(Photo - Daniel Goodman / Business Insider)

Business Insider / Linette Lopez / October 14, 2011

It's in the works. A massive Occupy Wall Street gathering with delegates from all over the country. And if these plans are carried out, Occupy Wall Street will be a major force to be reckoned with on Election Day 2012.

The date? July 4, 2012.

Put aside questions of whether or not the movement will survive that long. Imagine that they do, because they have no doubt.

If only our economy had that kind of confidence.

Resiliency Networks - October 20,
In the context of increasing real-time information abundance, librarians face new opportunities to contribute to a more resilient public health by applying long-held skills and values to social media content and intelligent social networks.

Join your colleagues on Thursday, October 20, 2011 from 5:00 to 6:30 (Eastern) for a very informative presentation and a lively discussion that is being cosponsored by DUSLA where Dr. Michael D. McDonald will engage in a discourse as to how the strategically oriented librarian can invest a new dimension of power and responsibility in their professional role by contributing to the management of this new information sharing environment in the prevention and management of large-scale social crises (e.g., disease outbreaks, terrorism, natural disasters, economic and social discontinuities) at the global, national, regional, and local levels.
Attend virtually via webcast or access recording: Registration - Simulcast Webinar  http://www.icebrrg.com/Public/ViewForm.aspx?formID=76478

Simulcast Webinar Link  http://bit.ly/DUSLAtalk

submitted by Nguyen Huu Ninh, friend of The Global Resilience System, lead author of 2007 IPCC report

by Richard Black - BBC News - October 17, 2011

Food security was interwoven with the climate issue, speakers told the conference

Climate change poses "an immediate, growing and grave threat" to health and security around the world, according to an expert conference in London.

Officers in the UK military warned that the price of goods such as fuel is likely to rise as conflict provoked by climate change increases.

A statement from the meeting adds that humanitarian disasters will put more and more strain on military resources.

It asks governments to adopt ambitious targets for curbing greenhouse gases.

The annual UN climate conference opens in about six weeks' time, and the doctors, academics and military experts represented at the meeting (held in the British Medical Association's (BMA) headquarters) argue that developed and developing countries alike need to raise their game.

We welcome your participation in the Community Health Resilience Workshop 2011: Developing a Health Information Sharing and Situational Awareness Framework. The workshop will be an open dialogue that identifies information requirements, capabilities, and areas of cooperation among government, the private sector, and non-profit communities that could lead to a nationwide approach.

Workshop attendees will have the chance to:
 
♦   Interact and build relationships with a growing network of health information and community resilience experts and stakeholder organizations;
♦   Gain insights on information sharing initiatives; and
♦   Help influence the development of an information sharing and situational awareness framework.

    nationalnursesunited.org - RN Response Network - October 13, 2011

As a past volunteer for the Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN), we wish to thank you again for your desire to help people and communities in need.

Now we are asking for your help again, to join our first aid efforts in cities across the U.S. where Americans are rallying for real solutions to our national economic emergency.

You were there when we dispatched volunteers to assist with the recovery effort following a tsunami in South Asia, a hurricane on the Gulf Coast, Southern California wildfires, the earthquake in Haiti, and with contributions following this spring’s disaster in Japan.

RN volunteers have made a difference on each occasion, even when we have faced huge hurdles, including substantial governmental impediments, for example, to placing volunteers on the ground in Haiti. Yet on each occasion, RNRN did act, and sent as many volunteers as possible in these heroic humanitarian efforts.

by Helen R. Pfister and Susan R. Ingargiola, Manatt Health Solutions - ihealthbeat.org - October 11, 2011

On Sept. 12, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released an updated strategic plan for implementing a nationwide health information network. The Federal Health IT Strategic Plan 2011-2015 sets forth activities to improve health care through use of health IT tools.

Below is an overview of the Strategic Plan and some of the federal government's newest initiatives, including the Query Health initiative, the electronic health record data segmentation initiative and various initiatives to drive consumer engagement in health care, such as the recent proposed regulation affording individuals direct access to laboratory results.

Strategic Plan Background

by Ben Raines - al.com - October 12, 2011

Photo - Courtesy of John C. S. Pierce

This dolphin was found on the Mobile Bay side of the Fort Morgan peninsula Saturday morning, one of four found since Friday. The death brings the total number of dead dolphins found since the BP oil spill to more than 400. Federal officials say an "Unusual Mortality Event" has been declared for the Gulf's dolphin population, which have been dying at a rate 5 to 10 times higher than average.

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Alabama -- A dolphin carcass, bloated and violet in the morning sun, was found on Fort Morgan early Saturday, bringing the number lost since the BP oil spill to more than 400. 

Three other dolphins have washed up in Alabama in the past week, including a pregnant female on Dauphin Island and a mother and calf pair on Hollingers Island in Mobile Bay.

submitted by Samuel Bendett

The New York Times - by Matthew L. Wald - September 27, 2011

Technology from Renmatix obtained this sugar solution from wood pulp by applying very hot water at high pressure. The New York Times Company

A Georgia company says it has overcome a major roadblock in turning agricultural waste into vehicle fuel and other useful chemicals by experimenting with a technology that treats the waste with compressed water heated to very high temperatures.

The company, Renmatix, plans to cut the ribbon on a research and development center on Tuesday in King of Prussia, Pa., near the heart of the nation’s chemical and refining industry, to complete development of the process. The goal is to accomplish something that has eluded a dozen companies in recent years despite big government inducements: to commercialize a technology for making use of cellulosic biomass, or wood chips, switchgrass and the nonedible parts of crops.

Research Brief: Is Submerged Deepwater Horizon Oil Degrading Offshore?

Comparison of the Chemical Signatures of Tar Mat Samples Deposited by Tropical Storm Lee in September 2011 with Oil Mousse Samples Collected in June 2010 (4 page .PDF report)

http://eng.auburn.edu/files/acad_depts/civil/oil-spill-research.pdf