Pretty insane. If someone wants to lend me some money, and I have to pay back less than I received, let me know.

(In comparison, Italy currently pays an interest rate of over 7% when lending money from investors/banks)

The study involved more than 1700 heterosexual couples, of whom one partner was infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the other was not at the start of the trial. All those infected still had relatively intact immune systems. The study gave antiretroviral drugs to half of the infected people and delayed giving treatment to the other half until their immune systems declined to a dangerous degree. The results of this early treatment with a cocktail of antiviral drugs were dramatic, lowering the rate at which the HIV-free partner became infected 20-fold, while also improving outcomes for the infected partner. In combination with other promising clinical trials, the results have galvanized efforts to end the world’s AIDS epidemic in a way that would have been inconceivable even a year ago. “The goal of an AIDS-free generation is ambitious, but it is possible,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told scientists last month.

Bruce Alberts ends his summary about the year 2011 with very critical words:

Not all of the news for science has been good this year. Regrettably, we live in an age where “science denial” has become fashionable. For instance, in the United States, the pressure to conform has become so great that even many politicians who know better have become unwilling to speak out to support what science knows about climate change. Part of the reason is that politicians need to raise funds to compete effectively in elections, and the large amount of money spent by special interest groups distorts the public debate. To counter such science denial, I have repeatedly argued on this page that scientists need to pay much more attention to science education. Teaching is not the same as simply telling students what one knows—a common approach pursued through lecturing. Instead, the scientific community needs to strongly support evidence-based methods for improving how students learn science both in college and at lower levels, focusing on empowering all students with the reasoning and problem-solving skills of scientists [...]

– Source: Science Magazine

Though not a party to the case, the US Department of Transportation said it “strongly objects, on both legal and policy grounds, to the EU’s plan to impose its own policies on other countries”.

– Source: eubusiness.com

What happened?

The US says EU plans for an emissions tax on airlines must be dealt with by the international aviation body. It had tried to block European Union plans to levy the emissions tax, saying they were invalid, but the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled on Wednesday that they were legal.
[...]
“Application of the emissions trading scheme to aviation infringes neither the principles of customary international law at issue nor the Open Skies Agreement” across the Atlantic, the ECJ decided.
“It is only if the operators of such aircraft choose to operate a commercial air route arriving at or departing from an airport situated in the EU that they are subject to the emissions trading scheme,” it added.
As a result of this choice, the EU system “infringes neither the principle of territoriality nor the sovereignty of third states, since the scheme is applicable to the operators only when their aircraft are physically in the territory of one of the member states of the EU”.
The EU has made it clear that it will not bow to US pressure following Wednesday’s decision.
“We will neither abandon nor delay [the Emissions Trading System]. The measure will fully enter force on 1 January 2012,” said the spokesman for EU climate change commissioner, Connie Hedegaard.

– Source: a wonderful article on BBC.CO.UK

Was it worth it?

What did you achieve?

68% of Iraqis have no access to safe drinking water today, after 8 years of war. You granted less than 800 Iraqi refugees asylum. You killed many innocent people, among them children.

How many hundreds of thousands of lives could be better today if you had used the $1.9 trillion for education and healthcare?

Was it worth it?

What did you achieve?

Open your eyes and see.

Highly recommended reading:
“The Republicans’ Farcical Candidates: A Club of Liars, Demagogues and Ignoramuses (A Commentary by Marc Pitzke)”