Friday, March 15, 2013

15 March - Blogs I'm Following

8:45am MDST

Hey ALEC - Where are Your Publicized Member Lists???

2old2care at Because I Can - 13 minutes ago
It has been a week since I posted this blog entry: There has been no response. *Are your ALEC members embarrassed & ashamed to admit they belong to the right-wing, extremist, ultraconservative American Legislative Exchange Council?* *In an October 2010 Press Release ALEC stated:* ALEC is a private organization similar to membership organizations such as the YMCA. Federal law allows non-profits to protect the privacy of non-profit donors, but requires all non-profits to publicly disclose annual financial reports. No - ALEC is not like the YMCA I question why it was important i... more »

ten years since the invasion of iraq: a fundraiser for court martial defence for kimberly rivera

laura k at wmtc - 38 minutes ago
If you're in the Toronto area, please join us for an evening of community, information, and fundraising in support of war resister Kimberly Rivera. Kim is confined to the Fort Carson, Colorado army base, while her husband and four children (two of whom were born in Canada) are in Texas. We expect Kim's court martial to begin on April 29. WHAT: Ten Years Since the Invasion of Iraq: The case for U.S. war resisters: Fundraising dinner in support of Kimberly Rivera’s legal defense WHEN: Monday, March 25, 6:00 dinner, 7:00 programme WHERE: United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil Street, Toron... more »

Bill Whittle has some questions for the Presedent...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 42 minutes ago
*don't expect any answers anytime soon.*

Human-induced climate change played big role in Somalia’s 2011 famine, new study finds

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 42 minutes ago
[image: A barefoot child stands among ragged tents at a refugee camp in Dolo, Somalia on Wednesday, 18 July 2012. Photo: Jason Straziuso / AP Photo] NAIROBI, Kenya, 15 March 2013 (Associated Press) – Human-induced climate change contributed to low rain levels in East Africa in 2011, making global warming one of the causes of Somalia’s famine and the tens of thousands of deaths that followed, a new study has found. It is the first time climate change was proven to be partially to blame for such a large humanitarian disaster, an aid group said Friday. Three climate scientists with B... more »

Mandatory Work in the UK: A Slave Economy, ruled by self-Chosen masters.

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 54 minutes ago
The UK may be a relatively modern country, founded only in 1707, but it has a long history of despotism. The UK Establishment has been tyrannising the people of the British Isles way back into history, to a time when the ancient nations of England, Scotland and Wales were still independent. Although referred to as the British Establishment - being as in every incarnation it has officially used British territory as its power base - for a very long time, the Establishment has been alien to the shores it occupies. The British Empire - and the English one which preceded it - was buil... more »

Hoping to save bees, Europe to vote on neonicotinoid pesticide ban

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 56 minutes ago
[image: Protesters on the streets of Warsaw in March 2012, trying to raise awareness of the effects of pesticides on honeybees. Photo: Radek Pietruszka / European Pressphoto Agency] By DAVID JOLLY 14 March 2013 PARIS (The New York Times) – Will Brussels try to give bees a break? In a case closely watched on both sides of the Atlantic, European officials plan to vote Friday on a proposal to sharply restrict the use of pesticides that had been implicated in the decline of global bee populations. The vote in Brussels, by officials from all 27 European Union member states, follows... more »

ERP

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 59 minutes ago
The *Economic Report of the President* was released today.

Are you IN the illusion or OF it?

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 hour ago
* * http://just4ublogdotcom.wordpress.com/ *Are you IN the illsuion or OF it?* Posted on March 14, 2013 by sojournerbe This evolution is not perfect but the message gets across in a fun way. Compared to my first primitive pen, pencil, and marker rendition of “Are We Ready?” [to jump out of the Illusion] last week, digital is the way to go and I thank Word Press and some bloggers for the evolutionary leap. This is my second attempt to use Sketchbook since Wednesday. I’m having tech problems with Corel. Now for the great question: ” Are you in the Illusion or of it?” Your answer to ... more »

Social Sin

John Carroll at Dying in Haiti - 1 hour ago
"We live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most yet reduced misery the least. The unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers." Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio 2007

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 hour ago
Happy Birthday to Ry Cooder, 66. What about the good stuff? 1. Fine, I admit it: I really struggle to care about Ecuadorian elections. But I'm linking mainly as a reminder of how terrific the Monkey Cage's series of election reports from around the globe are. This one by two Ph.D. candidates. Just a terrific public service. 2. Again, because it's really important: Scott Lemieux on magic and presidents. 3. And the Boston Phoenix, R.I.P. A sad day, and not just because the terrific reporter David S. Bernstein was there. The Phoenix has been one of the leading alternative papers for ... more »

Our Very Dangerous Political Leadership

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 hour ago
You might as well write off the grandkids right now because every day our political leadership is telling you that they already have. That could change. The day might come, probably sooner rather than later if at all, that our political leadership accepts that we can consume just a small fraction of our known fossil fuel reserves and implements policies to leave the great majority of it safely underground, untouched. It's a longshot but it could happen. Don't count on it. Until that day arrives, consider the grandkids toast. *The Guardian's* enviro-scribe, George Monbiot, reacts... more »

My Asthma Story and How To Be Better Prepared

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 1 hour ago
I have asthma. Horrible, disabling asthma. The kind that has left me in hospital beds more than once in my life. It is not something I talk a lot about. The memories of being the kid in gym class who has to pull an inhaler out of their waistband during a class run will always be burned into my mind. As a child, asthma was humiliating. As an adult, it is frustrating. Exercise can range anywhere from just uncomfortable to a near-death experience if I am not careful. It's funny, you'd think as often as asthma intrudes on my life I would understand it better. I grew up in a house where ... more »

Battle Lines Are Drawn-- And Now We Know Which "Democrats" Boehner And Cantor Can Count On For Their Crackpot Agenda

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 hour ago
Wednesday evening the House passed H.R. 890, one of the silliest bills voted on by one of the silliest Congresses ever. Introduced by one of Boehner's clownish puppets, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI)-- and with 23 all Republican co-sponsors-- the bill is meant to preserve the work requirements in Clinton's welfare reform legislation. Although even 3 very right-wing Republicans-- Justin Amash (R-MI), Jim Bridenstine (R-OK) and Tom Massie (R-KY)-- couldn't bring themselves to vote for this foolish premise, 18 of the worst Democrats in the House lined up be... more »

2011 Rugby Highlight of 2013

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 1 hour ago
I really like rugby, but living in America forces me to be a very casual fan. I don't know much about the teams and players, and sometimes the best plays take years for me to see, like this amazing pickup and try by a player named David Mead. Attention must be paid. Eventually.

ALECers Are Taught - Your Consitutents are Liars

2old2care at Because I Can - 2 hours ago
When ALEC legislators aren't focusing on the legislation ALEC corporate profit members are telling them to pass in the state legislatures - it appears that they sit around in little groups looking for boogeyman issues. Issues that really aren't issues. Issues that aren't really problems until ALEC makes them a problem. Well - that is what happened with this issue - asbestos litigation. And the sad part about it is - that state legislators aren't the only people who attend ALEC meetings. You have congressional members and employees of state and federal agencies that are ALEC membe... more »

Employees: You Have The Right To Say No

Donna at Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home - 2 hours ago
I'm constantly surprised by the number of employees who come to me after having signed things their employer shoved in front of them, released claims, accepted transfers or demotions, or even admitted to stealing when they didn't. I ask them, "Why didn't you say no?" They look at me like I've turned into a Martian. Too many employees don't realize that they do have some rights in the workplace. One major right you have is the ability to just say, "no." That's right. You can say no to your employer. Does that mean you should say no when you get an assignment you don't like? No. Does... more »

Life In The Land Of The Muzzled

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 2 hours ago
When Hugo Chavez died last week, Stephen Harper said, “At this key juncture, I hope the people of Venezuela can now build for themselves a better, brighter future based on the principles of freedom, democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.” Mr. Harper likes to lecture the world on the meaning of democracy. But the *Toronto Star* reports that, among the world's scientists, Canada's lectures ring hollow. They know that when it comes to freedom of speech -- one of the cornerstones of democracy -- Canada is full of hot air: But one researcher with well over a decade o... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 2 hours ago
*St. Patrick's Day brings 4 parades to New Orleans over 3 days, starting Friday at Molly's on the Market* At right: St Patrick in Black and Gold, casting out Roger Godhell and his NFL minions who would place a bounty on Our New Orleans Saints. Hell, even the new Pope Francis is a Saints fan! *Friday, March 15, 2013* Molly's at the Market Irish Parade -6:00 p.m. *Saturday, March 16, 2013* Irish Channel Parade - 1 p.m. *Sunday, March 17, 2013* St. Patrick's Day Parade on Metairie Rd. - 12 Noon *Sunday, March 17, 2013* Parasol's Block Party 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. *Sunday, March 17, 2013* Tracy'... more »

SEX IN ARGENTINA; JEWISH BROTHELS

Anon at aangirfan - 3 hours ago
The sex trade in Israel is similar to that in Argentina. gojka.blog.onet.pl Rich Jews exploit poor Jews. The Jewish *Zwi Migdal* group controlled the sex trade in Argentina. *Zwi Migdal *brought young Jewish girls from Europe to Argentina; and placed them in brothels. Argentine Jewry's dark secret - Israel Jewish Scene, Ynetnews *Buenos aires* * * "Here is how it worked: A well-mannered and elegant man would appear one day in a small Jewish town in Poland or Russia. "He notified the local community and posted an ad in the synagogue saying he was looking for nice young women t... more »

Girl Scout, Alicas Serratos - Making A Difference

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 4 hours ago
Source of Picture: https://www.facebook.com/OccupyFood *Girl Scout Starts Change.org Petition for GMO-Free Girl Scout Cookies* by Mike Barrett Natural Society, 14 Marrch 2013 Do you have any idea how far your activism is going? You are not only helping to ignite necessary changes in the food supply today, you are paving way for change for generations to come. Just one signification of your ongoing activism can be seen through an astounding girl scout based in Orange County, California, who has started a *Change.org petition* to stop girl scout cookies from containing GMO ingredie... more »

spiritualism exists - believe it - reconnecting to ourselves

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 5 hours ago
*the lie vs the truth?*you can communicate with the dead, you can glean intimate details from them about your life, you can be assured that 'when you die' you'll be welcomed into their arms, so say individuals like Colin Fry, Derek Acorah and Sally Morgan to name three prominent spiritualist mediums/healers. "So, what's the point of being alive?" without this extra-dimensional knowledge? Well, both issues i) why are we 'condenced down into flesh' at all (like what's the point of 'putting oneself through the process?) and ii) why do we do it WITHOUT (in most cases) understanding of '... more »

Arclein Diet a Complete Success

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 6 hours ago
For the past two and one half years, I have been running a one person experiment on myself that I have called the Arclein Diet. It has been completely successful and trouble free and sustainable. Even better, it turned out to be totally easy and natural. There is one underlying assumption that should be first addressed. It is that you are conscious of what you eat and generally eat a balanced diet across a wide spectrum of sources. With our present knowledge, that means elimination of processed foods generally outside rare exceptions of expressing bad judgment and the... more »

Rat Brain Sharing

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 6 hours ago
We are getting to the point that we can share primitive information. It will be a little like the telegraph. Useful but terribly limited in a world dominated by the internet. Before it gets useful we also need to establish useful memory protocols. Like even accessing out own memory and pre organizing it all. Besides, why bother when we already can go it better with a smart phone. And he is right, formed thoughts are roughly assembled and fussed with before they are expressed. Thus sharing that process is extremely counter productive. What is useful is a direct link int... more »

Why Immigration Is a Top Priority for US Labor

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 6 hours ago
The take home is that organized labor may even be coming to its senses and perhaps the same may be true for management. Discovering that enforcing a monopoly wage deal or a monopoly wage cut merely opens the door to competition everywhere else was a painful lesson. Forcing an underground economy to exist means that you lose control in terms of regulation and many other things that are valuable. Thus immigration reform is mandatory for everyone to prosper. This is a development that I do welcome having seen much of the long historical grind that labor has passed through ... more »

Sweet Potato DNA Indicates Early Polynesians Traveled to South America

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 6 hours ago
Somehow the sweet potato traveled during prehistoric times, and realistically that means in the preceding thousand years at least and possibly much earlier. Actual direct contact as per Thor Heyerdahl is possible but seems unlikely. I am more inclined to take advantage of the Bronze Age sea based global polity formed between 3,000 BC and 1000 BC. I have no doubt that plenty of plants were tested in new locales but I also know that few succeeded from the resulting anomalies. Global agriculture was still a rarity. Local prospects generally remained local. Thus it was limited ... more »

Caplan on Card

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 6 hours ago
In a blog post about the minimum wage, Bryan Caplan makes note of a tension in some of David Card's research. For those who don't know him, Card is one of the great empirical labor economists of his generation. In some of his research, joint with Alan Krueger, Card finds that increases in the minimum wage have negligible effects on employment. In other research, on the Mariel boatlift, Card finds that increases in the supply of unskilled workers have negligible effects on wages and employment of existing workers. Caplan notes that these results are hard to reconcile: *The former ... more »

Can you spot the factor missing from this BBC report

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
The BBC manage to report on a shortage of school places without mentioning the main factor causing this shortage: '*School places under real strain, spending watchdog warns * A quarter of a million extra school places will be needed in England by autumn 2014 to meet rising demand, the National Audit Office is warning. The spending watchdog said one in five primary schools in England was full or near capacity and there were signs of "real strain" on places. The demand for places has been driven by England's birth rate rising quicker than at any time since the 1950s.' A long report ... more »

POPES AND PORN

Anon at aangirfan - 6 hours ago
*Scola* Italian bishops were so convinced that an Italian would become pope that they sent a congratulatory message to the media thanking God for the election of Angelo Scola. Italian bishops mistakenly hail Cardinal Angelo Scola as new pope Why did Scola not become Pope? Someone arranged a police raid. Papal conclave: anti-mafia police raid offices in diocese of frontrunner Scola *Cardinal Bertone (right) reportedly wants to cover up Mafia links to the Vatican Bank* An unholy alliance between two other Italians, Tarcisio Bertone and Angelo Sodano, set the ball rolling for Car... more »

Beware the Ides of March!

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 6 hours ago

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 3.15.13"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 7 hours ago
*"Weekly News Wrap-Up 3.15.13"* By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com "New highs day after day on the Dow!! The economy is fixed, right? Wrong!! I have been watching a lot of the business and mainstream media channels, and there is hardly a mention of the $85 billion a month the Fed is printing out of thin air to buy sour mortgage debt from the big banks and Treasury bonds from the U.S. government. This is $1 trillion a year!!! The Dow is going up, in part, because the big banks are buying their own stock back. Where are they getting the money? $40 billion a month is being used ... more »

Alberta Health Services trimmers toss out a couple of market-fundy myths to save cash

David Climenhaga at Alberta Diary - 8 hours ago
Alberta Health Services Board Chair Stephen Lockwood demonstrates how to trim a provincial health care budget. Actual AHS board members may not be exactly as illustrated. Below: The real Mr. Lockwood in his official AHS portrait. Two pernicious and slightly dissonant myths that cloud discussion of public health care are the idea that to get ... more »

Blogger's Note: Americans with insufficient retirement savings to get by in the U.S. should seriously consider retiring in Mexico. You can live much cheaper here ...and see 4th video on right hand side.

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 8 hours ago
------------------------------ Headlined to H4 3/13/13 *America's Retirement Crisis* *By Stephen Lendman (about the author) * Permalink OpEdNews Op Eds 3/13/2013 at 02:16:41 opednews.com *America's Retirement Crisis* by Stephen Lendman Crisis conditions exist. Decades of class war leaves most Americans nearing retirement woefully unprepared. Since the mid-1970s, real wages haven't kept pace with inflation. Benefits steadily eroded. High-paying jobs disappeared. Improved technology forces wage earners to work harder for less. So-called "free" mar... more »

March 14, 1973

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 9 hours ago
Nixon and Dean, again. I should note here, as I've noted before, that one has to be careful about this material. Many of the transcripts here are from Kutler (essentially, if I don't include a link or a specific citation, it's from Kutler). He presents excerpts, not full transcripts; I'm usually taking excerpts from those excerpts. Of course I'm doing my best to give the full meaning as I read it, but there's clearly some room for slippage in the process. So for example, here's what Kutler has from this one, which he describes as "a long rambling conversation" but only gives us a ... more »

Official account of the 9/11 attacks based on false information

Geezer Power at GEEZERPOWER - 9 hours ago
Official Account of the 9/11 Attacks Unraveling Forgetting Torture: Lee Hamilton, John Brennan, and Abu Zubaydah IformationClearingHouse By Kevin Ryan March 14, 2013 "Information Clearing House" - The pervasive news surrounding the confirmation hearing of John Brennan, Obama’s nominee for CIA director, is paralleled by another, related story that has been largely ignored by the U.S. media. That is the story of the man called Abu Zubaydah, whose alleged torture testimony, obtained by the CIA while Brennan was the head of the agency’s Terrorist Threat Center, built the foundatio... more »

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 10 hours ago
Those daring men in their flying machines.

Musical Interlude: Enya, “Watermark”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
Enya, “Watermark” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiFTXckh0zU

Shouldn't We All Want To See The Whole Country Getting A Livable Wage?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 10 hours ago
Andy Hounshell welcomes Obama to Cincinnati This week I spoke with Andy Hounshell, the Ohio steelworker who was shocked enough by seeing there was no candidate running against Boehner in 2012 to jump into the race himself for 2014. We talked about a wide range of subjects and we'll be highlighting them here at *DWT* in the coming weeks. When I asked him about what political leaders he most admires, he talked about how inspiring the Grayson-Takano No-Cuts letter was to him and then immediately pivoted back to his home state. He admires the work Tim Ryan has been doing for working fami... more »

Give Me Just One Good Reason

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 10 hours ago
Do you ever feel that your green-living efforts don't matter? Sometimes it's hard! Reports come out regularly saying that global warming is escalating and that the only hope is if the world makes drastic changes. But the world includes government leaders who don't take the warnings seriously and entire countries who don't give the environment a passing thought. There are many of us who do take the warnings seriously and take action. Unfortunately, it sometimes feels like we're up against a wall. Thinking about it is depressing ... and overwhelming ... and leaves us asking ... ... more »

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
“On the right, surrounded by blue spiral arms, is spiral galaxy M81. On the left, marked by red gas and dust clouds, is irregular galaxy M82. This stunning vista shows these two mammoth galaxies locked in gravitational combat, as they have been for the past billion years. *Click image for larger size.* The gravity from each galaxy dramatically affects the other during each hundred million-year pass. Last go-round, M82's gravity likely raised density waves rippling around M81, resulting in the richness of M81's spiral arms. But M81 left M82 with violent star forming regions and c... more »

Chet Raymo, “That Savage of Fire, That Seed...”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
*“That Savage of Fire, That Seed...”* by Chet Raymo "Let me say this as simply as I can. The Sun, like the universe, is mostly hydrogen. An atom of hydrogen is a single proton and a single electron, bound together. The center of the Sun is so hot - half-a-million miles of overbearing matter - that the electrons and protons can't hold together (try holding hands in a surging, tumultuous crowd), so what you have is a hot soup - a plasma - of protons and electrons, flailing about independently. The electrical force between like charges is repulsive, so every time two protons app... more »

Life Skills: “The Valley of Despair: Seeds of Light”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago
*“The Valley of Despair: Seeds of Light”* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM “Even in our darkest times, there are seeds of light within ourselves, we need only call them forward. Anyone who has walked through the valley of despair and come out the other side knows that even in that darkness, seeds of light can be found. Often their tendrils reach out of the gloom and into the daylight alongside the journeyer who emerges from that deep sorrow. When we find ourselves in a place of despair, it can help us to know this, so that we don’t give up. We can stop, take a deep breath, and rem... more »

WAR CRIMINAL BECOMES ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER

Moshe Ya’alon, an ex-Israeli Chief of Staff and now Member of the Knesset, has been appointed Israel’s Minister of Defence in Netanyahu’s latest government coalition. Ya’alon replaces Ehud Barak. Ya’alon was Chief of Staff of the IDF in July 2002 when Palestinian activist Salah Shehade was murdered in the Gaza Strip by a one tonne bomb dropped by an Israeli Air Force F-15 jet. Fourteen Palestinian civilians were also killed in the attack. In 2005 a group of relatives of victims of the 1996 Israeli shelling of the Lebanese town of Qana, where some 106 civilians died, filed a suit d... more »

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 12 hours ago
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. Thanks for stopping by.

"The Paradox of Our Time"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 12 hours ago
Dr. Bob Moorehead, "The Paradox of Our Time" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=181B7yainqY

Coming Clathrates

gail zawacki at Wit's End - 12 hours ago
This post is contributed by a reader, a wonderful photographer who goes by the name EyepilotXIII. I'll be posting more of his photographs soon but if you can't wait, you can visit his DeviantArt site here. Meanwhile, following is his introduction to a poem that he wrote, and kindly agreed to contribute to Wit's End. Thanks, Eyepilot! This is a satirical but scathing look at contemporary society, terms are not meant to offend but make one think about the nature of so-called Demokracy in 2013 Amerika... Poetry is the choice of the people, frustrated beyond belief of corporate GREED... more »

History: “1863: The War Comes Home to Indiana”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 12 hours ago
*“1863: The War Comes Home to Indiana”* By Stephen E. Towne “In early March 1863, an officer in Terre Haute, Ind., ordered two veteran Army sergeants to cross into Clark County in nearby eastern Illinois to carry out a peculiar, though increasingly common, order: arrest a group of Union Army deserters. It wasn’t an easy assignment: the men found swarms of deserters, but also met armed resistance from local residents who were fostering the runaway soldiers, and were even shot at a few times. By then, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio were lousy with deserters. Union Maj. Gen. Willia... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 12 hours ago

Beer O’Clock: Kauri Invalid Stout

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 13 hours ago
[image: Kauri001] As a thank you to all the beer historians who passed on information about Woodville’s Kauri Brewery and its Kauri Pale Ale, my painter friend Mark Wooller—who was particularly interested in the Gauguin connection—has painted a bottle for us, which now hangs proudly on my wall. [image: KauriPaleAle] Sadly, however, it’s empty. Still, since my photos of the small paintings are a bit lacklustre, by the magic of technology I can immediately double the number of bottles. Take your pick. [image: Kauri002] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author... more »

Bristol-Myers Squibb's 2013 ALEC Dues are Past Due

2old2care at Because I Can - 13 hours ago
An Announcement made today (my emphasis): “The Unitarian Universalist Association filed a shareholder resolution with Bristol-Myers Squibb seeking expanded disclosure of the company’s lobbying activities, both direct and indirect. After a constructive dialogue the company agreed to changes in its disclosure of lobbying oversight and expenditures, and the resolution was withdrawn. We commend the company for its openness and commitment to put significant information on its website. In addition, in the course of our conversation, *the company reported that Bristol-Myers Squibb had b... more »

As Google pulls the plug on Google Reader, there's apparently a lesson for all of us who cast our lot with software we come to depend on

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 13 hours ago
*People who loved Google Reader are in despair.* "We launched *Google Reader* in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months." *-- from SVP Technical Infrastructure Urs Hölzle's Google website post "A second spring of cleaning," announcing o... more »

ALEC - Screwing with Your Paycheck

2old2care at Because I Can - 13 hours ago
Fourteen months ago – I posted this blog entry: Because payroll is part of my job and because I like getting my pay direct deposited into my checking account every couple of weeks I found this piece of American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) legislation befuddling. This is what your legislator WASTES their time on at ALEC meeting - to make sure that the ALEC corporate members can look forward to MORE BUSINESS at some time in the future. The next issue is - why in the hell are state legislators even screwing around with an issue like this - except for the fact that they sit as... more »

Alan Grayson...Knock Knock Kockin on Boehners Door

Geezer Power at GEEZERPOWER - 13 hours ago
Congressman Alan Grayson personally delivered the "Cancel the Sequester" petition to Senator John Boehner's office to day. Here is a repost of a post I made in February, 2009 Power Hitter: Rookie Congressman Alan Grayson Rep. Alan Grayson asked Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit about the terms of the government assistance his firm received, and read comments from several angry constituents. He is one of the more Progressive Democrats on the Obama team and should prove to be a real asset, especially on issues of accountability. Grayson also has a record of combatting war protiteering a... more »

Sage Francis - UBUNTU (Water Into Wine)

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 14 hours ago
Pope Francis should hear this.

Money-Where-Our-Mouths-Are Time

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 14 hours ago
LeadNow needs $10,000. *Donate to crowd-fund the opinion poll that could prove Canadians support political cooperation.* We know Canadians are ready for political cooperation to defeat Harper and pass crucial reforms. Now, we have to prove it. We’ve put together a major opinion poll that could show widespread support for cooperation and rock national media and party leaders. Now, we urgently need your help to fund the poll. If enough of us chip in right now, we’ll be able to release the results before voting begins in the Liberal leadership race. Every dollar gets us closer to c... more »

TESTING THE BOMB

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 15 hours ago
The word "savage" has been used to refer to people from so-called primitive cultures, but in his 2011 documentary, filmmaker Adam Horowitz turns the concept on its head and questions who exactly has been the "savage" in the US nuclear bomb human experiment "Project 4.1". In the 1950s, the U.S. nuclear test bombed the Marshall Islands 67 times, vaporizing islands and exposing entire populations to radioactive fallout measured at 750 times the level of emitted by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. After the people of Rongelap received near fatal doses of radiation from one of thes... more »

John Dyble`s Ethnicgate Review, Two Legs Short

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 15 hours ago
I have to congratulate John Dyble`s for his ethnicgate review, it was very thorough, hard hitting , to the point, names names, however, an investigation into a three legged stool scandal where you have only an ability to interview and question but one of those legs is an exercise in futility, we are left thirsty for more, a mere appetizer offered when the public required a full meal, Dyble`s report points two other directions , it points to caucus, it points to party, Dyble had no ability to interview caucus or cabinet, he had no ability to interview the party, and most troubling i... more »

USrael's Sweatshop Terrorists

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 16 hours ago
LOL @ this video. These trigger happy idiots are slaving away to make a bunch of crappy explosives. Come on Washington, you cheap bastards, give your sweatshop terrorists real bombs to work with. Title: Syria - Al Qaeda Terrorists and FSA Terrorists making Explosives to kill Syrians.

The Society for Cutting Up Jobs

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 16 hours ago
I hear professional economists are in a quandary. Apparently, there is some involving a puzzling feature of Britain's current baleful economic performance. Heads are being scratched and brows are getting furrowed because no one can explain how the economy is stagnant but yet more and more jobs are getting created. Usually, recession sees firms shedding jobs, lower spending, and the consequent loss of further jobs. If the numbers of people employed are going up, people are buying things and the economy expands in a self-sustaining boom. You should have a vicious or a virtuous circle... more »

SCOTUS is not amused by sequester cuts

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 16 hours ago
Didn't expect this to happen. SCOTUS Justices beg Congress for more money: The cuts to the court system from sequestration are “simply unsustainable,” Justice Anthony Kennedy warned Thursday. The judicial branch is subject to a 5 percent cut under sequestration. The Supreme Court and lower courts throughout the country wouldn't be able to carry out their duties if those cuts stay in place for more than a few months, Kennedy said. "If it's for any long term, it will be inconsistent with the constitutional obligation of the Congress to fund the courts," Kennedy said. Maybe our Hon... more »

20 Imágenes bonitas de flores en alta calidad

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 16 hours ago
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

United Nation's Human Development Index Now Ranks Canada As 11th

leftdog at Buckdog - 16 hours ago
[image: Progressive Bloggers] * * *"Canada has slipped out of the top 10 countries listed in the annual United Nation’s human development index — a far cry from the 1990s when it held the first place for most of the decade.* ***The 2013 report, which reviews a country’s performance in health, education and income, places Canada in 11th place versus 10th last year."* *CBC.ca*

“Room for Diplomacy?”—What Real Negotiation with Iran Would Look Like

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 16 hours ago
Will America and Iran become allies? Unfortunately, it's not in the cards. Besides, America and Iran technically don't exist anymore. They are a distant memory. Both nations are shadows walking the world stage. After the false flag attacks on September 11, 2001, America ceased to be America and became USrael, aka the destroyer of peace. USrael wants to destroy the Palestinian people and create a Greater Israel on their graves. And after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, Iran became the leader of the Islamic world, aiding the Palestinians in their struggle against the evil occupiers of th... more »

Hannity-esque days of rage at Salon!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 16 hours ago
*THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013* *We get tooken in by a fiery headline:* For the record, we’re opposed to the teaching of lies to American children. We’re especially opposed to the teaching of *heinous* lies. Perhaps for that reason, we went for the feint when we saw this fiery headline at Salon: “11 heinous lies conservatives are teaching America’s schoolchildren” The number of lies—exactly 11—give this headline an air of verisimilitude. Everyone knows that a list of this type should have exactly ten items. Or perhaps twelve in a case of this type. This permits us to speak with real a... more »

John Boehner just wants Dems to do his job for him

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 17 hours ago
Is that too much to ask? Our hapless sad sack Speaker of the House, John Boehner has a new lament published today, disguised as a WaPo op-ed. Don't bother reading it, he doesn't say anything new. The shorter is always the same: If only President Obama and the Democrats would destroy the social safety net so the GOPers could pretend it's not their heart's desire and run against them on it in future elections, then for sure Mr. Boehner get his crackpot cons to follow him in bringing up the rear to pass a grand bargain, as long it doesn't include requiring the ultra-wealthy to pay one... more »

Crime Does Pay: Scores of FDIC Settlements Go Unannounced (Whom Don't They Want To Know?) and Court Docs Reveal Blackwater's Secret CIA Past

Funny but somehow I'm not feeling that sorry for Eric Prince and the Blackwater thugs right now. Let alone those poor Wall Street Wizards who were so brazenly outed (and then gently slapped on the hands.) Thursday, March 14, 2013 "Crime DOES Pay: Scores of FDIC Settlements Go Unannounced" "Crime DOES Pay: Scores of FDIC Settlements Go Unannounced"By E. Scott Reckard "Three years ago, the

Happy Pi Day

Southern Man at Southern Man - 17 hours ago
That's all. Just "Happy Pi Day."

What is the Deal With Jerry's Pop Tart Chunk?

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 17 hours ago
Jerry Seinfeld reluctantly breaks down his writing process for *The New York Times* (h/t Tod Perry of *The Far Out Podcast*).

And All The Earth A Grave By C. C. MacApp

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 17 hours ago
*Wikipedia:* C. C. MacApp, pseudonym of Carroll Mather Capps (1917–1971) was an American science fiction author. He was also a long-time benefactor of San Francisco chess. He was a former president of the San Francisco Bay Area Chess League, and won the Northern California and San Francisco chess championship several times. YouTube Video Description - [Channel: NewThinkable]: And All The Earth A Grave by C. C. MacApp "There's nothing wrong with dying, it just hasn't had the proper sales pitch."

Balancing The Budget Is Like Three-Card Monte

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 17 hours ago
Has your congressmember signed on yet? Or is he playing for the other team? There are a lot of premises in Ryan's new/old budget-- like keeping revenues from Obamacare while eliminating every single benefit *of*Obamacare. But one premise Ryan didn't deal with is the newest polling that shows-- and pretty clearly-- that the public doesn't accept any of the GOP premises about the economy any longer. *•* 72 percent of Americans, including 74 percent of independents and 81 percent of moderates, disapprove of the Congressional GOP. *•* Americans disapprove of the sequester cuts by 53-39; ... more »

Ten Billion, A Drop in the Bucket

Sophia at AMERICAN KABUKI - 17 hours ago
We are experiencing an upgrade – right now. Our earth is shifting and she’s taking us with her. We have a choice as to whether or not we’ll stay connected to these new frequencies. It is up to us. Creative energy is magnified now. What we expect and believe – we have. We have it just about instantly. The other day evidence for this showed up here. While at a meeting I wrote a check. After the meeting we stopped at a restaurant. Upon returning, I looked for the checkbook and it was gone. I called the office and emptied the purse. Nothing. I drove back to the... more »

Rally Saturday, Meeting Sunday!

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 17 hours ago
*RALLY at the Tennessee Gas Pipeline office in Milford!* Saturday, March 16 at 10am 544 Rte 6 & 209, Milford PA (Parking available at Milford Township Municipal Building) Contact 570-269-9589 with questions *MEETING at Angels Backstreet Coffee* Sunday March 17 at 5PM 611 Broad St. Milford PA (Located in back of the old 7th Street Coffee On Broad) For all interested in joining and planning our efforts. For questions, contact 570-269-9589.

Regs stall, natural gas booms: Infrastructure grows during legal waiting period

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 17 hours ago
From The Advertiser News, here. By Joshua Rosenau Published Mar 13, 2013 at 5:13 pm (Updated Mar 13, 2013) - Image courtesy of the NorthJersey Pipeline Walkers A stretch of the 300 Line Upgrade Project built by Tennessee Gas. - Mapped here are the 12 proposed pipeline projects to traverse the Delaware. Four more may be expected. - Delaware River Pipelin SUSSEX COUNTY — Despite years of heated debate from concerned residents over the risks of hydraulic fracturing, the slow pace of state and national regulations has halted locals’ m... more »

Did you know Google Reader is going away?...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 18 hours ago
*I found out yesterday and went into a complete panic.* I have over 300 RSS feeds in my Reader. It would be impossible to monitor all those sites without some sort of Reader. This does not include Bad Blue, Drudge, Pew Sitter, CNS, and about another 50 sites that are bookmarked (and I wonder why little ADD brain is so addled.) After doing a bit of research it didn't take me long to settle on Feedly.com. They even have some sort of import thingy all set up for us folks who will be wandering in the information desert soon. Since this is a work day, I'm not ready to tackle this. ... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 18 hours ago
*Orleans Parish Population Growth Highest Among Major US Urban Cores*

"It Is Thus..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 18 hours ago
“Capital must protect itself in every possible way, both by combination and legislation. Debts must be collected, mortgages foreclosed as rapidly as possible. When, through process of law, the common people lose their homes, they will become more docile and more easily governed through the strong arm of the government applied by a central power of wealth under leading financiers. These truths are well known among our principal men, who are now engaged in forming an imperialism to govern the world. By dividing the voter through the political party system, we can get them to expe... more »

The L.A. Times Fears Angry White Americans

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 18 hours ago
In an absurd article called, *"Peril from 'patriots',"* the clueless editors of the L.A. Times take shots at hard-working and honest Americans who are rightfully angry at the direction of their country and the poor performance of their government. The Sovietesque paper compares freedom-minded second amendment activists to Neanderthals in a lame attempt to convince their brainwashed readers that anybody who questions the wisdom of officialdom is behind the times. Last I checked, it is totalitarianism that is going against the current of history, not the way other around. The delusi... more »

Liberal MLAs should be ashamed of role in scandal

paul at Paying attention - 18 hours ago
The sordid, bumbling ethnic outreach scandal has sealed the Liberals' fate in the coming election. It has also finished Christy Clark’s leadership. She is responsible for the actions of the government, for choosing the senior managers, for not demanding to be kept informed, for remaining willfully blind. She failed as a leader. She failed the citizens, and the people who put their trust in the Liberal party. But what about the Liberal MLAs? This is supposed to be a system in which citizens elect representatives who speak for them and share in responsibility for governing. MLAs are re... more »

Honest Reporting When in Doubt, Blame the Jews...or the Settlements - aka Question for The Guardian's Michael White

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 18 hours ago
Honest Reporting have a fine article about the Michael White affair. That would be true even if it didn't include one of my tweeted questions! Finally, White unleashed his best defense for the BBC’s failure to report the brazen anti-Semitism from a Peer. The delay was caused by the BBC’s need to check its sources since Lord Ahmed’s interview was conducted in Urdu for a Pakistani network. It’s an ironic argument, especially in light of last week’s UN report clearing Israel in the killing of a child in Gaza which the BBC had previously – and incorrectly – blamed on Israel. Standards... more »

VIDEO Debra White Plume 'Moccasins on the Ground' Pine Ridge fighting Keystone tarsands

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 18 hours ago
Video Lakota Media Project: Moccasins on the Ground to Protect Sacred Water     Sunday, March 9 – Day of Ceremony and Commitment to Protecting the Sacred Water from KXL March 2013 Tarsands Blockade  Photo credit: Andrew Ironshell Update: Saturday, March 8 – Trainings on Direct Action, Action Medics, and Strategic Media Lakota drummers opened the

Michael White, Guardian Assistant Editor, cries “Israel” in response to concern over Lord Ahmed’s antisemitism | Engage - the anti-racist campaign against antisemitism

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 18 hours ago
Engage has a take on the Michael White, Lord Ahmed, Israel story... 'White’s point is that when a newspaper exposes a clear example of anti-Jewish racism, then it is right to look for a sub-text, a hidden reason underlying the exposé. Finkelstein is described as “saintly” – IE “not saintly” – not innocent, but really its opposite. Why? What is suspicious about a newspaper exposing clear and serious racist sentiment articulated by a Labour Peer? Well, White seems to think that the story should be contextualized, or balanced by, or mitigated by, or explained by, the bad behaviour o... more »

Bennett: Rocks Kill - Israel National News

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 18 hours ago
'Bayit Yehudi chairman MK Naftali Bennett reacted Thursday evening to the rock terror attack that has left a baby struggling for her life in hospital, alongside her wounded mother and two sisters. "Rocks kill," he wrote on his Facebook page. "A three-year-old toddler is currently in critical condition because of a rock terror attack. "A mother and her three daughters (3, 4 and 5) were driving on the Trans-Samaria Highway a short time ago. A terrorist threw a rock at a truck, causing the truck to veer and hit the vehicle of the mother and her daughters. "The baby girl, as we said... more »

"Crime DOES Pay: Scores of FDIC Settlements Go Unannounced"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*"Crime DOES Pay: * *Scores of FDIC Settlements Go Unannounced"* By E. Scott Reckard "Three years ago, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. collected $54 million from Deutsche Bank in a settlement over unsound loans that contributed to a spectacular California bank failure. The deal might have made big headlines, given that the bad loans contributed to the largest payout in FDIC history, $13 billion. But the government cut a deal with the bank's lawyers to keep it quiet: a "no press release" clause that required the FDIC never to mention the deal "except in response to a spec... more »

how can we condemn bigotry on the soccer field yet support racist israeli policies?

laura k at wmtc - 19 hours ago
This week in *The Nation*, Dave Zirin reports on some disturbing - and disgusting - behaviour from Israeli soccer fans. Not even in the earliest days of Jackie Robinson’s 1947 historic debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers did Brooklyn’s white fans walk out after number 42 stole a base or hit a home run. The Brooklyn faithful’s love of “Dem Bums” trumped any racism that simmered in the stands. What does it say that sixty-six years later, Israeli fans of the soccer club Beitar Jerusalem have not evolved to postwar-Brooklyn standards of human decency? Earlier this season, Beitar Jersulam b... more »

hear bradley manning's complete statement, and help spread his words across the internet

laura k at wmtc - 19 hours ago
The Freedom of the Press Foundation has posted the leaked audio recording of Bradley Manning's statement to the military court in Ft. Meade. In it, Manning explains why he leaked more than 700,000 government documents to WikiLeaks. FPF also has posted transcript highlights, in case you can't make it through the full 35-page statement. The US military "court" - that is, Manning's accusers - are trying to prevent public access to the proceedings, especially Manning's own statements. We can all help thwart their plans. Listen to the statement here. You can download Manning's statemen... more »

يشاهدون لكم من خلال كاميرا الكمبيوتر

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 20 hours ago
من على بعد مئات الأميال، والرجل يجلس في رصد وهو يشاهد امرأة المطمئنين استخدام الكمبيوتر لها، خلع ملابسه ويذهب الى النوم. لديها أي فكرة يجري شاهدت. وتثبيت البرامج مهاجم بعيد للسيطرة على كاميرا ويب لها. ما هو أسوأ من ذلك، انه من تسجيل جميع تصرفاتها ونشر تلك أشرطة الفيديو على يوتيوب أو تداول الفيديو مع مختلسوا النظر الأخرى عبر الإنترنت. R.A.T. أدوات الوصول البعيد هذا السيناريو يحدث أكثر وأكثر، وهناك عدد لا يحصى الصور ومقاطع الفيديو على شبكة الإنترنت تشير إلى ممارسة هو الحصول على أسهل وأكثر شعبية مع مجتمع دولي على الانترنت دعا Ratters. أنها تستخدم أدوات الوصول عن بعد (RATs) لتنشيط كامير... more »

Robert Anton Wilson - You're All Popes

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 20 hours ago
Robert Anton Wilson - You're All Popes.

Catch of the Day

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 20 hours ago
You may have heard that the draft Affordable Care Act application for coverage under the exchanges is a whopping 21 pages long. Complicated, right? Well, not really. Kevin Drum looks at it and realizes: [T]here's a single 2-page section you have to fill out, and then there are five more 2-page sections for other members of your family. So sure, it might be long if you have a big family, but a lot of it is repetition. And if you're just a single earner? Then aside from instructions, there's really only about four pages (five if you're an American Indian or Alaska Native): one page o... more »

It's Pope Francis...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 20 hours ago
*not Pope Francis the First* Okay, I guess this means I'll have to quit referring to my St. Francis statue as "Frank."

RadioCesium from Fukushima Everywhere

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 20 hours ago
View the video of cesium dispersion from Fukushima produced by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: Fukushima Radioactive Aerosol Dispersion Science on a Sphere http://sos.noaa.gov/Datasets/dataset.php?id=332 Majia here: If you think that the dispersion is too diluted to affect you and your environment, I strongly recommend watching this video about how Chernobyl fallout in California, half way across the world, decimated bird populations who consumed new growth that had been watered by cesium-laden rain*:* DeSante, Dave of the Institute for Bird Population in... more »

NEXT GLOBAL NETWORK SPACE CONFERENCE

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 20 hours ago
*The High North and International Security Conference* *June 27- 29, 2013* *Kiruna, Sweden* Welcome to the land of the Midnight Sun in Northern Sweden! Welcome to take part in a two-day conference and listen to a gathering of experts who will educate you about how space is used in global warfare. 2013 marks the 21st year of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. International authors and activists will give lecturers about how the North has developed to be one of the most important places for space warfare, how satellites and drones are used, and inform ... more »

Thursday George Jones Blogging

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 20 hours ago
God knows I'd rather be writing about (eyeroll) National Pi Day or the new old white homophobe in Rome who got awarded the little white beanie but events this morning compel me to write about (if you'll pardon the pun) something hitting a lot closer to home. About 11 o'clock this morning, a motorist had a heart attack just as he was driving down our cross street, veered off the street and drove straight into our house. We live on the second floor and all I felt was a slight vibration and at first I thought it was Popeye jumping down from somewhere, although the tremor see... more »

Ted Cruz hits Dianne Feinstein with some logic...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 20 hours ago
*and she responds with emotionalism and never answers the question.* It's worth watching just to observe Ted Cruz's blank stare throughout her diatribe.

What is the Deal with the EPA? Is it Completely Powerless or is it Completely Corrupt?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 20 hours ago
*EPA Fails to Tighten Lead-Poisoning Hazard Standards (2013, March 11) USA Today by Alison Young, p. 3B.* * * [Excerpted] The Environmental Protection Agency has no current plans to protect children from lead poisoning, despite calls for action from the agency's own scientific advisers. [end quote] *ProPublica (2013, March 13) After a Powerful Lobbyist Intervenes, EPA Reverses Stance on Polluting Texas County’s Water’ by Abraham Lustgarten* [Excerpted] When Uranium Energy Corp. sought permission to launch a large-scale mining project in Goliad County, Texas, it seemed as if the E... more »

BC Liberals 20% Percentage Points Behind BC NDP

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 21 hours ago
There`s a new Global Ipsos Reid poll being released today... I have watched polls for a long time, over the years certain patterns arise, such as.. Ipsos Reid has always over estimated BC Liberal support by on average..7% percentage points. Mustel polls even worse, on average Mustel over estimates BC Liberals by 10% percentage points.. And to be fair, those two polling outfits get closer to the actual real polling numbers in the last weeks before election day.. Angus Reid time and time again are the most accurate, more accurate on the lead-up to the election, and actual polling n... more »

the common man

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 21 hours ago

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 21 hours ago
*Plaintiffs’ lawyer resigns amid BP oil spill trial* *Watts going down? ~American Zombie *

God particle's humility on display

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 21 hours ago
*...as it turns on two light bulbs less often than expected...* OK, I was inspired by this title of an article about Pope Francis. But you should have no doubts about it: the Higgs boson is even more humble and obedient than the Indian-born Argentinian chemist and the son of a railway worker who was just chosen as the new Bishop of Rome by puppets of Hugo Chavez who controlled the job contest from Hell. What I want to say is that the anomalously high chance that the \(126\GeV\) Higgs boson splits into two photons, \(h\to\gamma\gamma\), is no longer anomalously high. ATLAS and CMS ... more »

208 Republicans Joined The Democrats In Supporting Community-Based Flood Insurance Options-- But What About The 17 Republicans Who Favor Floods?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 21 hours ago
*Flooding along the Reedy River through the west end section of downtown Greenville, SC, 29 July 2004 (Trey Gowdy's district but he probably figures it'll never flood again)* Remember the other day when we talked about the Pro-Pandemic Caucus? There are 28 Republicans in that one. Would you believe that there's also a Pro-Flood Caucus? It's considerably smaller-- only 17 tight-wing crackpotsMembers of Congress in that one. Tuesday 208 Republicans and every single Democrat passed H.R. 1035, (397-17) which requires a study of voluntary community-based flood insurance options and how s... more »

Why Don't We Start With the Easy Things First, the Things That Matter.

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 21 hours ago
Sure, we all want rid of the Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub himself, Sideshow Steve Harper. Fair enough, we're all agreed on that. But why don't we start with the easy things first? Why don't we change ourselves, our political parties? That's easy because our politics are ours, meaning they're ours to shape and build and change. Why not begin by restoring progressivism to its rightful place in the ranks of both the Liberals and the New Dems? Now that everyone has pulled up stakes and gone into the deserts of the centre and centre-right chasing after Harper, the Canadian publi... more »

Allen West at CPAC...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 21 hours ago
*outstanding.*

Ongoing peculiar accounts of Paul Ryan’s marginal tax rate!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 22 hours ago
*THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013* *We live in fictitious times:* Yesterday, with incomparable skill, we diagnosed a small minor problem: Here it was: Everywhere we looked, journalists seemed to be offering different accounts of Paul Ryan’s position on taxes. Some accounts were extremely vague. Some of the *coherent* accounts seemed to contradict the others. That brings us to today’s key question: In his new budget plan, what has Ryan proposed for the marginal tax rate? If you read one account, you might think you know. If you read two accounts, you aren't sure! Years ago, Michael Moore ... more »

Mohawk Nation News 'Boogie Men'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
BOOGIE MEN Posted on March 14, 2013   MNN. Mar. 14, 2013. Bankers and their accomplices have “Windigo Psychosis”. It’s an insatiable craving for everything in their sight. The Indigenous say Windigo becomes a wild-eyed, violent, flesh-eating maniac with super-human strength. They haunt Northern Alberta where they go on cannibalistic rampages.    The Windigo is sick

Spice Jar Button Storage

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 22 hours ago
I love buttons. They are one of my favorite crafting supplies and I can never seem to walk past them at the fabric store without adding a few to my collection. When I was a kid, my mom kept all of her buttons in a large jar that we had to dump out and search through when you needed something specific. I decided to make things a little bit easier on myself and sort my buttons by color, so they aren't quite so hard to find. I decided on small jars meant for spices to help everything organized. I had these colorful spice jars on hand already, but you can find similar colorful ones h... more »

Native activists withdraw support from KXL Truthforce Concert Oklahoma

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
COALITION OF NATIVE ACTIVISTS WITHDRAW SUPPORT FROM KXL TRUTHFORCE CONCERT IN NORMAN Casey Camp, Ponca "Before long, we began to see a pattern that has played out repeatedly: Non-Indians armed with a savior complex, condescending tones and a penchant to show us a better way to do things, begin to plan strategy and events for us." By Casey Camp-Horinek, Ponca, Marland, Okla.

The Single Best Economic Reform for the Next Time

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 22 hours ago
Glad to see that Matt Yglesias is talking about this one again: 3. We should beef up automatic stabilizers in the budget by creating some kind of national rainy day fund that automatically releases unrestricted funds to state governments in times of recession. Some elected officials will use the money to avoid pro-cyclical service cuts and furloughs, while others will use it to finance tax cuts and we'll just live with disagreement about the best way to proceed. He also wants to make monetary policy work better, but I think he undervalues the ideological resistance to those suggesti... more »

Counsel ought not to speak to matters where personally involved even if no objection taken

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 22 hours ago
*Ricciuto v. Somers*, 2013 ONCA 153 is a good reminder that counsel cannot be personally involved in a case: [12] This is not a case for costs. Although we appreciate that the respondent did not object to Mr. C appearing as counsel either here or below, the reality is that he was a named respondent and that his conduct was central to the factual circumstances giving rise to both the application and this appeal. He should not have appeared as counsel in either forum.

Iraqis Feel Country Largely Unchanged After U.S. Military Withdrawal

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 23 hours ago
In March 2013, the Gallup organization released its latest poll from Iraq. It covered security, foreign influence, political stability, corruption, and jobs, and found that in four of those five categories things had either improved or stayed the same since the United States withdrew its military forces in December 2011. Although Gallup tied the survey to the exit of the Americans, it actually showed that many issues were outside of their influence, and the results were roughly in line with previous polls. Iraqis feel much is the same after the U.S. withdrew at the end of 2011 (* W... more »

Assisi Dove vs Austerian Hawk

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 23 hours ago
I'll admit it. I indulged myself in a spate of silly cynicism as I watched CNN's coverage of the Pope-a-Palooza yesterday afternoon. I even started humming "The March of the Flying Monkeys" from *The Wizard of Oz* as the Swiss Guard strutted around St. Peter's Square. I mused over the possible genetic origins of Chris Cuomo's speech patterns (he sounds just like his dad, Mario and a more refined version of his guv bro, Andy) while I paid no attention to what he was actually blathering on about. Then my ears perked up when they announced the name that the new Argentinian pope, Jo... more »

California has driest January and February on record, Sierra snowpack below normal – ‘It’s going to have some dire effects for those folks in the Central Valley that were thinking they will be able to plant’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 23 hours ago
[image: The Los Angeles Aqueduct carries water from the snowcapped Sierra Nevada Mountains, which carry less snow than normal, to major urban areas of southern California on 9 May 2008 near Lone Pine, California. Photo: David McNew / Getty Images] By Amy Quinton 28 February 2013 (California Capital Network) – California has officially shattered an all-time record for the driest January and February in the northern Sierra since record-keeping began in 1921. This year, the area has received only 2.3 inches of precipitation. The northern Sierra is crucial in providing statewide wat... more »

I wondered why the BBC were so ecstatic at the choice of Pope

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 23 hours ago
I thought the BBC were over the top in their elation at an Argentinian becoming Pope, but why? In April last year, at a memorial mass in Buenos Aires 30 years on from the Falklands conflict, he said: 'We come to pray for all who have fallen, sons of the homeland who went out to defend their mother, the homeland, and to reclaim what is theirs, that is of the homeland, and it was usurped.' Well that clears up that mystery. The BBC really are objectionable aren't they? And so transparent!

THE ORIGINAL SIN: Little had changed!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 23 hours ago
*THURSDAY, MARCH 14, 2013* *Part 4—When crosses burned just outside Philly:* We’ll state an impression. For obvious reasons, our impression could be wrong. It seems to us that Ta-Nehisi Coates reacted emotionally, in a personal way, when Forest Whitaker was falsely accused in that New York deli. There’s certainly no earthly reason why Coates *shouldn’t* have reacted that way. The false accusation occurred in a deli which Coates and his family had frequented. At the end of his column, in a rather odd moment, he is asked to imagine the possibility of his own son being falsely accuse... more »

Liberal Party Leadership Alchemy - Seven Leaders in Ten Years

leftdog at Buckdog - 23 hours ago
*Over a ten year period (2003 - 2013), the once great Liberal Party of Canada has been overseen by 6 different Leaders:* * -Jean Chrétien -Paul Martin -Bill Graham* -Stephane Dion -Michael Ignatieff -Bob Rae* *.... with a 7th Leader to be chosen in the coming weeks. * *Seven different Leaders within 10 years! * * **I am reminded of a time, long ago, known as the Dark Ages when quasi-scientists called 'alchemists' worked tirelessly to find a way to turn base metals into gold. Century after century they experimented and searched for the magic formula that would give them unimaginable we... more »

An Iowan's Screed About the ALEC Info Session

2old2care at Because I Can - 23 hours ago
Everyday I let the internet take me to where I am supposed to be. You folks know that I love it when bloggers or others give me fodder on the topic of ALEC and this morning was one of those gold mines – given to me like manna from the Universe. I hope you enjoy. About the Author Jeff Patch Jeff Patch is chief muckraker at TheIowaRepublican.com. He's a communications, political and policy consultant for causes, companies and candidates. Patch started his media career as a production assistant at the now-defunct FOX News affiliate in Dubuque, his hometown. He has written for the T... more »

GAIA PORTAL: Gaia Currently Experiences Energetic Separation from all Previous Time Agendas

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
* * * * *Gaia Currently Experiences Energetic Separation from all Previous Time Agendas* by ÉirePort Gaia and all of her inhabitants currently experiences energetic separation from all previous time agendas. Light influx from Higher Source brings eventual illumination to underlying reasons for such. Yet not always visible until post-separation. Gaia herself reminds all that these separations are accompanied by grand (and clean, energetically speaking) new beginnings. Gaia herself undergoes such separation and is poised to receive maximum resonant Illumination. Such resonant Illum... more »

PAKISTAN Lahore, more than 100 Christian homes burned over blasphemy charge - Asia News

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
More religious intolerance in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 'This morning, an angry mob set fire to over 100 homes in the Joseph Colony Christian settlement, near Badami Bah (Lahore). Residents were forced to flee and at least 35 people were injured. The attack resulted from an accusation of blasphemy registered against one of the settlement residents, Sawan Masih, who yesterday afternoon had an altercation with a Muslim.' More on Asia News but I doubt that the pro Pakistan BBC will be reporting this.

Immigration consequences a proper consideration on sentencing

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago
A number of cases have dealt with whether a reduction in sentence is appropriate to avoid immigration consequences: *R. v. Duhra*, 2011 ABCA 165 and *R. v. B.R.C.,* 2010 ONCA 561 are two examples. Reduced sentences are often given avoid deportation. In so doing the Courts have emphasized the "human face" of sentencing. Some might ask about the failure to take out citizenship and the human face of the victim but that is another issue. Today’s Supreme Court decision in *R. v. Pham*, 2013 SCC 15 follows these decisions. The Court holds that a sentencing judge may exercise his ... more »

Official: Sudan will continue amputations - UPI.com

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
Unbelievably savage story from Sudan of Sharia court amputations 'KHARTOUM, Sudan, March 12 (UPI) -- Judges can receive special training to perform court-ordered amputations if doctors refuse to carry out the sentences, a Sudanese justice said Tuesday. Deputy Chief Justice Abdul Rahman Sharfi added that any doctors who refuse "the rule of Allah" will themselves face prosecution, the Sudan Tribune reported. He made the comments at a news conference in response to strong criticism from human rights groups concerning last month's amputation of the right hand and left foot of a man fo... more »

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