Thursday, May 05, 2016

5 May - My Feedly! III


NEWS FROM ATLANTIS.
2 unread articles  //  actions

The Inconsistencies of White Nationalism: a farce which must be put to sleep
Over recent years, Nationalism in Europe has descended into White Nationalism.  I say descended, because the now dominant variation of Nationalism is one which has come about because of fear-mongering, defeatism and fantasist delusions.Globalists have long called Nationalism a reactionary ideology borne of hate and fear.  This propaganda has been swallowed by liberals who love to believe that anyo
Hitler at 127 - Why is he still the darling of White Nationalists?
Today is Hitler's birthday. Born in 1889, that would now make him 127.  There will still be people who claim that he ran away to South America or lives in a secret base in Antarctica, but that is perhaps the least bizarre aspect of the obsession with the Austrian politician.Hitler's place in history is one of significance because he is hailed by some and hated by others.  A politician who died (or
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@ THE CHALK FACE5 unread articles  //  actions

Is this quote in Emdin’s book actually true? Maybe.
I read Paul Thomas’ take on Christopher Emdin’s new book, which is soon to be classic. I’m not sure how I feel about the book yet. Not all the way through it. However, as a white teacher in an urban Title I school, I was also struck, as was Mr. Thomas, by this quite: “The […]
The persistence of #edreform despite evidence of failure
NAEP results are yet again indicating that strict reforms, as current high school seniors have experienced a near-lifetime of initiatives that count as education “reform,” from NCLB to RTTT, have failed. Mountains of evidence are collecting, but education reform programs, like scripted curricula in all subjects, persist for two reasons, in my estimation. One, educational change […]
Is this maybe where #optout is going?
I look at stories like this, and I wonder if this is the natural evolution of the test opt-out movement? I take it that anti-test activist groups tout themselves as very pro-public schools, painting them as venerable democratic institutions that endeavor to promote wholesome, American values and with the potential to restore justice. But can […]
Transfer of activism
Those in educational circles, particularly on social media, are observing a season of meetings of various professional organizations. We were recently treated to the smiles and reunions of academics at the DC meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA). And we are now inundated with the bright, optimistic activism of the Network for Public […]
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VAGABOND SCHOLAR1 unread article  //  actions

National Poetry Month 2016
April is National Poetry Month. I'll link the wonderful Favorite Poem Project, as usual. This year, I thought I'd post one of my favorites: Poetry By Marianne Moore I, too, dislike it: there are things that are important beyond all this fiddle. Reading it, however, with a perfect contempt for it, one discovers in it after all, a place for the genuine. Hands that can grasp,
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VACCINE AWAKENING1 unread article  //  actions

CDC Admits Flu Shots Fail Half the Time
Posted 4/26/2016                                                  By Barbara Loe Fisher To activate and view hyperlinked references, please click here once and then click any superscripted number below to access a hyperlinked reference, or scroll down to the bottom of the article to view all hyperlinked referencesAmericans have never been big fans of flu shots. During the 2009 “swine flu” influen
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OBSIDIAN WINGS9 unread articles  //  actions

Maytime
by Doctor Science This is the nest of an American Phoebe, on the back wall of our single-story house outside the master bedroom: There are at least 4 nestlings -- it's possible there's another one behind the ivy leaf. I took this picture May 1; they're still there this evening, May 2, but I expect them to leave the nest very soon -- those wings look well-feathered. We're gradually ripping the Eng
Trump!
by Ugh Well, there we have it.  Barring something completely unforeseen and unprecedented - or at least more so than to date - Donald Freaking Trump will be the GOP nominee for the 2016 United States of America Presidential Election/Leader of the Free World Rumpus.  The frowny faces on journalists this morning is due to having their Christmas in July present of a contested convention taken away by
Hillary v. Trump, Dawn of....Something!
by Ugh So now it seems pretty clear that we will have a Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump Presidential election in the United States this November.  I suppose there could be an extremely messy fight at the GOP convention this summer that eventually wrests the nomination from Trump, but given that he is either going to win outright (still very much in the air) or be so close that any person the G
From Kumamoto
by liberal japonicus This post is basically a text document that I've had open on my desk since yesterday, so apologies for the stream of consciousness. It's been 3 days since I got back (I was in the UK during the two main earthquakes), and 5 days since the main earthquake. The epicenter was about 2 km from my home, and you've all probably read that there was a foreshock 2 days before that center
Today's Challenge
Lifestyle changes
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THWAP'S SCHOOLYARD1 unread article  //  actions

Surprised About the Catholic Church's Avoiding Its Obligations to Residential School Victims?
So, it's like this:The Canadian government released Catholic groups from an obligation to try to raise $25-million for aboriginal healing so that it could hold the groups to other promises they made in the historic 2007 residential schools agreement, a draft of their agreement reveals.In return for paying $1.2-million for healing programs, the 50 Catholic entities wanted to be released from any an
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PAYING ATTENTION1 unread article  //  actions

Letter from Managua: The working life
Our house has a room for a servant.Well, not a room really. More like a cell. Nine feet long, less than six feet wide. There’s a single bed and sink, toilet and shower. A small window high up on one wall, three hooks to hang clothes.We don’t have a ‘chica,’ the term generally used for the woman - usually young - who cleans the house, cooks meals and looks after the children.In Honduras, Rosa came
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PESTICIDE ACTION NETWORK6 unread articles  //  actions

Who owns our food system?
We've been hearing rumours about possible mergers between pesticide/biotech corporations for a while now. Will Monsanto buy Syngenta? Or Bayer? Will the "Big 6" become the "Big 4" or "Big 3" — or perhaps one corporation to rule us all? As the growth in some markets becomes less dependable and skepticism of genetically engineered (GE) crops grows, the next option
France (partially) pulls the plug on glyphosate
Earlier this month, France's health and safety agency announced plans to withdraw authorization of herbicides containing both glyphosate and the additive tallowamine. As reported by Reuters, a spokesperson for the agency said: "It is not possible to guarantee that compositions containing glyphosate and tallowamine do not entail negative effects on human health." As a result of thi
Have you heard the latest bee buzz?
Yesterday, the "Pollinator Protection Act" took a big step forward in the California legislature, moving closer to becoming state law. This is just one of many positive developments for bees in recent weeks. As public momentum to protect vital pollinators continues to build, cities, states and businesses are getting in gear — even as federal policymakers continue to come up short. 
Guess what?! Strawberry pesticides are in the air.
What’s being applied on the strawberry field next door? For many Californians, the answer is a big question mark. And the issue has taken on added significance as state officials consider how best to answer that question — and then inform parents about the health-harming pesticides being applied near homes and schools. According to a 2014 report from the California Department of Public Healt
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PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENT3 unread articles  //  actions

Is it a good idea for academics to keep track of their failures?
In the recent weeks there has been some buzz over the academic corner of the internet and social media about the "CV of failures", made public by Johannes Haushofer, assistant economics professor at Princeton. He writes:  Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible. I have noticed that this sometimes gives others the impression that m
Awesome Research for Public Health Ethics Scholarship and Training Available Online for Free!
Yes indeed! Super kudos to the editorial team of Drue H. Barrett, Leonard H. Ortmann, Angus Dawson, Carla Saenz, Andreas Reis and Gail Bolan – and the sponsor CDC – for putting together this freely available, pioneering and one of a kind collection of case studies and background texts for global public health ethics study, research and training. With contribution by a pack of high octane scholars,
New paper online: Ethical Hazards in Monitoring and Addressing Patient Decision Capacity in Clinical Practice
Just a little heads-up about a new research paper now being online (free to read and download). This one is lead by my Ph.D. student, Thomas Hartvigsson (presently visiting at Queen's University, Canada) and addresses aspects of his thesis topic about the normative roles of decision competence, for instance, in areas such as law or health care.Together with Gun Forsander, chief senior clinical con
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THE STRAIGHT GOODS1 unread article  //  actions

Sleazy Sell-Out. “Sunny Days”. The Bank of Canada
Sleazy Sell-Out. “Sunny Days”. Part II                 The Bank of Canada Written by Robin Mathews   April 2016We have come upon a brilliant example, here in Canada, of what Anthony Hall calls “imperial globalization” and “the terror economy” (Earth Into Property, McGill-Queen’s, 2011.) Those are terms which describe the move to ‘world government’ by increasingly unregulated (and increasingly crim
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SCREW YOU GUYS, I'M GOING HOME1 unread article  //  actions

North Carolina Now Requires Men To Use Your Employer's Ladies' Room
If you work in North Carolina, be warned: your employer now has to require men to use the ladies' room. Not all men, but some men. These men have beards, mustaches, and yes, penises. But they have to use the ladies' room due to a new law just signed by your governor. And if you're a business, you are now legally required to humiliate some customers and allow others to be frightened. This law was m
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SYRIA COMMENT4 unread articles  //  actions

Remembering Dr. Hassan al-Araj
Remembering Dr. Hassan al-Araj by Cindy Coffman For Syria Comment May 4, 2016 First, I will introduce myself and then I would like to tell you about a dear friend and colleague, who was recently killed in Syria, Dr. Hassan Mohammed al-Araj of Hama. I have been in the humanitarian field since 2010 and have worked in Africa and the Middle East, including assignments in Jordan and Iraq. Most recently
“The Lens of History and Assad,” by David W. Lesch & Carey Latimore
The Lens of History and Assad by David W. Lesch and Carey Latimore For Syria Comment, 28 April 2016 Abraham Lincoln and Bashar al-Assad. Yes, we know. These two names should probably never appear in the same sentence. One is a revered American icon and the other is a brutal Syrian dictator who plunged his country into a devastating civil war. Let’s be clear. We are in no way, shape, or form equati
“President al-Assad’s First Speech – An Insider’s Account,” by Ehsani
President al-Assad’s First Speech – An Insider’s Account by Ehsani For Syria Comment – 19 April 2016 During a recent event at the Council on Foreign Relations, three prominent western Syria analysts met to discuss “the leadership style, psychology, personality, and policies” of President Bashar al-Assad. The moderator started by asking the participants to analyze the President through covering his
“Assad’s Fateful Choice” by David W. Lesch
Assad’s Fateful Choice by David W. Lesch This spring marks the fifth year anniversary of the events that launched a civil war in Syria.  Typically, there were some huge miscalculations early on that set the conflict in motion, such as the Syrian opposition’s expectation that the West would militarily intervene to facilitate the overthrow of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  And then
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TAMPLINS ENTIRE1 unread article  //  actions

Recalibrating the BBC’s scales – Part II
Given its legal obligation to remain impartial, a key feature of the BBC brand of impartiality is its effort to appear impartial. Its starting point, wisely enough, is an appeal to common-sense. Whenever possible, the BBC plays upon the audience’s understanding of even-handedness. To see this let’s return for a moment to domestic politics. One well-established political conception is that of a lef
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THE HIGH-FAT HEP C DIET4 unread articles  //  actions

A brief reading of the report of the new Kevin Hall study
Is the insulin theory of obesity over? Well I'd say it's over when people with diabetes using exogenous insulin to cover high-carb diets no longer have to worry about weight gain, and not before. But this is interesting research, and it proves if nothing else that Gary Taube's NuSci research initiative wasn't just set up to confirm his every thought.Kevin Hall discusses his new study here, with Yo
Mediterranean diet score in stable heart disease, and, more thoughts on Ramsden et al.
This news article that made the rounds yesterday demonstrates how confirmation bias keeps the diet-heart hypothesis afloat. Healthy eating key to heart disease After 3.7 years' follow-up, a heart attack, stroke or death - termed a major adverse cardiac event - had occurred in 10.1 per cent of the participants. Such events occurred in 7.3 per cent of the people in the highest Mediterranean-diet
The Tragedy of William Stark, who conclusively proved that eating crap will kill you, by a process of self-experimentation, in 1770, a fact which more people should pay attention to.
How did I not know about William Stark MD? Born in Birmingham of an Irish mother and a Scottish father, he studied philosophy in Glasgow and medicine in Edinburgh and at the University of Leiden before going to work as a doctor in London in 1765."The person on whom these experiments are tried is a healthy man, about twenty-nine years of age, six feet high, stoutly made, but not corpulent
On second thoughts, that vegetarian genomic study did show that not eating animals is not good for you.
Generally, a study that purported to show that vegan and vegetarian diets are harmful would be welcomed by meat eaters, who get a lot of pseudoscientific criticism from members of those groups, some of it disguised as sober science. But no-one was much impressed by the Pune vs. Kansas study. Even Tom Naughton wrote it off as meaning the same thing the head of the NZ vegetarian society said it
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MANIFESTO JOE'S TEXAS BLUES1 unread article  //  actions

Why Is Bernie Sanders Doing This Well?
By Manifesto JoeAt 74 going on 75, he's too old to run for president. He's a rumpled old senator from a small state, and the only avowed socialist in the Congress since Ron Dellums retired. He's an unremarkable speaker with a heavy New York accent. And he's unlikely to win the Democratic nomination for president even if he does well in forthcoming primaries, because the party machinery (soft deleg
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THE GALLOPING BEAVER4 unread articles  //  actions

Transparency is hard
Lying about major arms deals to illiberal regimes. Dion, please resign. Trudeau, we expected this of your predecessor. If your hands were tied or your government were pressured by things we haven't seen, such as industry lobby pressure, petitions from other states, or something else entirely, explain it to us. That's called transparency. It's hard, I know.
OK, Liberals
Fix this.  It doesn't matter how many mayurasana JT can do on his desk or how gender-balanced your cabinet is. Lying to us about the state of the nation's finances or how you spend our tax money, or anything really, is despicable.
Panama papers
Reading the rolling accounts of the Panama Papers (Iceland's PM just resigned, David Cameron's family has some 'splaining to do), I think we're a scandal away from a popular revolt. Each one of these fucking document dumps nakedly shows how much of the game is rigged against us. 
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THE EXISTENTIALIST COWBOY1 unread article  //  actions

The Origin of Economic Failures and Depressions
The Origin of Economic Failures and Depressionsby Len Hart, The Existentialist CowboyForbidden Planet is a class Sci-Fi tour de force staring Leslie Nielson, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis. Released in 1956, it holds up surprisingly well against Star Wars, the Star Trek series and even the most recent digital entries into the genre. The story of Dr. Morbius, re-discovering the technological marve
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THE EARTH AND MAN: SETTING THE STAGE3 unread articles  //  actions

Incompetent Climate Science: Balancing Large, Opposing "Effects", All False
In the current insane atmosphere over supposed "global warming" -- due primarily to a long-nurtured, dogmatic incompetence in all the earth and life sciences, not just climate science (which explains why the wider science community has not, as a whole, been able to recognize and repudiate climate science's utter failure), and the "expert" incompetence elevated now to a politica
Nobody Is Learning Anything, Even the Skeptics
Doubters of the "global warming" alarmism (driven as it is by incompetent and criminal "leaders" in both science and politics today--as they are, figuratively speaking, shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre, when they know not only that they are deliberately trying to panic the world, but that there is no "fire", at all) need to begin to stand firm, not just
Scientific Sainthood Today
The wuwt site has a post on "Three Little Known Scientists Who Changed Our World View of Climate". I was shocked to find the scientists being lauded included Alfred Wegener, the discoverer of past continental drift, and Milutin Milankovitch, who theorized that periodic variations in the Earth's orbit and axial tilt are responsible for ever-repeating, dramatic changes in the "global
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A CLOSER LOOK: JODY PATERSON1 unread article  //  actions

Still not sure whether climate change is real? Come to Nicaragua
    Without irrigation, small farmers in dry regions like Terrabona, Nicaragua wouldn't have had any crops in the last 3 years. A dry summer in Canada means our lawns turn brown. A dry summer in Nicaragua kills livestock and pushes families on the edge into full-on disaster. It’s here in Central America where I converted from being mildly interested in the concept of climate change to being awe-st

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