Description:
This is a detailed history of the lies by the Bush Administration and other Neocons beginning in August 1990. These lies circle around the plan to launch the war in Iraq, and other moves by the Neocons to reshape the world.
Sunday, September 3, 2006
How Hitler Became a Dictator
Description:
Whenever U.S. officials wish to demonize someone, they inevitably compare him to Adolf Hitler. The message immediately resonates with people because everyone knows that Hitler was a brutal dictator.
But how many people know how Hitler actually became a dictator? My bet is, very few. I’d also bet that more than a few people would be surprised at how he pulled it off, especially given that after World War I Germany had become a democratic republic.
The story of how Hitler became a dictator is set forth in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William Shirer, on which this article is based.
Friday, September 1, 2006
U.S. Geological Survey’s Acute Toxicity Database
Description:
The following database summarizes the results from aquatic acute toxicity tests conducted by the USGS CERC located in Columbia, Missouri. The acute toxicity test provides a relative starting point for hazard assessment of contaminants and is required for federal chemical registration programs such as the Federal Insecticide Fungicide Rodenticide Act (PL 80-104) as amended by the Federal Environmental Pesticide Control Act of 1972 (7 U.S.C. 136-136y) and the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (PL 94-469).
The database was initially developed in 1986 by Foster L. Mayer (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and Mark R. Ellersieck (University of Missouri, Columbia, MO) for 4,901 acute toxicity tests toxicity tests conducted by CERC since 1965 with 410 chemicals and 66 species of aquatic animals.
A report by Mayer and Ellersieck (1986) provides an interpretation of the original 4,901 toxicity tests which utilizes various statistical approaches to make taxonomic comparisons, and to assess the degree to which various factors (static versus flow-through, age of test solutions, pH, temperature, water hardness, and diet) affect toxicity (Manual of Acute Toxicity: Interpretation and Data Base for 410 Chemicals and 66 Species of Freshwater Animals, F.L. Mayer and M.R. Ellersieck, United States Department of the Interior, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Resource Publication 160, 1986).
Toxic Release Inventory
Description:
The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain covered industry groups as well as federal facilities. This inventory was established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and expanded by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.
U.S. Geological Survey: Acid Rain Monitoring
Description:
On-line data and reports on acid rain, atmospheric deposition and precipitation chemistry.
U.S. EPA ’s Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS)
Description:
Apparently this is a project which existed at one time and has morphed into four services as described below.
In 2001, EPA changed the Aerometric Information Retrieval System (AIRS) to a database that is solely related to tracking the compliance of stationary sources of air pollution with EPA regulations: the Air Facility Subsystem (AFS). With this change in focus, administration of the AIRS/AFS database was transferred to EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. For more information, see:
Air Facility Subsystem (AIRS/AFS): Database overview, contacts, technical support phone number.
Compliance and Enforcement Data Systems: Other databases administered by the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance.
Information about air monitoring - the ambient concentrations of air pollutants - was moved out of AIRS to a separate database: the Air Quality System (AQS). For more information see:
Air Quality System (AQS): Database overview, memos, contacts.
AirData Web Site: Reports and maps of air monitoring annual summary data.
United Nations Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution’s Web site
Description:
Since 1979 the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution has addressed some of the major environmental problems of the UNECE region through scientific collaboration and policy negotiation. The Convention has been extended by eight protocols that identify specific measures to be taken by Parties to cut their emissions of air pollutants.
The Convention, which now has 50 Parties identifies the Executive Secretary of UNECE as its secretariat.
The aim of the Convention is that Parties shall endeavour to limit and, as far as possible, gradually reduce and prevent air pollution including long-range transboundary air pollution. Parties develop policies and strategies to combat the discharge of air pollutants through exchanges of information, consultation, research and monitoring.
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