Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Incredible Credulity

English: A Pakistani Chengdu F-7PG aircraft co...English: A Pakistani Chengdu F-7PG aircraft conducts a training mission during a multinational exercise Dec. 9, 2009, in Southwest Asia. Aircrews from France, Jordan, Pakistan, the U.A.E., the U.K. and the U.S. are training together in the Air Forces Central area of responsibility. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Pakistani guys on the Deira docks in DubaiPakistani guys on the Deira docks in Dubai (Photo credit: CharlesFred)

Bin Laden was killed in a joint Pakistan-US operation

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 2 days ago
Operation Neptune Spear by the US Navy Seals in which Osama Bin Laden was killed on 2 May 2011 was actually a joint Pakistan-US operation. A lot of online material is available about the incident and the Pakistangovernment has also released the Abbottabad Commission’s Report (which is still classified) but the whole episode and its reporting sheds light on the complicity, sensationalism and spin-doctoring by the Western corporate media. By ‘joint operation’ I mean that the operation was carried out in full coordination with the Pakistani Air Force and ground forces which secured t... more » 
( He thinks he's cynical. I merely wonder who really was killed. A 6'4" dying man on dialysis over 10 years - while supposedly in hiding despite daily hospital services -  is not a credible assessment. Not even for a Saudi prince, CIA paymaster, and intimate of the Bush family. ) 

Structural faults in the Pakistani politics

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The ignorance of the masses is actually a failure of the privileged educated elite of a society in performing their duty: to educate the masses. The relationship between the privileged classes and the underprivileged masses in the developing countries can best be understood by drawing an analogy to the relationship between the factory-owners and the factory-workers. The factory-owners and their minions: the managers, assistants and financial advisers occupy a higher position on the social ladder; as a class, they are educated, well-dressed and posh; while the factory-workers are ill... more »

Terrorism as pretext for intervention

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The fear of terrorism is partly a fact and partly a hype to militarily intervene in the oil-rich Middle East and North Africa region. Obviously, any incident of terrorism is a big human tragedy in which many innocent human lives are lost; and governments all over the world, try to avert such an incident from happening. But the actions of the governments, and their proportionality, needs to be carefully examined to judge their real intentions. Can it be said about the Zia regime that it felt a genuine love and affection towards their brothers-in-faith; and that’s why they chose to gi... more »

The role of Saudi Arabia in spawning Islamic extremism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Introduction: The Pakistani military establishment is rightfully blamed for creating the Taliban; but the phenomena of religious extremism and terrorism is not limited to Pakistan; this conflagration has engulfed the whole of Islamic world from Iraq and Syriato Algeria and Indonesia and even the Muslim minorities in China, Thailandand Philippines. Pakistani establishment does not has access to all these regions, thus, aside from local actors, some regional and global actors are also responsible for creating the menace of Islamic extremism and terrorism. A more holistic understanding... more »

Three categories of militants in Pakistan

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The trouble with Pakistani liberals is that they don’t understand what do they want? PPP and ANP opposed the Afghan Jihad; and the resultant extremism and terrorism in Pakistan in the aftermath of Afghan Jihad is in a way a vindication of their rightful stance. But mere vindication is not enough, we need to find solutions for the pressing problem. And what is their solution? Military-bashing, right-wing-bashing and a false victimhood syndrome. Actually there is more to extremism and terrorism than meets the eye. It is only partly an issue of human rights and minority rights; more th... more »

A pacifist solution for curbing militancy and terrorism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Some of us tend to take a binary approach towards most issues; like either you are with us or against us. But there are always many reasonable options in between. For instance: a complete surrender of the writ of the state in the tribal areas of Pakistan or its full restoration. Restoration, by the way, implies re-establishment of the writ; which we never had in the first place; we used the tribals to achieve our strategic objectives in Kashmir and Afghanistan; and we abused them by militarizing and weaponizing them. Anyway, instead of taking a binary approach of complete restoration... more »

Syrian conflict and Israel's regional security

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Syrian Conflict: A War on Hezbollah. Let me admit at the outset that Assad is an illegitimate tyrant who must abdicate his hereditary throne to the will of the people when the opportune moment arrives. But at the moment our primary concern shouldn’t be bringing democracy to Syria; at the moment our first and foremost priority should be reducing the level of violence in Syria. There are two parties to this conflict: the regime and the rebels. It is not possible for the regime to get off the back of the tiger because the tiger will eat it alive. The regime is fighting a war of defense... more »

The cost of war on terror

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
This write-up is a rejoinder to Omar Ali’s well argued post: Drone and anti-drone. Omar Ali’s arguments are premised on a sub-conscious assumption that the Western powers honestly wants to rid the world from the scourge of religious extremism and terrorism; a deeply held belief of the intrinsic goodness of the Western Empire (North America and Western Europe) which overlooks a simple fact that the Empire created these Mujaideen/terrorists during the Cold War with the help of Pakistani military establishment and the Saudi and Gulf sponsors. The paradigm of international politics chang... more »

Cold war and the genesis of terrorism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
In the book of most neoliberals, violence is the worst sin in today’s world. I am also pacifist by nature but I see a contradiction in the neoliberals’ pacifism: they want us to meet violence with violence; to fight crime with crime; to wage a war against a war; but an eye for an eye will make the world go blind. It is an issue of emotions, loyalties and value-based subjective narratives which is presented to us in a veneer of rational argumentations and an appeal to logic. To understand this we need to look at the history of the Cold War and the genesis of the petro-terrorism. Ther... more »

True lies of Petro-terrorism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
This blogpost is an assortment of some of my earlier comments at different forums on the subject of petro-terrorism. There is no denying the fact that terrorism is a real threat. But at the same time we cannot overlook the fact that 9/11 provided an opportunity to the Big Oil in the West to intervene in the Middle East region to secure its vast natural resources from the competing powers. Hence the name, True Lies of Petro-terrorism. In his article titled “True Lies” Nadeem F. Paracha (NFP) of Dawn News asks an interesting question. NFP: If US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas... more »

Spin-doctoring surrounding shale oil

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Reuters reports: U.S. to surpass Saudi as top oilproducer by 2016 – says the International Energy Agency. The United States will stride past Saudi Arabia and Russiato become the world's top oil producer by 2016, the West's energy agency said, bringing Washingtoncloser to energy self-sufficiency and reducing the need for OPEC supply. And the Bloomberg goes a step further: The U.S. will surpass Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top oil producer by 2015, and be close to energy self-sufficiency in the next two decades, amid booming output from shale formations, the IEA said. By re... more »

Mass media: A commercial or social enterprise?

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
We expect from the individuals and the business enterprises to act in their self-interest. But then why do we expect from the government to work in the larger public interest; from the legislature to make laws and devise policy for the benefit of an entire nation; and from the judiciary, bureaucracy and the law enforcement to enforce law and justice throughout the country? Will it be morally right if they take advantage of their position and promote their own self-interest at the cost of larger public interest? No, because the government, legislature, judiciary and bureaucracy are g... more »

Post-911 transformation of Pakistani Establishment

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Aside from external actors there are certain local actors who are trying to sabotage the peace process initiated by the PML-N and PTI. It is generally thought that PPP is an anti-establishment party while the Muslim League has been a historical ally of the military establishment. But such an essentialist approach is fallacious because it tends to overlook the dynamic and ever-changing nature of alliances and institutions. Unlike democratic institutions, the military establishment is a different kind of institution. It is based on the unity of command and blind obedience. The head do... more »

Karachi: An urban dystopia

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Karachi’s worst problem is law and order. And the solution to this problem is a complete deweaponization of the city. Global players, these days, are very concerned about the militant ideologies but scant attention is being paid to the proliferation of guns, firearms and all kinds of weapons. Military strategists always measure the enemy’s strength by his capability, not by his intentions; because intentions can change any time. If we apply the same logic to religious extremism vs. weaponization issue, the latter is a much bigger threat; and no actions are being taken to reduce the ... more »

Difference between urban and rural Islam

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
In order for us to be self-critical, we must accurately define ourselves first. Labels and ‘isms’ are always fallacious and lead us astray. Take Islam for instance; if I believe that I am a Muslim, can I represent the whole of Muslim ummah? It’s a fact that Muslims all over the world do share certain similarities pertaining to beliefs, rituals and values; but what does a Pakistani Muslim has in common with a British or American Muslim? The latter have more in common with the Western culture and only a few beliefs in common with the Eastern Muslims. As I said earlier: individuals are... more »

Neocolonialism: Exploitation by deception

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Before helio-centricism, geo-centricism was in vogue: earth was reckoned as the center of the universe. It was impossible for the ancients to envision a world in which earth was not the center of the universe. Similarly, Euclidean geometry was based on a three-dimensional model; it was difficult for the classical physicists to imagine a four-dimensional space-time. It is always the failure of imagination which stops us from thinking outside the box. We naively accept the working paradigms, no matter how ridiculous and unjust they may be. Unfettered capitalism and the prevalent neo-c... more »

Democracy precedes liberalism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
JS Mill’s critique of majoritarianism or the will of the majority makes sense; but only in its universal application. Mill, on the other hand, makes a subjective and artificial distinction between the backward societies and the advanced societies; and posits that majoritarianism somehow works in the “liberal democracies” but not in the so-called “backward societies.” One wonders, did the backward societies fought the World War I, II, Korea, Vietnam and the Cold War; and did the backward societies invaded Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya? I don’t blame the citizens of the developed world ... more »

Halkbank scandal and the Chinese missiles

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The recent Turkish Halkbank scandal in which the Turkish ministers were given bribes by an Iranian businessman, Riza Sarraf originally named Reza Zarrab, to illegally transfer money/gold to Iran reeling under the pressure of US sanctions on its nuclear program should be viewed in the context of Erdogan’s decision to buy Chinese missile defense system to which NATO strongly objects. Al-monitor reports on the corruption/bribery scandal: The [Turkish] government is looking for US and Israeli hands in the operation because of the use of Halkbank to circumvent the sanctions imposed on I... more »

PTI phenomena in the Pakistani politics

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
We need to give credit to Imran Khan and the PTI (PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf) phenomena that it has successfully managed to politically mobilize the most impassive segments of the society: the students, women and the urban middle class. These segments are generally only interested in cricket, scandals and gossip. And it isn’t their fault; the environment of our baradari-based (kinship-based) politics and the stereotype local politicians like Shaikh Rasheed and Lalu Prasad Yadav are such that the refined people tend to stay miles away from such political melee. But now due to the charism... more »

Social conditioning and cultural relativism

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Social conditioning plays the same role in cognitive science which natural selection plays in biological sciences. Most attitudes and behaviors can be explained by understanding how society influences and conditions the mindsets of the individuals. But this ‘conditioning’ also rules out the possibility of an objective reality and an independent mindset. As Jacques Derrida beautifully articulates his concept of originary complexity: “Must not structure have a genesis, and must not the origin, the point of genesis, be already structured, in order to be the genesis of something?” Now i... more »

Structure and agency

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
I recently noticed that women can be very jealous and hostile towards other women. Now, I can conveniently blame women for their jealousy and Muslims for their bigotry. In other words, I can blame the actors for their actions. But since I am not a neoliberal so I’ll choose to avoid taking this reductive and unfair approach. From a post-modern perspective instead of blaming the actors for their actions, we look at the forces which structure the mindsets of the actors. Thus it isn’t women’s fault that they are at times jealous and superficial; it is the fault of male-dominated patriar... more »

The international system of injustice

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
In a world where resources are limited, competition and conflicts are bound to take place; it is the job of law enforcement and judiciary to curb crime and amicably resolve the conflicts on the basis of just moral and legal principles. But what if the police and judiciary becomes corrupt and starts protecting its own self-interest over and above the common interests of humanity? In such a case we don’t blame the violent human nature; or the petty thieves, robbers, murderers and other social perverts; we blame the state and its weak institutions, which not only failed to protect the ... more »

The urban-rural divide in Pakistan

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The urbanites commit a very big fallacy when they assume that the land belongs to the central power in a state. This notion is somewhat like infantile psychological projection: where the child believes that the rest of the world thinks exactly like him. The city-dwellers live an individualist life in the post-industrial milieu and they project their ethos and values on a completely different rural-tribal setting. The urban-rural divide in the underdeveloped countries is very sharp because the impoverished state fails to provide all the amenities and facilities of cities to the rura... more »

Education and discrimination

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
We commit a big fallacy when we presume that our educational achievements are our individual achievements. We like to believe that we were born with a certain innate talent which made us intellectually superior to all the rest. But the fact of the matter is: our innate talents aren’t all that different. Some people are born with genes which make them grow to being 6 feet tall, while others are only 5.10 or 5.8, minor difference nevertheless. Same goes with IQs. (I am only talking about ordinary mortals here, intellectual giants are beyond the purview of this modest analytical exerci... more »

Democracy, an end in itself

Nauman Sadiq at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Most people think of democracy as means to an end, not an end in itself. The goal is always to establish one’s value-system after gaining power through a democratic process. The value-system is based on our mindset and worldview: liberal or conservative. Nobody, whether liberal or conservative, really cares about the democratic process; so much so that the Muslim Brotherhood vying to restore democracy in Egypt never even mentions the word “democracy” in its statements; they call it the movement for the restoration of “legitimacy.” Perhaps, this antagonism towards democracy has somet... more »

Prejudice vs reverse prejudice

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Reverse-prejudice is a very powerful emotion; one must guard oneself against it as scrupulously as one guards oneself against prejudice because after all reverse-prejudice is also a form of ‘prejudice.’ For instance: a prejudice is when a Pakistani who is brought up as a Pakistani hates India. And a reverse-prejudice is when a Pakistani overcomes the India-hating phase, after getting new insights and information, and begins hating Pakistan. But why would someone hate one’s own country? There could be many reasons; but one important factor is to avenge an insult to one’s intelligence... more »

Will vs capacity in the war on terror

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Global Jihad was a corollary of the Cold War. Back then, Pakistansupported the Mujahideen; US supported the Mujahideen; and the whole of Western and West-oriented world supported the Afghan Mujahideen. But the whole geo-political framework changed after the untimely and sudden demise of Soviet Union. Now, the US opposes the terrorists; the whole of Western and West-oriented world opposes the terrorists; and even the Pakistani establishment wants to curb this menace. With a sacrifice of 40,000 human lives and a displacement and suffering of millions, after Afghanistan, Iraqand Syria,... more »

Conspiracy theories and energy wars

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Calling someone a conspiracy theorist, these days, is like issuing a fatwa of Kufr on him. Of late, many people have labeled me as a conspiracy theorist; and in a way it is true; because I am a nonbeliever in the mainstream dogma. But it really gets difficult to fight back as an individual with the Fourth Estate, the king-makers in the contemporary PR-based world. To understand how credible the corporate media is, we need to study its structure. All the mainstream media outlets are controlled by the corporate interests. The journalists write the stories, the editors make the editor... more »

Structuration of male and female mindsets

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The distinction between genders: masculine and feminine, is more of a social construct than it is an immutable physical division. A tigress is as good a hunter as a tiger. But the complexity of human existence is very different from all other species. We, as social beings, have developed advanced institutions and culture. The distinction between males and females is based less on the bodily traits and more on their respective mindsets. And these mindsets in turn are an outcome of social expectations of behavior in a socio-cultural milieu. It is expected from the male members of a cu... more »

The politics of Sunni-Shia divide

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Ethno-linguistic and ethno-religious differences are always there between groups of people inhabiting a state; be it Hindu/Muslim, Mohajir/Sindhi or Shia/Sunni differences. But it isn’t as much about differences as it is about other factors. If the people belonging to different ethnic or religious groups don’t love each other; that does not necessarily implies that they are at each other’s throats. It is more about politics, economics and a preferential access to resources in a limited geographical space then it is about the differences per se. The role of the leadership becomes imp... more »

The myth of freedom

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The freedom of an individual in a modern society is such a myth; there is an invisible cobweb of power all around us; our lives are managed like the traffic on the road. Mass ideologies are an outcome of the mass literacy programs and the mass media. We are led to believe that we are free; when in fact the only freedom we possess is the freedom to choose between the corporate brands: Samsung or Nokia, HP or Dell, Nikon or Canon? This emphasis on the elusive freedoms and liberties in a corporate setting suits the interests of the powers that be. The only concrete outcome of the vague... more »

Privatization vs State capitalism

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The market fundamentalism of our finance minister: Ishaq Dar knows no bounds. He still believes in the 20th century mantra of privatization as a cure for all evils. But the 21st century has witnessed a new paradigm: the state capitalism of a $8 trillion economic miracle in China (on the basis of PPP $12 trillion comparable to $15 trillion economy of USA.) While I agree that the private enterprises are more competitive and the customer service is a lot better compared to the state-owned enterprise; but I wonder why can’t the state-owned enterprise perform as efficiently as the privat... more »

Allegory of the lake

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
The objective-subjective conundrum is one of the most difficult question of philosophy. But in the vein of Plato’s allegory of the cave here I am putting forward my allegory of the lake. It’s easy to define objectivity; when a subject studies an object: and subjectivity; when a subject studies another subject but very difficult to comprehend this distinction. Take Lake Tarbelafor instance: at some places it’s water appears blue, at other green and at some places it appears mud-colored. Now what is the true/real/objective color of the lake? To answer this question we need to dig a ... more »

Technology and culture

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
In relation to the impact of new technology on culture, the printing press of Johannes Gutenberg in 1450 single-handedly brought about the Renaissance, a quantum leap of a cultural change that was a precursor to all the marvels of physical sciences that we see around us today. Imagine an intellectual life without a printing press, where every copy of a book was hand-written. It’s like I taking upon myself the task of writing Wikipedia, an impossible task even in ten lifetimes. The printing press made knowledge accessible to the entire population of Europe. Before that it was only a ... more »

What caused liberalism to backfire in the East?

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
It’s a picture of Veena Malik, our desi version of Paris Hilton, an epitome of superficiality, shallowness and inferiority complex. When I googled Veena Malik I had trouble finding an appropriate picture for a “safe account.” Let’s avoid being normative here and think what caused liberalism to fail in the East and especially in the Islamic countries? It is partly a political failure but mostly it is the failure of commercial media as an agent of social reform. It is basically an issue of how a new technology interacts with the local culture. Electronic media is a bridge that conne... more »

PTI: The new face of nationalist liberalism in Pakistan

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
In my previous post: Is democracy consistent with Islam? I made a distinction between politics and culture and said that a democratic system of governance falls in the category of politics while liberalism as a value-system falls in the category of culture. When we say that Islam and democracy are incompatible, we make a category mistake as serious as the Islamists’ misperception that democracy is un-Islamic. They too mix up democracy with liberalism. In my arguments I conceded that there is some friction between liberalism as a culture and Islam as a religion. But democracy isn’t a... more »

Is democracy consistent with Islam?

Nauman PK at Incredible credulity - 1 week ago
Some people are under the impression that democracy and Islam are incompatible. But I don’t see any contradiction between democracy and Islam. Though I admit, there is some friction between Islam and liberalism. When we say that there is a contradiction between Islam and democracy, we make a category mistake which is a very serious logical fallacy. We must be precise about the definitions of the terms that we employ. Democracy is simply a representative political system that ensures representation, accountability, the right of the electorate to vote governments in and vote governmen... more »

Neomilitarism and the Decline of Neoimperialism

Nauman at Incredible credulity - 1 year ago
At the moment China’s GDP is 11.3 trillion USD (PPP) compared to USA’s 15 trillion. But according to BNP Paribas China’s GDP will exceed USA’s by 2020. Neo-imperial economists are caught in a dilemma. If they formulate protective trade policies against China, they will lose the moral high-ground and they won’t be able to criticize and coerce all the other developing countries who will follow suit and restrict imports not only from Chinabut the whole North Atlantic corporate world and also Japan and South Korea. And if the North keeps following the free trade mantra, their relativel... more »

A Chargesheet against People's Party

Nauman at Incredible credulity - 1 year ago
It is understandable for a Pakistani liberal to support the Pakistan People’s Party. They follow a value-system which is different from the one followed by the urban middle class Pakistanis. I am a firm believer in cultural relativism because the human minds are structured by their respective cultures and environments and certain values are deeply ingrained in the human psyche. Culturally I too classify myself as a liberal. But there is a limit to cultural relativism. Certain moral values are universal to all cultures and if you violate such norms you will be loathed across the boa... more »

Cultural and Moral Relativism

Nauman at Incredible credulity - 1 year ago
Had we preached structuralism in the manner that we preach secularism, most of our tolerance and social harmony related problems will get solved instantly. What do you think is the rationale behind secularism and multiculturalism? Moderns advocate these creeds partly for intellectual and social progress but mostly for tolerance and social harmony. The precise term for secularism for the sake of intellectual and social progress is intellectual autonomy. To promote tolerance and social harmony, secularism itself has a tendency of getting ossified and intolerant towards diverse belief-... more »
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30 April - Blogs I'm Following

1:27pm MDST

enola gay

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 5 minutes ago
barefoot general

make trouble

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 17 minutes ago
Civil disobedience becomes a sacred duty when the State becomes lawless or corrupt. Mahatma Gandhi

April 30: We're a world leader...

Graeme Decarie at The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad - 18 minutes ago
....The CBC has the story. Most of the world has it, I suspect. But you won't find it anywhere in the Irving press, not even in that bowl of intellectual pabulum it calls a Business page. Recent figures show the US leads the world in the income gap between 1% and everybody else. 47% of all wealth generated in the last twenty years has gone to the top 1%. Result? In addition to high unemployment, average income in the US has slipped back to where it was 40 years ago. But (sing a chorus of O Canada.) we're number two at 37%. So much for the crapola we hear about how shale gas will mak... more »

THE LATEST FROM CHIEF BLOVIATOR

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 18 minutes ago
Washington is spinning the wheel of blame in regard to the Ukrainian stand-off. This time it is pointing at the EU. The criticism came in comments made by US Secretary of State, John Kerry. For more on this RT is joined by Gayane Chichakyan.

"Changing everything"

Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 1 hour ago
A year ago, two bombs left near the finish line of the Boston Marathon killed 3 people and injured 264. As a result, this year in Boston (and, I expect, all future years) was completely different in many ways, all designed ostensibly to ensure security. But this wasn't the first time a large group of people watching an event had been bombed. Back in 1916 (see p. 3 of the link), a "Preparedness Day" parade in San Francisco was being held, the largest parade ever held in the city, with more than 50,000 marchers (!) and who knows how many people watching. A suitcase bomb, most likely ... more »

OPERATION STREAMLINE AND SALAZAR: MAN IN THE MIDDLE

Roberto Rodriguez at Dr Cintli - 1 hour ago
OPERATION STREAMLINE AND SALAZAR: MAN IN THE MIDDLE: Last night's event at the University of Arizona showcasing a student video "Exposing Operation Streamline" and the showing of the Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle documentary was very successful. Both included student research and presentations. The Salazar presentation included a panel of former journalists, professors and a student. Here are a few photos and the link for the Streamline video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gabxf9ArwfU

Deep tweets

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 hour ago
Really just too barbaric for words. Details of OK's botched double execution are horrible. Lockett had "vein failure." After 40 minutes, he sat up and said "something's wrong" — allisonkilkenny (@allisonkilkenny) April 30, 2014 Bayley Elise McBride reporting from the scene.

Arthur Darvill is not just Rory from Doctor Who and he wants to sing about it

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 hour ago
Arthur Darvill (Rory from Dr Who) performs 'The Ballad Of Arthur Darvill', sung to the tune of Let It Go from Frozen for the Matt Edmondson Show on BBC Radio 1.

Classroom Activity: Shared Threat and Delayed Elections

Phil Arena at Duck of Minerva - 1 hour ago
This activity comes after students are to have listened to a lecture (slides) about domestic politics helps us understand variation in the likelihood of international conflict. I focused particularly on whether the spread of democracy explains Europe’s transformation from one of the most violent parts of the world to one of the most peaceful and how the Continue reading

New Research on Issue Selection in Global Policy Networks

Charli Carpenter at Duck of Minerva - 1 hour ago
At long last, the journal article version* of the research my team conducted on the human security network is published (complete with color-coded tag clouds and network graphs)! International Organization has very kindly agreed to temporary un-gate the article until May 30, so check out the TUG.pdf here! My co-authors Sirin Duygulu, Alexander Montgomery, Anna Continue reading

josh lueke is a rapist and why we should continue to say so

laura k at wmtc - 1 hour ago
Stacey May Fowles has written a incisive, biting, and definitive piece about shaming men who rape. I can scarcely quote from it (although I will), because every word is not only necessary but perfect. Please join me in reading this stellar essay, and in cheering for Fowles and every survivor of sexual assault, and in calling out every Josh Lueke we can find. May I add, too, that this essay explains exactly why I will *never* stop saying *animal torturer* and *dog murderer* every time I hear or read the name Michael Vick. A blog reader recently told me I should give it up because Vic... more »

dark times in canada, part 2: marci mcdonald on jason kenney: "and you thought harper was right-wing?"

laura k at wmtc - 1 hour ago
You won't catch me implying that Stephen Harper and his corrupt, anti-democratic, anti-human government is moderate. But there's always room to move even further to the right, and that space is called Jason Kenney. Marci McDonald, author of *The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada*, has written a lengthy exposé of Kenney in *The Walrus*. (I've had the print edition for a couple of weeks, and have been waiting for it to post online so I could share it. The "and you thought Harper was right-wing?" tagline is from the print edition.) It's very long, but if yo... more »

dark times in canada, part 1: the lancet: the case against canada as a world citizen

laura k at wmtc - 1 hour ago
I want to share two articles from well-respected venues reflecting on what's happening to Canada now - where it is and where it may be going. In *The Lancet Global Health*, one of the foremost medical journals in the world, there's "A rising tide: the case against Canada as a world citizen", Chris David Simms. It begins: A generation ago, Canada was perceived to be an exemplary global citizen by the rest of the world: it took the lead on a host of international issues, including the Convention of Child Rights, freedom of information, acid rain, world peacekeeping, sanctions against ... more »

200+ Reasons to be in KC to Protest ALEC

2old2care at Because I Can - 1 hour ago
*ALEC Protest* *Kansas City, MO* *Friday, May 1* *11:30 - 1pm* *Kansas City Marriott Downtown (200 W 12th Street)* *Barney Allis Plaza * Any one who has followed me for awhile knows that ALEC identified me as a "radical opponent" in a *March 2010* newsletter to their State Chairs. Why? Because I was the first person ever to compile and publish names of past and present ALEC members. Being that they have a meeting coming up - guess it's time to take a look at part of the list again. *How do people get on an ALEC list?* That question comes up all the time. The most common are: They... more »

If You Are Going to KIPP's Free Happy Hour Recruiting Sessions, Read This First

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 2 hours ago
Excerpt of interview with former KIPP teacher: *INT: Let me ask you this question: if I were a friend of yours interested in teaching at a KIPP school and I asked you what was it like there, what would you tell me?* *R: I would say honestly, I’ve had that question before. I would never ever – I told them I wouldn’t wish that experience on my worst enemy. That’s exactly what I say every time--I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. And I have no enemies but I wouldn’t wish it if I had an enemy. I wouldn’t put anyone through that. Anyone. It was probably – you give up you... more »

The Republican Party Is Making Itself Over As The Party Of Anti-American Sedition

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 2 hours ago
Many Republican Party leaders, always sensitive to their hate-fueled, paranoid base, are still clinging to their racism and bigotry. Its reflected in their policy agenda, the Ryan budget, their refusal to pass the bipartisan Senate comprehensive immigration plan (which even Boehner admits is being held back by the hate mongers in his caucus). Take this GOP thought-leader and political boss: *LIMBAUGH:* You just gotta be who you are, and I think it's time to get rid of this whole National Basketball Association. Call it the TBA, the Thug Basketball Association, and stop calling th... more »

Progressives now say the darnedest things!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014* *48 minutes a slave:* We progressives! Amidst all the current excitement, William Rhoden appeared on Hardball last night to discuss his new book. Improbably enough, the book is called “Forty Million Dollar Slaves.” Chris Matthews started like this: MATTHEWS (4/29/14): In his book, Forty Million Dollar Slaves: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Black Athlete, William Rhoden, who’s right here, argued that while African-Americans may have achieved wealth from the [NBA], they haven’t necessarily gained or exercised real power within it. And with us now is... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 2 hours ago
*John Barry keeps sending me emails. Oil & Gas Industry wants to settle with Louisiana!* [image: https://twitter.com/Editilla] Always watching, never wavering. *Dear Editilla, * *Two important pieces of news:First, last week Louisiana’s Attorney General Buddy Caldwell made public something I've hinted at in my talks: there are on-going conversations about a statewide settlement. On the Jim Engster radio show last week (listen here), Caldwell announced that because of the SLFPAE lawsuit, major oil companies have come to him seeking a statewide settlement. We've al... more »

MARINA'S STORY

Allen L Roland, Ph.D at Allen L Roland's Weblog - 2 hours ago
*Marina after meeting child in session four* *Born in Ireland, 46 years old, catholic, breech birth who suffered emotionally, sexual and physical abuse from father ~ Marina voluntarily became my last private practice Skype client and in the process of reading my Kindle book on Radical Therapy and doing its seven heart centered self-healing sessions, Marina not only found the emotionally lost 5 year old child within herself but also gave that child a voice. Marina's story represents a universal lifelong quest for many to find that same precious c... more »

National Day of Prayer, Political Science Edition 2014

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 3 hours ago
It’s almost that time again: National Day of Prayer is tomorrow. It’s a day for us to come together and pray for those who need praying for.[1] Like last year, I have some political science related prayer requests: Fixed effects and people who ask for them to be included in revisions.[2] Campus parking, any institution Continue reading

Poetry Month's Last Day Fragment

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 3 hours ago
*Poetry Month’s Last Day Fragment* Of days marked by verses sung across clocks and rulers songs to celebrate all our gold variously graded, finely ground against boot marked hardwood desks for eons of crumpled yellow tablets and shavings of graphite hissing anti-insouciant intensities coded and set loose on verbal metronomes calibrated to cross one another without ever touching, ticks and tocks bending past to future, out to in: Per tons of crocus blossoms dried by a million days of salty sun wet sanding moonlit nights held in dewdrops magnifying dark and light within, withou... more »

May Your Life Be Narrated by Sarah Palin

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 3 hours ago
There's a bumper sticker slogan that made the rounds a few years ago: "I want my life to be narrated by Morgan Freeman." There's something that's comforting about having one's mundane life functions chronicled by Mr. Freeman's smooth Southern baritone. "He wearily rises from his bed and begins the latest of countless treks to the bathroom. And he's going to make water regardless of what the Miss Daisys of the world say..." To me, the most vicious imprecation one can bestow upon any gun clutcher, homphobe, Teabagger and garden variety right wing nut job is to have Sara... more »

EYES OFF THE PRIZE: Punish them all!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 3 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2014Part 2—Roxane Gay and the soul of Salon:* This site exists to critique our press corps, not our NBA owners. That said, we’ll have to admit that we’re glad to see Donald Sterling getting the boot. How absurd a figure is Sterling? This 2009 profile from ESPN makes him sound like he’s next in line to rule North Korea, so weird does his long-time conduct and thinking seem to have been. (Are you sure there are no organic brain problems? We *wouldn’t* feel real sure of that.) For ourselves, we always favor “pitying the poor immigrant.” Would *you*want to be t... more »

More on Two Americas

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 4 hours ago
More on Two Americas. via More on Two Americas.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

Beruit

Paul Coker at News Spike - 4 hours ago
On September 26, 1983,* "the National Security Agency (NSA) intercepted an Iranian diplomatic communications message from the Iranian intelligence agency, the Ministry of Information and Security (MOIS),"* to its ambassador, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi, in Damascus. The message directed the ambassador to *"take spectacular action against the American Marines."* The intercepted message, dated September 26, would not be passed to the Marines until October 26: *three days after the bombing.* *The explosion of the Marine Corps building in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23, 1983 created a la... more »

Untitled

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 4 hours ago
Canadian citizens with no criminal record surveilled on purpose. I go no problem if you thought I was going to plant a bomb. The fact is that your more likely to win the lottery than to find a Canadian Citizen that would do a fellow citizen indiscriminate harm. The terrorist threat is an an invention because we have some kind of peace between nations. Why do we need so many cops when the crime rate is dropping? Same for the military. Who you going to fight with $200 million dollars fighters that aerodynamically would have been grounded in Vietnamm? We already with first past the pos... more »

Evidence on a voir dire forms no part of trial proper

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 4 hours ago
*Sadikov* [2014] OJ No. 376: 30 A voir dire is held to determine the admissibility of evidence proposed for admission by a party to a criminal proceeding: R. v. Parsons (1977), 17 O.R. (2d) 465 (C.A.), at p. 469, aff'd [1980] 1 S.C.R. 785. On the voir dire, it is for the trial judge to determine whether the conditions precedent to the admissibility of the proposed evidence have been met. The voir dire is a separate proceeding from the trial proper and the evidence taken on a voir dire forms no part of the evidence at trial unless the parties expressly agree to its incorpora... more »

Never Mind the Ethics - Get Children Reading

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 5 hours ago
Today we are alarmed at the report in The Bookseller that Kobo and Fast food chain McDonald’s are teaming with, Hodder Children’s Books and National Literacy Trust (NLT) to give away ebooks to children when they buy a Happy Meal Box at the fast food chain. Every Happy Meal box will come with an e-book voucher, which will allow customers to download a Famous Five book by Enid Blyton from Hodder Children’s Books. This new promotion is in addition to the existing one, where boxes contain one of six of Blyton’s Secret Seven stories and a £1 voucher that is redeemable to buy a Secret ... more »

Another Election Surprise For Iraq?

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 5 hours ago
April 30, 2014 Iraqis head to the polls in the general election. Iraq’s last few elections have all provided surprises, and this one looks to be no different. In 2009, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s new State of Law (SOL) party swept the south and Baghdad in the provincial elections building upon his success against Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army in Basra, Maysan, and Baghdad, his military campaign against insurgents in Mosul, and challenging the Kurds over the disputed territories the year before. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) was the big loser as the voters punished... more »

Bob Hoskins R.I.P.

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 5 hours ago
I was shocked to learn that Bob Hoskins has died at the age of just 71. It was only a few days ago that Mrs NotaSheep and I were watching him in Mermaids, a much underrated performance of his. I'm sure most of the reports will centre upon his role in the mediocre (in my view) Who Framed Roger Rabbit but I prefer to remember him in that great 1980 London film The Long Good Friday. Hopefully one of the TV channels will show this film in its entirety, and if they do you MUST watch it, but in the meantime here's the ending of that marvellous film with one of the great Londoner speeches... more »

Every breath you take

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 5 hours ago
I wonder if anyone cares that the Federal Government of Canada asked the telecoms 11 million times to see the activity of Canadians. I am not doing anything wrong. Thats not the truth I have done a lot of things wrong. The end point is the goverment sells the ruined lives of the people they prosecute for profit. Watch now while that job he is ten times overqualified is denied because the database said he was a liberal. Think it will not happen, Jebus people in the last century saw this so clear and made some money writing books about it.

Teachers at International HS at Prospect Heights Refuse to Give NYC ELA Test

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 5 hours ago
From Monty Neill: **Media Advisory** 26 Teachers and Staff of International High School at Prospect Heights refuse to give NYC ELA Performance Assessment Test WHEN: Thursday, May 1, 2014, 7:45-8:20am, WHERE: International High School at Prospect Heights, 883 Classon Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11225 WHAT: Teachers will hold a press conference to announce their refusal to administer the NYC ELA Performance Assessment. 26 teachers and staff at Prospect Heights International High School are refusing to administer a new assessment that is part of the new teacher evaluation system ... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 5 hours ago
*Still Parading: Second-line shooting survivor returns to the route ~Nancy Parker, WVUE* *Inmate advocates want Gusman held in contempt over fire safety shortfalls at OPP ~Jim Mustian, New Orleans Advocate* *Mayor Mitchmo seeks special riverfront tax district to pay for decrees and pensions ~Tyler Bridges, The Lens* *French Quarter bar cited for having crime cameras, flood lights ~Paul Murphy, WWLTV * *Fair Grounds pledges upgrades for license renewal ~Ted Lewis* *West Bank levee authority to get new director ~Jeff Adelson, New Orleans Advocate* *May is American Wetlands Month!*... more »

Wild Bill: Invading Enemy Territory...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 6 hours ago
*we are winning. *

Someone Else Will Pick Up The Tab

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 6 hours ago
The Harperites promised Canada's Afghan Veterans a National Day of Honour. But they're not going to pay for it. Tim Harper writes: Corporate Canada and True Patriot Love, the charitable foundation that is raising the money to get families to the capital to be properly honoured, deserve credit. They have stepped in to allow the Harper government to do this on the cheap. The highlight for families arriving in Ottawa will be a private breakfast with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other VIPs, with corporate donations of $10,000 or more guaranteeing your company prime signage and r... more »

People Want To Know Why We Endorsed Bonnie Watson Coleman In NJ-12 Instead of Linda Greenstein. OK, Here's Why

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 6 hours ago
Bonnie knows what team she's playing for-- New Jersey's working families When Blue America decided to endorse Bonnie Watson Coleman one thing that weighed heavily on our decision was how-- when the climate was tough-- Bonnie stuck with Barbara Buono while the Linda Greenstein was running ads touting her fealty to Christie. It drove many of us at Blue America up the wall at the time and it made our endorsement of Bonnie pretty much inevitable. There have been a lot of people telling us that either would be a good replacement for Rush Holt and that both are "progressive Democrats." Tha... more »

Up a tree????

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 6 hours ago

A guilty plea does not ALWAYS reflect an agreement to actually committing the offence

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 6 hours ago
*{But note it is unethical for counsel to assist in the making of a guilty plea where an accused does not accept actual guilt - RPC 5.1-8(c))* *Kumar*, 2011 ONCA 120: [34] As this court explained in *R. v. Hanemaayer*, (2008), 234 C.C.C. (3d) 3 and *R. v. T. (R.)* (1992), 10 O.R. (3d) 514, even though an appellant’s plea of guilty appears to meet all the traditional tests for a valid guilty plea, the court retains a discretion, to be exercised in the interests of justice, to receive fresh evidence to explain the circumstances that led to the guilty plea and that demonstrate... more »

US Economic Data April 30 , 2014 -- US GDP falls to 0.1 percent ( consensus number / estimate was 1.2 percent ! ) ...... ADP 220K Print Beats Expectations, Continues To Goal-Seek Historical Revisions To Ape BLS Data , we shall see what BLS numbers are on Friday !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 6 hours ago
GDP Shocker: US Economic Growth Crashes To Just 0.1% In Q1 [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2014 08:38 -0400 - Gross Domestic Product - Obamacare - Steve Liesman inShare Despite consensus at 1.2% growth QoQ, the "weather" destroyed the fragile stimulus-led economy of the US which managed only a *de minimus +0.1% QoQ growth (the lowest since Q1 2011)*. However, as Steve Liesman noted on the heels of Mark Zandi's comments "basically ignore this number" - ok then. *Spending on Services, however, surged by the most since 2000* - herald... more »

Untitled

jonjayray at EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL - 6 hours ago
*Want to Start a Private Postsecondary School in California? Good Luck* Not everyone wants to attend a traditional four-year college. A lot of people want to learn a trade and start a career immediately out of high school. Vocational schools have served these people in the past and helped them learn a trade in fields such as automotive repair, cosmetology, or nursing. Other people want more flexibility than a traditional college typically provides and opt for small for-profit colleges, many with evening classes. But government bureaucrats are stifling entrepreneurs who want to star... more »

China's view of Obama's Asian Trip: Failure, Possibly damaged U.S and China relationship. China, Russia taking over Commodities (metals) pricing.

Sherrie Questioning All at Sherrie Questioning All - 7 hours ago
So how much did the U.S. taxpayers spend to send Obama over to Asia? It was a trip that was suppose to strengthen trade agreements and be a friendly one. China does not see it as accomplishing any strength in trade agreements and it was anything but friendly from China's eyes. The People's Daily Chinese news site is the voice of the government there. They have an article out about how

Ukraine Updates - April 30 , 2014 -- Eastern Regions out of control ( as per Ukraine's Acting President ) ....... Kiev's Maidan protesters brawl - shots fired , explosives and Far Right in the middle of things ......

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 7 hours ago
Russia Today ...... Ukrainian army ‘on full alert’, president admits east is beyond control Published time: April 30, 2014 09:01 Edited time: April 30, 2014 10:31 Get short URL [image: A Ukrainian soldier stands guard in front of an armoured personnel carrier on a road at a check point near the village of Malinivka, southeast of Slaviansk, in eastern Ukraine April 29, 2014. (Reuters/Baz Ratner)] A Ukrainian soldier stands guard in front of an armoured personnel carrier on a road at a check point near the village of Malinivka, southeast of Slaviansk, in eastern Ukraine April 29, 2014.... more »

Wednesday Links

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 7 hours ago
*Nothing like a trip to Little Burma to make your stomach happy. This is all veg, the samosas were divine. Vendor is in the market off Huaxin Street.* Longtime activist and veteran of the democracy movement Lin I-hsiung ended his hunger strike today, his statement is two posts below this post..... - J Michael in Diplomat on five executions and the political crisis in Taiwan - Taiwan Thinktank (pro-pan-Green) says most want nuke plant halted before referendum on plant - Jack Healy in Huffington Post on the Sunflower Movement. Bonus: rips TECO employee for commentin... more »

War Watch April 30 , 2014 -- Iraqis vote amid looming threat of violence . Voters head to polling stations amid tight security and reports of at least four attacks outside the capital, Baghdad ....... Major Rebel Car Bombings Kill 54, Wound Over 200 in Syria Bombings Targeted Crowded Neighborhoods ....... Afghan Panel: US, UK Still Running Illegal Detention Sites on Bases Discovers 23 Detainees Held at British Bases ....... DNA Test: US Ambush in Yemen Didn’t Kill al-Qaeda Bombmaker Unclear Who the Slain Actually Were , death dealing results from government assault that backfires when Al Qaeda ambushes forces......

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 7 hours ago
Iraq...... Iraqis vote amid looming threat of violence Voters head to polling stations amid tight security and reports of at least four attacks outside the capital, Baghdad. Barry Malone Last updated: 30 Apr 2014 11:43 [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker] [image: Email Article] [image: Print Article] [image: Share article] [image: Send Feedback] *Baghdad, Iraq* - Iraqis have begun voting in parliamentary elections that are expected to result in a period of difficult coalition-building, as violence across the country soars close to its worst levels seen in several years... more »

The Oil of the Caspian Sea

Paul Coker at News Spike - 7 hours ago
*Iran cautions against extra-regional military presence in Caspian Sea * On Line: 22 April 2014 15:34 In Print: Wednesday 23 April 2014 *(They mean NATO)* *TEHRAN* – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has cautioned against the military presence of any non-littoral states in the Caspian Sea. Zarif made the remarks during a meeting of the foreign ministers of Caspian Sea littoral states -- Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan -- in Moscow on Tuesday. “Maintaining the Caspian Sea as a body of water of peace, friendship, and stability; refraining from... more »

The Black Water Ditch and the Chinese Claim to the Senkakus

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 7 hours ago
[image: DSC_0016] *Another great trip out to Little Burma in Taipei, on Huaxin Street near the Nanshijiao MRT station (Exit 4, head past the KFC and McDonald's).* Work! What's that? I'm blogging! I've long wanted to take a moment and review a very specific and bogus claim that Chinese expansionist scholars typically use to argue that the Senkakus are Chinese: that a black ditch/trough formed the boundary between China and the Rykyus (Okinawa) which would put the boundary north of the Senkakus, which would thus have been Chinese in the 17th century. Han-yi Shaw's thesis on how China ... more »

Lord of the Drones

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 8 hours ago
Perhaps one of the more insidious developments of the Barack Obama presidency has been the normalization as well as public acceptance of the murder by drone policy of the Empire. The man who gets his daily kill list delivered to him along with his orange juice in the morning has not only refined the Bush-Cheney "war on terror" by expanding the use of the killer drones, juicing the surveillance state and further presiding over the looting of the average American in order to finance Wall Street and their foreign wars of profit but institutionalized it. With the mounting toll of civ... more »

U.S. nuclear missile silos still use floppy disks, but have Battlestar Galactica-style cyber security

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 8 hours ago
[image: Minuteman III ICBM]You’d probably expect to encounter all sorts of crazy technology in a U.S. Air Force nuclear silo. One you might not expect: floppy disks. Leslie Stahl of CBS’s 60 Minutes reported from a Wyoming nuclear control center for a segment that aired on Sunday, and the Cold War-era tech she found is pretty amazing. But it also makes sense. The government built facilities for the Minuteman missiles in the 1960s and 1970s, and though the missiles have been upgraded numerous times to make them safer and more reliable, the bases themselves haven’t changed much. Re... more »

My Whittier Blvd. Connection: Salazar: Man in the Middle

Roberto Rodriguez at Dr Cintli - 9 hours ago
4th entry (5th coming up... actual review of the documentary) April 29, 2014 http://rubensalazarpbs.org/blog/ My Whittier Blvd. Connection By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez In my first entry, I mentioned that I have always felt a connection with Ruben Salazar because I was nearly killed by Sheriff’s deputies on Whittier Blvd., a few streets down from where he was killed. To me, I always considered the Silver Dollar Café a place of pilgrimage. It was located across the street from Sounds of Music record store, which itself had its own fame among the lowrider scene. For years, the Silver... more »

Don't Forget How the harpercons Treated Veterans

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 9 hours ago
The anti-democratic harpercon base had one day to bray like jackasses about how Elections Canada threw in the towel on the 2011 election fraud scandal before they had to regroup and spew the talking points defending Jason Kenney's Cheap Foreign Worker Program scandal. I'm sure it's not easy being so loathsome and revolting. But keep up the pressure. When the next election comes, don't forget to make the harpercons' abysmal, appalling and screechingly hypocritical abuse of veterans a major issue.

America: A Pacific power?

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 9 hours ago
*April 30, 2014* (Nile Bowie - RT) - As Washington pursues its rebalancing strategy, Obama’s historic four-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific has subtly altered the region’s security dynamics. *"The United States is a Pacific power, and we are here to stay,"* declared President Obama during his speech to the Australian parliament in 2011, following his announcement to deploy 2,500 marines to northern Australia to help protect American interests across Asia. [image: Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) Ministerial meeting in Singapore February (Reuters / Edgar Su)] Trans-Pacific Partnership (... more »

Musical Interlude: Vangelis, “Hymn”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
Vangelis, “Hymn” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB7fnZ-AQNE

Why Farage Bottled Newark

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 9 hours ago
Patrick Mercer resigning from Parliament because he's *ashamed* of his wrongdoing? Now there's a welcome change. Perhaps a few more MPs should take note. In the normal course of things Mercer's career might have had a footnote on the news, but as it passes into the night it was immediately overshadowed by one question. Will Nigel Farage stand in the resulting by-election? Well, now we know the answer. While dithering has become a thing on the right of late, what with Dave paralysed in the face of winter flooding, getting pulled from pillar to post by competing pressures and now dra... more »

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
“Grand spiral galaxies often seem to get all the glory. Their young, blue star clusters and pink star forming regions along sweeping spiral arms are guaranteed to attract attention. But small irregular galaxies form stars too, like NGC 4449, about 12 million light-years distant. Less than 20,000 light-years across, the small island universe is similar in size, and often compared to our Milky Way's satellite galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). *Click image for larger size.* This remarkable Hubble Space Telescope close-up of the well-studied galaxy was reprocessed to highlight ... more »

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA. Thanks for stopping by.

Langston Hughes,"Dreams"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
*"Dreams"* "Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly. Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow." - Langston Hughes

Carl Friedrich Gauss: a birthday

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 9 hours ago
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauß – one of the history's best mathematicians – was born on April 30th, 1777 (thanks, Moinak), to a poor working-class family in Northwestern Germany. If you are intrigued by the high number of "sevens" in his birthday, let me mention that he died when he was 77, too. *Gauß on the ten-deutsche-mark banknote became an early victim of the euro (the banknote was worth 5.113 euros).* His contributions are huge: you may spend an hour just by enumerating things named after him – including things used by physicists every hour. The Gaussian distribution, Gauss-Bonn... more »

"When You Were Born..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
"When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice." - Cherokee Expression

Paulo Coelho, “Dreams and Obsessions”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
“Dreams and Obsessions” by Paulo Coelho “Your theory about every person could reach everything in life is really optimistic. But if the person tried once and was despaired and disappointed what is he going to do?” - Antoine Rigal, Lyon, France “There is sometimes a bit of confusion in regards to a passage in my book "The Alchemist": “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Some people sometimes want things that in the end won’t truly help them. Life is strange: the happier people can be, the unhappier they are. I have some friends that thi... more »

"Life..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
"Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning." - Joseph Campbell

Chet Raymo, “Seeking Order In The Natural Order”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
*“Seeking Order In The Natural Order”* by Chet Raymo “It is a popular misconception that evolution is “just a theory.” On the contrary, the evidence for the development of life over billions of years by common descent from simple ancestors is overwhelming. So overwhelming that most biologists and geologists would call evolution a “fact.” The influential geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky said “Nothing makes sense except in the light of evolution.” Nobel prize-winning biologist Peter Medewar said, “The alternative to thinking in evolutionary terms is not to think at all.” What these t... more »

Sign The Petition To Stop The Outrageous Power Grab To Destroy Organics

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 10 hours ago
Stop Obama's Corporate Coup of Organics! Right now one of the biggest assaults on the integrity of organic foods is taking place at the USDA that has ever been conceived, with *high-level Obama political appointees working behind the scenes with giant corporate organic to gut 20 years of precedent *in the congressionally-mandated National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). Even worse, USDA representative Miles McEvoy has illegally taken over the meeting by appointing himself as meeting “co-chair” in an effort to erode the authority of, and control the decisions made by allegedly ... more »

The Gates Foundation's Teach Plus once again trying to undermine United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at Schools Matter - 10 hours ago
*"Bill Gates's foundation pays educators to pose alternatives to union orthodoxies regarding seniority and test scores." "Two other Gates-financed groups, Educators for Excellence and Teach Plus, have helped amplify the voices of newer teachers as an alternative to the official views of the unions. Last summer, members of several such groups had a meeting at the foundation’s offices in Washington." — New York Times* Although it's being debated vigorously in United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), let's leave the discussion about UTLA online voting aside momentarily. Let's even ignore... more »

Russia vs. NATO: Containment 2.0

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 10 hours ago
*April 30, 2014* (Cross Talk - RT) What does Washington's "containment" policy mean? What threats does it pose? Will it work against today's Russia? And does this mean Washington has declared a new Cold War? CrossTalking with Stephen Cohen and John Mearsheimer.

Wednesday Linkage

Phil Arena at Duck of Minerva - 10 hours ago
Editor’s note: this post originally appeared on my personal blog. It contains some links to posts that appeared here at the Duck. 1. An interview with Jim Fearon about Ukraine. Lots of good stuff here, both about Ukraine and in general. As you’d expect. 2b. Some thoughts from Branislav Slantchev about Russia’s Cold War Syndrome. c. Anna Pechenkina reacts. Continue reading

Did Nigel Farage 'bottle it' or was his decision a sensible one?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 11 hours ago
The accusation that Nigel Farage 'bottled it' by deciding not to stand in the Newark by-election is a meme that is gaining ground but I'm not sure (to mix my metaphors) if this meme holds water. First, the EU elections are UKIP's priority, they are a party founded to oppose the UK's continued membership of the European Union and as such the EU elections provide the best platform for gathering votes from those sympathetic to that view. To stand in the Newark by-election would mean a dilution of the, comparatively, meagre UKIP resources. Second, whilst standing in the Newark by-electi... more »

Seoul to upgrade missile defense

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: Patriot PAC-3]South Korea on Monday approved a plan to purchase scores of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles from the U.S. for deployment from 2016-2020, the state defense acquisition agency said. During a top defense decision-making meeting presided over by Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, Seoul endorsed the plan that also includes upgrading the current missile interception system from 2014 through 2020. The upgrading work includes enhancing radars, launchers and control programs. Read more

Raytheon developing the world's most advanced digital radar

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: Office of Naval Research (ONR)]The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded Raytheon Company an $8.5 million base contract to design the Flexible Distributed Array Radar (FlexDAR), enabling dynamic multi-mission radars capable of executing a variety of functions including surveillance, communications and electronic warfare. "Raytheon is a pioneer in radar development, pushing the limits of technology to achieve the best possible solutions for our customers," said Paul Ferraro, vice president of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems Advanced Technology Programs. "Migrating ... more »

Saudis parade nuclear missiles for the first time in defiance of US-Iranian nuclear accord

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
Saudi Arabia became the first Middle East nation to publicly exhibit its nuclear-capable missiles. The long-range, liquid propellant DF-3 ballistic missile (NATO designated CSS-2), purchased from China 27 years ago, was displayed for the first time at a Saudi military parade Tuesday, April 29, in the eastern military town of Hafar Al-Batin, at the junction of the Saudi-Kuwaiti-Iraqi borders. The DF-3 has a range of 2,650 km and carries a payload of 2,150 kg. It is equipped with a single nuclear warhead with a 1-3 MT yield. Read more

The F-35 JSF: what is a fifth-generation fighter aircraft?

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: F-35 Lightning II]Any conversation about Australia’s commitment to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter refers to it as a fifth-generation fighter aircraft. But what exactly is a fifth-generation aircraft, and why is it important? Both the Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Defence Minister David Johnston spoke of the JSF’s “fifth-generation” capability as Australia now plans to buy a further 58 aircraft. The political mantra of the importance of a fifth-generation aircraft begs the question: What does it mean? Read more

Star Wars news

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 11 hours ago
The main cast of the new Star Wars film Episode VII has been leaked, apparently it will include original series stars Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels, as well as Peter Mayhew, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Daisy Ridley. I believe Andy Serkis will also be involved so expect some motion capture acting as is all but compulsory in today's blockbusters.

Lin I-hsiung ends hunger strike

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 11 hours ago
Longtime activist and pro-democracy stalwart Lin I-hsiung has ended his hunger strike to stop the fourth nuclear plant. His statement in Chinese is below (click READ MORE): 感謝你!台灣人!──為停止禁食敬告親友 敬愛的親友.... 感謝你!台灣人!──為停止禁食敬告親友 敬愛的親友, 義雄自四月十五日宣布禁食、懇請台灣人民「採取各種積極有力的方法,共同來敦促權責機關『停建核四』」以來,半個月中,全國各地成千上萬、識與不識的親 友,都熱烈地給予關懷和聲援,甚至為我的健康而憂心。廢核團體、公民社團更竭盡全力舉辦各種活動,也獲得許許多多新一代公民積極參與,甚至堅毅地承受國家 暴力的兇殘對待,只為了展示強烈的停建核四意願。政治團體也不落人後,民進黨蘇主席四處奔波,尋求停建核四方案的共識;國民黨內的良知之士,也以言詞或行 動呼應反核四的訴求。這一切愛護鄉土的熱忱以及對我的關愛,使義雄深深感動和感激。 面對這廣大、前所未見的「停建核四」的呼聲,當今的掌權者首度在民意壓力下宣佈「核四全面停工」作為回應,這可以說是反核運動的一個階段性成果。但掌權者 卻又心不甘、情不願地大玩「停工」不是「停建」的文字遊戲,企圖迴避... more »

Boeing continues efforts to keep Chinook, V-22 production humming

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: V-22 Osprey]Boeing continues to search for new buyers of its CH-47 Chinook tandem-rotor helicopter as it seeks to keep production at its factory near Philadelphia active beyond the end of this decade. The company is also seeking overseas customers for the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and is pursuing a plan under which the US Navy would use the type as resupply aircraft for its carrier battle groups. “With the way the US defence budget is, international sales [will] help stabilise the production line and suppliers,” Mark Ballew, Boeing’s director of vertical lift business develop... more »

China to bring 4 ships to RIMPAC naval exercise

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: Peace Ark]China plans to bring four ships to Hawaii this summer as its vessels participate in the world’s largest naval exercises for the first time. China is expected to bring the Peace Ark, a navy hospital ship, as well as an oiler, a frigate and a destroyer, said Lt. Lenaya Rotklein, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Third Fleet, which is organizing the Rim of the Pacific exercises. The drills are scheduled to begin on June 26 and last through Aug. 1. Read more

F-35 is Liaoning's worst nightmare, says Global Times

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: Joint Strike Missile]The US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is capable of combating China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, reports Huanqiu, the website of China's nationalistic Global Times tabloid. In a hypothetical aircraft carrier battle between China and the United States, the main fighter jets would include the United States' F-35C fifth-generation multirole fighter developed by Lockheed Martin and China's J-15 carrier-based jet developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. The F-35 is equipped with extremely powerful offensive capabilities for both land and sea combat, ... more »

EU Firms Help Power China's Military Rise

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: Z-9EC Maritime Helicopter]As China boosts its military spending, rattling neighbors over territorial disputes at sea, an Agence France Presse investigation shows that European countries have approved billions in transfers of weapons and military-ready technology to the Asian giant. China's air force relies on French-designed helicopters, while submarines and frigates involved in Beijing's physical assertion of its claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea are powered by German and French engines -- part of a separate trade in "dual use" technology to Beijing's armed forces... more »

House markup cuts one LCS, supports 11 carriers

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: USS Freedom]The House Seapower subcommittee markup that was revealed on Tuesday offered at least one surprise — cutting the Navy’s request for three littoral combat ships to only two — but the bill supports the other new ship requests, including two destroyers and two submarines. As expected, the mark supports a full 11-carrier fleet and opposes the Navy’s desire to decommission the aircraft carrier George Washington if there is no change in the mandated sequestration budget cuts. The Seapower and Projection Forces subcommittee would provide full funding for the carrier’s r... more »

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JR at GREENIE WATCH - 12 hours ago
*Comment from tornado-hit Arkansas* by Doug L. Hoffman The state of Arkansas, in the south central portion of the United States, was struck last night by a number of storms that spawned deadly and destructive tornadoes. One of these tornadoes was a half mile wide at its base and reportedly stayed on the ground for eighty miles. The towns of Mayflower and Vilonia were particularly hard hit and the death toll currently stands at 16. Emergency officials and rescue crews are still searching for survivors. In the face of such a natural calamity people ask questions such as “could we h... more »

How To Set Up A GMO Free Zone In Your Community

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 13 hours ago
[image: Foto: How to set up a GE Free zone in your community and more! MORE INFO HERE: http://gefreebc.wordpress.com/resources-for-ge-free-bc/ #GEFreeZones #GEFreeBC #GMOFreeCanada] How to set up a GE Free zone in your community and more! MORE INFO HERE: *http://gefreebc.wordpress.com/resources-for-ge-free-bc/* #GEFreeZones #GEFreeBC #GMOFreeCanada *Source:* *GMO Free Canada*

Lecture on Liberalism, German Politics and the FNF

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 13 hours ago
This coming Tuesday, May 06, our club and the RC of Makati Pio del Pilar will have a joint meeting with a distinguished speaker, the Country Director of the FNF, and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Jules Maaten. There is good feedback about this "interesting topic" and hence, we hope many people, rotarians and non-rotarians, will come and listen to Jules. A short background. All political foundations (Friedrich Naumann Foundation/FNF, Friedrich Ebert Foundation/FEF, Konrad Adenauer Foundation/KAF, Hans Seidel Foundation/HSF,...) are affiliated with German politic... more »

Neoliberalism's War On Democracy (By Both Parties) Revealed As Attack On Future USA Way of Life (Not To Mention the World's Response)

"How about a Zombie kit?" "We're way beyond that, kid. Don't know what good a Zombie kit will do now." - Fargo . . . the Republican Party’s social Darwinist budget plans that reward the rich and cut aid for those who need it the most. For instance, the 2012 Romney/Ryan budget plan “proposed to cut the taxes of households earning over $1 million by an average of $295,874 a year,”8 at a

Marilyn Katz : Sipping lattes on the edge of a Volcano

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 15 hours ago
What do Palestinians, human rights workers, progressive Israelis, and Israeli settlers have to say about daily life in an occupied land? By Marilyn Katz | The Rag Blog | April 29, 2014 Part two of two. The international news coverage … finish reading Marilyn Katz : Sipping lattes on the edge of a Volcano

Hinduism for physicists

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 15 hours ago
*Or why non-Abrahamic Eastern religions do not have any conflict with science* *Guest blog by Kashyap Vasavada, professor emeritus of physics, Purdue/Indianapolis universities* First of all, I thank Luboš for giving me an opportunity to express my views on this guest blog. I think, most of you, like me, read his blog to understand recent developments in physics. Luboš does an outstanding job in explaining these matters from a technical point of view and fills the gap between popular articles and original papers admirably. Social and political issues are also discussed here often, b... more »

Change The World Wednesday - No Circling

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 15 hours ago
Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World! If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far. This post contains great information and I encourage ... more »

Will Aaron Schock Be Collateral Damage As The Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm Scandal Unfolds?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Aaron has always been a sucker for psychotic blue eyes on tough guys Yesterday, just as the news was breaking that Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm, the Mafia-connected (Gambino Crime Family) Staten Island Republican was in federal custody and had been indicted on *twenty* counts, one of his colleagues in the House of Representatives, a prominent attorney who knows how to read indictments, e-mailed me: *Tax fraud-- just like Al Capone* The New York papers are, predictably, having a field day. But the *Times*, which has been on the Grimm case for as many years as the FBI, is reporting cal... more »

Anti-Choice: Voice in the Wilderness

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 16 hours ago
Further to my most recent post, there are more indications that the fetus fetishists are increasingly nervous, especially over renewed resolve and activism in New Brunswick. From the recent NB Liberal policy meeting: The most significant shift from the weekend came on abortion rights as two resolutions were overwhelmingly approved by grassroots members. The resolutions broke from the policy first established by former Liberal premier Frank McKenna. The two policies refer to family planning services and reproductive health but the meaning was clear: with the pending closure of the M... more »

In Fear of Vaccines?

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 16 hours ago
*Since there’s been much debate and misunderstanding about an alleged link between vaccines and autism, I asked Linda from the fabulously rational **Autism and Oughtisms** blog to write this Guest Post* *for any parents worried about making a vaccination decision in the face of so many anti-vaccine stories.* [image: Girl and doctor with injection]Fear of the unknown drives people to do crazy things. They’ll cling desperately to proposed answers -- however poorly supported those answers are -- merely because they *are* answers; any explanation is considered better than no explanati... more »

So, @theNation questions the “whiteness” of the Left, and…

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 17 hours ago
… and brings up the recent Network for Public Education conference in Austin, TX, many of whom in attendance I know and I consider friends. The lede: At a panel titled “Grassroots Organizing” at the Network for Public Education conference in Austin in March, an audience member asked the all-white panel for its definition of […]

The Table of Contents to My Book

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 17 hours ago
On April 27, 2014, I announced publication of my book, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education. I realize that the Amazon.com listing of my book currently lacks the interactive component allowing shoppers the opportunity to “look inside” the book. So, I have decided to offer some “peeks.” In my post entitled, Bush […]

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Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 17 hours ago

the secret code

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 18 hours ago
new swirled order

Food Watch: Aren't you just dying to know what the World's Best Dumpling is?

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 18 hours ago
*And the World's Best Dumpling is . . .* *Oh wait, we probably shouldn't spoil the suspense. Hey, just keep yer pants on. (For the record, these [REDACTED]s are made with crab paste, which apparently is okay but isn't necessarily part of the [REDACTED].) * *by Ken* You'd be hard put to find someone who loves dumplings more than I do. I always say that I've never met a dumpling I didn't like, though every time I say it, I realize this is not -- as I often say -- the sort of thing you really want to put in the form of a challenge. It doesn't take any time at all to start thinking of... more »

Bilateral Climate Cooperation between China and the United States: What Should We Expect?

Johannes Urpelainen at Duck of Minerva - 18 hours ago
One of this weeks big news items in international relations was the progress that China and the United States had made in their bilateral climate talks (gated but free registration available). While it is too early to say if the talks result in concrete action, this is the first time since forever that the two Continue reading

Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress TruthThe Rules of Disinformation (Includes The 8 Traits of A Disinformationalist) by H. Michael Sweeney

Paul Coker at News Spike - 18 hours ago
*25 Rules of Disinformation: How to Fight Back* *8 Traits of The Disinformationalist: * *What to Look For* *The Short Version: 25 Rules and 8 Traits* ------------------------------ *Twenty-Five Ways To Suppress Truth: * *The Rules of Disinformation* (Includes The 8 Traits of A Disinformationalist) by H. Michael Sweeney copyright (c) 1997, 2000, 2001 All rights reserved (Edited June 2001) Permission to reprint/distribute hereby granted for any non commercial use provided information reproduced in its entirety and with author information in tact. For more ... more »

This is What Political Science Looks Like

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
[image: image] Students of Political Science might care to look at how science is done in the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, whose recently released “scientific report” is filled with predictions of gloom and doom put there by … whom? Read on to see how, and by whom, those all important “summaries of the scientific consensus” are written. It might surprise you: *Understanding The 97% Consensus* It turns out that 97% of IPCC scientists are actually government officials. * Prof Stavins, Harvard’s Professor of Business and Government, was one of two ‘coordi... more »

NYSED, @EngageNY, and the Module Money Pit.

Chris Cerrone at @ THE CHALK FACE - 19 hours ago
As part of its rushed implementation of the Common Core, the New York State Education department contracted with three entities to create scripted module lessons for schools across the Empire State at a cost of $12.9 million. Some schools trusted their educators to create their own lessons that would best suit their classrooms. Other schools, possibly out of […]

QUOTE OF THE DAY, 2: On Redistribution

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
[image: -- "The more one considers the matter, the clearer it becomes that redistribution is in effect far less a redistribution of income from the richer to the poorer, as we imagined, than a redistribution of power from the individual to the State" -- Bertrand de Jouvenel, economist, philosopher and co-founder of the Mont Pelerin Society in 1947.] *"The more one considers the matter, the clearer it becomes that redistribution is in effect far less a redistribution of income from the richer to the poorer, as we imagined, than a redistribution of power from the individual to t... more »

Here We Go Again: Another Syria Chemical Weapons Tale

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 20 hours ago
MORE WAR PORN TO PUSH FOR US ATTACK ON SYRIA It is hard not to be completely distracted by the endless torrent of war propaganda over Ukraine and getting Americans whipped up into a bloody frenzy of hatred towards Russia and Vladimir Putin but there is another lurid tale of Syrian gas attacks on civilians making the rounds this week. While it is nowhere near as intense an effort to promote lies upon which to base the long-desired apple of the neocon's eye that is regime change in Damascus as we saw back last summer when Obama and his incredible shrinking Secretary of State John Ker... more »

QUOTE OF THE DAY, 1: Still the most serious symptom of our times…

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 20 hours ago
"Straightforwardness is a foolish old-fashioned habit, a custom we have outgrown. 'We have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves.' We repeat, this is the most serious symptom of our times. The newspapers which have been speculating as to the disasters which are to flow, after a thousand years, from England's future want of coal, would do better to inquire into the far greater disasters which threaten at our door through England's present lack of supreme reverence for truth." - John Ruskin, from *Fors clavigera: Letters to the Workmen and Labourers of Gre... more »

Satire: “Sterling Says He’ll Miss Being Around People He Hates”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago
*“Sterling Says He’ll Miss Being Around People He Hates”* by Andy Borowitz LOS ANGELES (The Borowitz Report) — “After being banned by the N.B.A. Tuesday afternoon, the Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling told reporters that he would miss being around people he hates. “Sure, I’m saddened by this,” Sterling said. “Sitting in the stands night after night, a boiling cauldron of hatred bubbling inside me—it doesn’t get better than that. Those were good times.Knowing that I’ll never be able to sit in that arena again and look down on the people I despise—that hurts the most,” he s... more »

"The Destructive Effects of Modern Technology As Seen by Thomas Merton"

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Video Title: "The Destructive Effects of Modern Technology As Seen by Thomas Merton." Source: Gethsemani3. Date Published: October 16, 2011. Description: "The Destructive Effects of Modern Technology On the Environment and Society As Seen by Thomas Merton"... A talk by Father Ezekiel Lotz OSB... Recorded at Gethsemani 3 a Buddhist / Catholic conference on the environment. Fr. Ezekiel Is a member of Mount Angel Abbey, Saint Benedict, Oregon. He earned a D.Phil. degree from the Faculty of Theology at Oxford University in 2005 and teaches at Mount Angel Seminary.

Saturated fat IS good for you, but how much polyunsaturated fat do you need?

George Henderson at The High-fat Hep C Diet - 21 hours ago
Working on the "Real Food" AUT dietary guidelines submission it became clear that neither the epidemiology of the lipid hypothesis nor the RCT experiments testing it were designed to separate the supposed artery-clogging effect of saturated fat from the purported heart-healthy effect of polyunsaturated fat. What we had was a series of comparisons of higher SFA and lower PUFA vs. lower SFA and higher PUFA. There were no investigations of either higher SFA in a diet with optimal PUFA, or of deficient PUFA in a diet also low in SFA. The former of these, higher SFA in a diet with optimal... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago

Has Steve Israel Found The Next Alex Sink?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 22 hours ago
Courtesy of Joel Cantor *Joel Cantor’s mansion, built in 2010, was rented for four days in August during the Republican National Convention for $25,000* The DCCC and EMILY's List having massively screwed up her campaign, Alex Sink will not subject herself to a rematch with now-Congressman David Jolly in November. That leaves Rev. Manuel Sykes as the official Democrat candidate. But if Steve Israel is going to lose again in Pinellas County, Manuel Sykes is not the candidate he plans to waste millions on. The DCCC has been beating the bushes looking for another deep-pocketed self-fund... more »

ECONOMICS FOR REAL PEOPLE: The Roger in Rogernomics

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 22 hours ago
*Your chance this week at Auckland Uni Econ Group to question a former politician whose economic programme of thirty years ago still casts a long shadow over the political landscape today.* Hi everyone, Welcome back from the study break. We have some great speakers lined up for the Economics Group starting this week. This Thursday we are delighted to have join us a very significant figure from New Zealand's economic history - Roger Douglas. As Minister of Finance in the Labour government from 1984 to 1988 Roger Douglas implemented a series of economic reforms often referred to as... more »

CITO

Southern Man at Southern Man - 22 hours ago
This is International CITO weekend for us geocachers. CITO stands for "Cache In, Trash Out" (the idea being that while we're geocaching in public areas we also pick up trash) and today Southern Man will join some fellow 'cachers from a semi-nearby city (as it turns out, the same semi-nearby city in which Southern Daughter lives with her mother, which will become relevant later in this post) to clean up an area park. It was a three-hour drive (well, with one hour in reserve for geocaching) so Southern Man was on the road before dawn... Did we mention that there would be geocaching a... more »

Easter Sunday

Southern Man at Southern Man - 22 hours ago
Easter Sunday this year was fairly laid back; church in the morning, and much of the family gathered at the Ancestral Manor for lunch. Southern Son and Southern Daughter. Unfortunately Southern Daughter chucked her lovely Easter dress and revereted to t-shirt and shorts as soon as we pulled up. Southern Daughter and Adopted Southern Nephew. My, what a big...gun you have there, Nephew! And let us remember the reason we celebrate today... As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," h... more »

“Fukushima Equals 6,000 Hiroshima Bombs Today, More Tomorrow; There is No Place On Earth to Escape the Rad”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 22 hours ago
*“Fukushima Equals 6,000 Hiroshima Bombs Today, More Tomorrow;* *There is No Place On Earth to Escape the Rad” * by Bob Nichols, “Veterans Today” “My opinion only, as requested by Alfred Webre, Dec 28, 2013, 1,024 Days from Mar 11, 2011. *First thing, grasp the difficult concept that this is an ELE or Extinction Level Event. There is no escaping our fate, there are no solutions. * We can extend our lives somewhat, though. These steps are personal. People can do them or not. You will die quicker, or later, your choice. 1. Take off your shoes and outer ware (coats) when you enter your ... more »

"Fukushima Didn’t Just Suffer 3 Meltdowns, It Also Suffered Melt-THROUGHS and Melt-OUTS"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 22 hours ago
*"Fukushima Didn’t Just Suffer 3 Meltdowns, * *It Also Suffered Melt-THROUGHS and Melt-OUTS"* The Nuclear Core Has Finally Been Found…Scattered All Over Japan by WashingtonsBlog "We reported in May 2011 that authorities knew – within days or weeks – that all 3 active Fukushima nuclear reactors had melted down, but covered up that fact for months. The next month, we reported that Fukushima’s reactors had actually suffered something much worse: nuclear melt-*throughs*, where the nuclear fuel melted through the containment vessels and into the ground. At the time, this was described as... more »

John Kerry has "proof" that Russia is behind rebellion in Luhansk

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 22 hours ago
Or so John Kerry claims? Or so the Telegraph is reporting John Kerry claiming this? And let's read the claim of proof.. Ukraine separatists push east as UN intercepts Moscow orders Please take note that this oh so explosive proof warrants just a few sentences in this entire article. John Kerry, the US secretary of state, revealed that American eavesdroppers have overheard intelligence operatives being directed by Moscow. "We know exactly who's giving those orders, we know where they are coming from," he said, in remarks to a private meeting that were leaked on Tuesday. "Intel i... more »

Welcome to Tuscaloosa’s schools!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 23 hours ago
*TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014* *Nobody cares about this:* Last week, we recommended the lengthy report in The Atlantic about the Tuscaloosa City schools—more specifically, about the “return of segregation” to those schools over the past fifteen years. The lengthy report, “Segregation Now...,” was written by Nikole Hannah-Jones of ProPublica. In our view, the report is fascinating in various ways, though we don’t always mean that as a compliment. As noted, Hannah-Jones’ report is quite lengthy. In our view, it seems to cover some parts of this story well. We’d say it covers other parts ... more »

#breaking BBC News

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 23 hours ago
*Thanks to breaking news from the Gruadian, Twitter is ablaze tonight with news about the latest changes at the BBC.* *As Sue and myself have our ultra-trendy fingertips ever poised upon on the racing pulse of modern social media, here are our latest twitterings on who's in and who's out at the Beeeeeb...* Oh good, Mark Mardell has been dropped as the BBC's North America editor, *#greatnews *and *#ohdavidpreiser(usa)will be pleased. * Oh no though, Mark Mardell is going to become the presenter of Radio 4's *The World This Weekend *instead, *#morebiasontheway *and # *thatstheworldth... more »

An Interview with Piketty

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 23 hours ago
On NPR...and I chime in as well.

April 29: The TandT is a disgrace.....

Graeme Decarie at The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad - 23 hours ago
...particularly on this day. We are in the midst of the severest crisis most of us have ever faced. And there's not a word of it in the paper. The banner headline is that the Shediac campground is taking its next step. Well, yeah. There are lots of steps to starting a major campground. So are we going to get that nothing headline for the next month or more? On A3, a Riverview business committee recommends that business be involved in ALL decisions of city council. The council went wildly enthusiastic, and had puppies on the spot.. Obviously, nobody on that council knows the meani... more »

LOOKING FOR TROUBLE

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 23 hours ago
The US airborne division, which is to take part in NATO exercise 'Spring Storm' in May arrived in Estonia. Around 150 personnel arrived in the military transport aircraft to the Amari airbase, according to the country's defense ministry. Estonia is on Russia's border. These working class kids, with little other job prospects, sent into another potential meat grinder...when will we ever learn. We don't seem to care unless it is our kid. They are all our children - on all sides. Enough of this war mongering!

A genius idea for a new angle on porn (pun intended) - Slightly NSFW

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
GoPro: Girl Running with a gopro (head mount). That's cleavagetastic! *Thanks to Theo Spark *

Paul van Dyk - Crush

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 1 day ago
Exams and testing, I thought I was done with them a long time ago. And when I got the new job, well, chances are I'd be setting them. But no. All new academic staff at our place have to participate in the Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education programme. HE is a market and the emboldened student/consumer demands fully trained teaching staff. I can see the logic, as it happens. Anyway, no proper blogging tonight as I'm near the end of my teaching portfolio. 7,200 words done so far, 10 out of 12 competencies covered. Therefore the pearls I leave you this evening are of the mus... more »

Free Gaza Propaganda

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day ago
*[Did I hear a certain someone talk about "the BBC’s habit of allowing a litany of embellished falsehoods to be repeated on air, unchallenged", recently? Hmm, yes I did, and talking of which....]* Radio 4's *The Listening Project* is an attempt by the BBC and the British Library "to build a unique picture of our lives today" by "asking people up and down the country to share an intimate conversation with a close friend or relative". *Biased BBC*'s Alan had the misfortune to hear one of last Friday's editions of the ongoing series, *Adie and Ruth - Adventure in the Blood*, in wh... more »

CorpEd Profiteers and Privatizers on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown Over Test Refusal

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 1 day ago
NEWS Washington Post Malloy: CT could lose money if many students *opt out* of standardized *tests* The CT Mirror Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Monday that federal law restricts students from opting out of taking standardized *tests*, and if the state were to give students ... [image: Google Plus][image: Facebook][image: Twitter]Flag as irrelevant Minneapolis Star Tribune (blog) Superintendent responds on *test* opt-outs Minneapolis Star Tribune (blog) Superintendent responds on *test* opt-outs ... Tribune highlighted a burgeoning *opt-out*movement that is exempting students from standar... more »

I will be documenting my trip to Mexico to go to the Dentist... from start to finish. $12,000 (U.S. prices) of dental work for $1500 in Mexico.

Sherrie Questioning All at Sherrie Questioning All - 1 day ago
I am going to be going to Mexico for a dentist trip. I had written a little about it the other day, wanting to get donations for another to go with me to do a complete documentary it all. I took that post down after a few hours, as I did not feel comfortable asking for donations. I am going to the dentist and will be leaving May 11th. and will be in Merida Mexico until the 18th. Merida

Do more lectures improve student performance?

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 1 day ago
Yes, finds a new experimental study, but the authors interpret the effects as modest in size. One group of students in introductory microeconomics got a lecture twice a week (what the authors call the "traditional" format), and the other group of students got a lecture only once a week. All the students had the same access to online resources and the same wonderful textbook. (You can guess which one.) The results: We find that students in the traditional format scored 2.3 percentage points more on a 100-point scale on the combined midterm and final. There were no differences betw... more »

Incrementalism: Admission of Futility?

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 1 day ago
Some time ago, I discovered the Wingnut Wedgie that divides fetus fetishists into abolitionists and incrementalists. It has never gone away as an issue among them, with some demanding nothing less than absolute forced pregnancy for all and others, perhaps recognizing the futility of their cause, willing to settle for any kind of law at all. As a first step, note, to a complete ban. Here we go again with our pal, astroturfer and dominionist Mike Schouten, raising the question and seeming to invite discussion. Here's a stunning admission. He acknowledges that defunding abortion -- t... more »

TRIM THEIR SAILS/SALES

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
*The Navy's new Zumwalt stealth destroyer being built at Bath Iron Works in Maine* *Trim Their Sails/Sales* Word is getting around Zumwalt running over cost projections was supposed to be $4 billion some say will run up to 5-6-7 bill each going to build three of them The Navy didn't want Zumwalt Obama forced it down their throat his benefactors, Crown family in Chicago, largest stockholders in General Dynamics GD owns Bath Iron Works Obama owes Crown family they helped make him prez the palms are greased just like on The House of Cards The Pentagon worried now about sequestration b... more »

Stitching your finger with your sewing machine not recommended, the myth of "catching up", and digital detoxing...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 day ago
*I'll try to keep this brief (exactly when was an Italian woman ever brief?)* I endeavor to maintain a schedule of sorts. My weekly planner is home made and based loosely on David Allen's Getting Things Done. The top 1/3 of the page is for my weekly goals. The middle is for my actual schedule based on what's in the top 1/3, and the bottom 1/3 is for notes (green ink for garden stuff ), along with my few appointments (in red ink.) I decided a few weeks ago that putting everything, or what seemed like everything, in the top 1/3 wasn't working very well. I did an Excel spreadsheet... more »

The Economy: “Is Capitalism Doomed?”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“Is Capitalism Doomed?”* by Bill Bonner Gualfin, Argentina. “The Dow went up 87 points yesterday. Gold went nowhere. Our guess: Neither stocks nor gold knows where to go from here. The economy is still weak, with mortgage lending at its lowest point in 14 years. But the Fed is still holding interest rates down... and feeding plenty of QE money into the market. The Fed is expected to continue tapering its QE program next month, taking another $10 billion off its monthly allowance for buying bonds from the private sector. But for the moment, economist Richard Duncan tells us that th... more »

CA-33: Dual Endorsement-- Ted Lieu And Marianne Williamson

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Ted Lieu and Marianne Williamson-- every district should get this lucky! Rarely does a district get even *one* candidate running for Congress as stellar as either state Senator Ted Lieu or inspirational author Marianne Williamson, let alone *two*. Why can't my district-- right next door-- have someone good running for Congress? In fact, the very first time I spoke with Marianne was to beg her to run against Blue Dog warmonger Adam Schiff. At the time, her home was right on the boundary between the two districts. It was almost as though she was a Waxman constituent in the living room a... more »

Civil Forfeiture

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago
*Ontario (Attorney General) v. $10,000.00 in Canadian Currency (In Rem),* 2014 ONSC 944: [7] “Unlawful activity” is defined in the Act as an act or omission that is an offence under an act of Canada, Ontario or another province or territory of Canada or even outside of Canada, if a similar act or omission would be an offence in Ontario if committed here. The Attorney General does not have to prove that the property in question is related to any particular offence: Chatterjee v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2009 SCC 19 (CanLII), [2009] 1 S.C.R. 624, at para. 21. Howev... more »

The way our greatest newspaper “reasons!”

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014* *In the end, this can lead to no good: *In this morning’s New York Times, the editors beat on Donald Sterling. That isn’t especially hard to do, especially if you’re willing to reason like this: NEW YORK TIMES EDITORIAL (4/29/14): *It has been widely noted that Mr. Sterling has a history of bigotry. In 2009, Elgin Baylor, the all-star and former Clippers’ general manager, accused Mr. Sterling of racial discrimination in an unsuccessful lawsuit.* That same year, Mr. Sterling, who made much of his fortune in real estate, paid $2.725 million to settle a hous... more »

Mike's Story Part 9 - Limbo

Jenna Orkin at From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog - 1 day ago
*By Jenna Orkin* * Despite his growing recognition of what he'd lost by *burning his bridges*, Mike's spirits must have risen when a reporter from an influential US newspaper flew down with the idea of doing a feature on him. But emotionally, the conversation itself seems to have been a precursor of the movie, Collapse:* *" [S]even hours with the [newspaper] reporter yesterday. I´m writing a seperate [sic] email which you´ll get. It was in detail and he was serious. [Mike had been burned by mainstream features before, as a colleague was reminding him] but it went back through ... more »

EYES OFF THE PRIZE: Willie Geist knows script!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, APRIL 29, 2014* *Part 1—Bungling Magic Johnson:* It would be hard to find a more obvious pseudo-discussion than the current pseudo-discussion, the enthralling pseudo-discussion about the weird, incoherent and pitiful things Donald Sterling apparently said. All the pundits know what to say as they stage this pseudo-discussion. For starters, all our national pundits admit to being brighter and more upstanding than Sterling is! To appearances, it isn’t hard to be brighter and more upstanding than Sterling in the arena of race. Sterling seems to be almost as clueless as Cli... more »

Defending the Indefensible in the Late Days of the Testing Orgy

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 1 day ago
The testing madness is underway this week in Tennessee, where a week of TCAP counts 15-25 percent of a student's grade and 35-50 percent of a teacher's evaluation for the other 195 days of the school year. Is that reason enough for 3rd graders to be vomiting and having nosebleeds on their test booklets this week? But the insanity does not stop there. The State of Tennessee is funding the use of SAT-10 in K-2 again this year, so that benchmarks can be set and teachers evaluated based on standardized tests that some children cannot read yet. But wait, what is that deep rumbling I ... more »

A Very Shocking Video: Dr. Paul Craig Roberts Reveals A Bitter Truth - There Are NO Gold Bullion Reserves In America!

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
For the last few years, I have been stating a very shocking truth here at this blog again and again... America has absolutely NO Gold Bullion reserves at all, period.... Few people have ever believed it, and many have still been promoting the lie that there is plenty of Gold "reserves" in both Fort Knox, Kentucky, and in the New York Mercantile Bank in New York City..... I have put up previous articles that state the fact on the contrary that all of the Gold in the United States was taken away from that nation decades ago. But now comes a very interesting and very important video, t... more »

transmission

Bill Robertson at GlobaLove Think Tank - 1 day ago
"So much of who I am is because of Dr. Seuss." [courtesy of humansofnewyork]

Where Is Outrage for Systemic Racism?

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
Where Is Outrage for Systemic Racism?. via Where Is Outrage for Systemic Racism?.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical

New Article From Whitewraithe: A Vomit Bomb Of Jewish Quotes Throughout The 20th Century

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
Whitewraithe is back... For those who have been unaware, my closest ally was laid up over the last while suffering from a very bad case of sinus infections as well as having some much needed dental surgery done... But now she is back and putting up articles over at her Pragmatic Witness website (www.whitewraithe.wordpress.com).... I want to present for everyone here her latest work that I found to be fabulous and yet very shocking... It is entitled: "A Vomit Bomb Of Jewish Quotes Throughout The 20th Century", and indeed shows exactly how these psychotic criminals truly think, and ho... more »

Iraq Holds Special Voting Despite Terrorist Attacks

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 1 day ago
Iraq held its special voting on April 28, 2014. The early balloting is mostly for the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF). The Iraqi Election Commission said there was over 90% participation. That was despite a wave of attacks by the insurgency. That showed that the militants were not able to disrupt the voting despite their best efforts. The ISF, prisoners, and those in hospitals came out in high numbers on April 28 to cast their ballots. The Iraqi Election Commission claimed there was a 91% turnout in the special voting. In Anbar only 40% participated. The on going fighting there and ... more »

Back To My Roots: Exposing The Fraud Of NASA's Project Apollo And The Moon Landing Hoax - Why Are Astronauts (Still) Lying?

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
I started my pursuit of the truth about our very sick world some 35 years ago ( I still cannot believe it has been that long) when I was exposed to the truth about NASA and its fraudulent "Project Apollo".... It was a shock to me, being a man of science, at that time to realize that we have been lied to and that man has never ever walked on the moon.... As time has gone by, more and more people are finally realizing as part of their exposure to the truths about our history that NASA has indeed lied to everyone about its "great achievements" in space travel, especially when it comes ... more »

In Three Days I Bring the Hammer Down

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 1 day ago
Did that get your attention? Did it? DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION MOTHER-FUCKERS???? Okay. Great. Actually, nothing's happening in three days that I know of. I should just be out from under a pretty big pile of work and then I'll blog something big. Until then, please enjoy this example of high-culture:

President Zeman criticizes "solar madmen" and "green loons"

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 1 day ago
*Including the EU officials who want to increase the share of "renewable" sources of energy* Well, this excerpt from a speech that the current Czech president Miloš Zeman gave on the today's Forum of Žofín (an island on the Moldau River in Prague) is one of the clearest reasons explaining why your humble correspondent didn't hesitate much before he endorsed the self-described left-winger Zeman as the successor to Václav Klaus. He would criticize the "solar madmen" and the "green loons". Let me translate the 2-minute excerpt linked to at the top of this short blog post: Zeman... more »

36 Countries where the US has supported Fascists, Drug lords & Terrorists

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
And bankers... Salon fails to mention the enrichment of banksters, the banking cartels and the benefit of big business. Whether it be big agriculture, big oil or the weapons makers? This list is, of course, grossly inadequate- It only mentions 35 countries, I added Ukraine. Each nation listed below has more information at this link From Argentina to Zaire I am only excerpting from the Salon article: *1. Afghanistan-* In the 1980s, the U.S. worked with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia to overthrow Afghanistan’s socialist government. It funded, trained and armed forces led by conservativ... more »

Mexico: Alleged UFO Recorded Before an Earthquake

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 1 day ago
*Source: Nuevo Diario Web (Santiago del Estero, Argentina)Date: 04.29.14* *Mexico: Alleged UFO Recorded Before an Earthquake* **** Video is making the rounds of social media, creating a heated debate among Internet users **** MEXICO - The alleged presence of a UFO moments before an earthquake has given rise to suspicion and debates online. The video, recorded on April 18, has created two antagonistic lines of thought. On one hand there are those who believe in the authenticity of the images and who seek explanations that cause a relationship between both facts; on the other, the... more »

Joanne Barkan’s Three Types of Criticism of Edu-Philanthropy

John Thompson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
Diane Ravitch recently praised Joanne Barkan’s “How to Criticize ‘Big Philanthropy’ Effectively.” Barkan’s excellent analysis was first presented at the March 2014 Network for Public Education (NEP) Conference in Austin, Texas. It is now published in Dissent Magazine. Barkan began with the oft-repeated question, “You’re going after Bill Gates?” She frequently hears the argument, “Leave […]

The Big Dog

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 1 day ago
It really is time to bury the notion that Stephen Harper is a brilliant strategist. Andrew Coyne writes: We are so heavily invested, we media types, in the notion of Harper as master strategist, able to see around corners and think seven moves ahead and what not, that we tend not to notice how many times he has been screwing up of late. The sudden and more or less complete rewriting, on the same day as the Supreme Court decision, of the colossally misjudged Fair Elections Act, after weeks of waving off any and all criticism as self-interested or partisan or both? Merely a prudent ... more »

Many New York Democrats Plan To Hold Their Noses When They Vote For Cuomo In November-- Or Will They?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
On Sunday, Steve Kornacki took a little look at the expanding rift between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and much of the Democratic base. It's worth looking at the video above. Salon's Joan Walsh did a particularly excellent job straightening out Beltway political entrepreneur Ann Lewis, who actually defended Cuomo by quoting Ronald Reagan. I'm not going to get into speculating about what the Working Families Party may or may not do, beyond saying that with the union leadership telling them they;re on their own, they probably won't do much. Still, good segment from Kornacki. Wha... more »

Senate to Obama: Drone, Baby, Drone

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 1 day ago
Remember around this time last year when President Obama gave his big ballyhooed Drone Speech, promising more transparency to the citizen-consumers of America about who, when, where and why he obliterates and maims with his flying missiles? How time does fly, just like a Predator. Five years of Obama drone strikes, at least 2,500 people in their graves. That's assuming they could find any body parts to inter. Meanwhile, buried deep in the cyberspace of Tuesday's online *New York Times* (so as not to inordinately clash with another, bigger front page bullshit story about Obama the ... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Tornadoes tear through South, add to US death toll ~WWLTV * *Advertising in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race: A look at the (very big) numbers ~Stephanie Grace* *Mayor Mitchmo Landrieu nominates new slate of water board members ~Andrew Vanacore, New Orleans Advocate* *Energy company with fracking plans eyes 60,000 acres in St. Tammany Parish as St. Tammany residents, officials resist fracking ~Faimon A. Roberts III, B.R. Advocate* *St. Bernard Project Receives $3 Million for Disaster Recovery Lab ~Philanthropy News Digest* *Bill to protect Louisiana’s Coastal Fund moves to House floo... more »

Untitled

jonjayray at EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL - 1 day ago
*Summer School Is For Suckers* *Take online classes instead* Students looking for ways to get a cheaper, faster college degree will inevitably run up against the suggestion that they enroll in summer school. And until recently that wasn't terrible advice. Taking advantage of lower off-season tuition offered by many schools or cheap classes at your hometown community college was a perfectly good way to clear out some less glamorous requirements and account for your summer without having to work too hard. With desperately low on-time graduation rates—only about 38 percent of studen... more »

Gobi Bears

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago

Chinese Cashew Chicken with Tayler from Our Fairy Tale

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 1 day ago
*Today I am thrilled to have Tayler from Our Fairy Tale here to share her Chinese Cashew Chicken. I love all of Tayler's recipes and my absolute favorite part of her blog is her "Kids Write the Darndest Things" from her Junior High English class. Make sure to leave her some comment love and check out her blog! * Hi, Housewife Eclectic readers! My name is Tayler Morrell and I blog over at Our Fairy Tale. I've been married for a year and half and we are expecting our first childin July! My husband is finishing his last semester at Brigham Young University and I teach Junior High Engli... more »

A Book Recommendation For Those Who Have Experienced Trauma

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 day ago
*Life is stressful, anxiety provoking, and frequently traumatic. The result is that many of us are hurting, and often we are unaware of how deep our pain runs. * *These experiences aren't simply over and done with once they have passed. They each leave their mark, etched deep into both the psyche and the body. This affects how well we function from this point onwards. * *The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process shows what stress, anxiety, and trauma do to our mental wellbeing and physical health. Despite the uffering we experience in life, Dr. Berceli argues that even the most da... more »

Iveta Bartošová (1966-2014): murdered by tabloid hyenas

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 1 day ago
*Once best Czech female singer a victim of greedy tabloid journalists* I admit that this sad event fills me with much stronger emotions than the death of Gerald Guralnik – who had an appropriate age to die. *Buttons of Love, 1983* Iveta Bartošová (CZ, YouTube search) – who was voted the best Czechoslovak female singer (The Golden Nightingale) three times, in 1986, 1990, 1991 – committed suicide after a decade in which it was hunted by scum journalists from the tabloid media. She jumped under the train in Uhříněves (a village on the Southeastern border of Prague) today. She was bo... more »

Vegan Recipe - Minestrone Soup

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 1 day ago
*I love Minestrone Soup ... it's warm and comforting on a cool evening and reminds me of my Italian Grandmother, who usually had a pot on the stove when we arrived for a visit. Unfortunately, most recipes for this rustic dish include ingredients like Pancetta, chicken broth, and Parmesan ... items which don't fit into a vegan lifestyle.I recently tried a vegetarian version at a restaurant. Sadly, it was very bland. So I turned to the Internet for inspiration. I found recipes but, again, they lacked flavor. So, I headed into the kitchen and, thinking about the bold flavors in my... more »

We are now in the midst of a season of greatly heightened Satanic ritual, so stay on guard.

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 1 day ago
[image: SE2014Apr29A.png] The Open Scroll Blog ------------------------------ Signs of the Season Posted: 28 Apr 2014 10:58 AM PDT We are now in the midst of a season of greatly heightened Satanic ritual, so stay on guard. The season of preparation has just past, where the victims chosen for sacrifice have been abducted and prepared. The Grand Climax extends from 4/26 to 5/1, and the rituals actually continue through 5/3. 4/30 is Walpurgisnacht, Roodmas Day or Beltane Eve, the greatest Witches Sabbat. May 1 is May Day, Beltane or Walpurgis Day. Tuesday the 29th, there will be an annul... more »

HELLO! Books Are Digitally Different

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 1 day ago
So what will be the next technology must have and what will drive its adoption? Will media come second and merely follow new technology? In the last decade we have seen the transition from fixed location desktop PCs, through luggable laptops, the life and death of the notepad, the ‘air’ laptops and the explosion of the tablet. We have seen single functional devices such as the eink ereaders come and almost go, the transition from games only consoles to games anywhere, the death of the music only iPod and Zune and those video movie players. Home entertainment devices and interoper... more »

Flip Flopper John Kerry Strikes Again

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 1 day ago
John "Skull and Bones" Kerry's tour de force as Obama's Secretary of State continues. Taking a break from his tirades against Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the refusal of Eastern Ukraine to fall into line to support the US installed, neo-Nazi infested puppet government in Kiev the esteemed Mr. Kerry stumbled into dangerous territory for a US establishment figure. In a speech at what has been described as a closed door meeting of The Trilateral Commission in a Daily Beast exclusive, Kerry bemoaned the demise of the latest round of Israel-Palestine peace talks and commented that ... more »

Ukraine Updates April 27 , 2014 --US failing to push economic sanctions against Russia through EU allies ...... Three members of Ukraine’s special anti-terrorist unit Aplha have been detained during a covert mission in Donetsk region, amid the buildup of Kiev’s military near the cities controlled by pro-federalization forces .......... (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday said the United States and Europe must join forces to impose sanctions onRussia to stop it destabilizing Ukraine, where armed pro-Russian separatists were for a third day holding eight international observers prisoner. Washington and Brussels are expected, possibly as early as Monday, to name new people and firms close to Russian President Vladimir Putin who will be hit by punitive measures, but there is no consensus yet on wider economic sanctions ........ The combination of the polices of the government in Kiev and Washington blaming Russia for events is pushing the situation in Ukraine to a critical mass which threaten peace in Europe - Willie Wimmer, former Vice President of the OSCE explains his point of view in an interview.......... DONETSK, April 27, /ITAR-TASS/. The Novokramatorsk Machine Building Plant (NKMZ) has provided to the people’s militia of Kramatorsk military equipment “for clearance of minefields set by Ukrainian troops near the city during the so-called “antiterrorist operation,” a representative of the press service of the Donetsk People’s Republic told Itar-Tass with reference to NKMZ chairman of the board, deputy of the People’s Council of Kramatorsk Maksim Vlasov.

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-27/quest-find-putins-billions The Quest To Find "Putin's Billions" [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/27/2014 19:49 -0400 - Germany - Google - Layering - Nationalism - Natural Gas - Private Jet - Reality - SPY - The Economist - Treasury Department - Ukraine - United Kingdom - Vladimir Putin inShare1 Just over a month ago, in the latest round of sanctions against Russia, and specifically Putin's inner circle of advisors and lieutenants, one person was sing... more »

Untitled

JR at GREENIE WATCH - 1 day ago
*A radical idea* Whether or not man has caused global warming isn’t really the question. The question that we’re asking now is to what extent the so-called climate change models have predictive value, when in fact, 114 out of 117 predictions made in regards to global warming have proven wrong. Warming forecasts have consistently overstated the amount of warming that’s happening. They also missed the decade and a half long pause in global warming that we’re currently experiencing. Dr. Roy Spencer has estimated that as many as 95% of the global warming models have just been flat out... more »

MiG21-LanceR military pilots haven't flown in long time how much they flew this period

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: MiG-21 Lancer]National Defence Minister Mircea Dusa announced on Friday, in Targu Mures (central Romania) that MiG 21 Lancer fighter jets fly sorties every day and that Romanian military pilots haven't flown in a long time how much they've flown in this period. 'Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, measures have been taken by NATO for the supervision of the airspace of NATO border countries and these AWACS planes that are used for electronic surveillance, together with the MApN aviation execute supervisory missions everyday and air-space policing missions. (...) S... more »

Russian shipyard lays keel of new class Replenishment Oiler "Academician Pashin” (project 23130)

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Project 23130 tanker]On April 26th, 2014, a keel-laying ceremony in presence of Admiral Viktor Viktorovich Chirkov (Russian Navy's Commander-in-Chief) took place at Nevsky Shipyard for a new generation of Replenishment Oiler for the Russian Navy. Described by the shipyard as "Medium-sized sea tanker Academician Pashin” (Project 23130) the vessel is the first tanker to be built for the Russian Navy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The new class of vessel will bring much needed logistical and replenishment at sea support to the Russian Navy fleet. Read more

Inspirational E-Book: Seven Lessons Before I Was Able to Become Love by Roxana Jones

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 day ago
A new inspirational e-book with positive words that will open doors to new outcomes in your life. Roxana Jones shares once again what she has learned and introduces some of the turning points she has experienced in the past few years, through this new collection of *inspirational books *where she describes life lessons that have been essential on her path of healing and personal transformation. Use these words of *wisdom* as tools that can help you open your heart. It is your heart that will understand these short books better than your mind. Try it and experience it. *Click o... more »

April 28, 2014 - About 48…

The White Hat Reporters at The White Hats Report - 1 day ago
*About 48…* First of all, I’m going to try to do better with getting articles up here at Project Camelot. When Kerry offered the opportunity to write a column and express my views and information I was both flattered and inspired. Personal issues and a very nasty winter have conspired to dampen my enthusiasm in addition to my inherent nature of being very mindful of providing information before vetting it thoroughly. Yeah, I’m a nuts and bolts kind of guy. Blame it on my background and life experience of performing all kinds of investigations for over 30 years. In my field of ... more »

Gerald Guralnik (1936-2014)

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 1 day ago
Gerald Guralnik, a senior physicist at Brown University, died on Saturday: PBS. Along with Carl Hagen and Tom Kibble, he wrote one of the 1964 papersthat introduced the Englert-Brout-Higgs-Guralnik-Hagen-Kibble mechanism, or the Higgs mechanism for short, into particle physics. I was giving a talk at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island in March 2002 (on the bus, it's 50 minutes from Boston, if I am not mistaken) and I believe that he came to the talk but it's a long time ago and I don't remember for certain. Guralnik wrote some other other well-known papers about QCD, hadro... more »

E-Book Inspiracional: Siete lecciones antes de poder convertirme en Amor por Roxana Jones

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 day ago
[image: Read BestSelling Inspirational Author Roxana Jones' free ebook] E-Book Inspiracional: Siete lecciones antes de poder convertirme en Amor Un nuevo e-book lleno de inspiración y palabras positivas que abrirá puertas a nuevos resultados en tu vida. Roxana Jones, comparte una vez más lo que ha aprendido, e introduce parte del trabajo individual que ha realizado en los últimos años, a través de esta nueva colección de *libros de inspiración*, donde describe lecciones de vida que han sido esenciales en su camino de sanación y transformación personal. Usa estas palabras de *sabi... more »

Obama in Manila and Air Force One

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 1 day ago
US President Barack Obama has already left Manila. He stayed for 24 hours here, arrived yesterday 1:30pm, departed today around 1:30pm too. Some of my friends in fb posted funny comments, others were angry at the heavy traffic caused by road closures where Mr. Obama and his tight security will pass by. The photos, I got from fb too, which are generally funny. Like this one below, Pres. Obama telling Pres. Aquino that the former does not want to see the latter's showbiz sister. Below are from *JB Baylon*. He gave me permission to post these fb status, from yesterday until today. ... more »

Thales finalises delivery of maritime patrol aircraft to Turkey

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: CN235]Thales announces the delivery of the final standard for the maritime patrol aircraft to Turkey as part of the MELTEM II programme, for which Thales is the prime contractor. To this day, five of the six aircraft have been delivered to this standard, with the sixth set for delivery before the summer. This follows the three maritime surveillance aircraft which were sent to the Turkish coastguards last year. Read more

New U.S. Stealth Jet Can’t Hide From Russian Radar

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: F-35C Lightning II]The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter—the jet that the Pentagon is counting on to be the stealthy future of its tactical aircraft—is having all sorts of shortcomings. But the most serious may be that the JSF is not, in fact, stealthy in the eyes of a growing number of Russian and Chinese radars. Nor is it particularly good at jamming enemy radar. Which means the Defense Department is committing hundreds of billions of dollars to a fighter that will need the help of specialized jamming aircraft that protect non-stealthy—“radar-shiny,” as some insiders call them—... more »

Lockheed Martin Receives $611 Million Contract for Production of First PAC-3 MSE Missiles

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: PAC-3 MSE]Lockheed Martin received a $611 million contract from the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command for the first production order of the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) following the Army’s successful Milestone C decision earlier this year. The contract includes the production of both PAC-3 MSE missiles and Launcher Modifications Kits (LMKs). The PAC-3 MSE’s revolutionary two-pulse solid rocket motor provides increased performance in both altitude and range – while employing the same proven hit-to-kill technology that the PAC-3 Missile uniquely brings to the ... more »

Iraqi helicopters strike Al Qaida ISIL convoy in Syrian territory

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: AH-64D Apache]For the first time in decades, Iraq has attacked neighboring Syria. The government of Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki said the Iraq Army attacked a convoy in eastern Syria. Officials said Iraqi helicopters fired missiles toward vehicles sent by Al Qaida’s Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Read more

Putin gives green light to sale of S-400 missile system to China

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: S-400 triumph]Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, has given a green light to sell the country's newest S-400 air defense guided missile system to China, which Russian media claim will give Beijing an edge in the airspace of the Taiwan Strait and over islands in the East China Sea at the center of a dispute with Japan, reports the military news website of Huanqiu.com, the Chinese-language website of China's Global Times. Beijing has been interested in acquiring the guided missile system since 2011. Two years ago, Russia talked with several countries interested in buying the... more »

Conservatives vow to speed release of report on CF-18 replacement

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: CF-18 Hornet]Ottawa is relenting to external pressure and now promising to speed up the release of a “public report” on the fighter jets pegged to replace Canada’s fleet of CF-18s. The document, which has been put together for widespread release, lists the risks and benefits of the four fighter jets that were involved in an “options analysis” overseen by the Canadian Forces. Last week, officials at Public Works and Government Services Canada told The Globe and Mail that the report would only be released “once the government has made a decision on a path forward.” Read more

UK Deploys Four RAF Jets to Patrol Baltics

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Eurofighter Typhoon]Britain is deploying four Typhoon fighter-jets to the Baltics as part of a Nato show of support against the backdrop of the Ukraine crisis. The defence secretary, Philip Hammond, said: "In the wake of recent events in Ukraine, it is right that Nato takes steps to reaffirm very publicly its commitment to the collective security of its members." The events in the Ukraine have increased nervousness in the Baltic states, formerly part of the Soviet Union. Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are, unlike Ukraine, members of Nato, and Russian action against any of the... more »

In Wake of Zumwalt Launch, Higher Costs Seen in DDG-1000 Program

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Zumwalt (DDG1000) class DDG]A couple of weeks ago, the world's most advanced warship, the USS Zumwalt, formally hit the water at a christening ceremony at Bath Iron Works. The midcoast shipyard is due to build two more of the DDG-1000 destroyers for the U.S. Navy over the next several years. The program, however, has ended up being much more costly than originally intended, in part because it was drastically cut back a few years ago from 32 ships to just three. Read more

BAE Systems to Maintain and Modernize U.S. Navy Ships in Hawaii

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: USS Michael Murphy]BAE Systems has received a multi-ship, multi-option (MSMO) contract from the U.S. Navy to repair, maintain, and modernize nine destroyers and cruisers, either homeported in or visiting Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The five-year contract, awarded by the Naval Sea Systems Command, includes modernization, maintenance, and repair work for the USS Chafee, USS John Paul Jones, USS Chung-Hoon, USS Hopper, USS Michael Murphy, USS O’Kane, USS Halsey, USS Milius, and USS Preble. This award marks a continuation of work BAE Systems has been performing on the same type of s... more »

NZ Govt announces $100m boost for Defence

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: HMNZS Te Kaha]The government plans to invest more than $500 million in the Defence Force over the next four years, Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman says. The investment followed several years of budget cuts which were outlined in a Defence white paper in 2010. In the Budget next month, government would commit to $100.9m in operation funding for 2014/15 and a total of $535.5m over the next four years. Read more

Raytheon tests new guidance system for Tomahawk cruise missile

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: BGM-109 Tomahawk]Raytheon Company successfully completed a passive seeker test designed for a Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile using company-funded independent research and development investment. The captive flight test, using a modified Tomahawk Block IV missile nose cone, demonstrated that Raytheon's advanced, next-generation; multi-function processor can enable the cruise missile to navigate to and track moving targets emitting radio frequency signals. For the test, the nosecone of a Tomahawk Block IV missile was equipped with passive antennas integrated with Raytheon'... more »

Mazagon Dock looks at next sub project

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Scorpene class SSK]Project 75 is one of India's most closely guarded military projects, almost as inaccessible to outsiders as the nuclear ballistic missile submarine, INS Arihant, nearing completion in Visakhapatnam. In a giant shed in the East Yard of Mazagon Dock Ltd, Mumbai (MDL), a 200-feet-long, cigar-shaped, metal cylinder is the first of six conventionally powered Scorpene submarines that the Indian Navy contracted to build with Franco-Spanish company, Armaris (since taken over by French shipbuilding major, DCNS). The boat (as submariners call their vessels) is obvi... more »

EB signs deal with Navy for 10 Virginia-class submarines

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Virginia class SSN]Navy officials have signed a $17.6 billion contract with Electric Boat, committing the service to buy the next 10 Virginia-class submarines. For the Groton shipyard, which has faced a cycle of layoffs and recalls in recent years, the contract represents nearly a decade’s worth of work. “This award has great significance for the U.S. Navy, our company and the entire submarine industrial base,” Jeffrey S. Geiger, president of Electric Boat, said in a statement. “By continuing to produce two ships per year, the Navy and industry team retains the stability req... more »

Devon-built Samuel Beckett ship handed to Irish Naval Service

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 1 day ago
[image: Samuel Beckett]A 50m euros (£41m) vessel has been handed over to the Irish Naval Service at a Devon shipyard. The 295ft (90m) craft, called the Samuel Beckett, is the first completed ship to be built at Appledore Shipyard, near Bideford, since 2002. The Irish Navy ordered two vessels from the shipyard in October 2010 for 99m euros (£81m). The second, called the James Joyce is still being built. Read more

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
High Shoals, N. Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by.

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
“Big, beautiful, barred spiral galaxy NGC 1300 lies some 70 million light-years away on the banks of the constellation Eridanus. This Hubble Space Telescope composite view of the gorgeous island universe is one of the largest Hubble images ever made of a complete galaxy. NGC 1300 spans over 100,000 light-years and the Hubble image reveals striking details of the galaxy's dominant central bar and majestic spiral arms. *Click image for larger size.* In fact, on close inspection the nucleus of this classic barred spiral itself shows a remarkable region of spiral structure about 3,000 l... more »

West Hangs Syrian-Style War Over Egypt’s Future

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 1 day ago
*April 29, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Al-Akhbar English in an article titled, “Egypt: Free Egyptian Army being formed in Libya,” reported that: *Egyptian security forces continue to chase armed groups active in the country. The confrontation does not seem it will come to end soon, with the information unfolding daily to security agencies about plans by those group to destabilize Egypt.* *Security sources revealed to Al-Akhbar that “intelligence and security agencies succeeded in monitoring the movements of terrorist groups and arrested some of them inside the towns and village... more »

No Quixote!

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 day ago
Have I posted this before? Never mind. If I did, I just laughed like a drain all over again. [Hat tip The Reduced Shakespeare Company] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)

Rollo May, "The Courage To Create"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*"The Courage To Create"* by Rollo May "We are living at a time when one age is dying and the new age is not yet born. We cannot doubt this as we look about us to see the radical changes in sexual mores, in marriage styles, in family structures, in education, in religion, technology, and almost every other aspect of modern life. And behind it all is the threat of the atom bomb, which recedes into the distance but never disappears. To live with sensitivity in this age of limbo indeed requires courage. A choice confronts us. Shall we, as we feel our foundations shaking, withdraw in ... more »

Chet Raymo“Trying To Be Good”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“Trying To Be Good”* by Chet Raymo “A few lines from Mary Oliver's poem "Wild Geese": "You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves." I've quoted these lines before, if not here, then elsewhere. When I first read them back in the late 80s, they resonated with what I felt at the time. I had spent part of my earliest adulthood walking on my knees, both literally and metaphorically, seeking to tame what I took to be the animal within. Saint Augus... more »

The Constitution, Treaties with First Nations, and the Media

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 1 day ago
Just a quick question here: How many people in the mainstream media, praising the Supreme Court decision which defends the procedures of the Constitution Act, 1982, have dismissed the sanctity of our treaties with the First Nations Peoples?

VIDEO Moccasins on the Ground Red Shirt, Lakota homelands April 2014

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
. 'Water is sacred.' By Unedited Media Published on Apr 28, 2014 Lakota and their allies gather to build solidarity, unity, and skills to protect Sacred Water against the Keystone XL tarsands pipeline. Watch this wonderful video of voices from all across the nation gathered at Red Shirt, on Lakota lands at Pine Ridge, South Dakota, protecting the Ogallala aquifer and water and land

Most Are, But Not Every Congressional Whore The Kochs Use To Sabotage Green Energy Is A Republican

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
It's very hard to trace the Koch cash sloshing around American politics; it's meant to be hard. They funnel so much money into so many right-wing groups that it would be a full time job to sort it all out. Perhaps it's safe to assume, though, that the recipients of legalistic bribes from Koch Industries directly are among those most devoted to the Koch war against democracy. In the last cycle, Koch Industries alone doled out almost $2,000,000 to candidates for Congress, all but $40,737 of it to Republicans. Koch Industries knew exactly which corrupt Democrats from the Republican w... more »

(Oh! Those Poor Poor Rich!!!) Bank of America Doesn't Check Its Math (To Its Decided Advantage) The Gilded Age Has Only Just Begun:  Piketty’s Wealth Gap Wake Up Call Goes Out To the Masses

. . . the disparity in wealth is much greater than the disparity of income, and that’s because of tax avoidance by the rich. BREAKING! Bank Of America's Stock Plunges By 6% After $4B Capital Plan Blunder Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan runs a financial firm that has 263,000 employees and $2.2 trillion of assets and investors on Monday appeared to wonder once again whether anyone can manage

"How It Really is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago

“What is a Photocopier?”

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 day ago
Come on, you’ve been in arguments like this, haven’t you. Yes, it’s a true story. Indeed, it’s from a *transcript* of an Ohio Supreme Court trial … Sort of reminds you of another famous trial… [Hat tip Diana Hsieh] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)

Kate Braun : Celebrating Beltane lets you see beyond the veil

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 1 day ago
It is a fire festival and marks the return of vitality and passion to Mother Earth. By Kate Braun | The Rag Blog | April 28, 2014 “Have you walked around your parks and towns so knife-edged orderly? While the … finish reading Kate Braun : Celebrating Beltane lets you see beyond the veil