[Marxism] lies and medical statistics
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == A fascinating piece from The Atlantic: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2010/11/lies-damned-lies-and-medical-science/8269/ Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] new age thinking
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == FYI, short review of Robert Price's book 'Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms'. http://www.butterfliesandwheels.org/2010/the-secret-of-new-age-thinking/ Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] More sound than fury in Turkey
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis wrote: Paula developed her own theory of imperialism ... That gives me too much credit; all I did was try to update the classical view. Anyone interested can see for themselves at http://theoryandscience.icaap.org/content/vol8.1/cerni.html. Perhaps it will help with some of the other discussions on imperialism now taking place on this list. Come on, you have to question Turkey's motives in all this. It happily continues to oppress the Kurds while pretending to care about the Palestinians. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fw: Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == New reviews just published online in the Marx and Philosophy Review of Books ·Peter Amato on G.A. Cohen ·Tom Eyers on Alberto Toscano ·Daniel Whittall on Alex Callinicos ·Terrel Carver on Tristram Hunt ·Paula Cerni on Habermas ·Rich Daniels on Adorno Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] doubling of maternal deaths
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == According to Amnesty International, US deaths from pregnancy and childbirth have doubled over the past 20 years, so that 'the lifetime risk of maternal deaths is greater in the United States than in 40 other countries, including virtually all industrialized nations'. http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/12/maternal.mortality/index.html?hpt=Sbin Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis wrote: Btw, Paula, have one more go at your denialism thing and then that's it. The term 'denialism' only confuses and polarizes the debate. You are never going to convince the skeptics by throwing insults at them. May I remind you that skeptics make up the majority of the population in countries such as the UK - see this recent opinion poll http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8500443.stm. That's it for now. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] World's Glaciers Continue to Melt at Historic Rates
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis asked: Why is so hard to pin you down on the *science*? Louis, it's because the science itself is difficult to pin down. That's why scientists are still investigating climate change, improving their models, etc. For an example see this recent report, 'Water Vapor Caused One-Third of Global Warming in 1990s, Study Reveals': http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jan/29/water-vapour-climate-change Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis wrote: once again, keep in mind that the problem is climate change, not global warming. Climate change has been around for billions of years. It cannot be eliminated, though future generations might be able to control it to some extent. In the meantime society should expect phenomena such as the 1 degree C cooling experienced in the Bolivian highlands over the past 5 decades. My point is that in a rationally organized society such phenomena would not have the impacts they have today. Note that the author also says the Bolivian highlands are poorer than the lowlands. I suspect poverty, and not the change in temperature, is the underlying problem - otherwise we'd have to conclude that what the poor of the Bolivian highlands need now is more global warming! Words to note: THE FOUR CONSECUTIVE WARM SUMMERS OF 2002 2003, 2004 AND 2005 ALMOST COMPLETELY ELIMINATED THE GLACIER. Noted, but remember that glaciers have been retreating and disappearing for thousands of years. One main reason is surely natural global warming - what you'd expect in an inter-glacial period such as the one we are living through. But the Chacaltaya story shows us that, paradoxically, cooling can also contribute to the process. The question then is whether human activity adds anything to the natural and inevitable patterns of climate change, and if so how much and with what consequences. That question is very difficult to answer. In brief, the drop in winter temperatures is offset by a rise in summer temperatures. Paula, in the future when you are trawling for factoids to support a denialist perspective, at least take the trouble to read your material more carefully I'm afraid it's you who should have been more careful. Andersen's article on Chacaltaya does not say that the drop in winter temperatures is offset by a rise in summer temperatures. What it says is that summer temperatures have also dropped, but *less so* than winter temperatures. The article does not tell us at all *why* 2002-2005 were warm summers, but the wikipedia page does say that 'The final meltdown after 1980, due to missing precipitation and the warm phase of El Nino, resulted in its final disappearance in 2009'. For those interested, the Andersen article on Chacaltaya is at http://www.inesad.edu.bo/mmblog/mm_20090323.htm. The wikipedia page is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chacaltaya. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Fw: Marx and Philosophy Review of Books
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == I'm forwarding the following message just received: MARX AND PHILOSOPHY REVIEW OF BOOKS ·Announcing the launch of a new online review of books covering Marxism and philosophy ·First batch of reviews now online ·New reviews added regularly ·Part of the redesigned Marx Philosophy Society web site ·Edited by Sean Sayers and members of the Society For reviews and to subscribe go to marxandphilosophy.org.uk/reviewofbooks PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD! Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis posted a 2007 article on Bolivia's Chacaltaya glacier. He complains that I am uninformed, but does he realize that glacier finally disappeared in 2009 - with no catastrophic effects? Moreover, it isn't even clear that its melting away was caused by global warming. You can all inform yourselves about it at wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chacaltaya Paddy wrote: It is time for some deep thinking; proper discussion of history and science ... [clip] This whole question needs serious discussion - not ad hominem attacks ... Paddy, I agree with you. Let's hope one day the left can discuss this issue in a rational and civilized way. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis wrote: The president of Bolivia has called attention to the possibility that the melting of Andean glaciers will rob his people of drinking water. It does not get more disastrous than that. Really? So the *possibility* of glaciers melting away in the future is more disastrous than the *certainty* of widespread poverty and exploitation in Bolivia today? A very convenient argument for the president of Bolivia, I'm sure. But if he's really worried he should ask glacier-free Australians how they get their drinking water. After all, the Bolivian glaciers could melt away for entirely natural causes, just as glaciers have been doing for thousands of years. Then what would 'his' people drink? Mark wrote: But if they say something about it, it's rejected as merely anecdotal. Anecdotal evidence can back up just about any case. It should not be rejected, only accepted for what it is - no more than anecdotal evidence. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] World's Glaciers Continue to Melt at Historic Rates
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Louis wrote: Paula, have you ever read any Marxist ecological literature? [clip] Please don't waste our time. I see - another Argument from Authority. It's a good thing those Authorities have got everything worked out. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Sorry, my previous message (see below) was sent under the wrong subject line. Louis wrote: It is instead about the *basic* question whether climate change is being impacted by greenhouse gases to disastrous effect on people and other living beings. I can't answer that question unless you specify what you mean by 'disastrous'. It's one of those flexible words. Do you mean more disastrous than poverty, war, unemployment, discrimination, lack of pensions and healthcare? How would you or anyone else prove that? Tom said: But we still trust science overall. I do too. But, overall, science does not justify the overblown catastrophic claims we are hearing from some environmentalists. Shane wrote: Yet Paula gets her knickers in a twist denouncing Lester Brown for making the perfectly accurate statement that In recent years, Himalayan glaciers have been retreating at rates ranging from 10 to 60 meters per year. I did not denounce Lester Brown at all, and I was not referring to that statement. I was referring to Brown's phrase 'As the glaciers disappear'. Kindly untwist your own knickers. Darrel asked if I agree with Monbiot on this (for example): On the other side of the debate, people are in denial not only about the science of climate change but also about manipulation and deception by other climate change deniers. They stoutly ignore far graver evidence of falsification and fabrication by their own side, even when there is smoking gun evidence that their champions have secretly taken money from fossil fuel companies to make false claims. They make no attempt to hold each other to account or to sustain any standards of truth at all. Since you ask - I don't agree with Monbiot that there are two sides to the debate. I don't agree with his misleading and insulting label 'climate change deniers'. On this issue there are many shades of opinion. But I do agree with other things Monbiot says. I don't feel myself obliged to absolutely agree or disagree with any one article or writer. Shane wrote: Don't you realize that for Real Scientists (like Paula and the Murdoch press) anecdotal evidence doesn't count? Quite right, anecdotal evidence cannot settle this issue. And it's truly embarrassing to see the right pose as the champions of public skepticism while the left dangles from the environmentalists' coat-tails. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Anyone following this and other related 'climategate' scandals should take a look at the UK's Guardian, traditionally an environmentalist-friendly newspaper. The coverage there right now shows how far the tide is turning. This article on the behind-the-scenes behavior of the so-called climate experts is jaw-dropping: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/02/hacked-climate-emails-flaws-peer-review And even George Monbiot is asking for resignations at the University of East Anglia: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2010/feb/02/climate-change-hacked-emails#start-of-comments Read the comments that go with the articles if you have the time - and note the number of recommendations that go with each one. Shawn wrote: To my eyes, it's not a world that the 'Global Warming issue addresses in any meaningful way. I agree with this, and I believe it's the most important point for the left to emphasize. Humanity's greatest and most urgent problems have to do with poverty, war, and political exclusion, none of which are caused by global warming. For an example of the real catastrophes already in place, look no further than Haiti. With that sense of perspective in place, the global warming debate is still of interest, because it touches on important issues, such as the conduct of science, the public's right to scrutinize and question the work of experts, etc. 'Climategate' shows how easily science can be corrupted in our society, unsurprisingly in one sense, but nevertheless something socialists should condemn. Mark wrote: The point is evaluating what they argue. This is precisely what you don't do about the articles Darrell passed on, because, you say, they're too old to bother with... Mark, I was being generous. I was assuming Lester Brown wrote his article (the most recent one of the three that Darrell passed on) before he heard about 'glaciergate'. Otherwise I find it difficult to believe that he would have included the following paragraph [highlighting mine]: The glaciers in the Himalayas and on the Tibetan plateau make up the largest body of ice outside the poles and provide water to Asia's major river systems, which supply water to over 2 billion people. This water is vital for drinking and for irrigating the wheat and rice crops in China and India, the largest in the world. In recent years, Himalayan glaciers have been retreating at rates ranging from 10 to 60 meters per year. As the glaciers disappear, the dry-season flows of river systems that depend on them may decrease by up to 70 percent, making them seasonal rivers. River systems at risk include the Yangtze, Yellow, Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == Mark wrote: Yes, people are warning about disasters now, but other people warned about disasters earlier and they didn't come to pass. So the different people warning about disasters now are wrong. That's not how it should work. Each claim needs to be examined separately, on the basis of its own evidence. The more dramatic the claim, the more careful that examination ought to be. Had the IPCC followed this approach they would have saved themselves a lot of embarrassment. Les wrote: but clearly the Himalayan melting was NOT a consensus view, some jerk stuffed it into the IPCC report without properly checking the statement. And it's good that we finally know this, because it means the glaciers are going to be around a lot longer than we were told. Gary wrote: The price of the climate deniers being wrong is much greater than the price of the global warmers being wrong. The classical example of this kind of reasoning is Pascal's Wager: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_Wager Now your point about the 75 scare is hardly relevant. The debate at the present time is generally being conducted by the global warmers at a much more serious level that one gets in an article in a trashy journal like Newsweek. If this report from Times Online is correct, then the behavior of the IPCC chief on the issue of the glaciers is far worse than trashy: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article7009081.ece Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] glaciergate
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == 'India turns up heat over 'Glaciergate' http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LA21Df05.html Plus a fascinating article about how 'Climate change catastrophe took just months' http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/earth-environment/article6917215.ece Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] India-Pakistan rivalry over Afghanistan
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjoJrf1XJZI I think this explains some of what is going on with this conflict. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] religion and prosperity
== Rule #1: YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. == In a paper posted recently on the online journal Evolutionary Psychology, independent researcher Gregory S. Paul reports a strong correlation within First World democracies between socioeconomic well-being and secularity. In short, prosperity is highest in societies where religion is practiced least. http://www.alternet.org/story/144174/is_belief_in_god_hurting_america?page=1 The researcher also makes an interesting suggestion as to why many right-wing Christian groups in the US are opposed to European-style universal healthcare coverage: These groups have a lot to lose in these kinds of debates. When you adopt progressive policy reforms, Paul says, in the long run, religion is bound to be road kill. Paula Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
Re: [Marxism] Iran and Saudi Arabia
Louis wrote: For newcomers to Marxmail, please understand that Paula has a heterodox definition of imperialism and it is really not worth having an argument about since it lacks traction not only here, but on the left in general as well. Not to speak of the solar system. When orthodox views don't get us anywhere, it's time to consider the heterodox. Paula YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
[Marxism] Change in Putin's Russia, by Simon Pirani
Message forwarded in case you haven't seen it. -- From: Sébastien Budgen sebastien.bud...@wanadoo.fr Sent: Monday, November 09, 2009 7:28 AM To: historicalmaterial...@yahoogroups.com Subject: [historicalmaterialism] Change in Putin's Russia, by Simon Pirani Dear friends, You are invited to two events to mark the publication of my book CHANGE IN PUTIN’S RUSSIA: POWER, MONEY AND PEOPLE this month by Pluto Press. On Thursday 3 December, at 6.30-8.30 pm, a BOOK LAUNCH will be held at the Calthorpe Arms, 252 Grays Inn Road, London WC1 (5 mins walk from Kings Cross, Russell Square and Chancery Lane tubes). All welcome! On Wednesday 2 December, at 7.0 pm, I will give a talk about the book, followed by discussion, at Housmans Bookshop, 5 Caledonian Road, London N1 (2 mins walk from Kings Cross tube). (Note. This is the place to hear a talk: there won’t be one at the book launch!) There is more information about the book here: www.powermoneyandpeople.com And you can order it from Amazon here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Change-Putins-Russia-Power-People/dp/0745326900/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8s=booksqid=1256217505sr=8-1 Please pass this on to others who might be interested. Best wishes, Simon Pirani. Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/historicalmaterialism/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/historicalmaterialism/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: historicalmaterialism-dig...@yahoogroups.com historicalmaterialism-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: historicalmaterialism-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. Send list submissions to: Marxism@lists.econ.utah.edu Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
