UPDATES ARCHIVE FOR AUGUST 2005
HOME PAGE	Kleiner's Korner For Week of August 29, 2005 Anyone reading Kleiner's Korner these last 4 years knows that this writer has stated on many occasions that the debt issue of the USA will lead to major disaster if we do not take this head-on. The United States is drowning in debt and now that is ringing across the land by experts and Mr. Greenspan (Federal Reserve Chairman) himself. A storm is on the horizon for us and government spending is out of control, what with a war in Iraq, etc. "A chorus of economists, government officials and elected leaders both conservative and liberal is warning that America's nonstop borrowing has put the nation on the road to a major fiscal disaster - one that could unleash plummeting home values, rocketing interest rates, lost jobs, stagnating wages and threats to government services ranging from health care to law enforcement. David Walker, who audits the federal government's books as the U.S. comptroller general, put it starkly in an interview with the AP," quoting the AP. link here 1. SEATTLE VISIONARY SAYS BE PREPARED TO SPEND MORE TIME ON THIS EARTH "If Leroy Hood, one of Seattle's leading visionaries, is right, you could spend more time on this Earth. Hood is predicting that technology and medicine will improve within two decades to increase a person's life by 10 to 20 years...Hood leads the Institute for Systems Biology, a multidisciplinary organization near Lake Union that focuses on chemistry, mathematics, medicine, biology and other topics," quoting this Seattle P-I story. link here . 2. STEM CELL NEWS "Imagine being able to reprogram the cells of your own body to produce fresh heart cells, regenerated nerve cells to heal spinal cord injuries, pancreatic cells to stop diabetes — or any other type of tissue to cure what ails you. This may sound like a widely exaggerated vision of the future, based on the politically controversial use of stem cells extracted from made-to-order human embryos. But that assessment would be wrong on two counts: First, somatic cell reprogramming avoids the political controversy. And second, it's sounding less and less like a wild exaggeration with each passing month. In fact, experts on both sides of the stem cell debate say the scientific hopes for somatic cell reprogramming, also known as dedifferentiation, are rising sharply — although they caution that much more work remains to be done," quoting MSNBC. link here "SKIN CELLS CONVERTED TO STEM CELL HYBRIDS" "Scientists for the first time have turned ordinary skin cells into what appear to be embryonic stem cells — without having to use human eggs or make new human embryos in the process, as has always been required in the past, a Harvard research team announced yesterday [August 21]. The technique uses laboratory-grown human embryonic stem cells — such as the ones that President Bush has already approved for use by federally funded researchers — to "reprogram" the genes in a person's skin cell, turning that skin cell into an embryonic stem cell itself," quoting the Washington Post. link here AND: "Scientists have successfully converted human embryonic stem cells into lung cells, taking a first step towards building human lungs for transplantation. According to research to be published in the journal Tissue Engineering, the team from Imperial College London, took human embryonic stem cells and 'directed' them to convert into the type of cells needed for gas exchange in the lung, known as mature small airway epithelium," quoting News-Medical.net. link here . 3. “BIOMETRIC IDs COULD SEE MASSIVE GROWTH" “Government background checks conducted for the Registered Traveler program, and the biometric ID cards issued to those who enroll, could in the future determine how someone makes a purchase on credit, enters an office building or arena, turns on a cell phone, or boards a train. Frank Fitzsimmons, CEO of iris-scan developer Iridian Technologies, says millions of travelers using biometrics at airport security 'will have dramatic effect on their acceptance in other markets' — activation of cash machines, cell phones, and computers, for example. It's a tantalizing prospect for those in Fitzsimmons' business. But not so thrilled are privacy advocates, civil libertarians, and even some airline executives, who are seeing their modest idea for speeding along their best customers burgeoning into a massive commercial enterprise,” quoting the 8/15 USA Today. link here "Infants have been stopped from boarding planes at airports throughout the U.S. because their names are the same as or similar to those of possible terrorists on the government's "no-fly list." It sounds like a joke, but it's not funny to parents who miss flights while scrambling to have babies' passports and other documents faxed,” quoting USA Today. link here . 4. ARE YOU AWARE OF AERIAL CHEMTRAILS IN YOUR VICINITY? This writer has heard of and had posted many times stories of chemtrails, those airborne trails coming from airplanes. However, I had never seen what was described until August 19th! I was driving up the I-5 corridor from Fife to Sea-Tac Airport that Friday, northbound, in the 1 pm hour and saw 6 of these aerial trails in a fan pattern on a perfectly clear blue sky and converging 20 miles ahead of me over downtown Seattle (downtown Seattle is 10-12 miles north of Sea-Tac Airport). I went HMMM! Upon my return from the airport, they had dispersed and joined making a hazy filtered sunshine. This is a good cause to share the Chemtrails stories previously reported with KK readers again. [Ed. Note: As always, trust your own knowingness. Some say chemtrails are sprayed agents of government agencies; others dispute that claim with ridicule & laughter. However, this writer noticed the same confluence again south of Yelm on August 25.] link here And: link here NASA's explanation of chemtrails (contrails): link here NASA Satellite picture of contrails over southeastern USA in 2004: link here . 5. ZERO-ENERGY HOMES ON LEADING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY "Nicholas and Loan Gatai used to cringe when they received power bills that routinely topped $200. Last September the Sacramento, Calif., couple moved into a new, 1,500-square-foot home in Premier Gardens, a subdivision of 95 "zero-energy homes" just outside town. Now they're actually eager to see their electric bills. The grand total over the 10 months they've lived in the three-bedroom, stucco-and-stone house: $75. For the past two months they haven't paid a cent. Almost unknown outside California, ZEH communities are the leading edge of technologies that might someday create houses that produce as much energy as they consume. Premier Gardens, which opened last summer, is one of a half-dozen subdivisions in California where every home cuts power consumption by at least 50 percent, mostly by using low-power appliances and solar panels. Several more are under construction this year, including the first ZEH community for seniors," quoting Newsweek. link here . 6. "ARE SHARKS IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION" "Sitting in a small motorboat a few hundred yards offshore on a mid-July afternoon, Samuel H. Gruber — a University of Miami professor who has devoted more than two decades to studying the lemon sharks that breed here — plunged into despondency. The mangroves being ripped up to build a new resort provide food and protection that the sharks can't get in the open ocean, and Gruber fears the worst. 'At the end of my career I get to document the destruction of the species I've been documenting for 20 years,' he lamented as he watched the bulldozers do their work. 'Wonderful.'...Gruber's sentiments have become increasingly common in recent years among a growing number of marine biologists, who find themselves studying species in danger of disappearing. For years, many scientists and regulators believed the oceans were so vast there was little risk of marine species dying out. Now, some suspect the world is on the cusp of what Ellen Pikitch, executive director of the Pew Institute for Ocean Science, calls 'a gathering wave of ocean extinctions,' quoting the Washington Post. [Ed. Note: This writer graduated in the mid-70's with a BBA & MBA.] link here . 7. IMPORTANT 2004 BBC STORY ON GREENLAND'S RETREATING ICE SHELF "We travelled with Danish scientist Carl Boggild of GEUS, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. For the past few years he has been managing a network of 10 automatic monitoring stations and his first results are alarming - the edges of the ice-sheet are melting up to 10 times more rapidly than earlier research had indicated. In 2001 NASA scientists published a major study based on observations by satellite and aircraft. It concluded that the margins of the Greenland ice-sheet were dropping in height at a rate of roughly one metre a year. Now, amid some of the most hostile conditions anywhere on the planet, Carl Boggild and his team have recorded falls as dramatic as 10 metres a year - in places the ice is dropping at a rate of one metre a month," quoting the BBC. link here . 8. DID YOUR KNOW ABOUT ANIMAL DEFENDERS INTERNATIONAL (ADI)? Their mission is “to educate, create awareness, and promote the interest of humanity in the cause of justice, and the suppression of all forms of cruelty to animals; wherever possible to alleviate suffering, and to conserve and protect animals and the environment.” link here . 9. ALLIANCE FOR PRUDENT USE OF ANTIBIOTICS “Founded as a nonprofit global organization in 1981, APUA’s mission is to strengthen society’s defenses against infectious disease by promoting appropriate antimicrobial access and use and controlling antimicrobial resistance on a worldwide basis. With affiliated chapters in over 50 countries, APUA stands as the world’s leading global organization conducting applied antimicrobial resistance research, education, capacity building and advocacy at the global and grassroots levels…APUA’s goal is to improve antimicrobial policy and clinical practice worldwide so as to preserve the power of these lifesaving agents. Our programs seek to reduce drug resistance and improve the effectiveness of treatment for acute bacterial diseases, tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria in the industrial and developing world,” quoting their website. link here . 10. ONE OF THE MORE ASTUTE OBSERVATIONS OF MEDIA INFLUENCE THIS WRITER HAS SEEN “The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misreports US Foreign Policy (Hardcover) by Howard Friel, Richard A. Falk” From the American Library Assn, “Despite its vaunted reputation as the nation's newspaper of record, the New York Times has failed to provide the kind of objective, thoughtful coverage the nation needs, according to journalism critic Friel and journalism professor Falk. The authors are scathing in their criticism of the New York Times in particular and, by extension, the U.S. press in general for failing to provide a more global perspective on the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. Through meticulous research the authors show how the Times has ignored international law issues and helped to promote the unilateral perspectives of the Bush administration and the American public.” link here . 11. 'WAL-MART' AUTHOR SAYS DISCOUNTS NOW ENTITLEMENTS "Shoppers are thinking about two things — low prices and one-stop shopping, according to John Dicker, author of The United States of Wal-Mart. 'The ugly truth is that we've become a nation that values little above a bargain,' Dicker writes. 'Deep discounts are no longer novelties. They are entitlements.' The conclusion: Cheap is our new crack cocaine. Or at least, there is the attractive possibility of saving nickels and dimes, even if that doesn't always pan out. Wal-Mart, coined the 'champion of the cheap,' has been accused of 'supplier squeezing, low wages and gender discrimination,' among other unflattering charges. The Bentonville, Ark., giant is also the largest private employer in the United States, the largest retailer, the largest grocery store — and the largest corporation in the world, Dicker writes. That's undeniable and vexing,” quoting the 8/15 USA Today. link here . 12. MICHIGAN THREATENED LOCAL BEAVERS WITH A $10,000 PER DAY FINE FOR THEIR DAMNED DAM. Claim: The state of Michigan threatened local beavers with a $10,000 per day fine for failing to remove their dam. Status: True. Quoting Urban Legends. link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL IN THE NEWS The 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America was the cover story of TIME Magazine's August 22nd edition. Salma Hayek made the list of Time Magazine's 25 Most Influential Hispanics in America. Congratulations to Ms. Hayek. link here Quoting the Ramtha website about Ramtha’s Create Your Day DVD, Ms. Hayak said this about her teacher: “Having been a skeptic for most of my life, Ramtha has taught me about the possibilities we all have to influence reality using science to explain the mechanics in a way that finally makes sense to me. His technique on creating the day has been very effective in my life.” link here . OF LOCAL NOTE This writer's colleague in a local political campaign Carlos Perez is running for the Commissioner, Port of Olympia, District 2. Please see his website and local voters educate yourself on his positions: link here Yelm bypass now on hold. "The state is waiting to see whether an initiative to repeal the 3-cent-a-gallon increase passes before spending any more of the new tax revenue," quoting the Olympian. link here Fox News filmed portions of the Yelm City Council meeting Wednesday, August 24 and ran the sotry for their news that night regarding the Council's decision to limit the public mentioning the words "WalMart" and "big-box." link here "Attorney Stephen Causseaux is scheduled to hear three days of public testimony next week on a controversial proposal to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter here," quoting the Olympian. link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Whether in a small town, a tony burb, or city hall, 'to Wal-Mart or not to Wal-Mart' is one of the touchiest questions in local politics. In hundreds of municipalities, incredulous mayors and other elected officials exclaim how they've never seen such turnout for a planning-board meeting. In historically sluggish elections, 'the Wal-Mart vote' becomes the only issue that matters. The emotions it unleashes can make the abortion-rights issue seem blander than a bowl of butterless oatmeal." — From The United States of Wal-Mart . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on “Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives” at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com . Special to Kleiner's Korner For August 22, 2005 Dear Readers; This writer has heard suggested on many occasions to own a pre-1980's vehicle to be able to get around in the DAYS TO COME in the event modern electronic-ignition autos & trucks are deactivated. Sound far-fetched? Read this from an interested AND informed KK reader: EMP-Resistant Automobiles Or What does the U.S. Secret Service Know That You Don’t Know? By David Biering, PE In 1983 I was employed as an engineer at the Cadillac Division of General Motors in Detroit, Michigan. One day that year, word went around the Engineering building that Cadillac had received a contract from the White House to construct a new limousine for the President of the United States. It was to be a special 1983 Cadillac with a long wheelbase and extra high roof for the comfort of President Reagan. Since there had already been an assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, safety and security were of course top priority. Thick bulletproof windowglass was installed all the way around and the car was laden with armor plating in all its body panels. The Cadillac Engineering mechanics were forbidden to directly work on the car. Every wrench had to be turned by a Secret Service mechanic only, and the car had a 24/7 security detail. I got a chance to view the new presidential limousine after it had left the armor plating coachbuilder and returned to Engineering for some air conditioning work. The climate control system for the stretch limousine needed calibration to work properly in hot weather, so it was put into our hot tunnel room. I saw this imposing machine through the observation windows in the hallway. I wondered, what special engine powered this vehicle? We had never seen the hood raised in public. My boss provided me with the answer. To my surprise, it wasn’t a cutting edge 1984 powerplant from our engine group. No, I was told (confidentially) that it had a 1970 Cadillac motor, which Engineering had pulled out of GM warehouse storage. The 500 cubic inch, 400 horsepower behemoth from the musclecar era was just what the Secret Service wanted. All of our production Cadillacs in 1983 had computer controlled fuel injected engines with electronic spark control, but not Reagan’s car. The President’s car got a motor with a carburetor and breaker point ignition—no electronics at all. I was subsequently to learn that this was done to ensure the car would be EMP resistant, and thus more secure for the president. EMP stands for electromagnetic pulse. It is a phenomenon of a thermonuclear explosion. Similar to a lightening bolt in its effect, but much more expansive in its reach. When a nuclear explosion happens, a powerful unseen electromagnetic spike radiates from the bomb in all directions. This EMP possesses an extremely broad frequency content, which means it can affect a broad range of devices with its high voltage spike. Whereas a lightning bolt will damage only what it actually touches, EMP from a nuclear burst will affect anything within line of sight to the source. The most vulnerable devices to EMP are small, high speed electrical devices that work at a high frequency. The smaller and faster they are, the more vulnerable they are. Perhaps now you are thinking about the electronics and computer revolution of the past 4 decades; how everything got smaller and faster and more efficient with each generation, starting from the first transistors? The downside is that these tiny devices inherent to our current lifestyle can be disabled with one, well placed electromagnetic pulse. Nuclear physicists and weapons experts know that the proper A-bomb set off at the proper altitude over a continent can disable that continent’s technology in a matter of moments, without even knocking one building down. [It could happen overnight, and the people would not realize anything had happened until they awoke to find their power out and their cars seemingly “turned off ”] The Secret Service knew that too in 1983. They were also concerned that the KGB was working at that time to develop non-nuclear sources of EMP, as part of cold war weaponry. I wonder if the KGB, or someone else, was ultimately successful? So anyway, what did the Secret Service decide to do with Limousine #1 In 1983? They had the engine electronics tossed out, and ordered the 60’s era engine controls placed into their boss’s car. They wanted to be sure they had mobility in any situation. Information I have recently read online suggests that this same strategy has been employed in the construction of George W. Bush’s newest Cadillac DTS presidential limousine (reference www.cadillacforums.com). Modern fossil-fuel-burning consumer transportation utilizes computerized engine control and electronic ignition. I consider this a “binary” control system, or digital control system. Electronic ignition became commonplace in cars in the mid 1970’s, because it required less maintenance than its predecessor breaker point ignition (there is essentially no performance difference between the two for non-racing applications). Computerized engine control became commonplace in the 1980’s in order to meet ever more stringent vehicle emissions and fuel economy standards (the previous mechanical control system had reached the practical limit of its complexity for those tasks). Certainly, the world’s air would be measurably dirtier if we had not implemented computerized control of automobile engines. Still, you don’t hear much press about how our presidents’ cars are exempt from vehicle emissions requirements for national security reasons. I consider the original 1972 Chevrolet 4x4 pickup I own to be very “presidential”, and a typical example of a vehicle with “analog” control system. The air and fuel for the 350 V8 is mixed mechanically in a carburetor (versus the current norm of electronic fuel injection or EFI). The spark is provided by a distributor; utilizing contact breaker points (versus electronic ignition which utilizes transistors). The alternator charges the battery with help from a separate voltage regulator that also utilizes contact points (versus an alternator with integral transitorized voltage regulator). The automatic transmission shifts mechanically based on speed, vacuum and pressure (versus electrical voltage interpreted by computer circuitry). The only vehicle part that came transistorized from the factory was the radio. This truck delivers utility with a modicum of comfort, and is inherently EMP-resistant by design. When did America get away from EMP-resistant design in its new cars and trucks? For Chevy-Pontiac-Buick-Oldsmobile-Cadillac it was after 1974. For Chrysler-Plymouth-Dodge it was after 1972. For Ford-Lincoln-Mercury it was after 1974. For Jeep it was after 1974. For Honda it was after 1978. For Toyota it was after 1977. For Datsun (Nissan) it was after 1974. For Subaru it was after 1976. For Volkswagen it was after 1979. For Mercedes and Porsche it was after 1975. For Volvo it was after 1974. All these examples mark the end of breaker point ignition being employed as original equipment in the automakers’ motors. Generally, by 1981 most new cars and trucks not only had the electronic ignition, but were also running with engine control computers as standard equipment. Here in the Pacific Northwest I still see quite a few pre-electronic vehicles on the road as daily drivers. For American cars there are the Chevy’s (especially those with the V8 engine) and the Ford Mustangs. For trucks there are plenty of the older Chevy, Ford and Dodge pickups still on the job. For mini-trucks the Toyotas, Datsuns and Mazdas live on. For economy transportation the original VW Beetle and Microbus have proven their longevity. For SUV’s, there is the Chevy Blazer, Ford Bronco, Jeep and the Toyota Landcruiser. In many cases, these vehicles have been “upgraded” over the years to electronic ignition (so the owner, or their mechanic could be free of breaker point adjustment during tune up). The upgrade was possible because the basic engine remained in production both before and after going electronic, so it was a relatively simple parts swap. By the same token, it would thus be possible to “convert back” a later 1970’s vehicle with electronic ignition to an early ‘70’s non-electronic version (so long as the car or truck originally came without an engine computer, typically before 1981). Incidentally, any diesel engine old enough not to have a computer controlling it is also EMP resistant. Also, one can extend this topic in contemplation to the “analogical” EMP-resistant private airplane, boat, motorcycle, moped, generator or tractor. One of the reasons the U.S. Military stopped conducting above ground nuclear testing is because of EMP. In 1962 a nuclear bomb was detonated at high altitude above remote Johnson Island, in the South Pacific. The resulting EMP managed to knock out electrical grid power in Hawaii, 800 miles away. While the nuclear testing went underground (allowing the populace to remain unaffected and uninformed), military strategists pondered EMP and how it might be used to strategic advantage. As a result, non-nuclear electromagnetic pulse devices began development in the US and USSR, as part of the cold war arms race. Four decades later, there exist electromagnetic bombs (e-bombs) that can be dropped on the power generating facilities of say, some out of favor country run by an unpopular dictator. Police departments are now testing mobile “vehicle disabling” devices as a means to reduce fatalities from high speed police chases. And then there is high-power microwave (HPM) technology. HPM is rumored to be a key element in the classified Pentagon programs HAARP and SDI “Star Wars” satellite systems. HPM at a high enough power level is an extremely effective antielectronic weapon, delivering an EMP punch of just a few milliseconds duration. Since we now live in such an electronically dependent world, I’m relieved that the cold war is over. It’s a good thing the US is now friends with Russia and we don’t have to worry about a nuclear winter (with disabled technology), right? And it’s a good thing that the US is also friends with the Chinese government, right? Especially because for the last two decades U.S. consumers have pumped trillions of dollars into the Chinese economy, which is managed by the Chinese government and military. They wouldn’t have cause to hurt the U.S., right? We’re pals, right? All the same, I find it reassuring to have a “presidential” vehicle nearby. The Secret Service had the right idea….. (David Biering is a Professional Civil Engineer in Washington State, and former Automotive Engineer) Used in Kleiner's Korner with permission of the author. . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. 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 August 22, 2005 Dear Readers; Continuing the theme of last week's Kleiner's Korner, more information has been reported revealing signs that the surface environment of this planet is under assault. Even if humanity stopped using fossil fuels today, the damage would take years to reverse, yet consumption of such fuels is only increasing. Perhaps the focus of society on a Brad and Jen or a Michael Jackson situation distracts the public from the truth, however this writer will not cower away from reporting this. Having knowledge is the first step towards being prepared for anything! SK- 1. ALASKA PERMAFROST WARMING “Interior Alaska's permafrost has warmed in some places to the highest level since the ice age ended 10,000 years ago, its temperature now within a degree or two of thawing. Earth frozen since woolly mammoths and bison wandered Interior steppes has been turning to mush. Lakes have been shrinking. Trees are stressed. Prehistoric ice has melted underground, leaving voids that collapse into sinkholes,” quoting the Anchorage (AK.) Daily News. link here . 2. “KEY ARGUMENT FOR GLOBAL WARMING CRITICS EVAPORATES” “For years, skeptics of global warming have used satellite and weather balloon data to argue that climate models were wrong and that global warming isn't really happening. Now, according to three new studies published in the journal Science, it turns out those conclusions based on satellite and weather balloon data were based on faulty analyses,” quoting LiveScience. link here And USA Today filed this report on this story: link here . 3. "WILDLIFE MOVES TO STAY COOL IN A WARMER WORLD" "Salmon swim north into Arctic seas, locusts plague northern Italy and two heat-loving bee-eater birds nest in a hedge in Britain. Signs of global warming fed by greenhouse gases produced by human activity, or just summertime oddities? In the United States, some warblers are flying north to Canada. In Costa Rica, toucans are moving higher up into the mountains, apparently because of rising temperatures. In July, a Norwegian man fishing in a fjord had a shock when he landed a John Dory, a fish more usually found in temperate waters off southern Europe or Africa. "There's a long list of migratory species ending up further north. It's certainly a sign of warmer temperatures," said Steve Sawyer, climate policy director at the Greenpeace environmental group. He said salmon had been swimming through the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia into the Chukchi Sea, apparently because the frigid water had warmed up. Such shifts could have vast long-term implications for farmers and fishing fleets," quoting Reuters. link here . 4. POLLUTION FEE IN E.U. PLAN FOR AIRLINES Airlines, their passengers are beset by soaring costs for fuel, insurance, and security. Now they may also face bills for polluting. Next month, the European Union aims to present its strategy for making airlines pay a levy for the carbon dioxide their planes emit. The plan, if approved, could hit consumers in the wallet by adding as much as $100 to the price of a long-haul airline ticket from Europe, by some calculations, and smaller amounts for flights within the EU. More troubling for the airline industry, the EU could spark a global fight if it follows through on a proposal to regulate non-EU airlines in its plan. That's because the United States government and the United Nations' aviation regulator say the EU has authority only to force airlines from the 25-country bloc to pay for emissions. The issue is shaping up as one of the next big battles in the aviation industry. (Source: The Wall Street Journal) link here , then scroll to AUGUST 11, 2005 . 5. OREGON BIRD DEATHS LINKED TO DISAPPEARANCE OF OCEAN PLANKTON “Oceanic plankton have largely disappeared from the waters off Northern California, Oregon, and Washington, mystifying scientists, stressing fisheries and causing widespread seabird mortality. The phenomenon could have long-term implications if it continues: a general decline in near-shore oceanic life, with far fewer fish, birds and marine mammals. No one is certain how long the condition will last. But even a short duration could severely affect seabird populations because of drastically reduced nesting success, scientists say,” quoting the San Francisco Chronicle. link here . 6. "ALASKAN PEOPLE TELL OF CLIMATE CHANGE" "For the past 20 years climatologists and ice and atmosphere scientists have been working in Alaska studying climate change. Now they have discovered a rich new source of records extending their knowledge back by decades through the oral history of native Alaskans. Barrow is the most northerly town in the United States,lying 300 miles inside the Arctic Circle. And 92-year-old Bertha Leavitt is its oldest inhabitant. 'When I was a child', she says, 'it was so much colder and the winds in winter used to be fierce.' She remembers her elders telling in their stories that the weather was going to change. And since her childhood she believes this has come true," quoting the BBC. [Ed. Note: This writer visited Barrow for the first time 10 years ago during the Autumnal Equinox and the very day the Arctic Ice Shelf came in for the winter. I learned then from the locals how the weather was changing link here . 7. "WORLD RUNNING OUT OF TIME FOR OIL ALTERNATIVES" "The world could run out of time to develop cleaner alternatives to oil and other fossil fuels before depletion drives prices through the roof, a leading Dutch energy researcher said on Thursday [August 18]. Ton Hoff, manager of the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, said it could take decades to make alternatives affordable to the point where they can be used widely, although high oil prices were already stimulating such research," quoting Reuters. [Ed. Note: this is good news as necessity is the mother of invention and maybe the public will force the engine makers to come forth with proven clean technologies they know about and have!] link here . 8. "PLUG-IN HYBRIDS THAT GET 80 MILES PER GALLON "Politicians and automakers say a car that can both reduce greenhouse gases and free America from its reliance on foreign oil is years or even decades away. Ron Gremban says such a car is parked in his garage. It looks like a typical Toyota Prius hybrid, but in the trunk sits an 80-miles-per-gallon secret - a stack of 18 brick-sized batteries that boosts the car's high mileage with an extra electrical charge so it can burn even less fuel. Gremban, an electrical engineer and committed environmentalist, spent several months and $3,000 tinkering with his car. Like all hybrids, his Prius increases fuel efficiency by harnessing small amounts of electricity generated during braking and coasting. The extra batteries let him store extra power by plugging the car into a wall outlet at his home in this San Francisco suburb - all for about a quarter. He's part of a small but growing movement. 'Plug-in' hybrids aren't yet cost-efficient, but some of the dozen known experimental models that have gotten up to 250 mpg," quoting the AP. [Ed. Note: This article was included to demonstrate that even individuals in their own homes are getting into the act of making consumption changes!] link here . 9. RAINFORESTS UNDER ASSAULT – WORLD’S ECO-SYSTEM IN DANGER. WHAT YOU CAN DO AT ISSUE: "The number of fires in a large Amazon state has jumped by nearly 60 percent, stirring fears of a destructive burning season, environmental officials said Wednesday [August 10]. Satellite photos detected some 7,200 fires in the Amazon state of Para from January through July, up from 4,500 over the same period last year, according to the government's National Institute for Space Research. Most of the fires were intentional, set by ranchers seeking to clear their land of jungle brush and to replenish the region's poor soil, officials said," quoting the AP. [Ed. Note: With cleared land being used for ranching cattle, think of the damage to the world's eco-system next time you eat your burger and not knowing the source of the meat!] link here WHAT YOU CAN DO: “The world’s tropical rainforests are the richest and most diverse habitats on earth. They represent a vast reservoir of knowledge and contain a wealth of ecosystems and wildlife, with many species yet to be discovered. Rainforest Concern was established as a registered charity in 1993 to protect the world’s tropical rainforests and the incredible biodiversity they contain, together with the indigenous people who still depend on them for their survival,” quoting the Rainforest Concern site. link here And from the UK, “This site provides information about the work of the Rainforest Foundation UK, and more generally about the world's rainforests and the people who live in them. The Rainforest Foundation supports indigenous people and traditional populations of the world's rainforests in their efforts to protect their environment and fulfill their rights," quoting The Rainforest Foundation UK. link here The Rainforest Action Network (RAN): “Rainforest Action Network campaigns for the forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life by transforming the global marketplace through grassroots organizing, education and non-violent direct action. Since it was founded in 1985, the Rainforest Action Network has been working to protect rainforests and the human rights of those living in and around those forests. From the beginning, RAN has played a key role in strengthening the worldwide rainforest conservation movement through supporting activists in rainforest countries as well as organizing and mobilizing consumers and community action groups throughout the United States. Our first challenge was to bring the plight of the rainforests to public attention through education, communication, and direct action.” link here “Throughout the world, ancient forests are in crisis. Many of the plants and animals that live in these forests face extinction. Many of the peoples and cultures who depend on these forests for their way of life are under threat,” quoting Saveordelete.com. link here . 10. MORE ON THE AMAZON PEOPLES & THEIR HABITAT “Survival is the only international organisation supporting tribal peoples worldwide. It was founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK's Sunday Times highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia. Like many modern atrocities, the racist oppression of Brazil's Indians took place in the name of 'economic growth'. Today, Survival has supporters in 82 countries. It works for tribal peoples' rights in three complementary ways: education, advocacy and campaigns. We also offer tribal people themselves a platform to address the world. We work closely with local indigenous organisations, and focus on tribal peoples who have the most to lose, usually those most recently in contact with the outside world. We believe that public opinion is the most effective force for change. Its power will make it harder, and eventually impossible, for governments and companies to oppress tribal peoples,” quoting Survivor-International. link here . 11. INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK TO PROTECT WORLD’S RIVERS “IRN supports local communities working to protect their rivers and watersheds. We work to halt destructive river development projects, and to encourage equitable and sustainable methods of meeting needs for water, energy and flood management… IRN’s mission is to halt and reverse the degradation of river systems; to support local communities in protecting and restoring the well–being of the people, cultures and ecosystems that depend on rivers; to promote sustainable, environmentally sound alternatives to damming and channeling rivers; to foster greater understanding, awareness and respect for rivers; to support the worldwide struggle for environmental integrity, social justice and human rights; and to ensure that our work is exemplary of responsible and effective global action on environmental issues.” link here . 12. SEN. CLINTON AND OTHER LAWMAKERS SEE DEVASTATING CLIMATE CHANGE RESULTS IN ALASKA "The political tide may be turning for Congress to curb greenhouse gases, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday [August 19] at the end of what she called a "heartbreaking" tour of the Alaskan wilderness. 'We saw devastation as far as the eye could see,' said Clinton, describing the trees killed by spruce beetles that have migrated north, drawn by warmer temperatures...The political tide may be turning for Congress to curb greenhouse gases, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday at the end of what she called a "heartbreaking" tour of the Alaskan wilderness," quoting the AP. link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS CREATE YOUR DAY is an original teaching and technique created by Ramtha that he has been teaching his students since 1992 at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment. This teaching has been copyright protected since that time. "Indeed, I have been asked to teach to you what it means to create your day. It seems that that one little teaching has become the rage. Well, it should be. It should have always been the rage. Waking up every single morning is a gift, don't you know? Life is a gift. Create your day, what does that mean? And who is creating it? Did it ever occur to you that oftentimes you give permission for life to do to you what you complain about or are overjoyed with at the end of the day? Creating, well, creating is a privilege. It goes along with being a divine person. Divinity gets to create and that is why you want to know how to do it, because you are a divine entity," quoting Ramtha from the DVD Create Your Day.SM Now Ramtha has released a special DVD for showing you how easy it is to Create Your DaySM. Buy yours now: link here "Create Your Day" as mentioned by Dr. Joe Dispenza in the movie What The Bleep was not his invention, rather taught to him by Ramtha and is copyrighted by JZK, Inc. link here . OF LOCAL NOTE "A state land-use appeals board has reaffirmed its ruling that many of Thurston County's planning policies and development regulations violate state laws intended to curb urban sprawl. The county asked the Western Washington Growth Management Hearings Board to reconsider facets of its ruling because it claimed the board made procedural errors and misinterpreted the facts and law in the appeal brought by Futurewise, a Seattle-based public interest group...A public hearing set for Sept. 12 should help officials determine how to narrow the moratorium to just those areas and issues affected by the hearing board's order, Krupp said, quoting The Olympian. link here "Notice is hereby given that the Thurston County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on August 24, 2005 at 6:00 p.m., at the Thurston Expo Center, located at the Thurston County Fair Grounds, 3054 Carpenter RD SE, Lacey, Washington. The purpose of the hearing is to accept public comment on proposed amendments to the Thurston County Critical Area regulations. The proposed amendments call for major revisions of the critical areas regulations and related administrative procedures to achieve compliance with the Growth Management Act," quoting the county's website: link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK “Only the pure in heart can make a great soup.” Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827) German composer. Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. 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 August 15, 2005 Dear Reader; This week's Kleiner's Korner is coming out early to provide several stories making news recently frequency specific to many subscribers quest for knowledge in certain areas. SK- 1. SIBERIAN PERMAFROST UNDER ASSAULT; GLOBAL WARMING ATTRIBUTED "THE world's largest frozen peat bog is melting. An area stretching for a million square kilometres across the permafrost of western Siberia is turning into a mass of shallow lakes as the ground melts, according to Russian researchers just back from the region. The sudden melting of a bog the size of France and Germany combined could unleash billions of tonnes of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. The news of the dramatic transformation of one of the world's least visited landscapes comes from Sergei Kirpotin, a botanist at Tomsk State University, Russia, and Judith Marquand at the University of Oxford," quoting issue 2512 of New Scientist magazine, 11 August 2005, page 12. link here "The permafrost in the bogs of subarctic Sweden is undergoing dramatic changes. The part of the soil that thaws in the summer, the so-called active layer, has become thicker since 1970, and the permafrost has disappeared altogether in some locations. This has lead to significant changes in the vegetation and to a subsequent increase in emission of the greenhouse gas methane. Methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Behind these new findings is an international research team led by the GeoBiosphere Science Centre at Lund University in Sweden. The results were published 20 February in Geophysical Research Letters," quoting the American Geophysical Union and Lund University Joint Release of 2004. link here And this from a website titled World View of Global Warming.: link here "Scientists from the University of Delaware and Russia are working together to identify areas in which the thawing of permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere's circumpolar region could imperil manmade structures, including energy production facilities and transportation links. The study, the first broad-scale picture of the potential hazards of permafrost thaw brought about by global climate changes, is reported in the April 19 [2001] issue of Nature magazine," quoting the University of Delaware. link here . 2. "WARMER OCEANS MAY BE KILLING WEST COAST MARINE LIFE" "Scientists suspect that rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations are behind a growing number of seabird deaths, reports of fewer salmon and other anomalies along the West Coast. Coastal ocean temperatures are 2 to 5 degrees above normal, apparently caused by a lack of upwelling — a process that brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface and jump-starts the marine food chain...Scientists suspect that rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations are behind a growing number of seabird deaths, reports of fewer salmon and other anomalies along the West Coast. Coastal ocean temperatures are 2 to 5 degrees above normal, apparently caused by a lack of upwelling — a process that brings cold, nutrient-rich water to the surface and jump-starts the marine food chain...Studies of dead birds in May [2005] on California beaches found emaciated bodies, with atrophied muscles and empty stomachs, said Hannah Nevins, a beached-bird survey coordinator at the Moss Landing Marine Lab in Northern California.'Spring is when the food comes in,' Nevins said. 'When you have a really strong, persistent upwelling wind, it creates a conveyor belt of food, but the wind is slacking this year,'" quoting The Seattle Times. [Ed. Note: Key words, "conveyor belt"] link here "Dozens - in some places, hundreds - of northern fulmars, an 18-inch-long seabird that rarely comes near shore, have been washing up along Oregon beaches for the past two months. The birds are appearing all along the Oregon coast, as well as on beaches from southern California into Washington state and in lower British Columbia, Canada. Two peaks in mortality of the bird have occurred in Oregon, one in mid-October, the other in mid-November. None of the birds showed signs of oil or fishing gear entanglement. Much about the die-off is uncertain, including the numbers of fulmars that may be dying at sea and not reaching the beach, and the cause of the event," quoting the Newport News [VA.] Times. link here . 3. SPACE-SHUTTLE COMMANDER, A WOMAN, REPORTED WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE TO EARTH "Discovery Commander Eileen Collins and the team of astronauts witnessed widespread environmental destruction to the Earth’s natural resources...The apparent damage to our environment is symptomatic of our society as a whole. Cmdr Collins observations are telling us that a change in our collective behavior is imminent...," quoting Jeff Korhan, a nationally recognized entrepreneur who speaks on leadership, communication and success. link here Reuters reports, "Commander Eileen Collins said astronauts on shuttle Discovery had seen widespread environmental destruction on Earth and warned on Thursday [Aug. 4] that greater care was needed to protect natural resources...'Sometimes you can see how there is erosion, and you can see how there is deforestation. It's very widespread in some parts of the world,' Collins said in a conversation from space with Japanese officials in Tokyo, including Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.'We would like to see, from the astronauts' point of view, people take good care of the Earth and replace the resources that have been used,' said Collins, who was standing with Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi in front of a Japanese flag and holding a colorful fan." link here . 4. WHALE BEACHINGS MAY BE LINKED TO NAVY SONAR "Gisiner notes that there is a pretty clear correlation between beaked whale strandings and the use of mid-frequency sonar off Madeira (also located off northwestern Africa) and the Canary Islands," quoting National Geographic. link here And this from the BBC in 2002, "Environmental campaigners in America are concerned about a new danger to the world's whale population. It's sonar - powerful sound waves used by submarines and ships to track activity underwater. Research has shown that the sonar waves can be heard by whales and dolphins - and campaigners believe it may be causing the whales to beach." link here "At least 37 whales beached themselves and died along the North Carolina shore earlier this month soon after Navy vessels on a deep-water training mission off the coast used powerful sonar as part of the exercise," quoting the January, 2005 Washington Post. link here And this from the NRDC June 1, 2005, "The Bush administration is withholding a large quantity of evidence about severe harm caused to whales, dolphins and other marine life by high-intensity military sonar, according to a lawsuit filed today in New York federal court. Ocean mammals around the globe have been found dead or dying following the massive sonic blasts. The lawsuit was brought under the Freedom of Information Act by NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), a national conservation group. It seeks thousands of pages of documents related to mass strandings and mortalities of marine mammals exposed to military sonar. NRDC requested the material from the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Department of Commerce more than a year ago, but so far those agencies have turned over only 12 documents totaling fewer than 25 pages." link here . 5. REPORT: AL-QAIDA HAS NUKES IN U. S. READY FOR MAJOR ATTACK “Al-Qaida's prime targets for launching nuclear terrorist attacks are the nine U.S. cities with the highest Jewish populations, according to captured leaders and documents. As first revealed last week in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, the premium, online intelligence newsletter published by the founder of WND, Osama bin Laden is planning what he calls an "American Hiroshima," the ultimate terrorist attack on U.S. cities, using nuclear weapons already smuggled into the country across the Mexican border along with thousands of sleeper agents. The series of attacks is designed to kill 4 million, destroy the economy and fundamentally alter the course of history. At least two fully assembled and operational nuclear weapons are believed to be hidden in the United States already, according to G2 Bulletin intelligence sources and an upcoming book, "The al-Qaida Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by former FBI consultant Paul L. Williams. The cities chosen as optimal targets are New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Boston and Washington, D.C. New York and Washington top the preferred target list for al-Qaida leadership,” quoting World Net Daily. link here Further, “A new book written by a former FBI consultant claims that al-Qaida not only has obtained nuclear devices, but also likely has them in the U.S. and will detonate them in the near future. A new book written by a former FBI consultant claims that al-Qaida not only has obtained nuclear devices, but also likely has them in the U.S. and will detonate them in the near future,” from NewsMax in 2004. link here Williams’ follow-up book is due out September 6, 2005 and is titled Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime, And the Coming Apocalypse (Hardcover). link here . 6. RECORDS: NUCLEAR WASTES MISHANDLED IN FLORIDA “The operator of a Florida nuclear plant appears to have shipped radioactive waste to ordinary landfills, municipal sewage treatment plants and some unknown locations in the 1970's and early 80's, according to internal documents and government records obtained in lawsuits. Florida Power and Light [FPL] said that in 1982 it had mistakenly made a shipment to a landfill, but the documents appear to show numerous shipments to multiple locations. In addition, while the company conducted a survey and cleanup in the one known location, it found only one kind of radioactive material, and nuclear experts involved in the lawsuits say there must have been other isotopes for which no tests were conducted. The overall level of contamination is difficult to determine, quoting The New York Times. link here [Ed. Note: Erin Brockovich, where are you??? FPL needs to come clean! link here ] . 7. “WHAT TO DO IF A NUCLEAR DISASTER IS IMMINENT!” “This guide is for families preparing for imminent terrorist or strategic nuclear attacks with expected severe destruction followed by widespread radioactive fallout downwind.” link here . 8. ISRAELI’S UNLEASH NEW WEAPON AGAINST OWN PEOPLE AT PROTEST “"The knees buckle, the brain aches, the stomach turns. And suddenly, nobody feels like protesting anymore. Witnesses describe a minute-long blast of sound emanating from a white Israeli military vehicle. Within seconds, protesters began falling to their knees, unable to maintain their balance,” quoting Mitch Potter, Toronto Star Middle east Bureau, 6/6/05. link here . 9. USA TESTING NONLETHAL WEAPONS, TOO “If flashing lasers and blinding strobes don't disperse Iraqi protesters, perhaps a piercing whine will. If that doesn't work, a short but intense burning sensation on the skin should do the trick. f some bystanders are still lurking after all that, they may be suicide bombers, snipers, or other attackers. And US soldiers can isolate and try to stop them. Military futurists and engineers working on a crash program at the Naval Surface Warfare Center here last week demonstrated these new ideas for coping with the special challenges in Iraq: separating guerrillas from civilians, weeding out suicide bombers, and quelling mass disturbances without bloodshed,” quoting the Boston Globe. link here “Troops in Iraq will soon be shooting an experimental weapon that fires an invisible beam of energy instead of bullets to repel insurgents without killing civilians. Radiation similar to some forms of radar fired by the Active Denial System (ADS) penetrates just below the skin's surface to cause an excruciating burning sensation until it is turned off. Extensive testing has shown no lasting damage, the military said. The weapon will be demonstrated in public this summer and in Iraq within months. It is the first in what could become a catalog of energy beams that aim to ease one of the war's toughest problems,” quoting USA Today. [Ed. Note: Coming soon--watch Homeland Security concoct some reason to use this on citizens at home and the citizens will beg for it to be used. ] link here . 10. TSUNAMI PREPAREDNESS ANNOUNCED FOR WASHINGTON STATE ”Gov. Christine Gregoire yesterday [Aug. 8] announced a plan to ensure coastal residents have time to reach higher ground in case an earthquake triggers a potentially deadly wave… Gregoire said much of the work will be done in coordination with federal plans for tsunami preparedness, but she added she will seek federal funds and money from the Legislature next year to install additional AHAB systems along the coast… • Asking the federal government for additional tsunami-monitoring buoys to help monitor off the state's coast and working with Oregon and California to ensure additional buoys are placed along the West Coast. • A coordinated response among all levels of government, including tribal governments, ensuring what Gregoire calls "one system in one state with one message." • An improved public-education campaign. • Improved evacuation routes, including access to private roads on higher ground. • Better building standards, something lawmakers say they will address in the 2006 legislative session,” quoting the Seattle Times. link here . 11. UNIV. OF PITT SCIENTISTS HOPE TO QUELL USA STEM CELL FIGHT "University of Pittsburgh researchers have discovered what could be the ultimate prize in biomedicine -- cells that behave like embryonic stem cells but don't raise confounding ethical questions. These cells -- called amniotic epithelial cells -- share many of the characteristics that make embryonic stem cells so highly coveted, such as the capacity to become cells for other body tissues and organs and to make copies of themselves, according to Stephen Strom, an associate professor of cellular and molecular pathology at Pitt. Unlike embryonic stem cells, their harvest doesn't require the destruction of human embryos," quoting the Pittsburgh (PA.) Tribune-Review. link here . 12. “WHY GREAT MINDS CAN’T GRASP CONSCIOUSNESS” “At a physics meeting last October, Nobel laureate David Gross outlined 25 questions in science that he thought physics might help answer. Nestled among queries about black holes and the nature of dark matter and dark energy were questions that wandered beyond the traditional bounds of physics to venture into areas typically associated with the life sciences. One of the Gross's questions involved human consciousness. He wondered whether scientists would ever be able to measure the onset consciousness in infants and speculated that consciousness might be similar to what physicists call a "phase transition," an abrupt and sudden large-scale transformation resulting from several microscopic changes,” quoting MSNBC. [Ed. Note: One of those great questions, IMHO!] link here . FOLLOW-UP: To last week’s story on birds taking coins at a car wash coin machine: Some of the facts were embellished by that author; however, most of the story is true as reported in Urban Legends: link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS A new book is due out this Fall: “What the Bleep Do We Know!? Discovering the endless possibilities for altering your everyday reality” by William Arntz, Betsy Chasse, and Mark Vicente with Jack Forem. Pre-order yours now: link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Sweet are the uses of adversity...." William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English Playwright In "As You like It" (1599) act 2, sc. 1, 1. 38 . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. 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 August 8, 2005 Dear Readers; This writer presents the following information only as it relates as a potential, not as a doom and gloomer. In contemplation, this story makes this writer ask himself if he is prepared in the event of a disaster. Trust your own knowingness. "For the last 6 days, I've seen indications of a large number of earthquake pressures building across a 2,000-mile long arc in the North Pacific. At first, I thought these indications were a result of large storms so I disregarded them," quoting Stan Dayo. link here 1. STUDY: SWEETENER IN DIET SODAS LINKED TO CANCERS IN RATS "The Food and Drug Administration [FDA] should immediately review the safety of the artificial sweetener aspartame, and possibly ban it, in light of a new study published in the European Journal of Oncology [July, 2005]. The study, conducted in Italy, found statistically significant increases in lymphomas and leukemias among female rats given aspartame. The smallest amount of aspartame (20 milligrams per kilogram of body weight) that caused a significant increase in cancer incidence is in the ballpark of what many people consume. The study also found equivocal results regarding brain tumors," quoting Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) of which this writer has been a member for over a decade. link here And CSPI's letter to the US FDA commissioner: link here The Italian study document: link here [Ed. Note: I rarely list items found on rense.com, however am making an exception in this case as this letter titled "Kentucky-Aspartame Death Capital of the US" beautifully presents a case for discontinuing consumption of any item with Nutrasweet, the trade name for Aspartame. link here "Aspartame was approved in a highly politicized maneuver involving pressure from Donald Rumsfeld, former CEO of Searle, the Aspartame manufacturer. The recommendations of the FDA's own scientific board of inquiry were disregarded by a political appointee to the FDA's top job, Arthur Hull Hayes, who over-ruled that board of inquiry approving Aspartame for sale, and soon after went to work for the PR Agency of Searle, Burson-Marstaller," quoting this blog. [Ed. Note: HMMMM! Another wolf in the hen house?] link here . 2. FORBES’ SECOND RANKING OF THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL WOMEN “Our second ranking of the World's Most Powerful Women illustrates how fleeting power is. Power requires influence in the global marketplace, as well as economic and cultural clout. To rank these leaders, each of the women received a "power scorecard" based on her résumé, the size of the economic sphere in which she wields power, and global media exposure," quoting Forbes.com. link here [Ed. Note: In truth, we all know our wives and our mothers are the world’s most powerful women. And the fact that women are finally becoming equals in the western world threatens the very core of Islam, hence their hatred/terrorism of the west. Were women to be equal to men in the Muslim world, this religion would be relegated to the dungheap, IMHO!] . 3. [WA.] “STATE TO PROTECT OLD-GROWTH TREES ON TRUST LAND” “The old-growth forests left on state lands in Western Washington -- as much as 88,435 acres -- would be protected from logging under a decision voiced by state Board of Natural Resources members Friday [July 29]. Old-growth protection, which includes saving individual ancient trees, will be embodied in the so-called Policy for Sustainable Forests being developed by the state Department of Natural Resources...Thurston County has 298 acres, most of it in a block of land south of Alder Lake.," quoting The Olympian. link here Further, "A federal appeals court yesterday struck down a management plan that allows logging on roadless areas in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, handing environmentalists a victory in the battle over wild lands in the world's largest intact temperate rain forest. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled that a 1997 plan adopted by the U.S. Forest Service during the Clinton administration exaggerated the demand for Tongass timber, failed to take into account the impact on wildlife and didn't adequately consider options that called for timber-cutting in fewer roadless areas," quoting the LA Times. link here . 4. “PLAN FOR DALI LAMA LECTURE ANGERS NEUROSCIENTISTS” “The Dalai Lama is at the centre of an unholy row among scientists over his plans to deliver a lecture at a prominent neuroscience conference. His talk stems from a growing interest in how Buddhist meditation may affect the brain, but researchers who dismiss such studies as little more than mumbo-jumbo say they will boycott the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in November if it goes ahead. Jianguo Gu, a neuroscientist at the University of Florida who has helped to organise a petition against the Dalai Lama's lecture said: 'I don't think it's appropriate to have a prominent religious leader at a scientific event. The Dalai Lama basically says the body and mind can be separated and passed to other people. There are no scientific grounds for that. We'll be talking about cells and molecules and he's going to talk about something that isn't there.’ Dr Gu and many of the scientists who initiated the protest are of Chinese origin, but say their concern are not related to politics,” quoting UK's The Guardian. link here . 5. THIS CNN STORY WILL SHIVER YOUR SPINE – RE: ORWELL’S “1984” Cash or plastic? How about fingerprint? Biometric transactions are faster and more convenient -- and closer than you may think. Instead of keeping countless cards and pieces of information that verify your identification, soon there may be only one thing you need: yourself. As identity theft has become the bane of consumers everywhere, technologies aimed at making transactions more secure are gaining ground. Such "biometric technologies" include iris scans, as well as those for fingerprints, palm, skin, voice, and face patterns. ‘In everyday life, the use of biometrics has been growing,’ said Philip Youn, a consultant at International Biometric Group. link here . 6. SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN EXAMINES WHY HUMANS LIE “Deception runs like a red thread throughout all of human history. It sustains literature, from Homer's wily Odysseus to the biggest pop novels of today. Go to a movie, and odds are that the plot will revolve around deceit in some shape or form. Perhaps we find such stories so enthralling because lying pervades human life. Lying is a skill that wells up from deep within us, and we use it with abandon. As the great American observer Mark Twain wrote more than a century ago: "Everybody lies ... every day, every hour, awake, asleep, in his dreams, in his joy, in his mourning. If he keeps his tongue still, his hands, his feet, his eyes, his attitude will convey deception." Deceit is fundamental to the human condition. Research supports Twain's conviction…The obvious question raised by all of this accounting is: Why do we lie so readily? The answer: because it works. The Homo sapiens who are best able to lie have an edge over their counterparts in a relentless struggle for the reproductive success that drives the engine of evolution. As humans, we must fit into a close-knit social system to succeed, yet our primary aim is still to look out for ourselves above all others. Lying helps. And lying to ourselves--a talent built into our brains--helps us accept our fraudulent behavior. link here . 7. NRDC PHOTO QUEST OF ARCTIC REFUGE ASKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT “The fate of the Arctic Refuge will be determined in mid-September when Congress casts its decisive vote on the budget reconciliation bill. Tell Congress you get the picture: that you know a vote for the budget reconciliation bill is a vote to put oil rigs in the Arctic Refuge. Demand that your representatives oppose any version of the budget bill that would open the Refuge to massive oil development and destruction! We’ve selected four photos that capture the essence of the Arctic Refuge. Our goal is to reach every member of Congress with a thousand pictures that capture the beauty, spirit and irreplaceable grandeur of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Choose the one that speaks to your heart and click on the photo to send it to your representatives in Washington,” quoting the NRDC. link here . 8. NEW TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATED FOR FLYING AROUND MARS “Pioneer Astronautics has demonstrated a new technology for flying around Mars. The new flight system is called a gashopper. The vehicle system works by acquiring CO2 from the Martian atmosphere with a pump (Mars atmosphere is 95% CO2) , storing it in liquid form, then sending it through a preheated pellet bed to turn it into hot rocket exhaust to produce thrust for a flight vehicle…On Mars, a ballistic gashopper would be capable of flights of tens of kilometers per hop. A winged aircraft would be capable of hundreds of kilometers per flight. After each landing, a small rover could be deployed for local exploration. While it is doing this, the gashopper would refuel from the atmosphere, using power from the solar panels on its wings to drive its CO2 acquisition pump. This procedure would take about a month, then the rover would be recalled, the pellet bed reheated, and the gashopper flown to a distant landing site to explore again. The net result is a system that can fly repeatedly on Mars, conducting numerous aerial surveys and surface exploration at many diverse sites with a single spacecraft. Furthermore, unlike surface rovers, the gashopper would not be blocked by terrain obstacles. Also, since its exhaust is CO2, it would not contaminate landing sites with organics from a conventional rocket exhaust (which might confuse sensors looking for indigenous organics). In a series of tests conducted during the final weeks of July, 2005, Pioneer Astronautics demonstrated the gashopper concept in flight at the Platte Valley airport near Brighton, Colorado. The test vehicle, named “Mars Ship One,” was run through fast taxi tests, then flown at speeds between 60 and 100 mph,” quoting the Pioneer Astro site. link here . 9. "SOLAR-POWERED PLANE DESIGNED TO CIRCLE GLOBE" "A Swiss adventurer announced this week that he plans to fly around the world in a solar-powered airplane. Bertrand Piccard is building the craft, called Solar Impulse, with the help of the European Space Agency. The purpose of his flight, scheduled for 2010, is to show what renewable energies and new technologies can do. 'Solar Impulse will promote the idea of a new aviation era using cleaner planes powered by the almost infinite energy of the sun rather than the dirty, finite reserves of fossil fuels,' Piccard said," quoting LiveScience. link here [Ed. Note: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has the distinction of housing “A replica of the Voyager, on loan from the Museum of Flight, [that] hangs in the atrium area. The original Voyager was flown nonstop around the world by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger in 1986,” quoting the Port of Seattle. link here . 10. "TELEPORTATION IS GOING TO PLAY A ROLE IN ALL OUR FUTURES" "In his new book, Teleportation – The Impossible Leap, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., writer David Darling contends that 'One way or another, teleportation is going to play a major role in all our futures. It will be a fundamental process at the heart of quantum computers, which will themselves radically change the world.'...Teleporting a person would require a machine that isolates, appraises, and keeps track of over a trillion trillion atoms that constitute the human body, then sends that data to another locale for reassembly—and hopefully without mussing up your physical and mental makeup...In this regard, Darling writes that the quantum computer 'is the joker in the deck, the factor that changes the rules of what is and isn’t possible.' Just last month, in fact, scientists at Hewlett Packard announced that they’ve hammered out a new tactic for a creating a quantum computer—using switches of light beams rather than today’s run of the mill, transistor-laden devices. What’s in the offing is hardware capable of making calculations billions of times faster than any silicon-based computer," quoting Space.com. link here . 11. NEW MODEL ‘PERMITS TIME TRAVEL’ “If you went back in time and met your teenage parents, you could not split them up and prevent your birth - even if you wanted to, a new quantum model has stated. Researchers speculate that time travel can occur within a kind of feedback loop where backwards movement is possible, but only in a way that is "complementary" to the present. In other words, you can pop back in time and have a look around, but you cannot do anything that will alter the present you left behind. The new model, which uses the laws of quantum mechanics, gets rid of the famous paradox surrounding time travel…Quantum behaviour is governed by probabilities. Before something has actually been observed, there are a number of possibilities regarding its state. But once its state has been measured those possibilities shrink to one - uncertainty is eliminated…’Quantum mechanics distinguishes between something that might happen and something that did happen,’ Professor Dan Greenberger, of the City University of New York, US, told the BBC News website. link here . 12. AN UNUSUAL THIEF This writer does not know if this is true or not with the virtual reality word of the computer, however thought I would share this pictorial with all of you and let you, the viewer, decide: link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL IN THE NEWS JZ Knight, several of Ramtha’s appointed teachers, and filmmaker Mark Vicente will be the headliners at the Vancouver, BC, Prophets Conference August 12-14, 2005. Quoting the Prophets Conference website, “JZ Knight is the channel for the 35,000 year-old master teacher, Ramtha. Through a coherent system of thought that unifies scientific knowledge with esoteric knowledge of spirit, his students study biology, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and quantum physics. At the conference JZ Knight takes the participants through an experiential process that shows us a glimpse of the greatness and beauty of who we truly are.” link here The movie What the Bleep has now opened in Israel. Here is the latest review from that country’s Ha’aretz (in Hebrew): link here . OF LOCAL NOTE This Olympian story tells how Thurston County commissioners changed the cutoff date on a moratorium for new construction applications that setoff a rush to beat Thurston County’s moratorium on new developments: link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Better keep yourself clean and bright; you are the window through which you must see the world." George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Irish Playwright, critic & essayist 1925 Nobel Prize for Literature Winner . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. 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 Special Edition For August 3, 2005 Dear Kleiner's Korner Readers; This writer is so pleased to announce that "Yelm Uncensored" will be held on Friday, August 5 and Saturday, August 6 at 7:30 at the Yelm Middle School. This show stars Vanda and her Boys and benefits the Yelm Commerce Group's expenses for their appeal with Wal-Mart, aiming to stop the chain's entry of a "big-box" store in Yelm, WA. Tickets are available in Yelm at Gordon's Garden Center, Blue Bottle and D&D Computer/Jewelry (credit cards accepted). This writer knows Vanda personally and can attest that her show will be spectacular and go a long way to assist in educating this community on the value of supporting our local businesses and reigning in large corporations' incursions in our pristine area. Check out the Yelm Commerce Group website, beneficiary of Vanda's show at: link here See what The Olympian said about Vanda's show: “When Vanda Mikoloski sent The Olympian a news release about her Quantum Comedy Show, we took notice. It's comedy about quantum physics -- not something you encounter too often. And it was inspired by the made-in-Yelm movie "What the #$*! Do We Know?" (Say "What the Bleep Do We Know?"),” quoting The Olympian. link here . Even the State of Washington agrees with curbing growth in Thurston County, quoting The Olympian: "County commissioners imposed the moratorium in response to a state ruling that found many of the county's planning policies violate the state Growth Management Act. In short, the state Growth Management Hearings Board decided urban growth areas were too large; that the county sometimes allowed development of more than one unit per five acres of rural land; and that the county has not set aside enough land for farming." link here . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. 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 August 1, 2005 Dear Readers; The country's Conservatives may be "outraged," however this writer acknowledges and congratulates Senator/Doctor Frist for reasoning this out and breaking with his Republican stalwarts! "Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's announcement Friday [July 29] that he would support federal funding of embryonic stem cell research sparked outrage among Christian conservatives and may signal a rift within the Republican Party in advance of the 2008 elections. In a speech on the Senate floor, Frist, a heart- and lung-transplant surgeon from Tennessee, said the restrictions on federal funding imposed by President Bush in 2001 'will, over time, slow our ability to bring potential new treatments for certain diseases,'" quoting the Chicago Tribune. link here In other stem cells news of importance last week: “Genetically engineered stem cells can help rats’ severed spinal cords grow back together, according to a study published Tuesday [July 26]. Rats given the treatment, using stem cells taken from rat embryos, could move their legs again after their spines were severed in the lab, said the researchers’ report in the Journal of Neuroscience.” quoting Reuters. link here 1. TENTH PLANET DISCOVERED! Astronomers have discovered an object in our solar system that is larger than Pluto. They are calling it the 10th planet, but already that claim is contested. The new world's size is not at issue. But the very definition of planethood is. It is the first time an object so big has been found in our solar system since the discovery of Pluto 75 years ago. The announcement, made Friday [July 29] by Mike Brown of the California Institute of Technology, came just hours after another celestial object slightly smaller than Pluto was revealed, on a very confusing day for astronomers and the media," quoting Space.com. link here Are we on the way to finding Zecharia Sitchin's "12th Planet" of Sumarian text fame? link here Order Sitchin's book The Twelfth Planet here: link here then write in "The Twelfth Planet". 2. BEING A SENIOR NO LONGER MEANS ONSET OF DISABILITIES This writer has always loved to hear the wisdom, stories, and experiences of our more mature members of society. I could sit all day mesmerized as my brain creates holograms of what these beautiful beings share of themselves from decades ago. So I awoke with delight to read this story in The Olympian last week, “There's a silver lining to turning 50. The age-old belief that turning 50 means the onset of spiraling, declining physical ability is being dispelled. The Washington State Senior Games might just be proof. The Senior Games is a competition involving 18 sports that is taking place in various locations in South Sound Friday through Sunday. The event is for athletes 50 and older. And among the many messages behind the Senior Games is that it's never too late to start competing.” [Ed. Note: Of course this writer just turned 50 last year himself. Smile!] link here . 3. “TV IN [CHILDREN’S] BEDROOMS LINKED TO LOWER TEST SCORES” “A new study by researchers at the School of Medicine and Johns Hopkins University indicates that third-graders with televisions in their bedrooms perform significantly worse on standardized tests than their peers without. Conversely, those with access to a home computer earn higher test scores. The differences persist regardless of the amount of time the students reported spending on homework. ‘This study provides even more evidence that parents should either take the television out of their child's room, or not put it there in the first place,’ said Thomas Robinson, MD, director of the Center for Healthy Weight at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford and associate professor of pediatrics. Robinson is the senior author of the research, published in the July issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine,” quoting Stanford University News Service. [Ed. Note: Another reason why it’s called an idiot box, not to mention how people are programmed by the thing!] link here . 4. YOU JUST GOTTA SEE ONE PERSON’S DREAM COME TRUE – A PERSONAL FLYING MACHINE “Have you ever dreamt about the day you can buzz around in your very own flying machine? Well, that day may be sooner than you think. The folks at NASA have built something called “The Highway in the Sky.” It's a computer system designed to let millions of people fly whenever they please, and take off and land from wherever they please, in their very own vehicles. And here’s the good news: A lot of people are building machines you’ll be able to buy. One of those people is an inventor named Woody Norris. And, as Correspondent Bob Simon first reported last spring, he received this year's top prize for invention. It’s called the Lemelson-MIT award, and it's a half-million-dollar cash prize to honor his life’s work, which includes a brand new personal flying machine,” quoting CBS News 60 Minutes. link here . 5. WIND FARM APPROVED BY WA. GOVERNOR/FIRST WIND FARM IN NATIONAL FOREST PROPOSED “The Wild Horse Wind Power Project will provide approximately 220 megawatts (MW) of affordable, pollution-free electricity to the Northwest. 220 MW is equal to the annual energy requirements of over 55,000 homes. In addition to power generation, the Project will bring new jobs and an estimated $1M annually in local property tax revenues to Kittitas County. Zilkha Renewable Energy plans to install approximately 136 wind turbines over about 8,600 acres of open range. The turbines, underground power lines, roads, and substation will blend well with current land uses; the wind farm itself will take up only about 165 acres. Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) has begun to evaluate this proposed project. Wild Horse filed a formal application in March 2004. An application to Kittitas County was filed in June 2004,” quoting the Wild Horse Wind Project site. link here “Gov. Christine Gregoire today [July 26] approved plans for a wind farm in Kittitas County that will provide clean energy for Washingtonians while boosting the local economy by bringing in jobs and tax dollars. The Wild Horse Wind Farm is a collaborative effort between Zilkha Renewable Energy and Puget Sound Energy. Zilkha is developing the project; Puget Sound Energy has agreed to purchase and operate the wind farm once it is completed. The facility is planned for land northeast of Ellensburg. ‘This is a terrific project because it combines economic development and environmental stewardship,’ Gov. Gregoire said. ‘The wind farm will use cutting-edge technology to bring money and jobs to the community while providing clean and affordable energy,” quoting the Zilkha Press Release. link here "The evergreen trees of the Green Mountain National Forest in southern Vermont could soon be dwarfed by 370-foot-tall wind turbines. A company wants to build up to 30 of the turbines in the forest in what would be the first-ever wind power project on U.S. Forest Service land. The project would produce enough electricity to power 14,000 to 16,000 homes. The Forest Service is expected to take up to 18 months to decide whether to approve the project by Deerfield Wind LLC. Environmental groups have strongly opposed moves to open more federal lands to people who want to extract energy from them, whether oil, natural gas or coal. But wind energy, a relatively benign and pollution-free way to make electricity, is a different story," quoting the AP. link here . 6. “YOUR APPEARANCE CAN AFFECT THE SIZE OF YOUR PAYCHECK” Quoting this USA Today story, “When Jennifer Portnick wanted to be a Jazzercise franchisee, she says, she was denied. The reason: The company had a policy that required exercise instructors to appear fit. Portnick, who weighed 240 pounds, didn't pass…Portnick's story is just one example of how physical appearance can affect employment. A growing body of research supports what many suspect: In the workplace, an employee's physical appearance is a powerful symbol that affects job success. ‘The issue was my image. I never thought I'd be complaining about discrimination,’ says 41-year-old Portnick, who now is a personal trainer and teaches intermediate aerobics classes every other Saturday for people of all sizes at World Gym.” link here . 7. WHO: GLOBAL FLU OUTBREAK POTENTIAL THREAT “Indonesia’s first human bird flu case, coupled with more birds dying elsewhere including Russia, are signs a long-dreaded global influenza pandemic may be approaching, the World Health Organization said on Friday [July 22]. Health officials fear the virus will mutate and mix with human influenza, creating a deadly pandemic strain that becomes easily transmissible and could kill millions of people,” quoting Reuters. link here And the full text of the WHO warning: link here . 8. STUDY: STRESS LEADS TO EARLY DEATH IN WORMS; HUMANS SIMILAR? “How well you respond to stress predicts how long you will live, at least if you are a little worm, U.S. scientists reported on Monday [July 25]. Genetically identical worms responded to stress in greatly different ways -- and those with more active stress reactions lived much longer than worms with less active stress proteins, the researchers found. More active stress responses suggest the animal is coping with the stress. The findings will almost certainly apply to humans in some way, they report in this week's issue of the journal Nature Genetics,” quoting Reuters. link here . 9. SCIENTISTS: VISION A WORLD WITH ALL VEHICLES POWERED BY HYDROGEN “What if all the vehicles now on the road in the United States were suddenly powered by hydrogen fuel cells? Stanford researchers say in a June 24 article in the journal Science that such a conversion would improve air quality, health, and climate—especially if wind were used to generate the electricity needed to split water and make hydrogen in a pollutionless process. Similarly to how gas is pumped into tanks, hydrogen would be pumped into fuel cells, which rely on chemistry, not combustion, to power vehicles. (As hydrogen flows through fuel-cell compartments, it reacts with oxygen to produce water and energy.) Associate Professor Mark Z. Jacobson and postdoctoral fellow Whitney Goldsborough Colella (both in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department) and Consulting Professor David M. Golden (Mechanical Engineering Department) report that annually such a conversion could prevent millions of cases of respiratory illness and tens of thousands of hospitalizations and save more lives than were lost in the World Trade Center attacks,” quoting Stanford University News Service. [Ed. Note: Until the public turns off the TV and stops being programmed by the oil lobby will we ever move in concert in that direction. TV = “We The Sheeple.”] link here . 10. DEVICE COOLS BODY CORE TEMPERATURE; ENHANCES PERFORMANCE “Athletes, and patients, know that overheating hurts a body’s performance. Biologists H. Craig Heller and Dennis Grahn—using a vacuum and the palm—have learned how to chill out efficiently… The RTX—for rapid thermal exchange—cooling device… promises to enhance human performance in applications ranging from sports to medicine to the military. It is the brainchild of biological sciences professor H. Craig Heller and senior research scientist Dennis Grahn, who have spent nearly two decades studying temperature regulation in mammals. Their lab, once devoted to hibernating ground squirrels and marmots, now attracts San Francisco 49er football players, military representatives from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, multiple sclerosis patients and sweating Stanford athletes., “quoting Stanford Magazine. link here . 11. BRAIN’S CHEMICAL ACTIVITY NOW LINKED TO ANOREXIA [Ed. Note: HMMM! An attitude in the brain results in chemical activity? WOW, fascinating!] “Women who suffer from anorexia have increased chemical activity in a part of the brain that controls reward and reinforcement, something that may explain why they are driven to lose weight but don't get any pleasure from it, according to a new study. Researchers used brain-imaging technology on 10 women who had recovered from anorexia and 12 healthy women. In the anorexic women, they found overactivity by dopamine receptors in a part of the brain known as the basal ganglia. Dopamine is a brain chemical that is associated with regulating pleasure. ‘The take-home message is dopamine in this area may be very important in how we respond to stimuli, how we view positive and negative reinforcement,’ said Dr. Walter Kaye, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and one of the researchers involved in the study,” quoting the AP. link here . 12. PLEASED TO SHARE THE ARTWORK OF MY FRIEND GARY CRAIG Bringing the fabulous work of my friend Gary Craig to the world; Gary is an exceptional local artist with oil and pencil sketches some of his specialties. See this writer’s sketch through the eyes of the artist at: link here Last one on page is your Kleiner’s Korner creator. . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS The News Tribune (Tacoma, WA) filed two in-depth reports on the Ramtha School Sunday, July 31, 2005. What is the Ramtha School is described in detail in this report titled: Movement traces roots to warrior link here And this article titled: RAMTHA - Just another neighbor link here . OF LOCAL NOTE "Developers and real estate agents predict several negative results on business from a six-month moratorium imposed by county officials last week on new subdivisions in unincorporated Thurston County," quoting The Olympian. link here "After years of partisan impasses and legislative failures, Congress in a matter of hours yesterday passed or advanced three far-reaching bills that will allocate billions of dollars and set new policies for guns, roads and energy," quoting The Seattle Times. link here "Washington is expected to receive nearly $3.5 billion in federal money for road and highway construction under a transportation bill Congress was racing to complete Thursday [July 29] before its summer recess... • $2 million to conduct engineering, design and right-of-way acquisition for the construction of the Yelm Loop, which would divert traffic around backlogged intersections of Highways 510 and 507 in downtown Yelm," quoting The (Tacoma) News-Tribune. link here Live in an apartment. or don’t have your own land and wish to grow your own food? Now you can: [The] “Yelm Worm Farm has been a source of the finest certified organic produce available. Now you can do the same with your own certified organic garden plot here at the Farm. A 10' x 20’ plot will include 1 cubic yard of Barefoot Soil Earthworm Castings and water for your garden. The cost for 1 year will be $365. (That is $1.00 per day!),” quoting their newsletter. Ask for Tiffany and tell her Kleiner’s Korner sent you. link here A fabulous opportunity for Olympia & Lacey residents to take a tour of Yelm! YES, Yelm as tourist attraction. Unique & Antique: From 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 6, trip departs from and returns to Lacey City Hall, 420 College St. S.E., Lacey. Spend the day exploring antique shops in Yelm and Tenino. $25. Registration is required. 360-491-0857. link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "The independence created by philosophical insight is — in my opinion — the mark of distinction between a mere artisan or specialist and a real seeker after truth." Albert Einstein (1879-1955) German-born theoretical physicist; Originator of the theory of relativity Written to Robert A. Thornton, December 7, 1944. . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2005. For archived issues of Kleiner’s Korner, click on “Current Kleiner’s Korner and Archives” at link here Send comments to steve@kleinerskorner.com .