Wednesday, March 20, 2013

20 March - Blogs I'm Following

WE ARE A NATION AND WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE!
WE ARE A NATION AND WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO DECIDE! (Photo credit: Paco Rivière)
Autumn foliage in Hopkinton State Park
Autumn foliage in Hopkinton State Park (Photo credit: Christopher S. Penn)
december
december (Photo credit: MadPole)
Protesting the Anglo Irish Agreement
Protesting the Anglo Irish Agreement (Photo credit: Burns Library, Boston College)
Congress We Need Work
Congress We Need Work (Photo credit: Truthout.org)
English: Members of the Green Party taking par...
English: Members of the Green Party taking part in the March for the Alternative against government cuts to public spending in the UK. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Mounted police deployed during an STU...
English: Mounted police deployed during an STUC-organised protest against government spending cuts in October 2010. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The bar chart presented on the National Debt A...
The bar chart presented on the National Debt Awareness Center home page is based on U.S. Senate Appropriations Bills and the Monthly Treasury Statement. The data was published by the U. S. Treasury Department into a spreadsheet and generate the bar chart from that spreadsheet. The "estimate bar" in the "Debt Total" box for the next Fiscal Year (FY) is generated by analysists from data published by the Congressional Budget Office and several other sources. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Historical government spending by major functi...
Historical government spending by major function in the United States from 1902 to 2010 (2008 estimate, percent GDP) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2:42pm MDST


Anti-Racist is codeword for Anti-White

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 9 minutes ago
Must watch video from *MarmiteMan4*:

Exasperation Nation

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 10 minutes ago
Aspiration Nation. Could it be the dumbest political slogan since 'Make Ireland Thatcher's Vietnam!'? How befitting then it got an airing no less than several thousand times in Osborne's Budget Statement this afternoon, a piece of political work premised on political failure, economic incompetence and outright complacency. Don't take my word for it, here are some graphs. Aspiration? Exasperation nation more like ... There's very little I can add. Osborne's 2013 budget is austerity-as-usual. The points I made on the occasion of the Autumn State in December(!) largely still stand, tho... more »

Voters support stimulus spending for job creation

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 15 minutes ago
More proof nobody cares about the deficit. When it gets down to specific policy voters support "government spending" to create jobs. Even Republican voters: Americans widely support each of three job creation proposals, including offering tax breaks to businesses that create jobs in the U.S. and a program that would put people to work on urgent infrastructure repair projects. Support for these programs is only slightly lower in a variant of the question that asks respondents if they are in favor of spending government money to pay for the programs. Greg breaks out the figures: *... more »

Walk a Mile with Me

ancient clown at GlobaLove Think Tank - 16 minutes ago
*Blessings Everyone:* *Someone once said something about walking a mile in another person's shoes to learn empathy. * *Do you have 8 min. to walk a mile with me? * *You can still wear your own shoes.* *your humble servant, * *ancient clown*

Just Like Cyprus: How the Australian Government Turned on its Citizens

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 20 minutes ago
*Guest post by Nick Hubble* Yes, this is getting old, but this week a new Mediterranean country became the centre of the financial world’s attention. It’s not even big enough to be one of the PIIGS, which used to make all the headlines. But Cyprus is important for a whole new reason. This time around, bank depositors will take a hit in the effort to bail out the banks. And that’s causing panic across Europe… What you need to know about this isn’t in the details. They’re a complete mess and keep changing from one hour to the next. One moment all depositors will lose a few percen... more »

Happy First Day of Spring!

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 34 minutes ago
This is what the local supermarket's parking lot looks like right now (we had another blizzard yesterday and the night before). Pretty soon, we'll be down to 3 or 4 layers of clothing. Woo hoo! How's the weather in your neck of the woods, peeps?

Obama: Manchurian Candidate or Enslaved?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 48 minutes ago
Elliot, J. (2013, March) Drilling Deeper: The Wealth of Business Connections for Obama’s Energy Pick Propublica, http://www.propublica.org/article/wealth-of-business-connections-ernest-moniz [Paraphrasing] Majia here: This article analyzes potential conflicts of interest for President Obama's nomination for Energy Secretary, Ernest Moniz. Moniz was described by the administration as a "'brilliant scientist' who, among his many talents, had effectively brought together 'prominent thinkers and energy companies'....” ProPublica analyzes Moniz's 'collaborative work' as captured in h... more »

"Just Watch Me" (cross a picket line) - Justin Trudeau

leftdog at Buckdog - 52 minutes ago
For the record, Justin Trudeau confirmed on Twitter that when he signed this note to another passenger, he was flying back from Halifax on *Porter Airlines* --- where the workers have been locked out over their demands to meet safety standards. Meaning he crossed a picket line to do so!* -CBC: Justin Trudeau sparks Twitter frenzy with 'Just watch me' note**-Catholic Teachers Donate $30,000 to Striking Porter Airlines Employees* *H/T to Alice Funke*

What Lawrence O’Donnell said in real time!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 hour ago
*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013* *Another big fake on Iraq:* It's one of the miseries of this anniversary week! We refer to the people who are misrepresenting their bulldog stance in the weeks leading up to war with Iraq. On Monday night, Lawrence O’Donnell and David Corn pretended to recall the way Corn brawled on TV during the run-up to Iraq. Just yesterday, we showed you that David, in the real world, engaged in no such fights. Wouldn't you know it? David and Lawrence were aggressively misremembering! Speaking of Corn, how about Lawrence? Early in his chat with Corn, he defined his ... more »

The June 23, 1947 UFO Sighting

KRandle at A Different Perspective - 1 hour ago
I believe that I have found the original source for the story of a Cedar Rapids engineer who saw the flying discs. A headline in the *Cedar Rapids Gazette* said, “Flying Discs Seen By Railroad Man.” The problem? The newspaper is dated June 28, 1947 and appears two days after the Arnold story. And it didn’t happen in Cedar Rapids. The article, which is not six lines or six paragraphs, but a little longer than that, said: A railroad man said Friday [which is June 27, 1947 and eliminates the need for further information right there because the story appeared after Arnold] he saw “abo... more »

UCC Filing EMF (Electro-Magnetic Frequency) Test

Brian Kelly at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 hour ago
*UCC Filing EMF (Electro-Magnetic Frequency) Test* * * (Just to clarify, the document being used in this video is the Press Release 1111.1 from the People's Trust 1776 website, NOT the most recent filing. Whichever the document, there is most definitely some incredible energies at play here!) ~ Brian This is a follow up to this article posted yesterday: http://americankabuki.blogspot.com/2013/03/removing-shackles-energy-is-real.html This experiment and YouTube video was shared by Paige in one of the Skype chat rooms today. Paige Ilise ‎11‎:‎42‎ ‎AM Hey Y'all - I d... more »

Lamar W. Hankins : The Delusions of War Ten Years and Counting

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 1 hour ago
Austin activist David Hamilton demonstrates against the Iraq War in December 2008. Photo by Sally Hamilton / The Rag Blog The delusions of war ten years  after the bombing of Iraq began Only the willingly deceitful claim anymore that the war was for some noble purpose. By Lamar W. Hankins / The Rag Blog / March 20, 2013 For most of us, the last 10 years have not involved the personal agony

"An Orwellian America"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*"An Orwellian America"* By Gordon T. Long "As a young man, I voraciously read George Orwell's "1984", Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World" and Alvin Toffler's trilogy which included "Future Shock", "The Third Wave" and "Power Shift". During the era of the Vietnam War, I wondered seriously about the future and how it was destined to unfold. Now being considerably older, I have the vantage point to reflect back on my early ruminations and expectations. Unfortunately, I am too old to alter the lessons that are now so painfully obvious. Instead, I pass the gauntlet to those who can un... more »

“Iraq, America's Arab Slaughterhouse”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*“Iraq, America's Arab Slaughterhouse”* By Paul Craig Roberts “Ten years ago today the Bush regime invaded Iraq. It is known that the justification for the invasion was a packet of lies orchestrated by the neoconservative Bush regime in order to deceive the United Nations and the American people. The US Secretary of State at that time, General Colin Powell, has expressed his regrets that he was used by the Bush regime to deceive the United Nations with fake intelligence that the Bush and Blair regimes knew to be fake. But the despicable presstitute media has not apologized to ... more »

In the Spotlight:

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 hour ago
*Terresa Monroe-Hamilton* Terresa Monroe-Hamilton, who maintains* Noisy Room, *and also contributes to* **New Zeal, *and* Gulag Bound, *seems to be everywhere important and can turn out prodigious amounts of extremely good material. Somehow she manages to do all this while running a very successful business,* Monroe Virtual Services.* Terresa also has a *Facebook page,* a *Twitter account,* and does it all while managing to be seriously pretty. I have no idea of how she does this when I can't even keep my blog linkage sorted out. Maybe some day she'll share her secret. In the... more »

Harry Targ : Expanding the 'Iraq Syndrome'

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 2 hours ago
Image from Democratic Underground. Cooperation over conflict: We need to expand the 'Iraq Syndrome' As we reflect on the 10-year anniversary of the launching of the Iraq War, the madmen inside the beltway are talking about increasing U.S. military involvement abroad. By Harry Targ / The Rag Blog / March 20, 2013 In a November/December 2005 Foreign Affairs article, "The Iraq Syndrome," I

Left I on the News, 10 Years Ago

Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 2 hours ago
This blog came into existence in August, 2003, several months *after* the invasion of Iraq. But prior to that invasion, the author wrote an unpublished letter to the editor, which I reproduce here to remind readers that not everyone was drinking the Kool-Aid Colin Powell was pouring at the U.N. on the day that really clinched the U.S. government's attempt to persuade those that matter (the media and the Democrats in Congress, certainly not the public who were *not* convinced, nor even the U.N. Security Council for that matter) that an invasion of Iraq was necessary: While Iraq's co... more »

All eyes on South Carolina Congressional race

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 2 hours ago
There's just so much to love about the SC special election. Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford took the first step on the comeback from the Appallachian Trail and won the first round of the Republican primary. His chances look good for winning the subsequent run-off. Meanwhile: The eventual Republican candidate will square off in the May 7 general election against Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of comedian Stephen Colbert. She won the Democratic primary for the seat, handily defeating perennial candidate Ben Frasier. Her bro has already announced he's willing t... more »

银行系统本身处于危险之中。如果这样下去,西方是死定了!

Barbara Diamond at American Scofflaw - 2 hours ago
American Scofflaw 塞浦路斯议会否决了盗窃的存款金额的昨天这意味着,赔率是银行(股市和一切金融)将被关闭,直到下周至少有没有计划B.弗拉基米尔·普京的使用的是“非常危险的”在他的描述发生了什么事。如果你打破其最基本的根源,它来自你的“非常危险”这个词应该害怕“很害怕!”“非常”是一个术语,用于把重点放在以下单词在这种情况下是“危险的”。 “危险”,取决于谁在使用这个词的范围可以从任何地方不小心把牛奶泼到“危险”...危及生命。在这种情况下,它被用来弗拉基米尔·普京... 或者,也许害怕吗?银行系统本身处于危险之中。如果这样下去,西方是死定了!

AND THEN IT GOES BOOM

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 2 hours ago
*One of the early US nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands * - I've had a very busy 24 hours. I spent most of yesterday preparing the news release about our opposition to the basing of "missile defense" systems in Maine and then sending it around to media in our state and around the world. Then I posted it on several other alternative news web sites and forwarded it to our Global Network email lists. By the afternoon I got several requests for radio interviews including a long one with Voice of Russia. This morning I noticed the Bangor Daily News had... more »

Scott Neigh's "Talking Radical: Resisting the State"

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 2 hours ago
So, my friend Scott Neigh has asked me to review his book *Talking Radical: Resisting the* *State - Canadian History Through the Stories of Activists. *So here's the review!! First off, I finally think that I understand Scott's antipathy to working through official channels to achieve lasting gains. Many of the activists (either interviewed or described third-hand) who accepted government funding found their freedom of action constrained and their campaigns co-opted and neutered. Of course, I've always proposed going in with our eyes open to actually take-over and implement revolut... more »

A New Reality is About To Be Born

Brian Kelly at AMERICAN KABUKI - 3 hours ago
Another BIG thank you to Jorge for this beautiful work of art. <3 In Absolute Gratitude, ~ Brian

Native leaders from US in Canada, Join Forces in Tarsands Fight

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 3 hours ago
First Nations say they will fight oilsands, pipeline Minister of Natural Resources says pipeline projects are in First Nations' economic interest The Canadian Press http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/03/20/ottawa-live-conference-first-nations-pipelines.html Posted: Mar 20, 2013 9:24 AM ET An alliance of First Nations leaders is

If I Taught a Statistics Course

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 3 hours ago
Today I am guest lecturing in a graduate seminar here on Quantitative Methods of Policy Analysis, being taught by Jason Vogel. The subject of today's class is statistics. In preparing for the class I rounded up a set of books that I have found to be particularly useful and I thought I'd share them here, just in case I ever teach a stats class down the road. These four books would be at the top of my required reading list: S. Sigler, 2002. *Statistics on the Table: A History of Statistical Concepts and Methods*, Harvard University Press. S. Senn, 2003. *Dicing with Death: Chance, ... more »

"No Free Ride" — brilliant!

noreply@blogger.com (deBeauxOs) at DAMMIT JANET! - 3 hours ago
From one of Canada's respected, award-winning veteran film-makers, this video about Hudak's morally vacuous ideological position with regard to Ontario workers. Together, Hillier and Hudak make the specious argument that Ontario’s declining manufacturing sector and rising unemployment, relative to other provinces, can be blamed on unions. Their analysis ignores the upheavals of globalization, the appreciation of the Canadian dollar, and the commodity booms that benefited other regions. And it conveniently overlooks the historical reality that in Ontario’s boom times, the private se... more »

Ron Jacobs : Raining Shock and Awe in Iraq

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 3 hours ago
Image from Popular-Pics.com. Raining shock and awe: 'Mission accomplished' in Iraq? There was nothing good about this war unless you owned stock in the arms industry. Thousands of U.S. men and women were sent to Iraq over and over again to fight against an enemy that was essentially created by the U.S. invasion. By Ron Jacobs / The Rag Blog / March 20, 2013 The news had come overnight. U.S.

March 20 - First Day of Spring...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 3 hours ago
*and not too late to shop Amazon for great deals.* * ** * *Shop Amazon Easter Shop - Candy, Clothes, Décor * **

Solar Wind Energy Source Discovered

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 3 hours ago
Understanding this phenomena has clear implications for the mastery of plasma based fusion energy. Present work envisages taking advantage of bismuth fusion – fission combination and this surely calls for the finesse this work indicates. Otherwise they plan to send a deep probe into the sun. that will be interesting to say the least. Getting data return will also be a challenge. This may also have much to do with some of the visible surface features on the sun. counter intuitive behavior tends to do that. *Solar Wind Energy Source Discovered* *http://scienc... more »

Tom Perez... And The Republican Party War Against Hispanics

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
To avoid a discussion of the Republican Party Austerity agenda fiasco, Rience Preibus' sad GOP Autopsy Monday focused around the edges, carefully skirting the real issues that make the Republican Party anathema to so many Americans. "We've got to reach out to more Hispanic voters" doesn't work while the party is blocking attempts to pass popular and rational immigration reforms. And it doesn't work when a notorious Republican senator, whoremonger and s&m freak, David Vitter-- who last made national headlines when his wife threatened to cut his dick off if she ever heard about him ... more »

Pre-hearing conferences in criminal cases

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 3 hours ago
*R. v. Nguyen*, 2013 ONCA 169 discusses pre-hearing conferences in criminal matters : Pre-Hearing Conferences and their Use [53] Section 625.1(1) of the Criminal Code authorizes pre-hearing conferences to be held before trial or other proceedings (for example, a preliminary inquiry) “to consider the matters that, to provide a fair and expeditious hearing, would be better decided before the start of the proceedings and other similar matters”. Where a case is set to be tried by a court composed of a judge and jury, a pre-hearing conference “to consider any matters that would promote... more »

Syria asks UN to probe chemical weapon use by 'rebels'/NATO mercs

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 4 hours ago
*The Syrian government asked UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday to appoint an independent mission to investigate an alleged chemical weapons attack by rebels in northern Syria.* Rebels in the north have denied the government claim and blamed regime forces for Tuesday's missile attack on Khan al-Assad village in northern Aleppo province. The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, said Wednesday the Obama administration has no evidence to support Syria's claims. A Syrian victim who suffered an alleged chemical attack at Khan al-Assal village according to SANA, receives ... more »

The Cost of Crime

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 4 hours ago
But does this report include unreported crime? A new report says per capita spending on criminal justice — including federal and provincial jails, court costs and policing — has climbed 23 per cent over the past decade even as Canada's crime rate fell 23 per cent. Funny thing about the Canadian constitution: Feds make criminal law, provinces pay about 75% of the cost of enforcing it. Or, as our pal Kev says: @fernhilldammit @matthew_barlowAt this rate we can't afford to reduce crime any further — trapdinawrpool (@trapdinawrpool) March 20, 2013 What we can't afford is much more o... more »

Great Plains Tarsands Resistance: Action Camp Day 1

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 4 hours ago
Action Camp Update: Day 1 March 19, 2013 by Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance Yesterday was the opening day of Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance’s first action camp—and we’re incredibly thankful to the folks who have thrown their weight behind this struggle and whose history of resistance continues to provide inspiration and context. The camp began with an opening ceremony led by

A "Lesson of Iraq" Which I Thought Everyone Learned But I Guess Not

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 4 hours ago
Reading over all of the Iraq stuff this week, I'm sort of stunned that almost everyone -- supporters, opponents then, supporters then who believe they were wrong -- are still using the phrase "weapons of mass destruction." Cut it out, everyone. "Weapons of mass destruction" was a stupid category then, and it's a stupid category now. Unless it's for a critique of the poor thinking that went on then, no one should use it. Ever.

VIDEO Native Americans: Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 5 hours ago
Published on Mar 16, 2013 Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance is a coalition fighting the expansion and construction of Tar Sands infrastructure in the Great Plains. We are in explicit solidarity with peoples indigenous to this continent, communities near the point of extraction, and communities living in proximity to these toxic, cancer-causing refineries. GPTSR on FaceBook: http://

Why has Rory McIlroy lost form?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 5 hours ago
Consnsus opinion is that it's the fault of his changing clubs in that massive deal with Nike. However I wonder if he's been distracted recently... His girlfriend, world tennis number 1, Caroline Wozniacki has been posing for promotional material for a new sports lingerie range. The Mail have some diverting stills. Here are some others that I found that may illustrate why Rory is off his game. Maybe this has put Rory off of his stroke...

Mohawk Nation News 'War Rape'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 5 hours ago
WAR RAPE Posted on March 20, 2013 MNN. Mar. 20, 2013. Rape is a war crime. Pedophilia is rape. Rape is a scientifically developed military strategy to kill the victims and demoralize the people. Rape is one of the spoils of war with no prosecution of rapists. According to the UN it is a crime against humanity. Rape is used worldwide to subjugate the opponents. Peds,

Krauthammer: 'America Is Headed the Way of Cyprus' ...(video)

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 5 hours ago
*when Krauthammer starts saying things like that it should be a real cause for alarm.* Seriously!

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 5 hours ago
Whatever the weather is saying outside your window, the wheel of time turned and the vernal equinox happened this morning. [Photos are better if you click on them to embiggen.]

The New York Times outdoes even itself!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 5 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013* *Ashley Parker does it again, concerning immigration:* Ashley Parker got her start as Maureen Dowd’s “research assistant.” We’ll pause for a moment to let you laugh. Or as you try to figure out what that could possibly mean. Parker is part of the youth brigade at rags like the Post and the Times. This morning, she files a news report about the way the GOP is switching its stance on immigration. Her report sits atop the front page of the hard-copy Times. By its placement, it’s the day’s number-one news story. These are Parker’s first three paragraphs. ... more »

Financial Complexity Follies: The Elites Designed A New System That Redistributes From Middle/Bottom To Top (The GOP's Real Agenda Blusters On To Victory)

Lawyer: It’s Generally Preferable To Not Be Mentioned In Detail In An Insider Trading Complaint Hope this clears things up. Read more_ _ _ _ _ _ _ I think more and more these days about this great Interfluidity post about complexity in finance: Financial systems help us overcome a collective action problem. In a world of investment projects whose costs and risks are perfectly

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 6 hours ago
*Senators Vitter and Boxer join forces on bill to speed Corps of Engineers work*

Midweek Linkage

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 6 hours ago
I’ve realized that it is mathematically impossible to finish what I need to get done before ISA. So this will be brief. Some of this morning’s world-politics headlines: deposit levy fails in Cyprus, leading to emergency talks; ROK banking and television computer networks hit by “virus”; and Al Qaeda in Africa claims to have beheaded Continue reading

Prime Minister Maliki Completes His Clear Out Of Central Bank of Iraq

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 6 hours ago
At the end of 2012, the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq Sinan Shabibi was charged with corruption, and forced out of office. At first, his deputy Matheher Mohammed Mudher Salah tried to put a positive spin on events, and was even mentioned as a possible replacement to his boss. Instead, he ended up being placed under house arrest for several weeks. Now it’s been reported that Salah has been retired upon orders from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The entire affair was seen as a power grab by the premier who disagreed with the Central Bank’s policies. Deputy Governor of the Ce... more »

KLEIN ON THE LAWN: In search of minimal competence!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 6 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20, 2013* *Part 3—Bungling a bevy of budgets:* Is Ezra Klein a minimally competent journalist? Frankly, we’ve started to wonder. His work last week was relentlessly awful. Much of his work was relentlessly awful in the weeks before that. Forget the young fellow’s blizzard of bobbles concerning the budget offered last week by the Senate Democrats. Let’s consider his hard-copy work from last week, including his critiques of two other budget proposals. Let’s start with Paul Ryan’s new budget outline. Can Klein quit this wonderful man? Last week, many pundits were ab... more »

Sharks win endangered species protection – ‘The smell of corruption and underhand deals around the halls was foul, and it was everywhere’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 6 hours ago
[image: Sea Shepherd is a CITES International NGO Observer. Photo: Sea Shepherd] By Gary Stokes, Coordinator, Sea Shepherd Hong Kong 18 March 2013 BANGKOK (Sea Shepherd Conservation Society) – The room erupts in cheers and applause as the result of the vote is announced, the Oceanic white tip shark is now safely listed on the CITES Appendix II. Shortly followed by the three Hammerheads, the Porbeagle Shark and both of the Manta’s. More importantly, CITES itself has regained some teeth as a resounding NO came from many of the worlds delegates in response to the Japanese led charge ... more »

Paul Craig Roberts: "Ten years ago today the Bush regime invaded Iraq." ... "What threat did the victory defeat? There was no threat. Weapons of mass destruction was a propaganda hoax. Mushroom clouds over American cities was fantasy propaganda. How ignorant do populations have to be to fall for such totally transparent propaganda? Is there no intelligence anywhere in the Western world?"

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 6 hours ago
------------------------------ *Iraq After Ten Years — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ March 18, 2013 | Original Here March 19, 2013. Ten years ago today the Bush regime invaded Iraq. It is known that the justification for the invasion was a packet of lies orchestrated by the neoconservative Bush regime in order to deceive the United Nations and the American people. The US Secretary of State at that time, General Colin Powell, h... more »

ALEC is NOT About Strong Democracy

2old2care at Because I Can - 7 hours ago
Oh my – the ALEC “educational session” last week in Iowa and subsequent media articles has got somebody’s panties in a bunch. Greg Forristall Chair - ALEC’s Education Task Force The title of his “opinion piece” made me want to puke Iowa View: Strong democracy grows from ideas like those ALEC shares I guess he and I have a philosophical difference here. Democracy to Me: A representative government of/for/by the PEOPLE Democracy to ALEC: A representative government of/for/by the CORPORATIONS Strong democracy in an ALEC kind of way means the corporations get the... more »

WotW: Build Your Own (Digital) Mix Tape with Songdrop

Seth R. Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 7 hours ago
Anybody else remember spending hours listening to the radio with your finger on the record button of your tape deck, waiting for your favorite song to air so you could record it and make the ultimate mix tape? I sadly admit to making many of these mix tapes. Today, we have a number of devices and software that take care of this for us. My next big find is yet another digital mix tape concept, but done remarkably well and with the web in mind. It's called Songdrop. The concept is simple. Whenever you're on the web, listening to a favorite song on a popular music/video site, like Yo... more »

Invasion of Iraq - 10th Anniversary Reflections

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 7 hours ago
What do I take away from this abomination? The reaffirmation that our opponents are dangerous. They are cretinous, deluded, hypocritical, murderous, greedy, cowardly vermin. Everyone who was sold on the unelected bush II's case for the war was an ignoramus or a complete idiot. Every media outlet that fails to condemn bush II and his administration as war criminals has failed utterly in its responsibilities. We won't agree to disagree on this. We are right and they are wrong. We were and remain right about Iraq. We are right about global warming. We are right about austerity. We are... more »

US politico-legal establishment's viscious treatment of Lynne Stewart

Denis Rancourt at Activist Teacher - 7 hours ago
  (part of an email received from a supporter of Lynne Stewart)   In 1995, Lynne Stewart was appointed by a federal court to represent the blind Egyptian cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, who was accused of conspiring to blow up New York landmarks. She became co-counsel  with former Attorney General Ramsey Clark and renowned civil liberties attorney Abdeen Jabaar.Despite Lynne

Do Statin Drugs Cause Memory Loss?

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 7 hours ago
The take home is that memory impairment is an issue. It must be closely monitored and dosage levels minimized at least. Recent work also suggests that a high intake of coconut product is useful to counter the effects.. It is also correct to say that the negative effects apply to a small population and can be recognized as a possible side effect to be guarded against. Statins continue to collect controversy and concerns. However certain critical variables have been recognized and it is high time we conducted a massive study that tracks all the attendant variables and the... more »

Guardian Angels Again

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 7 hours ago
Quite simply, if you have never had a comparable experience, then it is hard to credit this type of report. However, observe something here. The individual received a clear message and acted to actually change the normal outcome in the first instance. The second is not as clear and gains credence only in light of the first as a comparable. I personally have experienced the equivalent of the first instance. Other situations that can be best described as ambivalent have also occurred but lack clarity. In the first instance though, I was approaching a heavily traveled i... more »

Calling Out Rachel Maddow On Her Ill-Informed Whitewash Of Iraq War Democrats

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
Maybe I was wrong. I mean Rachel Maddow is very smart and has great sources and I really trust her more than almost anyone on TV other than Ragnar Lodbrok. But Monday night when she said (in the clip above about how we look at contemporary history) "In American politics, there were plenty of Democrats who went along with the Iraq War 10 years ago, who believed it, who fell for it, who advanced it and made the lie more convincing by virtue of their Democratic endorsement. On the Democratic side though, *since*, that at least has since become a source of shame. It's a strike against... more »

Detention following arrest (refusal of bail) can be used to deterrent and a denunciatory effect

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 7 hours ago
R. v. Kablutsiak, 2013 NUCJ 3 is a striking sentencing decision. In it Justice Cooper finds that detention following arrest (refusal of bail) can be used to deterrent and a denunciatory effect. This is useful for sentencing matters where bail was refused: [34] Furthermore, while it is not the intention or purpose of the bail system, the unintended consequence of removing an accused from the community and remanding him into custody immediately following the commission of an offence is that a message is sent that the Criminal Justice system will respond quickly and strictly to offenc... more »

Propagating A Lie

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 7 hours ago
Truth is always the first casualty of war. But, on the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq, Richard Gwyn writes that truth died before that war started: In Bush’s version of the maxim, it wasn’t the fact every war once begun makes lying inevitable: each side always blames the other, minimizes its own misdeeds and claims that God is on its side. Instead, the purpose of these lies was to manufacture a war that otherwise couldn’t have happened. As a result, there was no limit to the lying. And George Bush told some whoppers. He claimed: That Iraq had an armoury of nuclea... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 7 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Spike Lee, 56. No shortage of good stuff: 1. Nice Seth Masket item mourning InTrade -- but remembering that it wasn't actually all that useful. 2. Jared Bernstein on the health care curve -- more details on what's going on, and whether it will last. 3. The latest (but still necessary) Conor Friedersdorf rant about sane conservatives and the GOP-aligned partisan press. 4. Yes, as long as Jennifer Rubin is out there, we'll have Jennifer Rubin takedowns, and they'll still be useful. This one on Obama and Israel from Emily Hauser is nice. 5. Matt Yglesias is right a... more »

Luke's Change - an inside job - Star Wars reappraisal

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 7 hours ago
based on the Dylan Avery's expansive examination of the so-called INSIDE JOB that was 9/11 namely "Loose Change", this 'reappraisal' of George Lucas's 1977 Death Star Demolition Event is reminiscent of the same accusations directed towards the Corporate Hand of God that directed operations on the morning of September 11th 2001. We gotta ask, "How prescient (or cognisant) was George Lucas?" Actually, I can't work out whether this video is supposed to be parody i.e. honourably referential to the original work, or just blatant Neuro Linguistic Programming on the tenth anniversary of... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 8 hours ago
On State Government Websites, Jindal Administration Promotes and Publishes Editorial Attacking Critics and Opponents of Tax Plan As “Unintelligent” “Demagogues” ~CenLamar

Pierre Deligne wins Abel Prize

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 8 hours ago
Viscount Pierre Deligne of Belgium won the $1 million Abel Prize, a major award given to mathematicians, today. It's a well-deserved honor, I think. He is perhaps most famous for the proof of several Weil conjectures, (now) theorems about various Riemann zeta functions and related facts generalized to the case of finite fields. This is enough to see that Deligne is primarily an algebraic geometer, in the tradition of Alexander Grothendieck. However, the depth of a mathematician may arguably be measured by the extent to which his or her insights start to influence cutting-edge theor... more »

Still snowing!

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago

WalMart/Microsoft Bribery Scandals - Tip of Iceberg?

2old2care at Because I Can - 8 hours ago
Saw this this morning Microsoft bribery probe hinges on definitions SEATTLE – Whether Microsoft actually gets prosecuted for bribery relating to contracts in China, Romania and Italy may hinge on the "something of value" the software giant may have bestowed on an executive or official to influence his or her discharging of public or legal duties. The Wall Street Journal, using unnamed sources, reported today that the software giant is the subject of a preliminary investigation to determine if it violated the legal definition of bribery. (The Justice Department did not respond to ... more »

Happy Nowruz

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
A Haft sin tableTo all a spring full of hope inspired by spring flowers shining on joyful hearts. Happy Nowruz

What Was Liam Byrne Playing At?

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 8 hours ago
What is Liam Byrne playing at? There has been exasperation and annoyance that Labour MPs were instructed to abstain on last night’s DWP Commons vote. This was to retrospectively revoke workfare recipients’ right to claim compensation in light of the so-called Poundland ruling. Readers will recall IDS and his minions fell foul of an especially badly-worded set of rules that sanction dole recipients who "refuse" to take up compulsory work experience “opportunities”. It was a classic case of Tory incompetence and the DWP looked set to pay out approximately £500 to 230,000 JSA recipient... more »

BP & MMS caught with 2 versions of submitted WAR

Elephant Buddy01 at Our Manmade Disasters - 9 hours ago
Even when you have concrete proofs like this BP's whores will still say ....."but it doesn't mean anything". This came from BOMRE website. Check it yourself. Share or like if you genuinely want to save Mother Earth from these filthy OMAR who are bent on Greed, Oil, Satanism & Destruction (GOSD).

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 9 hours ago
*Jindal tax plan draft released* *On State Government Websites, Jindal Administration Promotes and Publishes Editorial Attacking Critics and Opponents of Tax Plan As “Unintelligent” “Demagogues” ~CenLamar* *Hiring in metro projected to be the second weakest in the nation* *Steve Gleason speaks on powers of technology in helping disabled* *Sequester rally today in New Orleans * *New Orleans taxi company launches backseat vending* *More St. Joseph's Day Altar photos * *La. alligator market on upward trend * *Col. Bruce Hampton and Andrew Duhon Ready for Wednesday at the Square*

Equinox, astronomical spring: now

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 9 hours ago
Now, at 12:02 PM (after the noon), Pilsner Winter Time, the astronomical spring is getting started. The axis of Earth's spin is orthogonal to the plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun i.e. both Southern and Northern Hemispheres are equally far from the Sun. If you ignore the fact that the length of the day and the night may be "easily" measured just once a day, the day and the night are equally long right now. What I find bizarre is that people keep on repeating wrong dates of the equinoxes and solstices. If you check the table of the equinoxes, you will see that at least betw... more »

Should I be reassured?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
EU Referendum has posted an interesting piece that addresses some of my worries I expressed in this piece: 'There has been a certain amount of concern as to whether bloggers might be caught by the proposed press regulations, and thus be exposed to crippling fines. However, in the debate last night in the Commons, the position was made clear by culture secretary Maria Miller. A clause inserted into the coming Bill makes the law apply only to a "relevant publisher". Such a publisher would have to be publishing news-related material in the course of a business, the material would have ... more »

TOP PEOPLE'S SEX FILES HIDDEN BY TOP POLICE

Anon at aangirfan - 10 hours ago
In the UK, top people "had their sex attack files hidden from investigating officers by police top brass." Hundreds of documents on famous suspects have been marked 'secret' or 'restricted' *Celebrities, politicians and VIPs had their sex attack files hidden ...* *Metropolitan Police Commander Peter Spindler has confirmed to The Times newspaper that top people were protected "by high levels of confidentiality built into intelligence systems."* The *National Association of People Abused in Childhood* says that the top police have put the protection of top people before the protect... more »

The BBC still trying to keep the hidden agenda, hidden

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
This morning much of the British media, including Sky, The Mail and The Scotsman are reporting that: 'Labour backbencher Jim Sheridan was facing a backlash last night after suggesting that journalists who mocked MPs should be banned from parliament. The comment came as the culture, media and sport committee took evidence from the Hacked Off pressure group on proposals for regulating the press. In a swipe at Commons sketchwriters, Mr Sheridan said: “I don’t understand why they are allowed to come into this place and behave in the way that they do.”' Of course Jim Sheridan's attitude... more »

DEFEAT FOR CIA IN MALTA? VICTORY FOR CIA IN CYPRUS?

Anon at aangirfan - 11 hours ago
*People of Malta.* * * Malta was used by the U.S. and NATO in the war against Libya. Malta: Case Study In NATO Subversion And Coercion In Malta's general election, held on 9 March 2013, the pro-NATO Nationalist Party was* defeated* by the 'anti-NATO' Labour Party. *Meanwhile, there seems to have been a CIA COUP IN CYPRUS* *Gozo in Malta.* In 2012, the Malta Labour Party made it clear that it opposed the Nationalist Party sneaking Malta into NATO’s *Partnership for Peace*program, without the permission of parliament. "Partnership for Peace obligations entail joint military exercise... more »

Greene et al.: too large landscapes are unstable

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 11 hours ago
For years, I've been intrigued by the general idea that the usual KKLT arguments – supporting the view that the number of vacuum (dS or AdS) solutions to string theory is googol-like huge, most of those are stable, and they realize the anthropic principle (including the anthropic explanation of a tiny cosmological constant) within string theory – fail because there is an overlooked mechanism that tries to harm the classes of vacua that are too numerous and prefer the more unique vacua (or their small families). In the landscape category of this blog, you will find numerous article... more »

KOSHER NOSTRA WANT TO CURB UK PRESS?

Anon at aangirfan - 12 hours ago
Who are the wealthy people who have backed the campaign for curbs on the UK press? Blogger Guido Fawkes claims he has a list that shows key donors include: Lady Annabel *Goldsmith*, mother of Jemima Khan and Zac Goldsmith. Jewish billionaire Lord *Sainsbury*, who was one of Labour's biggest financial backers under Tony Blair. Hacked Off Donors: #1 Lady Annabel Goldsmith Hacked Off Donors: #6 Billionaire Labour Lord Sainsbury Hacked Off Funded By Billionaire Russian Oligarch *Lebedev* *aangirfan: ROYAL WEDDING - GOLDSMITHS* *According to the UK government:* "No newspaper or blo... more »

Lyndon LaRouche: Rapid Population Reduction Policy Implemented

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 12 hours ago
Alex Jones welcomes back to his show activist and former presidential candidate Lyndon LaRouche to cover a range of topics from the threat of thermonuclear war and asteroid defense to the complete breakdown taking place in Europe as seen by the recent events in Cyprus. Who knows what's really going on, and what's cynical PSY-OP for profit-related gameplan? And you know, on the topic of over-population, the funny thing is, Free Planet CONDONES less humans on this Earth. Free Planet is of the opinion that WE i.e. You The People, that's you and I and how we run our own affairs, ne... more »

world of physical pain - it's why we're here - spirit condensing

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 13 hours ago
in the late nineteen eighties, I wrote a sarcastic surrealistic sonnet about the artistic condition called Red Hedz that Creation Press published in paperback. It was the 'story' of an artist the resurrected sum total of whose psycho-figurative art comes back and loves him too hard. The camp tagline was "Love is pain, begging for death." Paul Kasparek, that was the artist's name, and boy did he suffer - no sexual perversion was ever enough for his enigmatic Jane Doe. At about the same time a lovely film called Hellraiser, by scouse artist/writer Clive Barker, came out. And it seeme... more »

De Extinction Gathering Momentum

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 13 hours ago
The Mastodon is an extinct species related to elephants that lived in North and Central America. They went extinct 12,000 years ago. I posted the first half dozen and you can see why these are popular. It will only get better. There are thousands of niche species out there that scream to be restored. I will go much farther than that. It will become the principle occupation of natural biology.A I have been posting, we are entering a world when the human community will deliberately attach itself to a small chunk of biome which it will optimize in terms of food productiv... more »

Failure of QE and Why With Ellen Brown

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 13 hours ago
The real take home here is that the focus on the central bank is grossly misguided. The correct response is through direct government action. This should consist of mostly extending credit guarantees. You do not ask stupid people to make smart decisions. You create credit. This is something only the government can do. Banks merely lend to what you have created. They often do not do much of a job determining good intent. Our whole housing industry lives and dies on the basis of first time lending guarantees for a first time buyer. His education is underwritten is the same w... more »

Parent Trigger - False Promises, Divided Communities and Disrupted Young Lives

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at Schools Matter - 13 hours ago
*Thank you for this thoughtful and informative video exposing The Heartland Institute, Parent Revolution, and ALEC's corporate charter trigger law. We're hopeful that videos like this will counter the lies the trigger proponents promulgate, and that communities will resist when these outsiders come to steal our schools. — rdsathene* The video tells the story of Adelanto, California where a well-funded, outside group "Parent Revolution" came to town and instead of working to improve the schools tricked parents with false promises, bitterly divided the community, and disrupted the... more »

Blast from the Past: Videos from '40s and '50s

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 13 hours ago
*Whenever I take my dog for a walk in the fields in the morning, I bring my macro lens.* This is less than a minute of elementary education in Taiwan from 1947. This two and half minute video looks like someone's travel video of Taiwan from the 1950s, lots of old sights here. Check the sidebar of Youtube, there's even more stuff there. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

Matt Ridley on the greening planet

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 14 hours ago
Many of us had serious doubts about the talk claiming that lots of cows will green the deserts. On the other hand, I have almost no doubts about the main points in this 19-minute talk: *Via Bernhard Jordan* The increased CO2 levels, higher efficiency of agriculture in general, and fertilizers in particular allowed the planet to become greener than before. Matt Ridley offers lots of geographic examples. He also mentions that only nine species that weren't confined to islands (plus Australia) have gone extinct due to humans in the last 500 years. The deceleration of extinctions ... more »

I Remain "Roughly" 18 Feet Tall

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 14 hours ago
*UPDATE: Grinsted engages in the comments, do have a look!* *UPDATE2: I see that Grinsted is changing his "rebuttal" in real time and without acknowledgment of the changes (not good blog etiquette;-). So please do note that the post below is a response to the rebuttal as it stood March 19th, which now has evolved. In the latest version, Grinsted grants my major points (great!), so I think this debate has come to a close. Readers are invited to judge for themselves whether the Grinsted et al. surge index should be preferred in any way to existing datasets on US hurricane landfall f... more »

March 19, 1973

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 15 hours ago
It's Monday, a relatively quite day on what will be one of the three or four biggest weeks of Watergate. Today's topic is only the fight over testifying on the Hill. From Haldeman's diary: -- Got into the Ervin question with [White House press secretary Ron] Ziegler because Ervin was on TV yesterday saying he would have White House staff people who refused to testify arrested. And try to force the issue that way. The P told Ron he thought it was too early to reiterate the P's position regarding a separation of powers. But emphasized that this is not a case of refusal to cooperate o... more »

Prayers...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 15 hours ago
*take time to offer condolences. * Dealing With An Aging Pet: The Last Chapter: With All Our Love to "The Best Cat"

What People Think Time Is

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 15 hours ago

Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 16 hours ago
Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! 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. There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick links helpful: - The #CTWW Gang - The Honor Society - My Final Thoughts on Our Last Challenge - This Week's Challenge Our challenge, last week, asked us to develop a strategy for putting local produce on our table next winter. ... more »

Was The God Of Second Chances Smiling Down On South Carolina Republicans Today-- Or Setting Them Up For A Fall?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 16 hours ago
Mark Sanford was first elected to represent South Carolina's first congressional district in 1994, when incumbent Arthur Ravenel-- yes, father of notorious cocaine dealer and South Carolina ex-Treasurer Tom Ravenel-- stepped down to run for governor. Ravenel lost his GOP primary runoff. Sanford won his. The district runs along the coast (although no longer includes the northern section around Myrtle Beach like it did when Sanford represented the area); it goes all the way past Hilton Head to the outskirts of Savannah. By South Carolina standards, it's almost a "moderate" district... more »

The Reality of Racial Violence

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 16 hours ago
Please watch this excellent video Kyle Hunt of Renegade Broadcasting produced. Also, take the time to read through the *National Protectionism Manifesto*.

March 30: Appalachian Trail and Strategy Meeting

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 17 hours ago
Click to Enlarge Map*A pipeline tour* where the Tennessee Pipeline crosses the Appalachian Trail in New Jersey's High Point State Park will leave from the Deckertown Turnpike trail head (GPS coordinates N41 15.148 W74 41.371) at 10AM on March 30. Experts will discuss the impact on soils, vegetation, rare habitat, property values, tourism, and recreation. Participants should wear hiking shoes or boots and be prepared to hike 1.1 miles, 20 minutes each way on intermediate terrain. This tour is entirely on public park land and is family friendly. The hike will be followed by a *12PM St... more »

Back to Reality

Lori Anne Haskell at Adventures with Kurt and Lori - 17 hours ago
Vegas trip was awesome. When I have time, I will post an entire trip report. Relaxed a lot, and had a great time in general. I will leave you with a pic of Erika and I from the night we all saw Zarkana at the Aria. Awesome seats, 4 rows from stage. Also, one of my and Kurt from the same night before the show.

Musical Interlude: Karunesh, “Moon Temple”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
Karunesh, “Moon Temple” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE1yQu6I0A4

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
“This pretty, open cluster of stars, M34, is about the size of the Full Moon on the sky. Easy to appreciate in small telescopes, it lies some 1,800 light-years away in the constellation Perseus. At that distance, M34 physically spans about 15 light-years. *Click image for larger size.* Formed at the same time from the same cloud of dust and gas, all the stars of M34 are about 200 million years young. But like any open star cluster orbiting in the plane of our galaxy, M34 will eventually disperse as it experiences gravitational tides and encounters with the Milky Way's interstell... more »

Colección de 20 imágenes de paisajes hermosos

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 17 hours ago
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong, China. Thanks for stopping by.

Chet Raymo, “Then To The Elements Be Free”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*“Then To The Elements Be Free”* by Chet Raymo “Be cheerful, Sir. Our revels are now ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air; And, like the baseless fabric of this vision, The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces, The solemn temples, the great globe itself, Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff As dreams are made on: and our little life Is rounded with a sleep.” “Surely one of the most beautiful passages in all of d... more »

5 Minutes Until America Hits A Brick Wall

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 17 hours ago
I have been busy the last few weeks taking care of everything from personal business, family business, and just generally trying to avoid burning out from everything that has been happening in my life. It does feel good to be back blogging, and right now I do have a lot of catching up to do! I have spent the last few days at every chance, reading a lot of reports out there and trying to make sense of what is happening in the world right now. For this article, I want to present the latest work by a great writer and fellow truth seeker, "Horse 237" who writes the blog: Video Rebel's ... more »

Defund Abortion: 95% Less MASSIVE!

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 17 hours ago
So, how did the promised MASSIVER second annual defund abortion bunfest turn out today at Queen's Park? You be the judge. First (and only?) report: Despite wind, sleet, and temperatures of minus six, more than 350 people attended the Defund Abortion Rally organized by Campaign Life Coalition Youth at Queen’s Park on March 19. While the crowd was small at the start of the noon-hour event, causing concern among organizers, it quickly grew during the presentations of the first two speakers. That must be something of a letdown after last year's MASSIVE showing. TORONTO, Ontario, ... more »

QUOTE OF THE DAY: Hayek on Cyprus

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 17 hours ago
With European ATMs shut down, accounts being frozen, stock markets tanking, and the Cypriot parliament (and people) almost in open revolt, the EU’s move to begin stripping Cypriots’ savings accounts in order to order to maintain “stability” has lead to anything but. Russ Roberts at Cafe Hayek beautifully paraphrases Hayek’s view on the matter: “The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to Cyprus and the EU how little they really know about what they imagine they can design.” Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon a... more »

Syrian Detour: US Rejects Syrian Claim That Rebels Used Chemical Weapons (Which Means They Did!)

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 18 hours ago
I have been following the so called war in Syria now for quite some time, and now it does seem that the Syrian Government forces have the full upper hand over the criminal US/NATO/Israeli bought and paid for mercenaries ("Rebels"). The fact is, readers, that the US has been absolutely dying to get into Syria by any excuse necessary, because they know full well that the innocent and peaceful nation of Syria has a mutual defense pact with neighboring Iran. They had always hoped that by invading Syria, it would trigger their long desired conflict with Iran. Such is the sickness of... more »

Transocean chief admits crew shortcomings in Gulf oil spill – ‘Every day, I ask myself if there isn’t something more I could have done’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 18 hours ago
[image: The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burns in the night. Photo: Matt Milbury / Piping Designer] By Clifford Krauss 19 March 2013 NEW ORLEANS (The New York Times) – The chief executive of the company that owned the *Deepwater Horizon* oil rig acknowledged in court on Tuesday that his crew should have done more to avert the 2010 oil well blowout that left 11 dead and soiled hundreds of miles of beaches along the Gulf of Mexico. “Do I wish the crew had done more? Absolutely,” said Steven L. Newman, chief executive of Transocean. “We acknowledged we should have done more.” Mr. Ne... more »

The Economist as Advice Columnist

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 18 hours ago
*Ask Emily* is slated to be the economist's version of *Dear Abby*.

ECONOMICS FOR REAL PEOPLE: Desert Island Economics

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
Here’s the note on this week’s discussion from our friends at the Auckland Uni Economics Group: [image: clip_image001] What is this man missing that all of us enjoy every day without noticing? What does a sixteenth-century Scotsman have to say to a modern-day Peruvian hill tribe? What does that hill tribe have to teach today’s economists and epistemologists? And how do the answers to these questions provide the foundation for the whole field of economics? All these questions and more will be asked and answered tomorrow night at the Auckland Uni Economics Group weekly discussion... more »

EARTH MAGNETIC FIELD CHANGES

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 19 hours ago
http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/magnetometer/gak-mag.cgi

Regarding the Cancellation of the Breakfast with Kinder Morgan PR Executive Allen Fore

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 20 hours ago
Flyer distributed this week to local businesses and Chamber of Commerce members in Milford, PA - Click to EnlargeOn Tuesday, the Pike County Chamber of Commerce cancelled Thursday's breakfast event with Kinder Morgan PR Executive Allen Fore citing threats of protest as concerned residents flyered local businesses to attend with questions. The event at the Best Western in Matamoras PA was scheduled for 7:30AM and announced to the public to attend. At a meeting on Sunday evening organized by the Stop the Tennessee Pipeline blog, concerned residents decided against a protest of the eve... more »

Robert Jensen : Important Truths Behind an Anti-War Slogan

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 20 hours ago
Image from deepforest.org. 'No blood for oil!'  Important truths behind  an anti-war slogan Underneath the complex relationships and shifting strategies, the obvious question lingers: If the Middle East were not home to the largest reserves of the most easily accessible oil in the world, would we have gone to war in Iraq? By Robert Jensen / The Rag Blog / March 19, 2013 I have never been

THE IRAQ WAR: WE KNOW ABOUT THE LIES, BUT NOW WE MUST ASK ‘WHY?’

About this time every March we remind ourselves that it is the anniversary of the invasion and destruction of Iraq. This year is the tenth anniversary and, for some reason, ten year anniversaries seem to hold a greater fascination for folk than other anniversaries and, as a consequence, this particular tenth year anniversary has renewed the debate over whether or not Western leaders deliberately lied in order to get their respective peoples to support the war. As I have demonstrated in my previous post here, John Howard, one of the most dedicated of Western leaders determined to fo... more »

MORE PLUTONIUM SPACE MISSIONS ON THE WAY

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 21 hours ago
Scientific American reports, "The United States has begun producing plutonium-238 again for the first time in a quarter century, marking a key step toward averting a feared shortage of this important spacecraft fuel, NASA officials say." The Department of Energy (DoE) nuclear labs are in charge of the deadly plutonium expansion program. They tell us it is safe and necessary for deep space missions. What they don't tell the public is that DoE's history of handling toxic plutonium-238 (the most dangerous substance ever created) is very bad. Countless cases of worker contaminatio... more »

Bolivian Cattleyas

Carlos at Viva Bolivia - 21 hours ago
Bolivia is home to some 2000 or more orchids, including of course Cattleyas - *C. nobilior, C. violacea and C. luteola*. The first of these grows in Santa Cruz and I found a great video of an expedition in search of these you can click on here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Uln6zl7R8&noredirect=1 *C. nobilior *(above) *C. luteola* (above) *C. violacea* (below)

Craig's Guest Post

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 21 hours ago
A couple of days ago I posted my frustrations about the EPA backtracking on important environmental recommendations that would protect Texas drinking water from uranium contamination and our air more generally from mercury emissions. My friend Craig's comments suggest this failure of governance is pervasive. Here is the article I was responding to and below see his response: *ProPublica (2013, March 13) After a Powerful Lobbyist Intervenes, EPA Reverses Stance on Polluting Texas County’s Water’ by Abraham Lustgarten* [Excerpted] When Uranium Energy Corp. sought permission to launch... more »

The Illusion of Wealth: Ludwig von Mises on the Business Cycle

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 21 hours ago
Just as the economic bust we’re now enduring is the inevitable flipside of the earlier (credit-induced) boom, so too is Cyprus-style bank theft the inevitable flipside of the debts built up by governments during and after the credit boom--inevitable because, as their spending continues to increase even while the bust refuses to go away, governments are increasingly desperate to find money (by any means necessary!) with which to pay back that debt. Both bust and theft are inevitable results of the earlier boom, that illusion of wealth created by the unlimited credit expansion produ... more »

It's In You

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 21 hours ago

Mohawk Nation News 'Like ... Killing!'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
LIKE … KILLING! Posted on March 19, 2013 MNN. Mar. 19, 2013. The state has done extensive research on training humans to kill others. Indigenous have been the victims of calculated mass murder. The Germans studied the North American Indian genocide very closely. They dehumanized the Jewish People to set up conditions to create the holocaust. Target practice. A psychotic

The apartheid state

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 22 hours ago
'Meet Sgt. Rima Baboo. The daughter of a Muslim Arab father and a Christian mother, Rima says she never really knew who she was. "I lived a double life," she says, "never feeling that I truly had a place." Then, she volunteered to serve in the Israel Defense Forces. "I knew I would find my identity in the army," she says. "I wanted to wear the uniform of the IDF, to be like everyone else and fit in better. Today I know that I was right all along. It's not that all my problems have been solved or that my family tree has changed, but now I have a better sense of who I am and I'm n... more »

Senate keeps assault weapons safe

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 22 hours ago
Lots of pissed off leftys on the interwebs this afternoon when news got out that Harry Reid won't bring the assault weapons ban to the floor. Me, I've been preparing for that disappointment from the beginning. No way he was going to find 60 votes. He says they can't even get 40 because of all the Dem defections. Shouldn't be a big surprise. Look at the what DiFi's bill would do: Feinstein's bill would impose a ban on the sale and manufacture of more than 150 types of semi-automatic weapons with military-style features. Her measure was one of four bills approved by the Senate Judi... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 22 hours ago
*Bitter Rivalry: How the Saints / Falcons Hatred Really Began ~Saints Tailgate*

NO JOY FOR THIS DAY

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 23 hours ago

What is Waste? Answered.

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 23 hours ago
I linked to it from Plum Line yesterday, but I want to make sure everyone sees a great survey from Emily Swanson and Mark Blumenthal about what "waste" means to those who want to get rid of wasteful government spending. This all came out of a post I wrote a whole ago in which I wondered about exactly that; it seems Swanson and Blumenthal decided to find out the answer. Cool! It's well worth reading the whole thing -- the data are fascinating -- but I'll quote the key paragraph: When it comes to fingering specific programs for government waste versus pointing more generally to ineffi... more »

The Lessons of Iraq? Ø (That's A Big Fat Zero, Bub!) Who Is Held Accountable For the Iraq Debacle?

In that sense, the Iraq War was the original event initiating the larger Age of Moral Hazard — an epoch whereby our failure to demand consequences for bad decisions has effectively encouraged the political class to get things horrifically wrong, as long as doing so serves powerful political interests. So, who's accountable for the Iraq War lies and 2 Trillion-Dollar price tag? Not the

'Only throwing stones'?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 23 hours ago
What a sweet little girl, but to certain the Palestinians she's just a target. 'A woman and her three young daughters were wounded on Thursday when Palestinians hurled rocks onto their vehicle, causing their car to swerve off the road and collide with an oncoming truck. By Friday morning, 10 Palestinians from a nearby village had been arrested and taken into custody for questioning. Samaria police commander Kobi Shabtai told Army Radio on Friday, "In coming hours we will move forward with the investigation and find out whether these suspects are the ones who did this yester... more »

The Libertarians Vs The Religionist Fringe

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Yesterday we took a little look at the battle raging inside the GOP through the prism of their own Autopsy Report and a little analysis of why the right-wing Austerity agenda is destroying the British Conservative Party even as Paul Ryan and John Boehner redouble their efforts to push an almost identical agenda on the American people. But as the new GOP impalement unfolds, we totally left out one other dynamic-- the one raging between the noisy, modernist libertarian wing of the party and the angry, hate-fueled religionist wing. This week, E.J. Dionne pointed out that Rand Paul an... more »

There are no numbers big enough

Sophia at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
You have not come this far to stop now. You are at the starting gate and the race is already won – ONE. Do you see? The struggle you feel is habitual. You have come to love it because it has been a part of you for all that you currently remember of you. You’ve known all along that you are love and now, with Truth at your doorstep, you hesitate. If struggle is not love, then what is? How will you know that this door opens to truth? It is not with your eyes, ears or body for discernment – but your heart. *Trust what fills you* . It is not about anyone else. You ar... more »

Iqaluit

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

US' New "Syrian PM" Yet Another Muslim Brotherhood Extremist

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 1 day ago
*March 19, 2013 *(LD) - The Western media eagerly announced that long time US resident Ghassan Hitto was chosen as the new "interim prime minister" of NATO's proxy forces fighting in Syria. While most headlines attempted to focus solely on Hitto's long stay in the US and his role in a tech firm based in Texas, The Globe and Mail reported in their article, "Canadian loses bid to lead Syria's rebels; Ottawa's stance assailed," that: Ghassan Hitto, a Kurd with links to the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected in the early hours of Tuesday at a meeting of leading opposition figures of the ... more »

Total cost of Iraq invasion and occupation estimated at $6 trillion – Study finds costs of U.S. wars linger for over 100 years

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 1 day ago
[image: The true cost of the invasion and occupation of Iraq is estimated to be $6 trillion, including interest, through the year 2053. This is a stark contrast to the Bush adminstration's estimate of $50-60 billion. Ten years after the invasion, the U.S. had spent $1.6 trillion. Graphic: Mother Jones] By Tasneem Raja 19 March 2013 (Mother Jones) – Ten years later, the Bush administration's projected price tag for the war in Iraq seems downright cute. According to the first-ever comprehensive count of the true toll of the combined wars, the estimate the administration used to s... more »

LOCAL DRONE BANS SPREADING

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
Charlottesville, Virginia, home to Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia, has a long history of being a voice for freedom. Now it can add freedom from drones to the list, as Charlottesville's anti-drone resolution is the first of its kind in the nation. The resolution, which passed by a 3 to 2 vote, calls on the Virginia General Assembly and Congress to adopt legislation barring information obtained from drones from being used court-- and the city itself has adopted such a ban locally. The measure also endorses a proposed two-year moratorium on drones in Virginia. Even t... more »

Actually existing news

Roobin at THROUGH THE SCARY DOOR - 1 day ago
The Labour Party is abstaining from a bill being rushed through Parliament that will create a retroactive law overturninghundreds of thousands of benefit rebates due to unemployed people wrongly sanctioned. What is more incredible, the fact The Party of Labour refuses to oppose workers exploitation, or the government’s explanation for the bill, that it will “protect the economy”? Firstly the estimated total pay-out is £130 million, which is of course next to nothing in the grander scheme. It is nothing compared to Trident, nothing compared to Afghanistan, nothing compared to uncoll... more »

The Poet: Rainer Maria Rilke, "And Yet..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
"And yet, though we strain against the deadening grip of daily necessity, I sense there is this mystery: All life is being lived. Who is living it then? Is it the things themselves, or something waiting inside them, like an unplayed melody in a flute? Is it the winds blowing over the waters? Is it the branches that signal to each other? Is it flowers interweaving their fragrances or streets, as they wind through time?" ~ Rainer Maria Rilke

Satire: “Cheney Marks Tenth Anniversary Of Pretending There Was Reason To Invade Iraq”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“Cheney Marks Tenth Anniversary Of Pretending * *There Was Reason To Invade Iraq”* by Andy Borowitz HOUSTON (The Borowitz Report)— "In a sombre ceremony attended by former members of the Bush administration, the former Vice-President Dick Cheney marked the tenth anniversary of making up a reason to invade Iraq. The ceremony, held on the grounds of the Halliburton Company headquarters, brought together the former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, and other key members of the... more »

Catch of the Day/Tom P. Baxter Update

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 day ago
David Leonhardt: Five and counting: consecutive @newtgingrich tweets on driverless cars. Oh, gosh, it's worth giving you this: Catherine: I realize no one can actually predict the future, but I understand you have a unique insight into where we might be headed as we approach the turn of the century. Tom: Yeah, I do. As I see it, Catherine, the future of business, well, the future of this country in fact is... computers. Catherine: Computers. Okay, would you care to elaborate on that? Tom: Oh, you bet! I think computers are great! You can keep records on them, play games. They're, ... more »

"How It Really Is"

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

Kierkegaard On Socratic Ignorance

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
Below is an excerpt from, *"The Soul of Kierkegaard: Selections from His Journals."* Edited by Alexander Dru. Dover Publications, Inc: Mineola, New York. 2003. Pg. 172-73. The majority of men in every generation, even those who, as it is described, devote themselves to thinking (dons and the like), live and die under the impression that life is simply a matter of understanding more and more, and that if it were granted to them to live longer, that life would continue to be one long continuous growth in understanding. How many of them ever experience the maturity of discoverin... more »

"Just When You Thought Central Banks Couldn’t Get Any Dumber…"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
* "Just When You Thought Central Banks Couldn’t Get Any Dumber…"* by Matt Insley "Let’s start today’s issue with a quick joke, it’s a one-liner: According to CNN Money “Any bank run at this point outside Cyprus seems unlikely.” Ha! Unlikely? Yeah, about unlikely as the sun rising. Without wasting another minute, let’s venture into the world of poor decisions. No, I don’t mean your editor’s St Patty’s Day weekend plans, but rather let’s head to the central bank-plagued Eurozone… CNN Money’s audacity is akin to that of central bankers – both over estimate their grasp on a situ... more »

invitation to be spirit hacked

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 1 day ago
I know this image has NOTHING to do with the post but let's assume that it suits our purpose of CONTACT WITH THE SPIRIT REALM VIA MY BROADBAND LINK. Seriously, forget this table tipping, waterbowl wobbling and ouija bourding. Surely all that's passé or at least 'out of fashion' for the modern spiritualist or ghost hunter. Surely, by now, electromagnetic entities of the universe we call ghosts or spirits of the deceased have worked out how to use THE INTERNET and EMAIL and THE COMPUTER SCREEN to get their message from the ethereal realm across to us mere mortals. I mean, right now,... more »

I've Been Trying to Tell You All It Was Sabotage

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 1 day ago
The Death Star was an inside Jabba (h/t Commissioner Clark).

Judis joins Corn on the anti-war front!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013* *Where he too failed to serve:* If you needed an excuse to think poorly of major pundits, the tenth anniversary of Iraq is likely to help you find one. Last night, Lawrence O’Donnell and David Corn conspired to give the impression that Corn fought like a dog on TV to oppose the upcoming invasion. Nexis says that isn’t so. And as it turns out, yesterday’s memoir by John Judis seems a bit like Corn’s. Writing at the New Republic, Judis recalls how tough it was to oppose the war with Iraq. These are the headlines which were used to draw your eyes to his pie... more »

Removing the Shackles: The Energy is real

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.ca/2013/03/the-energy-is-real.html TUESDAY, 19 MARCH 2013 *The Energy is real* * * I woke up this morning to a message from Heather, that had been sent to her from one of the awesome people in the Skype rooms. *"Hi guys just wanted to let you know that as I cut and pasted the full text of the new filing from Dees web site into a word doc format on my pc, the magnetometer app that I have open on my tablet went off the scale and gave me an audio signal indicating the surge....confirmation of the energetic coefficients attached to these docs or... more »

Iraq - ten years after

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 day ago
Ten years ago the Bush administration launched the Iraq invasion. They promised us we woud be welcomed as liberators and showered with flowers and sweets. Didn't quite work out that way. And on this grim anniversary, the violence in Iraq is still ongoing: BAGHDAD (Reuters) - More than a dozen car bombs and suicide blasts tore through Shi'ite Muslim districts in the Iraqi capital Baghdad and other areas on Tuesday, killing nearly 60 people on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein. Sunni Islamist insurgents linked to al Qaeda are regaining ground... more »

Overwhelmed with information...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 day ago
*again - and still trying to see the entire forest instead of just a few trees.* Some random thoughts: - Something about the reaction to Pope Francis makes me uneasy. - Exactly how did our culture become so degraded? - The devil is the master of division. - How "free" are we really? - Could a Cyprus "solution" be possible here? Actually, I think the bank and auto bailouts were exactly that. This morning I watched John Ainworth's presentation on the 14th Amendmentto the Constitution in an attempt to explain why the government today operates without Constitutional l... more »

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