UPDATES ARCHIVE FOR DECEMBER 2005
HOME PAGE	Kleiner's Korner For Week of January 2, 2006 Dear Readers; Happy New Year and welcome to 2006! Several news stories are very likely to remain at the top for 2006 and the one most likely to be leading the list is the Avian Flu potential to become a human pandemic. To that end, December 25th, 2005 was a remarkable day as two U. S. news reporter titans spoke to America on national television suggesting Americans go out and buy food for storage to protect themselves and their families in case of a pandemic. Imagine that! NBC's Meet the Press host Tim Russert interviewed former ABC Nightline anchor Ted Koppel and retired NBC News Anchor and Managing News Editor Tom Brokow about the leading stories of 2005, including the tsunami and Katrina's effects on New Orleans. Quoting from the transcript of the interview: MR. RUSSERT: Let me talk about an issue that is of grave concern to people but we don't know much about it and that's the avian flu, the potential for pandemic. We had Dr. Michael Ryan of the World Health Organization on MEET THE PRESS. Let's listen to him and come back and talk about how to deal with this. (Videotape, November 20, 2005): DR. MICHAEL RYAN (World Health Organization): The avian flu strain has the potential to become a pandemic strain. It is very worrying that we see this virus transmitting across the species barrier into humans and the virus itself is evolving and we are probably closer to a pandemic at any time in the last 37 years, since the last pandemic of '68. This virus has crossed the species barrier. It has infected humans. It's killing a high proportion of those human beings and we need to prepare for the possibility of a pandemic. MR. KOPPEL: ...Among the things we need to do, and it sounds horrific, to say it, is to put in a decent supply of food and water and whatever medicine is needed by a family in each American home now, before it's too late, so that if, and when, a flu hits an area, like, let's say, our area here in Washington, the people, especially older people, or people who have breathing problems, lung problems, people who have heart problems, can afford to stay home for two or three weeks, or longer. MR. BROKAW: Have you done that at your house? MR. KOPPEL: No, in truth. Have you? MR. BROKAW: We have. MR. KOPPEL: Have you? MR. BROKAW: Yeah. MR. KOPPEL: Good for you. MR. BROKAW: Well, we did it for a couple of reasons. Meredith--we live in New York and we have a house outside of New York and Meredith said, "This is going to be our sanctuary. We have to be prepared in case something happens." And we did put in a small supply of food and water and... MR. KOPPEL: Yeah. MR. BROKAW: ...other things to have on the ready. It's also--the avian flu and the pandemic possibilities are a real commentary on the world in which we're living now. The mobility of people to move across places that--the crush of population everywhere, how rapidly these things spread. And I think that leads in this country to a kind of unsettled feeling on the part of a lot of people. They have so much access to information now. They don't feel that they have their own sanctuary because it all happens at warp speed and I think politicians are not doing a very good job in my impression. MR. KOPPEL: But, you see, doing what Tom and Meredith have done, and what my wife and I have not done, yet--will do, I promise--wouldn't at this stage cause any shortages... MR. BROKAW: No. MR. KOPPEL: ...it wouldn't cause any panic. I'm not suggesting that people go out and instantly buy a four-week supply of medicine... MR. BROKAW: Right. MR. KOPPEL: ...food, water. But if you start... MR. BROKAW: You have to think about it. Yeah. MR. KOPPEL: ...over a period of the next three months... MR. RUSSERT: And that's the hard truth, it's probably the only thing you can do. MR. BROKAW: Yeah. MR. KOPPEL: Just--it's the only thing that the individual can do... MR. BROKAW: Yeah. MR. KOPPEL: ...so that at the very least, if the pandemic hits your community, you can stay at home, don't go out. This is HUGE! The complete transcript is at: link here Further, "Experts at WHO and elsewhere believe that the world is now closer to another influenza pandemic than at any time since 1968, when the last of the previous century's three pandemics occurred. WHO uses a series of six phases of pandemic alert as a system for informing the world of the seriousness of the threat and of the need to launch progressively more intense preparedness activities. The designation of phases, including decisions on when to move from one phase to another, is made by the Director-General of WHO. Each phase of alert coincides with a series of recommended activities to be undertaken by WHO, the international community, governments, and industry. Changes from one phase to another are triggered by several factors, which include the epidemiological behaviour of the disease and the characteristics of circulating viruses. The world is presently in phase 3: a new influenza virus subtype is causing disease in humans, but is not yet spreading efficiently and sustainably among humans," quoting the UN's WHO website. link here "Bird flu appears more likely to wing its away around the globe by plane than by migrating birds. Scientists have been unable to link the spread of the virus to migratory patterns, suggesting that the thousands of wild birds that have died, primarily waterfowl and shore birds, are not primary transmitters of bird flu. If that holds true, it would suggest that shipments of domestic chickens, ducks and other poultry represents a far greater threat than does the movement of wild birds on the wing," quoting the AP. link here 1. HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN STILL MISSING AFTER KATRINA" "Controversy brewed Friday [Dec. 23] over FEMA’s reluctance to release information on evacuees, data that some agencies have said could speed up the process of finding children missing since Hurricane Katrina. It was not until the FBI began requesting information that FEMA this month turned over the records, which are protected by privacy laws...The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has a database with close to 500 names, all of them children whose whereabouts are still unknown. Walter Fahr, manager of the Louisiana Clearing House for Missing Children, said FEMA has names, addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers of evacuees that could help connect parents with children," quoting New Orleans CBS affiliate WWL-TV. link here The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children database: link here . 2. "BRITAIN WILL BE FIRST COUNTRY TO MONITOR EVERY CAR JOURNEY" "Britain is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years. Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years. The network will incorporate thousands of existing CCTV cameras which are being converted to read number plates automatically night and day to provide 24/7 coverage of all Motorways and main roads, as well as towns, cities, ports and petrol-station forecourts," quoting UK’s The Independent. [Ed. Note: How far behind will the USA be? Orwell right again! "Big Brother watching you." You say we have a Constitution that protects us, the UK does not. As if that means anything anymore! Read this about our current President thumbing his nose at the Constitution he took an oath to uphold, protect and defend. Since when can it be suspended at the will of a President? link here ] link here . 3. TEFLON MAKER DUPONT PAYS LARGEST FINE FOR HIDING INFO "Chemical giant DuPont Co. will pay the largest administrative fine in the history of the Environmental Protection Agency to settle charges that it hid information for more than 20 years indicating that a compound used to make Teflon poses a substantial threat to human health. Without admitting any guilt or liability, DuPont has agreed to pay $16.5 million, including a $10.25-million civil fine, to settle a case alleging eight violations of federal laws that require companies to report the toxic dangers of chemicals they manufacture. Perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, a synthetic compound pioneered by DuPont and used for 50 years, has been found in the blood of 95% of Americans tested. It persists in the environment indefinitely and migrates long distances in the air. Researchers have found it in the blood of polar bears near the North Pole. ‘This is the largest civil administrative penalty EPA has ever obtained under any environmental statue. Not by a little, by a lot,’ EPA Assistant Administrator Granta Y. Nakayama said. ‘This settlement sends a strong message that companies are responsible for promptly informing EPA about risk information associated with their chemicals,’" quoting the LA Times. link here . 4. THOUGHT PROVOKING STORY REGARDING INTERENT CENSORSHIP "Internet censorship. It did not happen overnight but slowly came to America’s shores from testing grounds in China and the Middle East. Progressive and investigative journalist web site administrators are beginning to talk to each other about it, e-mail users are beginning to understand why their e-mail is being disrupted by it, major search engines appear to be complying with it, and the low to equal signal-to-noise ratio of legitimate e-mail and spam appears to be perpetuated by it. In this case, "it," is what privacy and computer experts have long warned about: massive censorship of the web on a nationwide and global scale. For many years, the web has been heavily censored in Countries around the world. That censorship continues at this very moment. Now it is happening right here in America," quoting Wayne Madsen. link here Now, Bush and his National Security Agency (NSA) has admitted to spying on internet users: link here [Ed. Note: Yes, I will get letters from some of you saying I am bashing our President. I remember President Nixon was impeached because of the same arrogant attitude that he could bypass the Constitution in the name of security. All we need is another attack on this soil and all privacy will be owned by the government, because the public will gladly give that away in the name of what they think is security, by "Big Brother."] . 5. AMAZON.COM'S BEZOS PLANS PASSENGER ROCKET "The new space race has touched down in Kent, where Amazon.com billionaire Jeff Bezos is building a rocket-ship complex set to open early next year.Blue Origin, Bezos' aerospace company, will use the facility to design and build spacecraft and engines. The company's near-term goal is to develop a vehicle that can take passengers on a thrill ride to the edge of space. But eventually, Bezos has said, he wants to build spaceships powerful enough to orbit the Earth. He even hopes to establish permanent colonies in space someday.Bezos paid $13 million for just less than 25 acres of industrial land next to the railroad tracks in the Kent Valley. City records show he is spending up to $8 million to remodel an existing office building and warehouse and build an experimental stand where rocket engines will be tested in three-minute-long trial runs. Among the upgrades spelled out in the plans: installation of aircraft hangar doors," quoting the Seattle Times. [Ed. Note: Western Washington is home to Bezos's Amazon.com, Weyerhauser, Microsoft, Starbuck's, Nintendo, Seattle's Best Coffee, Costco, Alaska Airlines, Nordstrom & Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, among others. Quite a talented area!] link here . 6. POLIO ERADICATION EFFORTS BACK ON TRACK "The 17-year effort to eradicate polio from the world appears to be back on track after nearly unraveling in the past three years. A new strategy of using a vaccine targeting the dominant strain of the virus appears to have eliminated polio from Egypt, one of six countries where it was freely circulating. That approach is on the verge of doing the same in India. Twenty-five years ago, India had 200,000 cases of paralytic polio a year. A decade ago, it was still seeing 75,000 cases annually. Through November this year, it recorded 52. Such dramatic successes, many the result of a more potent formulation of polio vaccine, have once again made eradication of the paralyzing viral disease a realistic goal. Only one human disease -- smallpox -- has ever been wiped out, and that was almost three decades ago," quoting the Washington Post. link here . 7. BE WARE WHEN DRINKING ANY CITY’S TAP WATER! "Drinking water may have a lot more in it than just H20 and fluoride, according to an environmental group's analysis of records in 42 states. A survey by the Environmental Working Group released on Tuesday [Dec. 20] found 141 unregulated chemicals and an additional 119 for which the Environmental Protection Agency has set health-based limits. Most common among the chemicals found were disinfection byproducts, nitrates, chloroform, barium, arsenic and copper. The research-and-advocacy organization compiled findings from the states that agreed to provide data they collected from 1998 to 2003. That data comes from nearly 40,000 water utilities, serving 231 million people. The utilities were required by federal law to report that data to consumers," quoting CBS News. link here And "A National Assessment of Tap Water Quality" from the Environmental Working Group. link here . 8. "NEW EVIDENCE SHOWS MARINE LIFE IS UNDER SIEGE FROM RISING OCEAN NOISE" "New evidence shows that the rising level of intense underwater sound produced by oil and gas exploration, military sonar and other manmade sources poses a significant long-term threat to whales, dolphins, fish and other marine species, according to a report published today [Nov. 21, 2005] by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report Sounding the Depths II: The Rising Toll of Sonar, Shipping and Industrial Ocean Noise on Marine Life, is accompanied by a five-minute movie narrated by actor and environmentalist Pierce Brosnan and produced by the firm Imaginary Forces. The film, Lethal Sound, is about harm to marine mammals from high-intensity military sonar and seismic air guns...Despite the alarming rise of global ocean noise in recent decades, there is no domestic law or international treaty to deal comprehensively with the problem. To the contrary, the Bush administration is attacking laws such as the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Endangered Species Act, which have been used to mitigate harm from ocean noise, and has formally opposed ‘any international regulatory framework addressing military use of active sonar,’ no matter what the science may now or in the future suggest," quoting the NRDC. link here . 9. STUDY "PERMAFROST COULD BE MELTING" "Climate change could thaw the top 11 feet of permafrost in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere by 2100, altering ecosystems across Alaska, Canada and Russia, according to a federal study. Using supercomputers in the United States and Japan, the study calculated how frozen soil would interact with air temperatures, snow, sea ice changes and other processes. The most extreme scenario involved the melting of the top 11 feet of permafrost, or earth that remains frozen year-round...The study was published Dec. 17 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters and presented earlier in the month at a science conference in San Francisco. A permafrost researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, however, disagrees that the thaw could be so large. Alaska's permafrost won't melt that fast or deep, said Vladimir Romanovsky, who monitors a network of permafrost observatories for the Geophysical Institute. If air temperatures increase 2 to 4 degrees over the next century, permafrost would begin thawing south of the Brooks Range and start degrading in some places on Alaska's Arctic slope, he said. But a prediction that melting will reach deeply over the entire region goes too far, he said," reported by the AP. link here . 10. RECORD CLIMATE ISSUES AROUND PLANET A. "Drought Strikes Three East African Nations" "Drought has triggered extreme food shortages in three East African countries, putting millions of people at risk of famine as the lean dry season approaches, a humanitarian group said. Pre-famine conditions have already emerged in eastern Ethiopia, including escalating malnutrition, reports of child deaths, early human and livestock migration and rising sorghum prices, the U.S.-funded Famine Early Warning Systems Network said Thursday [Dec. 29]," quoting the AP. link here B. Record Cold in Europe "Is Europe Due For A Big Chill" was the title of this prophetic TIME Magazine story earlier this year with the reason why Europe will and has experienced record cold. link here "This incredible spectacle you are about to see, takes place in Versoix, a town close to Geneva City, Switzerland. The water in the background is the Léman Lake. Photos taken Dec. 14, 2005. link here And, Europe in the 'Big Chill' link here A British Aiways jet stranded on a Berlin frozen runway for hours: link here Record Hurricane Season "A month after the hurricane season officially ended, a new tropical storm formed Friday [Dec. 30] in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the National Hurricane Center reported.Tropical Storm Zeta formed about 1,000 miles southwest of the Azores islands, according to an advisory posted on the center’s Web site...The 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was the busiest on record, with 27 tropical storms, besting the old record of 21 set in 1933. Fourteen of them grew into hurricanes, among the Katrina, beating the record of 12 set in 1969. Hurricanes Dennis, Rita and Wilma also caused significant damage in the U.S.," quoting MSNBC. link here C. Christmas Weather A Record Breaker in Puget Sound "The holiday weekend was a record-breaker. The high Saturday, Christmas Eve, was a record 62 degrees in Seattle, well above the old 55-degree record set in 1950. Sunday's high in Seattle was 58. Tacoma's high Saturday was 63, tying a 22-year-old record. Even Spokane had temperatures above freezing on Christmas, with a high of 48 and a low of 36," quoting KING5 TV. link here D. Record breaking Japan snow. 11. MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF PESTICIDES PROPOSED FOR PUBLIC LANDS "The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed to apply massive amounts of pesticides to public lands in 17 Western states. The BLM claims these pesticides need to be applied to forests, rangelands and aquatic areas in order to reduce the risk of fire and slow the spread of invasive weeds. Under the proposal 932,000 acres would undergo chemical application in 17 western states, including National Monuments and National Conservation areas. An integral part of this proposal involves aerial spraying of toxic pesticides, which increases negative impacts on non-targeted vegetation, wildlife, and people, including recreationists, tourists, and native peoples (pesticide application areas include Alaska, where native fishing and plant gathering is widespread). link here . 12. MAY YOUR CANDLES BURN BRIGHT IN 2006 Have a grand 2006, everybody! With Love from Yael & Steve Klein link here And, may all of your dreams come true: link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS JZ Knight will be on a four-day speaking tour with her "How to Develop Extraordinary Mind" the end of January with stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco & Santa Cruz. This writer and his wife were in the audience for her talk in New York City where she enthralled a packed house. For those of you in California, enroll here: link here then scroll down to Speaking Engagements . OF LOCAL NOTE A. VANDA RETURNS TO YELM We loved her in her comedy/education show on Wal-Mart. Now Yelm’s own VANDA returns home to delight audiences again in ENLIGHTEN UP! VANDA'S QUANTUM COMEDY SHOW Friday, January 6th and Friday, January 13th at Gordon's Grange 7:30PM, Tickets are $10.00 at the door and $7.00 in advance by going to www.vanda.us Be prepared to bring your own chair! B. SOUTH SOUND SEED STEWARDS Encouraging Community Independence and Self-Reliance through Producing and Sharing Locally Adapted Heirloom Seeds, 2006 Classes & Programs Begin Monday, Jan. 9, Yelm's Gordon's Grange Hall (located next to Gordon's Patio Shop) 7:00 -- 9:30 PM (doors open at 6:30 PM) 7:00 -- 8:00 Introduction to 2006 Schedule of Events 8:00 – 8:30 Break: Registration & Socializing 8:30 -- 9:30 Class Time C. YELM GROWS IN 2006 The Tacoma News Tribune reports in its New Years Day edition that South Sound "Cities look to 'urban villages' to drive the economic development engine in 2006." "In recent years, downtown Tacoma’s renaissance has dominated the economic development headlines. But 2006 will move the spotlight around the South Sound to the region’s smaller cities and towns... Yelm The big deal: The city has given preliminary plat approval for Tahoma Terra, a master-plan community of 1,200 homes on the site of a former dairy on 220 acres. The project, which will take three to five years to complete, will see its first 220 homes constructed in 2006. The theme: Infrastructure. "Yelm has been forward-looking," said Tami Merriman, assistant city planner. She points to "tremendous capacity" at the city’s sewage treatment plant and the work that’s already gone into the Highway 510 Yelm Loop project. With 60 percent of the traffic downtown being pass-through, the loop will ease congestion for residents. The project is now at the point of right-of-way acquisition and initial design. Other projects: As with some other South Sound communities, look for a Wal-Mart in Yelm. Along with Tahoma Terra, a few new subdivisions of between 20 and 200 units will add perhaps 600 new homes. There’s talk of a Walgreens. A Chinese restaurant will arrive. The dream: "We’re working hard, and it’s all coming together," Merriman said. People are moving in and finding Yelm a nice place to come home to after working in Olympia or Tacoma. Traffic snarls will continue downtown, but the new planned loop should help give Yelm back to its own residents. And with new retail businesses, some of those people might spend their money in town rather than elsewhere." [Ed. Note: Ms. Merriman talks of sewage capacity and a Highway 510 Yelm Loop. However, the Washington State DOT linked to the city's own website says in this January, 2006 update, "construction planned to begin in 2011 (subject to funding availability). link here A "new planned Yelm loop should give Yelm back to its residents?" Who is Ms. Merriman fooling? The city's own 2006 budget says there will be a 72% increase in 5 years in both dwellings and population within the city limits alone. She speaks of adequate sewage capacity yet mentions nothing about the city's limited water resources, infrastructure needs, permanent environmental footprint and the impact from growth in the surrounding areas just outside of the city. This town is in gridlock most afternoons today already. Yelm's City Council and planning officials feel they are doing their best in permitting every development saying growth is healthy. Yet growth at what cost? There has been little public involvement in growth issues here and when the public does speak up, the City Council places moratoriums on public comment. I know this writer's comments here disturb City Planners who feel they must grow this town for revenue. However, they will look back in four years and see a choked urban center, rather than a pristine small town because the city did nothing to control its growth through ordinances that would have limited the size of housing projects and big-box retail sqaure footage. Look for MORE public furvor to the new Mayor and City Council on this issue in the years ahead. This writer says more will have to be done to accommodate the growth here than City officials standing with their laurels of tremendous sewage capacity and a planned Yelm Loop to begin construction in 2011 subject to state/federal funding.] link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "Price is what you want to pay, value is what it's worth." Warren Buffett CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. One of the most successful world investors . Kleiner’s Korner is copyrighted by Stephen R. Klein, 2006. 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 December 26, 2005 Dear Readers; I was a young lad in my Sophomore year at the University of Miami, FL in 1973 when this nation watched Congress (both Democrats and Republicans--imagine that!) questioning then President Nixon's use of government surveillance on the American people without warrants. THAT issue became the backbone of Article #2 of President Nixon's Impeachment. He resigned on August 8, 1974. Click here to read the Article's of Impeachment adopted by the Committee on the Judiciary, July 27, 1974: link here One would think the country would be outraged at a President that would use the excuse of security as a means of spying on the public, the IDENTICAL thing about which the country went ballistic in the early 70's, forcing a President to resign. What? Have all the war-protesters & hippies all grown up. Where is the outrage today??? Some from that era remember and voiced their concern at this President's engaging the same tactics: link here "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety," quoting Ben Franklin (American politician, inventor, and scientist 1706-1790). [Ed. Note: In this writer's observation, the U. S. Constitution says ONLY Congress can declare war. The Congress of the U. S. never declared war on Iraq, rather giving the President authority to go to war. Small thing? Maybe. Huge distinction? Definitely! Therefore, the President has no authority to circumnavigate the Constitution and eavesdrop on the American public because of war with Iraq or war on terrorism, especially since Congress has not declared war. I call on Congress to follow the U. S. Constitution and let the President know these facts. This country was founded on a system of "Checks & Balances." Quoting the Constitution of the United States, Article I, Section 8, "The Congress shall have power to...declare war." The President took an oath to uphold and protect the Constitution, did he not? link here ] Read this September, 2002 report from the Council of Foreign Relations (CFR) no less and see how "right-on" they were then: link here "PEACE ON EARTH, GOODWILL TOWARDS MEN?" DOES THAT SEEM LIKE JUST A HOLIDAY WISH IN THESE TIMES OF WAR AND TERRORISM? SOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY WANT TO GIVE PEACE A BETTER CHANCE...BY MAKING IT AN OFFICIAL PART OF THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. A NEW, CABINET LEVEL "DEPARTMENT OF PEACE"--THAT THEY HOPE WILL HELP TURN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT INTO A YEAR-ROUND EFFORT. This quoted from San Francisco's CBS-TV affiliate KPIX-5: link here 1. "MISQUOTING JESUS- THE STORY BEHIND WHO CHANGED THE BIBLE AND WHY" [starting with Judaism] "Scholar Bart Ehrman's new book explores how scribes -- through both omission and intention -- changed the Bible. Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why is the result of years of reading the texts in their original languages. Ehrman says the modern Bible was shaped by mistakes and intentional alterations that were made by early scribes who copied the texts. In the introduction to Misquoting Jesus, Ehrman writes that when he came to understand this process 30 years ago, it shifted his way of thinking about the Bible. He had been raised as an Evangelical Christian...To discuss the copies of the New Testament that we have, we need to start at the very beginning with one of the unusual features of Christianity in the Greco-Roman world: its bookish character. In fact, to make sense of this feature of Christianity, we need to start before the beginnings of Christianity with the religion from which Christianity sprang, Judaism. For the bookishness of Christianity was in some sense anticipated and foreshadowed by Judaism, which was the first "religion of the book" in Western civilization. Judaism as a Religion of the Book The Judaism from which Christianity sprang was an unusual religion in the Roman world, although by no means unique.," quoting National Public Radio's (NPR) Fresh Air program. You can listen here: link here . 2. CONSIDER LED CHRISTMAS LIGHTS FOR 2006 Tacoma, WA. is the home for LED Christmas Lights site: link here . 3. SALLY RIDE SCIENCE EMPOWERING GIRLS IN SCIENCES "Sally Ride Science™ was founded in 2001 by former astronaut Sally Ride—America's first woman in space. The company’s mission is to empower girls to explore the world of science—from astrobiology to zoology and from environmental engineering to rocket science. We do this by creating innovative, high quality programs and publications for girls and their parents, teachers, and future employers. Our goal is to increase the number of girls who are technically literate and who have the foundation they need to go on in science, math, or engineering," quoting Ms. Ride's site. link here . 4. PBS EXPLORES HOW ANCIENT EGYPTIANS LIFTED HUGE STONES "For over 3,000 years, slender, giant needles of granite have towered over the ruins of Egypt's temples. Kings, popes and presidents have gone to extraordinary lengths to fetch these monoliths from Egypt. "Cleopatra's Needle" required 15 months to complete its journey to New York's Central Park in 1881. Moving the mighty stone shaft proved an enormous challenge to engineers equipped with capstans, steel towers, hydraulic jacks, and steam engines. How, then, were ancient Egyptians able to erect obelisks with only ropes and sand, sticks and stones, levers and inclined planes? In 1994, a NOVA team successfully reproduced many of the original techniques involved in quarrying and transporting these massive monoliths. However, the final riddle of how to erect a replica 40-ton stone defied the expertise of our team. The first NOVA obelisk lies abandoned today in an Egyptian quarry at a 40-degree angle... This time, Lehner, Hopkins, and the rest of the team will ultimately prevail over the 40-ton monster. But it will take a twist worthy of Agatha Christie to deliver the final solution of this daunting challenge from the past," quoting this fascinating PBS story. link here And: link here . 5. PBS EXAMINES HOW "SCIENTISTS WORK TO UNDERSTAND CONSCIOUSNESS" "At the Neurosciences Institute, founded by Nobel Prizewinner Gerry Edelman, scientists work to understand consciousness. In 'Monastery of the Mind,' a robot named Darwin models how mammals learn from experience. Programmed with arbitrary preferences, Darwin quickly learns to seek out objects he "likes" while avoiding objects he doesn't. With each encounter, scientists can see the strengthening of the connections between Darwin's neurons," quoting PBS's Monastery of the Mind broadcast. link here And: "The Neurosciences Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, privately supported, scientific research organization dedicated to studying the workings of the brain at the most fundamental level. Its goal is to illuminate the biological principles that form the very essence of conscious life: sensory perception, physical movement, memory, emotion, and communication. The Institute is dedicated to a research environment that encourages creativity and innovation in a collaborative atmosphere with true freedom of scientific inquiry, in the expectation that such an environment provides the best chance for making vital advances for the benefit of mankind," quoting their site. link here . 6. NORTH AMERICA FIRST COLONIZED BY PEOPLES OF SOUTHEAST ASIA? "The largest collection of early American skulls ever studied is lending credence to a controversial theory that two distinct populations of humans--rather than one--colonized the New World. If true, the findings indicate that people who shared an ancestry with modern day Australians and Melanesians may have settled on the continents somewhat earlier than immigrants from northeast Asia. Not so long ago, the origins of the first Americans seemed fairly certain: Beginning about 12,000 years ago, people from northeast Asia entered North America via the Bering land bridge in several waves of immigration. These ancestors of present-day Native Americans spread out to populate the entire New World. But in recent years, some archaeologists have argued that the first immigrants to the Americas were people from southeast Asia who share ancestors with native Australians and Melanesians. Chief amongst them has been Walter Neves of the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil," quoting ScienceNow. link here . 7. CAN WE THINK AWAY PAIN? "Researchers have developed a potentially powerful new tool that allows patients to fight pain by literally thinking it away. Volunteers put inside a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine were able to control the activity of a brain region responsible for pain perception, suggesting that the technology may someday provide a drug- and side-effect-free way to calm troubled nerves," quoting Science Now. link here . 8. "'FISH WITH CHIPS' REVEAL MIGRATION ROUTES" "Thousands of salmon, tuna, and other fish with electronic tags are revealing mysterious Pacific Ocean migration highways that may give clues about how to rebuild dwindling stocks, scientists said Wednesday [Dec. 14]. Marine experts also found 78 new species of fish in 2005 along with scores of other creatures ranging from a 10-foot rocket-shaped jellyfish in the Arctic Ocean to a tiny carnivorous sponge in the South Atlantic. "Fish with chips" -- hi-tech implants that enable either satellite or seabed tracking -- were one of the breakthroughs to uncover ocean migration paths, said scientists in the 73-nation Census of Marine Life, or COML," quoting Reuters. link here . 9. SOCRATES & SOLON’S PRINCIPLES NEEDED TODAY Read all about Socrates: link here And: link here Solon engaged in politics unwillingly, and, as Plato suggests, the call to public duty kept Solon away from his true calling: as educator of all the Hellenes. Solon's example must have had a profound impact on Plato's conception of the "duty" of the philosopher. The parallels are simply too close. Solon prohibited all loans secured on the borrower's person (seisachthei). He refused, however, to redistribute the land. He instead passed measures designed to increase the general prosperity and to provide alternative occupations for those unable to live by farming: e.g. trades and professions; forbade the exporting of produce other than olive oil (so much grain had been exported that not enough remained to feed the population of Attica); instituted the circulation of Athenian coined money (invented in Solon's lifetime) as a suitable standard; and established new weights and measures (Plut. /Vit. Solon/ xv 3-4). The rapid spread of the new coinage and Athenian products, particularly olive oil and pottery, shows that these measures were effective. Poverty, though not eliminated, was never again the rallying cry that it had been before Solon's reforms. Solon also crafted a new constitution. He abolished the monopoly of the Eupatridai and substituted for the aristocracy a government by the more wealthy citizens. He instituted a census of annual income, reckoned primarily in measures of grain, oil, and wine, the principal products of the soil, and divided the citizens into four income groups, accordingly. (Those whose income was in other forms, including money, must have been rated on a system of equivalents.) Henceforth, political privilege was allotted on the basis of these divisions, without regard to birth. Moreover, all citizens were entitled to attend the general assembly (ekklesia), which became, at least potentially, the sovereign body of Athens. The assembly was entitled to pass laws and decrees, elect officials, and hear appeals from the most important decisions of the courts. Additionally, all but those in the poorest group might serve, a year at a time, on a new Council of Four Hundred (Boule), which prepared business for the assembly. The higher governmental posts were reserved for citizens of the top two income groups, but an ancient Council of the Hill of Ares (/Areiopagos/) was still entrusted to members of the old aristocratic families. link here . 10. NEW TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS FROM THE U. S. DEPT. OF STATE "In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed timeline will be as follows: December 31, 2006 – Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. December 31, 2007 – Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel. In April 2005, the Departments of State (DOS) and Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed plan to be implemented in three phases beginning on December 31, 2005 for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. After further review and considering the delay in publishing the public notice in the Federal Register, DOS and DHS recognized that implementing the December 31, 2005, phase would be problematic for travelers during the upcoming winter tourism season. This change will simplify the implementation and provide a longer lead-time for travelers to come into compliance with the requirements." link here . 11. ACKNOWLEDGING OUR AREA'S PRODUCTIVE PEOPLE A. "In July, Margarette Elie entered her first jewelry design contest. And earlier this month, she learned that the three-piece set, named "Spice & Ice," took first place in the North American division of the 2005 Tahitian Pearl Trophy...Born in Haiti and raised in New York, Elie studied psychology in college. She began making jewelry about a decade ago, while in her 20s, selling costume jewelry to Nordstrom and a handful of upscale stores in New York. Elie and her husband, Stefan, moved to South Sound in the mid 1980s to study at Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment. He runs the Web site for the jewelry company, Elie Design, and helps with customer sales, and she works as a master goldsmith," quoting The Olympian. [Ed. Note: Congratulations Margarette!] link here B. The Yelm Food Co-Op will be showing a film titled "The Future of Food" at 6:30pm on January 6th at the Yelm Middle School. The film length is 90 minutes, requested donation is $5 to support the Co-Op's activities. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. The Yelm Food Co-Op site is: link here "THE FUTURE OF FOOD offers an in-depth investigation into the disturbing truth behind the unlabeled, patented, genetically engineered foods that have quietly filled U.S. grocery store shelves for the past decade," quoting their site. link here C. Western Washington's river guide Mel King, will again be offering daily tours down the Skagit River through the Bald Eagle Sanctuary January 5-8, 2006. Yelm's own fly fishing guide of 35 years can take up to 3 persons in his drift boat. [Ed. Note: This writer and his wife took Mr. King's float trip down the Skagit River a few years ago and were entralled.] Sign up for your excursion by emailing Mel King at flyguy@ywave.com The Nature Conservancy has a wonderful write-up about this Preserve. link here The Seattle P-I filed this report on the Skagit in January, 1997 that still applies today: link here D. Kudos to Washington Senator Maria Cantwell for leading the charge against Alaska Sentor Ted Stevens to get the ANWAR removed from a defense spending bill that would permit oil drilling there. Her comments on this development . link here The full AP story: link here . 12. HAPPY NEW YEAR May your New Year be exactly as you create the one you desire! You CREATE your New Year you may ask? Yes; though not by positive thinking, through amulets or crystals, or an astrological chart. No, none of that trash! How about YOU being the progenitor of your New Year? Use Ramtha's internationally known "Create Your Day" teachings for your New Year and in your own life: link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS Ramtha makes it to the Great White Way in 2005, just as this writer heard him say last year he would! Sometimes how we envision the outcome is totally different than reality, IMHO. "JZK, Inc. is pleased to announce the kickoff of their New Year's advertising promotion on the giant NBC Astrovision Billboard Video Screen above New York City's Times Square beginning December 23 through January 2, 2006. The spots promoting two divisions of JZK, Inc, a corporation based in Yelm, Washington, are featuring Ramtha's School of Enlightenment and The Outback Boutique and are expected to reach an estimated two million people flowing daily through Times Square, including New Year's Eve. Two 30-second spots will be shown four times daily on the 30-by-40-foot screen for ten days, including the busy Christmas and New Year's holiday period. New Year's Eve focuses the world's attention on New York City as millions gather there to welcome in 2006 with Ramtha's School of Enlightenment and Ms. Knight's Outback Boutique playing to the revelers," quoting JZK, Inc.'s Press Release: link here . OF LOCAL NOTE "The City of Yelm has scheduled a closed record appeal to consider an appeal of the Hearing Examiner’s decision to approve the site plan review for the construction of a Wal-Mart supercenter in Yelm. The closed record appeal meeting is scheduled for: Wednesday December 28, 2005, at 7:30 P.M., Yelm City Hall Council Chambers," quoting the city's website. link here NOTE: "There will be no testimony, argument, or questions from the public at the closed record hearing," quoting the city's site. Community Development Department Staff Report to Council: link here Wal-Mart's Response to Appeal: link here Appeal to City Council: link here [Ed Note: Expect a "scripted rubber stamp" denial of the appeal by the this term's outgoing City Council, all of which will return in 2006 except Mr. Harding who now will be Mayor, plus newly elected council member Mike McGowan. That denial is a sure thing. Wal-Mart has stated they will have their Yelm Superstore open in time for the Christmas, 2006 shopping season.] Yelm's 2006 City Budget lists a 72% increase in dwellings and 72% population increase in the next 5 years; a population rise from 4,455 today to 7,670 in 2010 = 72% and a rise in dwellings from 1,894 today to 3,264 in 2010 = 72% increase. You do the math! How can this city cope with the traffic, water requirements, sewage disposal, police and fire protection, and residential growth of that amount of increase and still provide services and infrastructure that support that percentage of development? This town is choking on its traffic now and the City Council sees fit to approve almost every project that comes before them. The tremendous needs of the city to support such growth — all the way from supplying limited water resources to our town, handling sewage disposal, then all the way to police and fire protection — will be stretched beyond capacity at even 1/2 that level. Yelm has a state highway bypass years away from fruition, a 1,200 home housing project coming on line within the next few years that alone will add 2,500 cars per day to city streets, plus a Wal-Mart that will add an additional 6,900-8,000 cars per day to Yelm's roads by the Christmas shopping season next year. This in addition to 3,000-5,000 MORE children added within 10 years to the stretched 5,000+ student Yelm School district. The Yelm Schools' site: link here Check out the City of Yelm budget presentation for yourself: link here The Washington State DOT says of the Yelm 510 Loop "Right of way acquisition is expected between 2005 and 2011, with construction planned to begin in 2011 (subject to funding availability)." HMMM. Note the key words here: construction planned to BEGIN in 2011 subject to funding. And this site was updated as recent as November, 2005. link here The City of Lacey, just 18 miles away, is having growth problems of its own because of water restrictions as reported in this December 13th Olympian story: link here Yelm is no different! And city planners want to make this a hub of retail development? Go Figure! Neighboring Pierce County has noticed with this article in their Business Journal. This writer hopes Pierce County officials wake up to the effects a Yelm Wal-Mart one mile from their borders will have on their county. They have much more stringent growth rules than Thurston County. All while long-time land owners are selling out to the highest-bidding multinational corporation in a land grab here. HELLO? Anyone home? Does anyone even care? SCRIPT! link here And Yelm Development Director Grant Beck says this writer is not able to see things his way about growth! I will Grant you that, given Yelm is at gridlock most afternoons, including weekends, currently. . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty... I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business or statescraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all of our citizens. And I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well... I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for our victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit." John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963) 35th President of the USA From JFK quote imprinted on the wall of the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC link here Be sure to catch the Kennedy Center Honors for 2005 honorees Robert Redford, Tina Turner, Tony Bennett, Suzanne Farrell, & Julie Harris on CBS on December 27th at 9pm ET/PT. 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 December 19, 2005 Dear Readers; This time of year always is a time of grand reflections on the past year’s accomplishments and to give thanks for all that we have to be thankful. After doing this Weekly Update for over four years now, I wish to thank each and every 1,500+ of you that subscribe from around the world for your letters, encouragement, comments, suggestions, and criticisms. This blog has grown to this size only by word of mouth from people like yourselves. Although the intent of Kleiner’s Korner has been to list links from sites in the mainstream media that support what students learn in the Ramtha school, this writer must be causing ripples when he receives a letter from a city official suggesting my editorial comments may have caused people to write the TNT (Tacoma News Tribune) with colored views obtained from this site. Stay tuned… Merry Christmas to each and every one of you. link here Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we welcome winter this year on Wednesday, December 21 at 10:30 am in the Pacific Time Zone. Happy Summer to those of you in the Southern Hemisphere! link here Steve Klein 1. "THE COLD TRUTH – WHY YOUR HOME HEATING COSTS MAY SOON REACH ALL-TIME HIGHS" U. S. News & World Report readers received what this writer observed is the most frank assessment of the critical state of this country’s energy supplies going into winter, with Gulf of Mexico production still in disarray from fall hurricanes. This story lists the reasons why there will be factory shutdowns, low-income deaths from lack of heat, energy price spikes, and more record pump prices next summer. EVERY American should read this. link here This is an all-too-repeated story this winter in the USA about elderly Kentucky seniors charged with selling their medicines to pay electric bills link here And good conservation tips: link here Buy stock in coal: link here . 2. OIL STRATEGY UNVEILED IN SYRIANA – THE MOVIE Ed. Note: Robert Baer’s book See No Evil is the basis for this movie, a must-see for those wishing to learn how corporate greed and power, Middle East oil wealth, and government collusion have America and the developed world now locked into declining oil supplies and a public that is controlled by those games. "See No Evil is a compelling account of America’s failed efforts to 'listen in' on the rest of the world, especially the parts of it that intend to do us harm," quoting the Wall Street Journal. link here Syriana has an all-star cast in riveting performances and a quick-paced story line. Some violence caused this writer to close his eyes. Turn up your volume and listen to the trailer. link here "NRDC and Participant Productions, the makers of Syriana, have teamed up to spotlight opportunities to break the chains of oil dependence. Starting with national legislation to save 2.5 million barrels of oil a day -- nearly 1 billion barrels of oil per year -- by 2015. And together we're encouraging Detroit to deliver advanced technologies like hybrid drive trains that will save gas, save money, and save American jobs. And we're getting out the message about how each of us can help break the chains of oil addiction," quoting the NRDC site. link here This administration’s quest for oil has led to many issues for the USA. This writer knows many KK readers do not like RFK, Jr. or the Kennedy's. Regardless, Mr. Kennedy writes some extremely compelling arguments in this LA Times story titled "America's Anti-Torture Tradition" quoted from December 17th: "It is nice that the Bush administration has finally been pressured into backing a ban on cruel and inhumane treatment of prisoners. But what remains shocking about this embarrassing and distasteful national debate is that we had to have it at all. This administration's newfound enthusiasm for torture has not only damaged our international reputation, it has shattered one of our proudest American traditions. Every schoolchild knows that Gen. George Washington made extraordinary efforts to protect America's civilian population from the ravages of war. Fewer Americans know that Revolutionary War leaders, including Washington and the Continental Congress, considered the decent treatment of enemy combatants to be one of the principal strategic preoccupations of the American Revolution." link here . 3. REMEDY TO FUEL CRISIS – "WIND POWER GETS BOOST FROM INTERIOR" "Interior Secretary Gale Norton announced the completion of an environmental review that will allow the Bureau of Land Management to significantly expand its wind energy program on public lands while ensuring the conservation of threatened and endangered species and migratory birds. With the publication of the record of decision on a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, BLM also is amending 52 land-use plans in nine western states to generate more than 3,200 megawatts of wind energy – enough to provide electricity for nearly 1 million homes," quoting the Dept. of Interior site. link here This writer and his wife took a helicopter ride above the new wind generation farm under construction on the island of Maui, Hawaii last week. This is a state that has to import all of its energy needs. From the State of Hawaii website: On Maui, a 30-megawatt wind farm in Kaheawa Pastures (near McGregor Point) is being pursued by UPC Hawaii Wind Partners, LLC (Hawaii Wind). Additional information is provided on the electric utility website: www.heco.com; the local project website: www.kaheawa.com; and in local media articles: the.honoluluadvertiser.com & starbulletin.com; & the Hawaii building industry: link here "The project will consist of 20 GE Wind Energy 1.5 MW 60 Hertz wind turbine generators and related equipment located on Maui, Hawaii in an area locally referred to as Kaheawa Pastures. The project site is particularly suitable for wind farm development, having a Class 1 diurnal wind regime, which is driven largely by prevailing trade winds and daily temperature inversions on Maui," quoting the project's website. link here The U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service report on this site: link here . 4. CHICAGO TRIBUNE EXTENSIVE STUDIES OF MERCURY CONTAMINATION IN FISH "Supermarkets throughout the Chicago area are routinely selling seafood highly contaminated with mercury, a toxic metal that can cause learning disabilities in children and neurological problems in adults, a Tribune investigation has found. In one of the nation's most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish, testing by the newspaper showed that a variety of popular seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules. The testing also showed that mercury is even more pervasive in fish than what the government has told the public, making it difficult for consumers to avoid the problem, no matter where they shop," quoting the Chicago Tribune. [Ed. Note: Buyer beware. Eat far northern caught wild fish to reduce mercury intake.] link here If you are not a subscriber to the Chicago Tribune, access the story from Newsday: link here . 5. "MICE GROW HUMAN CELLS AFTER INJECTIONS" "Add another creation to the strange scientific menagerie where animal species are being mixed together in ever more exotic combinations. Scientists announced Monday [Dec. 12] that they had created mice with small amounts of human brain cells in an effort to make realistic models of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Led by Fred Gage of the Salk Institute in San Diego, the researchers created the mice by injecting about 100,000 human embryonic stem cells per mouse into the brains of 14-day-old rodent embryos. Those mice were each born with about 0.1 percent of human cells in each of their heads, a trace amount that doesn't remotely come close to "humanizing" the rodent," quoting the AP. link here . 6. STONE TOOLS FOUND IN EUROPE DATED TO 700,000 YEARS AGO "Stone tools found embedded at the base of cliffs in southeastern England show that early humans lived in northern Europe 700,000 years ago — much earlier than previously thought, scientists said on Wednesday [Dec. 14]. Early humans were known to have inhabited the warmer parts of southern Europe 780,000 years ago, but researchers thought they had not ventured across the Alps into the north for about another 200,000 years," quoting Reuters. link here . 7. COFFEE STUDIES NOW SHOW IT PROTECTS BODY FROM ILLS "Every passing week brings news for latte lovers, and the latest on coffee is the best buzz yet. It turns out that a cup of joe--or a carafe--may chase away the blues; turn you into a better athlete; and protect against diabetes, Parkinson's disease, gallstones, and some cancers. Last week's headline: Researchers at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases found that a two-cup-a-day habit can dramatically cut the risk of chronic liver disease in those at greatest risk. ‘If its benefits continue to mount, coffee may come to be viewed as a health food,’ says Lona Sandon, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association," quoting U. S. News & World Report. link here The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases homepage: link here . 8. COMPUTER ANALYSIS OF MONA LISA’S SMILE "A computer analysis of the Renaissance masterpiece has found that she is 83 per cent happy, 9 per cent disgusted, 6 per cent fearful and 2 per cent angry. Leonardo Da Vinci's most famous portrait has been scrutinised by a software programme or algorithm designed to tease apart the different emotions behind a facial expression. The result is that the smile of the Mona Lisa is broken down into its constituent parts, said Nicu Sebe of the University of Amsterdam," quoting UK’s Independent. link here And: link here . 9. "GREAT LAKES GOVERNORS SIGN PROTECTION DEAL" "The governors of eight states and two Canadian provinces have signed an agreement that would prevent outsiders such as the booming cities of the Southwest from raiding Great Lakes water. The pact, reached last month after four years of talks, also seeks to encourage conservation of water by the states and Canadian provinces around the Great Lakes. It allows lake water to be transferred only to communities within the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Basin," quoting the AP. link here . 10. "NEW MEXICO TO BUILD SPACEPORT" "Virgin Galactic, the British company created by entrepreneur Richard Branson to send tourists into space, and New Mexico announced an agreement Tuesday for the state to build a $225 million spaceport. Virgin Galactic also revealed that up to 38,000 people from 126 countries have paid a deposit for a seat on one of its manned commercial flights, including a core group of 100 "founders" who have paid the initial $200,000 cost of a flight upfront. Virgin Galactic is planning to begin flights in late 2008 or early 2009," quoting the AP. link here . 11. "HAND-HELD INVENTION HELPS BODY COOL OFF" "For two years, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which gave us the Internet, has been financing the research on a hand-held device that essentially cools the body from the inside. The device, CoreControl, is a coffee pot-size chamber with a cold metal cone in the center. The user grips the cone and holds it for three to five minutes. Afterward, users report feeling not cooler but fresher and ready to work again. Unlike more common cooling strategies like cold towels, cooling vests, or gel packs, CoreControl focuses special radiatorlike blood vessels in the palm of the hand to take the heated blood that is normally pumped throughout the body during and after exertion and send cooler blood back to the body core instead," quoting the New York Times. link here . 12. CORPORATE DUMPING OF PENSIONS A TRAVESTY Ed. Note: Corporate executives who knowingly unfunded their pension plans and now their employees are left with nothing is another one of those great American train robberies. To hire a person and promise them a pension then not fund the program to prop up profits, then dump it altogether to save the company from liquidation is an embarrassment in this nation. The company should pay even if it means liquidation; they should have never been allowed to unfund these programs for one year. Many of you will write and tell me that at least employees of United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Airlines, etc. have jobs. Yes, that is true. However, all have managements that basically cannot be trusted with an employee’s future and consider an employee just a number on a chart. No wonder these and other companies are foundering. What does this have to do with Ramtha’s teachings? Everything in this writer’s view! I have always heard Ramtha to say treat everyone as you would treat yourself. My heart goes out to all of these workers this holiday. So, thousands of employees take home a blank pension check this Christmas, which Steve Breen summed up very nicely in the San Diego Union-Tribune of December 12. link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS What the Bleep will be on Direct TV’s Starz Edge Channel on December 21st at 12:15pm Pacific Time. link here "Down the Rabbit Hole will be released in theaters in the United States in February. Containing new scientific information, never before seen footage, 1 hour and 45 minutes of new interviews, two new scientists, Dean Radin, Ph.D. and Dr. Masaru Emoto, interviews with author Lynne McTaggart, a new opening and three new animation sequences," quoting the Bleep site. link here . OF LOCAL NOTE An Exclusive Interview to Global Talk Radio was given by Yelm’s own Bettye Johnson, author of "Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls", dispelling myths and disinformation about Mary Magdalene. Although her novel is fiction, Bettye actually conducted a lot of research in writing the book, including a trip to France, and she believes her story could be as factually correct as any other. Live streaming is available at this link, then clicking "2005-Dec-08" link here Please visit Yelm's own Pats Novelties which has beautiful yard and garden enhancements. Spinners and chimes are made in a variety of designs and materials, as copper, acrylic, colored galvanized steel, and beautiful hand-blown glass. link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "There are two ways to live your life... One is as though nothing is a miracle, The other is as though everything is a miracle." Albert Einstein May this holiday be all miracles for you!. 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 December 12, 2005 Dear Readers; This important story was one about which you probably did not hear as it was relegated to the back pages last week: "SAN FRANCISCO - The eventual recovery of the gaping ozone hole over Antarctica, first discovered two decades ago, may take years longer than previously predicted, scientists reported Tuesday [Dec. 6]. Researchers suspect that’s because of all the older model refrigerators and automobile air-conditioning systems in the United States and Canada that are still releasing ozone-killing chemicals. If scientists are right, that means longer-term exposure to harmful ultra­violet radiation, which raises the risk of skin cancer and cataracts for people. Long-term UV exposure is bad for the biodiversity of the planet too. Since the discovery of the hole over the South Pole in the 1980s, satellites and ground stations have been monitoring it. Current computer models suggest the hole should recover by 2040 or 2050, but Tuesday’s analysis suggests it won’t heal until about 2065," quoting the AP. link here 1. "PENTAGON EXPANDING ITS DOMESTIC SURVEILLANCE ACTIVITY" "The Defense Department has expanded its programs aimed at gathering and analyzing intelligence within the United States, creating new agencies, adding personnel and seeking additional legal authority for domestic security activities in the post-9/11 world…The proposals, and other Pentagon steps aimed at improving its ability to analyze counterterrorism intelligence collected inside the United States, have drawn complaints from civil liberties advocates and a few members of Congress, who say the Defense Department's push into domestic collection is proceeding with little scrutiny by the Congress or the public. ‘We are deputizing the military to spy on law-abiding Americans in America. This is a huge leap without even a [congressional] hearing,’ Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in a recent interview," quoting the Washington Post. [Ed. Note: We all know that the Constitution of the United States has been under assault for decades and although it can be quoted, it is circumvented daily by "black projects." A pre-emptive war, torture of prisoners in holding camps with no parole/representation, and surveillance of Americans on their own soil is not the same America in which this writer was raised, yet has denigrated to. Harsh words? YES! Somebody has to say them.] link here . 2. "THE PET PRESCRIPTION" "See Spot run. Then see Spot lower your blood pressure and boost your immunity. Really... Pet benefits may begin with changes in body chemistry. One study showed that a short pet visit increased levels of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, while levels of cortisol, a stress and arousal hormone, dropped," quoting this fabulous US News report. link here . 3. "A NEW SPIN ON THE PLACEBO EFFECT" "Your medicine really could work better if your doctor talks it up before handing over the prescription. Research is showing the power of expectations, that they have physical — not just psychological — effects on your health. Scientists can measure the resulting changes in the brain, from the release of natural painkilling chemicals to alterations in how neurons fire. Among the most provocative findings: New research suggests that once Alzheimer’s disease robs someone of the ability to expect that a proven painkiller will help them, it doesn’t work nearly as well," quoting the AP. link here . 4. "GAUGING THE WAL-MART EFFECT" This is one of the most balanced articles this writer has seen about Wal-Mart and its effects on communities. Yelm, Washington city leaders and residents would be wise to read this to learn both the pros & cons of a Wal-Mart entry here. Of course, Yelm officials WANT major growth, without due consideration of growth's affects on the future, as clearly stated by Mayor-elect Harding in the League of Women Voters Forum during the campaign. This town is choking on its traffic now. With 6,900 - 8,000 more cars a day here from Wal-Mart alone, what is to become of our sweet little town? This writer received a letter last week from City of Yelm Development Director Grant Beck that KK readers "may have even been colored by your editorial comments. At this point, I honestly don't believe that I can make a difference in your perception of the excellent work of the City Council and Community Development Department." HMMM! Kleiner's Korner readers colored by this writer's comments? He does not know what I know about each of you; that you have your own discerning minds and are able to make your own decisions about the issue of growth in Yelm. link here The National Bureau of Economic Research site mentioned in the aforementioned story: link here And, the Wall St. Journal's op-ed piece titled "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?" link here And this USA Today report on Wal-Mart titled "Growing opposition frowns on Wal-Mart," link here . 5. REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION AIM OF THIS GROUP "The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse is a national non-profit organization with extensive online noise related resources. The Noise Pollution Clearinghouse seeks to: * Raise awareness about noise pollution * Create, collect, and distribute information and resources regarding noise pollution * Strengthen laws and governmental efforts to control noise pollution * Establish networks among environmental, professional, medical, governmental, and activist groups working on noise pollution issues * Assist activists working against noise pollution The mission of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse is to create more civil cities and more natural rural and wilderness areas by reducing noise pollution at the source," quoting the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse. link here . 6. "WOMEN OF THE BIBLE" "Their names are familiar, but their stories are many times overshadowed by those of the patriarchs they knew. These courageous, decisive women deserve to be better known. They struggled to love, to parent, to succeed in relationships, and to make their way through a dangerous world, frequently defying male authority when it failed to meet their needs, or those of their families. Now U.S. News enlightens readers with recently uncovered insights about many of the most notable women featured in both the Old and New Testaments. Some of the fascinating women you'll discover include: Eve: The first woman Zipporah: She battled with God Delilah: She brought down Samson Mary: Jesus' mother Salome: A seductive and deadly muse Mary Magdalene: Prostitute or the wife of Jesus?" link here . 7. FORMER CANADIAN MINISTER CALLS FOR ET PUBLIC HEARINGS "A former Canadian Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.” By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth. On September 25, 2005, in a startling speech at the University of Toronto that caught the attention of mainstream newspapers and magazines, Paul Hellyer, Canada’s Defense Minister from 1963-67 under Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Prime Minister Lester Pearson, publicly stated: ‘UFOs, are as real as the airplanes that fly over your head.’" quoting PRWEB. link here . 8 FIRST FACE TRANSPLANT REPORTED IN FRANCE "Surgeons in France have carried out the first face transplant, it has been reported. The woman had lost her nose, lips and chin after being savaged by a dog. In the controversial operation, tissues, muscles, arteries and veins were taken from a brain-dead donor and attached to the patient's lower face. Doctors stress the woman will not look like her donor, but nor will she look like she did before the attack - instead she will have a "hybrid" face," quoting the BBC. link here . 9. FETAL SKIN CELLS HEAL BURNS “Tissue dressings derived from fetal skin cells have been used successfully to treat second- and third-degree burns without scarring in pediatric patients, researchers in Switzerland report. The use of fetal cells in wound repair could avoid difficulties of tissue engineering, such as immune rejection, small growth capacity and incompatibility, Dr. Lee Ann Laurent-Applegate and colleagues note in their report, published online August 18 by The Lancet. ‘The main advantage was that we could avoid a (skin graft) procedure in all cases,’ study co-author Dr. Patrick Hohlfeld told Reuters Health. The research team, based at University Hospital of Lausanne, obtained a 4 square centimeter skin donation from a 14-week aborted male fetus. The skin cells were multiplied in culture and used to seed collagen sheets, and then grown for two more days before the sheets were applied to the burn wounds,” quoting Reuters. link here . 10. TWO AMERICAN ANIMAL SPECIES FURTHER ENDANGERED "Survival of the world's remaining polar bears is increasingly jeopardized by rapid disappearance of the arctic sea ice on which they depend for hunting, mating and migration, according to three leading conservation groups that today announced they are taking legal action to have the bears listed as "threatened" under America's Endangered Species Act. They point to extensive scientific evidence showing that the unprecedented polar meltdown is the result of global warming," quoting the NRDC. link here And: "As many as 100,000 grizzly bears once roamed the western United States, but they were killed off and their habitat destroyed -- only about 1,500 inhabit the lower 48 states today. Grizzly bears in and around Yellowstone National Park were listed under the Endangered Species Act in 1975 because their numbers had dwindled to the brink of extinction. Yellowstone's grizzlies have since rebounded to 500 to 600 bears, but now the Bush administration is planning to revoke endangered species protections, jeopardizing these bears' long-term survival. Officials are expected to announce their plan within days or weeks. Stripping endangered species protection from Yellowstone's bears would open their habitat to oil and gas drilling and other development and would allow hunters to kill bears that roam outside the park," quoting the NRDC. link here . 11. PRESERVING AFRICA’S WILDLIFE – HOW YOU CAN HELP "The David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust is a small, flexible charity, established in 1977 to honour to memory of a famous Naturalist, David Leslie William Sheldrick MBE, the founder Warden of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, where he served from its inception in 1948 until his transfer to Nairobi in 1976 to head the Planning Unit of the newly created Wildlife Conservation & Management Department. David died 6 months later but his legacy of excellence and the systems he installed for the management of Tsavo and wildlife generally in Kenya, particularly in the sphere of wildlife husbandry and ethics, lives on," quoting their site. link here . 12. HOW GOOD IS YOUR FOCUS? Give this a whirl and see just how good your focus really is! link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS For those of us in New York for JZ Knight's brilliant talk and Ramtha's message of hope about the future, we were thrilled to see she was featured in an interview with Time Out New York last week. Read this story here: link here WOW! One week after it was released in theaters, What the BLEEP’s official ranking in Germany is #1 in the Arthouse sector, and overall BLEEP is #2! behind Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. Check out the German website for more details at link here . OF LOCAL NOTE "Even if the weather outside is frightful, you will find it delightful inside the Tropical Butterfly House where temperatures are always a balmy 80 degrees and the humidity near 80 percent. Surrounded by tropical flora, stroll down a garden path while nearly 1,000 colorful butterflies flutter freely around you...The Tropical Butterfly House and Insect Village are permanent exhibits created by Pacific Science Center and housed in the new Ackerley Family Exhibit Gallery [Seattle]." link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The world is too much with us; late and soon, getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours.” William Wordsworth (1770-1850) English Poet . 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 December 5, 2005 Dear Readers; This writer published a story last week on the potential of a cervical cancer vaccine, due to be soon approved. As some of you wrote the link listed was from 2002, this writer listed that BBC link as one of the most detailed on this developing story. The reason this 2002 story was listed last week in Kleiner's Korner is that within the last month more details have become public, yet buried behind all of stories on the hurricanes, wars, and political chatter. For your review is this report on WebMD News from October 31, 2005: "A vaccine against the leading causes of cervical cancer will soon be up for FDA review. The vaccine, called Gardasil, is being filed for consideration 'imminently,' Eliav Barr, MD, told reporters in a conference call. Barr works for Merck Research Laboratories. Merck is Gardasil's developer. Merck is a WebMD sponsor. 'By the end of the year, we'll be submitting a regulatory file to the U.S. and other countries as well,'" says Barr. link here 1. 9/11 INFO WILL HAVE YOU QUESTIONING WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD "No matter how painful the facts raised by this site may be, we -- as patriotic Americans and people of good faith -- must look at the evidence for ourselves. This site is wholly nonpartisan, and not intended to criticize or to bolster any political party. The sources cited come from across the political spectrum. The issues raised transcend political differences, and are vital to conservatives, liberals, and moderates; they affect your life whether you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, or nonvoter. This website provides links to credible sources, so that you can easily check the information for yourself. Just read and click. And then make up your own mind." link here . 2. "THIS IS YOUR BRAIN UNDER HYPNOSIS" "Hypnosis, with its long and checkered history in medicine and entertainment, is receiving some new respect from neuroscientists. Recent brain studies of people who are susceptible to suggestion indicate that when they act on the suggestions their brains show profound changes in how they process information. The suggestions, researchers report, literally change what people see, hear, feel, and believe to be true…’The idea that perceptions can be manipulated by expectations’ is fundamental to the study of cognition, said Michael I. Posner, an emeritus professor of neuroscience at the University of Oregon and expert on attention. ‘But now we're really getting at the mechanisms,’" quoting The New York Times. link here . 3. REMOTE VIEW DAILY TO TEST YOUR BRAIN "The purpose of this web site is for people to practice their remote viewing skills. What is Remote viewing? Remote viewing is a psychic technique whereby a person can see things that are at a different location. It is not generally accepted that this is a viable technique; we at Remote View Daily however, are not interested in convincing you one way or the other. This web site is set up so people can practice their remote viewing skills if they are so inclined," quoting Remote View Daily. link here . 4. RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY REGENERATION GENE IN WORMS "Researchers at the University of Utah have discovered that when a gene called smedwi-2 is silenced in the adult stem cells of planarians, the quarter-inch long worm is unable to carry out a biological process that has mystified scientists for centuries: regeneration. The study published in the Nov. 25 issue of Science was led by Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the U of U School of Medicine, and carried out by members of his laboratory, in particular Helen Hay Whitney Foundation post-doctoral fellow Peter W. Reddien who is now an Associate Member at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research," quoting the University of Utah News Release. link here . 5. TOXIC COMPOUNDS IDENTIFIED AS LINK TO PARKINSON’S DISEASE "Scientists have amassed evidence that long-term exposure to toxic compounds, especially pesticides, can trigger the neurological disease. Scientists are ‘definitely there, beyond a doubt, in showing that environmental toxicants have to be involved’ in some cases of Parkinson's disease, said Freya Kamel, an epidemiologist with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences who has documented a high rate of neurological problems in farmers who use pesticides... " quoting the LA Times. link here . 6. ORGANIZATIONS DEVOTED TO SAVING RARE ANIMALS "Hundreds of pages about our elephant conservation projects, general elephant knowledge, traditional local lifestyles, jungle herbs, photographs and multi-media. Find out more about Elephant Nature Park and how it is helping the highly endangered creatures of the area. Our site covers the efforts of Lek's conservation projects," quoting this Thailand site. link here And: WILD ANIMAL PARKS DEVOTED TO SAVING RARE ANIMALS "Welcome to the wild - The John Aspinall Foundation in conjunction with Howletts and Port Lympne Wild Animal Parks is devoted to saving rare and endangered animals, returning them to protected areas in the wild. As a charity we rely on the support of the general public to help fund our work," quoting their site. link here . 7. ORGANIZATION WORKS TO CURB LIGHT POLLUTION "The CFDS aims to preserve and restore the beauty of the night sky by campaigning against excessive, inefficient and irresponsible lighting that shines where it is not wanted nor needed. We believe that light should only shine where it is needed and wanted, and no-where else. Doing so is both easy and cost-effective - and with significant health and safety benefits. Much wasted light shines up into the sky, causing the visual orange "smog" that hangs over towns and cities at night, intruding into the countryside, and destroying our view of a star-lit sky. This Light Pollution is a visible and needless waste of resources, which contributes to global warming - hundreds of millions of pounds worth of electricity is wasted each year in the UK alone through poor lighting. Because astronomers are the most sensitive to the effect of light pollution, the CfDS is a sub-section of the British Astronomical Association, although our membership is made up of a wide range of people, from lighting engineers to astrophysicists," quoting their site. link here And: The International Dark-Sky Association works "To preserve and protect the nighttime environment and our heritage of dark skies through quality outdoor lighting," quoting their site. link here . 8. HOUSEHOLDS INFESTED WITH ENERGY VAMPIRES "Households across the land are infested with vampires. That's what energy experts call those gizmos with two sharp teeth that dig into a wall socket and suck juice all night long. All day long too, and all year long. Most people assume that when they turn off the television set it stops drawing power. But that's not how most TVs (and VCRs and other electronic devices) work. They remain ever in standby mode, silently sipping energy to the tune of 1,000 kilowatt hours a year per household, awaiting the signal to roar into action," quoting the New York Times. link here . 9. FIRST EUROPEAN PYRAMIDS FOUND "A team of American and Bosnian archaeologists claim to have found two new pyramids buried under hills in Central Europe. The scientists say they found ancient labyrinths and other sand stone buildings under two unusually shaped hills in central Bosnia," quoting One News. link here . 10. MORE ACCURATE WEATHER INFORMATION IN 2006 "Early next year, the forecast system that allowed Raftery, a UW statistician, to stay dry on his hike will be available to anyone with a computer. A click of a mouse will yield a wealth of information until now available only to meteorologists. Based on an innovative new approach called "ensemble forecasting," the UW system could be a model for weather reports of the future, Raftery said. When the public version of the Web site is up and running, it will provide details most forecasts omit or gloss over, from the mathematical odds of a hard freeze two days from now to the probability next weekend's high temperatures will fall within a given range," quoting the Seattle Times. link here And weather information resources: link here The UW scientific map here: link here FURTHER: Here is an interesting story on weather manipulation: link here . 11. BIRD-FLU ANTIDOTE FOR YOUR OWN FOWL "There has been something of a Mozart-mania in America, with books promising that playing Mozart to a child in the womb will increase its IQ, and several southern states considering legislation that would award a free classical-music CD to every newborn infant. The furor was started in part by Frances Rauscher, a Julliard-trained cellist with a doctorate in psychology. In the early 1990s, she and her colleagues identified something that they called the "Mozart effect"; college students who listened to ten minutes of Mozart’s Piano Sonata K 448 experienced a significant increase in their spatial-temporal skills, compared with those who sat in silence, listened to instruction, or listened to Mendelssohn (though most rated Mendelssohn as more exciting) before being tested. As these skills are part of IQ tests, some people began to claim that music made people smarter. This attracted a great deal of attention, although attempts to replicate the study have had mixed results. One effect of the frenzy has been more money for research, which has helped to open up a more detailed discussion on the relationship between music, the brain and brain development. Anne Savan of Reading University found that playing Mozart orchestral compositions helped her restless special-needs students; their pulse rate lowered, their breathing was regularized, and their concentration improved. Other music simply wasn’t as effective. At first she attributed this to the range of high harmonics used by Mozart, but her later research, which manipulated the frequency levels of various compositions, showed that frequencies alone were not responsible for this physiological response," quoting The Economist, 2001. link here The Mozart Effect material. [Ed. Note: This writer heard his Master Teacher to say that playing Mozart for one's chickens will stay the effects of bird flu.] Order yours here: link here then type in MOZART and click enter.. 12. SILVER PRICES PORTEND MAJOR SHORTAGE "What's driving the rise in gold, silver and platinum? No one explanation can answer the question. Most metals prices -- including those for industrial use, such as copper and steel -- have been rising in the past year, in part as a result of brisk demand in a world economy where emerging countries such as China and India are buying more of all manner of commodities than in the past, said Dan Laufenberg, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial in Minneapolis," quoting the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. link here Check out the Silver Charts here: link here And other stories: link here link here . RAMTHA SCHOOL NEWS On the heels of her commanding talk to a spell-bound house in New York City on December 3rd and Ramtha's return to the Big Apple on December 4th, JZ Knight is the featured guest speaker at the Learning Annex in New York City on Tuesday, December 6. You will learn: How to expand the capacity of your normal mind How to read another person's mind How reality changes into the extraordinary through the use of our mind The keys that begin the process of greater mind power. If you are in the area, reserve your space here. Limited seating. link here . OF LOCAL NOTE "Seventeen South Sound educators have attained the highest credential in the teaching profession, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards announced Tuesday [Nov. 29]....This year, Yelm Community Schools had its first two teachers attain national certification. Rebecca Heinz teaches math and Heather Dorsey teaches art at Yelm Middle School. 'It’s a lot of work, a lot of effort,' Yelm Superintendent Alan Burke said. 'It means these people are very professional teachers, very much committed to education and very much willing to get better. Upon completion of the program, teachers in Washington receive a $3,500-a-year stipend," quoting The Olympian. link here "The film perfectly matched the struggle of the 22 people in the audience, and it was a much-needed morale boost in their fight against one of the biggest corporations in the world. Because so far, they’ve been losing. Those 22 people gathered on Monday night to rally support for their campaign to keep Wal-Mart out of the Yelm area. The focus of their efforts was a screening of "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," a documentary that aims to show how the big-box retailer hurts communities by wiping out mom-and-pop businesses," quoting The Tacoma News Tribune. [Ed. Note: This writer and his wife were in those 22.] link here . QUOTE OF THE WEEK "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happened, you can bet it was planned that way." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882 -1945) 32nd President of the USA . 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 .