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New in blogger-following
Incredibly pragmatic dog braves Hurricane Harvey with, yes, an entire bag of dog food
A dog named Otis wasn't about to go hungry during Hurricane Harvey. As
the hurricane made landfall, a dog was spotted wandering around Sinton,
Texas carrying a full bag of dog food. The German shepherd mix wasn't a
stray—he just got loose from a screen porch. "I kept yelling his name
and yelling his name and he wasn't around," his caretaker Salvador
Segovia told the Houston Chronicle . The dog be
Apple has finally scheduled the day it will unveil the iPhone 8, says report
Apple has reportedly settled on the date for its highly anticipated
fall keynote — Sept. 12 — according to a new CNBC report citing sources
at Dow Jones familiar with the matter. The company's annual fall keynote
event, which has become one of the biggest days of the year for tech
enthusiasts, is typically used to showcase the latest and greatest
hardware offerings from Apple. JUST IN: Apple to h
In honor of Houston... of Texas... and our future... a chapter from EARTH.
While offering up hopes and prayers for our fellow citizens in Texas,
here let me give you all a n Excerpt from my novel, EARTH (1990),
presenting a glimpse of Texan resilience in the near future: ------ They
were still pumping out Houston from last week's hurricane when she got
into town. Teresa found it stunning how the city was transformed by the
calamity. Avenues of inundated shops rippled my
Largest known Ichthyosaurus was pregnant
Palaeontologists
have discovered an enormous Ichthyosaurus specimen in a German museum
collection. The fossil, which was originally found on the Somer...
10 building blocks for the future of schools
As Dean Shareski and I worked together on our new book, Different
Schools for a Different World , (released this week!), he encouraged me
to update my list of building blocks for the future of schools. Here’s
the new list (now 10 items instead of 8): Project- and inquiry-based
learning environments that emphasize greater student agency and active
application of more cognitively-complex thinking,
Trump Expected to Lift Ban on Military Gear to Local Police Forces
Via:
USA Today: The Trump administration is preparing to lift a
controversial ban on the transfer of some surplus military equipment to
police departments whose battlefield-style response to rioting in a St.
Louis suburb three years ago prompted a halt to the program. The new
plan, outlined in documents obtained by USA TODAY, would roll […]
New in news
Oxford University professor resigns in Donald Trump protest
Bo Rothstein quits Blavatnik School of Government post after learning
that patron is a major financial backer of US president A leading
political academic has resigned from his Oxford University post after it
emerged that one of the university’s key patrons is also one of Donald
Trump’s biggest financial backers. Bo Rothstein was professor of
government and public policy at the Blavatnik School o
US broadcaster CBS agrees to buy Australia's Ten Network
Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon had seemed poised to buy the network,
which had been cited as proof media ownership laws needed to change The
US media and entertainment giant CBS has agreed to buy the Ten network,
which has been in receivership since July. The surprise bid comes after
billionaires Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon had appeared poised to buy
Ten after getting clearance from the co
Indian Guru Whose Followers Rioted Is Sentenced for Rape
The
guru, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, was found guilty of having raped two
women more than a decade ago. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The 'Game of Thrones' Finale Was All Cock and Walls
Warning: Spoilers ahead. There were no new castles, townships, hamlets,
ports, septs, or holdfasts rendered in the opening credits of last
night's Game of Thrones , for a very good reason: We've been everywhere
we're ever going to go together. Having experienced too much in too
short a time, we expect too little. We've seen everything worth seeing.
What we took for a cold snap in autumn was winte
US Senate is trying to brand WikiLeaks a 'hostile intelligence service' but what does that even mean?
The
US Senate Intelligence Committee published its annual intelligence
spending bill this week - and nested in the bill is a provision which
would declare WikiLeaks to be a "non-state hostile intelligence
service". In an interview with the Daily Beast, Mieke Eoyang, a former
House intelligence committee staffer, said the move would open WikiLeaks
up to more extensive surveillance by the US governm
Homes, cars and roads damaged by massive hailstorm in Grado, Spain
Windows
were broken and roads damaged during a huge hailstorm in Spain this
weekend. On Saturday for five minutes hailstones fell from the sky with
such ferocity residents in Grado had to duck for cover for their own
safety. The northern Spanish town was also battered by rain during one
of the worst weekends of weather in Spain this year. The town in
Asturias has over 10,000 people and homes were
New in science
US Energy Agency Asked Scientists to Scrub References to Climate Change
Researchers
were told to censor descriptions of projects funded by a Department of
Energy laboratory -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
US Energy Agency Asked Scientists to Scrub References to Climate Change
Researchers
were told to censor descriptions of projects funded by a Department of
Energy laboratory -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com
Hurricane Harvey: Why Is It So Extreme?
How
did the storm rapidly blow up from Category 1 to 4, why is it so stuck
over Houston, how can it possibly produce so much rain? And more -- Read
more on ScientificAmerican.com
Hurricane Harvey: Why Is It So Extreme?
How
did the storm rapidly blow up from Category 1 to 4, why is it so stuck
over Houston, how can it possibly produce so much rain? And more -- Read
more on ScientificAmerican.com
'Game of Thrones' Recap, Season 7 Episode 7: The Show That Just Ghosted Everyone
After the 'Game of Thrones' Season 7 finale it's hard not to wonder why anyone believed in the show in the first place.
VLA reveals distant galaxy's magnetic field
With
the help of a gigantic cosmic lens, astronomers have measured the
magnetic field of a galaxy nearly five billion light-years away. The
achievement is giving them important new clues about a problem at the
frontiers of cosmology—the nature and origin of the magnetic fields that
play an important role in how galaxies develop over time.
New in youtube
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 event in 8 minutes
The Note 8 is official, marking Samsung’s final moves to get past the
Note 7 incident and onto bigger, less explosive things. But it wasn’t
the only thing that was showcased today at the Unpacked event in New
York City — we also saw a Gear VR headset with the new controller among
other gadgets. For a quick recap of what was announced at the keynote,
we’ve condensed all the biggest moments from th
Causes and Effects of Climate Change | National Geographic
What causes climate change (also known as global warming)? And what are
the effects of climate change? Learn the human impact and consequences
of climate change for the environment, and our lives. ➡ Subscribe:
http://bit.ly/NatGeoSubscribe About National Geographic: National
Geographic is the world's premium destination for science, exploration,
and adventure. Through their world-class scientists
Me Me Monday: Another Day, Another Meme
This version of Meme Monday will definitely get you through those Monday blues. From: TheEllenShow
Tom Rosenthal - Fenn (Official Music Video)
A music video for the song 'Fenn' by Tom Rosenthal Directed and
animated by Sarina Nihei Listen to 'Fenn' on Spotify :
open.spotify.com/track/6rAxVzmCS0r4SPhhql96Yu Tom Rosenthal's website:
tomrosenthal.co.uk Sound Cloud: soundcloud.com/tomrosenthal1 Cast:
Sarina Nihei Tags: animation , hand-drawn and music video
Why I Don’t Have a Husband: Keep It Movin’!
From couches to kids, men have provided plenty of examples for why Ellen doesn’t have a husband. From: TheEllenShow
Bob Dylan Hates Me
Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi meets his idol, twice. Cast: Caveh Zahedi
New in The Corbett Report
Is AI Real or Is It All Hype? Convince Me.
We've all seen the breathless stories about the latest sign of the
coming Artificial Intelligence apocalypse, and we've all seen the fine
print revealing those stories to be empty hype. So is there anything at
all to the AI phenomenon, or is it all just another boogeyman designed
to scare us into line? If you think you have the answer then marshal up
the data and prove it to us one way or the oth
Welcome to the Driverless Future!
We all know where this is heading, right? So what will you do when they take the steering wheel away?
Truth Music Playlist – Summer 2017
It's
the dog days of summer, and that can only mean one thing: it's time for
our annual roundup of the latest, hottest truth music. Load up your
playlist with some of these tracks and blare it at the beach, at the
bar-b-q or in the car on that big road trip! And if you have any
suggestions for good truth music tracks, share 'em in the comments.
Interview 1294 – James Corbett on Declare Your Independence
[audio
mp3="http://www.corbettreport.com/mp3/2017-08-23%20James%20Corbett.mp3"][/audio]
James joins Ernest Hancock on "Declare Your Independence" for their
bi-monthly round-up of stories from across The Corbett Report universe.
This time they discuss how everything old is new again as all the things
James has been documenting for years finally starts to reach the public
consciousness.
New in The EnvironmentaList
Climate Denier Congressman Lamar Smith Contends with New Foe: Declining Voter Support
House science committee chairman has made it his mission to combat environmental regulation
Generation Wild
A look inside the burgeoning international youth nature movement
Judge Awards Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Builder Rights to Seize Last Five Holdout Properties
Company granted possession of land held by nuns who built chapel in the pipeline’s path
Convincing Banks Not to Fund Oil Pipelines
Nationwide Indigenous-led campaign is putting pressure on financial institutions to defund four proposed tar sands pipelines
Risking Arrest in the Fight for Climate Action
Podcast ponders the role of civil disobedience in the climate movement for activists young and old
The Case Against Glamping on Public Lands
Do high-end campsites undermine the spirit of national parks?
New in @ the chalk face
Human Rights while at Jail
Human Rights are the basic rights and freedoms that all human beings
are entitled to. For example, the right to life and liberty, freedom of
speech, expression and thought, civil and political rights, the right to
food, etc. Naturally, going to jail or prison involves the curtailing
of a persons’ rights. That does not mean inmates are without basic human
rights. All persons deprived of their libe
New in A Closer Look: Jody Paterson
Homelessness is still a problem. Gee, go figure
Ten years ago now, I was part of a major initiative to address
homelessness in Victoria. The Mayor's Task Force on Breaking the Cycle
of Mental Illness, Addictions and Homelessness brought together some of
the most informed, passionate people in the country to look into the
issue of people living on our streets and what needed to be done about
it. In four intense months, the task force put togeth
New in Activist Teacher
"Anti-racism" is powerful propaganda to condone state violence
"Anti-racism"
is the best cover up for the extreme direct and covert military
violence of the Obama-Clinton administrations, and the best propaganda
that Democrat and Trump provisions of war and domestic injustice are
discernible. And we lap it up. The merchants of outrage are having a
field day. >
The Mike Duffy lawsuit is good for civil rights advocacy
> Irrespective of public opinion about Duffy's behaviour, it is
clear on its face that the PMO was shielded by the police and legal
establishment. This lawsuit is push-back against an intrinsically and
highly biased police and court system
The Things That Disturb Me Most
By
Denis Rancourt, PhD The things that disturb me most, in order of
concern.When government institutions and corporations attack me and my
family to suppress my democratic participation and to gag me and deprive
me of my societal position.When my own society is occupied and degraded
by foreign and special interest plutocrats, constantly engineering
public institutions towards stupidity and
Perceived threats from societal grievances are best addressed with respectful dialogue made in good faith
A
potential Nazi-ideology threat in USA-Canada is best addressed by
freedom of speech and insisting on civil rights [see Endnote]. White
nationalism is a diverse social movement made of people whose
fundamental rights in the democracy must be respected. Otherwise, the
suppression will amplify their alienation. Instead we must respect
everyone as human beings and protect their rights to express
The X-PHOBIA CATASTROPHE must be reversed
Opinion
/ Denis Rancourt Beyond a simple political-correctness meltdown, North
American society is in the midst of an X-phobia catastrophe. North
America is following a RECIPE FOR SOCIETAL DISASTER: Let governments,
institutions, and special-interest lobbies make the definitions of
racism, antisemitism, misogyny, X-phobia... as broad as possible and
then prosecute everyone for
Separation Between Work And Person
Opinion
/ Denis Rancourt The rule regarding employer information-mining of
social media should be strict. None of it should be allowed. Tenure or
no tenure, full-time or part-time, boss or shop-floor... no one in any
employment should ever lose his/her job for any views expressed as a
person (as opposed to spokesperson). The employer should have an onus to
satisfy a high threshold that the
New in ALL THINGS PAKISTAN
207,744,520 Pakistanis
Pakistaniat Single best policy news coming out of Pakistan in a long
time is that the country has finally completed a census. What is now
Pakistan (then West Pakistan) was 33.7 million people in 1951. Today it
holds 207.7 million Pakistanis. According to schedule this should have
been Pakistan’s 11th census. Instead it was the […] The post 207,744,520
Pakistanis appeared first on ALL THINGS PAKIS
US-Pakistan Relations: A Retrospective (They Have Always Been Problematic)
US-Pakistan relations are in trouble. They have always been in trouble.
Worth looking back. The post US-Pakistan Relations: A Retrospective
(They Have Always Been Problematic) appeared first on ALL THINGS
PAKISTAN .
The Best Coke Studio Song of the Year?
Is this the best Coke Studio song of the year? Maybe, maybe not. But it
is certainly a great commentary on Coke Studio. The post The Best Coke
Studio Song of the Year? appeared first on ALL THINGS PAKISTAN .
Mountbatten’s Momentous Mistakes: A Partition Made More Painful
Adil Najam The midnight between August 14 and 15, 1947, was one of
history’s truly momentous moments: It marked the birth of Pakistan, an
independent India and the beginning of the end of an era of colonialism.
It was hardly a joyous moment: A botched process of partition saw the
slaughter of more than a […] The post Mountbatten’s Momentous Mistakes: A
Partition Made More Painful appeared first o
New in Amused Cynicism
Contra Munroe on Free Speech
There’s a popular xkcd cartoon explaining free speech : I think Randall
Munroe (who writes xkcd) is wrong here, or at least not entirely right.
Munroe thinks of free speech in terms of laws : you have free speech if
the government won’t punish you for saying something. But free speech
isn’t about laws, it’s about social norms : you have free speech if you
live in a society where people are not af
New in Angola 3 News
Plantations
Were Prisons: Mobilizing for the Aug. 19 Millions for Prisoners Human
Rights March in Washington DC --Part One of an interview with Law
Professor Angela A. Allen-Bell
(VIDEO: 2011 Amnesty International interview with Robert H. King,
entitled "Slavery Still Reigns in US prisons .") Plantations Were
Prisons: Mobilizing for the Aug. 19 Millions for Prisoners Human Rights
March in Washington DC --Part one of an interview with Law Professor
Angela A. Allen-Bell By Angola 3 News Robert H. King and Albert Woodfox
of the Angola 3 are issuing a call to everybody concer
New in ArmsControlWonk
Bombs and Dollars
Two
professors who study nuclear proliferation — Nick Miller at Dartmouth
and Vipin Narang at MIT — have a neat little piece in Politico Magazine
about which poli-sci theories predicted North Korea’s bomb and which
didn’t. Long story short: most didn’t. Etel Solingen’s Nuclear Logics
(2007) holds up well. It was, of course, published four years after
North Korea’s …
The Hwasong that Never Ends
A
guest post from my colleague Matt Korda Here we go again: another guide
to North Korean missile designations. You might be asking yourself,
“Self, why do I need to learn all these pesky Hwasongs if I already know
all the KN numbers? Surely they’re just different names for the same
things?” Well, to quote the …
Parallel Crises
Quote
of the week: “Of course I got lawyers. They are like nuclear weapons.
I’ve got ‘em because everybody else does. But as soon as you use them,
they screw everything up.” —Danny DeVito Crises are usually singular
events, but on rare occasions they come in pairs. A third pairing might
be in the offing. …
Glocom Is at It Again
Readers
may recall my earlier rantings about a company called ‘Glocom’, a North
Korean military communications firm masquerading as Malaysian, and
selling missile navigation systems and other arms-related products
around the world. The company was outed by the UN Panel of Experts and a
Reuters special investigation in February, around the time of Kim Jong …
The More You KN-0w About North Korean Missiles
A
guest post from my colleague Matt Korda (Scott came up with that pun;
I’m not nearly that funny) Whether you’ve been wonking on North Korea
for awhile or just tuned in, chances are you’ve heard of a missile
called the KN-08. You might have also heard of something called a
Hwasong-13. And maybe you’ve seen …
Modern Man is Obsolete
Quote
of the week: “It is such a supreme folly to believe that nuclear
weapons are deadly only if they’re used. The fact that they exist at
all, their presence in our lives, will wreak more havoc than we can
begin to fathom. Nuclear weapons pervade our thinking. Control our
behavior. Administer our societies. Inform …
New in Cherchez la Verite
I
have been a follower of Paul Craig Roberts since the turn of the turn
of the century. Here he describes him self as "one of the most respected
columnists in the alternative media. His syndicated articles can be
seen on many leading alternative news websites including Lew Rockwell,
Infowars, Counterpunch, InformationClearingHouse and countless others.
Roberts scores huge points in the credibility department having been the
former head of policy at the Department of Treasury under Reagan, and
an editor of the Wall Street Journal — among a long list of other
accolades. His research is impeccable and his vision of how the world
really operates is second to none. He knows why and when the global
chess pieces are moving, and has the incredible talent to communicate
difficult concepts to the general public. He has written several books
including The Tyranny of Good Intentions and How the Economy was Lost.
His many interviews can be seen on Russia Today and Prison Planet TV.
Roberts is also…
In America Propaganda Has Vanquished Truth August 15, 2017 |
Categories: Articles & Columns | In America Propaganda Has
Vanquished Truth Paul Craig Roberts In Durham, North Carolina, the seat
of Duke University, a gang of largely white males destroyed public
property by pulling down a statue of a Confederate soldier. Perhaps they
took their cue from the neo-Nazis installed in Ukraine by Obama and
In
my previous blog, Paul Craig Roberts presents two columns with very
differing conclusions. In his first one, he decides that “Trump Is Being
Moved Aside So That Conflict with Russia Can Proceed.” And he further
states that the U.S. Congress is doing two bad things: One is serving
their campaign contributors in the military/security complex by being
tougher with Russia, thus keeping alive the threat that Americans denied
health care may no longer get it …with the massive military/security
budget sopping up all the money that might otherwise might have gone to
health care. PCR also noted that leading Europeans have finally realized
that they have been more damaged than Russia. And the latest horrific
decision of the US Congress will certainly greatly damage Europe’s
economy. Moreover, in France their recent election was actually stolen
in favor of Macron. Don’t believe it? Well, scroll down in my blog to
the 7th one below (if you lose your place, make sure it is the one with a
copy…
July 28, 2017 Collateral Damage: U.S. Sanctions Aimed at Russia Strike
Western European Allies by Diana Johnstone Do they know what they are
doing? When the U.S. Congress adopts draconian sanctions aimed mainly at
disempowering President Trump and ruling out any move to improve
relations with Russia, do they realize that the measures amount to a
declaration of economic war against their dear Euro
New in Craig Murray
Of Venezuela and Hypocrisy
Hugo Chavez’ revolutionary politics were founded on two very simple
tenets: 1) People ought not to be starving in dreadful slums in the
world’s most oil rich state 2) The CIA ought not to control Venezuela
Over the years, Chavez racked up real achievements in improving living
standards for the poor and in providing health and education facilities.
He was widely popular and both he and his success
Culloden and our Stolen History
Imagine that today’s Scottish Independence movement fades away to
nothing – and then J K Rowling and Euan McColm get to write the history
that defines what the Independence movement was, and what the
Independence movement stood for. Then imagine the effect of 250 years of
teaching the Rowling/McColm version in schools, universities and media
narrative, until everybody absolutely “knew” that the 2
The Real Problem With the BBC
Mainstream media debate this summer focused on the fact that some
extremely overpaid women at the BBC are not overpaid to quite the same
extent as some extremely, extremely overpaid men. This is reminiscent of
the fuss over the US having a male kleptocratic president, when it
could have had a female kleptocratic president. Personally I support the
notion that pay should be equalised at the BBC –
Supreme Court Judges Defy Reason to Protect Tony Blair
Today’s judgement by the Supreme Court that there is no crime in
English law of waging aggressive war for which Tony Blair might be
prosecuted – or at least that there was not in 2003 – is truly
appalling. I have not yet seen the full judgement, but newspaper reports
indicate that part of the decision was dependent on the idea that the
crime of waging aggressive war was not incorporated into inte
Is it the BBC, or is it Me?
I love sport, and I have been watching the World Athletics
Championships. This has left me genuinely uncertain. Has BBC sports
coverage always been this harshly, stridently British nationalist, and
do I just notice it now as my own sensibility has changed? Or has there
genuinely been a shift away from any pretence of impartiality? Apart
from analysis focusing almost entirely on the prospects of t
Americans, Irish, Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Pakistanis – They All Have More Balls Than We Scots
The fascist violence in Charlottesville was in defence of prominent
public statues to those who fought to uphold slavery. History should not
be destroyed, and there is a place for such statues in appropriate
explained context in museums. But public celebration of advocates of
slavery ought to end. People always throw off the monuments of their
oppressors, and so they should. The statues should be
New in Dr Cintli
The Spanish Inquisition Lives On in Arizona's Ban on Mexican American Studies
The Spanish Inquisition Lives On in Arizona's Ban on Mexican American
Studies Friday, August 11, 2017 I have always viewed Arizona's effort to
eradicate Mexican American Studies (MAS) as something akin to an unholy
Inquisition. For some, that will sound hyperbolic; not for me. US
district Judge Wallace Tashima is expected to make a decision soon on
whether the 2010 Arizona House Bill 2281 legisla
New in Greg Mankiw's Blog
What Moderates Believe
I much appreciated today's column by David Brooks , though he seems to
be describing center-right moderates more than center-left moderates (or
is that my own bias showing up?). David also taught me a new word:
syncretistic . It refers to combining different forms of belief.
Macro Musings
You can hear me interviewed by David Beckworth here .
New in Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology
Argentina: UFOs in the “Western Corridor”
Source: Vivi el Oeste
http://www.vivieloeste.com.ar/ovnis-en-zona-oeste-los-expertos-explican-el-por-que-de-los-avistamientos-en-el-conurbano/
Date: 08.23.2017 UFOs in the Western Corridor: Experts explain the
reason behind sightings in Greater Buenos Aires. In an interview with
Vivà el Oeste, Luis Burgos, president of the Fundacion Argentina de
OvnilogÃa, stated that the “Western Corridor”, as h
Spain: UFO Reported Over Brenes (Seville)
Source: PLANETA UFO and José Manuel GarcÃa Bautista El Correo Web -
http://elcorreoweb.es/extra/misterioso-ovni-visto-en-la-localidad-sevillana-de-brenes-JI3219579
Date: August 2, 2017 Spain: UFO Reported Over Brenes (Seville) Several
witnesses saw an oval-shaped object that put forth considerable light
with bright flashes, moving parallel with the horizon. The summer of
2017 has been particularl
Argentina: Remembering the 1968 UFO Fly-By over José Marmol
Source: CEFORA and PLANETA UFO Date: 08.14.2017 A news item by Juan
José Alarcón y Figueroa Argentina: Remembering the 1968 UFO Fly-By Over
José Mármol It was over fifty years ago that UFOs were seen in the
airspace over the district of Alte. Brown. The UFO phenomenon exists in
our region and is well-documented. We ascertained that many of our
fellow resideents had sightings. They do not speak of
Costa Rica: Pilot Records UFO
Source: PLANETA UFO and Peru.com Date: 08.16.2017 Costa Rica: Pilot
Records UFO Impressive! A video recorded in Costa Rica has gone viral on
YouTube. What is the reason for this? It turns out that an airline
pilot captured the very moment at which the UFO flew in the distance.
The pilot, whose name is Jose Daniel Araya, wanted to record the sunset
over Costa Rica on his cellphone without thinking
Argentina: The Argentinean X-Files - An Interview with Ruben Lianza
Source: Planeta UFO and www.perfil.com Date: 08.16.2017 Article by
Enrique Garabeytan Argentina: The Argentinean X-Files - An Interview
with Ruben Lianza A debate arose 70 years ago that is still ongoing: In
1947, the sighting of a "fleet of flying saucers" and the "Roswell
incident" in the New Mexico desert became the kickoff points for the UFO
(unidentified flying object) phenomenon. There are
Canadá: Testigo describe OVNI fusiforme
Fuente: Flying Saucer Digest y Base de Datos de MUFON Fecha: 25 mayo
2017 Canadá: Testigo describe OVNI fusiforme Un testigo canadiense en
Ottawa afirma haber visto un objeto con forma de cigarro de color gris
blanquecino que se cernÃa antes de alejarse a una velocidad prodigiosa y
sin hacer ruido alguno, de acuerdo con el testimonio vertido en la base
de datos de MUFON. El testigo estaba solo en
New in Manifesto Joe's Texas Blues
John Kelly's Mission Impossible: You Can't Fix Stupid
By
Manifesto Joe In a previous blog post, I made the mistake of
overestimating Resident Donald Rump. I wrote that he isn't stupid in the
classic sense. I absolutely take it back. He is not only batshit crazy
like Nixon, he lacks Nixon's intelligence. He's quite possibly dumber
than Il Doofus (Bush 43), and that's saying plenty. We've had crazy
presidents before, and we've had profoundly stupid one
New in Middle Class Political Economist
Reports of Obamacare's death are greatly exaggerated: All counties to be covered for 2018
Obamacare has now obtained an insurer for every county in the country,
defying Republican claims that the program is collapsing. As reported by
The Hill , "At one point or another over the past year, more than 80
counties have been at risk of having no ObamaCare insurer on the
exchanges in 2018." On Thursday (Aug. 24), the last "bare" county, in
Ohio, was covered by insurer CareSource. Insurance
Foxconn cashes in for $3 billion plus - analysis
Foxconn
hit the jackpot with Wisconsin on Wednesday, when CEO Terry Gou and
Governor Scott Walker signed a memorandum of understanding for the
company to invest $10 billion in southeastern Wisconsin in return for $3
billion in state subsidies and an undetermined amount of local
incentives in the form of tax increment(al) financing (TIF).* The basic
outline of the deal, sent to me by John Haynes of
Why subsidize protectionism motivated foreign investors?
The
already infamous case of Foxconn in Wisconsin illustrates a dynamic we
are likely to witness more before we are rid of the illegitimate Trump
regime. One of the regime's hallmarks has been a set of unpredictable
trade policies with a definite protectionist tilt. The United States was
withdrawn from the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement on January 23.
On May 19, the regime officially announce
New in Obsidian Wings
Houston, Flint, New Orleans -- Libertarian Heaven?
by wj The Count said in the previous thread: Watch local Texas
municipalities try to implement more rational land use and building code
policies and then see how vermin libertarian republican right wing
crypto christian fascists in the Governor's Manse and in the State House
deprive their local rights and thwart all improvement. And then,
moments after I read that, I came across this from the Eco
Will no one think of the poor racists?
by Ugh It's 2017, do you know where your neo-Nazis are America?
Meanwhile, the NYTimes is showing us their terrific editorial balance on
the issue by letting Erick Fncking Erickson write an op-ed on
yesterday's events. Erick. Fncking. Erickson. Not gonna link. Both
sides, people, both sides. U! S! A! Jesus. Open Thread.
E Day
by Doctor Science I'm spending E-Day in Connecticut, where there
weather is decent but the eclipse only so-so. I am so consumed with envy
for totality-watchers (including Mr Dr Science, who's road-tripping to
NC) I've been dreaming I was one of you. The other night I dreamed I was
trying to map the totality path through Block Island – because it was a
dream the path was very wiggly, though even d
Lost in the Noise -- Weekend Open Thread
by wj It can be all too easy, it the flood of stuff happening these
days, to overlook something which would be stunning in other times. I
wonder what all there might be.... For example, consider these tweets
from last week: Events in Charlottesville unacceptable & musnt be
tolerated @USNavy forever stands against intolerance & hatred... --
Admiral John Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations No pla
The Bandwagon
by JanieM bobbyp in the electric cars thread: For some strange reason, I
found myself re-reading some of this thread. Hint hint? Here's an open
thread, with a prompt for a possible topic very much off the top of my
head: A bunch of candidates have already declared that they're running
to replace Paul LePage as governor of Maine next year. So far there are
seven Democrats, one officially declared
Re-re-re-re-reading
by JanieM In 1966, the summer I was sixteen, the Saturday Evening Post
published an article entitled, "The Hobbit-foming World of J.R.R.
Tolkien ." The subheadline called The Lord of the Rings "the
hottest-selling item in U.S. campus bookstores." I would like to think I
was drawn in by the description of the story itself, not just by the
desire to be cool like the college kids, and subsequent his
New in Paying attention
Where are those Public Accounts? Delay should worry Liberals
The
Liberals should be getting nervous about the long delay in releasing
the Public Accounts and the Auditor General's review of government
finances. As part of the Liberals'W self-destructive bid to hang on to
power, then finance minister Mike de Jong broke precedent by releasing
unofficial results for the fiscal year ending March 31. He claimed a
$2.8 billion surplus, $1.3 billion higher than bu
New in Philosophical Comment
Increasing Critical Questions Amid Mexican Mitochondrial Replacement Therapy Experiment
Mitchondrial Replacement Therapy (MRT) – sometimes referred with the
headline formulation "Three Parent Babies" – is an innovative, in humans
yet unproven, reproductive genetic technology, by which it is hoped
that a more effective avoidance of having children with severe
mitochondrial hereditary disease (as a rule extremely severe,
untreatable and lethal). MRT is controversial both as assisted r
New in Sardonicky
Taken At the Flood
The waters in Texas were still rising, and thousands of people were
still stranded or worse, but it's never too soon for the disaster
capitalists of the plutonomy to begin licking their chops over all the
potential windfall profits they can taken from the thousand-year storm
known as Harvey. If New Orleans could privatize its entire public school
system after Hurricane Katrina, just imagine the p
Trump Takes a Dump
Sorely lacking in both cajones and intellectual stamina, Donald Trump
had to hide behind a hurricane to embrace a bigot after his own heart.
Only when safely esconced in his Camp David retreat on a Friday night -
when every professional scold worth his or her oversize paycheck was off
the air - did Trump officially pardon notorious Arizona sheriff Joe
Arpaio. We knew this was coming. The presiden
Your Moment of Zinn
We're in a self-congratulatory orgy of sacred cow-tipping these days,
equating our anti-racism with how many Confederate statues we can
protest or even topple in the dead of night. It's gotten so intense that
White House economic adviser Gary Cohn had even drafted a resignation
letter over Boss Trump's Charlottesville remarks praising white
supremacy. But then, of course, Cohn's financial patriot
Thoughts on Charlottesville
The only thing scarier than the alt-right hate groups who caused so
much mayhem, death and destruction in Charlottesville over the weekend
is the liberal center's castigation of what they derisively call their
"alt-left" counterparts. White supremacists shouting anti-black,
anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic slogans had converged to protest the
imminent removal of a statue of confederate General Rob
Sounds, Furies, and Nothing-Burgers
Just hours after publishing my previous post on the media going crazy
over the dearth of news coming out of Trump's New Jersey golf club, he
obligingly made them even crazier by seeming to threaten a nuclear
attack on North Korea. Or, as he colorfully put it, "fire and fury like
the world has never seen." That would seem to include Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, and it definitely surpass the Mother of A
Might As Well Face It, They're Addicted to Trump
The New York Times is so obsessed with Donald Trump that it headlines a
scary new report about climate change not as a scary new report on
climate change, but rather as the clear and present danger that The
Donald might refuse to put his official imprimatur on it. Frankly, given
that any document bearing Trump's signature is suspect on its face, his
failure to sign the new report would actually b
New in Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home
If Your Prospective Employer Has Lots Of Turnover, Think Twice
All
the craziness and turnover at the White House has many Americans
wondering what anyone joining the Administration is thinking. But I see
it all the time. Folks either desperate for a job or getting an offer
that's off the charts decide they can handle whatever a difficult
employer throws at them. They're wrong. First of all, let's look at that
off-the-charts offer. It sounds too good to be tru
Will You Let Your Employer Microchip You? Just Say No!
And
so it begins. A Wisconsin company is implementing a "voluntary" program
where employees can be microchipped. They swear that they aren't using
GPS technology to follow the employees. However, they say it is a
convenience to the employees, allowing them to pay for things and get in
and out of the building quickly. What's the worst that could happen?
While this foray into treating employees like
Can You Be Fired For Being A Racist A**hole? Yes. Well, Maybe. Probably.
So,
a Twitter campaign has been outing folks who attended the Nazi/white
supremacy/alt right rally outside the University of Virginia in which a
Nazi murdered a protester and injured many others by plowing into them
with a car. Some of those who have been outed were promptly fired. I've
been asked whether firing someone for attending a racist rally is legal.
The answer is yes. Well, maybe. Probabl
New in The Duck of Minerva
Should APSA and ISA have a “No Manels” Rule?
The Financial Times just announced guidance that there will no longer
be all male panels — manels — at any FT or partner events. It made me
think whether APSA or ISA should adopt a similar policy. Pleased that
@FT has established a “no manels” rule for FT panels and FT panellists
as one of our diversity/inclusion initiatives.
pic.twitter.com/6VZSuhlkEo — Andrew Hill (@andrewtghill) August 21, 201
Basic Rules of US Civil-Military Relations and Trump’s Afghanistan Policy
Trump’s speech has something for everyone … to criticize. I will not
focus here on how icky the first part on loyalty was. Instead, I focus
on the rules of US Civil-Military Relations: the US military does not
like to start new wars (see Deborah Avant ) once involved in a war, the
US military likes to escalate. They want more troops, as if more means
better. More can be better, but that really de
On Race, Nationalism and “White Pride” in America
This is a guest post (begun as a set of hasty scribbles on Facebook in
the wake of Charlottesville) by Sean Parson , Assistant Professor in the
Departments of Politics and International Affairs and the MA program in
Sustainable Communities at Northern Arizona University. He is the
author o f Cooking up a Revolution: Food Not Bombs, Anarchist Homeless
Activism and the Politics of Space (forthcomin
Preparing Files for Reappointment and Tenure: Some Sharp Guidance
This is a guest post by James Goldgeier , Professor of International
Relations and former Dean at the School of International Service at
American University, building on a twitter thread that addressed tenure
and reappointment and the narratives people write that go into their
packages. At many universities, the end of summer marks the beginning of
the internal review process for faculty on the t
Calling New Ducks
As the fall semester approaches, we’re looking for a few good Ducks.
We’d like to bring on a new slate of guest Duck bloggers to continue to
bring IR-related insights to bear on important real world problems, to
explore important debates in the academy, and to do some professional
introspection. We’re especially keen on having gender balance and
increasing representation of voices from beyond Nor
New in The Earth and Man: Setting the Stage
The Total Solar Eclipse and Global Warming
The tallbloke site has a post on "Collecting Data Unique to a Solar
Eclipse", apparently data of concern in climate and atmospheric science,
but limited to the effect of a total solar eclipse upon that part of
the outer atmosphere known as the ionosphere, not to the lower
atmosphere--the troposphere--or the global mean surface temperature (the
one measurement of interest to "global warming" clima
New in The High-fat Hep C Diet
Low fat dairy recommendations for children completely lack an evidence base, to put it mildly
"There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into
babies." — Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) Radio broadcast (March 21,
1943) After reading about the Toddler Paradox on the Care Factor
Critical blog, I wondered what evidence was cited in New Zealand to
support recommendations for low fat milk, lean meat, and so on in the
diets of children. These recommendations were revised
New in The Straight Goods
Rest in Peace Merv Adey
I miss you already... Merv Adey.....The warrior spirit lived within
Merv....and so did civility... Merv's last posting..
_____________________ Bye for now It’s with great regret that after two
months not posting to this blog, I’m now announcing what I hope is a
temporary retirement from blogging. I’ve been dealing with a health
issue, and need to restrict my activities to give as much energy as I
Canada's Not So Soft Racist Underbelly
Written by Grant G Hard to imagine there were any "good" Alt-Right
participants in Charlottesville, yes the rally was in part was over a
Robert E Lee statue coming down but anyone attending that event for that
one line item, once Neo-Nazis, Klu Klux Klan and white Supremacists
show up and you decide to stay and participate.... Nazis want racial
purity, millions they deemed inferior were eradicate
Michael Smyth and Postmedia....Actually, Shitty Smitty and Corporate Pom Pom Girls
Written by Grant G Michael Smyth...he's not a writer, he's a childmind,
.....the only one(s) giving Gordon Wilson the time of day is Keith
Baldrey and especially Michael Smyth(shitty Smitty).... Why....because
Postmedia is desperate to tarnish John Horgan.... The problem for
Balderdash and bit writer Shitty Smitty is.....BC Public, including BC
Liberal voters, they know Gordon Wilson is a public
New in The View from Taiwan
Taiwan's low wage slow motion economic disaster
Locks hung by lovers to symbolize relationships never broken at a truly
silly lovers' corner behind the big temple in Beimen, Tainan. Thanks
for all the kind thoughts for speedy healing, dear readers. I really
appreciate that you took a moment to say that. News Lens ran an
excellent piece on the low wage + low productivity trap that is stifling
Taiwan's economy. I'm excerpting it here but read th
Surgery
In this temple scene the artist has included people with cellphones
taking photos *Creaks open door, turns on light* Well... back in
business. I took the last two weeks off because I had surgery. In July I
went to a favorite swimming hole in Miaoli on my bike. You have to
climb down to the creek. After lolling about in the water for a while,
we climbed back up to the road. As I was climbing, pull
Playing Catch Up
In the summer I always feel it is strange to see junior high and high
school kids out and about. Usually they are suffering in some kind of
summer school. One hardly sees them by day, only when crowding the
trains late at night. Thus are Taiwanese socialized into the brutal,
exploitative work schedules Taiwan bosses routinely employ. I took a
couple of weeks off from this blog to reduce post-surg
One Year on: Tsai's failed apology?
IBM mobile computer : Data recorder used in 1961 agricultural census on
Taiwan (photo from 1963 when it was being moved. By oxcart). It's been a
year since President Tsai made her apology to the aborigines. Failed
promises ? Aboriginal rights campaigners yesterday condemned the
government for having not carried out a promise to reinstate traditional
Aboriginal territories, and they demanded that
Aug Break....
Dear readers: I am taking a couple of weeks off. I should be back late
in August. Have a great summer! _______________________ [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!
Taiwan crops up in the strangest places
The first episode of the Adam West Batman series, Hi Diddle Riddle ,
has some stock footage of Taipei at about the :27 mark.
_______________________ [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!
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