North Side Green Party

A report due to be published tomorrow concludes that chemical pollutants in the environment are feminizing boys. The story appears in The Independent.

Gobal Research has a story about Israeli preparations for an air strike against Iran. Israel is said to be upset over nuclear programs in Iran. Stories about this issue have surfaced several times over the last few years. Among others, the Times carried a story in January of 2007 on an Israel plan to use nuclear bunker busters in an attack on hardened Iranian nuclear sites. So far, nothing has come of it.

President-elect Obama, in a move that is sure to outrage liberals, has selected Lawrence Summers to be the new head of the National Economic Council. Summers is best known for his views on women but also for his conservative views on trade and the environment.

Installations of new windpower generating capacity may set a new record in the US, according to an industry report. The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) projects a total of 7500 megawatts generating capacity will be installed by the end of December.

Congress should nationalize the Big Three automakers says Michael Moore. Writing in the December 3 Common Dreams, Moore says the move is necessary to "save the industrial infrastructure that these companies control and the jobs they create. And it must save the world from the internal combustion engine. This great, vast manufacturing network can redeem itself by building mass transit and electric/hybrid cars, and the kind of transportation we need for the 21st century."

Author Julian Darley believes US and world economic woes are linked to the world's energy problems and also to global warming. His article, The Energy Secret, can be found on the O'Reilly web site.

Darley is the author of High Noon for Natural Gas: the New Energy Crisis (Chelsea Green, 2004). Darley founded and remains active with http://globalpublicmedia.com/.

In congressional testimony Thursday, General Motors chairman G. Richard Wagoner characterized the firm's emphasis on SUV's and other low mileage vehicles as a marketing decision that was "right for the times." There was no discussion of the impact of GM marketing decisions on US consumption of fossil fuels, and no commitment to eliminate production of SUV's.

GM wants a Federal bailout of $18 billion.

Ford Motor Corporation today announced a new business plan aimed at satisfying Congressional demands for a plan to turn the struggling automaker's fortunes around. Over time, SUV's would drop from their current 52% of product mix to a still hefty 40% , something which is unlikely to satisfy the company's Green critics.

Democracy Now has veteran testimony on the human cost of an immoral War. Here is a sample: "Drop weapons are the weapons that are given to us by our chain of command in case we kill somebody without any weapons,

Demonstrations aimed at ending the war are being planned for Saturday, December 13th and Sunday, December 14th.

• Saturday's demonstration is slated to begin at 1:00 pm at Adams and Dearborn.
• Sunday's demonstration starts at noon. Demonstrators will meet at 51st and Drexel.

Organizers fear that the incoming Obama administration may decide to take the issue of peace "off the table." Sunday's demonstration site was chosen for its proximity to president-elect Obama's home neighborhood.

Michel Chossudovsky is using the "D" word in an article posted on Global Research. The story, The Great Depression of the 21st Century: Collapse of the Real Economy includes charts. He is not optimistic about the incoming Obama administration. Michel Chossudovsky is Professor of Economics at the University of Ottawa and Director of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG).

The NEIS has issued an alert for Thursday, December 4. They have new information on an issue which surfaced last week. On the 20th of this month, we reported that Department of Energy would be holding public comment hearings on their plan to increase US reliance on nuclear power. Reprocessing of plutonium will be part of the new plan,

With major renewable energy plans now on hold, the nation's renewable industry leaders met in Washington in an effort to plan a way out of the nation's current economic woes.

By Steve Balkin, Professor of Economics, Roosevelt University,

West Loop resident, developer, preservationist, and civic booster Bill Lavicka invited me to attend the joint 2nd and 27th Wards Community Meeting of Alderman Robert Fioretti and Walter Burnett, hosted by the West Loop Community Organization at Merit School of Music.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is helping Savitri Durkee, a New York City community organizer. Durkee, who is fighting to preserve the character of New York Union Square and Union Park, was shut down by opponents claiming her web site violated their "intellectual property" rights.

People without health insurance are frequently willing to serve as organ donors, but are rarely recipients.<!break>

According to a study published in International Journal of Health Services, "16.9 percent of organ donors but only 0.8 percent of transplant recipients were uninsured."

The Federal Endangered Species List for Illinois (online) has been updated as of November 18, 2008. In all, 28 species are listed.

Research published in the February 2008 Journal of Herpetological Conservation and Biology implicates encroaching development as a danger to America's threatened amphibian populations. The study received little media attention until recently, when it was picked up by the Chicago Tribune.

Jim Kunstler is warning in his November 24 posting, now online, that the mushrooming orgy of bi-partisan debt the federal government is now indulging in means massive inflation is on the way. Serious inflation is likely to hit in 18 months, he says. The ability of the US dollar to buy oil will be badly compromised as a result.

In a recent posting to The Oil Drum Gail-the-Actuary warns that resource limitations in the form of declining oil production triggered the deepening recession we are now experiencing and will thwart attempts to restore prosperity.