Almost as funny as The Real Glenn Beck.

And, you have to wonder who is paying for Beck's Stay in the Hospital, and his surgery and it might be nice to wish him well.  BUT, I WON'T.

The above image is from a NASA news release discussing that interactions with aerosols boost the global warming potential of gases such as methane. A study published in Science by a team led by Drew Shindell of NASA concludes that chemical interactions between emissions cause more global warming than previously estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"We've known for years that methane and carbon monoxide have a warming effect, but our new findings suggest these gases have a significantly more powerful warming impact than previously thought," said Shindell.

Many atmospheric pollutants compete for access to hydroxyl radicals (OH), highly reactive molecules that "scrub" the atmosphere of pollutants. Carbon monoxide has an indirect radiative effect by elevating concentrations of methane and tropospheric ozone through scavenging of atmospheric constituents that would otherwise destroy the methane and ozone in transformations that reduce their impact as greenhouse gases. Over time, hydroxyl converts methane (CH4) into carbon dioxide (CO2), which is less potent as a greenhouse gas.

The study showed that increases in global methane emissions have caused a 26% decrease in hydroxyl. Methane now persists longer in the atmosphere, before getting transformed into the less potent carbon dioxide. At the same time, methane levels are rising, believed to be caused by rapidly growing industrialization in Asia and rising wetland emissions in the Arctic and tropics, as shown on the edited NOAA image on the left.

This makes it extra important to look at ways to reduce methane emissions. Production and transport of livestock and their feed accounts for nearly 80% of agricultural emissions, through release of gases such as nitro-oxide and carbon dioxide, but mainly in the form of methane.

Animals like cows and pigs are responsible for huge amounts of methane. Enteric fermentation and manure together respresent about 35-40 percent of all anthropogenic methane emissions, according to the U.N. report Livestock's Long Shadow.

A recent analysis published by the Worldwatch Institute estimates that livestock may be responsible for more than half of all anthropogenic emissions. The estimates are reached when using a higher warming potential of methane, while taking additional things into account, such as the meanwhile higher numbers of livestock, as well as byproducts such as leather and fur, and packaging, waste disposal and medical care associated with livestock products. Furthermore, the estimates take into account the respiration of 56 billion livestock (FAO figures 2007).

Fees on the sale of livestock products therefore makes a lot of sense. We could leave it up to local politics to work out how high such fees should be, but a flat 10% fee on all sales of livestock products looks like a good start. The fees could be higher the more methane was released, which would go hand in hand with mandatory disclosure on livestock products of the amount of greenhouse gases that was needed to produce and ship them. Once there's a good system in place that displays how many greenhouse gases were released in production, fees could vary accordingly. There could be different fees, even a gliding scale proportional to the emissions. This would encourage research into different diets for cows or somehow replacing the methane-producing bacteria inside a cow's gut.

As indicated on above image, the proceeds of fees on livestock products are best used to help fund rebates on biochar, which can help improve soil quality and offset emissions caused by livestock.

This post has been updated - the original post is still visible at Tax the sale of meat!

Last week I was speaking with a new client by phone when she told me “it’s impossible for me to lose weight…”

I let her speak and go on about her previous weight loss attempts, diet plans, and failed exercise routines for about 3 minutes straight.

She was so frustrated I don’t even think she paused to take a breath that whole time!

All kidding aside, I understand exactly where she is coming from.

Losing weight is truly one of the hardest things you can do…

Not because the actual methods of losing weight are all that difficult, but the psychological barriers are sometimes overwhelming.

I can’t tell you the number of clients I’ve worked with who had tried dozens of diets before coming to see me or using my online plan. They had tried all the latest fads, gadgets, and gizmos, but still no results…

So how did I come up with a plan to help you and everyone else who struggles with their weight to finally drop all that unwanted body fat permanently?

I realized I had to take the thinking part out of it…

That’s because your brain literally sabotages your success with all sorts of excuses, reasons, and negative thinking before you even start!

Here’s what I mean (and this goes for any overwhelming goal you want to achieve):

I believe the thought of going on a another diet only to fail again is just too much for most people to bear and so what I ask my clients to do is suspend all disbelief for just 21 days.

I ask them to literally turn off their brains.

I want them to take a deep breath and try an experiment for me. After they’ve breathed through the anxiousness I ask them to just plug themselves into a proven system like the one I’ve created (which I’ll explain to you in a minute).

What this means is that I don’t want them to have to plan out what to eat, what workouts to do, or how often they have to do these things.

Like I said, I don’t want them to think and instead I just want them to plug themselves into a results-tested system.

Here’s a 10 step plan of how you can do this same 21 Day Weight Loss Experiment with me:

1. Commit yourself to suspending all disbelief that this new attempt at weight loss won’t work either

2. Think positively and only concentrate on the checklists of items you should complete each day

3. Eliminate all sugar (that includes fruit juice and soda)

4. Take out 90% of inflammatory foods like most starches, refined sugar, and saturated fat)

5. Increase your alkaline based foods like vegetables and good fats (don’t count calories)

6. Workout only for 20 – 40 minutes 3 -5x a week (that’s only a couple of minutes out of your day!)

7. Skip the cardio and use metabolic, resistance based, interval training circuits

8. Drink 8+ glasses of water per day

9. Sleep for 7-9 hours per night

10. Stay focused and refuse to cheat for 21 days!

If you look back at that list you’ll see that there is absolutely nothing on it that you can’t handle.

Even if you haven’t worked out before you can at least walk for 30 minutes per day can’t you?

I know you can do this… it just comes down to whether you are willing to try this experiment with me.

It’s only 21 days of your life and you’ll know by then if it’s working for you (which it will if you just plug yourself into the system!). Plus, after doing the experiment you will have developed new thought processes and habits by just following the system!

For my free video revealing more tips and tricks to lose weight go to:

http://www.Lose5in7.com

Committed to your success,

Stephen Cabral, CSCS, CPT, NS
Author of Fatlossity, Lose5in7 Weight Loss System
Health Consultant for MTV, NutritionData, Diet.com, Gather, EDGE
http://StephenCabral.com

PS. If you’d like to immediately download my complete weight loss system with all the sample meal plans, grocery lists, short fat burning intervals, metabolic boosting tips, all my nutrition and exercise checklists, and a fool proof plan to permanently keep all your unwanted body fat from coming back just go to:
http://www.Lose5in7.com

In fact if you have an earmark on your ear mam, do not plan on dating a Republican.   But, if you will let him put the earmark on your ear, he might become the father of your next child.  There are ten members on the Republican Select Committee on Earmarks in the US Congress.  EIGHT of them have added earmarks to legislation.

Politico broke the story, And the no longer defunct still in there plugging Air America published a report on the Politico story and that report links to Politico.

I thought about just linking to Politico, but I really wanted to get as many people as possible to click on Air America.  The will use the numbers to get more money for the advertising they show, and you will be introduced to, or taken back to, a valuable and informative resource.

Remember, as long as Conservatives lie about Liberals, Liberals will tell the truth about Conservatives.  It's the only way to defend the country from Fascist Tyranny.