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Scientists blame sun for global warming
The Sun is more active than it has ever been in the last 300 years
Climate changes such as global warming may be due to changes in the sun rather than to the release of greenhouse gases on Earth.
Climatologists and astronomers speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Philadelphia say the present warming may be unusual - but a mini ice age could soon follow.
The sun provides all the energy that drives our climate, but it is not the constant star it might seem.
Careful studies over the last 20 years show that its overall brightness and energy output increases slightly as sunspot activity rises to the peak of its 11-year cycle.
And individual cycles can be more or less active.
The sun is currently at its most active for 300 years.
That, say scientists in Philadelphia, could be a more significant cause of global warming than the emissions of greenhouse gases that are most often blamed.
The researchers point out that much of the half-a-degree rise in global temperature over the last 120 years occurred before 1940 - earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas emissions.
Using ancient tree rings, they show that 17 out of 19 warm spells in the last 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity.
Ancient trees reveal most warm spells are caused by the sun.
They have also studied other sun-like stars and found that they spend significant periods without sunspots at all, so perhaps cool spells should be feared more than global warming.
The scientists do not pretend they can explain everything, nor do they say that attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should be abandoned. But they do feel that understanding of our nearest star must be increased if the climate is to be understood.
Related:This Blog ** Sun's next 11-year cycle could be 50% stronger, yet NO mention of global warming
Phys Org.com ** Greenhouse theory smashed by biggest stone
This Blog ** Atlantic Ocean Was a Hot Tub in Dino Era
This Blog ** New analysis shows the Sun is more active now than it's been in the past 1,000 years BBC News ~ Friday, February 13, 1998 ** Scientists blame sun for global warming
Posted by yaahoo_2006iest
at 1:43 PM EDT
d'oh
<<<<< Riot police officers detained students after they blocked the ring road in Paris. Laurence Parisot, head of the MEDEF employers' association, warned Friday that the labor protest movement could harm the French economy.
French government backs away from divisive labor law
PARIS (AFP) - France's ruling party held a final day of talks with unions on Friday over a divisive youth jobs reform, as business leaders called for a rapid end to the crisis to avoid harming the French economy.
Unions and student groups - in a position of strength after two months of demonstrations that have drawn millions into the street - have threatened more mass protests unless the measure is abandoned by the end of next week.
French President Jacques Chirac has already effectively suspended the contested First Employment Contract (CPE), asking the ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) to draw up a new law after consulting leaders of the protest movement.
Several commentators said Chirac's government appeared to have all but given up on the youth contract, which makes it easier to fire under-26 year-olds, but was looking for a way to repeal it without losing face.
"How to come up with a measure that looks, tastes and acts like an abrogation, but is not called an abrogation?" summed up an editorial in the left-wing Liberation newspaper.
UMP lawmakers on Friday were wrapping up three days of meetings with unions and student groups, as well as the MEDEF employers' association and the CGPME small business federation, before deciding on the contents of the new law.
The government was expected to decide on action in the coming days. Lawmakers close to Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said one possible way out might be drawing up measures with labor leaders to replace the law.
"We are moving toward the opening of negotiations," said lawmaker Dominique Paille. Another lawmaker, Yves Jego, said the idea had the backing of many in parliament. But it was unclear whether it would satisfy unions, or whether it had Chirac's backing.
One union, Solidaires, said after meeting the UMP that the party "understood the urgency" of the situation, but that no announcement would be made before Monday.
MEDEF head Laurence Parisot warned Friday that the protest movement - in which students have targeted transport and industry - could harm the French economy.
"We must do everything to quickly end this crisis, which is costing our country dearly," she told France 2 television."It is time to end this colossal disruption, which harms not only our image but our very social fabric."
Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's authority has been badly undermined by the labor conflict and some observers believe his chances as a presidential candidate have been destroyed, although on Thursday he ruled out resigning over the crisis. Responsibility for negotiating a way out of the crisis has been handed to his chief political rival, UMP chief and Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.
Commentators say that many supporters of Sarkozy in the UMP are angry at Villepin's handling of the reform and feel little attachment to the CPE.On Friday, former minister Roselyne Bachelot - a Sarkozy ally and senior UMP official - became the latest party figure to call openly for the CPE to be scrapped.
"Speaking in my own name, I want an abrogation, so that we can put this behind us," she said on Canal Plus television.
Conceived as a tool against youth unemployment, which runs at 22% in France, the CPE is a contract for under 26-year-olds that can be terminated by the employer without explanation during a two-year trial period.
It provoked a massive backlash, with Villepin accused of trampling on labor rights, and a sometimes violent protest movement in which more than 3,500 people have been arrested.
Students have been staging wildcat protests to keep up the pressure on the government - blocking two factories belonging to the aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Thursday - but there were signs of the movement fizzling out.
Friday marks the start of the academic holidays in around a third of the country, with other regions to follow, and there are mounting calls for work to resume at disrupted schools and universities in time for end-of-year exams.
Wildcat protests continued in some areas, however, such as in Nantes in the west, students blocked bus and tramway depots for several hours.In Le Havre in the north, around 400 students occupied the offices of a UMP deputy before heading to the courtroom and city hall to press their demands.
Contributing: The Associated Press
don't ask
Motorist Drives Through Crowd in Paris
PARIS - A motorist drove through a crowd of students protesting the government's new youth jobs law Friday near the Sorbonne University, injuring seven people.
Furious demonstrators overturned the car and tried to kick its windows out, while police in riot gear and helmets worked to disperse the crowd.
The incident came after high school students spent the afternoon disrupting traffic outside the Sorbonne by picnicking on a busy boulevard. They were heading away when a frustrated motorist tried to burst through the crowd
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Several dozen youths turned the car over and unsuccessfully attempted to drag the driver out before police and onlookers intervened.
Firefighters said seven people suffered light injuries.
French students have been protesting for weeks over a new law that will make it easier for companies to hire and fire people under age 26. While most demonstrations have been peaceful, some have seen violence from a radical fringe.
An internal document prepared by a top Democratic strategist warns that a majority of African American voters in Maryland are open to supporting Republican Senate candidate Michael S. Steele and advises the party not to wait to "knock Steele down."
Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Derek B. Walker said the study verified what, internally, party strategists had already concluded: that African American voters who have served as a reliable base for generations cannot be taken for granted.
"It confirms that in this day and age, everyone expects us to do more than just rest on history," Walker said. "We knew we were going to have to engage. But we also know it will be easier for us to forge that relationship because we're right on the issues."
If the findings of the poll are correct, they paint a somewhat different vision of the black electorate from what has been commonly understood to this point, said David Bositis, a senior research associate at the D.C.-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. Bositis said nothing in his research suggests that an African American Republican will be able to grab a significant segment of the black vote.
The DNC survey finds that 22 percent of black voters support Steele when matched against a "generic" Democrat.
"There's just no way it's that high," Bositis said, noting that Steele's performance among black voters in the 2002 election did not approach that number. "If he was that much of a draw then it's doubtful he would only have received 13 percent of the black vote."
There are other aspects of the survey, though, that Bositis says are consistent with national findings. Among them: that young black men represent a voting bloc far less loyal to Democrats. It also finds more support for Steele in Baltimore than in Prince George's County, more backing among churchgoers, and stronger support among those without a college degree.
In an interview in his State House office yesterday, Steele clutched the DNC report like a football coach who just got his hands on the opposing team's playbook. He said a copy "landed on our doorstep" in the past week.
"This explains everything," he said. "They're afraid of what I represent. They're afraid of the fact that African American voters have options, and I'm one of them."
Steele focused on two aspects of the document: the finding that a high percentage of black voters have connected with his message and the recommendation that the Democrats attack him early.
"Voters need to know they're trying to make me into something I'm not," Steele said.
He deflected questions about a potential vulnerability exposed in the report. A message that resonated with black voters identified Steele as "George W. Bush's hand-picked candidate," the survey found. It's a message Democrats have tried to exploit. Even as Walker discussed the findings, he pointed to a photograph hanging in his office -- it shows Steele and Bush arm in arm.
The poll finds that only 8 percent of black voters in Maryland approve of the president's performance. And it signals that early support Steele has received from Bush and his advisers will rub black voters the wrong way.
"Connecting Steele to national Republicans ... can turn Steele into a typical Republican in the eyes of voters, as opposed to an African American candidate," it says.
That has been the aim of the Democrats in the race. In a statement yesterday, an aide to Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin said he found "no surprises in this poll."
"Like the vast majority of Marylanders, African Americans know that the Bush-Steele agenda is wrong for our state and our nation," said Oren Shur, the Cardin campaign spokesman.
Mfume advisers, however, said the survey should sound alarms.
"There's significance there," said Mfume strategist Walter Ludwig. "Everybody up and down the ticket needs to make sure African Americans don't feel like they're being taken for granted."
Other Democrats in the race include A. Robert Kaufman, Allan Lichtman, Josh Rales, Dennis Rasmussen and Lise Van Susteren.
Steele says he will fight Democratic efforts to frame the campaign around national issues. His campaign Web site and literature do not identify his political party and do not mention his long and close ties to the White House.
"I am independent in thought," he said. "What I'm about is what's important to Marylanders."
From The Drudge Report: 
suave
Coach disciplined for distributing flier at school
Instructor urged Latino students to attend rally on immigration
Rudy Rios was stripped of his duties as junior varsity baseball coach at Chavez High School last week after using a district copying machine to make a flier encouraging Latino students to attend a rally protesting restrictions on illegal immigration.
Rios, who still retains his duties as an English-as-a-second-language teacher, was copying and distributing a flier that read: "We gots 2 stay together and protest against the new law that wants 2 be passed against all immigrants. We gots 2 show the U.S. that they aint (expletive) with out us (sic)," according to district officials.
"Mr. Rios used taxpayer-funded school equipment to copy and distribute to children an offensive statement," said Houston Independent School District spokesman Terry Abbott. "The principal exercised his authority to remove Mr. Rios as junior varsity baseball coach, and it certainly was an appropriate decision."
Chavez Principal Dan Martinez made the decision, but referred questions on the issue to Abbott. Rios could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
According to district records, Rios has been with HISD since August 2002. He earned about $42,000 a year.
Last week, Reagan High School Principal Robert Pambello was disciplined for putting a Mexican flag below the U.S. and Texas flags that fly at his school.
Gayle Fallon, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, said many educators are struggling to keep their opinions on the controversial changes to the immigration laws out of the classroom.
"It's a very tough one for a lot of the teachers because it's a highly emotional issue," she said. "A teacher's role is to be informative, but not persuasive. They need to talk to students. They need to make sure they know the issues, but like any other political issue, their role is not to express a specific opinion."
Teachers would be allowed to demonstrate on their own time, including during duty-free lunches, she said. "A teacher is a citizen. A teacher has every right to — on their own time — be as public as they want, no matter how popular or unpopular their views," she said.
chatty
Arizona Poll: Make English Official State Language
More than four-in-five Arizona residents support making English the official language of the state according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International from March 30 to 31, 2006.
The poll of 510 likely voters in the Grand Canyon State found that 82 percent of Arizonans favor official English legislation, with more than two-thirds of respondents strongly favoring such a measure.
"Arizona residents have once again declared that they want the government to embrace our official language – English," said Mauro E. Mujica, chairman of U.S. English, Inc. "They understand that English remains the great unifier in a diverse state and that fluency in English is the key to economic self-sufficiency and personal growth."
Official English legislation in Arizona calls for government to conduct official business in English and ensures that the state does not have an obligation to provide foreign language services. The bill takes into account numerous common sense exceptions to ensure the constitutional rights of all Arizonans. Public health and safety information, law enforcement and courtroom translation are all exempted from the law.
Last month, the Arizona House passed HCR 2036, legislation that would allow the citizens of Arizona to vote on making English the official language of the state. The measure, approved on March 23 by a margin of 34 to 22 in the House, is now in the Senate for consideration. If passed, the citizens of Arizona would cast their vote in November.
Last year, the House and Senate both passed legislation that would make English the official language of Arizona, only to have it vetoed by the governor. A subsequent poll by KAET-TV/Channel 8 and Arizona State University found that the majority of Arizonans disagree with the governor's action.
Congresswoman's husband gets 5 months
The husband of an Illinois congresswoman was sentenced to five months in federal prison Wednesday for writing rubber checks and failing to pay withholding taxes.
Robert Creamer, 58, husband of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., also was ordered to serve house arrest for 11 months after he finishes his prison term.
Prosecutors had wanted a three-year sentence, but U.S. District Judge James B. Moran said five months was fairer because no one suffered "out of pocket losses" and Creamer acted not out of greed but in an effort to keep his community action group going without cutting programs.
Schakowsky sat stoically with her hands folded in her lap, often looking out the window, as Moran imposed the sentence.
Afterward she read a statement to reporters and left without answering questions.
"I am obviously disappointed that Bob's sentence included incarceration, but we accept the judge's decision and look forward to the day that we can finally put this nearly decade-long chapter behind us," Schakowsky said.
She said she was proud that her husband "has for his entire adult life devoted himself to fighting for a better future for others-- he has been a constant crusader for social and economic justice in this country and beyond."
The case, which has been dragging on for years, has had no discernible impact on Schakowsky's political career. She is an odds-on favorite to win reelection in November from an overwhelmingly Democratic city and suburban district.
Creamer is one of Chicago's best-known political consultants. He has worked for the campaigns of both Mayor Richard M. Daley and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Creamer told reporters he was disappointed that he must go to prison but accepted it.
He promised that "for the rest of my life I will continue to do whatever I can to work for social and economic justice."
"And I will never again allow my passion for that goal to overwhelm my good judgment or my respect for the law," Creamer added.
Creamer pleaded guilty to failing to pay withholding taxes and bank fraud involving check kiting-- writing checks on accounts without sufficient funds to cover them while moving money between accounts and playing the so-called float to prevent the checks from bouncing.
All of the money was repaid and Creamer had been hoping for no prison time.
Ferguson said Creamer's statements suggested that while he admitted his check kiting was "legally improper it was somehow morally acceptable."
"He shouldn't have taken money from banks, he shouldn't have taken tax money," he said.
Scores of Creamer friends and well-wishers had written to Moran describing what they called his lifetime of fighting for civil rights and justice for the poor.
All the same, Moran said some prison time was warranted. He did say Creamer had been "a champion of the little folks."
Tom DeLay: Victim of GOP Timidity
The most stunning aspect of Tom DeLay's resignation from Congress isn't that he was forced out by a wave of bad publicity that began with his indictment last September for breaking a law that wasn't even on the books when DeLay allegedly violated it.
The real surprise of the DeLay debacle is that his fellow Republicans allowed him to be ripped apart by Democrat-friendly media piranha - without firing a shot in return.
Democrats would have surely backed off on their "Culture of Corruption" mantra had the GOP made even a minimal effort to fight fire with fire.
Instead, Hill Republicans looked the other way on one Democrat scandal after another - and will likely end up paying the price by losing control of Congress in November.
Here's a short list of investigations the GOP should have launched - not for reasons of partisan revenge - but because they warranted the full oversight of the party in control of Congress:
♣ Bergergate: The theft and destruction of top secret national security documents by former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger in a blatant attempt to obstruct the 9/11 Commission investigation.
Berger's crime was easily one of the most serious ever committed by a top government official. Yet the GOP Congress declined to probe further after the Bush Justice Department cut such an embarrassingly light plea bargain that even the Berger case judge was appalled.
♣ Rathergate: You'd never know it from the lethargic Republican reaction, but when a mysterious Texas source supplied forgeries of President Bush's military records to CBS News just weeks before the 2004 election, it was a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Compounding the political intrigue, CBS tipped a top staffer in the Kerry campaign on the coming Bush document assault.
But after Texas authorities declined to pursue a request for a criminal investigation from several GOP House members, the matter was promptly dropped. Republican congressional interest in getting to the bottom this scheme to steal the 2004 election after Texas authorities opted out: Zippo.
♣ Schumergate: The illegal purloining of Lt. Gov. Michael Steele's credit report by staffers on Sen. Chuck Schumer's Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee certainly seemed like a ripe topic for some congressional oversight. But like the Bergergate case, it appears that Bush Justice will let the guilty parties off with a slap on the wrist - without fingering any higher ups.
In fact, Schumer's committee is now insisting that it acted in an "exemplary manner" by not using the illegal info against Steele. GOP interest in further investigation? Bubkiss.
♣ Nukegate: We've already had several hearings into President Bush's so-called illegal NSA terrorist surveillance program, which was first revealed in James Risen's new book: "State of War."
But there's been little interest in the other bombshell development revealed by Risen: President Clinton's decision to give Iran doctored blueprints for key nuclear components that allowed the Iranians, in Risen's words, to "leapfrog one of the last remaining engineering hurdles blocking its path to a nuclear weapon."
With Sen. John McCain now predicting "Armageddon" as a result of the Iranian nuclear threat, one might think that a report like this might be ripe for congressional investigation.
But one would be wrong. Republican interest to date in a Clinton Nukegate probe: Zilch.
The list of Democrat scandals passed up by Republicans could probably fill a book. But others that deserve honorable mention are the surpression of the Barrett Report, media leaks by anti-Bush CIA insiders and a probe into Sen. Robert Byrd's activities while he was a leader in the Ku Klux Klan.
Compare those unexploited nuggets to the psuedo-scandals that supposedly drove DeLay from office - and it becomes abundantly clear why Republicans now stand an excellent chance of being forced to turn over the keys to Capitol Hill this November.
In Massachusetts, Health Care for All?
A state bill would require universal health insurance. Implementing the initiative is likely to prove a lot harder than passing it
Efforts to extend health insurance to more Americans have been stalled in recent years between liberals' insistence on more government spending and conservatives' advocacy of private-sector approaches. Now Massachusetts may have broken the gridlock with an innovative bipartisan plan designed to achieve nearly universal coverage.
The bill, approved by the heavily Democratic Massachusetts legislature on Apr. 4, marries conservative and liberal ideas. For the first time ever in the U.S., all state residents would be required to have health insurance -- dubbed an individual mandate. Gov. Mitt Romney, a moderate Republican expected to run for the White House in 2008, champions this as a conservative victory that leads residents to take responsibility for their own health insurance. He says he plans to sign the bill soon, although he may first try to change some smaller provisions.
HEAVILY SUBSIDIZED. The legislation also includes such liberal measures as huge government subsidies to help low-income individuals buy insurance. What's more, all companies with 11 or more workers are required to help pay for health insurance -- a so-called employer mandate.
"This is an historic precedent that creates a partnership involving the public and private sector, as well as employers and individuals," says Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which represents health care consumers.
Pollack and other experts predict the bill will have an impact on the health-care debate far beyond Boston. Romney says he has already encouraged a number of governors to study the bill, and he's expected to make the Massachusetts plan the cornerstone of his Presidential bid, much as President Bush touted his education achievements in Texas during his first run for the White House.
"The eyes of the nation are on us," adds Senate President Robert Travaglini, a liberal Democrat who normally opposes Romney. "We led the way with same-sex marriage, and now we are doing it with health care reform." (See BW, 11/28/05, 
families and individuals who don't qualify for Medicaid but are too poor to buy health insurance on their own. Nationally, this is the core of the uninsured, since more than 70% of the 45 million uninsured Americans have family incomes under $50,000, according to Families USA. Massachusetts plans to cover these people with big subsidies.
Those earning up to 100% of the federal poverty level would get what amounts to a free ride -- they wouldn't have to pay any premiums or any deductibles. Those making between 100% and 300% of the poverty level would pay part of their premiums, based on a sliding scale.
PENALTIES AS MOTIVATION. That leaves another 200,000 or so uninsured higher-income individuals who are the prime target of the individual mandate. Massachusetts is taking a carrot-and-stick approach. The carrot: a series of insurance-market reforms to make it easier and cheaper to buy insurance. For starters, the state will create a "health insurance connector," an innovation "that will allow individuals and small businesses to buy insurance as if they were a large company," says Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans.
The stick: Beginning in 2008, individuals who don't have insurance will be subject to a penalty equal to half the cost of health insurance. Last year, coverage for an individual ran about $4,000 a year, and nearly $11,000 for a family, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. "That's a significant penalty," says John McDonough, executive director of Healthcare for All, a consumer advocacy group.
Advocates defend the approach, saying it's similar to requiring drivers to buy auto insurance. But it's still untested, and many Americans may resist being told to pay out for something at least some now choose to go without.
Another issue is how much Massachusetts would have to spend under the new law. Subsidies for low-income residents would total about $720 million a year, figures Massachusetts Secretary of Health Tim Murphy. But the law would tap into the large pot of dough his state has set aside to pay for the costs hospitals and other providers bear when the uninsured get free care at emergency rooms and elsewhere. Most other states don't have such available funds. The $720 million is also a lot less, proportionately, than the amount other states would have to cough up. About 25% of Texas residents are uninsured, for example, roughly twice the rate in Massachusetts.
STICKY POINTS. The employer mandate, while low, is another potentially controversial issue. The bill would require companies with 11 or more employees that don't provide health insurance to pay up to $295 a year per worker. Still, "there's strong support in the business community for this measure," says Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation. "This equalizes the burden between companies who don't provide health care and those who do."
How all this works in practice will also hinge on how affordable health insurance becomes. Murphy, who helped Romney design the individual mandate, predicts reforms authorized by the law -- including higher deductibles and cost-efficient provider networks -- could cut premiums in half, to $200 a month for individuals and $500 a month for families. But others are skeptical. "There's an awful lot that still has to be worked out, but I wouldn't hold my breath" that costs will fall that far," cautions Healthcare for All's McDonough.
Still, analysts believe this bill will vault Massachusetts ahead of all other states in providing health insurance to its citizens. And it will surely reinvigorate the ongoing national debate.
spacey
Non-Citizens Expected to Get Voting Rights in NYC 
Legislation granting non-citizens the right to vote is expected to pass in New York City this year, immigration rights advocates tell the Amsterdam News.
"We're very excited and very optimistic that this will pass," New York City Councilman Charles Barron said at a recent press briefing. "We see this as the historical launching of something that should have happened a long time ago," the outspoken Democrat added.
Dubbed the "Voting Rights Restoration Act," the measure would permit immigrants who have a green card to vote in municipal elections, including for mayor, comptroller and city council, after having lived in the city for six months.
The New York Coalition to Expand Voting Rights
sees the measure being extended one day to state and even federal elections. "There is nothing in either the U.S. or the New York State Constitution that prevents us from expanding the franchise to include non-citizen residents," a spokesman for the group argued in January.
Advocates claim that 22 states and federal territories allowed non-citizen voting during the 18th and 19th centuries. In New York, non-citizen residents were denied the right to vote in 1804.
According to the Caribbean news service, Heartbeat News, the measure's impact on New York City elections would be substantial, adding up to 1.5 million voters to rolls. Most of the new voters, experts predict, would cast their ballots for Democrats.
While New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has voiced opposition to the proposal, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn told the Amsterdam News that she's "open to talking about passage."
In a statement issued by her office, City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito praised the measure, explaining:
"East Harlem, Mott Haven and the Upper West Side are home to at least 25 thousand non-citizens of voting age who contribute in countless ways to the economic, social and cultural vitality of District 8 and NYC as a whole. Unfortunately they are not allowed to directly participate in choosing the municipal representatives who make the policies that affect their daily lives."
