Wednesday, May 29, 2013

29 May - Blogs I'm Following

Hillary Rodham Clinton, January 2007Hillary Rodham Clinton, January 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Joe Biden und Barack Obama in Springfield, Ill...Joe Biden und Barack Obama in Springfield, Illinois, right after Biden was formerly introduced by Obama as his running mate (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The RagThe Rag (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
All the President's Spin book coverAll the President's Spin book cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
3:32pm MDST

I'm Here I'm Not

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 58 seconds ago
Hey, it's MMM -- Marjorie Margolies, one term Clinton-era Member of the House (and now Clinton extended family member) is reported to be running for her old House seat in Pennsylvania. I have no idea whether she'll return to Congress; she'll apparently have to survive what could be a tough primary for an open Democratic seat. Margolies (at the time Margolies-Mezvinsky, thus MMM) is famous for supplying the winning vote for the Democratic budget in 1993 and then, as Republicans predicted, losing her seat in the GOP landslide of 1994. At the time, her district was hotly contested, and... more »

Bella isla junto a las montañas flotantes

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 19 minutes ago
[image: Bella isla junto a las montañas flotantes] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de rocas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Cheri Bustos Wants Help To Fend Off Teabagger Bobby Schilling-- But Did She Earn It?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 32 minutes ago
Cheri Baby When the Democratic-led Illinois state legislature redistricted the congressional districts, Bobby Schilling looked like a marked man. The legislature cut out red area in Quincy, Decatur and Springfield and replaced them with blue areas of Rockford and Peoria. Schilling, who acknowledges Glenn Beck as his "leader," had first won his 17th district seat in 2010 beating Democratic freshman Phil Hare 53-43%. Although laughable prognosticator and conservative shill Charlie Cook was predicting Schilling would be reelected right up 'til the end, Cheri Bustos, a former East Molin... more »

Tom Hayden : Is President Taking New Tack on Counterterrorism?

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 35 minutes ago
President Obama speaks about his administration's counter-terrorism policy at the National Defense University in Washington, May 23, 2013. Photo by Larry Downing / Reuters. Obama responding to critics:   Tide turning on counterterrorism secrecy While defending his military policies as constitutional, the president was promising to wind down the “forever war,” sharply reduce drone attacks,

Caballo blanco trotando en los pastizales

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 49 minutes ago
[image: Caballo blanco trotando en los pastizales] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de caballos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

belief

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 59 minutes ago

kitty

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 59 minutes ago

Dear Liar Love Me (Elsewhere...)

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 hour ago
At PP today I have an item talking about fact checkers -- and echoing the point from John Sides and Brendan Nyhan that one should be extremely cautious about concluding anything from the ratings that those fact checkers give out. Yesterday over there I wrote about the coming showdown on judicial nominations. At Greg's place yesterday, I discussed one of the potentially dangerous consequences of the post-policy GOP: that they may not be able to tend to the policy preferences of their aligned interest groups. And at Plum Line on Monday I looked at the math for immigration reform in ... more »

Bonito camino de rocas para cruzar el río

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 hour ago
[image: Camino de rocas en el rio] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de rios* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Pequeña cascada de agua turquesa en el bosque

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 hour ago
[image: Pequeña cascada de agua turquesa en el bosque] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de cascadas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Patito flotando en el lago verde

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 hour ago
[image: Patito flotando en el lago verde] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de patitos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Perrito mirando el amanecer en la playa

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 hour ago
[image: Perrito mirando en amanecer en la playa] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de perros* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

As milestones become entitlements… the “feed the children” edition

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 hour ago
*"The State is the great fiction through which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else."* - Frédéric Bastiat *Welfarism*: [n.] *The Great New Zealand Disease; an affliction imbibed with Mother's Milk, incubated in the state's factory schools and released like a bacillus in humanities departments across the country. A mentality that assumes … the right … to fleece the productive in order to placate and to fund the unproductive.** * - “Cue Card Libertarianism: Welfarism” *“Feed a stray cat, and you relieve its hunger for a day. Keep feeding it,... more »

Michael James : Late Summer Sundown on the Karma Farm

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 1 hour ago
Late summer sundown on the Karma Farm, New Lisbon, Wisconsin 1981. Photo by Michael James from his forthcoming book, Michael Gaylord James' Pictures from the Long Haul. Pictures from the Long Haul: Late summer sundown on the Karma Farm To other people who talked of 'moving to the country' I would say 'stay in the city but spend some time in the country: think, nourish yourself, and

THE MESS IN AFGHANISTAN

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 hour ago
"This Is What Winning Looks Like" is a disturbing new documentary about the ineptitude, drug abuse, sexual misconduct, and corruption of the Afghan security forces as well as the reduced role of US Marines due to the troop withdrawal. In part one, we see just how chaotic and hopeless the situation is in Sangin, one of the most violent towns in Afghanistan. See part 2 & 3 *here* and *here* The US is spending about $10 billion a month in Afghanistan. While Obama says the US is leaving in 2014, top military brass are saying we are not going anywhere. These videos clearly show that ... more »

Rana de colores preparandose para su gran salto

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 hour ago
[image: Rana de colores preparandose para su gran salto] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de ranas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Number 8 below: "According to The Economist, the United States was the best place in the world to be born into back in 1988. Today, the United States is only tied for 16th place." Were we a great country ...or what?

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 1 hour ago
------------------------------ Tuesday, May 28, 2013 40 Statistics About The Fall Of The U.S. Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe By *Michael Snyder* (The Economic Collapse Blog | Original Link) *May 28, 2013* If you know someone that actually believes that the U.S. economy is in good shape, just show them the statistics in this article. When you step back and look at the long-term trends, it is undeniable what is happening to us. We are in the midst of a horrifying economic decline that is the result of decades of very bad decisions. 30 years ago, the U.S. na... more »

Real-time report from the New York Times!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 hour ago
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013* *It happened in Benghazi, continued:* In the beginning, various people thought and said that there had been a demonstration in Benghazi before the “extremists armed with heavy weapons” arrived at the scene and “hijacked events.” On September 14, the CIA officially said that’s what it believed. Yesterday, we showed you front-page reporting from the Washington Times which reported a similar chain of events. To read that report, just click here. What actually happened that night in Benghazi? We can’t tell you that! But below, you see what the New York Times... more »

Free Planet - poem - I want to help you because...

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 1 hour ago
I want to help you because... You push past your fellow humans on the underground: devolved, hopeless. You don't seem to know who you are. Yet your eyes beg for assistance. I want to help you because... You yell at your subordinates in board meetings; bored, developmentally challenged. You don't seem to know why you bother coming to work every day. Yet your eyes are hollow, unconcerned with your own demise. I want to help you because... You never have any time for your kids. You don't respect your wife. Yet your eyes are hungry for something elusive: spontaneous, non-regimented, fun. ... more »

My Blog is Broken - Can You Help Me?

2old2care at Because I Can - 1 hour ago
*Don't know why I'm writing this - nobody will probably see it* *But here goes.* I'm looking for some helpful comments on this. Since everything I publish is extremely time sensitive – I have hit an issue with this blog - that I can’t get any usable help on. I've tried just about everything and can't figure out how to fix it. Here’s the issue: Two weeks ago Google was indexing everything I wrote - every single post - hit Google search within seconds of me hitting the “publish” button – Anyhow - - - - - About two weeks ago Google quit indexing me on a timely basis. I would publi... more »

Bye bye Bachmann

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 hour ago
By now you've heard Michelle Bachmann is calling it quits. That night she announced we won't have her to kick around in 2014. I have mixed feelings about it. Happy to have her crazy-eyed crackpottery out of our government but it is going to make it harder for the Democrats to win her district if the Republicans come up with any candidate even slightly less crazy who can string two sentences together coherently. There's boatloads of commentary on Bachmann's departure. My favorite is Amanda Marcotte's delightful fisking of Michelle's goodbye speech. There's much speculation about h... more »

Alex Pareene asks a very good question!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013* *We’ll ponder his question next week:* We think Alex Pareene has asked a very good question. “What’s wrong with MSNBC?” the headline atop his piece inquires. To read Pareene’s answer, click here. We’ll examine his question next week. In the meantime: For starters, you may not think there’s anything wrong with MSNBC. In the main, Pareene’s question was prompted by the channel’s ratings, which have flagged substantially since last autumn, especially when compared with Fox. A channel could have superlative programs and mediocre or lousy ratings. That wouldn... more »

Canadian Businesses Spend Far Less on Software than US Firms

Catelli at Not Quite Unhinged - 2 hours ago
The Globe and Mail's Economy Lab looks at a study that found Canadian businesses spend less on software than US firms. Barrie McKenna wonders why this might be, and I think I can provide some answers. Canadian firms are, on average, a lot smaller than US firms. This simple fact often comes up as an impediment when I am involved in selecting software for the Canadian multinational that I work

Video of fake double amputee confirms BMB was a smoke bomb false flag farce.

Jason Leewig at Our Manmade Disasters - 2 hours ago
Via Kathryn O'Shannahan http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=245518 A short version showing Jeff Bauman waving the flag can be viewed here. It's better to STFU than to open the can of worms. Growing perception this was a fake smoke bomb theatrical act where no "crisis actors" died or lost their legs. You figure out why they need to stage this Terrorist Bombing Attack farce. Bk Lim Trolls & shills.....eat your words. Confirmed evidence ICONIC Victim with blown leg injuries in Boston Marathon Bombing was a photoshop fake. Plse go viral. BMB (Boston Marathon Bombing) was... more »

Top Threes

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 2 hours ago
Here's a snapshot - at 19.00 BST, 29th May 2013 - of the top three stories on several of the UK's leading broadcasters and newspapers. What does it tell you about their respective news priorities and biases? *ITV News * 1. *Rigby fiancee left 'devastated'* Aimee West, the fiancee of Lee Rigby, says she has been left "devastated by the loss", adding that she was "extremely proud" of the soldier after he was killed in Woolwich. 2. *Police hunt for missing teen* Police searching for a missing teenager have arrested a man on suspicion of kidnap. Georgia Williams, 17, has not been seen... more »

Journalist Explains How Utter Lack of Expertise in Congress Is Ruining America (Most Members of Congress Don’t (Aren't Meant To?) Understand What They’re Arguing About), And Thus, World Bank Insider Blows Whistle on Corruption, Federal Reserve

Listening to Robert Kaiser's review of the inadequacies of the financial educations of the present majority of Congressional members reminds me of that story about when Pete Townsend (wunderkind song/opera/film creative genius of The Who) was being continually urged to sign a document that was (mysteriously) only appearing whenever he was drunk or stoned. He still absolutely refused to sign.

The Bad Part of Bachmann's Bye-Bye

2old2care at Because I Can - 3 hours ago
When Bachmann was in the race - everyone in the sixth district knew she was a nut job and crazy - even the ones who voted for her. NOW With Bachmann not running - we will not be able to tell if Jim Graces opponent is a nut job. It would have been easier - no problem - to win the 6th against Bachmann. Now we don't know who we will be up against - or how crazy they are. It could be ALEC-er Tom Emmer and he's one seriously angry and crazy right-wing nut job..

Outsourcing and Corporatism, Ronald Regan`s and Stephen Harper`s Fatal Contagious Disease

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 3 hours ago
The downturn of civilized democratic society was caused by these men and their draconian ideologies. http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/video-why-outsourcing-is-bad-for-business?ref=single http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/video-why-government-should-not-run-like-a-business What happens next, who knows, the damage is done....Stephen Harper ideology is one of control, obedience, punishment with no carrots, only carrots promised but never delivered. Canadians have identified Stephen Harper for what he is, a little lying piece of garbage who couldn`t manage a popsicle stand, a stuck i... more »

US OUT OF NORTH AMERICA!

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
- Yesterday I finished work on the annual Keep Space for Peace Week (October 5-12) poster and flyer. It's my task to pull it (graphic, lingo, co-sponsors) together and layout is done by a local graphic design person named Nancy Randolph. (She does our newsletter as well.) I then send it to our boards for review and feedback. It's all gone to the printer now and should be ready in time to take posters to our 21st annual conferencein Kiruna, Sweden on June 27-29. - The graphic above is the image we are using on our poster and flyer. Like last year we are... more »

Chiefs for Change or Puppets for Propaganda?

Timothy D. Slekar at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 3 hours ago
The “Chiefs for Change” led by Hanna Skandera have put their collective foot down. There will be no stopping, pausing, or breathing when it comes to implementing and shoving high stakes test down the throats of Common Core adoption states. According to Skandera, “Accountability delayed isn’t real accountability.” Why do we care what Hanna Skandera thinks? […]

My Crazy Afternoon

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 3 hours ago
Michele Bachmann, retiring from the House one step of the ethics investigators and, most likely, her district's voters. Garance Franke-Ruta watches her announcement video; Jonathan Chait remembers some of her greatest hits. Notes? 1. No, she was never the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, or anything more than an extreme longshot. 2. Yes, she certainly did bring The Crazy. If she didn't really believe the things she said, she did an excellent job of acting as if she did. 3. No, it's not true that most Republican Members of the House are interchangably nuts. Th... more »

Batshit Crazy Loses a Champion

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 3 hours ago
We'll miss her when she's gone. The Queen of Batshit Crazy has announced she won't seek re-election.

GIGA Comparative Area Studies Award

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 3 hours ago
Some of our readers might be interested in this. Comes with a €2,500 prize. The GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies, Hamburg, has established itself as a centre of academic and research excellence in Comparative Area Studies (CAS) with a special focus on politics, international relations and economics. The GIGA has decided to establish Continue reading

Apples

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 3 hours ago

The Science of Climate Change Denialism

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 3 hours ago
Denialism as a science? It could be a social science, the science of manipulating public consciousness to produce a predictable effect, the divergence of public opinion from fact. What is denialism but a carefully researched, very refined and focused form of propaganda? The Pentagon's DARPA, *Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency*, has launched a study into the neuroscience underlying propaganda, how people fall prey to indoctrination and the physical changes they undergo. *Existing technology can carry out micro-facial feature analysis, and measure the dilation of blood ve... more »

Encouraging high school students talented in physics

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 4 hours ago
*...and astronomy* In the afternoon, I spent about 5 hours in Techmania, our local science center/museum built in some no longer operational construction halls of Škoda Works, a major factory in our city. Your humble correspondent was partly invited as a (now aged) kid who could have benefited from similar events and who could have an idea what kind of aid may be helpful to the kids. There were high school teachers, primarily from a gymnasium in Cheb (a town in the very Western corner of the Czech Republic) and a sport gymnasium in Pilsen (which has educated many excellent and fa... more »

Welfarism 25: Centenarians and Populist Legislators

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 4 hours ago
Being populist and highly welfarist to get high public and voters' support is a scourge of many legislators and politicians. They propose more public spending, or more anti-business policies just to say they have authored or co-authored a pro-poor bill or law. One such law is the mandatory discount of 20 percent + 12 percent VAT-free credit for a 32 percent effective mandatory discount, for senior citizens (60 years or older) in their purchase of medicines, hospitalization and healthcare bill, plane fare, restaurants bill, and so on. The law does not distinguish rich and poor senior... more »

How The DCCC Is Making Hay Of The GOP Vote To Force Up The Student Loan Rate Against Vulnerable Congressmen

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 4 hours ago
Last week, the House passed John Kline's dreadful Make College Less Affordable Act, 221-198. Although only 4 conservative Democrats crossed the aisle to vote with the Republicans, 3 of the four are viewed as extremely vulnerable and are top priorities for the DCCC bad Democrat retention operation. The 4 anti-student voters were all corporately-controled New Dems, of course: • Jared Polis (CO) • Scott Peters (CA) • Joe Garcia (FL) • Dan Maffei (NY) Polis, the richest Democrat in the House-- and in a solidly blue district-- can probably get away with almost anything and he isn't on ... more »

Those On the Run Rarely Help Their Pursuers

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 4 hours ago
When you're being hunted down, chances are you're not going to help your pursuers. Canada's chief electoral officer complains that Conservative Party workers have "failed to co-operate" with an investigation into the fraudulent robocalls scandal. That has led Marc Mayrand to appear before a House of Commons committee to yet again ask for greater powers to compel witnesses to testify. Conservatives failing to cooperate with an investigation into wrongdoing? Sort of like senator Duffy being ordered not to cooperate with independent auditors appointed by the Senate to investigate... more »

Judge must allow parties an opportunity to make submissions

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 4 hours ago
R. v. C.T., 2013 ONCA 350 holds: [17] First, the trial judge erred by making the order without indicating he was considering making it and giving the Crown an opportunity to address the issue. There was no application by the defence to exclude the testimony. In fact, after the child had been excused as a witness, Crown counsel had indicated that if the defence intended to argue that there had been no opportunity to meaningfully cross-examine he had submissions to make in closing argument. However, at no time did defence counsel suggest that his client's section 7 and 11(d) *C... more »

For-profit health care: When surgical complications are good for business

paul at Paying attention - 4 hours ago
I believe market forces and the pursuit of profits often bring creativity and innovation. But not so much for health care. The problem was nicely crystallized in a Business Week article I read years ago, profiling the star CEO of a hospital chain. He was lauded for increasing revenue per patient, a key indicator. A few more tests, an extra day in hospital, fees for every aspririn dispensed, and the corporation does well and the CEO gets a bonus. The problem was set out more starkly in a Wall Street Journal I snagged in one of the airports on the way back to Copan Ruinas from Victoria.... more »

Mothballing F-117s

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 5 hours ago
Due to sequestration the US Air Force has begun to mothball several squadrons of F117 Stealth Fighters in the Arizona Desert. This is the first F-117 to be parked. I must admit that it took me a second to get that! Thanks to Theo Spark for the spot.

Welcome Back, Harmon?

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 5 hours ago
Since his departure from the brilliant NBC sitcom he created, Dan Harmon has been developing an animated show and live action pilots for other networks (Fox, CBS). He's also been running a live podcast that I have grown fond of, mostly because it regularly features one of my favorite comedians Kumail Nanjiani playing the recurring character of "The Lady in Red" singer Chris de Burgh in Harmon and friends' ongoing dungeons and dragons segment. It's super-nerdy but I adore it perhaps more than * Community*. Harmon also has a bit of an online cottage industry devoted to storytelling, es... more »

Media Coverage Blackout Over Anti-Monsanto Protests by Anthony Gucciardi

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 5 hours ago
Media Coverage Blackout Over Anti-Monsanto Protests by Anthony Gucciardi Natural Society, 28 May 2013 The decision by the mainstream media to ignore the thousands of individuals marching down the busiest streets of major cities worldwide may be appalling, but in reality it matters very little at this point. Not only is the movement against Monsanto *adding to* *its number each day* thanks to the real alternative media and intelligent activism, but the movement as a whole is driven by an inexorable desire to push the GMO ‘food bully’ out of our food supply. And in addition to t... more »

Meantime in Morocco....

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 5 hours ago
View from downtown Tangier towards the Mediterranean. (click to enlarge photos on this page) Hello AK readers! Most of you know by now that I am in Morocco with many of the other folks who have been working with the OPPT notices and the I M Power U/V Ixchange project. Lisa Harrison, Brian Kelly, Caleb Skinner, D from Removing the Shackles blog and her entire extended family, Susan, Vera, Mark Hoza, and a late comer Katrina are all here. Bob Wright will arrive in a few short days. How do I describe Morocco? Superficially it looks a lot like Mexico with minarets. Tangier has ... more »

Looks like the BBC are operating at their usual glacial pace

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 5 hours ago
Trust Editorial 10:16 (6 hours ago) Dear Audience Member I am sorry for the delay in sending you the Trustees’ decision. I’m afraid the minutes are still being ratified for April’s meeting, but we will be in touch as soon as they have been. Best wishes, Leanne Buckle

Genetically Modified Salmon a DEFINITE threat: Study

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 6 hours ago
I took the "could" out of the headline. For the simple reason that "could" was included to quell fear. Or to create the perception that this threat will not come to pass. And that my friends is utter nonsense. We have already seen that GMO have posed a threat to our real world. Let me give you just one example, though there are more, this one will be plenty sufficient to make the point: *SUPERWEEDS: A long predicted problem for GM crops is here* * * *After a decade of intensive genetically modified plant cultivation, weeds have emerged that are resistant to the most popular herbicide... more »

Barack Obama throws like a girl!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 6 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013* *And quite a few other examples*: According to Jonathan Alter, Barack Obama “has contempt for people who don’t do their jobs.” See our previous post. Could that explain Obama’s alleged “disdain for the press?” We have no idea. But on the front page of today’s New York Times, we find this example of the way the press corps does its job: SHEAR AND LEIBOVICH (5/29/13): At one point, the pair took an unannounced stroll down the Point Pleasant Boardwalk before stopping at an arcade so Mr. Obama could try to win a teddy bear by throwing a football through a tire... more »

EFN Asia 20: Liberals Meet Liberals in Seoul

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 6 hours ago
Here now in Jeju, S. Korea. Below is my article written when we were still in Seoul this morning, posted today in the EFN Asia website. ----------- Seoul -- Liberalism is a political ideology that advocates liberating the individual from excessive and unnecessary coercion. Such coercion includes over-regulation and taxation of individuals and private enterprises, or prohibiting people where and to whom they can freely trade their goods and services. People who subscribe to this ideology are called liberals in Europe and Asia. In the US, the term was hijacked to mean the opposite, the... more »

Harper vs. Harper ... vs. Mulcair

Alison at Creekside - 6 hours ago
Yes, about that ... It's peculiar that Harper keeps insisting he first heard about his chief of staff Nigel Wright's $90,000 payment to Duffy on May 15 following "speculation in the media", given that CTV's Robert Fife had contacted the PMO the previous day to confirm it and the PMO responded. And you gotta love Steve taking credit for it coming out to the public here. Asked whether he had spoken with his former press secretary now Senator Carolyn Stewart Olsen, seen at top shielding Steve from reporters and who successfully moved to whitewash the report on Duffy, Steve replie... more »

Monsanto’s Congressional Cartel: List of Senators Who Betrayed Constituents in Favor of Biotech Dollars

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 6 hours ago
Daisy Luther Once upon a time, a system was designed in which “the people” elected delegates to go to Washington DC. These members of Congress had the specific duty of representing the wishes of their constituencies when laws were being voted upon. The success of last weekend’s March Against Monsanto should have made it very clear that a great many people wish to see, at the very least, labels on toxic GMO foods. The fact that this success was covered up by the media does NOT mean that the members of Congress were unaware of it – just the opposite. Our success was frightening, an... more »

Why Do Kids Vitamins Contain Aspartame, GMOs, Trans Fats & Hazardous Chemicals?

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 6 hours ago
Sayer Ji *The #1 Children's Vitamin Brand in the US contains ingredients that most parents would never intentionally expose their children to, so why aren't more opting for healthier alternatives?* Kids vitamins are supposed to be healthy, right? Well then, what's going on with Flintstones Vitamins, which proudly claims to be "Pediatricians' #1 Choice"? Produced by the global pharmaceutical corporation Bayer, this wildly success brand features a shocking list of unhealthy ingredients, including: - AspartameCupric Oxide - Coal tar artificial coloring agents (FD&C Blue #2, R... more »

Basel III: How The Bank For International Settlements Is Going To Help Bring Down The Global Economy

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 6 hours ago
Michael Snyder A new set of regulations that most people have never even heard of that was developed by an immensely powerful central banking organization that most people do not even know exists is going to have a dramatic affect on the global financial system over the next several years. The new set of regulations is known as "Basel III", and it was developed by the Bank for International Settlements. The Bank for International Settlements has been called "the central bank for central banks", and it is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. Fifty-eight major central banks (inclu... more »

Report: House Judiciary Committee investigating whether Eric Holder lied under oath

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 6 hours ago
Madison Ruppert According to a report, the House Judiciary Committee is now investigating the possibility that Attorney General Eric Holder lied under oath when he testified on May 15 about the Department of Justice’s surveillance of reporters. According to an unnamed aide closet to the matter who spoke to The Hill, the panel is looking at a specific statement made by Holder during an exchange with Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) about the power of the Justice Department to prosecute reporters under the Espionage Act of 1917. “In regard to potential prosecution of the press for the dis... more »

Database Your Face: Drones to Employ Facial Recognition, Ending Anonymity

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 6 hours ago
image source Nicholas West In a matter of just a few years, we have gone from drones in American skies being a conspiracy theory, to drones being openly debated by Congress for full deployment over the U.S. by 2015. However, you know things have gone to a new level when establishment media begins covering the full range of privacy-ending capabilities employed by drones matched with biometric databases ... inside America. A recent Associated Press article, reposted at major corporate media sites such as Business Insider, surprisingly grasps the near totality of what is being plan... more »

Blame the Brainy Ladies

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 7 hours ago
Le sigh. Something else to blame women for. Research published online in the journal Intelligence on Thursday claims the IQ of people in Western nations has fallen by an average of 14.1 points over the past century. Why would that be? Conservative politics? Chemical pollution? Shitty education system? Nope. Brainy ladies. Previous research has found that women of higher intelligence are having fewer children, meaning women of lower intelligence are driving population growth, according to the study. Over time, experts say, that would affect the average IQ of a population. Don... more »

Has World War 3 Already Begun?

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 7 hours ago
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The AP Spying Story: What You Aren't Being Told

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 7 hours ago
*James Corbett* In recent weeks we have been told to focus on a series of scandals which, we are told, are rocking the Obama Administration. Has the media finally found outrage over the Obama regime's use of drone strikes to kill scores of innocent women and children in countries that are not even at war with the United States? Or the DOJ's recent admission that the strikes had indeed killed American citizens? Or John Kerry's recent attempts to once again lead the American public into supporting military intervention in the Middle East based on provably false claims of WMD? Subsc... more »

Is Iraq’s Prime Minister Maliki More Like Premier Nuri al-Sa’id Than Saddam? An Interview With Historian Phebe Marr

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 7 hours ago
The most typical comparison made by critics of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is that he is becoming the next Saddam Hussein. This can be heard by various politicians from the Sadr bloc (1) to Iyad Allawi (2) to Deputy Premier Saleh al-Mutlaq to Kurdish Premier Nechirvan Barzani. This is hyperbole meant to score political points with their constituents against Maliki since Saddam is an obvious reference point from the recent past that all of Iraqi society remembers. In terms of historical leaders in the country however, Maliki might be more like Nuri al-Sa’id (1888-1958) who was t... more »

New SARS-like virus is a 'threat to the entire world'

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 7 hours ago
*CNN* ** Gearing up for the next pandemic and vaccine craze? Read update from the World Health Organization *HERE*. Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.

The Children of Fukushima

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 7 hours ago
I don't believe this UNSCEAR report result described in the Asahi Shimbun: Y. Oiwa (27 May 2013)U.N.: Post-Fukushima collective thyroid dose about 3.3% the dose from Chernobyl’, The Asahi Shimbun, http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201305270089 The health effects from the Fukushima nuclear accident are substantially smaller than those from the Chernobyl disaster, and the increase in cancer incidence in Japan will be negligible, according to a U.N. panel’s estimates. The collective thyroid dose of Japanese people from radioactive materials released from the Fuku... more »

Breaking: Who is Barack Obama!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 7 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013* *Helpfully, Alter tells Dowd*: Who is Barack Obama? We wouldn’t attempt to tell you. This morning, though, in her latest column, Maureen Dowd lets Jonathan Alter explain. Here at THE HOWLER, we just can’t help it—we’re inclined to like Jonathan Alter. But is he missing a connection between two remarks Dowd records in this passage? DOWD (5/29/13): Like many others in our business, Jonathan Alter says he is “on fire” about the Justice Department’s snooping on reporters and attempting to criminalize investigative journalism, including labeling the respected ... more »

Alan Waldman : Clive Owen is Excellent in Four ‘Second Sight’ TV Movies

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 7 hours ago
Waldman's film and TV treasures you may have missed: Owen plays a police chief detective who strives to solve murders while covering up the fact that he’s going blind. By Alan Waldman / The Rag Blog / May 29, 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

If They've Got Nothing to Hide ...

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 7 hours ago
... then why are they acting like complete fucking assholes??? It's so obvious.

Mohawk Nation News 'Demonic Possession

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 7 hours ago
DEMONIC POSSESSION Posted on May 28, 2013 MNN. May 28, 2013. More trouble brewing for the thugs of the Corporation of Canada. What happens when the CEO, officers and accomplices become openly evil? Ghost Busters can’t help? These fearful dictators are flanked by bodyguards. Despotism is called “democracy”. They donate Indigenous land and possessions to fellow foreigners in

Restoring Sacred Sustainability, New York, June 7 -- 9, 2013

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 7 hours ago
Debra White Plume of Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way) will be speaking at the Left Forum in New York City along with Tiokasin Ghosthorse and Janene Yazzie on SATURDAY JUNE 8TH from 5:30 pm to 7:00 p.m. at PACE UNIVERSITY - RM2614. See our announcement in this email or at  http://www.oweakuinternational.org/owe-aku-moccasins-on-the.html Online registration is at http://www.leftforum.org

Bob Feldman : Regressive Taxation and Limited Unionization in Texas, 1996-2011

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 7 hours ago
Staff and supporters of Texas' Workers' Defense Project perform at Texas state Capitor inside Capitol at event commemorating Texas workers who have died on the job. Photo by  Jason Cato / Workers Defense Project. Image from the Texas Observer. The hidden history of Texas Conclusion: 1996-2011/2 -- Regressive taxation and limited unionization mark era in Texas By Bob Feldman / The Rag

Innovation Like 1954!: The Technology Khan Continues

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 7 hours ago
Sal Khan is the twenty-first century version of a template that stretches back to the nineteenth century: Championing the so-called cutting-edge technology as the savior for all educational problems. To see how ridiculous these claims are, and always have been, view the video below and insert any technology advocate you want, but I recommend Khan: […]

WHO IS SHARYL ATTKISSON: Sharyl's choice!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 7 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013* *Part 3—She just keeps pouring it on:* Sharyl Attkisson, sadly intrepid, just kept pouring it on. A less intrepid scribe might have thought that she’d had a bad week. On May 10, she had made a gruesome error, or at least a gruesome error had been published under her name. In response, she had offered an explanation that didn’t make any sense. Sandwiched in were crazy claims on C-Span’s May 12 Washington Journal, and even on that same day's Face the Nation. A less intrepid “journalist” might have taken her foot off the gas! Sadly, Attkisson is fully intr... more »

Will MO Send an ALECer to Congress Next Tuesday?

2old2care at Because I Can - 8 hours ago
There's a special election in Missouri next Tuesday. Special elections always mean low turnout - it would be nice if the turnout included only ANTI-ALEC voters. Jason Smith is a dedicated member of the extremist highly partisan American Legislative Exchange Council. Former Rep. Jason Smith (R-150), *State Chair*man[12] and Tax and Fiscal Policy Task Force member [16] The art of self-dealing? Mr. Smith has that down pat. He led the charge to overturn the will of the Missouri people after they voted in 2010 to protect animals by implementing humane regulations on puppy mills. Mr. ... more »

WotW: Take Control of Pinterest with Pinstamatic

Seth R. Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 8 hours ago
There's no mistaking Pinterest is one of the hottest sites on the web right now. And if you're invested in social media at all, you know you need to have a solid presence on Pinterest. Unfortunately, Pinterest can easily become overwhelming. What do you pin? Where do you find the content? How do you find time to find fresh pins? The real power of Pinterest for a blogger is in using it to promote your own content. After all, you've worked hard creating awesome projects on your blog – now it's time to let the world see it. But coming up with pin-able images can be time consuming a... more »

KP's Blog: Collective Imagination Show 5-28-13… “SwissIndo, the RV, and Heather’s Last Show”… Show Link plus Ginger’s Notes

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 8 hours ago
Reblogged from: http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/collective-imagination-show-5-28-13-swissindo-the-rv-and-heathers-last-show-show-link-plus-gingers-notes/ Collective Imagination Show 5-28-13… “SwissIndo, the RV, and Heather’s Last Show”… Show Link plus Ginger’s Notes Posted on 2013/05/28by kauilapele [image: collective_imagination_logo19]*The Collective Imagination show – May 28th(US)/29th(Australia)* – Ginger’s notes http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thecollectiveimagination/2013/05/29/the-collective-imagination-2829-may-2013 *Holy Smoked Leaping Reptoid Lizzzards! . . . rof... more »

No Marriage Equality in ALEC's Top 10

2old2care at Because I Can - 8 hours ago
Last week ALEC released one of their partisan biased reports and the news jumped all over it. IMHO - ALEC's report is nothing more than conjecture - based on a biased and skewed data set. In the past, two separate reports have debunked the validity and reliability of ALEC's annual report of economic benefits - but the mainstream media is too lazy to look for opposing viewpoints and they print the ALEC pablum without reviewing it. We have to do more about that - cause ALEC is not all that and neither is their biased reports. Rich States, Poor States *purports* to provide a recipe ... more »

Russia , Iran and Hizballah calling bluff of the West and Israel regarding arming Assad....... Who blinks first as a show down seems imminent ?

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
http://www.debka.com/article/23001/Israeli-forebodings-over-widening-Russian-Hizballah-Iraqi-intervention-in-Syria- Forebodings were voiced Wednesday, May 29, by senior Israeli military officers in the face of the widening military intervention in the Syria civil war by Russia, Iran, Hizballah and latterly Iraq too. They have made Syria’s civil war the platform for a Russian contest against the West and a ladder up which Iran and its proxy Hizballah are climbing to top Middle East regional power spot. Russia, Iran and Hizballah are winning the contest by default against an unresist... more »

Obama And Christie Cozy Up To Each Other Again In New Jersey

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 8 hours ago
Sorry, Senator Buono... boys only Yesterday, President Obama officially endorsed Ed Markey for the Senate seat that John Kerry gave up to become Secretary of State. "Ed has a strong record of helping businesses create jobs and making sure that middle class families get ahead," said the President about a congressman who is considerably more progressive than he himself ever was. "His work on fuel economy standards will save money for American consumers and help reduce our dependence on foreign oil. I share his commitment to common sense efforts to reduce gun violence, and I know he wil... more »

Harper's Perfect Storm

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 8 hours ago
It's easier to deal with returning chickens -- or kids -- if they don't all come home at the same time. During the Mulroney years, Michael Den Tandt writes, scandals had the good sense to occur annually: It’s not like it was in the Mulroney years, when the government parceled out its catastrophes at a leisurely pace, on average one a year. That was so 20th Century. In 2013 everything happens at full throttle ­- especially, it seems, when the wheels come off what was previously a well-oiled, ruthlessly efficient machine. Now the man who sold himself as distant but competent is wat... more »

US treasuries bleed wider - with the ten year hitting 2.23 this morning , the global bond market only hanging in due to Central banker express or implicit manipulations , recall you can die and well as live by the manipulations swords....And the Central Bankers better pull it off , as the EU has show , just like here in the US and Japan , politicians will spend recklessly until stopped .......Overnite news from Europe and Asia for the next day's trading.....

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
Strap on the seat belts , it's going to be a bumpy ride..... http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-29/european-credit-contraction-accelerates-spanish-loan-creation-craters European Credit Contraction Accelerates, Spanish Loan Creation Craters [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/29/2013 09:03 -0400 - Bond - Demographics - European Central Bank - Eurozone - Japan - M3 - Reality - SocGen - Unemployment There is a simple mnemonic for the Keynesian world: *credit creation = growth. *More importantly, *no credit creati... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 8 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Alessandra Torresani, 26. Caprica was pretty much a mess, and the acting wasn't a strength, but I mostly liked her. Also, I haven't watched "Husbands," and I'm pretty sure that I'm supposed to have watched it. Some good stuff: 1. Irin Carmon on those shoes, those shoes. 2. Why California's exchanges may be more effective at cost control than most, from Sarah Kliff --- very useful context for everyone linking to CA stories last week. 3. Jared Bernstein on Jason Furman, reported to be the next Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. 4. Alec MacGillis on the NRA.

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 8 hours ago
*Conference in New Orleans: Should affirmative action continue in education? * *Louisiana Legislature Still Evolving on Science Ed ~William Dillela, NOLA DEFENDER* *HANO will remain under HUD control past July as city grapples with other oversight issues ~Katy Reckdahl, The Lens* *Exquisite Corps report could mean new life for old levee idea* *Still time left to grounds score! Green Project gives away selected supplies this week* *Elizabeth Becker: Overbooked* *~Tourism, fast becoming the largest global business, employs one out of twelve persons and produces $6.5 trillion of the ... more »

Proof beyond reasonable doubt

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
*R. v. A.P.,* 2013 ONCA 344 is a useful reminder that a judge in a criminal matter is not there to determine what happened but rather to see if proof beyond reasonable doubt is established: [38] When the trial judge set out on his analysis of the evidence, he correctly listed the four elements of the offence of sexual assault that must be proven by the Crown. The trial judge then expressed the view that "the sole issue in this case is the credibility of the complainant and the credibility of the defendant", thereby, in the appellant's submission, viewing the case as a cr... more »

Henry Kissinger - then and now - nothing happened or will happen.

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 9 hours ago
in 2001, English journalist Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) published his in-depth investigation into U.S. diplomat Henry Kissinger titled THE TRIAL OF HENRY KISSINGER. The BBC quickly bought the rights to the book and produced an eponymous 2012 documentary based on the book, in which Hitchens features regularly, shown here. This is being embed'd today because I've never really understood the furore associated with this German-born Jewish person, and not sure why (as Kissinger approaches senility) this person who's received a Nobel Peace Prize is being so pilloried by so-called T... more »

Good-bye capital gains tax, we hardly knew ya

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 9 hours ago
One of the many things this mess with the Phils has enabled the government to divert public attention from the drive to eliminate the capital gains tax. As a tax on the wealthy which kicked in when the stock market crossed 8,500, it was odious to the KMT, the island's party of the 1%. In the latest "economic stimulus" package of the government, it will be killed.... One of the measures involved the legislature passing an amendment to the Income Tax Act (所得稅法) before the current session ends on Friday to drop the 8,500-point threshold that automatically triggers the capital gains tax ... more »

Pick-Up a Penguin

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 9 hours ago
[image: Penguin Truck on tour] At first glance it reminds you of those quick food vans selling coffee and burgers, but this one is stuffed with books not buns. Penguin have launched a mobile bookstore division aimed at connecting their authors directly with their readers. The tour starts this week at Book Expo America in New York before it moves onto the Mark Twain House in Hartford and Chicago at the end of June for the American Library Association Conference. The tour will take in Sallisaw, OK; Oklahoma City, OK; Canyon, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Flagstaff, AZ; Bakersfield, CA. It’s ... more »

Bachmannn Says Bye-Bye to the 6th CD

2old2care at Because I Can - 10 hours ago
*Published on May 28, 2013* Congresswoman Michele Bachmann shares a very special message with the people of Minnesota's 6th Congressional District. Learn more at MicheleBachmann.com It is definitely a SPECIAL MESSAGE for CD6. She's such a self-serving snake - I wonder what is up her sleeve. Crawling around in the dark of night dropping this video so that it was "the news" first thing this morning - megalomaniac - look at me - look at me. Rumor is she thinks she can beat Franken for Mn Senate. HAH! She still hasn't realized that she is an embarrassment to the State of Minnesota. ... more »

Putin Warns Obama on Monsanto

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 10 hours ago
This report is circulating out in the alternative media. The mainstream press is giving it the cone of silence treatment. No rebuttals are forthcoming either. If any of this just happens to be true, the push back against these pesticides is about to become huge and very public. That Putin had to stoop to using confrontational tactics certainly informs us that he has research that he trusts. There is plenty of additional research coming out and none of it is good. I seriously do not think that these three companies will be able to stand up against global outrage for ... more »

Thunderbird Up Close

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 10 hours ago
In my efforts to gather conforming evidence for large unidentified flying creatures we have actually identified four completely different species, all nocturnal as are most carnivores. They are: 1 The thunderbird which may also be the European giant owl which bears a strong resemblance to the descriptions of the thunderbird. This eyewitness is describing just such a bird. Observe that it is able to lift of just like an owl. It would be the natural hunter of the jack rabbit. 2 The pterosaur has also given us a number of sightings ... more »

Family: Our Inherited Evolutionary Ladder

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 10 hours ago
Here is a thought. Inside the family, our ego is properly replaced by the family ego. It is when that is not in balance that the family becomes dysfunctional. Yet it is natural to join one’s ego to the family ego and share in its commonality. We spend so much time thinking about what is wrong we often forget to recognize so much of what is right and make an effort to emulate just that. More to the point this is a reminder that our social behavior is the built in software that comes with our genetic inheritance and that it is way more subtle than imagined or exp... more »

IRS Engaged in Extralegal Suppression of US Citizens

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 10 hours ago
Of course this is profoundly wrong and the inevitable road to the outright evil of using governmental coercive powers without meaningful oversight and or authority. It is just too easy and just too easily for the weak minded to rationalize. The fact remains that the IRS has been given broad coercive power mostly on the premise that one has to scare tax evaders to gain their cooperation. If that were such a good idea, one must ask why we receive scant taxes from drug dealers. As happens with any petty bureaucracy, they target the weak and the unlucky. This is wrong. P... more »

The one hundred and fifty second weekly "No shit Sherlock" award

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
This week's award is presented to Jonathan Manthorpe for the incredible insight that: 'Saudi Arabia funding fuels jihadist terror' No shit, Sherlock! More here http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/story.html?id=8445197

Shifting Technology Boundaries

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 12 hours ago
Technology offers and can quickly deliver social, cultural, medical benefits and opportunities that are often beyond our imagination, but at the same time, it can introduce new threats and risks to our personal information and lives. Balancing the evolution of technology to ensure we can manage these conflicts is probably our greatest challenge. Today’s technology can accumulate random data from multiple sources to analyse; who we know, who we don’t know, how many steps away from individuals we are, when we last ‘chattered’ and what we communicated, are various intertwining circle... more »

did he just say that the bankers play BOTH SIDES of any war; civil, neighbouring or global?

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 12 hours ago
did he just say that the bankers play BOTH SIDES of any war, for PROFIT; civil, neighbouring or global?

Meet Israel's Under-21 Soccer Team Coach (VIDEO)

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 13 hours ago
'Guy Luzon, Israel's Under-21 National Team Coach, talks about his team and their hopes for the upcoming championship. Unity and harmony are key components of the team's ethos. These young Israelis have learned to play together, a tribute to the coach who must integrate Jewish, Arab, Druze, Russian and Ethiopian players, all of whom come from homes with different traditions and customs.' How many Islamic states have Jews, Christians and others in their team? Yet we keep being told that 'Israel is an apartheid state'. More here

WOOLWICH; TWO ADEBOLAJOS; HISTORY OF FAKERY

Anon at aangirfan - 13 hours ago
*Woolwich 'terrorist' Michael Adebolajo.* * * *Woolwich 'terrorist' Michael Adebolajo.* *Woolwich 'terrorist' Michael Adebolajo in Kenya.* * *One might think that there are two Michael Adebolajos. There is the fun-loving Catholic, and the there is the one working for MI5/6 *Michael Adebolajo - Among his friends on Facebook are two serving police officers who knew him from school.* *Michael Adebolajo -* *best friends with Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath. * *Lance Corporal Kirk Redpath., killed in Iraq.* * * Michael grew up in a well-to-to Catholic family. He lived near Kirk R... more »

Muslim writer touts Israeli tolerance of minorities

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 13 hours ago
The apartheid state of Israel exposed! "This country does not fit the description of an apartheid state," says author Qanta Ahmed in visit to Israel. British author Dr. Qanta Ahmed spoke on Wednesday at the Menachem Begin Heritage Center in Jerusalem about the difficulties for minorities in Islamic societies and how Israel is the only country in the Middle East that tolerates them. ... Ahmed is a British sleep-disorder specialist working in New York State, whose parents came from Pakistan after moving there from India. She visited Israel for the first time and gave a lecture at th... more »

One man who Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas keeps in office

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 13 hours ago
'"Praise Allah who honored us and designated us to be in Ribat (religious war defending or liberating "Islamic" land) until Judgment Day, until the dawn of freedom and national independence shine [on us]... On behalf of all those who fell as Martyrs or were wounded, we salute the heroic fighter, the self-sacrificing Salam Al-Zaghal from the Tulkarem District, whose honor and pride would not let him remain silent, consenting to the settlers' aggression against him in his vehicle. He insisted on defending his honor, so he went against the settler and killed him. Blessings to the b... more »

UK - Sea Level Rise - 13,000 bp to 5,000 bp in the British Mesolithic

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 13 hours ago
Why worry about the Corporate War Game of lies and 'intelligence' oh and 'counter-intelligence' and PROFIT-by-any-legal-or-illegal means, when you could just watch how us Brits used to be able to walk from Ireland to Holland. Imagine the potential for Bank Holiday family picnics back in the Mesolithic. *Animated output of paleoclimate model at 30 arc-second, 20 year resolution. 200 years per second. Sea level is calibrated to Global Sea Level estimates with data points at 1000 year intervals. This model does not yet account for isostacy, or glaciation.* [source TEMPORAL MAPPING] ... more »

ECONOMICS FOR REAL PEOPLE: Planning Without Central Plans: Part II

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 14 hours ago
Here’s the note from our friends at the Auckland University Economics Group about tomorrow night’s discussion: Last week we discovered how buying a bottle of milk helps explain how all prices are set. This week we discuss how millions of simple choices every day, just like that one, are coordinated by their effect on the choices of others. We’ll discuss how wages are set (and why employer greed is irrelevant), how planning is done without central plans (and how it never can be), and how consumers rule the world—and how entrepreneurs serve them. All this and much more, including f... more »

Police: Joggers Attacked At Random In Fridley « CBS Minnesota

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 15 hours ago
'MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Police are looking for as many as six or seven Somali men after two joggers were randomly attacked in Fridley.' Random? Or were men targeted all non muslim? More here http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/05/28/police-joggers-attacked-at-random-in-fridley/

Your Moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 15 hours ago
Monkey orchids (Orchis simia). The species' range is Europe, the Mediterranean, Russia, Asia Minor and Iran. [photo via]

walmart workers are on strike! sign their petition to show your support.

laura k at wmtc - 16 hours ago
I'm back! And Walmart workers are on strike! Workers in Miami, Massachusetts and the Bay Area in California are on strike. Please sign their petition supporting their right to speak out for better conditions in the workplace. Workers who have spoken out have seen their hours reduced, their shifts changed for maximum inconvenience, their meagre pay raises disappear... and they've been flat-out fired. But these courageous workers are refusing to be cowed. Let's stand by them in every way we can. *Click here to sign the Walmart workers petition.* It will be delivered at the next Walm... more »

in which i try to mail postcards from spain

laura k at wmtc - 16 hours ago
We used to send a lot of postcards from our travels, but that is a ritual lost to time and email. A few people do still get postcards, though: my mother, Allan's great aunt in Vermont, and in this case two friends, for specific reasons. I bought the postcards, tucked them away, and kind of half forgot about them and half kept on the lookout for a post office from which to buy stamps. Every time we saw a mailbox - yellow in Spain, marked *correo* - I remembered that I didn't have stamps, but I never saw a post office. We asked about stamps at a souvenir store, and they told us to go ... more »

bilbao to madrid, but not toledo

laura k at wmtc - 16 hours ago
For most of the trip, I was hoping to spend a few hours in Toledo on our last day in Spain. Allan was skeptical at best, feeling it would make the day too rushed and pressured. I was holding out hope until the last moment, but once we found the highway out of Bilbao and saw the time, I realized he was right. What's more, the medieval synagogue in Toledo, the main site I wanted to see there, is closed on Mondays. The interior is supposed to be beautifully preserved, but we wouldn't get to see it anyway. Ah well. I reluctantly gave up on the idea. We had breakfast in Bilbao across the... more »

The Realist Report with John Friend

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 16 hours ago
On this edition of *The Realist Report*, we'll be joined by Dr. Jim Fetzer, the founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth and a writer for Veterans Today. Dr. Fetzer and I will be discussing his recent article *Senate Betrays Constitution for Israel: Commitment to Attack Iran* and other developments in the Middle East. We will also address the fraudulent and Orwellian nature of the "Global War on Terror" launched as a result of the false flag, PSYOP-style events on 9/11, and the recent "beheading" of a British soldier in London by alleged Islamic extremists. Was this "beheading" yet anot... more »

life of pi

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 16 hours ago

Vishnu

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 17 hours ago

Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) - Widening The Circle

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 17 hours ago
Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World! If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far. This post contains great information and I encourage ... more »

Inequality Grows In Sweden-- And So Do Social Tensions... And The Potential For A Backlash

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 17 hours ago
Sunday evening, almost at the same moment I published a "How Safe Is Sweden?" post on my travel blog, Robert Reich tweeted a *Wall Street Journal * story about how growing economic inequality is fueling the social tensions between white Swedes and immigrants and the children of immigrants born in Sweden. The *Journal*, unlike European publication has pointed right to racism as a root cause of the 6 days of violent rioting and arson. One young man rioting near Husby last week told The Wall Street Journal: "If I had a job I wouldn't be here." The man, who declined to give his name ... more »

Ready For A Good Laugh: New Article States Osama Bin Laden "Blew Himself Up With Suicide Belt After Navy SEAL Shot Him In The Thigh"Claims Terror Leader's Former Bodyguard! (You Cannot Make This Stuff Up!)

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 18 hours ago
It has now been well over 11 years since CIA agent, Osama Bin Laden, aka "Tim Osman" died due to complications from his failed kidneys..... He died in the Tora Bora region of northeastern Afghanistan and his death was announced in major world news reports, but of course... NOT in the United States (other than Fox News)..... It is therefore so sad that there are still those gullible suckers out there that actually believe the laughable lie that Osama Bin Laden died in a Navy SEAL assault on a "compound" in Pakistan over two years ago on May 2nd, 2011. It is so sickening to see the ... more »

Leaks and the limits of the First Amendment

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 18 hours ago
Walter Pincus gets to the heart of what's wrong with the media freakout about DoJ's leak investigations. Do read it all, it's short but here's the main point. The media may "just be doing their job" but the leaker is in breach of their contract. The leaker is breaking the law to give them the information. So why is it so damn scandalous for the DoJ to seek to enforce the law? That *is* their job. As Pincus points out: Applying labels such as co-conspirator provides a probable cause for the judge to grant the warrant, as in the Rosen case. If Rosen offered money or some other rewa... more »

Why the “peaceful majority” is irrelevant

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
*"While it's true that jihadists don't represent most Muslims, they *do*represent Islam." * - Bosch Fawstin History lessons are often incredibly simple. As an Op-Ed once more doing the rounds makes clear, when the “silent majority” ignore atrocities carried out in their name, they share all the guilt of the perpetrators. I used to know a man whose family were German aristocracy prior to World War II. They owned a number of large industries and estates. I asked him how many German people were true Nazis, and the answer he gave has stuck with me and guided my attitude toward fanatic... more »

Everest!

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
What was once a mountain has now become the world’s tallest metaphor.* And today, sixty years ago, was the day it was finally conquered. My favourite story of its conquering is possibly apocryphal, but still delightful. It’s said that when Hillary and Tenzing reached the top of Everest for the first time, Tenzing fell to his knees and gave thanks to the spirits that had helped their journey; he prayed to the gods and to each of the four winds, and he carefully placed in the ground a small stake on which prayer ribbons were attached. While he was doing this, Hillary stuck a flag ... more »

The Truth Was Still Putting on its Shoes - How Pseudoscience Came to Dominate the Concept of Healthy Eating

George Henderson at The High-fat Hep C Diet - 20 hours ago
Imagine you could restore health and lose weight by eating fats and protein and consuming fewer carbohydrates, i.e. sugar and grains. This was standard medical advice up until the late 1970s. Then the advice changed to “eat more grains and limit saturated fats”. The new “healthy eating” advice was never subjected to rigorous testing before the old advice, which had served society well, was ignominiously dumped. Are we, as a nation, now fitter, better nourished, and less disease prone as a result? The Kiwi ANZACs, widely considered to be the fittest troops in the Allied armies i... more »

Saluting the president's "star litigatrix"

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 20 hours ago
*White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler* -- *Sorry, no shoe shots* *"When you take a woman who has risen to a remarkable position, serving as the lawyer to the President of the United States of America, and you call her a “litigatrix” in “stunning 4-inch bright pink stiletto spikes,” you diminish her, her accomplishments, and all women."* *-- John Aravosis, in an Americablog post,* "Wash Post runs sexist story about White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler’s shoes" *by Ken* "Would the Washington Post," Americablog's John Aravosis asks, "write a story about Dan Pfeiffer’s “fabulous shoes”?... more »

German Fin Min Schauble warns of revolution ......Are we one year from Mad Max Time.........Geopolitics of Gold and just note the premium on gold coins at the US Mint - 40 percent ? Get yourselves ready folks............

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 20 hours ago
http://www.blacklistednews.com/German_Finance_Minister_Schaeuble_Warns_of_Revolution/26289/0/38/38/Y/M.html German Finance Minister Schaeuble Warns of RevolutionMay 28, 2013 Print Version *Source:* StratRisks Let the austerity backlash begin. Who knew that an excel error could cause so much social strife. Granted common sense would have got you there, but this is politics. German Finance Minister Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that unless Europe wins the battle against youth unemployment, revolution is a distinct possibility. The dreaded r-word came about as some corners push to reform ... more »

Liberty Reserve shutdown by DOJ , Bitcoin next in the sights of Big Government ?

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 20 hours ago
http://www.ticotimes.net/More-news/News-Briefs/Liberty-Reserve-A-cyberweb-of-intrigue_Tuesday-May-28-2013 Liberty Reserve: A cyberweb of intrigue Posted: Tuesday, May 28, 2013 - By David Boddiger and L. Arias A closer look at Arthur Budovsky and his digital currency site Liberty Reserve, closed last Thursday in conjunction with Budovsky’s arrest in Spain. [image: Prosecutor José Pablo González] Tico Times Costa Rican prosecutor José Pablo González announces Arthur Budovsky's arrest in Spain on Friday. *Screenshots from Telenoticias Channel 7* Flashy cars, lavish gifts, multiple identit... more »

Seven Pandas

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 21 hours ago

Fixing the IRS in a three quick steps ! In three years , you could change the IRS.......

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 21 hours ago
By now , most have followed the travails of the IRS - Gate scandals. The purpose of this post is not to pile on the IRS , but rather , consider a few possible steps forward. If I was POTUS what would I do ? 1) RESTORE PUBLIC CONFIDENCE IN THE IRS A) Revamping the IRS - Key words ... Fresh Blood in the Organization B) From Wikipedia , set forth below is a concise review of two areas for reform.... Current organization [edit] The 1980s saw a reorganization of the IRS. A bipartisan commission was created with several mandates, among them to increase customer service and improve coll... more »

Addendum to Schools Abducted: Despoliation of Community

Kuhio Kane at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 21 hours ago
I wrote the above article while navigating a vessel in a heavy wind. I made an egregious error. I AM not for the closing of public schools, especially those in large, urban areas. NOR would I encourage “urban blight.” What I intended to say was: If it comes to this, then let them take out […]

Schools Abducted: Despoliation of Community

Kuhio Kane at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 22 hours ago
Clearly, there are more and more parents educating themselves regarding testing in schools and how they can pull their kids out of testing. Not all parents can put their children under a homeschooling overseen by credentialed personnel. While we strive to keep our public schools public and free of the new reform movement that brings […]

NRA losing its firepower

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 22 hours ago
Alec MacGillis takes a long look at the battle over gun safety reform and finds NRA is losing its might in the fight. It's a longish read but this is the big takeaway. The narrow defeat of the background-check bill, it turns out, was not the end of hopes for gun reform, but the beginning. Newtown really did change everything and the the conventional wisdom is outdated. The NRA's power to swing elections is waning. Senator Chris Murphy, a rookie Connecticut Democrat who has taken a lead on the issue since the Newtown massacre, points out that, of the 16 Senate races the NRA partic... more »

Is your job worthwhile?

Sandra Guzman at Sandra Guzman - 22 hours ago
We spend a whopping 90,000 hours working over our lifetime. That is alotta hours people. So, the question that begs to be asked *and* answered is: is your job worthwhile? Or, does your job bring you meaning? Does it offer you joy? If the answers are no, no *and* no, know that you are in great company. *I hate my job:* Nearly 80 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their jobs. We are living among a lot of unhappy folks. And its understandable. Many of us are living the lives that others planned or imagined for us--culture, society, family, community, and of course, we need t... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 22 hours ago

Breakfast in bed. Almost.

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 22 hours ago
We used to say that New Zealanders imbibed statism with their mother’s milk. Prime Minister John Key confirmed yesterday that the state will now become the nation’s mother. Key has signed off on a programme in which the state, in the guise of provider, will hand out milk and cereal provided by others. Breakfast on the taxpayer, with Uncle John as host. Key dismisses criticism saying, "...if the child is not fed ... we know they don't learn... Really? We *know*? But as Lindsay Mitchell writes, “an Auckland University study undertaken across 14 low socio-economic schools where c... more »

Bello lugar para descansar a orilla del mar

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 22 hours ago
[image: Bello lugar para descansar a orillas del mar azul] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de lugares hermosos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Chica hermosa cortando hojas de colores

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 22 hours ago
[image: Chica hermosa cortando las hojas de colores] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de mujeres* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Satire: “Syrian Rebels Urge McCain to Get Over Losing to Obama”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 22 hours ago
* * *“Syrian Rebels Urge McCain to Get Over Losing to Obama”* by Andy Borowitz SYRIA (The Borowitz Report)— “During a meeting yesterday with Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), Syrian rebels told the senator that he still seemed “really bitter” about losing the 2008 election to President Obama and advised him to “get over it.” After meeting with the Arizona senator in the border region near Turkey, a spokesman for the Syrian rebels told reporters that while they appreciated Sen. McCain’s support, “We were kind of uncomfortable with the place it was coming from. It was pretty obvious to ... more »

Flor amarilla embelleciendo la cerca

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 22 hours ago
[image: Flor amarilla embelleciendo la cerca] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de flores* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Japan's Disposable Population

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 23 hours ago
Majia here: This series of articles illustrates how the Japanese people have been cast as disposable by elements of the Japanese government and elements within the UN. A. Grover is an exception and as special rapporteur he has traveled to Japan on more than one occasion to advocate on the behalf of exposed Japanese citizens. Unfortunately, the broken, corrupt UN in general has sabotaged his work with their own useless report. * * The first article describes Grover's work. The second article, an analysis by the Asahi Shimbun, illustrates how the outrageous protective action g... more »

PM Stephen Harper May Have Met His Waterloo In Question Period .....

leftdog at Buckdog - 23 hours ago
*(Please forgive and endure the brief commercial prior to QP ...)* *Watch Harper's body language and especially watch Finance Minister Jim Flaherty's reaction to the grilling of the Prime Minister in Question Period today. * *CBC -Harper Faces Sharp Questions Over Duffy-Wright / Senate Scandal * [image: Progressive Bloggers]

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 23 hours ago
*Veteran reporter Jaquetta White joins The Advocate’s New Orleans staff*

Hermoso campo de lavanda con un cielo majestuoso

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 23 hours ago
[image: Hermoso campo de lavanda con un cielo majestuoso] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de lavanda* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Fun with OECD indicators

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 23 hours ago
Hours of fun to be had with this cool graphic from the Organization for Economic Development. The OECD has put together a comparison of 36 countries based on 11 indicators associated with a better life, and a person could pass a lot of time clicking around the site and watching all the pretty flowers move up and down the scale of liveability. The indicators used by the OECD include housing, income, jobs, civic engagement, health, security and such - standard fare when talking about a country's liveability, but much easier to grasp in this highly visual presentation as opposed to the ... more »

Rio de agua clara junto a los árboles y montañas

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 23 hours ago
[image: Río de agua clara junto a los árboles y montañas] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de rios* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Siluetas de delfines saltando en el oceano

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 23 hours ago
[image: Siluetas de delfines saltando en el oceano] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de delfines* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Vívora enorme en espera de su presa

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 23 hours ago
[image: Vívora enorme en espera de su presa] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de vívoras* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

"Apple Is a Tax Dodger… You Should Be, Too"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 23 hours ago
* * *"Apple Is a Tax Dodger… You Should Be, Too" * by Alexander Green “There was a collective gasp in some quarters last week when it was revealed that technology giant Apple avoided taxes on billions of dollars in offshore profits. CEO Tim Cook will almost certainly catch plenty of flak in the weeks ahead. But shareholders can breathe easy. Apple is unlikely to pay an extra cent in taxes. And you would be well advised to follow its example. Here’s why… Apple did nothing illegal. It is simply playing the game that Congress created with the near-incomprehensible tax code. Hundreds... more »

The Science of Teacher Evaluation Manipulation

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
Hopefully, another semester has come to a close for you and you’re catching up on some much needed research/sleep. After I’ve doled out grades for my students, I usually get a nice big stack of evaluations of my teaching abilities, filled out by those very same students who squeaked by with a “C-“in my class. Continue reading

Frank Lloyd Wright: “The present education system is the trampling of the herd”

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 day ago
A neat new book that’s perfect for your pocket compiles over 200 of architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s pithiest ponderings on different topics. Maria Popova has posted a few of her favourites on the topic of education, with links to related presentations from Ken Robinson, Richard Feynman, William Gibson et al, including some of these gems: “The present education system is the trampling of the herd.” (1956) “Cultivate the poet. The poet is the unacknowledged legislator of this universe and the sooner we knock under to that the better. Get Emerson’s essay on the American scholar and r... more »

Politico throws pity party for Boehner

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 day ago
No need to read the Politico piece, it only states the obvious. Everybody knows the crackpot cons have taken control of the House and Boehner is powerless to stop them. Charlie's takedown of Tiger Beat on the Potomacgets to heart of the dysfunction. This remains the only story worth covering about how our government is operating — or, more accurately, failing to operate — in Washington, and it remains a story that TBOTP, among others, have failed dismally to cover. It is not an unfair summation of that passage to conclude that "most young conservatives" who have been elected to serv... more »

Are Harry Reid's Threats Working?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 day ago
Item: Sri Srinivasan was confirmed for the DC Circuit Court, the first Obama pick to reach that important bench. Item: District Judge nominee William Orrick was confirmed 56-41 on May 15 (with two Democrats and one Republican missing the vote); no cloture vote was taken. There was also a minor executive branch confirmation a week before that with a 53-45 vote, also without a cloture vote. Item: Rob Portman is apparently trying to cut a deal on the Cordray nomination for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, one of the "nullification" blockade filibusters. In the Roll Call articl... more »

LNG Premium Price Downward Spiral, The Perfect Storm For Asian Energy Buyers

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 1 day ago
*Written by Grant G* Christy Clark and the BC Liberals entire 2013 platform was based on unrealistic LNG future revenues, the debt to be eliminated, sales tax to be shelved, bridge tolls removed, BC Ferries and BC Hydro debts eliminated as well as a promised prosperity fund worth $hundreds of billions of dollars for future generations. It`s time for the media, the mainstream media to do a little bit of the heavy lifting and start actually reporting the new reality of LNG pricing, why is this task left to a handful of online writers and bloggers, it`s not that I mind breaking vir... more »

It Wouldn't Be Hard For The NRCC To Defeat A Pack Of ConservaDems-- But They Can't Get Past Their Own Idiocy

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
GOP idiots wasting their money John Barrow (Blue Dog-GA), Collin Peterson (Blue Dog-MN), Ron Barber (New Dem-AZ) and Ann Kirkpatrick (AZ) are 4 of the House Democrats who vote most frequently and most consistently with Republicans on key matters of policy. Defeating all four would be a boon for progressives because they would no longer be acting as a toxin within the party caucus and inside committees. Defeating them in primaries would be the best-- but defeating each of them is the goal. The NRCC is working towards realizing that already-- with a year and a half to go before electi... more »

Smoking Crack with DRUG DEALERS

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 1 day ago
OK, so Ford Nation is apparently standing by their asshat guy. Mostly they're in denial that the video exists. On Twitter today Ezra LeRant aired a different theory. It's not just class. It's race. Rob Ford is the 1st black mayor. At least brown. Ask any cabbie or corner store owner maisonneuve.org/post/2013/05/2… — Ezra Levant (@ezralevant) May 28, 2013 Leaving aside the incredible racism of that, I decided to take the challenge (and I needed cigarettes). My local convenience store is owned by a bunch of brown guys. Not related as far as I can tell. Some, judging by accent, born ... more »

Why Obama's "Leadership" Is Bunkum

Short but sweet. Just another way of saying those with the gold intend on keeping the gold. Grow the fuck up. And figure it out. Or you die. Powerless and poor. From BTC News. Which rocks. This Is Why Democrats Can’t Have Nice ThingsBy Weldon Berger, on April 17th, 2013I’ve now read two opinion pieces, one by Charlie Pierce at Esquire last week and another by Jamelle Bouie at The

Oh, before I forget to mention it…

Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
I found all these great reports that basically prove without a doubt the major contentions of the education reform movement. I’m serious. Here they are, linked below based on each issue. Socioeconomic status does not predict educational outcomes. Competition for per-pupil expenditures improves student and parent satisfaction. Psychic Sylvia Brown predicts: “The Common Core will […]

Rod Liddle and the Economics of the Commentariat

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 1 day ago
Apologies for the gratuitous Liddle shot. His latest piece in *The Spectator * is mercifully brief, although its short paragraphs condense the "iconoclastic" racism and anti-Islam bile we've come to expect. It's pointless trying to take down the piece through reasoned argument because Rod is now well and truly hitched himself to the bandwagon of professional controversialists. So let's take a scalpel - a figurative one, sadly - to Liddle and the company of metropolitan misanthropes he keeps. Rod, alongside his contemporaries Dan Hodges, Mel Phillips, and Brendan O'Neill all hail fro... more »

A Pig With Lipstick is Still a Pig, Not a Greyhound.

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
Stephen Harper is still intent on saddling the RCAF with the F-35 light attack bomber. The so-called "reset button" that his government supposedly pushed to launch a full-blown fighter competition is being dismissed by some of Lockheed's competitors as a farce. Here's the thing. There won't be a valid competition without a fly-off that involves getting all the competitors up to Cold Lake to see how they each perform in various mission scenarios and against each other. That's not about to happen - mainly because the F-35 probably wouldn't do terribly well. That's mainly beca... more »

Woolwich aftermath: Increased support to terrorists in Syria; More funding for Police State; Total crackdown on Freedom

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 1 day ago
As the dust settles following the State-ordained Woolwich incident, the reasons for this Zionist psychological operation are becoming ever clearer. The enemies of freedom needed an excuse to crush opposition to their evil plans, and when one did not present itself, the highly-publicised Woolwich event was created. There are those who argue that the man alleged to have been decapitated is still alive, and that Lee Rigby was just another actor. This is possible, but considering that the enemies of humanity were quite happy to murder thousands in New York City on the 11th September 2... more »

“The ‘Social Contract’ Is a Fraud”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
* * *“The ‘Social Contract’ Is a Fraud”* by Bill Bonner “There are many theories to explain government. Most are nothing but scams, justifications and puffery. One tries to put something over on the common man... the other claims it was for his own good... and the third pretends that he'd be lost without it. Most are not really "theories" at all... but prescriptions, blueprints for creating the kind of government the "theorist" would like to have. Not surprisingly, the blueprints flatter his intellect and engage his imagination. The "social contract," for example, is a fraud. You... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Corps of Engineers concludes $10.3 billion, 98-mile-long Morganza to the Gulf levee is 'economically justified' ~Mark Schleifstein* *Peeling the onion ~American Zombie* *State Supreme Court ruling against vouchers means more money for Orleans Parish schools ~Jessica Williams, The Lens* *French Quarter Landmark Tujague’s Restaurant Will Remain In Family!*

René Guénon On The Illusion of Democracy

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
Related: *René Guénon On The Need For Creating An Understanding Between The East And The West*. Below is an excerpt from René Guénon's 1927 book called, *"The Crisis of the Modern World."* Translated by Marco Pallis, Arthur Osborne, and Richard C. Nicholson. Sophia Perennis: Hillsdale, New York. 2004. Pg. 73-75. "The most decisive argument against democracy can be summed up in a few words: the higher cannot proceed from the lower, because the greater cannot proceed from the lesser; this is an absolute mathematical certainty that nothing can gainsay. And it should be remarked ... more »

Why Defining Terrorism Matters

Rational Insurgent at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
This is a guest post by Karolina Lula, a PhD student at Rutgers-Newark. --------------- The terrorism industry has grown exponentially since 9/11. Whenever a terrorist attack occurs, a plethora of terrorism scholars eagerly spoon out their collective wisdom. The chance to be included in the over-caffeinated media spotlight justifies decades cooped up in small offices pouring over data. In a certain respect, terrorism scholars mirror their subject. They both love an audience. Despite their growing presence in the media, academics fail to persuade others about w... more »

The Real News - Corruption in Palestinian Government is Connected to Occupation

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
The Real News - Corruption in Palestinian Government is Connected to Occupation. Description: Aman: the main reason for malpractices in the Palestinian government is the Israeli occupation, but reforms should be pursued nevertheless, as public demand for transparency and fair government is strong.

Huh?

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day ago
I was just watching *North West Tonight *on BBC One. Its political editor Arif Ansari presented the first of a three-part series on the history of the Militant Tendency, especially its role in Liverpool. There was an intriguing moment, however, when Arif said, "the Labour Party, which was pretty right-wing in the 60s and 70s." Right-wing compared to Militant maybe - and that's certainly how Militant themselves saw it - but actually "right-wing"? Really? When Labour had an 83% top rate tax and the commanding heights of the economy were in state hands? Shouldn't Arif have said, ... more »

John McCain visits NATO mercs in Syria via Turkey; Whitehouse aware

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
Of course the White House was aware! Would anyone believe otherwise? I have heard it said that John McCain is insane? He isn't really, though. A psycopath, sure. Completely, evil/vile, yes. But ruthlessly, calculating and rational. The psychopathy and evil would be necessary attributes to consort with NATO's butchers, organ eaters, rapists and mass murdering killers. . Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames. White House Was Aware Of Republican's Plans But, his own daughter found out on twitter ?! Oh, my! They must be quite estranged? McCain, R-Ariz., a member of t... more »

Calling the Healers

Sophia Love at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
This is not a battle for conquest and defeat. The mindset for supremacy is what has led us into this time of revolution. The force propelling this movement now springs from our very essence. It is oneness. It is unity. It is love. Once balance is achieved, the ferocity of each engagement will change. Not today. Today our fiercest and most unwavering warriors are engaged around the clock. We are multi-dimensional and as such cannot be separated from every aspect of ourselves. You may have whispers of memory in your daily life – of negotiations, meetings, battles, c... more »

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 day ago
Welded shovel pinecones by Floyd Elzinga. [click to embiggen.]

Tiwesdæg: the Left-hand of Linkage

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
The Hong Kong Duck is back! Not much point in having the “best” military R&D in the world if a potential rival can steal your most important designs. A Law of the Sea symposium (and also) at Opinio Juris on “search and rescue operations.” LFC on Kennan’s opposition to the Vietnam War. Making the most out of Google dirigibles Continue reading

Real-time reports from the Washington Times!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, MAY 28, 2013* *It happened in Benghazi:* Scripted within an inch of her life, Sharyl Attkisson was deeply confused in a recent C-Span appearance. Attkisson just didn’t get it! She couldn’t *imagine* where people ever got the idea that a spontaneous demonstration had occurred in connection with the deadly Benghazi attack. Nor could she see how that stupid YouTube video ever got into the story. It must have been a giant deception! Cooked up by Hillary Clinton! Right from the very first night! Attkisson was either lying or she’s just crazy—you can take your pick. Her C-Span... more »

No Available Fix for Politician Paranoia

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 day ago
I highly recommend a post by Ezra Klein today about money in politics. He's following up on an earlier item he did about money in the 2012 election cycle being overhyped; today he's taking on criticisms of that one. It's excellent: he doesn't back down on the basic point that the "campaign finance community" (as he puts it) overstates, and often dramatically overstates, the importance of campaign finance. One topic he covers, however, is one where I've become increasingly pessimistic over time: the way that raising money eats into the lives of elected officials. It's something that ... more »

Blue America Welcomes Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN)

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
You may have noticed that lately, the noisy right-wing Hate Machine has decided to take a little energy out of their stream of hatred and calumny usually reserved for Nancy Pelosi, to focus it on Keith Ellison (D-MN). After all, Keith, a very outspoken and articulate co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and only 49, will be in Congress long after Pelosi, 73, retires. Sean Hannity has declared a right-wing crusade against Ellison and spends an inordinate amount of energy smearing him. We've tried to have Keith's back. And today at 1pm (Central Time), 11am on the West C... more »

CEA Chair

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 1 day ago
Rumor has it that my friend and former student Jason Furman will be the next chair of the Council of Economic Advisers. If true, that is great news. Jason is smart, knowledgeable, and sensible. He does not come to the job with as long an academic track record as other recent picks, but he has far more policy-relevant experience and expertise.

Israel threatens to strike Russian missile shipments to Syria

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
*Link * *Israel’s* defence minister on Tuesday signalled that his military is prepared to strike shipments of advanced Russian weapons to Syria, in a rare implied threat to Moscow. Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon issued his warning shortly after a top Russian official said his government reserves the right to provide Syria with state-of-the-art S-300 air defence missiles. Israel has been lobbying Moscow to drop the sale, fearing the missiles would upset the balance of power in the region and could slip into the hands of hostile groups, including the Lebanese militant Hezbollah, a clo... more »

Another taste of test abstention data

Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 1 day ago
As we continue to sift through the data from the survey, I wanted to offer the reader another taste. Here’s the list of tests refused this year. Now, I’ve learned two things from this. One, a great variety of assessments. And two, are you kidding me? How many products do we need and how much […]

Let's Talk Bodychecking

Catelli at Not Quite Unhinged - 1 day ago
This post is written by someone that has never played organized ice hockey. I barely watch the sport anymore. So if that kind of person talking about changing hockey pisses you off, I suggest you leave now. Hockey Canada has banned the practice of bodychecking in peewee hockey. If the numbers in this Ottawa Citizen article are to be believed (only because they are so striking) every year 12% of

El mono aquatico y su hermano perdido

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 1 day ago
Tiene sentido? La hipotesis de que la raza humana una vez estuvo la mayoria de su tiempo en la orilla del mar y que por eso nosotros perdimos el exceso de pelo y aprendimos a caminar recto tiene su validez. La otra razon por la cual tiene su es la conveniencia que tiene el agua en lo del aseo personal, no es lo mismo limpiar el fondillo con una hoja y arena que agua aunque esa agua sea agua salada... El hecho de que aprendimos a caminar erecto y los gluteos maximus frotan al caminar...Que hicieron los primeros homoerectus cuando defecaban y las bacterias digestivas enpezaban a irr... more »

Jabberwocky

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 1 day ago
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe; All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe. "Beware the Jabberwock, my son! The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun The frumious Bandersnatch!" He took his vorpal sword in hand: Long time the manxome foe he sought— So rested he by the Tumtum tree, And stood awhile in thought. And as in uffish thought he stood, The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame, Came whiffling through the tulgey wood, And burbled as it came! One, two! One, two! and through and through The vorpal blade... more »

Justin Trudeau Steps Into A Pile Of Stinky 'Senate' Crap ......

leftdog at Buckdog - 1 day ago
** [image: Progressive Bloggers] *"We have 24 senators from Quebec and there are just six from Alberta and British Columbia. It's to our advantage. To want to abolish it is demagoguery ... We'll have to improve it."* *Justin Trudeau, Leader* *Liberal Party of Canada* *As more and more Canadians come around to the position of Canada's New Democrats on the unelected Senate ... guess what Justin Trudeau decides to spring on his party faithful?* *The political columnist with the Regina Leader-Post is bang on with today's offering:* *Trudeau lets PM off Senate hook* *"It must be reass... more »

Taking Liberalism on Intervention Seriously: a 12-Step Program

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Tim Dunne. He is Research Director of the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect at the University of Queensland and the past editor of the European Journal of International Relations. tl;dr warning: ~2400 words. In a recent lively and provocative post, Stephen Walt argues that liberal imperialists are like ‘neocons’ only more human rights-friendly. They Continue reading

In Defence of the Indefensible?

sue at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day ago
The website of the English Defence League is an ugly sight. The graphics are decidedly Nazi-like, with the red cross of St. George looking disturbingly like the Iron-cross. For an outfit that claims to be fighting religiously-inspired intolerance, including but not limited to: *“**the denigration and oppression of women, the molestation of young children, the committing of so-called honour killings, homophobia, anti-Semitism” *you’d probably think they’d make an effort to sanitise their symbols and liberate their logo. Unsurprisingly, from their inception, the EDL have been writt... more »

Five Teens Reveal Debilitating Stories After Getting HPV The Vaccine by Rachel Porter

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 1 day ago
Five teens reveal their debilitating stories after getting HPV vaccine by Rachel Porter, Daily Mail Food Freedom, 28 May, 2013 It has been hailed as the wonder jab that will prevent thousands of young women suffering the same terrible fate as Jade Goody. But as parents across Britain rush to have their daughters vaccinated, others are adamant that it has triggered alarming side-effects… *Below are the pictures and names of the six dears sacrificed for Corporate profits and under the pictures will be the link to their story from my source:* ** ** *Jade Goody supported calls to lo... more »

America Is Finished: 40 Statistics About The Fall Of The US Economy That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe!

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
I am indeed worried about where the economy here in Canada is going these days... Here in central Canada, there are less and less people purchasing big ticket items, and although most of the local shopping malls are full of people, few are actually buying anything! It does seem that there are indeed fewer Canadian dollars to go around, and the result is a severely weakening economic outlook here.....They call it a "recession" but I am leaning now on it being more of a full scale DEPRESSION! But what is happening in Canada right now is NOTHING compared to the complete mess that the ... more »

My 10 Favorite Picture Books

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 1 day ago
My little girl loves to read. We read every day and if she had her way, we would read these 10 books over and over again. We have read these books so often that I have most of them memorized, my husband has some of them memorized and even my 4-year-old has a few of them memorized too. Here are our favorite picture books to read as a family with links to help you find them. Linking up to The Broke and the Bookish. Pinkalicious- My little girl is obsessed with this book, about a little girl who loves pink so much that she eats too many pink cupcakes and turns pink. We love this boo... more »

To those who deny that the Nazis killed millions in Concentration Camps and/or who say the Israelis keep the Palestinians in concentration camps

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
This is a short Pathe news piece about the opening up of some of the concentration camps at the end of the Second World War. If you watch nothing else, watch from 4:02 onwards to see what real concentration camp inmates look like. Here's two stills that I have posted before of dead Jews in concentration camps By way of contrast, here's the food available in Gaza
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