Monday, March 17, 2014

17 Mar - Blogs I'm Following

Image of radiation emitted no more than a few ...Image of radiation emitted no more than a few hundred thousand years after the big bang, captured with the satellite telescope WMAP (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: The QUIET cosmic microwave background...English: The QUIET cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization telescope, at the Llano de Chajnantor Observatory in Atacama, Chile. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
UTAH-CANYONLANDS-02UTAH-CANYONLANDS-02 (Photo credit: oregon ducatisti)
English: NuSkin Building on Center Street in d...English: NuSkin Building on Center Street in downtown Provo, Utah (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Utah_2006-08-22_IMG_1651Utah_2006-08-22_IMG_1651 (Photo credit: Jim's Photos1)
10:34am MDST

BICEP2: Primordial Gravitational Waves!

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 3 minutes ago
*Guest blog by Liam McAllister, Cornell University.* The BICEP2 team has just announced a remarkable discovery (FAQ): they argue that they have detected, at very high significance, the imprint of *primordial gravitational waves* on the polarization of the cosmic microwave background. Moreover, the signal they see is very strong. If they are right, this is The Big One. BICEP on site at the South Pole BICEP's map of the CMB: Vorticity in the CMB according to BICEP *How should we interpret this result, and what are its implications?* If the BICEP measurement really is a detection of... more »

The Rat

Sophia Love at AMERICAN KABUKI - 22 minutes ago
There are conditions of daily life that occur on a regular basis for the majority of humans. These include a lack of opportunity to experience self-determination, a pre-arranged location, and an income; without which you’d be unable to survive. These conditions, seen as normal and necessary, are actually preferred. When an adult has reached the age of eighteen years, most of their orientation is focused on creating them for themselves; this, in order to achieve “worldly success”. In fact, under the current arrangement, you congratulate each other for having secured a “good” jo... more »

WILL US-NATO RESPECT THE VOTE?

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 27 minutes ago

The relentless dumbness of us the people!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 29 minutes ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014* *Dowd’s latest comment thread:* Following in the wake of talk radio, comment threads have helped us see the dumbness of us the people. Yesterday, the comments to Maureen Dowd’s latest column helped us see how dumb we can get inside our tribal worlds. On the whole, Dowd’s column was the latest hail of insults aimed at Obama, including a requisite reference to his mom jeans. But as she started, Dowd dismissed Scott Brown’s chances of winning Jeanne Shaheen’s Senate seat in New Hampshire. Dowd called Brown a “carpetbagger.” This produced a flurry of questions... more »

Carr Driven Off Cliff, Film at 11.

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 31 minutes ago
It never ceases to amaze me how stupid literary agents are. Never. Here are people who fail literally 90-95% of the time to find a home for the adult fiction they choose to represent and literally 90% of the shit that acquisitions editors buy from these idiots lose money. Yet, despite the fact that the publishing industry is in such a highly volatile state, with technological and market trends turning on a dime, the traditional business model remains stagnant, with editors insisting on buying unsalable work from agents who by and large display the most horrible judgment in... more »

Giveaway: Skating for Two at the Utah Olympic Oval

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 34 minutes ago
Olympic Speed Skaters Chad Hedrick and Derek Parra at the Comcast Winter Games Celebration in Provo, Utah. Photo courtesy of Comcast. I think I have the after-Sochi blues. Two weeks of watching ice skating, skiing, hockey and even some curling and then it is over just like that and we go back to the normal, boring TV shows of before. It always makes me a little sad. This year, because of the weird winter we had in Utah, we didn't get the chance to hit the slopes this year and my 5-year-old little ski bunny, was pretty upset. To make it up to her, my husband has decided to take her ic... more »

Uruguay: A Mysterious Sighting in Nueva Helvecia

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 35 minutes ago
*SOURCE: El Intransigente.com and Planeta UFODATE: 03.15.2014* Uruguay: A Mysterious Sighting in Nueva Helvecia Married couple saw a stunning flying object in the Uruguayan region of Nueva Helvecia Dante Soria, a member of *Testimonio OVNI*, was on vacation in the locality of Nueva Helvecia in Uruguay when he became the witness in the enigmatic sighting of a strange object. On the evening Monday, 20 January 2014, he decided to conduct a skywatch with his wife, Luisa Yacón. They both prepared mentally for the undertaking, as both are Reiki masters and form part of the *Testimonio ... more »

Duncan Warns Data Predators to Whom He Gave Privileges in 2009

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 1 hour ago
At the behest of the Silicon Valley billionaires and the testing giants, the Obama Administration gutted FERPA protections for children in schools soon after coming into office, so that now corporate privateers and data predators have rich feeding grounds to collect, sift, and mine student and teacher data for whatever purposes they see fit. With parents and school boards with their hair on fire about cameras in the classroom and "cloud" data storage, Obama's corporate stooge, Arne Duncan, is trying to pretend to address the problem that his office directly caused. What is he doin... more »

Israel Ranked Best Middle Eastern Country to Live in as a Woman | Jewish & Israel News Algemeiner.com

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 hour ago
Who apart from the screaming and shouting at Israel brigade would be surprised? 'Israel was the ranked the best country in which to live as a woman in the Middle East and North Africa region, according to a 2013 report cited by The Huffington Post on Thursday. Each year since 2006, the World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Gender Gap Report examining efforts to close the gap in four categories: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival and political Empowerment. While raked first for its region, the Jewish state came in 53r... more »

Iraq Shows Improvement In Poverty Levels, But Major Hurdles Continue

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 2 hours ago
Despite Iraq’s vast natural resource wealth the country suffers from high rates of poverty. The United Nations just released data on Iraq’s battle with that problem. It provided statistics comparing 2007 with 2011. Those are important dates because they are during and after the civil war. Obviously while there was widespread fighting in the country poverty could not be combatted and likely got worse with the loss of jobs and displacement. Therefore comparing those two years showed how much progress or lack thereof that the government made going from conflict to a relatively peace... more »

TALKING TO OURSELVES: The latest insult to the tribe!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2014* *Part 1—Between a rock and two ferns:* In 1980, the poet Billy Idol broke the world’s hearts with a sad tale of near-onanism: When there's no one else in sight In the crowded lonely night Well I wait so long For my love vibration *And I'm dancing with myself* Oh dancing with myself Oh dancing with myself *Well there's nothing to loseAnd there's nothing to proveI'll be dancing with myself* Poor Idol! We thought of the poet’s sad lament as we watched cable this weekend. In part, we refer to a tedious pair of segments we saw Steve Kornacki host. On balance, ... more »

Pop Quiz, Hotshot, Elections edition

Steve Saideman at Duck of Minerva - 2 hours ago
I have a question for all those folks who study elections: any democracy hold an election within a week or two of being announced?

You Be the Judge. Or, Rather, Don't.

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 2 hours ago
We all have a favorite joke and this one happens to be mine. So what better day to share it than on St. Patrick's Day? ------------------------------ A conservative Irish judge went pub crawling after a hard Friday at court. He was known as a law and order judge and had an image to maintain but after such a hard day, his Irish thirst was raging. After he crawled out of his 6th pub, he vomited all over his brand new suit and racked his reeling brain for what to tell his teetotaling wife Brigit. Then he got a brilliant idea. He poured himself through the front do... more »

How to Win a Billion Dollars

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 3 hours ago
Quicken Loans will pay you a billion dollars if you fill out perfect bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament. But given the odds, the expected value is still less than a penny. You can enter here.

Ukraine Region Votes to Join Russia - WSJ.com

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 3 hours ago
The WSJ reports http://m.us.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304914904579441563920333966?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories&mobile=ythat 'American officials realize that they misjudged Mr. Putin and are working to predict his next move, the senior official said. "We have misread Putin. He is not going to give up," the official said.' How come they couldn't see what I could? Or could they but now Barack Obama has more flexibility in his second term... '

The Press Gallery Takes A Stand

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 3 hours ago
Last week the parliamentary press gallery passed the following motion: "We as the Parliamentary Press Gallery reserve the right to ask questions in all photo-ops and availabilities with the prime minister, cabinet ministers, and all parliamentarians, to fulfill our function as journalists in a democratic society.” The motion was passed in the face of the government's policy of not taking questions from reporters. James Baxter, the editor of *ipolitics*, writes: The Parliamentary Press Gallery has rarely shown the guts and gumption of its Washington counterparts, but we lately hav... more »

TC-48: “The Cadet Flight” - An Argentinean Missing Airplane

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 3 hours ago
*Source: Café Ufologico RIO54Date: 03.16.2014* [*The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 this month will go down as one of the most enigmatic and controversial incidents in aviation history, even if its ultimate whereabouts – and the fates of its 239 passengers – are established at some point after this writing. Unfortunately, it is possible for planes to vanish forever, or to be discovered by chance decades after radio contact was lost. This is the story of TC-48 -- SC*] *TC-48: “The Cadet Flight” - An Argentinean Missing Airplane* *By Rubén Morales and Mario Lupo* A... more »

A federated Ukraine as proposed previously by Russia?

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 3 hours ago
*Yesterday's post contained a link to a TIME article:* White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer also says supporting the new Ukrainian government “in every way possible” is at the top of the Obama’s administration’s priority list. *But action on $1 billion in loan guarantees to Ukraine is on hold because Congress is on a break now.* 1 Billion in loan guarantees on hold because Congress went on break? Yesterday I asked: *Really? Are the thugs of Maidan being hung out to dry? Anyone?* I think they are being hung out to dry. I also suspect the inevitable win in Crimea was the reason f... more »

Service Pact Stuff

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 3 hours ago
[image: IMG_3350] *The Miaoli 54*. The awesome John Tkacik rips the service pact.... (Taipei Times): [The Singapore and N Zealand agreements] ASTEP and ANZTEC were signed under the WTO framework and enjoyed legal protection such as third party mediation and other resolutions and the equal stature of WTO members ensured a real increase in Taiwan’s export, whereas the cross-strait service trade agreement does not fall under such a category of trade agreements, he said. * The tertiary sectors in Taiwan and China are fundamentally different; the Chinese government is heavily involved i... more »

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jonjayray at Food &Health Skeptic - 3 hours ago
*Doctor’s Diary: Statins and their side effects* By James Le Fanu The assertion last week by researchers at London’s Imperial College that statins have virtually no side effects is so contrary to the experience of legions of Daily Telegraph readers over the past few years, it is only reasonable to inquire how they came to this conclusion. Dr Judith Finegold and her colleagues trawled through the published findings of the 29 drug company-sponsored statin trials and discovered that the number of “serious adverse events” to be similar among those taking the drug as among those on pla... more »

Scott Brown Predicts He'll Die In Massachusetts-- Just As His Sleazy Political Career Did

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
A few days ago, Elizabeth Warren sent out a note to her followers warning that Scott Brown, "Wall Street's favorite senator," was back for another try… this time in New Hampshire. When Warren beat Brown in 2012, he managed to win 46% of the vote and spend $35,058,354 to achieve that. Far right hate groups like America 360 Committee, Americans forTax Reform, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Rove's Crossroads GPS poured another $2,192,513 in negative ads into the race smearing Warren. Wall Street gave more money to Brown that to any other Member of Congress-- more than a million dol... more »

China financial strains emerging - March 17 , 2014 ......The Second Chinese Corporate Default: Real Estate Developer With CNY3.5 Billion In Debt Collapses , Zhejiang Xingrun Real Estate Co. doesn’t have enough cash to repay creditors that include more than 15 banks, with China Construction Bank Corp. (939) holding more than 1 billion yuan of its debt, according to the officials, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter. The company’s majority shareholder and his son, its legal representative, have been detained and face charges of illegal fundraising, the officials said.

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 3 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-17/second-chinese-corporate-default-real-estate-developer-cny35-billion-debt-collapses The Second Chinese Corporate Default: Real Estate Developer With CNY3.5 Billion In Debt Collapses [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/17/2014 08:28 -0400 - Bond - China - Copper - Creditors - default - Newspaper - Nomura - Real estate - Yuan inShare A few days ago, copper prices and the Chinese stock market were roiled by speculation that another - the second in a row - Chinese bond defaul... more »

Start This Day & Fear Not - A Quote From M.N. Hopkins

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 3 hours ago
*Start this day and fear not, for love will replace your fear and love will reign again upon the Land.* M.N. Hopkins *If you wish to read some of my poetry, please click on the link provided below:* *Some Poetry by M.N. Hopkins*

Redistribution of income

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 3 hours ago
' Calls are being made for a probe into claims that members of Australia's Eritrean community are being forced to pay a so-called 'diaspora tax'. (Transcript from World News Radio) The federal government is being urged to investigate claims that representatives of the Eritrean government are forcing members of Australia's Eritrean community to pay an income tax banned by the United Nations.' More here http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/03/17/calls-probe-eritrean-diaspora-tax-australia I'm not too surprised, how many other such arrangements are in place in Western World?

NPR Whitewashes “Grit” Narrative

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 3 hours ago
NPR Whitewashes “Grit” Narrative. via NPR Whitewashes “Grit” Narrative.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

Clarissa Dickson Wright R.I.P.

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 3 hours ago
The excellent chef and fascinating person Clarissa Dickson Wright has passed away far too young, at the age of Now I suppose we'll never find out why she claimed Tony Blair's nickname at the Bar back in the 1970s was Miranda. Nor what dirt she had on Peter Mandleson, Jack Straw, Cherie Blair and others. This and some other fascinating stories are alluded to in this Telegraph piece from 2007 'I wish I could relate Clarissa Dickson Wright's gossip about "Miranda", as she claims Tony Blair was known at the Bar when they moved in similar circles, back in the 1970s. The dirt she would ... more »

Crimea Election Updates For March 17 , 2014 ....... The Day Afterwards Crimea Names Ruble Currency; Applies To Join Russia, Expects To Become Region Of Russian Federation By Thursday .......

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-17/crimea-names-ruble-currency-applies-join-russia-expects-become-region-russian-federa Crimea Names Ruble Currency; Applies To Join Russia, Expects To Become Region Of Russian Federation By Thursday [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/17/2014 07:24 -0400 - China - Nationalization - Natural Gas - Poland - Ukraine inShare2 First, for those who have missed this weekend's developing story surrounding events in Crimea, here is the 30 second summary, courtesy of Bloomberg: - U.S., EU warn Russ... more »

Day 10 Malaysian Airline Flight 370 -- the confusion becomes even more pronounced as Malaysia changes its narrative once again -- In yet another puzzling change of the official narrative, acting transport minister and minister of defence Hishammuddin Hussein revised the time of loss of communications with MH370 from 1.30 am local to 1.19 am, which would be two minutes before the last confirmed radar contact with the airliner that used a transponder to identify it to air traffic control system......another change in the narrative comes from how much fuel was allegedly remaining when communication was lost with the pilots ..... China criticisms really becoming loud as to Malaysian chaos incompetence and inability to handle the investigation ( note that was before today's presser with the contact timing and remaining fuel changes , which would impact the two corridors that the hi-jacked plane might have flown within or not flown within ) ......... Reader Michael Rhodes, a Sydney-based solicitor who says he has “extensive experience of Malaysia in particular and Malaysian Airlines” asks why the mobile phones and other communications devices of the people on board have not been traced.

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2014/03/17/mh370-update-has-co-pilot-saying-all-right-good-night/ MH370 update has co-pilot saying ‘all right good night’ BEN SANDILANDS | MAR 17, 2014 9:46PM | EMAIL | PRINT - SHARE - - - - 0 - 0 inShare The newest version of the southern corridor map Malaysia Airlines says it believes the last words heard from missing flight MH370 “all right good night” were spoken by the first officer, Fariq Abdul Hamid. The update at the end of Day 10 of the search for the Boeing 777-200ER and its 239 passengers and crew was told th... more »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*Construction set to begin on Lafitte Greenway project ~WWLTV * *As Louisiana's coast washes away, threatened communities face questions about their identity ~Benjamin Alexander-Bloch* *Zach Strief, New Orleans Saints agree to terms on 5-year contract* *Solar panels could supply N.O. airport’s energy needs ~Jeff Adelson, New Orleans Advocate* *Six: One More Drop of Poison ~Mark Folse*

A Narcissist Scorned: Obama Throws Another Tantrum

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 5 hours ago
Despite weeks of saber rattling and threats from our dear leader *Barack the Feckless* and his bull in a China shop Secretary of State John Kerry, the Skull and Bones pedigreed stammering ass whose brief tenure has now put the US on a path to a war with Russia the referendum in Crimea that they had so desperately wanted to avoid went down on Sunday. With the third body blow to dwindling US prestige now having landed – the first two being Russia’s offer of asylum to former government whistleblower turned NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden followed by the humiliation of Russian leader ... more »

Failure to observe due impartiality

sue at Is the BBC biased? - 5 hours ago
“The BBC’s news division is on course for another row with the corporation’s internal watchdog about its coverage of Israel.The BBC Trust has upheld a complaint which alleged that a five-minute report on Radio 4’s *Today* programme about the Six-Day War was misleading and biased, *The Times* has learnt. The findings, due to be published later this month, will inflame internal tensions that have lingered since the trust partially upheld several complaints about the accuracy and partiality of Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East editor, five years ago.” So begins an article in today... more »

Who Is Unprepared? US Students? Or Arne Duncan?

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 5 hours ago
While Arne Duncan continues his ugly swipes at students, parents, teachers, and schools, I believe it is time to turn the focus on the accuser. Are U.S. students unprepared for college? I recommend Carol Burris’s answer: Are American students grossly unprepared for college? Or is Duncan unprepared, noting that he has no experience teaching but lots […]

"Fukushima Meltdown Could Be 10,000 Times As High As Chernobyl"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*"Fukushima Meltdown Could Be 10,000 Times As High As Chernobyl"* by David McNeill TOKYO — “In the chaotic, fearful weeks after the Fukushima nuclear crisis began, in March 2011, researchers struggled to measure the radioactive fallout unleashed on the public. Michio Aoyama’s initial findings were more startling than most. As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, he said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be *10,000 times as high*as contamination after Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear acci... more »

Ron Paul Calls Out Neocon Meddling in Ukraine

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 6 hours ago
Retired Congressman Ron Paul has been a consistent critic of the neocon domination of US foreign policy that with the western backed overthrow of the democratically elected leader of Ukraine that come roaring back into vogue. Never underestimate the neocons, they were thought to have been permanently discredited and for all intents and purposes dead and buried after the Iraq fiasco but they are back with a vengeance - you can say that they never truly went away. Like the cockroach, the neoconservative seems to be virtually indestructible primarily because unlike the permanently ta... more »

COLLAPSE COMING?

Anon at aangirfan - 6 hours ago
According to a report, by mathematician* Safa Motesharrei* (above) and others, *industrial civilization 'may be heading toward collapse' within decades.* The causes: *1.* the wide gap between the rich and the poor and *2.* the strain on the planet's resources. According to the report, rich 'elites' may be responsible for both problems. According to the report: 'The mass of the population, while producing the wealth, is only allocated a small portion of it by elites, usually at or just above subsistence levels.' The report refers to the downfall of various civilizations, inclu... more »

A Call To Ban GMO Seed & Landscaping Plants In Connecticut

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 6 hours ago
[image: Foto: Testimony from Senator Donald E. Williams at the public hearing for HB 5330 - AAC The Application of Pesticides at Parks, Playgrounds, Athletic Fields and Municipal Greens "I bring this to your attention because we are at a critical juncture. It is not often that we can so clearly see two pathways ahead. The question is whether we will have the vision and foresight to choose the right path, and recognize that the time to act is now. We can ban GMO grass seed and landscaping plants now, before their introduction, and stop the guaranteed environmental destruction that w... more »

BBC reveals: 2,500 year-old Jewish text contains 'negative messages for women'

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 7 hours ago
The wonderful BBC Watch reveals http://bbcwatch.org/2014/03/16/bbc-reveals-2500-year-old-jewish-text-contains-negative-messages-for-womenthat '... the BBC has also added some interpretations of its own to the Purim story and has made the shocking discovery that a 2,500 year-old text contains “negative messages for women”.' I look forward to the BBC's shocked revelation of the negative messages for women that run through the Koran, but I won't hold my breath.

The common core and testing fever

skrashen at Schools Matter - 8 hours ago
Sent to the Oregonian, March 19, 2014 Brett Bigham suggests that we need more standards and less testing ("Common Core Standards are not insidious: Guest opinion," March 16). The Common Core, however, is requiring an astonishing amount of standardized testing, far more than No Child Left Behind (NCLB) required. The new tests include the usual end of year tests, but in more subjects and in all grade levels, as well as interim tests during the year and possibly pretests in the fall to measure improvement over the academic year, about a 20-fold increase over NCLB. The tests will be ... more »

The Nightmare That Never Ends: Devils In America Are Arming Both Sides In Iraq

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 9 hours ago
"The suffering is far from over in Iraq, reports Felicity Arbuthnot. Its new dictator is being supported by massive shipments of horrific weapons from the United States" - *Source*. For the US military-industrial-media-congressional complex, Iraq is the gift that keeps on giving. The US would like nothing more than to see a new Saddam take total control of the country. Not only would it help weapon sales, but he can be demonized in the future so Iraq can be attacked for a third time. By then the US will have developed millions of drones and robots so it won't have to worry about... more »

Media War: The Battle for Crimea

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 9 hours ago
[image: 543] The Western media's myth mill is working overtime to gain ground lost to Russia. *March 17, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - The Western press has been deceiving readers, listeners, and viewers since the beginning of the so-called "Euromaidan" protests - from covering up the ultra-right wing ideology and literal Neo-Nazi flag wavers leading the mobs, to the role the West has played in organizing, funding, and equipping the protesters in the first place. With their proxies now entrenched in Kiev after violently overthrowing the elected government of Viktor Yanukovych,... more »

Who should get the Nobel Prize for cosmic inflation?

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 9 hours ago
Live streaming video by Ustream *Temporary: the live broadcast* *Guest blog by Phil Gibbs, manager of viXra.org* *Graph added in the afternoon, LM.* Today at 4 pm British Summer Time we might hear some good news [and read some documents: already posted! \(r=0.2\) at 6-7 sigma; FAQ on the discovery] about a discovery of primordial gravitational waves and within a few more weeks that could be confirmed in more detail by Planck. If this happens the observational status of the theory of cosmic inflation will change dramatically because primordial gravitational waves have been desc... more »

Nope, no chemtrails here - looking towards London - Oxford 6 a.m.

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET BLOG - 10 hours ago
it's been a while since I posted an "Oxford, looking towards London" chemtrails picture, so here's one from this morning, 6 a.m. Kinda ugly, ain't it?

Books About the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 12 hours ago
You can find a review of my book and four others by Charles Perrow at the journal, The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists here http://thebulletin.org/five-assessments-fukushima-disaster Dr. Charles Perrow, an emeritus professor at Yale and visiting professor at Stanford, reviews the following in his 'Five assessments of the Fukushima disaster': Samuels, Richard J (2013) *3.11: **Disaster and Change in Japan*. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press Nadesan, Majia H (2013) *Fukushima and the Privatization of Risk*. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan The Independent Investigation Commi... more »

"They Tore Down Paradise To Put Up A Parking Lot"

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 12 hours ago
Statue of Sir Thomas Browne in Norwich, England. *Wikipedia:* Sir Thomas Browne (19 October 1605 – 19 October 1682) was an English polymath and author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including science and medicine, religion and the esoteric. Browne is widely considered one of the most original writers in the English language. The freshness and ingenuity of his mind invested everything he touched with interest; while on more important subjects his style, if frequently rugged and pedantic, often rises to the highest pitch of stately eloquence. His p... more »

Growing Inequality Reflected in Health Outcomes

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 12 hours ago
Within the US: “The gaps continue to widen between the communities with the highest life expectancy and the lowest,” said Christopher Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle, which produces the county-level life-expectancy figures. “There is nothing in sight that suggests that the 25-year trend is going to stop.” A. Lowrey (2014, March 15) Income Gap, Meet the Longevity Gap. The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/business/income-gap-meet-the-longevity-gap.html?emc=edit_th_20140316&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=32962000

Our own Doonesbury flashback: When Joanie Caucus joined Elizabeth Warren's Senate staff

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 12 hours ago
*DOONESBURY -- Monday, Februay 4, 2013* [*Click on any of today's strips to enlarge -- significantly!*] *by Ken* A couple of weeks ago, in presenting that Sunday's *Doonesbury* comparison of "Banskter Life in the U.S. vs. Iceland," I got sidetracked into reflecting on the shock of radio guy Mark Slackmeyer's white hair, and pointed out: *Simpsons* creator Matt Groening, you'll recall, made the conscious decision at the outset that his characters wouldn't age, that they would remain pretty much locked in time. Garry Trudeau has taken the opposite tack. I don't know of any comic str... more »

Sunday Night w/ the Wise Old Man

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 12 hours ago
Welcome to *Sunday Night w/ the Wise Old Man*! Zan Overall, also known as the Wise Old Man, is an activist, musican and actor. Tonight, we will once again hear two of the Wise Old Man's excellent songs, along with a review of his recent activism and a commentary on some articles recently appearing in *American Free Press* and *The Barnes Review*. You can download the mp3 for this program *here*, or visit *The Realist Report* on BlogTalkRadio to subscribe via iTunes and view past programs. I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in and supported the *Spring 2014 fundraiser... more »

My Vegan Life - Eating Out

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 12 hours ago
[image: My Vegan Life - Eating Out]*Dietary restrictions make * *eating "out" a challenge*.For the most part, going vegan has been easy. We cook at home using fresh, whole ingredients and create delicious meals. But every once in awhile, we enjoy a meal out ... and that presents a problem. Not everyone understands the meaning of "vegan" or even "vegetarian". [image: Eating out presents a challenge to vegans.]*Restaurants aren't always vegan friendly.*Many people assume that "meatless" simply means "without beef". In restaurants, a server may tell you that a vegetable soup is vegetar... more »

Ann Frank

Paul Coker at News Spike - 13 hours ago
Now, that's what I call an October Surprise.... Hang on... Wait, what..?! Let me guess - The fourth volume of the four, implicitly, would be the one covering the Auschwitz narrative... I quote The Enemy: "*Bíró László József* (surname placed first per Hungarian convention; Spanish: Ladislao José Biro; 29 September 1899 – 24 October 1985) was the inventor of the modern ballpoint pen. Bíró (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbiːroː]) was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1899 into a Jewish family. He presented the first production of the ballpoint pen at the Budapest International Fair i... more »

space opera

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 13 hours ago

Gates and Duncan and Their Common Core “Freedom” Charade

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 13 hours ago
In his purchased keynote at the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) (I know, huh?), billionaire-with-zero-teaching-experience Bill Gates insisted that the feds are getting the bum rap when it comes to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). As Huffington Post’s Joy Resmovits notes, Gates went on to address critiques that the Common Core represents a national curriculum, […]

Ukraine: Bulgarian observer declares electoral process democratic and free; Obama rejects Crimea vote

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 13 hours ago
An excerpt from, *"US rejects Crimea vote, cites Russian intimidation"* by Matthew Lew, AP, March 16: President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that Crimea's vote to secede from Ukraine and join Russia "would never be recognized" by the United States, as he and other top U.S. officials warned Moscow against making further military moves toward southern and eastern Ukraine. The two leaders spoke after residents in Crimea voted overwhelmingly in favor of the split in a referendum that the United States, European Union and others say violates the Ukrainia... more »

East v West in 18 simple infographics

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 14 hours ago
A picture is worth a thousand words" href="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words.html" target=_blank>Confucius never said “a picture is worth a thousand words.” But Chinese graphic artist Yang Liu ingeniously saves many thousand in illustrating cultural differences between Chinese and westerners. These are my faves. [image: image] [image: image] And for anyone who’s ever eaten Yum Char… [image: image] Head here for all 18. [Hat tip Stephen Hicks] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon ... more »

Call Your State Senator Tomorrow in Tennessee

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 14 hours ago
Local TV news in Knoxville has typical coverage below of the move by the TN House last week, which voted overwhelmingly to delay implementation of Common Core testing. Note that Mike Edwards, who leads off the "fair and balanced coverage," is the President of Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, a Board of Director member of the Teneessee Business Roundtable, member of the U. S. Chamber of Horrors, and member of the State Board of Education. Note, too, that no students, parents, or teachers were interviewed. Call your state Senator tomorrow and simply tell her this: Please vote with t... more »

YOU are @thechalkface!

Timothy D. Slekar at @ THE CHALK FACE - 14 hours ago
DON’T BE CONFUSED @the chalkface is still the punk rock thrill ride that delivers readers, viewers, and listeners the unfiltered truth about education reform. We don’t take corporate contributions from Gates and Walton. But what about this new Chalkbeat? Sadly they do take funds from Gates and Walton. This is your brain on Chalkbeat. This […]

Ukraine: "We are going home, Crimea is in Russia!" - PM Aksyonov; Mother Russia Wins Crimea Referendum Vote

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 15 hours ago
Ukraine: "We are going home, Crimea is in Russia!" - PM Aksyonov. Source: RuptlyTV. Date Published: March 16, 2014.

Watch Guy Cecil And Michael Bennet Hand Mitch McConnell The Senate Leader Post

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Rick and Rounds The *Rapid City Journal* is arguably the most conservative newspaper in South Dakota. And they are certainly more conservative than the Beltway operative who seems hellbent on handing control of the Senate over to the Republicans, DSCC executive director Guy Cecil. Cecil, still pouting that he was unable to deliver the South Dakota Democratic nomination to former Blue Dog chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, has blackballed South Dakota Democratic nominee Rick Weiland. Weiland has been endorsed by Tom Daschle and Tim Johnson and by most of the Democrats in the Senate... more »

#WhatCouldGoWrong

Michael Paul Goldenberg at @ THE CHALK FACE - 16 hours ago
Originally posted on Math Minds: On Tuesday, I received a book entitled “Accelerating Learning for All Students” in which all of the teachers in the district will receive professional development in the upcoming week. I cannot speak to the ELA piece of the material, however the math examples made me cringe. I quickly got out…

On the Education of a PM as a Crony [updated]

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 16 hours ago
The place in which PM John Key learned about business was a business dedicated to sucking the marrow out of special privilege, says Charles Morris from Reuters (linked to this morning by David Chaston at Interest.Co.NZ). Merrill Lynch were the crony’s crony, and they died of it. Between 2001 and 2008, [says Chaston] …. they paid out US$50 billion in salaries and bonuses, and sold out to Bank of America. A “sell-out” made at the point their modern business model had collapsed, at the height of the 2008 Crash. Indeed, after a proper accounting it seems even after the terrific pr... more »

Untitled

JR at GREENIE WATCH - 16 hours ago
*EPA Bureaucrats Paint the Town Red with Federal Charge Cards* There appears to be a flourishing culture of financial misconduct at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This culture has been perpetuated by a lack of administrative oversight leading to millions of taxpayer dollars being wasted. At a time when D.C.’s fiscal climate is characterized by a national debt that is spiraling out of control, there is no excuse for any government organization to be lacking financial accountability. A report released this month by the EPA Inspector General (IG) found EPA employees impr... more »

AMERICA AND THE NEOCONS LIED THEN - AND STILL LIE TODAY

In an article today at *Commentary* online, senior neoconservative writer Michael Rubin attempts to perpetuate the lie that the US was given false intelligence about Saddam Hussein’s WMDs. Rubin writes: *The narrative of “Bush lied, people died,” is nonsense of course. The problem was that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein bluffed his own generals and aides. When Americans tapped into their phone calls, they heard Saddam’s lieutenants discussing such weapons as if they had them, and when American spies debriefed their Iraqi counterparts, there was no sign of deception because many of t... more »

Gee, Obama Not A Progressive? We're Shocked! Shocked! That Gambling's Been Going On! (They Tell US the Stories (And We Gasp and Believe Them?))

You can't trick karma (Confidence - Ed Burns). Although you can try. The real trick is keeping the downtrodden, despairing millions serenely tricked. That takes real confidence. The last comment below mirrors that confidence game. To our lasting grief. Or: There is a club. And you are not invited. There Is No Meritocracy: It’s Just the 1 Percent, and the Game Is Rigged

Stephen Harper and Senate scandal

LeDaro at LeDaro - 17 hours ago
Richard Nixon seemed to have spoken the same words when faced with the Watergate scandal.

Can Economists Ever Get It Right? [updated]

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 18 hours ago
What do economists do all day, and why should anyone care? Working economists promote their “science” on the basis of their forecasts. But are their forecasts any better than throwing a dart at a board? Recent reports say “No.” It's hard to find nice things to say about economists. Their detachment from the real world of human activity is matched only by their enormous influence over it, and by their unearned assumption that this arrangement is well deserved. Both unearned and undeserved, as a new OECD report on their own economists’ reports makes clear enough. Translate this f... more »

“World War 1All Over Again: The Same Fools Play the Same Game”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 18 hours ago
*“World War 1All Over Again: The Same Fools Play the Same Game”* By Paul Craig Roberts “If you reduce the lie to a scientific system, put it on thick and heavy, and with great effort and sufficient finances scatter it all over the world as the pure truth, you can deceive whole nations for a long time and drive them to slaughter for causes in which they have not the slightest interest.” - Chief French Editor, “Behind the Scenes in French Journalism”, describing the organization of World War 1 propaganda in France. Did US Secretary of State John Kerry ask you before he delivered an al... more »

Common Core As “Technologically Necessary”: A Looming Shift In Sales Pitch?

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 18 hours ago
The term Common Core is so negatively charged that Common Core State Standards (CCSS) proponents are trying their hardest to ditch the term– not ditch CCSS– just the term. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee suggested that states “rebrand” the CCSS product– give it a shiny new name in order to fool the public into thinking its gone. In my […]

Fat Cats and Suck-Ups

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 18 hours ago
The headline in the so-called Progressive Congressional Caucus's latest budget proposal tells the whole sordid, regressive story: 8.8 MILLION JOBS BY 2017 $4 TRILLION IN DEFICIT REDUCTION Austerity is dead, and income inequality has been proclaimed as the defining challenge of our time. So long live.... *Deficit Reduction? * Somebody hasn't been reading their Paul Krugman, who rightly observes that it's stupid to worry about deficit reduction during economic downturns. Somebody didn't get the message that the Fix the Debt cult of billionaire deficit hawks just turned diseased tai... more »

7 Things Anti-Interventionists Forgot to Tell Putin

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 18 hours ago
It’s good advice, says Robert Tracinski, only the people who need it aren’t listening. ‘This is the fundamental naiveté of the anti-interventionists. They offer excellent advice, just not to the people who need it. You might call this the paradox of pacifism: the reasonable counsels of peace find their most eager audience among those who least need to hear them, while being ignored by the fanatics and strongmen who actually drive most of the world’s conflicts. So all of this advice just ends up restraining the good guys and letting the bad guys run wild—until we are forced into a... more »

Crimea: Massive turnout/votes overwhelmingly in favour of joining Russia

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 18 hours ago
With a turnout the western governments could only dream of. The turn out does indeed make legitimate the decision. I believe the last election in Canada saw about 50 percent turn out? Unsure of the US? Making the government, at least in Canada, quite illegitimate in their claims of representing the people of Canada. *Early Count Shows 95 Percent of Crimea Voters Want to Be Russian* With fifty percent of the ballots counted, an overwhelming 95.5 percent of voters in Crimea are in favor of joining Russia, a preliminary tally indicated Sunday. Only 3.5 percent voted to remain part of Uk... more »

Common Core = “College Ready” ?

Chris Cerrone at @ THE CHALK FACE - 19 hours ago
From New York parent Loy Gross: Why do we need Common Core? Experts tell us it will make kids “college and career ready.” And let me add, potatoes don’t have wings because my bicycle is a 10-speed. Out of those two statements, only one has a measure of truth. Potatoes don’t have wings. And my […]

Ebstein's Anomaly

John Carroll at Dying in Haiti - 19 hours ago
Marc--February, 2014 (Photo by John Carroll)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: On the Ideal Conditions and Myths of Creativity [updated]

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
*“Baby, air and light and time and space have nothing to do with it and don’t create anything except maybe a longer life to find new excuses for.”* - Charles Bukowski, from his 1992 poem “Air and Light and Time and Space,” which cartoonist Zen Pencils has creatively adapted for comic book. Probably while working 16-hour days in a coal mine. UPDATE: Scientist and science fiction writer Isaac Asimov makes a similar point less poetically: “I was once being interviewed by Barbara Walters in three segments, all at once, though they were to be run on three separate days. In between... more »

Sunday Classics: Verdi's Queen Elisabeth demands justice from King Philip but gets something else

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 19 hours ago
*Ferruccio Furlanetto (at the Met last year) as the sleepless King Philip in his study -- with the fateful jewel box* *The *KING*'s study in Madrid. The *KING*, plunged in deep meditation, leaning on a table covered with papers, where candles are near burning out. Day begins to illuminate the colored glass of the windows.* *KING PHILIP* [*as if in a dream*]: She never loved me. No, that heart is closed to me. She doesn't love me, she doesn't love me. I still see her again, contemplating with a sad look my white mane the day that she came here from France. No, she doesn't love me, s... more »

While World Attention Stays Focused On Ukraine: Remembering Rachel Corrie, Murdered 11 Years Ago Today By The Criminal State Of Israel

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 19 hours ago
Yes, the world is still indeed focused squarely on the nation of Ukraine that of course saw a US led coup against its democratically elected government earlier this year. And there is of course the very important referendum today where the results of the vote have just come in and the proud people of Crimea have voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation. Things may go from bad to worse this coming week as the US criminal regime has stated that they will not honor the rights of the Crimean people and will reject this legal referendum results... Th... more »

HC Unit Theory - first post of 2014 - 12 into 20 will it go?

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET BLOG - 19 hours ago
so, for those, like me, who've been a) trying to keep up with HC Unit ideas and b) make cogent sense of them, here's another enigmatic entry for discussion. We already know that HC3 i.e. three HC Units out of phase by 90 degrees, are the building block of all atoms. HC1 is hydrogen, alternating through 0+0- cycles. HC4 is helium, no net (charge) output, all curves complimented. HC12 is carbon. Now, remember how Carbon is made of four groups of HC3 (I've highlighted them within the 'grey mass'. The next Nobel gas up from Carbon is Neon, that's HC20. So, by having to squeeze a ... more »

Chris Hedges,“Welcome to Satan’s Ball”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*“Welcome to Satan’s Ball”* by Chris Hedges “Mikhail Bulgakov’s “The Master and Margarita,” a bitter satire of Soviet life at the height of Stalin’s purges, captured the surrealist experience of living in a brutal totalitarianism. In the novel’s world, lies are considered true and truth is considered seditious. Existence is a dark carnival of opportunism, unchecked state power, hedonism and terrorism. It is peopled with omnipotent secret police, wholesale spying and surveillance, show trials, censorship, mass arrests, summary executions and disappearances, along with famines, gulag... more »

George Osborne's Political Vision

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 20 hours ago
The Budget affords ambitious chancellors the chance to shine. Thus goes the common sense of the observers of Westminster's murky intrigues. If true, might one expect fiscal pyrotechnics at the despatch box this week as George Osborne delivers his speech? After all, this is the long lead-in to a contest the Tories are widely expected to lose. If this most likely scenario comes to pass and the front bench assumes seats on the other side of the house post-2015 (hopefully for a very long time), might we expect some post-Dave positioning this Wednesday from the present Second Lord of th... more »

NATO's killers in Syria: Will Trade Golan in exchange for no fly zone enforcement

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 21 hours ago
Can it be anymore clear that the 'opposition' is not Syrian? Not that I need to remind regular readers here. Can it be anymore clear that the so called opposition has been supported by, cooperated with and continues to collude with Israel. Israel is not afraid of Islamists for the simple reason they are on the same team. That fact is abundantly clear! *Haaretz- Syrian Opposition willing to trade Golan claims for Israeli Military support* Top opposition official tells Al Arab newspaper militant groups want Israel to enforce a no-fly zone. The Syrian opposition is willing to give up... more »

Manhunt leads to massive roadblock, warrantless car-to-car searches

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 21 hours ago
*(many still seem to be asking whether we live in a Police State, or if Martial Law is coming . . hate to tell you, we are already in it . . it just depends on where it raises its demonic head to keep us "safe & protected" from the "bad guys" . . . if the Constitution is disregarded by thug cops, the military, judges and the courts, we are in Martial Law . . what else can you call it, when there is no adherence to the US Constitution? . . .) * [image: Police State USA] The bank's money was ultimately safe and sound, although the same could not be said of the rights of many innocent ... more »

Jake Clark's Story: How one warrior was saved from suicide

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Video Title: Jake Clark's Story: How one warrior was saved from suicide. Source: DavidLynchFoundation. Date Published: December 6, 2013. Description: In 2012, Jake founded "Save A Warrior" a week-long retreat centered around the experience of Transcendental Meditation. "When you know the pain that these guys are in, you're compelled to stick your hand out. They're the guys that get involved with their communities, they are the coaches, they are the teachers, they are the police officers, they are the fire fighters. What we will do is we will change the way we prepare warriors in ... more »

SUNDAY SONG

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 22 hours ago

R.E., Americans and the Pope, David Cameron's Jewish ancestry, Tony Benn, a Catholic prize winner, & Francis and Justin

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 22 hours ago
This week's *Sunday*. 1. *R.E.* *Religious education can reduce religious misunderstanding and conflict according to a new report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on RE. Edward Stourton talks to Stephen Lloyd MP and former counter terrorism minister Hazel Blears.* This opening segment returned to a topic first discussed on *Sunday* a couple of weeks ago, when the programme featured a very one-sided report about the effect government bursary cuts might have on RE knowledge. That report consisted of campaigners from *only* one side of the argument (the side critical of Michae... more »

Lost in the supermarket

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 22 hours ago
The clash identified the problem perfectly. But now that has become a kind of wage slavery. Yes we will pay whatever it cost to monopolies to those companies that own democracy.

While the Crimea referendum has become a controversy , why haven't referendums in the Venetian Republic , Kosovo , South Sudan , Scotland , Catalonia and the Falklands not only have not been fiercely opposed by the West including the US - in certain situations , they have been supported ?

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 22 hours ago
​‘Serene’ referendum: Italian region votes on restoration of Venetian Republic Published time: March 16, 2014 10:32 Edited time: March 16, 2014 16:00 Get short URL [image: Reuters / Manuel Silvestri] Reuters / Manuel Silvestri Share on tumblr Tags EU, Human rights, Politics, Protest As Crimeans make their way to the polls this Sunday, another region further in the heart of Europe is also deciding its fate in a referendum: the Italian region of Veneto, which is voting on whether to break with Rome. The independence movement insists the industrial northern region’s wealth is being draine... more »

Censored News March 2014

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 23 hours ago
Here's some of our top articles, and original articles, during March 2014! Indigenous Resistance Lakota Allies Gather to Stand Sacred Ground Bahe of Big Mountain: Gradual Resurgence of Land Based Resistance Klee Benally on Democracy Now: Uranium mining and genocide Border Militarization on Democracy Now: Alex Soto and Klee Benally Leonard Peltier denied medication in prison Robert Free:

We Are Complicit In Picking The Elites Who Fail Us So Miserably

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Couched in a non-controversial endorsement of Illinois progressive, George Gollin, Alan Grayson touched on a painful-- and dangerous-- trend regarding the quality of American political candidates. "One of the dirty little secrets of Congress," he wrote, "is that many of us legislate in areas in which we are utterly bereft of knowledge. If ignorance is bliss, then some of our Members must be deliriously happy." [T]o the extent that Members of Congress know any stuff at all, it’s always the same stuff. According to *Roll Call*, out of the 435 Members of the House, we have 187 busin... more »

Provocateur McCain Returns to Kiev

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 1 day ago
Senator John McCain, the man whose adoration by the US state-corporate media is second only to his proclivity to turn up as an agitator in whichever country happens to be the next stop on the neocon PNAC world domination tour has showed up in Kiev again this weekend. With the massively over-hyped imminent Russian invasion only hours away according to US and western propaganda organs - because Putin is just like Hitler you know - the pathological media whore is hellbent on working the crowds after the western backed coup d'etat that ousted democratically elected leader Viktor Yanuk... more »

If the law don't get you, your regulatory body will

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 1 day ago
What fuckery is this? From BC. Women’s health clinics, health authorities and the Opposition NDP are lining up to criticize new fees that could lead to service cuts at community abortion clinics. Two Metro Vancouver women’s centres and one Vancouver Island clinic are facing 400 per cent increases to regulatory fees charged by the College of Physicians and Surgeons this year, which equate to an almost $9,000 bill this year. The College had raised these fees to other clinics a few years ago but granted the women's centres a reprieve. Now suddenly and summarily ended. The college i... more »

Mike Duffy in his defence

LeDaro at LeDaro - 1 day ago

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Living With Water * *Why The Prison Capital Of The World Should Legalize Marijuana ~CenLamar* *Marigny Murder: Shooting at Iggy's Bar ~NOLA DEFENDER* *Jackie Clarkson loses District C race, announces she will become honorary consul general to Lithuania ~Kevin Allman, Gambit *

To our bosses and our bosses’ bosses, the #edreform hiearchy

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
First, a vocabulary lesson. To the left, the simple Google definition of the word “priority.” It would seem as if thought and policy leaders in many school systems, particularly those in tenuous political climates, try to put schools in low-income communities of color in a position of “priority.” That is, divert the most resources to […]

Northerntruthseeker Rant For Sunday, March 16th, 2014

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
[image: rant-jpeg-b] I am back... This sinus infection/cold combination definitely took longer than I had anticipated to clear up. I decided that I was not going to push myself the last few days and just do the right thing by getting plenty of rest, liquids, etc. That also meant not spending much time on the computer. I know that I missed a lot of things going on in the world and I spent much of last night catching up.... Hopefully I can have much of that covered in this rant, so bear with me... I see things still running red hot in the Ukraine right now, with so much talk in t... more »

Siberian Scientists playing God ? EXCLUSIVE: Siberian scientists announce they now have a 'high chance' to clone the woolly mammoth ..... what could go wrong and wasn't there a movie along these lines called Jurassic Park ?

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
http://siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/exclusive-siberian-scientists-announce-they-now-have-a-high-chance-to-clone-the-extinct-woolly-mammoth/ EXCLUSIVE: Siberian scientists announce they now have a 'high chance' to clone the woolly mammoth By Anna Liesowska 13 March 2014 Discovery of blood in creature frozen for 43,000 years is seen as major breakthrough by international team. 'We must have a reason to clone, as it is one thing to do it for scientific purpose, and another - to clone for the sake of curiosity'. Picture: Nikolay Pschennikov, North-Eastern Federal Universtity ... more »

The Self-Defeating South, Words Not Spoken: Racism as a Scar and Cancer

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
The Self-Defeating South, Words Not Spoken: Racism as a Scar and Cancer. via The Self-Defeating South, Words Not Spoken: Racism as a Scar and Cancer.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

Bias in Newsnight's recruitment policy

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day ago
There's an interesting exchange at *Biased BBC*, in the light of *Newsnight*'s appointment of the TUC's chief economist to be its new Economics Editor, which has got me thinking. Here's that exchange in a nutshell: *Guest Who*: Most people prefer to be totally unaware of what the politics of their bringers of information and education are because their professional efforts are objective. The BBC does however rather seem to fish from one, very limited, noisy pond, and seems content to reap what it flaunts. *Dunc*: The point surely is not to employ someone who is objective, but t... more »

Riding the Hills of Miaoli

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 1 day ago
[image: IMG_3340] *Drew rests on the climb on the 52-3.* Helluva a ride this Saturday as Drew and I banged around the hills of Miaoli, and came home banged up but happy. This ride took us on one of my favorite local roads, Pinglin Road out of Jhuolan in Miaoli. From Pinglin Road, we took the Miaoli 54 back to the 3. Once we reached the 3, we turned south and took the 52-3 along the northwest side of the Liyu Reservoir. Brutal hills, but lovely views. Only about 85 kms round trip from Taichung, but well over 1000 meters of climbing.... click that READ MORE link below.... *Route ma... more »

Sabotaging Environment Canada

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 1 day ago
Minister of the Environment Leona Aglukkaq recently released a report setting forth her ministry's priorities. They are: "conservation and restoration of landscapes, water and wildlife; information on changing weather patterns and minimizing threats from pollution." These priorities are supposedly part of an overall plan to provide "a clean, safe and sustainable environment while supporting economic prosperity." But, Andrew Nikiforuk writes, funding for the ministry is being slashed. As usual, the Harper government's rhetoric doesn't match its deeds: For priority one, Environment... more »

Will The Republican War On Science Lead To A Paul Broun Victory In Georgia?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Friday, Alan Grayson endorsed particle physicist George Gollin for Congress from Illinois' 13th congressional district. He began his endorsement with a simple statement you can hear all too often from the more educated members of Congress-- Grayson has three graduate degrees from Harvard: "I’m really getting tired of listening to people who don’t know what they’re talking about. One of the dirty little secrets of Congress is that many of us legislate in areas in which we are utterly bereft of knowledge. If ignorance is bliss, then some of our Members must be deliriously happy." He... more »

Untitled

jonjayray at Food &Health Skeptic - 1 day ago
*Growing evidence that autism is linked to pollution* *The journal article is: *Environmental and State-Level Regulatory Factors Affect the Incidence of Autism and Intellectual Disability" *. What they in fact found was a correlation between the rate of congenital malformations of the reproductive system and autism. They claimed that the rate of congenital malformations of the reproductive system is a surrogate for environmental exposure to pollution. That is drawing a long bow indeed. Pollution may be one cause of malformations but it is not even clear that it is the main ca... more »

Capitalist domination of politics breeds contempt

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 1 day ago
We've lost sight of who we're supposed to be. The majority of us never really knew. We cling to comfortable, incoherent generalities. Who cares that Canada's government tortures? Who cares that we allow ourselves to be ruled by a government with contempt for Parliament and steals re-election via election fraud? A bunch of young men who were born here won a series of hockey games as a team representing us! (And some women did the same sort of thing.) We rock. Just typing those words makes me cringe inside.

War Watch March 15 , 2014 -- Syria -- We now see that an Al-Qaeda Faction ( Al Qaeda in Iraq aka A Q I ) Attacks Israel at Border with Lebanon Israel Shells Hezbollah Targets 'in Retaliation' , Al-Qaeda Faction Leaves Northwest Syrian Provinces Forces Are Shoring Up Defenses Amid Threats From Rival Rebels , Fresh From Syria, Saudi Militants Head to Yemen to Fight for al-Qaeda AQAP Sees Influx of Seasoned Fighters ........ Pakistan -- Drone strikes down in Pakistan but spike in Afghanistan , 19 Killed in Bombings as Pakistani Taliban Splinter Group Threatens Talks TTP Blasts Faction for 'Conspiracy' to Derail Talks ...... Turkey -- Corruption scandals , media intimidation efforts update and additional PM Erdogan antic updates !

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Syria......... Al-Qaeda Faction Attacks Israel at Border with LebanonIsrael Shells Hezbollah Targets 'in Retaliation' by Jason Ditz, March 14, 2014 Print This | Share This Israeli troops shelled several Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon today, nominally in retaliation for a bombing attack against troops along the border. It was soon apparent, however, that Hezbollah was not to blame. Rather, it was al-Qaeda in Iraq(AQI), the splinter faction which controls territory across northern Syria and Iraq, which claimed credit for the strike. The bomb hit an Israeli military convoy, thoug... more »

Council of Islamic Ideology declares women's existence anti-Islamic | Pakistan Today

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
I had to read this article twice in case it was a parody. Maybe it is because otherwise it's truly horrific. 'Islamabad - Sharia Correspondent: The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) concluded their 192nd meeting on Thursday with the ruling that women are un-Islamic and that their mere existence contradicted Sharia and the will of Allah. As the meeting concluded CII Chairman Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani noted that women by existing defied the laws of nature, and to protect Islam and the Sharia women should be forced to stop existing as soon as possible. The announcement comes a cou... more »

West to Punish Crimea for Fleeing Regime in Kiev

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 1 day ago
[image: band-eu-ctj71081-600x338]*March 16, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Indicative of the West’s true stance on democracy, Reuters reported in its article, “Kerry warns U.S., Europe ready to act if Crimea referendum held,” that: *The United States and the European Union will take serious steps against Russia if a referendum on Ukraine’s Crimea region goes ahead as planned on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday.* Bloomberg News would add that the US and EU planned to “exact an economic toll” if the referendum went ahead – in other words the emplacement of... more »

Ukraine’s Crimea goes to independence poll on March 16 , 2014 -- A crucial referendum on either becoming an integral part of Russia or staying within Ukraine on conditions of wide autonomy has kicked off in the Republic of Crimea despite international condemnation and pressure from Kiev...... And then we shall see what happens after the Referendum !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
http://rt.com/news/crimea-independence-referendum-poll-110/ A crucial referendum on either becoming an integral part of Russia or staying within Ukraine on conditions of wide autonomy has kicked off in the Republic of Crimea despite international condemnation and pressure from Kiev. PaulaSlier_RT @*PaulaSlier_RT* Follow Cold and raining in #*Simferopol* but voting going smoothly and people turning up at polling booths #*Crimea* #*Crimeareferendum* 4:30 AM - 16 Mar 2014 The polling stations of 27 regional Crimea election commissions are going to be open all day long, starting from 8a... more »

War watch March 14 , 2014 --- Turkey has more than 2 millions citizens march in protest upon the death of 15 year Berkin Elvan - 417 arrested and claims of disproportionate force raised , First indictment in Turkey's graft probe sent to deputy chief prosecutor , Economy Minister insists Turkey’s ‘economic success’ target of graft allegations , Funeral of young man killed in sidelines of Berkin Elvan protests cause tension in sensitive area ........ Syria -- Syrian Islamists: 94 Hostages Held Since August Available for ‘Swap’ Will Trade Them for 2,000 Detainees ....... Iraq death dealing and sectarian fighting continues unabated ....... Afghanistan news items of note

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Turkey...... Two million marched, 417 arrested during Berkin Elvan protests as ‘disproportionate force’ probed Fevzi KIZILKOYUNHÜRRİYET / ANKARA Print PageSend to friend » - - - - - Share [image: Thousands of people attend the funeral of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during last year's anti-government protests, in Istanbul on March 12. AFP photo] Thousands of people attend the funeral of Berkin Elvan, the 15-year-old boy who died from injuries suffered during last year's anti-government protests, in Istanbul on March 12. AFP p... more »

Does the British 'Justice' system want the Islamist terrorists to win?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
Read the whole of this Mail article http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2581477/Terrorist-freed-jail-early-plotting-blow-transatlantic-planes-caught-trying-Syria.htmland despair at the stupidity of the British justice system. ' A terrorist freed early from jail after plotting to blow up transatlantic planes has admitted trying to sneak out of Britain on a fake passport. Nabeel Hussain, 30, who was convicted in 2009 for his part in a suicide mission to blow up seven passenger jets with liquid explosives disguised as soft drinks, was arrested at Stansted on September 23 as he trie... more »

Day 9 of the Malaysia Airline Flight 370 Mystery - Open questions remain . 1) How could a passenger jet, 74 metres long and with a 61-metre wingspan, apparently disappear for six hours before anyone raised the alarm ? 2) how could it cross the airspace of multiple countries in a region sensitive about security without anyone noticing ? 3) When the inspector general of Malaysian police announced that his officers were looking at several possible causes of the disappearance: hijacking, sabotage, or the crew and passengers' personal or psychological problems , were all crew and passengers cleared ? 4) whether the communication systems systems were shut off before or after air traffic control last spoke to the pilots. The calm "Goodnight" from the cockpit clearly raises questions if the systems had already been disabled. 5) Significant navigational experience as well as flight knowledge ( the timing of the diversion is also striking: just as the responsibility of Malaysia's air traffic control officials gave way to Vietnam's. The perfect opportunity for the plane to go missing with minimal attention ) , so if the pilot and co-pilot were not involved , who one the plane had such knowledge ? 6) Which leads to the basic question - what is the motive for this hi-jack ? 7) If this was a kidnapping , who is / are the target(s) and why not attempt to contact anyone to date , no ransom demand to date ? 8) If this was piracy - what was the booty - perhaps Malaysia Airlines will clarify what cargo ( from an one individual worth more than 500 , 000 or any one company worth more than a million dollars was carried in freight ? 9) If an act of terror , why no explosion evidence a week later , despite using the sophisticated techniques available today - and no debris found after a week or jet fuel observed ? Moreover , no one has claimed this event creditably to date 10 ) Have all military and civilian airbases within the flight range ( see visual aids section ) confirmed no observations of Flight 370 on either military or civilian radar or other communication systems and does that include Diego Garcia ? Will they make their communication data available to investigators ? Would such bases allow investigators access to clear each base as being a harbor / hiding place for the missing plane ?

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-16/malaysian-airlines-flight-370-complete-timeline-and-infographic Malaysian Airlines Flight 370: The Complete Timeline And Infographic [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/16/2014 11:14 -0400 - Australia - Boeing - China - Fail - France - Hong Kong - India - Kazakhstan - Turkmenistan - Uzbekistan - Yuan inShare With Malaysian authorities frustrated (and seemingly confused), and US and Chinese government offering "help" to solve this increasingly mysterious disa... more »

A Fascinating article I found online about what may have happened to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
I'm not saying it's true, just fascinating... http://www.reddit.com/r/news/comments/20dopw/comprehensive_timeline_malaysia_airlines_flight/cg2uht6

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*HAPPY ST. PAT'S DAY NEW ORLEANS!*

Free Planet - first ever LIVE remote viewing session.

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET BLOG - 1 day ago
this term 'remote viewing' it's been applied to all sorts of military WAR WORLD Covert Operative abilities and assets. Personally, it sounds like the equivalent of Day Dreaming, to me; just letting one's mind wander and writing down shit. So, I was doing something else. Reading some blog/website/forum, and I got this 'message' come through. Not a words and pictures message, just a 'feeling'. The back-right of my head started to tingle, like I was being asked to do this experiment right now. So, *anything for a laugh*, based on this 'feeling' and the insistent back-right head-buzz,... more »

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JR at GREENIE WATCH - 1 day ago
*No warmer now than it was in 2003* *And other differences are microscopic when expressed as percentages of degrees Kelvin* No warming. That is what can be deduced from data compiled by NASA as it relates to temperature over the past decade. The average temperature in 2003 was 14.61 degrees Celsius. And the average temperature in 2013 was 14.61 degrees Celsius, at a growth rate of 0 percent. Yet, carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased by more than 5.5 percent, from 375.77 parts per million (ppm) to 396.48 ppm, according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA... more »

Rubber Duck II: Attack of the Pandas

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 1 day ago
A friend snapped this photo of that idiotic collection of pandas that someone placed in the Hall With Two Names. This is just that rubber duck, with Chinese characteristics. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

US 'disturbed' by death of Chinese activist Cao Shunli

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
Human rights in China? 'The United States has said it is "deeply disturbed" by reports of the death of activist Cao Shunli at a hospital in Beijing.Cao's lawyers said she had died in detention after being denied medical treatment for several months.The human rights activist was arrested at Beijing airport in September, when she attempted to board a flight to Geneva to attend a UN training course.She had previously served at least two terms in prison camps for her activism.' But still we pretend that China and Russia are civilised members of the world. More here http://www.bbc.c... more »

Kobayashi is back...

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
Kobayashi is back in Formula 1 and in the first race of the season he's admitted fault for the first-lap crash which ended his and Felipe Massa's race.

Abel Danger - Malaysian flight MH 370 - PATENT PROFIT WARS

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET BLOG - 1 day ago
it's been a while since I blog'd about *forensic economist* duo *Abel Danger* aka ex-Delta pilot Field McConnell and David Hawkins, it's good to see they're onto another subject now besides the ritualistic murder of Jean Benet Ramsey which obsessively dominated most of their weekly analyses back when I would listen to them on RMN Radio. So, Malaysian flight MH 370, lets begin with a brief preamble. When we talk about a Free Planet we talk about: - a world without profit - a world without slavery - a world without patents How can a 'world without patents' make any dif... more »
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