 |
| Ady Gil, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
 |
| MV Steve Irwin - MV Bob Barker (Hobart). (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
 |
| English: A Drawing from the Nisshin Maru, the Japanese factory that slaughters the whales for the Japanese commercial market. Nederlands: Een tekening van de Nisshin Maru, het Japanse fabrieksschip die walvissen verwerkt voor de Japanse commerciële markt. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Sea Shepherd flag flying on the RV Farley Mowat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: MY Steve Irwin approaching Melbourne. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
A Better Way to Buy Meat
Much of Europe is reeling from the discovery that many beef products have
been adulterated by the substitution of horse meat. Cases tend to be
mainly ground beef and processed or packaged foods containing meat such as
frozen pasta dishes.
The scandal has drawn attention to alternate means of sourcing safe meatproducts.
*Crowd funding schemes allow like-minded people to pool their money and
invest in businesses and charitable projects. Some farmers are using crowd
funding sites to raise funds to buy livestock, and offer discounted produce
in return.*
*Farmer Natalie Rose of Rosew... more »
A word from our new Ambassador of Religious Freedom
"Religion, artificially divorced from the public sphere, makes for an
impoverished politics at best, and a benighted political class at worst."
Our new Ambassador of Religious Freedom, Andrew P. W. Bennett, 2 years a
dean of Augustine College, is passionate about returning religious
discourse to public life. Our "official secular religion", as he
argues above here, "violates freedom of religious expression."
Huh.
In April 2011, ImmMin Jason Kenney announced that Canada's religious
freedom office "would be modeled after the Office of International
Religious Freedom within the US... more »
BREAKING: Before Ted Cruz Became A Teabagger He Was An Official Of The Junior League of Hezbollah's Houston Office
The Senate will vote on Chuck Hagel's nomination on Monday, February 25. It
looks likely that Reid will be able to shut down the Republican Party
filibuster with a successful cloture vote this time. I have no position on
this nomination other than he has some good points and some bad points and
that the president probably deserves to name whomever he wants to his
Cabinet without being obstructed by a Senate minority hell-bent on doing
damage to the country for partisan gain.
Earlier today we talked a little about how the Bush-Cheney Regime worked
diligently with some of the in-hou... more »
我们的新的最好的朋友：朝鲜欺诈
消息人士称，美国军用飞机从关岛的空军基地飞抵平壤，2012年4月7日，再上一个较长的访问持续时间从8月18日至20日。
在2011年和2012年，美国高级政府官员举行秘密会谈在朝鲜至少在三个场合，
额外的粪新闻
“匿名”现在说他们的名字已被使用的奸细。..Hmmm
Video: Japan whale poachers’ factory ship rams Sea Shepherd vessels and fuel tanker – Annual whale slaughter suspended, whaling fleet scattered and in disarray
By Captain Paul Watson
20 February 2013
(Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) – The captain of the Japanese factory
ship *Nisshin Maru *lost his temper, and unfortunately road rage with an
8,000 ton ship in remote waters amongst icebergs and ice packs can be
somewhat intimidating, as we all learned very dramatically today.
Where to begin? I don’t think we have ever had a more eventful few hours in
the nine years we have been opposing the whaling in the Southern Ocean
Whale Sanctuary and certainly there has never been a day when all of our
ships were rammed one after another. It is ... more »
Matt Bracken - Democide...
*the elimination of a despised group by a government.*
I'm taking Matt Bracken at his word:
Matt Bracken | February 20, 2013 at 10:10
Please share the essay and video as widely as possible on RKBA and other
freedomista blogs and websites. Copy it all, save it all, I expect a
serious effort by the commie rat bastards to squelch this message,
especially the video.
H/T Western Rifle Shooters Association
*Democide: Socialism, Tyranny, Guns and Freedom*
Democide is the elimination of a despised group by a government. It
includes genocide, politicide, and other forms of state-sponso... more »
Behind Incoherent GOP Spin
Conservative Byron York today blasts the Republicans, and Speaker Boehner
in particular, for incoherent spin on the sequester.
I basically agree with him...the GOP message is that the sequester is (1)
terrible and all Barack Obama's fault; and (2) better than smaller cuts,
with or without additional revenues; and, (3) just a small down payment on
the size of the cuts that are really needed...basically makes no sense.
The question is: why? And I think the answer is the same as the answer for
why Mitt Romney's campaign was incoherent much of the time: the effects of
the GOP-aligned p... more »
'Acids of Modernity' at a Christian Finishing School
Where to begin mocking the announcement -- finally -- of the actual
establishment of the Office of Religious Freedom and the naming of its
head, Andrew Bennet, to be styled apparently, 'Ambassador'?
I took my cue from Canadian Cynic and looked into the 'Christian college'
of which Bennett is currently Dean.
It is Augustine College in Ottawa.
First thing to know -- it's tiny. It graduates at most 16 students a year,
many years far fewer.
Next, it is a one-year program, well, really eight months, two semesters.
It certainly is Christian and evangelical. (Bold in original.)
The fa... more »
Untitled
*Kristian: Restructure Brees? Not so simple, and awfully risky ~WWL*
Living in Automated Times
We are steadily, inexorably it seems, leaving the world of manual labour.
Even the Chinese are beginning to turn to robotics to replace low-wage
workers. So, how do entire societies live when machines have taken their
work? An interesting problem that invites interesting solutions.
*During the Industrial Revolution, working hours increased by 20% as
factories replaced feasting. With our post-machine standard of living, we
can afford to shed some of the Puritan guilt that has, for centuries, kept
our noses to the grindstone.*
*Today we find a great deal of work-sharing in poor c... more »
Mexico: Mass UFO Sighting Over Opopeo, Michoacán
*Mexico: Mass UFO Sighting Over Opopeo, Michoacán*
*By Claudio Mora, La Esfera Azul*
One of the most impressive and interesting UFO sightings ever witnessed and
recorded in the state of Michoacán took place on 15 February 2013 over
Opopeo., where the aerial maneuvers of nearly 49 objects of unknown origin
were captured on videotape for nearly three minutes (a sighting that lasted
nearly seven minutes beyond what was captured on camera).
Around 3 p.m. on the afternoon of 15 February, Sandra Saenz, an
acknowledged journalist with CUASAR Noticias, was in the company of
cameraman Ser... more »
Update: UWE Response to My Letter
I have an update for those interested in the decision by the University of
the West of England to shutter its Politics and IR programs. Last night, I
sent the following message to UWE Vice Chancellor Steven West: 19 February
2013 Dear Vice Chancellor West, I learned today that the University of the
West of
Continue reading
2013 Awards Update
I apologize for my radio silence on the OIAS awards since we announced the
finalists. The winners are being selected by a panel of judges for each
award. Each panel is composed of staff from the Duck of Minerva and
“outside experts.” The latter have PhDs in political science and are “blog
savvy,” meaning that
Continue reading
Dave and Busters
There is a Dave and Busters in town so the church singles group decided to
combine Guy's Night out and Girl's Night Out and check it out.
Let's eat! And also, watch basketball!
R with *lots* of tickets.
Ride that bike!
All photos by Angie using Southern Man's brand-new camera.
It's Wednesday...
*what's going on.*
Conservative Hideout: * Gun Control by Default: Make Them too Expensive to
Own*
Asylum Watch: *Sequestration? America Is About To Get Screwed Again!*
IBD: *Will Only Suckers Buy ObamaCare Insurance?*
Bunkerville: *Obama works to purge online opponents*
Sentry Journal: *Robert Welch Predicted Every Liberal Move*
Sultan Knish: *Who Needs the Family?*
J.R. Dunn @ American Thinker: *How the Left Dupes Conservative Voters*
Displaced Fear
Conservatives are fear-driven. Their minds work differently than ours,
or at least they work differently than progressives' minds.
Brain scan research has found that rightwingers process information via the
right *amygdala*, the centre of the brain's threat response system.
Lefties perform the same process using the *insula*, a small part of the
brain that functions quite differently.
*According to neuroscientists who study it, the insula is a long-neglected
brain region that has emerged as crucial to understanding what it feels
like to be human. *
*They say it is the wellspr... more »
"Saskatchewan NDP Leadership - Part 2 - Trent Wotherspoon" - Guest Post By Dan Tan
*(Buckdog is covering the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Leadership
race - today a 2nd guest post by Dan Tan):*
*There is nothing like a near-death experience to clarify things. A great
benefit of the Lingenfelter wipe-out was that it ensured the candidacies of
only the most dedicated & focused leadership contenders. Unlike the federal
NDP leadership contest, the Saskatchewan contest hosted no sacrificial
lambs, self-promoters, or carpet-baggers.***
*
In a more favourable context, where the distance between the government &
its opposition was more narrow, any of these men w... more »
Sealing the Deal With the Boston Globe
*I think today is the last day I'm going to buy it. I'm going to alter my
routine so I go for coffee in the afternoon instead.* *I'm just tired of
reading agenda-pu$hing supremacist s***, readers. I'll have to come up
with a new format or something. *
"Scientists hope to help seals and humans better coexist" by Beth Daley |
Globe Staff, December 28, 2012
In the past five years, New England’s growing seal population has been
blamed for luring great white sharks to Cape Cod beaches. Fishermen
complain they have to compete against the marine mammals’ insatiable
appetite for a dwin... more »
Economist Erin Weir Withdraws From Sask NDP Leadership Race
*Erin Weir announced this morning that he is withdrawing his candidacy from
the Saskatchewan New Democratic Party leadership race. *
*
**I have been supporting Mr. Weir and am quite sad to see him leave the
race. Erin brought a very strong voice on economic issues, specifically
Saskatchewan economic issues and has clearly demonstrated where Premier
Brad Wall is deliberately enriching the coffers of the corporate natural
resources sector, while he nickels and dimes Saskatchewan citizens.*
Jean Trounstine : After 18 Years on Death Row
Damien
Echols. Photo by Larry D. Moore / Wikimedia Commons.
Damien Echols:
After 18 years on Death Row
Being on death row and in solitary confinement has got to be one of the
most inhumane experiences we put prisoners through -- and we justify it
by calling them 'the most dangerous prisoners alive.' But what of those
who later turn out to be innocent?
By Jean Trounstine / The Rag Blog /
Wednesday Linkage
• Belusconi offers tax rebates. Opponents accuse him of seeking to “buy
votes.” The letter came in an official-looking envelope, headed:
“Important notice: reimbursement of IMU 2012.” “The refund will be
available either through a transfer into your bank account, or to you
personally at the counter of the post office,” the letter said, according to
Continue reading
BOOKS / Ron Jacobs : Iran and the Coup of Coups
Abrahamian's
'The Coup':
Shah of Shahs on the Peacock Throne
As Abrahamian tells the reader, in the eyes of London and DC, there was
no room for genuine negotiations in their dealings with the Mossadegh
government. The struggle was about control of Iran’s resources and
regional geopolitical power.
By Ron Jacobs / The Rag Blog / February 20, 2013
[The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of
Number One in the UK 40 years ago
Sweet - Blockbuster - Possibly the most recognisable pop song intro ever?
40 years ago, god that makes me feel old. I remember this Top of the Pops
appearance as if it was yesterday.
GOLD PRICE; THOMAS COOK
*Photo by Emma Allen. Meighan Taylor, right, 12, helps her cousin, Julee
Pillans, 11, to pan for gold in the Wakamarina River. www.stuff.co.nz.*
*
**The gold price has fallen to a six month low* - $1,592 an ounce - 20
February 2013.
Gold investors are destined for heavy losses in the short-term, according
to fund manager Mark Harris.
*Harris: The gold price can only go down from here *
Investors would be unwise to buy gold until its price drops to $1,500, says
Harris
Harris relates: "I originally started buying gold back in 2002 when Gordon
Brown - who was chancellor at the time ... more »
SCHOOLED ABOUT PRESCHOOL: But Oklahoma just can’t be OK!
*WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2013*
*Part 3—The cable talker’s tale:* If we decide to “make high-quality
preschool available to every child in America,” as Obama proposed last
week, would that help low-income kids succeed?
You’re asking an excellent question! Head Start’s record doesn’t seem all
that great. To see David Brooks quote a know-it-all from Brookings, click
here.
That said, the states which are taking the lead in this area are going
beyond the Head Start model. They’re putting full-fledged, certified
teachers into their “preschool” classrooms—and they’re paying them full
t... more »
Iraq’s Latest Controversy, The Attempted Removal of Chief Justice Medhat Mahmoud
Iraqi politics are never without drama. In February 2012, the
Accountability and Justice Commission, which replaced the deBaathification
Commission, announced that it had removed Chief Justice Medhat Mahmoud from
office for his work under the Baathist regime. Mahmoud headed the Iraqi
Supreme Court, the Judicial Council, and the Federal Appeals Court.
Immediately after the decision, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki removed the
head of the Accountability Commission, while Mahmoud won an appeal to
overturn his removal. Now it seems that events have come full circle as the
leadership of... more »
Brit P.M. a Wanker
On 13 April, 1919, a crowd assembled in Amritsar's public garden in
defiance of British general Reginald Dyer's ban on all meetings. It's
believed that upwards of 10,000 Indian men, women and children gathered in
the park.
Dyer called our his troops, ordered them to open fire on the crowd, and the
fusillade lasted a full ten minutes until Dyer's soldiers were nearly out
of ammunition. While Dyer didn't hang around for a body count, British
estimates set the dead at 379 with 1,100 wounded. Indian estimates put
the dead at over 1,000.
British Conservative prime minister, David C... more »
Wild Bill to start your day...
*"Rapists are a cancer in America"*
I know this *from personal experience...*
Japan whaler factory ship rams four ships in one hour, flees north – Former Senator Bob Brown calls for Australia Navy to intervene
[image: The Japanese whaling fatory ship, the Nisshin Maru, rams Sea
Shepherd ships, the Bob Barker and the Steve Irwin, 20 February 2013.
Photo: Glenn Lockitch / Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]
MELBOURNE, Australia, 20 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – The *SSS
Bob Barker* and *SSS Steve Irwin* have been rammed by the Japanese whaling
fleet’s massive factory vessel, the *Nisshin Maru*. The floating
slaughter-house is eight times the mass of the *Steve Irwin*.
The *Bob Barker* and the *Steve Irwin* were behind *Sun Laurel*, *Steve
Irwin* on portside, *Bob Barker* on sta... more »
WotW: Which mobile device should I get?
As a tech guy, I'm regularly asked the question, "Which mobile device is
the best?" Or, "Which mobile device should I get?"
I always feel this is an unfair question, as the person asking it seems to
assume I know what's best for them (which, of course, I do – they should
give me money) and that there is one true mobile device that is the best.
The truth of the matter is there is no one clear winner in the mobile
device market. Especially in today's competitive smartphone world. Almost
all high-end smartphones are pretty good.
That being said, I do have some definite thoughts on... more »
Stop the Deportation of René Meza Huertha!
*Media Advisory*
* *
*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE- Wednesday February 20, 2013*
*CONTACTS*: Stephanie Quintana (939) 579-3534
*Stop the Deportation of René Meza Huertha!***
*WHAT: *Press Conference Regarding René Meza Huertha’s Case
*WHERE:* 317 W. 23rd St. Tucson, AZ 85713
*WHEN: *Wednesday February 20th, 2013
*TIME: *12noon
South Tucson - René Meza Huertha, a hard-working Tucson father of six,
received national and international attention when Sunday February 20th he
and his family were pulled over by the Tucson Police Department (TPD). TPD
c... more »
Haslam Sends BRT Puppet to Help McIntyre Get Funds for Disproven Bonus Pay Plan for Knoxville Teachers
Last year when it came budget time, Slick Jim McIntyre did his best to get
an extra $35 million to fund a bonus pay plan for teachers based on test
scores. Even though there are research studies that show these plans have
a demonstrated track record of failure, that isn't stopping McIntyre from
going back to well to try again. To help their losing cause this year,
Gov. Haslam has put a member of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce on the
case, and with the help of other non-educators and non-researcher, they
have conducted a survey designed to provide "data" to make their case. (SM ... more »
Kansas state bill would force teachers to question climate change in class – HB2306 calls climate change ‘scientific controversy’
[image: Kansas drought designations, 15 August 2012. Every county in the
state is in a 'drought emergency'. Graphic: Kansas Water Office]
[“Teach the controversy”: Taking a page from the Creationists’ playbook.
–Des]
18 February 2013
By Celia Llopis-Jepsen
(The Topeka Capital-Journal) – With the Kansas State Board of Education
preparing to vote on new science standards this year, the House Education
Committee has introduced a bill asking schools to include evidence against
climate change in science classes.
House Bill 2306, introduced last week, says science classes must “provi... more »
Untitled
*CCC bridge toll renewal upheld after partial recount*
*FOX 8, SomeTimes-Picayune sue Criminal District Court*
*Group of investors gives life to local start-up companies*
*Legislators discuss Texas Brine buyout of residents around Bayou Corne
sinkhole** *
Interesting Timing to be Removed from GEC Editorial Board
Five days ago I critiqued a shoddy paper by Brysse et al. 2013 which
appeared in the journal *Global Environmental Change*. Today I received
notice from the GEC editor-in chief and executive editor that I have been
asked to "step down from the Editorial Board." They say that it is to "give
other scientists the chance to gain experience of editorial duties."
Over the past 20 years I have served on the editorial boards of about a
dozen or so academic journals. I have rolled off some when my term was up,
and continued for many years with others. I have never received a mid-term
reque... more »
Hump Day Open Thread
Minimum wage to $9 by 2015, whoo hoo. Oh nos, Obama playing golf with Tiger
(and two oil executives)! Simpson and Bowles came back like a pair of
herpes sores and this time they wanna make sure you *never* get laid again.
John McCain is still screaming for the truth, facts and sanity itself to
get off his lawn. Donald Trump is suing a penniless blogger for $25,000,000
he desperately needs for showing the world what a failed, busted GOP penile
implant he truly is. 2000 Americans have died from guns since Sandy Hook
and that's the way it should be. And oh, look, a boy in a shiny ballo... more »
Why Do We Even Bother Blogging? Part 2
When Pope Maledict resigned, of course we had something to say.
Natch, lots of other people, especially on Twitter, had contributions to
make.
In our opinion, this one won the Intertoobz.
Resign? Sorry, Benedict. You cannot resign. You must carry your papacy to
full term. #bestpopejoke
— emjb (@emjb) February 11, 2013
Its brilliance in turn inspired others, including Alison at Creekside, who
applied her mad skillz to produce this further work of genius. (Note
Ratzy's 'delicate' condition.)
The Hive Mind® is truly terrifying, innit?
Alan Waldman : ‘The Barbarian Invasions’ is a Moving, Funny, Smart, Superb Canadian Film
Waldman's
film and TV
treasures you may have missed:
Denys Arcand’s French-Canadian gem won Oscar and 40 other international
honors.
By Alan Waldman / The Rag Blog / February 20, 2013
[In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films
and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas,
mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, and Scotland.
Most
Visit Caroline & Her Mother & Hear Their Story At Regarding Caroline
Source: https://www.facebook.com/RegardingCaroline
There are no words really for how a parent feels when they find out too
late that vaccines can and did harm their child. And as hard as we wish, we
can't change the past.
All we can do is push away the guilt, put on a brave face and work t...oward
a future where more parents realize... it can happen to ANYONE and it will
change your family forever.
Research FIRST! We are here to help.
**
*For more information, please visit Caroline and her Mother at:*
*http://www.regardingcaroline.com/*
Caroline
We Do We Even Bother to Blog? Part 1
In a recent rant on the CONTempt Party government's compulsive spending of
our money on pure propaganda, we gave a shout-out to Stephen Lautens for
graphic help in the form of another of his wicked Demotivational
Conservative Posters.
He graciously complied.
There. Says it all.
Israel to set up field hospital to aid 'Syrian' refugees
Yes, you are reading that correctly.
Israel is setting up a field hospital on the Syrian border to* aid Syrian
refugees*
Suuuuuurree.............
The Israeli army plans to erect a field hospital on the Syrian border to
treat injured refugees.
*The hospital is to be set up in the central Golan Heights or near the
Quneitra border crossing with Syria.*
*Queneitra: Much of that area occupied by Israel *
"Much of the governorate was captured by Israel in the 1967 and 1973"
*Queneitra: the crossing in which IDF and NATO mercs pass into Syria
despite the presence of the UN. Or because ... more »
PlayStation 4 launches this afternoon - speculation is rife
the PlayStation 4 launches this afternoon in New York, and here's the
Telegraph with gallons of pre-launch speculation in case you just can't
wait for the actual details and specifications.
Number One in the UK 38 years ago
Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel - Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me)
I love this song.
Hubris... Still No Accountability-- Forget Bush And Cheney, What About Steny Hoyer And Steve Israel?
Rachel Maddow's presentation of *Hubris* lived up to the promise. Maddow
explained why the film is so important in her introduction when she pointed
out how LBJ hoodwinked Congress into going to war against Vietnam. 40 years
later it happened again. In the clip above, Bush and Cheney are shown still
refusing to admit they were wrong or even to apologize to the families of
thousands of Americans and Iraqis whose lives their perfidy destroyed. I
was touched that the one person who was truly remorseful, Rep. Walter
Jones, a Republican from North Carolina, a Republican who has, since ... more »
Tree Sit Blocks Clearcutting for Tennessee Pipeline "NO PIPELINE!" Banner Dropped
*UPDATE 12:24 pm: Ground Support for Gifford have cooperated with police to
leave the park and are being detained by two officers who had placed them
in their vehicle handcuffed, but indicated that they are not under arrest.
Gifford remains in the tree and is strongly committed to staying and
protecting the area from fracking and the Pipeline.**UPDATE 9:24 am: An
independent contractor,Mike with TGP's Michle has informed protesters that
law enforcement has been called but no felling would take place unless
"it's safe." **UPDATE 8:15 am: Protesters contacted by surveyors, **Milford,
... more »
Read Stuff, You Should
Happy Birthday to Anthony Stewart Head, 59.
1. Brendan Nyhan also wrote about parties, third parties, and change
yesterday. His is really good, and has numbered points. I think it's
shorter than mine, too. Did I mention it's really good?
2. Also excellent: Seth Masket on ideology and the GOP. I agree with his
main point that Republicans are not in any extreme electoral danger over
extremism, although I do think it's very possible that their lousy image
cost them a bit in 2012. But Obama's margin of victory was too large to
attribute to GOP extremism, especially when objective facto... more »
Headwaiter To The Provinces
Back in 2008, Lawrence Martin wrote that Stephen Harper had truly become
headwaiter to the provinces. The phrase, originally coined by Pierre
Trudeau to mock Joe Clark and the Conservative vision of the country, was
Stephen Harper's prime directive. Martin wrote:
The firewall guy has curbed the federal spending power, he's corrected the
so-called fiscal imbalance in favour of the provinces, he's doled out new
powers to Quebec and now, if we are to believe Mr.[Lawrence] Cannon, more
autonomy is on the way for one and all.
Mr. Harper has always favoured a crisp reading of the Cons... more »
The one hundred and seventy seventh weekly "No shit, Sherlock" award
This week's award goes to the BBC's Andrew Neil for this tweet:
'Coal + nuclear today providing 40% & 17% electricity. Both being phased
out fast. Wind? A mere 0.3%. Are we heading for brown or black outs? --
Andrew Neil (@afneil)'
I've been predicting this electricity generation shortage for quite a while
now. Which is why I find it shocking that so many journalists are only just
starting to wonder what the future holds for us.
Heading for brown or black outs - "No shit, Sherlock"
HPEC
If you are a high school student, or teach economics to high school
students, you most definitely will want to click here.
Where Are We and What Are We Blockading?
View Stop the Tennessee Pipeline Map in a larger map
News Round-Up and Update from Alex
Photo Credit, Lenore FasulaHere are some particularly well done news
articles about the Tennessee Pipeline clear cutting and our blockade this
week! Thank you to reporters who have come out to our rural county! We
welcome all reporters interested in this story to contact Milford residents
Alex Lotorto at 570-269-9589 or Jolie DeFeis at 917-514-0824. We will be
away from our desks for the better part of the upcoming days, out standing
in our field, so to speak. Please excuse our e-mail availability or lack
there of. Also, there is a lot of as-of-yet unreported content in our About
pa... more »
Ludwig Boltzmann: a birthday
Ludwig Boltzmann was born on February 20th, 1844, in Vienna, the capital of
the Austrian Empire. He hanged himself 62 years later, on September 5th,
1906, near Trieste, (then) also in the Austrian Empire, where he was on
vacations with his wife Henriette von Aigentler and a daughter. They had 3
daughters and 2 sons; Boltzmann probably suffered from undiagnosed bipolar
disorder.
I consider Boltzmann to be not only the #1 person behind classical
statistical physics but also the latest "forefather" of quantum mechanics.
His name appears in something like 100 TRF blog entries.
Fine.... more »
Ancient Whale Fossils Unearthed
Teeth from one of the whale fossils. Photo courtesy: Cooper Archaeological
and Paleontological Center via livescience.com
Fossils uncovered during construction of a roadway in Southern California
have revealed four new species of ancient whales, according to research
presented here at the annual meeting of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS).
One of the species, dubbed "Willy," is much larger than the others and may
have eaten sharks, said Meredith Rivin, a paleontologist at the Cooper
Archaeological and Paleontological Center in Fullerton, Calif., and pa... more »
US Air Force - MAVs - more garbage littering our streets
well, here's the latest tonne-shitload of garbage littering the streets of
Free Planet, the drop-and-hope future surveillance menace known as MAVs or
Micro Air Vehicles:
*The project, which is based at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton,
Ohio, was revealed in the March issue of the National Geographic magazine.*
*Air Force officials said they have already produced tiny remote-control
prototypes - but they consume so much power that can only operate for a few
minutes. Researchers estimate that it will take several years of advances
in battery technology to make the designs fe... more »
The BBC's Mark Easton asks 'Why have the white British left London?'
Do read Mark Easton's piece all the way through but after reporting the
headline news that:
'Something quite remarkable happened in London in the first decade of the
new millennium. The number of white British people in the capital fell by
620,000 - equivalent to the entire population of Glasgow moving out.'
Mark Easton concludes that 'It is a story of aspiration. It is a story of
success'
Anybody care to fisk Mark Easton's article, I just don't have the time
today?
Ubuntu Tablet - it's OS has arrived!
address-withheld@my.opera.com.invalid (Dr. John v. Kampen) at - 10 hours ago
Link: http://youtu.be/h384z7Ph0gU
Ubuntu for tablets. It does remind me a bit about this and that... It
wouldn't surprise me if -soon- an Ubuntu tablet will appear, as well as its
feature phone. For the real smart phones (quad core, fast, 1Tb of memory,
improved camera) we'll have to wait to the end of this year. In the
meantime: protect yourself against an attack. This morning already I
received the necessary Linux update to close the loophole that made it
possible to hack Apple computers and Facebook.
John
Diet Soda Increases Risk of Diabetes
Aspartame continues to be contraindicated but this item is the most
compelling argument that I have seen. In the past I have posted that there
is a solution if we must drink sweetened water.
It consists of sufficient stevia, a grain of sucrose to eliminate any
stevia after taste and sufficient glucose to provide safe energy.
Otherwise, slightly impure glucose will work fine with a bit of stevia.
Recall that five percent of sweetening in Japan is Stevia and that is
huge, so we are not lacking the knowhow. All the above is natural and safe
and with a vast pedigree.
In... more »
Green 'Space' Slime Baffles Nature Experts
Here we go again. My conjecture regarding a stratospheric slime mold
balloon as unreal as it seems continues to bear fruit. Such a balloon would
contain methane and rise at night from our swamps into the stratosphere.
Very likely they naturally refract the sun's light to produce high altitude
lights which I have seen and has also been called Brown lights around
mountains were the rising uplifts would jostle them around a lot.
When a meteor strikes, a sharp shock wave is produced and this likely
disrupts a large number of such creatures that then fall to earth to appear
as b... more »
Thermionics Sharply Improved
I am not so sure that this is a particularly new idea so much as an
engineering impossibility. Whether or not that has changed remains to now
be seen. It would be really nice to draw off surplus heat as as direct
electrical power as a matter of simple best practice. We might even get
good at it. I suspect that it remains a daunting problem but possibly one
that now may attract research funds.
Direct thermal conversion into electrical potential has never got much
attention mostly as no one had any good answers. Yet we live in an ocean of
such potential and even a small con... more »
Gold Disinformation
This story has been evolving for a long time. Essentially there is
excellent reason to conjecture that the gold in Fort Knox in particular has
been outright looted by the substitution of a large number of gold bars
with tungsten adulterated bars. I can assure you that this can be made to
work and it can even be set up to pass appropriate tests with a compliant
assayer who knows where to drill. Google this blog to pick up the earlier
posts putting this all together.
Knowing this, and knowing that the Chinese are wise and by implication so
are the other central banks, it has ... more »
David Cameron hits back at Johnny Marr
Yesterday I blogged about Johnny Marr's lefty intolerance and the BBC's
eagerness to report it as a way of denigrating David Cameron. I hear that
David Cameron who is on a visit to India has also responded:
"I've now got Johnny Marr and other members of the band saying I'm not able
to listen to the The Smiths... I'm afraid, I will go on and listen to The
Smiths."
That David Cameron, he may not stand up to the EU, the Chinese or world
dictators but when it comes to taking a firm line with 1980s musos, he's
your man.
Carl Helvie Refused Chemo For Lung Cancer in 1975: Now the Longest Living Known Lung Cancer Survivor
Source of above picture: http://www.holistichealthshow.com/
Carl Helvie refused chemo for lung cancer in 1975 and is now the longest
living lung cancer survivor!
Chris Beatsd Cancer Blog, 16 February 2013
Given 6 months to live, Carl Helvie refused chemo and used natural methods
to heal himself in 1975.
*1975!*
Today, 38 years later, he is believed to be the longest living lung cancer
survivor.
Coincidence?
I think not.
Can we learn something from Carl?
I think so!
Seriously. What an awesome testimony to the power of nutrition and natural
therapies for long term healing... more »
dream 0430 hours - writing on the wall - Hulk smashed flees
hypervivid hyperreal secretagent dream, that was the one dream I've had of
late that ACTUALLY FELT LIKE A REALWORLD TEAM MISSION i.e. not a dream,
involving a small team of infiltrators and a female handler. I was given a
file/folder to carry with me on the mission.
There was this derelict building I had to 'back door' (there was a dusty
tall pyramid of concrete in front of the door, if this helps verify that I
was there) but I couldn't get the backdoor to close, it kept popping open
even though the door was locked. Tried again and again to lock the metal
door, even used my fingers... more »
CHILD ABUSE - INDONESIA
Boyce
*1.* Robert Finnegan was editor of the Jakarta Post at the time of the
first Bali Bomb.
(Finnegan clashed with Ralph Boyce, the then U.S. ambassador to Indonesia,
and got sacked. Reportedly, Finnegan had produced evidence linking the Bali
Bombing to the security services. The Bali Bomb, Ralph Boyce and Robert
Finnegan)
"Finnegan said that while he was with the Jakarta Post, he became aware
that Boyce, while ambassador in Jakarta, used the services of two known
local procurers of child prostitutes and sex slaves.
"They were both Indonesian nationals, one was a CIA asset ope... more »
A Tale of Two Provinces: B.C. NDP and Wild Rosehip Tea Party show why opposition matters
Razzle-dazzle, sis-boom-bah, balanced budgets, rah-rah-rah! Danielle Smith
and the Wild Rosehip Tea Party yell squad cheers for Alison Redford’s Tory
team’s worst plays on the field. The actual Alberta opposition may not be
quite as illustrated. Below: Ms. Redford and B.C. Premier Christie Clark.
Why are these two premiers smiling? British Columbia and Alberta, Canada’s
... more »
Unstable Universes: guest blog
*Guest blog by David Berenstein, Assoc. Prof. in Santa Barbara*
It’s a fine day for the Universe to die, and to be new again! Well, maybe
not, but the Internet is abuzz with a reincarnation of the unstable
universe story. (You can also see it here, or here, the whole thing is
trending in Google). In other words, this is known as tunneling between
vacua. And if you have followed the news about the Landscape of vacua in
string theory, this should be old news (that we may live in a unstable
Universe, which we don’t know). For some reason, this wheel gets reinvented
again and again with... more »
Nanaimo Shipyard Going Bankrupt, Thank Stephen Harper
As reported here some months back, there are no shipbuilding jobs for
British Columbia,.
This company that has been around since the 1930`s thought their
partnership with Seaspan would create hundreds of jobs..
The company say Stephen Harper and the CONservative Government aren`t
serious about jobs, or honouring commitments..
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/industry/Nanaimo+Shipyard+battles+stave+bankruptcy/7987807/story.html
I wrote about the pathetic game Stephen Harper is playing with these
shipbuilding contracts, these carrots have been dangled for years, Gordon
Camp... more »
Kahlil Gibran, "The Prophet, on Death"
"You would know the secret of death.
But how shall you find it unless you seek it in the heart of life?
The owl whose night-bound eyes are blind unto the day cannot unveil the
mystery of light.
If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto
the body of life.
For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.
In the depth of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the
beyond;
And like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.
Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.
Your fear of death is ... more »
Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ...
That means the more things change, the more it's the same old, same old.
In March last year, I wrote a response to George Zimmerman shooting and
killed a black kid, claiming that it was self-defense and using the Stand-Your-Ground
law in Florida as justification.
It was entitled Aileen Wuornos is My Homie.
I wondered what would happen if women in the US started MASSIVELY using
Zimmerman's pretext. It's obvious that law is supported by the NRA lobby;
they often exploit concerns about women's safety as a rationalization for
demanding gun-owners rights be sacred, and blahblahblah Se... more »
Resolutions are Proceeding at this End Point Period…
*
* *
* *Resolutions are Proceeding at this End Point Period…*
by ÉirePort
Silence in these moment-to-moments is most helpful. Formerly clashing
energetics have begun to resolve and centering with Higher Self in the
silence is perhaps the most efficient means to allow these to resolve fully.
Resolutions are proceeding at this end point period in humanity-duality
history. Hue-manity arises out of this. By this we mean Hue-manity General.
Global consciousness expansion follows 100th monkey embracement of
Hue-manity, by humanity (small h).
ÉirePort | February 20, 2013 at 05:09
URL: ... more »
Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)
Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! If this is your first visit,
please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges
we've taken on so far.
There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read
through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might
find the following quick links helpful:
- The #CTWW Gang
- The Honor Society
- My Final Thoughts on Our Last Challenge
- This Week's Challenge
Last week we joined Mrs. Green for a "Use It Up" challenge. We were asked
to use the food we have in our kitc... more »
Mississippi Finally Makes It Official-- Slavery Is Now Illegal In The Virtute Et Armis State
Mississippi is also known as the Magnolia State and the Hospitality
State... but *Virtute et Armis* is more befitting in the context of a state
that took until this week to finally ratify the 13th Amendment a century
and a half late. That was the one that abolished slavery. At least
Mississippi is, by some way of thinking, ahead of Mali, Niger and Mauratania!
After Congress voted for the 13th Amendment in January 1864, the measure
went to the states for ratification.
On Dec. 6, 1865, the amendment received the three-fourths' vote it needed
when Georgia became the 27th state to ... more »
Ennui
Wow, I've been a bad blogger the past little while. It's not that I don't
have anything to write about but more to do with deciding what to write and
then getting it down on paper so to speak. That, plus my brain is a bit
mushy after work on some days. I promise to have something more
substantive soon (yes, I know I promised that LAST time....but this time I
really, REALLY promise) so in the meantime, I give you a random run down of
thoughts....
1. I blogged about going to work "in the field" in a previous post, which
is scaffolder-speak for heading down into the plant to work... more »
"Saskatchewan NDP Leadership - Part 1 - Context" - Guest Post By Dan Tan
*(Buckdog is covering the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Leadership
race - today a guest post by Dan Tan):*
*
**NDP members in Saskatchewan will be tasked with choosing the next
social-democratic leader of that province. That leader will be tasked with
challenging the misguided, misleading, & merciless governing Saskatchewan
Party - and their leader Brad Wall. In service of this internal process,
the following series of posts are offered to take stock of both the context
of the province…and those men who have pledged to lead it on behalf of the
NDP.
Before we evaluate the ... more »
Paulo Coelho, “The Mystery of Discovery”
*“The Mystery of Discovery”*
by Paulo Coelho
“Tonight, before leaving, I’m going to spend time sorting through the pile
of things I never had the patience to put in order.
And I will find that a little of my history is there.
All the letters, the notes, cuttings and receipts will take on their own
life and have strange stories to tell me – about the past and about the
future.
All the different things in the world, all the roads travelled, all the
entrances and exits of my life.
I am going to put on a shirt I often wear and, for the first time, I am
going to notice how it ... more »
“You should be forced to buy this book”
The title of this post comes from Stephen Hicks, who blogs on a new book by
aspiring philosopher-queen Sarah Conly defending paternalistic laws;
[image: conly-aa]that is, laws that make you do things, or prevent you from
doing things, for your own good. I argue [says the bossy bitch] that
autonomy, or the freedom to act in accordance with your own decisions, is
overrated … we need the help of others—and in particular, of government
regulation—to keep us from going wrong.”
To which busybody-babble Hicks drily responds:
Rumour has it that contrarian paternalists disagree violently,... more »
Musical Interlude: 2002, “Remember Now”
2002, “Remember Now”
- http://www.youtube.com/
Junius - The Antediluvian Fire
This is from the album *'The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist.'*
Musical Interlude: 2002, “Remember Now”
2002, “Remember Now”
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq4qjI8VVzg
Nancy Tate ~ Hatonn ~ 18 February 2013
*
* *
* *Nancy Tate ~ Hatonn ~ 18 February 2013*
By FatherMotherGod... - Posted on 18 February 2013
I am here today to tell you all of something that is taking place in the
universe. I am Hatonn, and I greet you on the most momentous of days. It is
a matter of circumventing the universe and all of its territories and then
coming around again. We are in that beginning phase of the return trip
around the universe, the one that is beginning to open us all up to who we
truly are and what our next steps are.
You may be wondering in this moment what I speak of when I include myself,
a... more »
Flabbergasted at Boston Globe Flatulence
*Happened when I flipped over the first page and saw this leading its
nation coverage. *
*
**Keep in mind this is coming from the same group of people who claimed
that snowfalls were a thing of the past. *
"Climate contradiction: Less snow, more blizzards; 2 studies detail global
warming, extreme weather" by Seth Borenstein | Associated Press, February
19, 2013
WASHINGTON — With scant snowfall and barren ski slopes in parts of the
Midwest and Northeast the past couple of years, some scientists have
pointed to *global warming* as the culprit.
Then when a whopper of a blizzard smac... more »
Save IR and Politics at University of the West of England
Earlier today, I received an email alerting me to the fact that the
University of the West of England’s Academic Board supported a
recommendation from the Vice Chancellor’s Executive Group to close all
international relations and politics programs. Apparently, the plan is to
refocus the university (one of the ten largest in England) on skills-based
Continue reading
Japan whale poachers spill oil during illegal refueling operation – ‘The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity’
17 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – In the early hours of the
17th
of February, while the *SSS Sam Simon *was tailing the South Korean
owned *Sun
Laurel*, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the *Sam
Simon*crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the
*Sun Laurel, *over one mile ahead.
Captain Luis Pinho radioed the *Sun Laurel* at 3:00 am AEDT,
approximately
15 minutes after the *Sun Laurel* entered Australian Antarctic
Territory,
informing them that they smelled diesel fumes, could see fuel slicks in
the
wake of the *Sun Laurel*, had col... more »
Harry Targ : Celebrate the 'Historical Revisionists' / 2
Paul
Sweezy and Paul Baran, shown photographed in Cuba, wrote about a new
era of monopoly capitalism. Image from Fotopages.
Celebrate the 'Historical Revisionists' / 2
Revisionists argued that while security, ideologies, personalities of
elites, and even human nature had some role to play in shaping policy,
all of these forces were influenced in the end by economics. And
economic interest
The take-no-prisoners LGBT march to world domination claims yet another casualty: Olympic wrestling
*It must be the computer world's cohort of virginal young maidens who can't
get enough of the tingly tight-singlet action of "wrestling-boner videos."*
*by Ken*
By and large, the most insidious conspiracies, I think we can agree, are
the ones that are so well hidden, that even seem so improbable, as to be
off the conspiracy boards altogether. By this standard, there is no
conspriacy insidiouser than the Gay War on Wrestling.
I've been meaning to get around to this for going on a week, but what with
this and that, you know how it is. Anyway, here's the heart of the
conspiracy, as r... more »
Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation 02/19/2013
*
* *
* *Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic
Federation 02/19/2013*
9 Ahau, 8 Zac, 9 Eb
Dratzo! We return! Your world has moved even closer to its victory over the
dark! There are signs everywhere of what is shortly to happen. Your sacred
secret societies have compiled the legal instruments to force the major
governments of your world to resign. In consonance with this the military
and police forces of these nations have come together in secret to assert
that each of them is more than ready to use their powerbases to give their
respective governme... more »
XKCD: More ships in the oceans than fish, by weight
[image: Illustraion of how much sea level would fall if every ship were
removed all at once from the Earth's waters The level falls about six
microns — slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider silk.
Graphic: XKCD]
*How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once
from the Earth's waters? – Michael Toje*
About six microns—slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider
silk. […]
Sea levels will likely rise a few feet by the year 2100. Current fish wet
biomass is about 2 billion tons, so removing them won’t make a dent either.
(Marine fis... more »
SUMMER SNIPPETS: ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel
*More snippets below from my summer reading…*
*While we’re talking about figures undeservedly maligned by history …
allow me to introduce to you (if you haven’t already been introduced) a*new
*Thomas Cromwell—a man for the modern age.*
*Who?*
*An apprentice to Cardinal Wolsey, the sometimes benevolent sometimes
bullying Thomas Cromwell was the advisor to King Henry VII through one
Reformation, three marriages and many royal successes (and successors). He
is a villain however in Robert Bolt’s *Man For All Seasons*, and hence—for
the generation that venerated that play—a villain ... more »
The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built
Time magazine has published an informative evaluation of the F-35 as it
stands today.
*The F-35, designed as the U.S. military's lethal hunter for 21st century
skies, has become the hunted, a poster child for Pentagon profligacy in a
new era of tightening budgets. Instead of the stars and stripes of the U.S.
Air Force emblazoned on its fuselage, it might as well have a bull's-eye.
Its pilots' helmets are plagued with problems, it hasn't yet dropped or
fired weapons, and the software it requires to go to war remains on the
drawing board.*
*Jack of All Trades, Master of None*
*Th... more »
Missing or murdered indigenous women and girls
*[...]Michèle Audette, president of the Native Women’s Association of
Canada (NWAC) states that, “it is incredible that the RCMP is publicly
doubting the number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls that
has been documented in the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Database!
The high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls that has
been documented was based on accurate secondary source information that in
many instances came directly from police reports that had further been
corroborated by NWAC researchers with various police agencies.*
*
* *NWAC... more »
Stephen Harper, Canada`s Intellectual Disgrace, Exposed
There he is, our national disgrace, the treasonous Stephen Harper..
In a blatant move, two months ahead of time, the Harper mandated closure of
the lifesaving Kits coast guard base...
Two months before we THOUGHT Stephen Treason Harper was going to close a
lifesaving coast guard base, against our will, against common sense, with
BC`s elected Federal Conservative MP`s running away, hiding, cowering like
gutless losers, spineless jellyfish, Conservative MPs who will be
unemployed as of 2015, with help from BC`s electorate...
Stephen the freak Harper thought he would use BC`s budget ... more »
China takes over Pakistan port
THE TAKEOVER HAS BEGUN, *muahahaha*.
YouTube Video Description - [Channel: JDUS2020]:
China has taken over management of a major port in Pakistan in a move that
gives it a potential naval base close to the Strait of Hormuz, reports
Reuters. China paid most of the $248 million used to build the port of
Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, aiming to slash the time it takes oil to reach
China from the Middle East and Africa. The acquisition of the port has
alarmed India, which fears it is being encircled by a string of
Chinese-funded ports that also includes facilities in Bangladesh and Sri
Lan... more »
Sunday Globe Special: The New Steward of Massachusetts Health Care
*Now I understand why Romney went along with it*:
"Steward reshapes Mass. health care business; For-profit hospital chain is
growing fast; cutting costs with tough management, innovation" by Robert
Weisman | Globe Staff, February 03, 2013
Dr. Gerard B. Hayes’s pace might be called breakneck if he was moving from
bed to bed. But he’s remotely monitoring patients at several hospitals from
an “e-ICU’’ outpost in Westwood operated by Steward Health Care System.
Caregivers at the site watch video screens showing patients in hospital
ICUs from Methuen to Fall River. It brings extra sets... more »
Video Simon Ortiz: Indigenous Alliance without Borders Youth Border Action Festival
Acoma
Pueblo poet and professor Simon Ortiz
Videos and photos from the Indigenous Alliance without Borders' Youth
Border Action Festival.
Acoma Pueblo poet and professor Simon Ortiz interviewed at the
Indigenous Alliance without Borders Youth Border Action Festival in
South Tucson, Arizona.
Thank you Guojun and the Indigenous Alliance without Borders.
More videos from the event:
"A Look to the Heavens"
“For now, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6a), and Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) are
sweeping through southern skies. Lemmon's lime green coma and thin tail are
near the left edge of this telephoto scene, a single frame from a timelapse
video (vimeo here) recorded on February 12, tracking its motion against the
background stars.
*Click image for larger size. *
Comet Lemmon's path brought it close to the line-of-sight to prominent
southern sky treasures the Small Magellanic Cloud and globular cluster 47
Tucanae (right). Sporting a broader, whitish tail, Comet PanSTARRS appears
in later video... more »
Winnemem Wintu Chief says Frankenfish must be stopped
Photo
of Joe Simmons, Winnemem Wintu Tribe member, Caleen Sisk, Chief and
Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Kayla Carpenter, Hoopa
Valley Tribe member, at the State Capitol at a protest against Governor
Jerry Brown's peripheral tunnel plan on July 25. Photo by Dan Bacher.
Winnemem Wintu Chief says Frankenfish must be stopped
by Dan Bacher
http://
Chet Raymo, “Thinking Like A Tortoise”
*“Thinking Like A Tortoise”*
by Chet Raymo
“The average lifespan in a hunter-gatherer society is 32 years. If you
think you'd like the simplicity and ecological integrity of a
hunter-gatherer lifestyle, be sure to take your mobile phone and not wander
too far away from a hospital. Culture, medical and biological science in
particular, changed things dramatically. A century-and-a-half ago life
expectancy at birth was 50 years, with child mortality being the most
significant limiting factor. By the time I was born, life expectancy at
birth was pushing 70 years, with the age-ran... more »
Foreign Meddling Ahead of Malaysia's Elections
Xenophon: The Not-so Impartial Observer
*February 20, 2013* (Nile Bowie) - Malaysia’s decision to detain and deport
Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has become a hot topic of discussion
across the nation’s blogosphere. Xenophon came to Kuala Lumpur as part of a
seven-member international team of election observers invited by de-facto
opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Xenophon attended the Bersih 3.0 street
rally during a previous visit to Malaysia and criticised the government for
being “authoritarian” in handling the demonstrators. Xenophon was barred
from entering Malaysia under t... more »
Climate Change: The Folly of "Demanding" Action
*February 19, 2013* (LocalOrg) - At a recent Washington climate change
rally, who is demanding action? Demanding action from whom? What action?
In reality, the diminutive, corporate-media inflated rally in DC was
organized by the very corporate-financier special interests that have been
wreaking terrible havoc on both the human population and the environment of
this planet for decades. They are demanding action from a government that
already represents their interests. Their demands are policies,
particularly financial tax schemes that they themselves created and are are
best positi... more »
Ohanian Nails the Common Core, and then Burns It
Too good to miss from our national treasure and every corporate education
deformer's nightmare. At Daily Uncensored.
Arguments for a New STAR TREK Series
Because “53 reasons” is just plain stupid, and increments of five are
basically listicles, I provide three. 1. We are heading straight for
maximum Star Wars saturation. Despite its ham-handed didacticism, Star
Trek‘s values are far preferable to those of Star Wars. We cannot allow
aristocratic fantasy to bury republican virtue. 2. JJ Abrams is a pretty
good action
Continue reading
AUSTRALIAN RACISTS FALL OVER THEMSELVES TO AVOID BEING LABELLED ’RACISTS’
There
was an interesting article in Australia’s ABC online *Drumbeat*
columnyesterday about the visit to Australia of the Islamophobic Dutch
hatemonger
Geert Wilders scheduled to tour Australia selling his message of hate.
Both
the article and the myriad of comments that followed the article are
well
worth a read as the comments demonstrate how fear and hatred in
Australia
is born out of ignorance. The comments also show how many racists
attempt
to avoid the ‘racist’ label by denying that Islamophobia is being racist
‘because Islam is a religion and not a race’. This stemmed from my o... more »
Pakistani Hazaras continue sit-in after attack
Source: AlJazeera.
Harvey Wasserman : Our Atomic Dominoes Are Falling
Falling
dominoes. Image from ANS Nuclear Cafe.
Two reactors down, others teetering:
Our atomic dominoes are falling
This latest stretch of shutdowns does not mean the death of the
industry. Both Georgia and Florida are being assaulted with legislation
that would allow utilities to build new reactors while ratepayers foot
the bill.
By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / February 19, 2013
Two
Hilary Mantel on Kate Middleton
Kate seems to have been selected for her role of princess because she was
irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks,
without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character. She
appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human
awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture. Diana
was capable of transforming herself from galumphing schoolgirl to ice
queen, from wraith to Amazon. Kate seems capable of going from perfect
bride to perfect mother, with no messy deviation.
The rest of Mantel's heresy is h... more »
Substance, Style, and Knowing the Difference
I finally got to the NYT Style section from Sunday, and spotted this gem:
“The fabric of politics has always been gossip and jokes and crazy
personality stuff and memes,” he said, a little angrily. “I mean, Dukakis
in the tank, that’s a meme. Political coverage that wants to be solely
high-minded is missing huge chunks of the actual interplay of personality
and power that is what actually drives things.”
He in this case being Buzzfeed's Ben Smith.
Look: it's really, really okay to cover "gossip and jokes and crazy
personality stuff and memes." That stuff is fun to read! I love a lo... more »
How Does The Republican Civil War Look From Behind Enemy Lines?
The Greed and Selfishness wing of the GOP tried asserting it's control over
the party it thinks it owns and is running into fierce resistance. The
Hatred and Bigotry wing isn't going to take it any longer and seems willing
to wreck what's left of the party in an attempt for a full takeover. It's
easy to say "You go for it," but there are two major problems. 1- As we
learned in the 1940s, fascism is dangerous and 2- old style,
"mainstreamish" conservatives are flooding into the Democratic Party. Last
week we saw lifelong Republican Patrick Murphy working to reorient the
House fresh... more »
The Kevin Drum we want to read!
*TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013*
*Beyond the valley of the mutual loathing:* Last Tuesday night, Marco Rubio
stopped to take a swig of water.
By Friday night, the general inanity which ensued had given issue to this:
MATTHEWS (2/15/13): *Water-hyphen-gate! Marco Rubio’s water bottle moment
may be the image that haunts him for a long time.* Tonight, a look back at
some of the other moments that fairly or not have come to define some
politicians forever.
That brief statement was a tease. Later, we got another:
“Up next: Marco Rubio’s big gulp might become the moment that defines the
gu... more »
Pain Relief in Haiti--A Short Story
Untreated Breast Cancer in Haitian Woman
(Photo by John Carroll, 2012)*
**As referenced in a previous post, most Haitians have very difficult lives
and many of them suffer from painful conditions that are never treated. And
their pain is ignored too not because "Haitians have a higher pain
tolerance" but because Haitians are poor. *
*
When Haitians have medical problems that cause pain, they need and deserve
pain medication. Pain relief is a basic human right. And ten million
Haitians have their fair share of burns, broken bones, and post-operative
pain.
Haiti has a huge supply of c... more »
Fault lines under Higashidori plant are active
*Ryuta Koike ‘Nuclear watchdog: Fault lines under Higashidori plant are
active’ Feb 19, 2013 The Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302190051*
[Excerpted] Geological fault lines that run beneath Tohoku Electric Power
Co.'s Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture are almost
certainly active, according to an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation
Authority.
The assessment was part of a draft report presented when the panel met on
Feb. 18. The panel also called for further studies on the activity of two
separate fault lines that exte... more »
Lamar W. Hankins : Selling Cremation Door-to-Door
Neptune
Society mailer. Image from Boing Boing.
Consumer beware!
Selling cremation door-to-door
I was treated to a sales pitch full of misleading or outright false
claims, all to get me to pay more than double the cost for a simple
cremation in the Austin area.
By Lamar W. Hankins /The Rag Blog / February 19, 2013
SAN MARCOS, Texas -- I just had the opportunity to be a “secret shopper”
--
"Fear By Another Name"
*"Fear By Another Name"*
by Michael Brenner
"Assassination of American citizens by presidential dictate, blanket
suspension of habeas corpus indefinitely, massive wiretapping and
surveillance with and without warrant, torture as the official policy of
the United States government – these are trademarks of the “war on terror”
pursued since 9/11. This despite the absence of a single serious attack
over the past twelve years and the scattering of a defanged al-Qaida – the
only group that once had the potential capability to do us major harm.
The extraordinary trashing of our c... more »
Musical Interlude: Moody Blues, ''English Sunset''
Moody Blues, ''English Sunset''
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXRemrXsOg
Satire: “House Science Committee Questions Existence of Meteors”
*“House Science Committee Questions Existence of Meteors”*
by Andy Borowitz
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— “The chairman of the House Committee on
Science, Space, and Technology said today that the committee would hold
hearings next week “to settle the question, once and for all, of whether
meteors exist.” “The media has been in something of a frenzy recently on
this whole topic of meteors,” said chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). “I think
it’s irresponsible of them to frighten the public about something that, at
the end of the day, may be about as real as unicorns.”
Rep. Smith ... more »
Poor Richard
What we know about King Richard III we mostly know about from Shakespeare.
It is from him we get the vicious deformed hunchback we all “know”: the
scheming blackguard “cheated of feature by dissembling nature, deformed,
unfinished, sent before his time into this breathing world scarce half-made
up”—so lame and unfashionable dogs bark at him as he limps by—so deformed
he is unable to prove a lover, hence is determined to be a villain.
Yet the body of the last Plantagenet king, the man defeated by Henry Tudor
at Bosworth Field—who Shakespeare has despairing at his end, “a horse, a
... more »
WHICH IS SUSTAINABLE?
- An underground single-shell tank at the Department of Energy Hanford,
Washington nuclear facility is leaking up to 300 gallons of radioactive
waste a year. The tanks contain a mix of high-level radioactive and
hazardous chemical waste left from chemically processing fuel irradiated at
Hanford reactors to remove plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons
program. As many as 67 of the tanks are believed to have leaked in the past.
- Maine Veterans For Peace will hold its annual retreat on Saturday,
February 23 at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta. It will ... more »
LANZA, BREIVIK, ISRAEL
*Adam Lanza - faked photo?*
"There is ZERO online fingerprint of him, there is ZERO video evidence,
there is ZERO car insurance, tax information, phone history...
"The neighbors haven’t seen him in years, nobody who lives around the
Lanzas seems to have seen him, and the last time there is any record of him
at all was 3 years ago.
"The FBI apparently can’t retrieve the information from his computer it was
so well destroyed (how convenient)."
*Has Adam Lanza Even Been Alive The Last 3 Years?*
*Adam Lanza at the Saturday Night Live studio.*
"What is more likely.. that a computer n... more »
The BBC and the Palestinian hunger strikers
This BBC article about the Palestinian hunger strikers raised two questions
in my mind.
First, what is the definition of a hunger strike lasting 200 days? Even the
BBC have to report that:
'Mr Issawi launched a hunger strike in August, but the the BBC understands
that at points during the 200 odd days he has broken off his hunger strike
for short periods only to resume it again.'
Hmm, in which case I have been on hunger strike for almost a year now,
only breaking it for three meals a day and never overnight.
Second, nowhere in the article does it say why the hunger strikers were
... more »
“Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, About To Be Drawn Into The Mali "Liberation"
*“Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, *
*About To Be Drawn Into The Mali "Liberation" Campaign?”*
by Tyler Durden
"Precisely a month ago, when we last looked at the ongoing French campaign
in Mali, whose diplomatic justification before the people of the
"democratic" world was the eradication of "insurgents", and various other
"Al Qaeda rebels", we asked readers, rhetorically, to look at a map of Mali
and tell us what they see.
We even provided an answer: Nothing. Mali is one of the most irrelevant
countries in West Africa from a resource standpoint, and what happens
ins... more »
Obama finds a way to blame everyone but himself...(video)
*and his lips are moving so you may be assured that he is lying.*
He "cut the deficit"? Um, no.
My oh my - listen to the laundry list of terrible things that will happen
with sequestration.
SCoaMF
H/T Freedoms Lighthouse
A Whole Lot About Parties, Third Parties, and Change
Recall that Ron Fournier wrote a recent column about how the Republicans
and Democrats are in danger of cracking up, and that Brendan Nyhan and I
wrote responses bashing him a bit. Well, Fournier apparently doesn't read
TAP, but he did respond to Nyhan in a column today that I think is very
helpful at sorting out where Fournier -- and his informants, who are
political professionals -- have something worth saying, and where they get
things wrong.
The short version: what Fournier and the political professionals are seeing
is the potential for change within the parties. They are (or he... more »
CKNW`s Question Of The Day
Will LNG be the lifeblood of BC`s economy by 2020?
Results at 10:30 am....
68.2 %-no
31.8%-yes
We shall see how long it takes for Christy Clark`s team of freepers and
cookie cutters to sabotage the question..
________
On another LNG related note, Bill Good had on air Calgary Herald`s energy
expert Mr. Ewart, not for long, a mere 10 minutes, between 8:49 and 8:59
am..
He was very good, meaning quite honest, meaning more bad news for our
Governing party of unicorns..
http://www.cknw.com/news/audiovault/index.aspx
You know the routine, cue-up 8:00 am, February 19th, fast forwa... more »
Mediocrity watch: Our Rhee on Rose!
*TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013*
*How to evaluate teachers:* The other day, we noted the irony of Michelle
Rhee’s campaign against mediocrity in public schools. We noted that Rhee
seemed to be quite mediocre, in various ways, as DC school superintendent.
For ourselves, we liked several things about Rhee’s approach—but overall,
she was at best mediocre. And if anyone ever doubted that, they should
consider her conversation with Charlie Rose last night.
Rhee did a segment with Rose on his eponymous program. In one chunk of
their conversation, they discussed the best ways to measure teache... more »
What a shock!
I have had a response to my complaint to the BBC Trust. It's a long one and
I will take my team reading it and no doubt fisking it BUT here's the
summary:
'I am sorry to send a disappointing response, but I do not believe your
appeal should be put in front of Trustees.'
Quelle surprise.
"In Arduous Officer Course, Women Offer Clues to Their Future in Infantry"
*"In Arduous Officer Course, *
*Women Offer Clues to Their Future in Infantry"*
By James Dao
"Last fall, two newly minted female lieutenants joined about 100 men in
Quantico, Va., for one of the most grueling experiences that soldiers not
in war can experience: the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course. During
the 86-day course, candidates haul heavy packs and even heavier weapons up
and down steep hills, execute ambushes and endure bitter cold, hunger and
exhaustion. Uncertainty abounds: they do not know their next task, or even
how long they will have to perform it. At I.O.C.,... more »
Massachusetts Hospitals Are $ick
*I wouldn't know because although I have state-mandated insurance, I can't
afford to use it.*
*
**Enjoy your model, America!*
"With *profits down*, future of Mass. hospitals questioned" by Robert
Weisman | Globe Staff, September 08, 2012
As they brace for an era of shrinking government funds and mounting
pressure to cut prices for medical services, Massachusetts hospitals face
growing financial strains.
Two dozen — more than a third of the state’s total — lost money last year,
including rural community hospitals, urban safety net hospitals, and even
affiliates of renowned academi... more »
A parcel description of a property – including an incorporated reference plan – is not definitive of the boundaries or the extent of the land
MacIsaac v Salo, 2013 ONCA 98 is a remarkable decision that, among other
things,holds aparcel description of a property – including an incorporated
reference plan – is not definitive of the boundaries or the extent of the
land
[48] Indeed, prospective purchasers of property in the land titles
system must understand that the parcel description of a property –
including an incorporated reference plan – is not definitive of the
boundaries or the extent of the land. Only an up-to-date survey can confirm
the location of the boundaries of a parcel of land as they exist on the
gro... more »
"To Drone, or Not to Drone?"
*"To Drone, or Not to Drone?"*
by Joel Bowman
“Decent folk don’t need Dick Cheney to describe something as “a good
policy” to know it’s probably a bad idea. But just in case they missed the
point the first time around, the former VP was on television last week to
hammer it home for them. In an interview with "CBS This Morning", Cheney
brushed aside calls for “checks and balances” against the Obama
administration’s controversial drone program. “I think it’s a good
program,” Cheney told the host. “I don’t disagree with the basic policy
that the Obama administration has pursued in ... more »
Can Debbie Wasserman Schultz Bend U.S. Policy To The Will Of Her Corrupt Financiers, The Fanjul Sugar Barons?
Click to read the web of sugar corruption
You don't normally see *DWT* championing bills introduced by anti-Choice
fanatic and far right extremist Joe Pitts (R-PA). But when he introduced H.R.
693 last week, a new day of bipartisanship may not have dawned, but we
recognized that Pitts is doing the right thing for a change. And he was
immediately joined by a healthy cross-aisle bunch of co-sponsors that
ranges from the lunatic fringe-- Lou Barletta (R-PA), Steve Womack (R-AR)
and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)-- to solidly mainstream legislators like Jackie
Speier (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-... more »
Segregation is Manmade and It Can Be Unmade
Since Wall Street's grand theft of 40 percent of the nation's wealth in
2008, the federal government has passed out billions in grants to states
and cities for various projects, many of them even worthy of our tax
dollars. This process provided many great opportunities to incentivize
policies that could alter what has become the intensification of housing
and school segregation over the past 35 years. And yet there were no
incentives offered, particularly in the guidance or bonus points or
stipulations in Race to the Top. Instead, incentives were provided for
more intensely segre... more »
MNN 'Joint Task Force going to end up in the Joint'
MNN: JOINT TASK FORCE GOING TO END UP IN THE JOINT
Posted on February 18, 2013
Mohawk Nation News
www.mohawknationnews.com
MNN. Feb. 18, 2013. In 2007 the colonizer’s hired
“saboteur”, Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations AFN. He got
together with interim RCMP Commissioner Bev Busson, Ontario Provincial
Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, Jacques Chagnon of
Hermosa casa con jardines y albercas para relajarse
[image: Hermosa casa con jardines y albercas para relajarse]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de casas*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Gatitos hermosos listos para jugar
[image: Gatitos hermosos listos para jugar]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de gatitos*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Fantástico lugar con estrellas y rocas en la oscuridad
[image: Fantástico lugar con estrellas y rocas en la oscuridad]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes fantásticas*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Attempted Gotcha Gone Wrong
A resolution has been reached in the case of the pregnant Texas teen suing
her parents who were allegedly pressuring her to abort.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, the judge ruled in the girl's favour.
But I'm not sure it's the propaganda victory the fetus fetishists envisioned
.
They obviously thought they were being oh so clever in using Roe v. Wade in
yet another braindead attempted gotcha.
But look what they wind up saying.
“This is a tremendous victory, and another life has been saved,” said TCDL
(Texas Center for Defense of Life) attorney and President Greg Terra. “Our
v... more »
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