are very powerful phones, but all that power comes with a price. By allowing ring tones and stock quotes and all this other stuff, you also give someone a way to get into your phones,’ Atkinson said. Privacy advocates called such use of roving bugs intrusive and illegal. Webcams and microphones on home computers soon may be fair game for remote-control gumshoes, too, they said. ‘This is a kind of surveillance we've never really seen before. The government can and will exploit whatever technology is available to achieve their surveillance goals. This is of particular concern, considering the proliferation of microphones and cameras in the products we own,’ said Kevin Bankston, a lawyer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation,” quoting the Seattle Times. Full story:
link here .

5. “HUMANCAR, INC.” SAYS IT ALL “The FM-4 v1.0 HumanCar (Fully Manual 4 Passenger) 'geometry prototype' has been so successful that no changes have been required. Several downhill time trial runs have had the car above 60mph + with incredible handling and BodySteer characteristics. The steel tube space frame chassis features a bi-lateral human power interface and front passenger body-steering capabilities. The vehicle is also designed to follow transportation efficiency guidelines such as the SyncGuideway specification on the menu as well. HumanCar, Inc. has been creating human powered vehicles for over 30 years. Our current vehicle is the first four-passenger LMV (Low Mass Vehicle) car ready for production... The Humancar fits onto the guideway and is also powered by it. What would the result be? The result would be healthy people, zero oil dependence and a lot less gridlock! HumanCar has the Patent/Trademark IP and physical application prototype finished and the vehicle is ready for implementation. Learn how the HumanCar can be applied to all kinds of uses," quoting HumanCar, Inc. link here .

6. BLACK HOLE FOUND WHERE FEW THOUGHT ANY COULD EXIST "Astronomers have found a black hole where few thought they could ever exist, inside a globular star cluster. The finding has broad implications for the dynamics of stars clusters and also for the existence of a still-speculative new class of black holes called 'intermediate-mass' black holes. The discovery is reported in the current issue of Nature. Tom Maccarone of the University of Southampton in England leads an international team on the finding, made primarily with the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton satellite. Globular clusters are dense bundles of thousands to millions of old stars, and many scientists have doubted that black holes could survive in such an exclusive environment,” quoting the European Space Agency (ESA). link here .

7. BRITISH TEEN BECOMES YOUNGEST TO SAIL ATLANTIC SOLO "A British teen became the youngest person to sail solo across the Atlantic Ocean, completing a 3,500-mile voyage Wednesday when he reached the Caribbean island of Antigua. Mike Perham, 14, waved his fist triumphantly to a small crowd of Antiguan officials and supporters as he docked his 28-foot sailboat outside St. John's on the southeastern side of the island," quoting the AP. link here Mike's site: link here .

8. “STUDY: LOUISIANA SLIPPING SLOWLY INTO GULF” “A new report by scientists studying Louisiana’s sinking coast says the land here is not just sinking, it’s sliding ever so slowly into the Gulf of Mexico. The new findings may add a kink to plans being drawn up to build bigger and better levees to protect this historic city and Cajun bayou culture. If the land is shifting — even slightly — engineers may need to take that into consideration as they build new levees and draw lines across the coast to identify areas that should and shouldn’t be protected," quoting the AP. link here .

9. RED WINE’S ACTIVE INGREDIENT NOW IN CAPSULE FORM! WHY REMOVE THE ENJOYMENT VIA A CAPSULE? “Red wine molecules are known for their health-promoting properties. Longevinex®; Longevinex® is the first dietary supplement to capture and preserve these antioxidant red wine molecules in an airtight liquid capsule (Licaps®, exclusive license from Capsugel®). This product has been specially produced in a nitrogen (oxygen-free) environment to prevent spoilage. A natural preservative from rice bran is added for increased stability. Longevinex® is the first dietary supplement to capture and preserve these antioxidant red wine molecules in an airtight liquid capsule (Licaps®, exclusive license from Capsugel®),” quoting Longevinex. [Ed. Note: A resveratrol supplement will not be as enjoyable a red wine.] link here And the Longevinex® homepage: link here .

10. “WE’RE WIRED TO CONNECT – OUR BRAINS ARE DESIGNED TO BE SOCIAL” “Have you ever wondered why a stranger’s smile can transform your entire day? Why your eyes mist up when you see someone crying, and the sight of a yawn can leave you exhausted? Daniel Goleman, Ph.D., has wondered too, and just as he helped revolutionize our definition of what it means to be smart with his 1995 blockbuster, Emotional Intelligence, the two-time Pulitzer nominee and former science reporter for The New York Times has dropped a bombshell on our understanding of human connection in his startling new book, Social Intelligence (Bantam). For the first time in history, thanks to recent breakthroughs in neuroscience, experts are able to observe brain activity while we’re in the act of feeling—and their findings have been astonishing. Once believed to be lumps of lonely gray matter cogitating between our ears, our brains turn out to be more like interlooped, Wi-Fi octopi with invisible tentacles slithering in all directions, at every moment, constantly picking up messages we’re not aware of and prompting reactions—including illnesses—in ways never before understood,” quoting AARP Magazine. link here .

11. "THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS: THEY OWN YOUR BODY" "A few years ago, UCLA geneticist Wayne Grody was working hard to help deaf children. Grody was conducting clinical tests on Connexin 26, a human gene linked to deafness, hoping it would lead to more effective treatment for kids. Then one day he received a letter from Athena Diagnostics, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company. Grody says the letter informed him that Athena owned a patent for the Connexin 26 gene -- and he could no longer perform tests on it himself. Instead, he would have to pay thousands of dollars up-front and send future gene samples to Athena for testing. He had no choice. ‘I had to stop,’ Grody says. ‘The cost was out of sight.’ The clinical tests ground to a halt. It may sound bizarre, but it's true: A company can actually "own" human genes. That's the brave new world of gene patents, where big biotech firms are claiming rights to our genetic blueprints and guarding them with teams of lawyers. And the result, say scientists like Grody, is stalling vital medical research, perhaps even delaying lifesaving cures," quoting Readers Digest. link here .

12. THOUSANDS OF BIRDS PUT ON SHOW IN AREA NORTH OF GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE ”Thousands of birds have taken up residence at a North San Rafael [CA.] graveyard along Highway 101, putting on spectacular cloud-like displays that have been drawing onlookers for weeks... Huge Hitchcock-esque flocks of birds this winter have raised eyebrows around the county, said Melanie Piazza, director of animal care at San Rafael-based WildCare... Congregating is common, but it usually happens in the open countryside rather than urban areas, said Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon Society. The show will likely last until the breeding season begins, sometime in early spring," quoting the Marin (County) Independent Journal. link here .

RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS -See all of the Beginner's Retreats scheduled throughout the world in 2007!
link here -Congratulation to Ugly Betty executive producer Salma Hayek for her show winning a Golden Globe:
link here -Gotta get your hands on this book as supplies are dwindling: “Science You-nified! Physics and Physiology for Masters in the Making” Suzanne Nichols [author] A science curriculum inspired by the teachings of Ramtha. This volume is designed to support Middle School level students, parents, and teachers who wish to supplement their own and/or their children’s or students' traditional education with the teachings of Ramtha as presented in an educational format and context,” quoting the RSE website. link here Type in “You-nified” .

LOCAL NOTES A. In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr’s Birthday (Jan. 15) B. Study: Puget Sound's rising waters will flood Olympia (Jan. 16) C. Reminder: Ed Wiltsie's Earth Changes talk (Jan. 17) C. Yelm Mayor to operate machinery to turn-over dirt for new golf clubhouse (Jan 18) D. Dept. of Ecology holding public session Jan. 29 on Yelm's Thompson Creek issues (Jan. 19) E. Yelm Prarie Arts Assn. Open Mike nights announced (Jan. 20)
link here .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Be the change that you want to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi (1969-1948) Indian statesman .

Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com
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Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 15, 2007

To pause in remembrance of a great American on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in America:

"At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. When notified of his selection, he announced that he would turn over the prize money of $54,123 to the furtherance of the civil rights movement," quoting the Nobel Prize website. link here
"At the White House Rose Garden on November 2, 1983, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday to honor King. It was observed for the first time on January 20, 1986 and is called Martin Luther King Day. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year, around the time of King's birthday [January 15, 1929]. In January 17, 2000, for the first time, Martin Luther King Day was officially observed in all 50 U.S. states. This is one of three federal holidays dedicated to an individual American and the only one dedicated to an African American," quoting Wikipedia. link here

1. ANOTHER GREAT AMERICAN INFORMING PEOPLE TO 'WAKE-UP' Martin Luther King, Jr. fought injustice, prejudice and slavery of the mind for all Americans, black and white alike. Now, Aaron Russo is calling for Americans to wake-up and see the big picture of their own enslavement by putting their heads in the sand and ignorance. This is an eye-opening interview with film producer Aaron Russo for all to hear on this day honoring Martin Luther King, Jr. This interview is a must to hear the "behind-the-scenes" reasons for the war in Iraq, the Federal Reserve, the IRS, Women's Liberation Movement, ID chips and the deletion of the U. S. Constitution.

THIS IS THE MOST BANG-ON INTERVIEW I HAVE EVER HEARD ON ALL OF THESE ISSUES IN ONE SITTING!

"-Are you aware by May of 2008 the law will require you to carry a national identification card? -Are you aware that there are plans being developed to have all Americans embedded with a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) computer chip under their skin so they can be tracked wherever they go? -Are you aware the Supreme Court has ruled that the government has no authority to impose a direct unapportioned tax on the labor of the American people, and the 16th Amendment does not give the government that power? -Are you aware that computer voting machines can be rigged and there is no way to ensure that vote is counted?" quoting Russo's website.
Go to Aaron Russo's DVD website "America: From Freedom to Fascism"
link here Click on the play buttom under the third picture, the one titled See Director Aaron Russo's interview with the Conscious Media Network with Aaron Russo's picture. And, Aaron Russo's DVD "America: From Freedom to Fascism"
link here .

2. “SCIENTISTS FIND EXTRATERRESTRIAL GENES IN HUMAN DNA” “A group of researchers working at the Human Genome Project indicate that they made an astonishing scientific discovery: They believe the so-called 97% non-coding sequences in human DNA is no less than genetic code of extraterrestrial life forms. The non-coding sequences are common to all living organisms on Earth, from moulds to fish to humans. In human DNA, they constitute larger part of the total genome, says Prof. Sam Chang, the group leader. Non-coding sequences, originally known as "junk DNA", were discovered years ago, and their function remained a mystery. The overwhelming majority of Human DNA is “off-world” in origin. The apparent “extraterrestrial junk genes” merely “enjoy the ride” with hard working active genes, passed from generation to generation,” quoting The Canadian. link here .

3. “HUBBLE MAKES 3D DARK MATTER MAP” “Astronomers have mapped the cosmic "scaffold" of dark matter upon which stars and galaxies are assembled. Dark matter does not reflect or emit detectable light, yet it accounts for most of the mass in the Universe. The study, published in Nature journal, provides the best evidence yet that the distribution of galaxies follows the distribution of dark matter. This is because dark matter attracts ‘ordinary’ matter through its gravitational pull. Scientists presented details of their research during a news conference here at the 209th meeting of the American Astronomical Society (AAS) in Seattle, Washington," quoting the BBC. link here .

4. “COMET DUST YIELDS SURPRISES ABOUT UNIVERSE” “University of Washington astronomer Don Brownlee expected surprises from the pinch of comet dust collected by the Stardust spacecraft. But he didn't foresee such a shake-up. The tiny specks have changed ideas about the birth of our solar system and offered hints about the origin of life on Earth… Since the capsule parachuted to the Utah desert in January, nearly 200 researchers have employed some of the world's most powerful scientific tools to probe the particles. Their findings are laid out in seven reports in today's issue of the journal Science. Among them is the discovery of organic molecules, very similar to the amino acids that are the building blocks of proteins. The compounds contain a biologically useful form of nitrogen, which would have been important to early microbes,” quoting the Seattle Times. link here .

5. “U.S. IN 2006 SAW WARMEST YEAR ON RECORD” ”Last year was the warmest on record in the continental United States, the federal government reported Tuesday [Jan. 9], attributing the temperatures to the natural El Nino cycle as well as to long-term warming linked to human emissions of greenhouse gases. The findings are preliminary, and a final review later this year could still put 2006 just below the previous record set in 1998, the National Climatic Data Center reported. But in any case, the two years are pretty much a tie in terms of hot ones since recordkeeping began in 1880. Both years averaged around 55 degrees Fahrenheit — 2.2 degrees above the 20th century mean," quoting MSNBC. link here
“2007 WILL BE WARMEST ON RECORD, EXPERTS PREDICT” "A resurgent El Nino and persistently high levels of greenhouse gases are likely to make 2007 the world's hottest year ever recorded, Britain's weather agency said Thursday [Jan. 4]. The Meteorological Office calculated a 60 percent probability that 2007 would break the record set in 1998, which was 1.20 degrees Fahrenheit over the long-term average. 'This new information represents another warning that climate change is happening around the world,' agency consultant Katie Hopkins said in a statement," quoting MSNBC. link here .

6. “NEW STUDY SAYS CLIMATE CHANGE ALREADY AFFECTING WASHINGTON” "From more devastating wildfires to decreased snow in the mountains, climate change is already affecting Washington's economy, a new report says. And as temperatures continue to increase, the changes will only become more dramatic: Low-lying areas such as the Skagit River delta will flood as sea levels rise, more people will get asthma as pollution worsens and the state's dairy cows will produce less milk in hotter weather, to cite a few of the report's warnings. The report was commissioned by the state departments of Ecology and Community Trade and Economic Development, and was researched and written by Climate Leadership Initiative at the University of Oregon, with guidance from Washington economists and scientists," quoting the AP. link here .

7. ENERGY BILLS GOING DOWN IN JAPAN – A COUNTRY WITH NO OIL “In many countries, higher oil prices have hurt pocketbooks and led to worries about economic slowdowns. But here in Japan, Kiminobu Kimura, an architect, says he has not felt the pinch. In fact, his monthly energy bill is lower than a year ago. A reason is his new home fuel cell, a machine as large and quiet as a filing cabinet that sits in front of his house and turns hydrogen into electricity and cold water into hot — at a fraction of regular utility costs. But even with the futuristic device, which is available for now only in Japan, Mr. Kimura has not let up on the other shortcuts that leave him unscathed by last year’s oil squeeze,” quoting the New York Times. link here .

8. "GM LOOKS TO ELECTRIC CAR TO SPARK REVIVAL" "The world's biggest carmaker, General Motors, has come up with an electric idea to spark its flagging fortunes: a mass-market battery-powered car called the Volt, which it believes could finally tempt motorists away from the internal combustion engine. Although the car is still at a conceptual stage, GM said the Volt would contain a plug-in battery capable of powering it for 40 miles. Unlike previous attempts at electric cars, it will also have an electric generator on board able to produce more energy when the battery runs low," quoting The UK's Guardian. link here
And, “Who Killed The Electric Car?” chronicles a former GM electric car that got alot more mileage than 40 miles to the plug-in. link here
THE ELECTRIC CAR IS STILL ALIVE & MOVING "Plug In America advocates the use of plug-in cars, trucks and SUVs powered by cleaner, cheaper, domestic electricity to reduce our nation's dependence on petroleum and improve the global environment," quoting their site. link here .

9. DOES YOUR CAR HAVE CRUISE CONTROL? READ THIS. When your vehicle’s cruise control is engaged and your car begins to hydroplane, meaning your tires lose contact with the pavement, your car will accelerate to a higher rate of speed and the vehicle will accelerate. See the details on Urban Legends. link here .

10. "MEET MUSICAL SAVANT REX" [AT AGE 10] "The human mind can be mystifying in its capacity to accommodate both disability and genius in the same person, as 60 Minutes found in a little boy named Rex. Rex was born blind, with brain damage so severe it looked as though he would never walk, talk, or do much of anything. And yet he has a talent few of us can imagine. To understand Rex’s brain would be to unlock mysteries of language, memory, and music. Correspondent Lesley Stahl has followed Rex and his mother, Cathleen, for several years now; she first met them in 2003", "quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. [Ed. Note: Be sure to click to video on the right side of the page.] link here .

11. ALASKA MARINE HIGHWAY GREAT WAY TO VISIT ALASKA “In September 2005, the Alaska Marine Highway was named an All-American Road by the Federal Highway Administration…The Alaska Marine Highway or the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) is a ferry service operated by the government of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Alaska Marine Highway System operates along the southcentral coast of the state, the eastern Aleutian islands and the Inside Passage of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. Ferries serve communities in Southeastern Alaska that have no road access, and the vessels can transport people, freight, and vehicles,” quoting Wikipedia. link here You can board the vessels in Bellingham, WA. Check out the official site: link here .

12. SEATTLE’S MAJOR AIRLINES PITCH IN FOR THOSE IN NEED NORTHWEST AIRLINES KIDCARES Sometimes a child's health depends on receiving medical treatment far from home. For many families, transportation costs can seem overwhelming. That's why we created the KidCares medical travel program in 1999. With KidCares, donated WorldPerks® miles are used to provide free air travel for a child, accompanied by one parent or guardian, to obtain needed medical treatment. …The Northwest Airlines KidCares medical travel program provides air travel to children age 18 and younger who are unable to receive treatment in their home area” quoting Northwest Airlines KidCares. link here
“AirCares works with charitable organizations to help support their travel needs.” Northwest Airlines AirCares partners: link here
ALASKA AIRLINES “Make-A-Wish Grants wishes to children with serious illnesses or injuries. When Make-A-Wish® volunteers ask a child for his or her favorite wish, very often the response begins with "I wish to go to....," quoting Alaska Airlines. link here Alaska’s Charity Miles Partners: link here Alaska’s Make-A-Wish Plane:
link here .

RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS Ramtha's School of Enlightenment (RSE) has an ambitious 2007 schedule to take the teachings to the world:
A. Beginner's & Advanced Retreats will be held in Mexico later this month:
link here
B. RSE is proudly offering the first-ever Beginner's Retreat in Western Canada, March 1-4 in Calgary, Alberta. This event is centrally located in Alberta and adjacent Calgary International Airport for those flying in from Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, Saskatoon, and other interior towns. link here
C. Then, RSE wings its way east to the Magic City bringing a Beginner's Retreat to Miami the following week, March 8-11 at the Radisson Hotel Miami. This event is centrally located and convenient to Miami International Airport for those flying in from Latin America, Tampa or Orlando & Dade/Broward/Palm Beaches participants. Spanish translation will be offered.
link here .

LOCAL NOTE Covered on the Yelm Community Blog last week A. Tax Dollars used to clean up dioxins found in Budd Inlet (Jan. 7) B. Rep. Tom Campbell requests assistance (Jan. 8) C. Oly Regional Airport to become Airlift NW base (Jan. 9) D. Yelm Cinemas announces 1st Indy film of 2007 (Jan. 10) E. Yelm approves funding Nisqually River Education Project (Jan. 10) F. Is Yelm Loop funding in jeopardy? (Jan. 11) H. Great night for comet viewing (Jan 12) I. Federal Way Schools ban Al Gore's film (Jan. 13) J. Does anyone care about Yelm's preferential treatment of a developer in water quest? (Jan. 14)
link here .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Self-reverence, self-knowledge, self-control; these three alone lead one to sovereign power.” Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom
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Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com
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Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 8, 2007

A few of you wrote to say that some KK stories lean to the negative side, rather than uplifting. That may be true, depending on your point of view, however, this writer looks at these articles as providing information. Armed with information, you, the reader, can then choose to do something about it – or not.

1. “THE END OF THE WEST AS WE KNOW IT?” “Every political, social, and economic system ever created has sooner or later encountered a challenge that its very nature has made it incapable of meeting… For market economies, and the Western model of democracy with which they have been associated, the existential challenge for the foreseeable future will be global warming. Other threats like terrorism may well be damaging, but no other conceivable threat or combination of threats can possibly destroy our entire system. As the recent British official commission chaired by Sir Nicholas Stern correctly stated, climate change ‘is the greatest and widest-ranging market failure ever seen.’ The question now facing us is whether global capitalism and Western democracy can follow the Stern report's recommendations, and make the limited economic adjustments necessary to keep global warming within bounds that will allow us to preserve our system in a recognizable form; or whether our system is so dependent on unlimited consumption that it is by its nature incapable of demanding even small sacrifices from its present elites and populations. If the latter proves the case, and the world suffers radically destructive climate change, then we must recognize that everything that the West now stands for will be rejected by future generations. The entire democratic capitalist system will be seen to have failed utterly as a model for humanity and as a custodian of essential human interests,” quoting this sobering International Herald Tribune article. link here .

2. “OCEANS OF THE WORLD IN EXTREME DANGER” “Oceanic problems once found on a local scale are now pandemic. Data from oceanography, marine biology, meteorology, fishery science, and glaciology reveal that the seas are changing in ominous ways. A vortex of cause and effect wrought by global environmental dilemmas is changing the ocean from a watery horizon with assorted regional troubles to a global system in alarming distress. According to oceanographers the oceans are one, with currents linking the seas and regulating climate. Sea temperature and chemistry changes, along with contamination and reckless fishing practices, intertwine to imperil the world’s largest communal life source...
In 2005, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory found clear evidence the ocean is quickly warming. They discovered that the top half-mile of the ocean has warmed dramatically in the past forty years as a result of human-induced greenhouse gases. One manifestation of this warming is the melting of the Arctic. A shrinking ratio of ice to water has set off a feedback loop, accelerating the increase in water surfaces that promote further warming and melting. With polar waters growing fresher and tropical seas saltier, the cycle of evaporation and precipitation has quickened, further invigorating the greenhouse effect. The ocean’s currents are reacting to this freshening, causing a critical conveyor that carries warm upper waters into Europe’s northern latitudes to slow by one third since 1957, bolstering fears of a shut down and cataclysmic climate change. This accelerating cycle of cause and effect will be difficult, if not impossible, to reverse.
Atmospheric litter is also altering sea chemistry, as thousands of toxic compounds poison marine creatures and devastate propagation. The ocean has absorbed an estimated 118 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide since the onset of the Industrial Revolution, with 20 to 25 tons being added to the atmosphere daily. Increasing acidity from rising levels of CO2 is changing the ocean’s PH balance.
Meanwhile, since its peak in 2000, the global wild fish harvest has begun a sharp decline despite progress in seagoing technologies and intensified fishing. So-called efficiencies in fishing have stimulated unprecedented decimation of sea life,” quoting Mother Jones of March/April 2006. [Ed. Note: This story was #3 on last week’s KK introduction on the "Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007"] link here The original Mother Jones story was titled “The Fate of the Ocean.” link here .

3. “TEN SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO GO GREEN” “Laurie David, who produced Al Gore's documentary about global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, says saving the planet isn't about everyone doing everything. ‘It's about everyone doing something,’ said David, who is also the author of ‘Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You’ and founder of the StopGlobalWarming.org Web site. ‘The impact of small actions by millions of people will be huge.’ Some scientists and climate models are predicting that unchecked human-caused global warming over the next century is expected to raise sea levels and cause extremes in temperatures. ‘The public is finally starting to get that if you drive a car, or do many other things, you're a carbon emitter - and you're contributing to the problem,’ David said. ‘The upside is that there's something that we can all do about it.’ David helps get her point across by talking about the way everyday household products harm the environment. ‘When I talk about toilet paper and paper towels, which are made of virgin wood, people gasp,’ David said. ‘I tell them, when a 100-year-old tree is cut down ... so that we can have disposable paper products, is this acceptable? Should we still be using virgin trees for this?’
The green solution: ‘If every American household changed just one roll of paper made with virgin wood to one recyclable post-consumer roll, half a million trees would still be standing.’ … Here are 10 things you can do in the new year to do your part for the environment, including some "go green" tips from David's Web site, link here ,” quoting the AP. link here .

4. NEW LAND MASS BIRTH WITNESSED IN SOUTH PACIFIC "A yacht sailing out of Vava'u motored into a strange "sea of stone" on August 12 [2006], and the following day its crew became possibly the first people to witness the birth of a new volcanic island that has been forming in Tonga. The crew of the yacht 'Maiken' have recorded their observations on a web blog along with photos of the pumice rafts that they came across a day out of Neiafu while sailing towards Fiji. After passing Tonga's Late island 'Maiken' crew member Haken reported seeing streaks of pumice floating in the water, then, 'We sailed into a vast, many miles wide, belt of densely packed pumice. We were going by motor due to lack of wind and within seconds 'Maiken' slowed down from seven to one knot. We were so fascinated and busy taking pictures that we plowed a couple of hundred meters into this surreal floating stone field before we realized that we had to turn back,'" quoting Tonga's Matangi Online edition. link here
Kleiner's Korner verified this story as true on Urban Legends: link here .

5. UFO SPOTTED OVER CHICAGO O'HARE INT'L AIRPORT BY UNITED AIRLINES EMPLOYEES/PILOTS "Federal officials say it was probably just some weird weather phenomenon, but a group of United Airlines employees swear they saw a mysterious, saucer-shaped craft hovering over O'Hare Airport last fall. The workers, some of them pilots, said the object didn't have lights and hovered over an airport terminal before shooting up through the clouds, according to a report in Monday's [January 1] Chicago Tribune...The FAA is not investigating, Cory said. United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said company officials don't recall discussing any such incident from Nov. 7," quoting the AP. [Ed. Note: These are trained, educated professionals that spotted the disc, and a group of them, as well. Note: Thanks to the Chicago Tribune's continued questions and Freedom of Information Act requests, this story finally broke almost 2 months after the incident, while the Federal government via the FAA washes its hands! Pilots are still reluctant to come forward when they see UFO's because of the way they are treated by the FAA]. link here And, the Chicago Tribune story: link here Be sure to click "Video: UFO over O'Hare Airport?" for the story from the Chicago Tribune reporter..

6. “67-YEAR-OLD MOTHER GIVES BIRTH TO TWINS” "A 67-year-old woman has given birth to twin sons in the northern city of Barcelona, a hospital official said. The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, gave birth Friday [December 29] by Caesarian section, according to an official at Sant Pau hospital who spoke on condition of anonymity because of hospital policy. The mother and twins all were doing well though the newborns were both in incubators, the official said," quoting the AP. link here .

7. “SCIENTISTS ANNOUNCE MAD COW BREAKTHROUGH” Scientists said yesterday that they have used genetic engineering techniques to produce the first cattle that may be biologically incapable of getting mad cow disease. The animals, which lack a gene that is crucial to the disease's progression, were not designed for use as food. They were created so that human pharmaceuticals can be made in their blood without the danger that those products might get contaminated with the infectious agent that causes mad co,” quoting the Washington Post. link here .

8. "THE ELEPHANT ORPHANAGE" "This story originally aired on April 9, 2006. Stories about an orphanage are bound to yank at your heartstrings. The one 60 Minutes is going to tell you about is no exception — even though many alumni of the orphanage have gone on to lead full and happy lives. All these orphans are from East Africa. They were all abandoned when they were very young, less than two years old — and they're all elephants. As correspondent Bob Simon reports, this orphanage is in Kenya, near Nairobi. It has been around almost 30 years. It's a large place. It would have to be," quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. [Ed. Note: Be sure to click to video on the right side of the page.] link here .

9. “‘LONGEVITIY GENE’ KEEPS BRAIN SHARP” “The gene variant that bestows long life also preserves the ability to think, learn and remember, a study of the very elderly reported. The study of people with an average age of 100 concluded that those with the so-called longevity gene were nearly three times as likely to have normal brain function as those without it. The study appeared in yesterday's edition [December 26, 2007] of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology… Some of the participants "had smoked, some had once been obese," said Barzilai, who is director of the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx. ‘There were no other environmental factors they had in common’ except this gene… He began studying and administering cognitive tests eight years ago to 158 people of Ashkenazi, or Eastern European, Jewish descent aged 95 years and older. Barzilai and other researchers also validated their findings using a group of 124 Ashkenazi Jews who were between age 75 and 85,” quoting Bloomberg News. link here
The abstract of the Neurology article: link here .

10. “MUSIC OF THE [BRAIN] HEMISPHERES” “Dr. Levitin beamed. ‘You hear only one note, and you already know who it is,’ he said. ‘So what I want to know is: How we do this? Why are we so good at recognizing music?’
This is not merely some whoa-dude epiphany that a music fan might have while listening to a radio contest. Dr. Levitin has devoted his career to exploring this question. He is a cognitive psychologist who runs the Laboratory for Music Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal, perhaps the world’s leading lab in probing why music has such an intense effect on us. ‘By the age of 5 we are all musical experts, so this stuff is clearly wired really deeply into us,’ said Dr. Levitin, an eerily youthful-looking 49, surrounded by the pianos, guitars and enormous 16-track mixers that make his lab look more like a recording studio. This summer he published ‘This Is Your Brain on Music’ (Dutton), a layperson’s guide to the emerging neuroscience of music," quoting the New York Times. link here .

11. MULTITASKING CAN LOWER IQ “People learn to multitask through necessity, usually while juggling work, family, and social interactions, but researchers from the University of California have found that multitasking can actually lower your IQ because the lack of focus prevents information from reaching the brain's memory stores,” quoting WOOD- TV 8 in Grand Rapids, MI. link here .

12. THIS IS A "MUST-READ" BOOK FOR ALL AMERICANS "Welcome to the Custer Hill Club—a men’s club set in a luxurious Adirondack hunting lodge whose members include some of America’s most powerful business leaders, military men, and government officials. Ostensibly, the club is a place to relax with old friends. But one fall weekend, the club’s Executive Board gathers to talk about the tragedy of 9/11—and finalize a retaliation plan, known only by its codename:Wild Fire.
That same weekend, a member of the Federal Anti-Terrorist Task Force is found dead. Soon it’s up to Detective John Corey and his wife, FBI Agent Kate Mayfield to unravel a terrifying plot that starts with the Custer Hill Club and ends with American cities locked in the crosshairs of a nuclear device. Corey and Mayfield are the only ones who can stop the button from being pushed, and global chaos from being unleashed... ," quoting the official website of author Nelson DeMille. [Ed. Note: Fiction???? I don't think so, as sometimes authors have to write fiction to share the truth without reprisals, IMHO. This writer read this book last weekend while on a trip to Houston. I could not put it down! If a nuclear device is ever detonated in an American city, this book describes how/why our own government will be involved. This book is also on audio CD and pre-packaged MP3 players. Remember, you will find this book under Fiction.]
link here Order yours through Ramtha's School of Enlightenment online store:
link here .

RAMTHA STUDENT NEWS Get your car & emergency backpacks at Yelm's own Survival Center. [Ed. Note: This writer purchased the 72-hour backpacks for our family.]
link here .

LOCAL NOTES Covered on Yelm's Community Blog last week were these stories: A. Former Drew Harvey Theater Artistic Director singing on national ABC-TV (Dec. 31) B. South Sound Seed Stewards Class (Jan.1) C. Residential burning now banned in towns less than 5,000 (Jan. 2) D. Ed Wiltsie's Earth Changes Talk rescheduled to Jan. 18 (Jan. 3) E. Free Mt. Rainier Glacier Water give-away at Survival Center (Jan. 4) F. One WA. town throws out Wal-Mart -- just before opening! (Jan. 5)
link here .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.” William James (1842-1910) Pioneering American psychologist and philosopher .

Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com
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Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 1, 2007

Dear Readers;

As 2006 comes to a close, here is a fascinating list of stories that were "under the radar" in 2006: link here
And the "Top 25 Censored Stories of 2007" many from both lists covered previously on the KK: link here
I wish you the best year yet. May your dreams for 2007 be experienced with joy, laughter, and love. Steve Klein

1. MIND OVER MATTER "Lynne Cox is an American woman who's among the best ocean swimmers of our time. But there's something else about her that you may find hard to believe. Science doesn't fully understand it, but she survives – she even thrives - in water that is cold enough to kill. It is so remarkable that researchers have been trying to figure out how she does it for 30 years. As correspondent Scott Pelley first reported in 2003, when you combine her unique talents with a stubborn streak, there is only one thing left to do - try to swim a mile in the coldest water on earth. In a world inhabited by penguins and seals, Cox decided to see whether she could survive swimming to Antarctica," quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. link here .

2."NEW YEAR’S UTOPIANISM NEEDED FAST” "Unbeknownst to many Americans, there is overwhelming consensus among scientists that we are very close to reaching a point of no turning back on global warming, which is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. We are approaching a point at which all of the following will become unavoidable: massive desertification, rising sea level, explosive growth of insect populations, widespread habitat destruction, mass extinctions, mass migrations (including of humans), the disappearance of sea life, and in all likelihood wars over drinking water that will make the wars over oil look civilized. These changes are likely to lead to human disease, starvation, and death on a scale that will dwarf the current reality, much less what Americans are currently able to imagine. The desperation and suffering involved, combined with the too-late awareness of the planet's fate, will almost certainly bring about a blossoming of religious and magical thinking that will make current American evangelists look reasonable....
This New Year's let's make a resolution together that we will accept the responsibility that has been thrust upon us. Resolved: We will treat global warming as a dire emergency and reverse the behaviors that cause it before the year is out," quoting AfterDowningStreet. link here .

3. “FOR THE FIRST TIME, AN INHABITED ISLAND HAS DISAPPEARED BENEATH RISING SEAS” “Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true. As the seas continue to swell, they will swallow whole island nations, from the Maldives to the Marshall Islands, inundate vast areas of countries from Bangladesh to Egypt, and submerge parts of scores of coastal cities," quoting UK's Independent. link here
SOUTH PACIFIC ATOLLS SINKING: link here
ALASKA TOWNS SINKING AS PERMAFROST MELTS "The last time chronic flooding forced this tiny Alaska village to relocate, sled dogs pulled the old church to its new home three miles away, far from the raging Ninglick River. That was in 1950 and life was simpler in Newtok, mostly a collection of traditional sod dwellings. Modern structures gradually took over the new site as the river again crept to the edge of the Yupik Eskimo community. Persistent erosion has eaten an average of 70 feet of bank a year and now melting permafrost is subsiding, further subjecting the village to severe flooding from intensifying storms. ‘This place is sinking,’ said Joseph Tommy, 48, who was born in Newtok. ‘If the erosion keeps on coming, we will be in a grave situation.’ So once again, Newtok must move, leaving residents and officials grappling with an unprecedented crisis that looms over scores of native villages along Alaska's increasingly battered western coast," quoting the AP. link here
ICE SHELF COLLAPSE SENDS CHILL [IN CANADA] "An ancient ice shelf has cracked off northern Ellesmere Island, creating an enormous 66-square-kilometre ice island and leaving a trail of icy blocks in its wake...The breakup was so powerful, earthquake monitors 250 kilometres away picked up the tremors as the 3,000- to 4,500-year-old shelf tore away from its fjord on Ellesmere. It broke up 16 months ago, but no one was present to see it. The scientists say they are only now making public details after piecing together what occurred using seismic monitors and Canadian and U.S. satellites. They say the ice shelf collapse, suspected to have been caused by global warming, is the biggest in Canada in 30 years and is indicative of the transformation under way on Ellesmere, Canada's most northern land mass," quoting CanWest News Service.
link here Ellesmere is Canada's northern-most Arctic Island and is adjacent northwestern Greenland. It is the world's tenth largest island: link here .

4. “ANTARCTIC OZONE LAYER 90 TO 99 PERCENT GONE” “A study released today shows just how dramatic the ozone loss in the Antarctic has been over the past 20 years compared to the same phenomenon in the Arctic. The study found "massive" and "widespread" localised ozone depletion in the heart of Antarctica's ozone-hole region, beginning in the late 1970s, but becoming more pronounced in the 1980s and '90s. The US government scientists who conducted the study said that there was an almost complete absence of ozone in certain atmospheric air samples taken after 1980, compared to earlier decades…Scientists have been tracking the expanding ozone hole over Antarctica for some 20 years now. In October, NASA scientists reported that this year's hole is the biggest ever, stretching over nearly 11 million square miles...The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, was based on more than 40 years' of ozone readings from polar observation stations and balloon-borne measuring mechanisms,” quoting Agence France-Presse. link here .

5. USA “DEMOCRATS TO USE OIL CASH FOR RENEWABLES” “House Democrats in the first weeks of the new Congress plan to establish a dedicated fund to promote renewable energy and conservation, using money from oil companies. That's only one legislative hit the oil industry is expected to take next year as a Congress run by Democrats is likely to show little sympathy to the cash-rich, high-profile business. quoting the AP. link here .

6. "IKE WAS RIGHT" "It’s not primarily about the oil; it’s much more about the military-industrial complex, the label employed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower 45 years ago when he warned of the dangers of 'a permanent arms industry of vast proportions.'…Yes, some, like Paul Wolfowitz, the genius who was the No. 2 in the U.S. Defense Department and has been rewarded for his leadership with appointment as head of the World Bank, did argue that Iraq's oil revenue would pay for our imperial adventure. A recent study by Nobel Prize-wining economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and Harvard University's Linda Bilmes marked that absurdity by estimating the true cost of the Iraq adventure to U.S taxpayers at a whopping $2.267 trillion, in excess of any cost borne by the Iraqis themselves. The big prize here for Bush's foreign policy is not the acquisition of natural resources or the enhancement of U.S. security, but rather the lining of the pockets of the defense contractors, the merchants of death who mine our treasury. But because the arms industry is coddled by political parties and the mass media, their antics go largely unnoticed. Our politicians and pundits argue endlessly about a couple of billion dollars that may be spent on improving education or ending poverty, but they casually waste that amount in a few days in Iraq. As Eisenhower warned: 'We should take nothing for granted, only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.... We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.' Too bad we no longer have leading Republicans, or Democrats, warning of that danger," quoting TruthDig. link here .

7. "FREE ENERGY IN SIGHT?" [PLEASE DO NOT LET ON TO BIG OIL!] This story was sent by a KK reader in the UK. Remember that many of Nikola Tesla's great inventions were squashed by JP Morgan and General Electric as they could not then control the power sources with his free-energy devices and having the public know of such. "‘We are issuing a challenge to the scientific community: Test our technology and report your findings to the world.’ The Steorn Challenge. Imagine a world with an infinite supply of free energy. An Irish company believes it has come up with the technology that will provide exactly that. 'This technology will replace traditional energy sources. It has the potential to be absolutely huge and change everyone’s life,' says Sean McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Dublin-based company, Steorn. So confident are the inventors that the company placed an advertisement in The Economist magazine saying: ‘We have developed a technology that produces free, clean and constant energy. We’re issuing a challenge to the scientific community: test our technology and report your findings to the world.’ Over 3,500 scientists have responded to the Steorn Challenge," quoting the UK's Positive News. link here
Steorn's website: link here .

8. ANOTHER VIEW OF DANISH CELL PHONE STUDY "After a number of prominent, peer-reviewed studies indicating that cell phone radiation can cause genetic damage, brain and blood cell dysfunction and a host of health problems including cancer, now comes a Danish study that appears to say there is no danger at all. And, that is exactly what cell phone users want to hear – if it is true.
The problem is that the new Danish cohort study does not support the reassurances that have been ascribed to it. It is a ruse based upon a program initiated by the telecommunications industry more than a decade ago to control the global scientific research agenda concerning cell phones and health effects. The industry strategy has been to fund low-risk studies that will assure a positive result – and then use it to convince the news media and the public that it is proof that cell phones are safe. Even though the actual science proved nothing of the sort.
It is against this backdrop that the Danish study provides an illustrative case history," quoting Dr. George L. Carlos of the Science & Public Policy Institute's Safe Wireless Initiative in Washington, DC. link here
The Institute's Safe Wireless Initiative homepage: link here .

9. "RELIGION DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD - POLL [IN THE UK] "More people in Britain think religion causes harm than believe it does good, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today [Dec. 23]. It shows that an overwhelming majority see religion as a cause of division and tension - greatly outnumbering the smaller majority who also believe that it can be a force for good. The poll also reveals that non-believers outnumber believers in Britain by almost two to one. It paints a picture of a sceptical nation with massive doubts about the effect religion has on society: 82% of those questioned say they see religion as a cause of division and tension between people. Only 16% disagree. The findings are at odds with attempts by some religious leaders to define the country as one made up of many faith communities," quoting UK's Guardian.
link here .

10. "FDA POISED TO OK FOOD FROM CLONED ANIMALS" "Federal scientists have concluded there is no difference between food from cloned animals and food from conventional livestock, setting the stage for the government to declare Thursday [Dec. 28] that cloned animals are safe for the human food supply. The Food and Drug Administration planned to brief industry groups in advance of an announcement. The agency indicated it would approve cloned livestock in a scientific journal article published online earlier this month. The agency 'concludes that meat and milk from clones and their progeny is as safe to eat as corresponding products derived from animals produced using contemporary agricultural practices,' FDA scientists Larisa Rudenko and John C. Matheson wrote in the Jan. 1 issue of Theriogenology," quoting the AP.
link here
Here is the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) comment on this issue. [Ed. Note: I hope there will be some labeling giving the consumer choice.] link here .

11. TWO IMPORTANT STORIES FROM EUROPA A. ITALY JOINS OTHERS IN OUTLAWING ULTRA-SKINNY MODELS "Italy's fashion industry on Friday signed a code of conduct aimed at fighting anorexia among women and the vogue for stick-thin models. The self-regulatory code, drawn up with the Italian government, requires models to show medical proof they do not suffer from eating disorders, bans models younger than 16 and calls for a commitment to add larger sizes to fashion collections. It also aims to redefine feminine beauty and to promote "a healthy, sunny, generous, Mediterranean model of beauty." …’There's a line between a thin girl and a sick one that is often crossed. Italy, with this manifesto, is committed to recognize this boundary and not cross it,’ she said. The code was signed by Melandri and Mario Boselli, president of the Italian Fashion Chamber, which includes fashion house like Versace, Prada, and Missoni. It is destined for designers, model agencies, makeup artists and others who work in the fashion field. Boselli said he was hoping the code could be adopted also internationally," quoting the AP on CNN. link here
B. EURO NOTES CASH IN TO OVERTAKE DOLLAR "The US dollar bill's standing as the world's favourite form of cash is being usurped by the five-year-old euro. The value of euro notes in circulation is this month likely to exceed the value of circulating dollar notes, according to calculations by the Financial Times. Converted at Wednesday's [Dec. 27] exchange rates, the euro took the lead in October. The figures highlight the remarkable growth in euro notes since their launch on January 1 2002, three years after the start of Europe's monetary union, which in January welcomes its 13th member - Slovenia, the former Yugoslav republic," quoting the Financial Times. [Ed. Note: As discussed here previously, if major dollar holders convert to the Euro, the USA could be in for some real financial problems.]
link here .

12. "THE END OF THE BUSH DYNASTY" This is the best story I have ever seen on the Bush Family reign coming to an end after generations in power and where the USA Ship of State stands as we enter 2007:
"Add to this the growing unease and discontent of an aroused and angered public at home. It sent a powerful message of disgust and contempt for six failed years of imperial madness and corrupted right wing neocon Republican rule by drubbing its candidates in the mid-term elections. It wants change in Washington even though there's little chance to get it when the new leadership takes control of the Congress in January. Beyond the usual post-election continuation of campaign-style rhetoric, already it's clear the Democrat party mission is to move the ship of state forward with its agenda largely intact but with them in charge including in the White House if they can prevail in the 2008 election. It's the way things always work in the nation's Capitol where those holding power owe their allegiance to the interests of wealth and power that put them there, and, in the end, the people be damned and "let 'em eat cake" but the language is more subtle," quoting Stephen Lendman (sjlendman.blogspot.com) on Rense.com. link here .

CONTEMPLATIONS ON THIS NEW YEAR'S EVE
A. THE LEGACY OF GERALD FORD As the nation dutifully honors the life of President Gerald Ford this week with a State Funeral and the media weighing in on how he saved the country from the torment of a criminal trial for a U. S. President through his pardon of Richard Nixon, I remember this man for two things in particular: 1. FORD APPOINTMENTS OF GHW BUSH, RUMSFELD & CHENEY FOREVER CHANGE U.S. “The pardon was a political disaster for Ford. His popularity plummeted, inviting attacks from both the Democratic Congress and the Republican Right, which galvanized overnight around Ronald Reagan. Two weeks later, Ford appointed Donald Rumsfeld to replace Haig, and Rumsfeld chose Dick Cheney, then 33, as his deputy. The next year, he fired Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and replaced him at the Pentagon with Rumsfeld. He put George H.W. Bush in charge of the CIA, forced Nelson Rockefeller off the 1976 ticket and promoted Cheney to chief of staff. In that role, he instituted a more centralized, secretive, Nixonian approach to presidential power. He and Rumsfeld moved to end Ford's restraint and realism, and replace it with a more swaggering, messianic view of American might. If it all sounds familiar, it is,” quoting Barry Werth in Newsweek. link here
2. LET’S NEVER FORGET THIS SINGULAR GERALD FORD ACTION THAT STALLED GETTING TO THE TRUTH! “Thirty-three years ago (1964, this article written in 1997), Gerald R. Ford took pen in hand and changed - ever so slightly - the Warren Commission's key sentence on the place where a bullet entered John F. Kennedy's body when he was killed in Dallas. The effect of Ford's change was to strengthen the commission's conclusion that a single bullet passed through Kennedy and severely wounded Texas Gov. John Connally - a crucial element in its finding that Lee Harvey Oswald was the sole gunman. A small change, said Ford on Wednesday [July 2, 1997] when it came to light, one intended to clarify meaning, not alter history. 'My changes had nothing to do with a conspiracy theory,' he said in a telephone interview from Beaver Creek, Colo. 'My changes were only an attempt to be more precise.' But still, his editing was seized upon by members of the conspiracy community, which rejects the commission's conclusion that Oswald acted alone. 'This is the most significant lie in the whole Warren Commission report,' said Robert D. Morningstar, a computer systems specialist in New York City who said he has studied the assassination since it occurred and written an Internet book about it. The effect of Ford's editing, Morningstar said, was to suggest that a bullet struck Kennedy in the neck, 'raising the wound two or three inches. Without that alteration, they could never have hoodwinked the public as to the true number of assassins.' If the bullet had hit Kennedy in the back, it could not have struck Connolly in the way the commission said it did, he said,” quoting this July 2, 1997 AP story. link here
B. REFLECTIONS ON THE HANGING OF SADDAM HUSSEIN These two stories by Robert Fisk most concisely reflect this writer's views: "Robert Fisk revisits the circumstances that resulted in Saddam Hussein's rise to power, and asks, 'Who encouraged Saddam to invade Iran in 1980, which was the greatest war crime he has committed for it led to the deaths of a million and a half souls? And who sold him the components for the chemical weapons with which he drenched Iran and the Kurds? We did. No wonder the Americans, who controlled Saddam's weird trial, forbad any mention of this, his most obscene atrocity, in the charges against him. Could he not have been handed over to the Iranians for sentencing for this massive war crime? Of course not. Because that would also expose our culpability," quoting Truthout.org. His comments were printed in the December 30, 2006 Independent UK. [Ed. Note: Are all of these facts lost in the fog of war?] link here "Saddam Hussein never bowed his head, until his neck snapped. His last words were equally defiant: 'Down with the traitors, the Americans, the spies and the Persians,'" quoting the New York Times. [Ed. Note: Look at what we are teaching our children, with the child in the picture smiling with glee!] link here "Robert Fisk: He takes his secrets to the grave. Our complicity dies with him: How the West armed Saddam, fed him intelligence on his 'enemies', equipped him for atrocities - and then made sure he wouldn't squeal." link here .

RAMTHA STUDENTS' NEWS “Danielle Graham and the NW Frontier Research Institute will have a special presentation of their recently completed trip to China presenting their discipline-based research & their meeting with Chinese EHF researchers. Sunday, January 7, 2006 Time: 1:00 - 4:00pm Location: Masonic Grange, next door to Gordon's Garden Supply, downtown Yelm.
link here .

LOCAL NOTES Covered last week on the Yelm Community Blog hosted by this writer: A. Waste Free Holiday Programs offer big savings through 12/31 (12/26). B. Thurston County storm debris drop-off points opened (12/27) C. How to recycle your Christmas Tree in Thurston County (12/28) D. Monsanto's anti-farmer patents to be re-examined (12/29) E. NASCAR owners still want you to fund a track in Puget Sound (12/30) F. Yelm Loop costs escalation coming (12/31) F. South Sound Seed Stewards Membership Registration & 1st Class of 2007 on Jan. 8 (1/1)
link here .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK "All great truths begin as blasphemies." George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish playwright based in England Awarded both the Nobel Prize in Literature (in 1925) & an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay (in 1938 for Pygmalion)..

Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2007.
For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on "Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives" at
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Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com .