Scientists discover world’s smallest superconductor

Posted on April 12, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Scientists have discovered the world’s smallest superconductor, a sheet of four pairs of molecules less than one nanometer wide. The Ohio University-led study, published today as an advance online publication in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, provides the first evidence that nanoscale molecular superconducting wires can be fabricated, which could be used for nanoscale electronic devices and energy applications.

“Researchers have said that it’s almost impossible to make nanoscale interconnects using metallic conductors because the resistance increases as the size of wire becomes smaller. The nanowires become so hot that they can melt and destruct. That issue, Joule heating, has been a major barrier for making nanoscale devices a reality,” said lead author Saw-Wai Hla, an associate professor of physics and astronomy with Ohio University’s Nanoscale and Quantum Phenomena Institute.

Superconducting materials have an electrical resistance of zero, and so can carry large electrical currents without power dissipation or heat generation. Superconductivity was first discovered in 1911, and until recently, was considered a macroscopic phenomenon. The current finding suggests, however, that it exists at the molecular scale, which opens up a novel route for studying this phenomenon, Hla said. Superconductors currently are used in applications ranging from supercomputers to brain imaging devices.

In the new study, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Hla’s team examined synthesized molecules of a type of organic salt, (BETS)2-GaCl4, placed on a surface of silver. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, the scientists observed superconductivity in molecular chains of various lengths. For chains below 50 nanometers in length, superconductivity decreased as the chains became shorter. However, the researchers were still able to observe the phenomenon in chains as small as four pairs of molecules, or 3.5 nanometers in length.

To observe superconductivity at this scale, the scientists needed to cool the molecules to a temperature of 10 Kelvin. Warmer temperatures reduced the activity. In future studies, scientists can test different types of materials that might be able to form nanoscale superconducting wires at higher temperatures, Hla said.

“But we’ve opened up a new way to understand this phenomenon, which could lead to new materials that could be engineered to work at higher temperatures,” he said.

The study also is noteworthy for providing evidence that superconducting organic salts can grow on a substrate material.

“This is also vital if one wants to fabricate nanoscale electronic circuits using organic molecules,” Hla added.

Collaborators on the paper include Kandal Clark, a doctoral student in the Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University; Sajida Khan, a graduate student in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Ohio University; Abdou Hassanien, a researcher with the Nanotechnology Research Institute, Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency’s Core Research of Evolutional Science & Technology (JST-CREST) in Japan who conducted the work as a visiting scientist at Ohio University; Hisashi Tanaka, a scientist at AIST and JST-CREST who synthesized the molecules; and Kai-Felix Braun, a scientist with the Physikalisch Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig, Germany, who conducted the calculations at the Ohio Supercomputing Center.

Leave a comment

Posted in news, Ohio, science

Tagged

Scientists cannot figure out why type 1 diabetes is rising three percent every year

Posted on April 12, 2010 by | 1 comment

Back in 1890, about one American child out of every 100,000 died each year from type 1 diabetes. Fast forward to the 21st century and the number is as high as 24. Each year, scientists estimate that the number of deaths among children due to type 1, or juvenile, diabetes increases by three percent with no signs of slowing down.

Type 2 diabetes, the kind most often associated with obesity and excessive sugar consumption, is often referenced in media reports and medical journals as increasing at a dangerously high rate, but type 1 is rarely addressed despite the fact that it is rising at a similar rate.

Dan Hurley, an investigative journalist who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1975, is compiling a report on his findings about the disease, noting that it is much more prevalent than people have been led to believe. Evidence is showing that, despite the widespread belief that type 1 diabetes is rare and develops from a genetic predisposition, juvenile diabetes is probably being triggered by environmental or lifestyle factors in a similar manner as type 2.

In his book, Hurley outlines five potential causes of the disease and its rapid increase. These include a lack of natural sunlight exposure, the destruction of natural skin pathogens that create immunity, exposure to cow’s milk at a young age, persistent exposure to pollutants and carcinogens, and the accelerated production of insulin-producing beta cells due to overall growth in height and weight averages among children.

Someday western medicine will catch up to the truth that the natural health community already knows: That drinking pasteurized, processed cow’s milk can promote autoimmune disorders such as type-1 diabetes.

Conventional medicine, as usual, remains entirely clueless about the real causes of type-1 diabetes (or even cancer or diabetes, for that matter). And because the medical system refuses to acknowledge the fact that environmental influences (chemicals, dietary choices, etc.) can cause these conditions, it is unable to offer any solutions for patients. So patients are simply put on a lifetime regimen of dangerous pharmaceutical chemicals instead of being taught real solutions for avoiding autoimmune disorders altogether, according to Health Ranger Mike Adams.

Another interesting comment by Adams is a reference to an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in western society. The common cold, flu, and now type 1 diabetes all result from a deficiency of vitamin D, at least in part.

From Natural News, March 26, 2010

1 Comment

Posted in health, news, science

Tagged , , ,

Tax Freedom Day 2010 Is April 9

Posted on April 9, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Ohio Tax Freedom Day—the day on which Americans have earned enough money to pay all federal, state, and local taxes for the year—was celebrated yesterday. Today, the official Tax Freedom Day falls on the 99th day of 2010.

Americans will work well over three months of the year before they have earned enough money to pay the nation’s tax bill for the year, and they will pay more taxes in 2010 than they will spend on food, clothing and shelter combined.

This year’s Tax Freedom Day is one day later than in 2009, but more than two weeks earlier than in 2007. The shift toward a lower tax burden since 2007 has been driven by three factors:

(1) The recession has reduced tax collections even faster than it has reduced income.
(2) President Obama and the Congress have enacted large but temporary income tax cuts for 2009 and 2010, just as President Bush did in 2008.
(3) Two significant taxes were repealed for 2010 as part of previous legislation, the estate tax and the so-called PEP and Pease provisions of the income tax.

The shift toward an earlier Tax Freedom Day since 2007 is not necessarily cause for celebration. That’s because Tax Freedom Day does not count the deficit even though deficits must eventually be financed. Since 1948, when Tax Freedom Day was first calculated, the difference between what governments are spending and what they’re collecting has never been as great as during 2009 and 2010. If Americans were required to pay for all government spending this year, including the $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit, they would be working until May 17 before they had earned enough to pay their taxes—an additional 38 days of work.

This May 17 date for a deficit-inclusive measure is the second latest since World War II. Only in 2009 was it later, when an unprecedented budget deficit of close to $1.5 trillion produced a deficit-inclusive date of May 21, fully 43 days later than Tax Freedom Day.

Source: The Tax Foundation, March 30, 2010.

Leave a comment

Posted in economy, news, politics, taxes

Eugenics in 2010: Obamacare Cost-Cutting Genetic Discrimination

Posted on April 7, 2010 by | 2 comments

In the March 31st edition of LifeNews, Kristan Hawkins, executive director of Students for Life, wrote how Obamacare further the eugenics the Left introduced in the United States through abortion.

Hawkins interest in the current health care reform stems from her infant son’s battle with Cystic fibrosis, an expensive-to-treat and fatal genetic disease. Obamacare threatens to ration top notch healthcare for children like her son.

The question is does she have any support for her concern?

The following quote is from her LifeNews article:

A week before the doomed healthcare vote, Representative Bart Stupak (D-MI) admitted to the National Review Online that Congressional Democrats argued that passing his pro-life amendment which prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion will result in more children and therefore higher healthcare costs. They’re saying: “If you pass the Stupak amendment, more children will be born, and therefore it will cost us millions more.”

This argument isn’t new but in fact is the same old 1970’s argument that John Holdren (the President’s Science Czar) used when saying that the more people there are, the less food there will be. This 1970’s argument has been regurgitated in 2010 with a healthcare slant: the more people, the less healthcare available for you and me.

Democrats in Congress know that incentivizing abortions by making them cheaper and more accessible will lead to higher abortion rates costing less healthcare dollars and making those limited funds available for some other person.

When the state is involved in the cost of healthcare, it knows that it is dealing with scare resources and that rationing will have to occur. This fact has already been reiterated multiple times by President Obama’s Comparative Effectiveness Research Council appointee and brother to his Chief-of-Staff, Dr. Zeke Emanuel.

Emanuel admitted in The Lancet medical journal last January that cost-cutting measures in healthcare reform are merely “lipstick” and rationing will have to occur in any government healthcare system.

He even went so far as to describe his ideal rationing plan where those at the beginning and end of life would receive 2nd tier healthcare when scarcity develops. In the article, he further talks about his sense of “communitarianism” and how those who are unproductive members of society are a burden and healthcare dollars could be best spent elsewhere. Bottom line Message: We only want the “genetically” superior people and less is better.

To Dr. Emanuel, my son Gunner is an excess burden on society.

Yet, he has been appointed by President Obama to serve on the President’s Comparative Effectiveness Research Council, the body that will make “recommendations” to doctors as to how to treat their patients in the most cost-effective way.

Today, new advances being made with prenatal genetic testing aren’t for the benefit of the family, but for the destruction of the pre-born child within the mother. The ability to diagnose diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis, Down Syndrome, and others while the child is still in the womb means a greater chance a woman will be encouraged and pressured to abort, thus limiting that child’s “burden” on society.

It is shocking what you find if you Google search the phrase “cost benefit analysis of prenatal testing” and read the medical journal articles (especially those coming out of Europe on this issue).

Now that Obamacare has passed, will prenatal genetic tests eventually move from being voluntary to mandatory, in the name of cost-savings? Down the road, will abortions be encouraged by the state or even forced on those children who will have special needs or will need life-long medical care?

Further, what will happen to children to who are born with costly diseases? Will they receive the best medical care or just enough to “make them comfortable?” Today, in America, this rationing is already happening to many babies born with Trisomy 18 and 13, as parents have gone on the record proving medical doctors told them they had to think about “resources” when making the decision as to how to treat their children. Thankfully, the cases today aren’t uniform but the misjudgment of one or two doctors. What will happen if people like Dr. Emanuel are writing the guidelines of care for all doctors?

Let me offer some additional observations.

Obamacare as depicted above is a cost-benefit application of Darwin’s survival of the fittest, but one imposed by the socialist state. This is not much different than Hilter’s Darwinian-based eugenic program to create a superior Aryan race. The difference is not in principle but rather one of goal. Unlike Hitler, the goal of the socialist Left may not be creating the perfect race. Their goal may be more practical: Forcing on America one world socialism–their version of perfect economics and governance.

Now, that the courts and Left have declared abortion is a Constitutional right with many true believers, the Left funded by those like billionaire Soros and led by Pelosi, Reed, and Obama are seeking to further the original agenda of creating the Great Society by bankrupting the nation while promising to decrease the budget at the great expense of more innocent lives. (Remember, the reason for the Great Recession was over-indebtedness.)

The loud proponents of anti-discrimination it turns out are the most hideous of discriminators. They obstruct the right to life because they are fully prejudiced against any who they deem unworthy of it. Just as the CIA has been used to destroy uncooperative regimes, the Left uses courts and deceit to convince the masses that killing the unwanted is a right to the good life. Irresponsibility, immorality and killing is part of the Left’s definition of freedom. Freedom has thus been perverted for the benefit of killing those who may cost the socialist state too much money.

Yet, no one seems to question whether the genetic diseases of those like Hawkin’s son, Gunner, who will be discriminated against are preventable. That is, are they merely the result of genetic accidents or are they induced by a polluted environment, contaminated food, stress resulting from an unjust political economy, or other factors?
If the later, one solution maybe be in public policy that is based on a holistic view of the common good for all citizens rather than imposing ideological party or special interest agendas though piecemeal problem solving policies.

2 Comments

Posted in economy, news, politics, science

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mitchel calls for Steve Austria to withdraw from congressional race

Posted on April 6, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Former Air Force Lieutenant Colonel John Mitchel, who is opposing Steve Austria in the May 4th Republican primary, called for Steve Austria to withdraw from the race. Mitchel says he is merely following guidelines established by State GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine. According to Mitchel, in January 2009, Kevin DeWine put together a 10-point plan to rehabilitate the Ohio Republican Party torn apart by Coingate and other scandals. Mitchel says one of those points is to “Enforce a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct.” He lists the following examples of what he believes to be misconduct by Steve Austria and his spouse, Eileen, who for almost two decades was District Director for former Congressman Dave Hobson.

1. Nepotism: Steve Austria’s influence with campaign contributors associated with the Turner Foundation led to a job for Mrs. Austria at non-profit Nextedge Development Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Turner Foundation, another non-profit corporation based in Springfield .

2. Failure to disclose Mrs. Austria ’s employment with Nextedge: Steve Austria attempted to conceal on his federal Financial Disclosure Statement Mrs. Austria ’s employment with Nextedge. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is investigating. (FEC Matter Under Review ( MUR ) 6240)

3. Failure to disclose on his Financial Disclosure Statement Mr. and Mrs. Austria’s membership on the Dayton Development Coalition’s Wright Patt 2010 Committee from 2003 to 2007: As members of the Committee, Mr. and Mrs. Austria helped steer no-bid contracts financed by Greene County taxpayers to the PMA Group, a Washington lobbying firm raided by the FBI in November 2008 and now under investigation for illegal campaign contributions in exchange for earmarks, including contributions to Steve Austria and Dave Hobson. (Source: Center for Public Integrity, September 2009) Greene County Commissioners Anderson, Perales and Reid can confirm that the FBI has taken custody of 26 boxes of related documents from the Dayton Development Coalition with cooperation from the Greene County Prosecutor’s office.

4. Mrs. Austria’s illegal use of Dave Hobson’s Member Representational Account (MRA) in the last two months of her employment as Dave Hobson’s District Director: The Federal Election Commission is investigating allegations that while Mrs. Austria was still working as Dave Hobson’s District Director, she abused that position to raise over $221,000 for her husband’s congressional campaign from 246 donors from October 27, 2007 to December 31, 2007. (FEC Matter Under Review (MUR) 6240)

Mitchel commented, “Our campaign is in full agreement with Kevin DeWine in that the Ohio Republican Party should enforce a zero-tolerance policy for misconduct by its elected officials and candidates. Now it’s time to hold Kevin DeWine accountable and demand that whether or not Steve Austria withdraws from the May 4th primary, the Republican Party will aggressively cooperate with the ongoing investigation. To do otherwise will further undermine the credibility of Ohio Republican Party leadership and could bring the entire ticket down in November.”

Leave a comment

Posted in election 2010, Greene County, Ohio, politics

Tagged , , ,

Resurrection of Jesus : Any proof?

Posted on April 3, 2010 by | Leave a comment

By Daniel Downs

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is to Christianity as bedrock is to a stable building. A building capable of withstanding violent storms must be anchored to a solid foundation. Earth’s bedrock is the best of all foundation. The one type of natural disaster that bedrock may be unable to withstand is an earthquake. Probably, the best type of foundation is one capable of flexing while retaining its structural integrity. The resurrection of Jesus is bedrock of the Christian faith. Its 2,000 years of growth throughout the world provides solid evidence of its stable reality. Moreover, the quakes of earthly life such as persecution, natural disasters, devastating illnesses, economics disasters, and other forms of suffering more often than not result in greater assurance that Jesus overcame the worst of all disasters, death. That is due to Jesus’ present help during disasters faced by individuals and families that enable them to not only overcome the terrible affects but to even deepen their faith.

We have witnessed a recent example of the triumph over tragedy in Haiti. Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse disaster relief mission has been sharing the experiences of Haitians tragedy and triumph. Motivated by the love of God for people, Christians like those Samaritan’s Purse volunteers go to places like Haiti to help in a multitude of ways. Without having experienced the love of God through the risen Christ, neither Franklin Graham nor his volunteers would have considered enduring the hassle or hardships of going to any devastated place and helping any devastated people. Yet, they do because of their own experiences of the risen Jesus’ overcoming help.

In other words, God works through people and nature to accomplish his good will toward people made in His likeness and image.

Even before Franklin Graham’s missionaries arrived in Haiti, news reports of people who were rescued after being buried in rubble for weeks gave God credit for their survival. Why? Because God and Christ was a present help in their time of trouble.

To help skeptics reading this, the above can be put in another way. Science teaches us that the composition of all matter is reducible to atoms. Yet, no nuclear physicist has ever observed an atom. According to nuclear physicist Russell Stannard, they only witness the residue of energy of where an atom once was. All elements, molecules, cell, organism, super organisms, like we humans, are made up of various types of atoms. Therefore, what we see–stars, sun, moon, earth, animals, people, and even microbes–are made of things that are not seen. Is it not then reasonable to believe that the unseen God created the things humans have never seen? It certainly is when personal experience verifies that God is a genuinely present and real.

Christian apologists often defend the faith based on the argument that none of the ancient disciples of Jesus would have died because of their faith and testimony to the resurrection of Jesus had they known it was a lie. As taught by sociologists and anthropologists, honor and prestige may have been of great importance to ancient peoples, but the disciples of Jesus and the early church had very limited honor or prestige. That only changed after Emperor Constantine made Christianity the imperial religion.

I still doubt the above has convinced the skeptical.

However, other evidence available to us includes the report by Paul that the 11 disciples were not the only ones who saw Jesus after his resurrection. Paul’s conversion to the messianic faith was the result of seeing and hearing Jesus after his resurrection and ascension to the throne of God. Paul also wrote that over 500 saw Jesus after his resurrection most of whom were still alive, and a similar account is mentioned in the gospel of Matthew. (1 Corinthians 15-52-53; Matthew 27:52-53).

There also exist documented cases of people in various parts of the world having been resurrected from the dead. David Servant has published his detailed investigation into the death and resurrection story of Nigerian Pastor Daniel Ekechukwu, which happened in 2001.

Contrary to denials of skeptics and atheists, the so-called contradictions are likely to have occurred from cursory reading of the lengthy report by David Servant. My postings on the blog, The State of America, reflect the same. I first said that the pastor had been embalmed and then raised from the dead. But, after carefully reading Servant’s report, I discovered that the mortician had attempted to embalm the pastor but was not able to do so. What caused the same mortician to demand the pastor’s family to remove the corpse from his mortuary was song coming from the place of the dead pastor without any live human present. This so-called rumor originated from the mortician as reported by Servant.

A healthy skepticism of supposedly strange or supernatural events is good. However, rejecting accounts of experienced events because of one’s belief (in this disbelief) does mean the events didn’t occur. The fact is skeptics and atheists will one day die too. They also will discover if life extends beyond the grave. Unfortunately, for them, they will get the justice they deserve rather than the grace that was extended to them by God during their mortal life.

In 2005, Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu, a Myanmar Buddhist monk, was also raised from the dead after a number of days. He was on the funeral pyre being readied for public cremation when he was resurrected. The Monk said he went to the gates of hell first where he saw the Buddha and another renowned Buddhist saint. However, gatekeeper (read, prison door) turned him way telling him that he was not supposed to be there. So he walked away down a path where a man named Peter confronted him. He instructed to tell what he had witness and that the faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. This he did and was arrested for it. After he was released, he recorded his death experience on tape, which was first transcribed and published by Asian Minorities Outreach.

One of the most recent resurrection events came after an American pastor’s head on collision with a semi-truck. Pastor Don Piper was driving home after a conference. While he was passing over a single lane bridge, a semi-truck also entered the bridge but the driver didn’t see the pastor’s car. The impact crushed the pastor instantly killing him. Pastor Piper describes in great detail what he saw and heard in heaven where he went. In the meantime, another Baptist pastor came upon the scene. He would not have stayed to pray because the pastor was already dead. However, God told to pray for him. After a while, he stopped praying and began singing hymns. When the dead pastor was about to pass through the gate into the heavenly city, he suddenly heard singing coming from behind. Instantly, he was back into his body. That is he was resurrected. According to his surgeons and physicians, regaining the use of his severed arm and leg that they stitched back together was highly improbable. Yet, God healed him so that he has full use of all his limbs and organs. A number of his interviews (by Bill O’Reilly, NBC, CBN) are published on the internet and his book about his death and resurrection in titled 90 Minutes In Heaven.

Although not as well documented as the three previous events, other reported bodily resurrections include an Iranian named Sami by a Muslim name Mohammed, six-year-old Jyothi Pothabathula with her parents, and 45-year-old shop owner Mesheck Manepally, both of Andhra Pradesh, India.

The common denominator of all of the reported resurrection experiences is the risen Jesus.

Some scholars like Raymond Brown regard Jesus’ resurrection as substantially different from other biblical and modern experiences. In his book titled Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, Brown says that like those raised from the dead by Jesus, the above pastors, Buddhist, Muslim, and Indians will again die. Brown thinks resuscitation is a better word from this type of resurrection. Jesus, on the other hand, did not die again. As Elijah, he went to God’s heavenly kingdom alive.

Yet, Paul the apostle described Jesus’ resurrection this way:

“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the imperishable inherit the imperishable. This perishable [body] must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15: 50, 53, 44)

Paul teaching points to the impossibility of Jesus physical ascension to heaven not his physical resurrection. Jesus could not have departed earth’s atmosphere without his physical body disintegrating unless he had some sort of transport or a surrounding field of energy or something similar to capable of protecting his body from the various elementary changes that would have destroyed him. Paul’s writings claim Jesus put off his natural terrestrial body and put on a new form of celestial body to continue life in the place of the resurrected dead, the new heaven and earth. Paul’s teaching reflects his seeing after he had ascended to the throne of God (Acts 9:1-19). All people can look forward to this type of resurrection. There is a catch however. Jesus said, “Those who in this life did the good to a resurrection of life and those who did evil to a resurrection of judgment.” (John 5:28-29)

Leave a comment

Posted in Bible, Easter, religion, science

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Most Americans Favor Repeal of Health Care Bill

Posted on April 1, 2010 by | Leave a comment

Ramussen’s latest national telephone survey shows most Americans (54%) want Congress’ health care law repealed. Just before the passage of the legislation, the same amount of people said they opposed the law.

Repeal is favored by 84% of Republicans and 59% of unaffiliated voters. Among white Democrats, 25% favor repeal, but only one percent (1%) of black Democrats share that view.

Why do they want the onerous health care law repealed? Most believe the law will increase both health care costs and the federal deficit. Fifty-five percent think it will increase the cost of care. Sixty percent said it will increase the federal budget deficit. Moreover, 49 percent believe it will decrease the quality of health care.

Source: Ramussen Reports, March 29, 2010.

Leave a comment

Posted in news, politics, research

Tagged , , ,

Virgil Vaduva Running for Greene County Commissioner

Posted on April 1, 2010 by | Leave a comment

As you may already know, I am currently campaigning as a Republican
candidate for Greene County Commissioner, here in Greene County, Ohio.

If you have been keeping track of my campaign and articles published
at http://votevirgil.org you may already know that there are serious
problems in Greene County, many which have been caused by the
Republican politicians which have had free reign of our county for
decades. This unchecked control on power has led to corruption,
scandals, high taxes and out of control building codes which are
having a negative effect on our lives. There is no excuse for it, and
this time there are no Democrats to blame.

This is why I’ve decided to run for Commissioner and hope to be able
to bring about positive changes inspired by not just my faith, but
also by the love of freedom and liberty I gained during the first 20
years of my life in Communist Romania and during the anti-Communist
revolution of 1989. I have already made substantial progress against
local high taxes with a very public lawsuit filed against the City of
Xenia, seeking several injunctions to stop the city from using public
funds to promote the passage of a tax levy, something which is against
Ohio Elections law. You can read more about it here:
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/crime/xenia-sued-for-misusing-taxpayer-money-by-commissioner-candidate-576230.html

But there is a lot more work to be done. The Greene County GOP does
not help conservatives get elected. Fortunately, while they control
party finances they cannot control you the voter, so I can only appeal
to people like you, who are willing to challenge the status quote and
help average people, without a political background get elected and
take on the system. You can help me by voting for me on May 4, 2010, by forwarding this message to all your friends and family members who vote in Greene County, and by making a small donation to my campaign or by putting one of my yard signs in your yard. All help, no matter how small will make a difference, and as few as 50 votes can make the difference.

I would be honored to receive your vote during the primary elections
on May 4; and should you consider any financial help, it would go to
positive use with my campaign, for fliers, yard signs and telephone
calls. You can also make an online donation of any size using PayPal
at the following link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=2CFJULBRFV2AE

At last, I want to encourage YOU to run for office next time around.
We can no longer sit back and let politicians plunder our income and
property, dictate how we can live our lives, raise our families, and
educate our children. So I hope I will even see you on the campaign
trail soon.

Leave a comment

Posted in economy, Greene County, politics, taxes

Tagged , , ,

UNHRC hammers away at Israel again in series of resolutions

Posted on March 31, 2010 by | Leave a comment

The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday approved a resolution calling for Israel to pay Palestinians reparations for loss and damages suffered during last year’s Operation Cast Lead. The 47-nation council did not call for similar payments by Palestinians to Israelis. The vote comes one day after the same UNHRC approved three more anti-Israel resolutions, with the US being the only member to cast dissenting votes on all three. One resolution on “grave human rights violations” by Israeli forces in the Palestinian territories passed by 31 to 9, with 7 abstentions. Another resolution called on Israel to stop building in the territories and uproot those communities now there was passed by 45 votes, with the EU supporting it and only the US opposing. The third condemned Israel for what it called violation of the rights of the people of the formerly Syrian Golan Heights. Also on Wednesday, the UNHRC website posted a report issued by a Libyan NGO which accused Israeli soldiers of harvesting the organs of Palestinians killed during operations in the Territories. The report also accused Israel of engaging in “ethnic cleansing and massacres” against the Palestinians. “The most preposterous, ridiculous and horrendous of all lies can gain respectability at the UN,” responded Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. The Council was founded in 2006 after the UN Human Rights Commission had lost credibility for its obsessive focus on Israel. However, the new forum has continued that record, with more than two-thirds of its resolutions which have condemned human rights abuses targeting the Jewish state.

Source: IECJ News, March 25, 2010.

Leave a comment

Posted in news, politics

Tagged , ,

Public Perception of Political and Business Ethics

Posted on March 31, 2010 by | Leave a comment

In the March AEI Political Report, a compilation of various polls of public opinion is presented to give a composite view of America’s perception of its current state of affairs. The Report includes perceptions about Obama, personal finance as well as economic trends, taxation, global warming, balance of power, the current international hot spots Iran, Cuba, and Afghanistan, job satisfaction, and even a parental do and don’t list.

In this post, ethics will be the focus.

The trend of public opinion about honesty in politics has has steadily declined since the 1940s. In 1948, Americans were asked whether it was almost impossible for a person to stay honest after entering into politics. Forty-eight percent (48%) agreed that it was. By 1997, 55% said it was nearly impossible to remain honest in politics. Twelve years later 55% said the ethical standards of Congressmen and Congresswomen were very low, while only 9% said they were high. Although the question was different, the perception of political corruption remained the same.

I wonder whether the 36% were too afraid to say what they believed.

The general public perception of business ethics didn’t fare any better.
Although the survey data did not provide a historical perspective like was seen above, it did reveal how low a view Americans have of business management compared to helping profession like nursing and law enforcement.

In 2002, Americans (34%) regarded CEOs more ethical than they did in 2009. In fact, the percent of Americans who regarded CEOs as ethical dropped to 22 percent. Maybe the Enron scandal was factor. Nevertheless, the figures also reveal that 66% American regard CEOs are scoundrels.

Compared to bankers, car salesmen, stockbrokers, politicians, HMO managers, and insurance sales people, CEOs are nearly saints. Of the lot, 12% of Americans said bankers were ethical. Less than 10% of American considered any of the rest as ethical.

These poll results tell us that Americans are willing to put up with both a corrupt system of governance as well as corrupt marketplace. Why?

Leave a comment

Posted in business, economy, news, politics, research

Tagged , ,