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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (740236)	9/18/2013 12:08:11 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1572953

Why did George Elmaraghy lose his job? By Steve Benen - Wed Sep 18, 2013 11:16 AM EDT Associated Press George Elmaraghy, the chief of the division of surface water for Ohio's EPA, recently came to a sensible conclusion: permits sought by the coal industry would likely "have a negative impact on Ohio's streams and wetlands and violate state and federal laws." Elmaraghy, a 39-year veteran of the state agency, knew of what he spoke (thanks to my colleague Will Femia for the tip). Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), however, not only disagreed, he asked Elmaraghy to resign. In fact, "asked" and "resign" are almost certainly the wrong words -- the 66-year-old Elmaraghy did not want to leave, and explained to state officials he had no intention of retiring yet, but was told his career was over anyway. Over the last several weeks, a variety of folks, including Democrats in the state legislature and newspaper editorial boards, have sought some kind of explanation for Elmaraghy's ouster. Kasich, meanwhile, doesn't want to talk about it. That's up to him, of course, but in the meantime, Elmaraghy seems to have plenty to say. He talked at length to TPM's Dylan Scott, who heard of a gubernatorial administration "beholden to the coal industry and willing to push out employees who weren't going to capitulate to its demands." In Elmaraghy's mind, there seems only one explanation for what had happened: Kasich office's demanded his removal because Elmaraghy wasn't getting along with the coal industry. He repeatedly told TPM that nobody had ever mentioned problems with his job performance or told him what he had specifically done that led to his forced resignation. "I am left with the impression that somebody in the Governor's office thought that removing me ... would please the coal industry," he wrote in a Friday goodbye email to his colleagues. "I sincerely hope that my suspicion is wrong." It hardly seems unreasonable to think his suspicions are right. Let's also not overlook this tidbit: Elmaraghy said he isn't alone in being targeted by Kasich's office for clashing with coal companies. He mentioned Bruce Goff, another Ohio EPA official who had been overseeing mining applications, who Elmaraghy said had been reassigned for raising similar concerns. Reached by phone, Goff confirmed to TPM that he did formerly work on coal permits, but had since been reassigned. He declined to comment further. "I'm not at this point able to really explain what happened," Goff said. "I'm still working here. I have to figure out my career plans." I see. As for Elmaraghy, he's hired a lawyer, has appealed his resignation to the Ohio Personnel Board of Review, and still has hopes that he can get his old job back.

To: TimF who wrote (740236)	9/18/2013 12:11:36 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (8) \| Respond to of 1572953

And as you point out, even if you were to stumble onto the science at zero cost, the cost to then bring it to market is immense such that if you want it help people there has to be a substantial profit motive to make it happen. Esp. with the enormous costs* involved to bring a product to the mass market (esp. for things like drugs with all the regulations and approval steps)* substantial profit motive and enormous costs = the jist of any conversation between two Rs on nearly every subject except defense.

To: TimF who wrote (740236)	9/18/2013 12:32:18 PM
From: longnshort	1 Recommendation Recommended By TideGlider Respond to of 1572953

The last ice age happened in a yearPosted on Sunday, August 3rd, 2008 at 10:41 pm.Written by Ben Tremblay I read an interesting article today from The Scotsman. The article basically outlines the fact that the last ice age, 13,000 years ago, happened way faster than previously thought: THE last ice age 13,000 years ago took hold in just one year, more than ten times quicker than previously believed, scientists have warned. Rather than a gradual cooling over a decade, the ice age plunged Europe into the deep freeze, German Research Centre for Geosciences at Potsdam said. Cold, stormy conditions caused by an abrupt shift in atmospheric circulation froze the continent almost instantly during the Younger Dryas less than 13,000 years ago â€“ a very recent period on a geological scale. The new findings will add to fears of a serious risk of this happening again in the UK and western Europe â€“ and soon. Dr Achim Brauer, of the GFZ (GeoForschungs Zentrum) German Research Centre for Geosciences at Potsdam, and colleagues analysed annual layers of sediments, called “varves”, from a German crater lake. Each varve records a single year, allowing annual climate records from the region to be reconstructed. I think it really is important to learn from that and realize how fast climate changes can happen. I’ve said it numerous times on this blog, climate change will be the biggest challenge in the comming years and changes are happening faster than what scientists predicted. That being said, it’s nothing to be scared of, but just a little something that makes you realize how fast these things can happen.