Monday, March 18, 2013

18 March - Blogs I'm Following

The Embarkation of Montgomery's troops at Crow...
The Embarkation of Montgomery's troops at Crown Point. Richard Montgomery and troops on shore at Crown Point, New York, en route for invasion of Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
☼ne Pirates Wink: D☼EbieD☼ELeye in the land 0f...
☼ne Pirates Wink: D☼EbieD☼ELeye in the land 0f the blind (Photo credit: slö)
The shield from the Coat of arms of Canada. Th...
The shield from the Coat of arms of Canada. The shield was created by a Royal Warrant in 1921, thus out of Canadian Copyright. http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/arm1-eng.cfm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Squamish Nation buys Crown Land for future housing
Squamish Nation buys Crown Land for future housing (Photo credit: BC Gov Photos)
2:20pm MDST


Maarten Horst Interviews Brian Kelly and Deva Peters March 11, 2013 about the OPPT

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 minute ago
Brian Kelly and Deva Peters are interviewed on ET First Contact Radio by Maarten Horst on March 11, 2013

Primary and Caucuses Shuffle

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 25 minutes ago
The other big procedural reform discussed in the RNC party assessment document today is to shift the party convention back from August to July or June, and compress the primaries and caucuses further to make that work. In order to do that, they suggest that the party "should strongly consider a regional primary system or some other form of a major reorganization." We should divide this into two parts. The date of the convention is fully within the control of the RNC, and if they want to move it, they can. As Josh Putnam has been tweeting today, however, the dates of the primaries an... more »

Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial; the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 50 minutes ago
Keewatin v. Ontario (Natural Resources), 2013 ONCA 158 holds that Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial, and that the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867 and the division of jurisdiction set out therein: [139] The promise made in the harvesting clause is that of the Crown, not Canada. The two levels of government are "separately invested by the Crown with its rights and responsibilities as treaty maker and as owner respectively": Annuities Case, at p. 645. As Prime Minister Robert Borden sta... more »

All in the family

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 hour ago
The family business is a time honored tradition in the United States, but when that business is politics, the grift is built in: Thirty-two members of Congress dispensed more than $2 million in campaign funds to pay relatives' salaries during the 2012 election cycle, a USA TODAY analysis of the most recent campaign records shows. Lawmakers have hired their children, spouses, aunts, parents and in-laws as consultants, accountants and record keepers, the examination shows. In some cases, multiple members of the family joined the payroll. It's entirely possible that some of these fam... more »

Mircea Eliade On The Eleusinian Mysteries

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 hour ago
Below is an excerpt from Mircea Eliade's 1958 book, *"Rites And Symbols of Initiation: The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth."* Harper & Row, Publishers: New York. Pg. 112-15. For the purpose of our investigation, one thing is particularly of interest---that these experiences are brought on by rites which, both in the Greco-Oriental and the primitive worlds, are initiatory, that is, pursue the novice's spiritual transmutation. At Eleusis, as in the Orphic-Dionysiac ceremonies, as in the Greco-Oriental mysteries of the Hellenistic period, the mystes submits himself to initiation in ... more »

US shells out big money for small pox vaccine? Bed bugs/small pox link.

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 hour ago
*Can this all be a coincidence? Perhaps? Perhaps not?* *Summary:* -Bed bug populations have been on the rise all over North America. Actually all over the World -Also the latest incarnation of bed bugs happen to be resistant to pesticides, making their population difficult to control. -Even more curious is that no other insects have mutated to have this resistance....isn’t that odd? -Oh and last but not least bed bugs have historically been connected to the spread of small pox. -And the US is spending 200 dollars per dosage for small pox vaccinations Bed Bug bites Bed bugs infes... more »

Spent Fuel Pool Problems at Daiichi Responsible for Recent Emissions?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 1 hour ago
Maybe the spent fuel problem is responsible for the heavy emissions visible with the webcams: Enenews reports from NHK: Another fuel pool loses cooling system at Fukushima Daiichi — CBC: May take days to repair http://enenews.com/nhk-another-fuel-pool-loses-cooling-system-at-fukushima-plant-cbc-solution-may-take-days/comment-page-1#comment-338269 *Links provided by Enenews:* Blackout halts cooling system at Fukushima plant NHK* *March 18 2013 http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130319_01.html [Excerpted] TEPCO officials say a power blackout has suspended a cooling system for use... more »

Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013

Americani Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 hour ago
* **This was posted 30 days ago shortly after it was discovered the Akashic records had been damaged by "controllers" of this planet, and the records of Creation were brought down to restore them. They didn't know there were back up copies that are untouchable. -AK* * * http://treeofthegoldenlight.com/email_ad_wuc02-18-13.htm *Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013* Posted by Nancy Tate I am here today to tell you all of something that is taking place in the universe. I am Hatonn, and I greet you on the most momentous of days. It is a matter of circumventing the universe and all of i... more »

Ever-Closing Windows and Biden Time on Iran at AIPAC

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 1 hour ago
(Susan Walsh/AP) After a brief respite from incessant warmongering nonsense following the reelection of Barack Obama in November 2012, it appears old rhetorical devices have reemerged. With a vengeance. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing his minions at AIPAC via video chat on March 4, spent a bunch of his time saying supposedly scary things about "Iran's pursuit of nuclear

God Save Me From A Normal Life — Part Two

What Is Sustainable at What Is Sustainable - 1 hour ago
My father was born 100 years ago. One hundred years from now, the seven-point-something billion people alive today will be gone. There will be no cars, TVs, computers, phones, and so on. The vision of a technological wonderland will be forgotten and extinct, replaced by many new low-tech survival-oriented pursuits. If humans continue to exist, they will not be very fond of our generation, and the messes we left for them. Every civilization eventually exhausts essential resources and collapses. As predictable as the sun, civilizations rise, peak, and then set. In the wake of ... more »

Jonah Raskin : Lay Monk Tolbert McCarroll on the Pope, the Church, and the Crisis in Catholicism

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 2 hours ago
Brother Toby at Starcross Community. Interview with Brother Toby: Author, heretic, and spiritual  pilgrim at Starcross Community “The Catholic Church today is an absolute monarchy and an absolute patriarchy that puts you right back in the Medieval Ages.” -- Tolbert McCarroll By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / March 18, 2013 Tolbert McCarroll -- better known to friends and family members as

In Memoriam Francois Duprat - 26.10.41 to 18.3.78

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 2 hours ago
Today marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the murder of Francois Duprat. Francois Duprat was a truth-seeker. He helped to uncover the great lies pushed by the Cult of Holocaustrianity, and for this act of blasphemy against the faith of the Establishment, he was murdered in a car bombing; one which had all the hallmarks of a State operation. The bomb blast crippled his wife, who only narrowly escaped with her life. Responsibility for the terrorist murder of Francois Duprat was claimed by a self-styled 'Jewish Remembrance Group', but was far from the work of amateurs; it had to... more »

execution

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 2 hours ago
The execution of Ruth Snyder Tom Howard - January 12, 1928

EPA Accused of Violating Clearn Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 2 hours ago
EPA Accused of Violating Clean Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup By Farron Cousins, DeSmogBlog 9 March 13 http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/16389-epa-accused-of-violating-clean-water-act-in-bp-gulf-oil-cleanup[excerpted] *O*il Spill Eater International (OSEI), through the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference group, issued a press release this week saying that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively blocked or otherwise delayed scientific advancement in the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster by refusing to acknowledge the toxicity of t... more »

Repetition concerning those kids today!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013* *Where does false belief come from:* False belief tends to be rooted in constant repetition. We thought of that fact when we read this letter in Saturday’s Washington Post: LETTER TO THE WASHINGTON POST (3/16/13): *The Common Core regimentation of kindergarten can only sadden those of us who were fortunate enough to have gone to school before World War II,* when kindergarten was devoted entirely to socializing children. The only specific thing we ever learned was nursery rhymes. We spent our time playing games or listening to our teacher read to us. Now s... more »

testimony

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 2 hours ago

Mohawk Nation News 'The Jesuits'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 2 hours ago
THE JESUITS Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin Reply MNN. Mar. 18, 2013. The Jesuits have always been the storm troopers of the Catholic Church. They came to the Western Hemisphere to “spread the lie of male hierarchy”. The real reason is to use bio-weapons and all means of mass murder. The Western Hemisphere is to be the Zion of the

Apache receive support from Superior City Council opposing land exchange

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 2 hours ago
Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler Superior City Council opposes HR 687, Southeastern Land Exchange Bill   By Sandra Rambler, San Carlos Apache Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler SUPERIOR, Ariz. – During an emergency Special Council meeting on March 13, the Superior Council voted to oppose the proposed Arizona Southeastern Land Exchange (HR 687)

A (very reluctant) case for Airport Security

Patrick Porter at Duck of Minerva - 2 hours ago
For students of international affairs and security, especially from either side of the Atlantic, its that time of year again when we congregate at the ISA Conference to muse on the globalisation of everything in a borderless world…after enduring an increasingly unpleasant border regime at the Airport. I’m not sure about our readers, but the Continue reading

Mohawk Nation News 'UN Serpents'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 2 hours ago
Posted on March 16, 2013 by admin MNN. MAR. 16, 2013. There once was an evil man whose head was full of serpents like Medusa, called “Atotarho”. Each serpent wreaked havoc, domination, disorder, control or death. To bring peace Dekanawida and Ayonwatha combed out the serpents. As his roots were in Great Turtle Island, he became clean-minded and was appointed the chairman of the Five Nations

Which Way Will The GOP Turn-- And Who Decides? Rience Preibus' GOP Autopsy Report

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
Boehner bombed on ABC's *This Week* Sunday. First he admitted that the debt crisis is *not* an immediate threat. Then he reiterated that we need to gut the two most popular social safety programs in American history: Social Security and Medicare: We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming. And we have-- one looming-- because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They’re gonna go bankrupt. Washington has responsibility-- to our seniors and our near seniors-- that we firm up these programs so that they’re... more »

Could Postponing Debates Matter?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 3 hours ago
I'm going to look at the GOP presidential nomination process suggested reforms out today, starting with the debates. The RNC wants to chop in half the number of primary-season debates next time around, starting later (not until September 2015) and ending earlier ("after the first several primaries"). It is worth noting this would mean that the first debate wouldn't be until after the Ames Straw Poll...and whatever one thinks of Ames, it's now become a regular pattern that one or more candidate is knocked out before the suggested date of the first debate. If Republicans really were ... more »

Open Thread: Irony Deficient edition

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 4 hours ago
I'm preparing a massive post tomorrow about the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq for the one or two people who care what I write about, anymore. If there's anything you want me to include, now's the time to ask while I'm going on a .jpeg and news source safari.

1500 kilometres by foot through the arctic winter: the journey of the nishiyuu nears ottawa

laura k at wmtc - 4 hours ago
On January 16, 2013, six young Cree men and an experienced guide left their community on Hudson's Bay, in the far north, on foot. Their destination: Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Along their route, other aboriginal youth joined them, and together, now almost 200 strong, they are still walking. This is the Journey of Nishiyuu, or, the Quest For Unity. The walkers will reach Ottawa on March 25, having walked more than 1500 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures. These impressive young people stand in solidarity with Idle No More, and seek to protect their land and their heritage, and to bui... more »

High Tech Brain

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 4 hours ago
This is all early days but we can all see where this is headed. We are certainly mastering our brain in the process. An interesting question. We think that we forget but do we? We certainly set stuff aside and move on. Yet how well do we return to the knowledge area? Are the channels open and reinforced during a revisit? We have examples of long term photographic memory that gives us a very robust picture instead. Thus an unused pathway will open up to respond eventually to a freshly asked question. So just how does our brain order its search? That is really important.... more »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*Why The Saints Need Better Offense ~ The Ad Infinitum Philosophy ~Saints Tailgate*

Human Rights Treaties Are Like Virginity Pledges

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 4 hours ago
In the category of “pop-culture-not-talked-about-by-normal-Ducks,” People magazine’s cover story last week was on ABC’s The Bachelor, Sean Lowe, and his pledge to remain a virgin re-virgin until his wedding night. As someone who graduated high school in town of less than 1500 in Kansas, I think this type of pledge is pretty typical: many teens Continue reading

Campaign to rename Earth to "Free Planet".

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 4 hours ago
this is our chance to make a real difference to how we view ourselves, our planet. Campaign to rename Earth to Free Planet. and it'll work in whatever language you wanna adopt for your chosen Diversity. As somebody replying to some thread on some forum* put it, "Why is a planet that's 70% water called Earth?" and, no, I don't think we should rename it to *something based on the Greek Gods like all the other Solar System planets*. In fact, we already know what it's not, a Free Planet. This is more than abundantly evident from the continued slavery of *You The People* to the work ... more »

Campus Crusade for Austerity

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 4 hours ago
It's bad enough that college students are getting crushed with debt before they even graduate to a lifetime of wage slavery. But now, insult is being added to injury. On campuses throughout America, kids are getting inundated by a flood of class war proselytizers. The missionaries, unfortunately, are not the remnants of the Occupy movement or the labor movement. They're the One Percent Meritocracy, spreading the addictive dogma of austerity to their peers. The message: Wall Street is not robbing you blind. Grandma and Grandpa are. Stop them, starve them now, before it's too late! An... more »

Stiglitz on Singapore

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 4 hours ago
Nobel laureate economist, Joe Stiglitz, has an op-ed piece in today's *New York Times *in which he looks at how Singapore's efforts to redress inequality has reaped huge benefits for the country. *Democracy, we now recognize, involves more than periodic voting. Societies with a high level of economic inequality inevitably wind up with a high level of political inequality: the elites run the political system for their own interests, pursuing what economists call rent-seeking behavior, rather than the general public interest. The result is a most imperfect democracy. The Nordic democr... more »

VFP TAKES OVER SOUTH BOSTON

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 4 hours ago
Yesterday MB and I drove to Portland early in the morning and jumped on the bus to Boston. We were going to join the Veterans for Peace (VFP) alternative St. Patrick's day parade through the streets of South Boston. The traditional parade (with its military, fire and police focus) has refused for years to allow peace or gay rights groups to be in the event. These organizations have taken the case to high courts and lost. Three years ago VFP decided to just start a second parade that would follow in the steps of the traditional one. Each year it has gotten bigger and yesterday ... more »

Updated: OPPT: All is Eternal Essence, Debt Release

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 4 hours ago
*Note: We are aware of the year typo in the PDF, that is corrected in amendments... -AK* 12:40 PM PST - Further amendments. UCC Eternal Essence Filing March 18, 2013

What Sideshow Steve Never Learned in Bible School

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 4 hours ago
Harper, to the extent he thinks at all, thinks regular inspection of bitumen supertankers and a bit more aerial surveillance should put coastal British Columbians' concerns to rest. Harper curiously doesn't know that the Hecate Strait is truly biblical. The massive winds that tear at the place can actually part the waters, exposing the seabed. Here's one account from *The Golden Spruce*: "*Under certain conditions, overfalls take the form of "blind rollers," which are large, nearly vertical waves that roll without breaking; not only are these waves virtually silent but, under p... more »

Elsewhere: Boehner Rule, Next in Line

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 5 hours ago
Two new columns out... Today over at TAP I have one developing an idea that comes from Sarah Binder: that the Speaker has replaced the Hastert Rule with a Boehner Rule of "Make the Senate Go First." It's actually a two-track process. When the party wants things to pass, they let the Senate negotiate out deals and then allow them to pass in the House, even if it means support from only a minority of Republicans. For everything else, however, the House is free to accommodate the crazies, since anything initiated by the House is on the "make a statement" track, not the track that yield... more »

How Will The Sadrists And Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq Do In The 2013 Provincial Elections? An Interview With Prof. Babak Rahimi

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 5 hours ago
Babak Rahimi is a professor of communication, culture, and religions at the University of California, San Diego. He has written extensively upon Shia Islam, Iran, and Iraq. In April 2013, Iraq is due for the next round of provincial elections. The country’s Shiite religious parties have had contentions relations, coming together during some periods, only to turn on each other at another. This year’s balloting will again test the ties that bind and repel these lists. Below is an interview with Professor Rahimi about the fortunes of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) and the ... more »

REUTERS VIDEO: Iraq Marks 25th Anniversary Of Halabja Attack

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 5 hours ago
Iraq marks 25th anniversary of Halabja attack *by reuters*

FASTING CONTINUES TO HALT NAVY BASE

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 5 hours ago
*Professor Yang Yoon-Mo hit 46th prison fast day as of March 18, 2013* On March 15, the National Network of Korean Civil Society for Opposing to the Naval Base dispatched some representing people to the Jeju Prison. They are Fr. Mun Jeong-Hyeon, Fr. Mun Kyu-Hyun, mayor Kang Dong-Kyun, Mr. Kim Duk-Jin (Secretary of the Catholic Human Rights Committee) and Jang Hana (National Assembly Woman). The group urgently appealed Prof. Yang Yoon-Mo to stop his fast, very concerning about his deteriorating health. Prof. Yang has been fasting since the evening of Feb. 1 when he was directly arr... more »

Data Sets with Year-to-Year Country Dyads

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 5 hours ago
Andrew Gellman’s much discussed discussion of trading bias for variance reminded me — however indirectly — of something I’ve been meaning to blog about. We face a number of problems connected with quantitative data in international-relations scholarship. Most of these boil down to “the data for a lot of the things we want to study just Continue reading

Harper to Unveil West Coast Oil Spill Prevention Programme

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 6 hours ago
The Harper government, or someone on its behalf, will show up in Vancouver today to announce that Ottawa has heard our concerns and has prepared a "world class" oil spill programme to mollify our concerns about a tanker disaster on the west coast. *Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver and Transport Minister Denis Lebel will be in B.C. to provide details of a long-term funding commitment to the National Aerial Surveillance Program, first established in 1991, as well as new funding measures to “enhance” the program’s coverage, especially along the northern B.C. coast.* ** *The minis... more »

"Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free."

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
Liberty's Human Rights Page contains the following The right to freedom of expression and the right to protest are crucial in a democracy – information and ideas help to inform political debate and are essential to public accountability and transparency in Government. Free speech, exercised both individually and through a free press, is a necessity in any country where people are themselves free. - Theodore Roosevelt, 1918 Freedom of speech and freedom to protest are closely linked – free speech would mean nothing if there was no right to use public spaces to make your views k... more »

Shock Doctrine (Higher Education Style) and How Deregulation Stole Your Life and Resurrected American Economic Insecurity

A good start on understanding why the right wing loves charter schools and privatization of education is found at Lawyers, Guns and Money. Do yourself a favor and read it all. Higher Education Shock Doctrine March 13, 2013 | Erik Loomis The education capitalists have a great plan. We starve the universities by reducing their state funding so much that students can’t easily graduate in 4

DISGUISING REAL MOTIVES

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 6 hours ago
The primary goal of the US plans to bolster missile defense in Alaska isn’t about tackling a North Korean threat, but putting a claim on the natural resources of the Arctic, former MI5 intelligence officer, Annie Machon, explained in an interview RT. Machon, believes that the North Korean threat is just as unrealistic for the US as the one from Iran, with control over natural resources once again being Washington’s true aim.

The horrible thing which happened to Krugman!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 6 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013* *A way to peer into the past:* Today’s young children are pretty much horrible journalists. The adults of the last generation may have been even worse. Consider what happened just one week ago when Paul Krugman took part in the roundtable segment on ABC’s This Week. Unfortunately, Senator Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) was also present. Johnson, a former polyester and plastics mogul, soon uttered familiar sounds: JOHNSON (3/10/13): To say that the Republicans haven't done anything is just false. The House has actually passed budgets—you know, with proposals to... more »

The Strongarming of Kevin Page

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 6 hours ago
In the thug gallery that passes for a federal government today this shouldn't surprise anyone, least of all parliamentary budget officer, Kevin Page. On CTV's *Question Period*, Page revealed the price he had paid and the intimidation he received from the Harper gang for outing them on the F-35 costs. *Page revealed that he came very close to quitting after the Harper government cut his budget by one-third and demanded that all of his office’s work be kept confidential.* *“It definitely was intimidation,” Page claimed.* *His five-year tenure, which is about to come to a close,... more »

Putting a Clear Face on Austerity

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 6 hours ago
The Cypriot people are discovering how austerity politics plays out these days. Like the Irish people before them, and the American public before that, they're being fleeced to bail out their crooked, money-laundering banks. The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have approved a Cypriot bank bailout that is essentially a confiscatory raid on savings. Cypriot bank depositors will see their balances lightened. Those with holdings over 100,000 Euros will be "taxed" 10%. Ordinary Cypriots with forfeit 6.7% of their bank balances. ... more »

ISRAEL'S BEST FRIEND

Anon at aangirfan - 6 hours ago
*'Crypto-Jew' John Kerry in Cairo to celebrate Israel's conquest of Egypt.* John Kerry, America's secretary of state, was recently greeted in Egypt by angry charges that he supports the Muslim Brotherhood. *It’s hard being in charge* The Muslim Brotherhood has long been a tool of MI6 and the CIA. *'Crypto-Jew' Kerry is burnt in Cairo.* Israel's new best friend is Egypt. *"Israeli soldiers say that their co-ordination with their Egyptian counterparts at the border is better than under Hosni Mubarak's old regime." * *The Gaza Strip: The Islamists are again on the defensive** * * * ... more »

That's One Way to See Rio de Janeiro

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 7 hours ago
Kids, don't try this at home.

La Moskitia: The road less travelled for a reason

paul at Paying attention - 7 hours ago
Part of the regular route to La Moskitia (Jody Paterson) Tourists don’t much go to La Moskitia. The vast rainforest in southern Honduras, bordered by the Caribbean and Nicaragua, is an extraordinary natural wonder. It includes the Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, jungles, lagoons and miles of untouched beach. It’s home to Garifuna, Miskito and Pech communities, with distinct cultures. But all that empty space also makes it attractive to narcos shipping cocaine from South America to U.S. markets. The risk of running into narcotrafficantes is tiny, but it’s... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 7 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Grant Hart, 52 Some good stuff: 1. Adam Serwer takes down Jennifer Rubin (and updates us on Justice Department scandals and non-scandals). 2. Why Paul Ryan isn't courageous, by Ezra Klein. 3. DLC veteran Ed Kilgore assesses GOP reform. 4. Sarah Posner and Wil Gafney on the History Channel's "The Bible." As usual when I link to a bloggingheads episode. 5. And Seth Masket on GOP reform. As I've said, my basic sense is that at least for presidential elections, GOP extremism is probably a very minor negative for them at most, but it is a big deal when it comes to gov...more »

KLEIN ON THE LAWN: Who is Ezra Klein!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 7 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013* *Part 1—A familiar blizzard:* Senate Democrats released a budget resolution last Wednesday. It was their first such presentation since 2009. In response, Ezra Klein produced a familiar yet peculiar blizzard at his Washington Post web site. This Wonkblog blizzard arrived in three parts. The chronology went like this: *Wednesday afternoon, 5:09 PM:* Just after 5 PM on Wednesday: Klein produced a full-scale post which bore this peculiar headline: “The Senate Democrats’ vague, conservative budget.” Really? Had Senate Democrats really produced a *conservative*... more »

How to Make A Large Photo Collage

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 7 hours ago
If there is one thing I love in this world, it is taking pictures of my little girl. She has been photographed so many times in her four years that my husband actually had to buy me a separate hard drive to store her photos. Every time I switch out the pictures in our frames, I get a little sad. I love the new photos, but I always miss having the older pictures around, especially the fun candids. To bring a lot of those older photos out of hiding, I wanted to make a large photo collage of favorite pictures in the seven years that my husband and I have been together. This coll... more »

Meet Andrew Hounshell-- The Democrat Running For The Ohio Seat Boehner Is Occupying

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
If you've been reading *DWT* with any regularity, you no doubt heard me warning readers that lifelong Republican spoiled rich kid Patrick Murphy, who ran against neo-fascist GOP war-criminal Allen West, would make a horrible congressman. Murphy managed-- albeit barely-- to beat West. And he has been a horrible congressman, immediately joining the New Dems, racking up a voting record that has him siding with Boehner and Cantor on most crucial roll calls and seducing a gaggle of naive freshmen Democrats to join the GOP in it's efforts to cut benefits to seniors who rely on the Socia... more »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 7 hours ago
*Guest Column: LSU deserves accountability from its administration**~Since settling with Dr. Ivor van Heerden for a near-half million dollars in his wrongful dismissal suit, LSU’s line, straight from LSU Interim System President and Chancellor William “Bill” Jenkins, is that further discussion is “no longer relevant, warranted or appropriate.” Indeed? For an institution of higher learning, should not truth matter? We require accountability of students, staff and faculty, why not of upper administration and our Board of Supervisors? Especially when these same individuals have been in... more »

Windfarm Wankers

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 7 hours ago
The source of wind-turbine illness has been tracked down. The source is anti-wind farm campaigners who make people think those windmills are going to make them sick. Let's call them "*windfarm wankers*." It was obvious that there's nothing inherently sickening about wind farms by the number of communities elsewhere, particularly in Europe, where local populations live with them and report no problems. Now an Australian study has linked windfarm illness to the presence, not of windmills, but of the anti-wind power campaigners. *Complaints of illness were far more prevalent in co... more »

ALEC Legislator - I Don't Know What I'm Introducing

2old2care at Because I Can - 7 hours ago
I don’t know what is in the bill I am introducing. I am only doing what ALEC told me to do at the last meeting. I have no idea what the hell this legislation is all about. The news story is a year old - but it probably happens every day. American Legislative Exchange Council has a hand in S.C.politics COLUMBIA — Sen. Mike Rose stood up on the Senate floor earlier this month to clear confusion over a bill and asked for a delay so he could check with the measure’s creator. But the proposal’s author wasn’t a fellow lawmaker or anybody in South Carolina. “This is an American Legislat... more »

ALEC Intentionally Misleads US Again

2old2care at Because I Can - 7 hours ago
As has been covered to excess - last Friday ALEC dropped SOME of their legislation. When researching last night, I opened up the HuffPo article on the drop and - there it was! American Legislative Exchange Council, misleading the general public, again. When you buy a carpet sample - you do not get the whole carpet. When you get an ice cream sample - it is not the size of an ice cream cone. When you get a pharmaceutical sample - it is not enough to last you a month. When you get a cosmetic sample - you get a teaspoon worth of the product - not an ounce. When you listen to a music samp... more »

Toxic Harper killing everything that is Canadian.

noreply@blogger.com (deBeauxOs) at DAMMIT JANET! - 8 hours ago
Possibly the only truly honest statement Harper has ever uttered was his 2006 threat to reconfigure Canada: “You won’t recognize Canada when I’m through with it”. More here. And here. An article in the Winnipeg Free Press deconstructs the Harper government communications strategy that stamps PMSHithead's brand on every media event. Internal documents show the prime minister's department micro-managed a media event staged by Parks Canada, trying to erase the venerable agency from a public announcement while promoting the Harper government. The incident is a case study in comm... more »

Inflammatory questions in cross examination

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
*Desharnais v. Parkhurst and Romanowski*, 2013 BCCA 113 deals with inflammatory questions put during cross examination: [79] The plaintiff relies on *R. v. Fanjoy*, 1985 CanLII 53 (SCC), [1985] 2 S.C.R. 233, 21 D.L.R. (4th) 321 for the proposition that a trial judge's failure to restrain abrasive or abusive cross-examination may be an error in law. *Fanjoy* also stresses the discretionary nature of judicial interference in cross-examination. Justice McIntyre stated, at 239: ... The discretion to intervene in a cross-examination must, of course, be exercised judicially. It... more »

The Escalating War on Labour

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 8 hours ago
We hear that Ontario's ongoing dispute with teachers is about extra curricular activities and the deficit. It's about neither. Tom Walkom writes in the *Toronto Star*: At its heart, this fight is about work. It is about the implicit deal struck between governments, employers and employees more than 50 years ago to make the workplace a fairer place. It is about the unravelling of that deal. Fifty years ago, a carefully constructed set of rules applied to labour negotiations: Ontario’s law established criteria under which unions could organize a workplace. Employers, in turn we... more »

Desecrating a Koran

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 8 hours ago
Do you remember the anger and indeed hysteria when a non-Muslim defaces a Koran? The Islamic organisations are up in arms (figuratively of course), the liberal media are outraged, etc. How about when an Islamist hollows out a Koran in order to plant a bomb in it? Not so much anger... From Iraq. It's almost as though the Islamist anger over Joran desecrations are just a tool to intimidate the kufr.

You call that a blizzard?

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 9 hours ago
Iqaluit was under a blizzard advisory last night. I expected to be trapped forever in the Storehouse Bar (I suppose there are worse places to be trapped). In fact there was a dusting of snow. Might be a major winter storm for, say, Myrtle Beach... .

THE ULTIMATE IS HERE!!!

Casey at The Adventures of Limited Eating - 9 hours ago
Hey all my lovely readers, You may have wondered why I have not been updating the blog much recently, the reason is quite simple. I have made a website :) Many people I have spoken to don't see the big difference between a website and a blog, but personally I think it differs to a large extent. It is much more organized, and feels like a little home of my own instead of a blog lost in the big wide world of blogs... If that makes any sense. So please, support me on my journey and visit my website. There you will find improved versions of my recipes, helpful information for those of y... more »

Meet & Greet Monday (#MtaGt)

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 10 hours ago
Welcome to Meet & Greet Monday! Banner by Art Ist Grab our banner for your site: Do you have an Eco-friendly blog? Do you occasionally write about the environment or ways to live green? If you answered yes to any, you're invited to link up. Here are the rules: 1. If you have a green-living blog or a blog where you sometimes write about the environment, sustainability, etc., please use the "linky" below to list your site. 2. If you only occasionally write about green living, please use tags such as "green", "Eco", "Environment", etc. and then link to... more »

Tyson vs Greene: a lesson in demagogy

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 10 hours ago
Someone sent me the following video. Indeed, it turned out to have a large capacity to make me upset. The exchange between Brian Greene and Neil deGrasse Tyson, a science communicator from a planetarium, took place at the 2011 Isaac Asimov Memorial Debate (107 minutes) two years ago. Members of the panel included Katherine Freese, Jim Gates, Janna Levin, Marcello Gleiser, Brian Greene, and of course the omnipresent pushy hippie crank called Lee Smolin. In the 4-minute excerpt, Tyson prepares Brian for a purposefully blunt question. At this moment, the eternally diplomatic Brian... more »

Cyprus Plays Hardball With Investors, Shocks Economic Markets

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 10 hours ago
(UPDATED AT BOTTOM, March 18th, 10:44) Be prepared for a sell-off today in all North American stock markets. Europe is in dire straits as we all know, unemployment hovering at 30%, Italy requiring bailouts, France has run deficits for decades, Portugal in trouble, Greece in trouble, the UK in big financial stupor.. Yes indeed, and this is all old news, nothing to see here, move along, look the other way, except... Except something very different has developed this weekend, past bailouts for European countries Greece, Portugal and others resulted in Governments of those bailed ou... more »

Saudi Arabia Tears Down Column Marking Muslim Claim to Jerusalem

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
'Israel has respected Islamic sites more than Saudi Arabia, the custodians of Mecca and Medina, have. But now the Saudis have destroyed the basis of their colonialist fairy tale claim to Jerusalem.' Front Page with some news about Saudi Arabia's destruction of Islamic religious sites that the BBC will not bring you. Meanwhile Israel has ceded control of its holiest site in Jerusalem to Islam.

ROBERT MUGABE OF THE CIA, AND MOSSAD

Anon at aangirfan - 10 hours ago
*Mugabe. www.rawstory.com* *Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe is almost certainly an asset of the CIA.* *1.* On 5 October 2010 we learnt that the CIA tipped off Mugabe against going to Ecuador "Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe was tipped off against going to Ecuador by the America Central Intelligence Agency, as they had information about an impending political upheaval [aka their coup] in the volatile country, Zimdaily has learnt. "Despite posturing about anti-American sentiment, Zimdaily has it on good authority that Mugabe abruptly cut short his trip and returned to Zimbabwe after the C... more »

Monday Morning Linkage

Vikash Yadav at Duck of Minerva - 11 hours ago
Good mornin’ duck fans! Let’s start the week by revisiting last week’s firestorm in … Afghanistan Hamid Karzai has become a bewildering enigma for many Americans as he launched yet another verbal tirade against the US last week. This time he recklessly accused the US of colluding with the Taliban. The NY Times speculates that Continue reading

Sexism and Abuse of Power in the SWP

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 11 hours ago
I met P some years ago when I was around the SWP. A couple of years older then me, she came across as strong, confident, and earnest in the way most of us were when we joined our first revolutionary organisation. I recall her kicking my arse when, after a branch down the pub, I was dumb enough to venture the idea that fascists should have the freedom to speak and to organise too. P was a trusted and well-respected SWP activist who had a militant but wise head on her shoulders. Thinking back there was no inkling whatsoever the SWP had already put her through the wringer. When I fell ... more »

2012 Film Roundup, Part 1: The Oscars and the Year in Review

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 11 hours ago
(Welcome to the Annual Post-Oscar Film Roundup, a tradition that dates back to the misty age of pre-blog times. (It was delayed more than I'd like.) It's broken into four parts. To read it all, start here, scroll down, and use the "Older Posts" link if necessary.) 2012 saw a number of strong films, from quieter and more intimate movies to several very good summer blockbusters. I didn't

Ralph Ellis - King Jesus Trilogy - Jesus, King of Edessa

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 12 hours ago
"Jesus, King of Edessa" is the fascinating new book in Ralph Ellis's "King Jesus Trilogy". It talks of all the Bible Kings missing from the historical register or conversely all the real Kings not mentioned in the Gospels; like one or the other never existed. "We're looking in the wrong era for 'Jesus' i.e. AD 30-33, christianity came from the (Rome friendly) Church of Saul," asserts Ellis, citing a historical character Josephus Flavius from the AD 60s as a likely culprit for the origin of the christian story. For I was blind, and now I see? Ellis's re-assessment of 'recorded c... more »

2012 Film Roundup, Part 2: The Top Two

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 12 hours ago
Lincoln: Director Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Tony Kushner and actor Daniel Day-Lewis head up an impressive team for this film on Abraham Lincoln and the passage of the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery. At the center onscreen is Day-Lewis, whose resemblance to Lincoln (with the help of some makeup) becomes uncanny. It's one of his best performances, and he captures the warmth,

2012 Film Roundup, Part 3: Noteworthy Films

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 12 hours ago
Moonrise Kingdom: Wes Anderson's latest film has his usual quirky characters galore, but also a sweet side that helps ground it. It's a tale of young romance in 1965, as misfit orphan and "Khaki Scout" Sam Shakusky (Jared Gilman) decides to run away from camp on a New England island with a girl who lives there, Suzy Bishop (Kara Hayward). They've been secret pen pals since meeting a year

2012 Film Roundup, Part 4: The Rest (The Good, the Bad and the Godawful)

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 12 hours ago
Prometheus: Oh, the wasted potential. Two scientists discover possible evidence of alien intervention early in humankind's history, and convince one of Earth's richest men to fund a space expedition to a distant system in search of humanity's possible creators, whom they dub "engineers." Needless to say, they don't find quite what they expected. Ridley Scott's latest film (and a welcome

Craig has a Photography offer for you!

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 12 hours ago
I wanted to get this up last week but forgot in the crush of things. Craig Ferguson, a travel photographer who lives in Taiwan, sent me this message: Last week I published a 2 hour series of photography tutorials called "Photography Projects For A Rainy Weekend". I've created 100 discount codes for 20% off that you can share with your readers. The code for them is friendsofmt and the direct link is https://www.udemy.com/photography-for-a-rainy-weekend/?couponCode=friendsofmt Enjoy! _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebar... more »

Daily Links, Monday, March 18, 2013

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 13 hours ago
*A homemade cheese place on Dongshan Rd outside of Taichung. They sell cheesecakes and chunks of homemade cheese for $3-4 a gram.* Wow! Long time since I've had time to collect some links for the weekly linkfest. Enjoy! *SPECIAL*: At the China Policy Blog, Paul Katz shows what a complete failure the Ma Administration is. Great work. Don't miss it. *BLOGS*: - Expert raises questions for Taiwan's submarine development program - Taiwan's Quadrennial defense review - Michael rides from Syuhai to Taidong - Far Eastern Sweet Potato notices more young people out to protest. Th... more »

Samsung Galaxy S4 with eye-tracking facility

Megaan at Current news updates, World current news - 13 hours ago
*Samsung has launched a smart phone which allows users to control its 5in screen by only their eyes.* The Galaxy S4 follows on from last year's S3, an invention that solds over 40 million units universal. Analysts generally look upon Samsung to be the biggest challenger to Apple's dominance of mobile products. Subsequent the launch, shares in Samsung fell 1.7% in early trade in Seoul amid worries the market for phone upgrades was flattening out. In addition, the "Smart Scroll" software analyses the user's eyes and wrist to scroll through emails and other content. Much was made o... more »

Obama Seeks Global Rules on Drones

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 13 hours ago
This tells us that we already have an arms race on in these weapons. The problem is that the quality of the craft is secondary to be software and everyone can get that figured out. It clearly allows you to fill the skies with cheap drones that can loiter and select high quality targets. For the first time in history, command and control is squarely on the front lines. That is how Al Qada has been hugely suppressed. What we have is still pretty basic. Hunter killer supersonic jets are coming next. Worse, we are able to fill the skies. Technology will maintain an ... more »

Pope Francis Confronts Poverty

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 13 hours ago
The elevation of John Paul II was not understood at the time. That was when the Catholic Church threw down the gauntlet to confront Communism. A movement that was the bane of mankind ultimately disintegrated and blew away. It all happened peacefully because the leaders understood that they had lost the mandate to rule and had no more answers. Now we have Pope Francis. The church is now going to confront human poverty soul by soul. Think what this means. We today have the tools to end poverty. Microfinance, fiat lending and community are all tools that the Church ca... more »

Flu Breakthrough

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 13 hours ago
This is really good news as it clearly applies across the threat spectrum and prevents severity. It may not end the threat but it can ensure survivability. A welcome weapon and badly needed as the present protocol is a weak solution to the problem because of the time lag. Let us hope it proves up and is available quickly. We will all feel a little safer knowing something can effectively prevent death from the disease. After all that is essentially our strategy for diabetes for the past decades. *A mighty fighting flu breakthrough* * by Staff Writers* * Canberra, Aus... more »

LEADBEATER, WEDGWOOD, KRISHNAMURTI, MESSIAH, SEX

Anon at aangirfan - 13 hours ago
*Charles Leadbeater (right) (Krishnamurti as a young boy Meditation Handbook Home)* Charles Leadbeater liked boys. James Wedgwood liked boys. The two of them set up the Liberal Catholic Church. Leadbeater and Wedgwood were also top people in the Theosophy Movement. Leadbeater took a keen interest in the boy children of the Theosophists. *Bishop James Wedgwood* In 1922, Bishop James Wedgwood settled in Paris "abandoning his ecclesiastical position temporarily to pursue a life of sexual excess." In Gay Paris, Bishop Wedgwood "fell victim to cocaine addiction, also supplying his b... more »

Lamar W. Hankins : CPR and End-of-Life Decisions

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 15 hours ago
Art from PBS NewsHour. CPR and end-of-life decisions Since the story of the 87-year old woman first appeared, more information has come to light. She was aware of and had agreed to the policy of the center where she lived -- that CPR would not be performed in the event she collapsed. By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog / March 17, 2013 Cardiopulmonary resuscitation -- CPR -- is as widely

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 15 hours ago
They might be giants. The Appennine Colossus, just north of Florence, Italy [Recommend clicking to embiggen for full appreciation.]

NorthJersey.com: Trails Closed in Ringwood State Park

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 15 hours ago
From www.northjersey.com: Monday, March 11, 2013 BY HOLLY STEWART Area hikers contemplating their next jaunt through the woods should be aware that many of the trails in Ringwood State Park will remain closed at least until mid-April due to construction work associated with the Tennessee Gas Pipeline. [image: Signs like this one seen just off Morris Road on Wednesday are commonplace in Ringwood State Park during the construction of the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Company’s Northeast Expansion project.Traffic on Morris Road leading to Skylands Manor came to a standstill due to pipeline... more »

Death and the cartoonists -- philosophical musings and a real-life story courtesy of Bob Mankoff

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 16 hours ago
*I'll explain what this David Sipress cartoon is in a moment. (For now trust me that it's not an indictment of nurses in general.) Meanwhile, I can use help. Can anyone tell me what this nurse, who's not seeing patients, is doing?* *"One of the functions of humor is to cope with stress and adversity. This coping mechanism is put to the ultimate test when the stress is death stress."* -- New Yorker *cartoon editor Bob Mankoff, in his latest e-newsletter/blogpost,* "To Be or Not to Be Funny" *by Ken* Bob has death on his mind this week. Death and cartooning, that is. Along the way h... more »

22 Imágenes bonitas de carros antiguos

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

Michael Tsarion - Psychic Vampirism

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 17 hours ago
*Michael Tsarion - Psychic Vampirism * Title: Michael Tsarion - Psychic Vampirism. YouTube Video Description - [Channel: PrometheanReachXVI]: http://www.PrometheanReach.com "Alternative researcher Michael Tsarion's groundbreaking investigation into the problem of evil continues with a penetrating and scholarly look at the strange phenomenon of Psychic Vampirism. Michael's analysis of this deadly syndrome digs deeper than any other work on the subject. Listen to his complete magnum opus for free, and make a donation at unslaved.com also visit us at http://www.psychicvampirism.co... more »

Satire: “Portman Inspires Other Republicans To Stop Speaking To Their Children”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*“Portman Inspires Other Republicans To * *Stop Speaking To Their Children”* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— “The decision of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) to support same-sex marriage after learning that his son was gay has inspired hundreds of other Republican lawmakers to stop speaking to their children immediately, G.O.P. leaders confirmed today. “I have gathered my caucus and told them, if your kids are going to tell you something that’s going to cost you the next election, it’s better to nip that situation in the bud,” said House Speaker John Boehner (R-Oh... more »

Graham Hancock - The War on Consciousness BANNED TED TALK

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 17 hours ago
You can't ban knowledge. Censorship = dead end. Graham Hancock - The War on Consciousness BANNED TED TALK

Alan Waldman : Leonard Rossiter is Incandescent in Hilarious Britcom ‘Rising Damp’

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 17 hours ago
Waldman's film and TV treasures you may have missed: Strong cast and remarkable writing mark this outstanding 1974-1978 British TV comedy series. By Alan Waldman / The Rag Blog / March 17, 2013 [In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his favorite films and TV series that readers may have missed, including TV dramas, mysteries, and comedies from Canada, England, Ireland, and

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago

Tom Terrific

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 19 hours ago
Posting this because I read something yesterday that reminded how very much I love Manfred the Wonder Dog.

Jennifer Carroll-- What A Mess... (And Not At Concrete Blonde)

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 19 hours ago
In announcing the forthcoming release of new polling numbers from Florida, PPP tweeted early Saturday morning that "Even after this week Jennifer Carroll only has about 30% name recognition in Florida." And they weren't talking about Top Chef Jennifer Carroll. Until this week she was the state's Lieutenant Governor and if barely anyone in Florida knows who she is, I'm going to have to assume far fewer outside the state know who she is either-- or why she resigned this week. "If her name rings no bells, you're probably in the majority. It's the price one pays for being Florida's fi... more »

"Iraq War Has Bankrupted US: Cost Over $2 Trillion–May Reach $6 Trillion

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*"Iraq War Has Bankrupted US: Cost Over $2 Trillion–* *May Reach $6 Trillion, **And This Doesn’t Include Afghanistan"* By Daniel Trotta NEW YORK, March 14 (Reuters) - "The U.S. war in Iraq has cost $1.7 trillion with an additional $490 billion in benefits owed to war veterans, expenses that could grow to more than $6 trillion over the next four decades counting interest, a study released on Thursday said. The war has killed at least 134,000 Iraqi civilians and may have contributed to the deaths of as many as four times that number, according to the Costs of War Project by the ... more »

HOWARD'S IRAQ LIES: 10TH ANNIVERSARY

This article was first published here on 13 June 2012 and was republished again on the 16 August 2012 in the light of a call being made by an eminent group of Australians led by Malcolm Fraser for an enquiry into the decisions that led to Australia joining the US-led invasion of Iraq on March 2003. Today, 18 March 3013, is the 10th anniversary of Howard's lies to the Australian people and the Australian parliament about Saddam's supposed WMD's and is republished yet again so that those lies are not forgotten. During the lead up to the war against Iraq that began on 20 March 2003, ... more »

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell: Unnatural alliance

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 20 hours ago
There's a reason they invented that old saw, politics make strange bedfellows. Rand and Mitch are natural born enemies. Mitch worked actively to shut Rand out but once his erstwhile opponent won, Mitch made Rand his frenemy because, good politics. As Mitch said himself after Rand's grandstanding filibuster, the kid understands the inside game. This unholy alliance begets such mutual beneficence as this: "What Rand was doing last week brought back a lot of memories of the early part of my career,” McConnell, 71, said yesterday in a telephone interview, recalling a 1994 filibuste... more »

St. Patrick's Day 2013

Batocchio at Vagabond Scholar - 20 hours ago
Happy St. Patrick's Day! This year, I thought I'd link an Irish children's site's version of the early Irish epic, Táin Bó Cúailnge, also known simply as The Táin, or The Cattle Raid of Cooley. (I recently received Thomas Kinsella's version.) Meanwhile, I'm obligated to post some music. This is a good version of "The Rocky Road to Dublin" by the High Kings:

Thomas Cahill: Today Began a Long Time Ago

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 20 hours ago
*Wikipedia*: "Thomas Cahill (born 1940 in New York City) is an American scholar and writer. He is best known for The Hinges of History series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civilization." Thomas Cahill is the author of many books. Among them are, *"How the Irish Saved Civilization,"* and* "Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe."* Title: Thomas Cahill: Today Began a Long Time Ago. YouTube Video Description - [Channel: SunlightOxygen]: How does something ... more »

"A Conspiracy Fact"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago
*"A Conspiracy Fact"* by Tina Dupuy "I’ve been assured my in-laws don’t read my column. However, because of their mix of shame, guilt and blame, I’ll be vague on some details. They’ve fallen on hard times. No one wants to talk about it, let alone have it written about and syndicated. But I think their story is illustrative. My in-laws live in a generic suburb of modest mid-century tract homes in the middle of strip mall sprawl. They have a well-attended lawn; two mid-range cars in the driveway, a loyal lab mix sleeping on the porch. They both worked in middle management in n... more »

It worked so well for Stalin…

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 21 hours ago
[image: image] Five year plans? Ten year plans? Twenty year plans? They worked so “well” for the Soviet Union, it’s no wonder today’s central planners wish to ignore their results—but ignore them they inevitably do. Auckland’s central planners want to tell us where and how to live, regardless of how you and I feel about it. They have all the inbuilt chutzpah of the top-down planner, ignoring incentives and individual likes and dislikes as if they themselves know better. But, in fact, top-down planners have a more limited capacity to “know” than those who are actually *in* the si... more »

"Sometimes..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago
"Sometimes you believe a thing that isn't true because in the world you wish to live in, it would be true." - Robert Brault

Aldous Huxley - The Dancing Shiva

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Aldous Huxley - The Dancing Shiva. YouTube Channel: RevolutionLoveEvolve.

This is how it starts

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 21 hours ago
*Translation: “Cypriot bank robbery”* Imagine this: You wake up this morning to a note telling you you’re the victim of a bank robbery—but instead of the bank being robbed, the bank is robbing you. Well, strictly speaking, the government is robbing you: every depositor in the country is having their bank account raided to help pay the government’s debt. Nice, huh? This is exactly what savers in Cyprus woke up to this morning—and it is exactly what can and undoubtedly *will* happen in every jurisdiction in the world. Politics aside, the bottom line is that the Rubicon has been c... more »

Red Lake Chippewa: Enbridge pipelines have no contracts on nation land

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 21 hours ago
Red Lake Chippewa Discover Enbridge Tar Sands Pipelines Through Nation-Owned Land Have No Easement Contracts March 16, 2013 By Tarsands Blockade www.tarsandsblockade.org For over two weeks now, Nizhawendaamin Inaakiminaan (We Love Our Land) has been occupying land directly above four pipelines across an easement that Enbridge has claimed since 1949 when the company, then called

Northerntruthseeker Rant For Sunday, March 17th, 2013

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 21 hours ago
Yes, it is Sunday again.... And of course time for my weekly rant where I try to piss off as many people as I possibly can.... First, it is St. Patrick's Day, and I want to say Happy St. Patrick's Day to all those of Irish descent.... I discovered several years back that I myself am of Irish descent... My mother 's grandfather was an Irish minister that came over to Canada after the Irish Potato Famine in the late 19th century and he settled down with a French Canadian woman...and had something like 14 children (Got to love the Catholics). One of these children being of course my g... more »

RAW on the choosing of a New Pope

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 22 hours ago
RAW on the choosing of a New Pope. YouTube Channel: Stacco Troncoso.

Sunday Question for Liberals

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 22 hours ago
Why do you think deficit-cutting is so popular with the neutral press? What, if anything should Democrats be doing about it?

The grand bargain is dead

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 22 hours ago
May it rest in peace forever. The damn grand bargain that so obsesses our POTUS is neither grand, nor a bargain. Never understood why he keeps trying for a deal that is the effective equivalent of political suicide. In any event, doubt we have to worry about that much. I don't think Corker means what Think Progess does. They're billing it as his being open to increasing revenue, but that's not what I read in this: Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) believes Senate Republicans would be open to increasing revenue through tax reform as part of a “grand bargain” to reduce the deficit. Chris, I t... more »

WIsc - Proof ALEC Policies Don't Work

2old2care at Because I Can - 22 hours ago
*A Sociopath* A sociopath is typically defined as someone who lies incessantly to get their way and does so with little concern for others. A sociopath is often goal-oriented (i.e., lying is focused - it is done to get one's way). *Compulsive Liar* A compulsive liar is defined as someone who lies out of habit. Lying is their normal and reflexive way of responding to questions. Compulsive liars bend the truth about everything, large and small. This is how ALEC intentionally misleads their members with “junk data” and deceptive information. Selling them lies. ALEC membership br... more »

Sunday Question for Conservatives

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 22 hours ago
Is CPAC a good representation of conservatives? If not, what should conservatives do about it?

LOL @ Washington's Desperate Propaganda Campaign

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 22 hours ago
Check out this LA Times article, *"CIA begins sizing up Islamic extremists in Syria for drone strikes: The strategy is part of the agency's secret contingency planning to protect the U.S. and its allies as the violence there grows. Some militants in Syria are seen as closely linked to Al Qaeda."* * * The U.S. government is the sole reason why there are Jihadist terrorist groups in Syria. Washington has backed them from the very beginning of its aggressive war against Syria's sovereignty and the Syrian people. But now it is pretending that it is an enemy of Al-Qaeda and other affilia... more »

Cyprus Is More Than Just An Organized Crime-Infested Island In The Mediterranean Where Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm Sneaks Off Where No One's Looking

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Cyprus today-- London and Kenosha tomorrow? Staten Island Republican Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm is a Mafia operative who has managed to get away with... well, a lot that should have landed him in prison long ago. And in the past, the only mentions of Cyprus on this blog have been about Grimm's involvement with Cypriot criminal activitiesand his secret trip to that island. Now Cyprus has an even worse visitor than Grimm-- the right wing Austerity has come to tear the country apart. Next time you hear Ryan, Cantor, Boehner or any of the Austerity fanatics trying to sell you on their r... more »

Clarkson likes us

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 23 hours ago
We NZers like it when people like us. Jeremy Clarkson likes us. John Cleese called Palmerston North the ''suicide capital of New Zealand'' because ''if you wish to kill yourself but lack the courage to, I think a visit to Palmerston North will do the trick.” Clarkson disagrees, I think. If God had got it right, he says, ''Jesus would have been from Palmerston North.'' Perhaps he means it could be a good place for crucifixion? In any case, he seems to like the rest of the place: "If you were God and you were all-powerful, you wouldn't select Bethlehem as a suitable birthplace for ... more »

BYPASS well was not a sidetrack

Elephant Buddy01 at Our Manmade Disasters - 23 hours ago
- BK Lim & FASEI So when is a “bypass” not a bypass from the same well but from another well location? That should have been the question to ask Transocean's OIM (Jimmy Harrel) on the Deepwater Horizon, during his 27 May 2010 testimony in the USCG-MMS investigation hearing. Jim Harrel was clearly taken aback when asked to elaborate on the specific problems encountered (such as loss circulation, pipe stuck, cementing and other safety issues) throughout the duration of the WELL (@min 5:30). Harrel clearly stumbled when he asked “....you...err.... more »

Beer is beneficial

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 23 hours ago
Politicians and other busybodies obsess about the cost of drinking beer. Too little analysis focuses on the benefits, so former NOT PC beer writer Neil Miller has undertaken the serious scientific research on the topic for you. Here are the top ten benefits of drinking beer. *1.* Beer lessens the constant anxiety of watching the Black Caps bat. *2.* After beer, Gareth Morgan's constant lectures become slightly less annoying.* *3.* Beer enables people to hold strong opinions on every issue without resorting to research.** *4.* Without beer, no one would date in the provinces. *5... more »

Mohawk Nation News "DNA Wars'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
Posted on March 17, 2013 MNN, Mar. 17, 2013. The UN has given the US the job of taking over Indigenous people and our resources worldwide. The 1973 illegal “War Powers Act” gives the US the “legal” right to create war with anyone they deem an enemy. Scientists were sent out by pharmaceuticals to take blood samples of every Indigenous group everywhere. Someone wanted our DNA. As

Shake, shake, shake!

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 day ago
As with most Aucklanders, yesterday’s shallow 3.9-strength earthquake came as a surprise. In a house with a concrete floor, lying on the couch playing a record (remember records?), it seemed as though a truck had hit the front of the house. Bang! The cat slept, and the house moved enough to make the needle jump on the record*. Serious. Serious enough to worry about the earthquake being directly under a volcano: fortunately, GNS Science confirms the quake is not linked to volcanic activity. So we can go back to laughing about it, and us. As most did on Twitter: [image: image] [im... more »

“The Internet Is A Surveillance State”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“The Internet Is A Surveillance State”* by Bruce Schneier "I'm going to start with three data points. One: Some of the Chinese military hackers who were implicated in a broad set of attacks against the U.S. government and corporations were identified because they accessed Facebook from the same network infrastructure they used to carry out their attacks. Two: Hector Monsegur, one of the leaders of the LulzSac hacker movement, was identified and arrested last year by the FBI. Although he practiced good computer security and used an anonymous relay service to protect his ... more »

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