English: a beach in maine on a clear day with a sailboat (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Great Seal of the State of Maine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)MAINE DRONE BILL NEGOTIATIONS
The Maine drone bill has hit a snag. A couple potential drone manufacturers in Maine, along with the Presque Isle airport (who wants to be a drone test site), are pushing for language in the bill to allow testing of weapons on drones in Maine. Maine Attorney General Janet Mills (Democrat) and Gov. Paul LePage (Republican) are largely behind this effort. The Maine House of Representatives tabled the bill last night in order to buy time to add the drone weapons testing amendment. Late last night I was talking with Shenna Bellows from ACLU about all this and she said Rep.Seth Berry... more »
No One Cares About the Deficit, Latest Chapter
The CBO says: the Senate immigration bill lowers the deficit (see also a nice explainer from pro-immigration analyst Matt Yglesias). Liberals who support immigration reform have been having fun since yesterday afternoon pointing out that Republicans who oppose immigration are hypocrites because they will surely ignore or dismiss that effect on what is supposedly one of their main priorities. Well, yes -- but I have very little problem with hypocrisy in general, and even less on this "gotcha" kind. Truth is that immigration policy is terribly important to determining what kind of nat... more »
Impeach or Not to Impeach: That IS the Question
Catherine J. Frompovich Hopefully, in this article I can speak intelligently to political issues, as my normal bailiwick is consumer health issues, vaccine safety advocacy in particular. There comes a time when I feel everyone must take a stand for what he or she believes in and in what truly makes substantial difference to their sense of morality, ethics, governance, and community. For me, at least, the saturation point has arrived! I’m up to my eyeballs in overload from the lack of transparency in an administration that originally campaigned on changing the former administratio... more »
Chimericana Books - Mike Philbin - new title and reissued titles
For the last decade or so, *Chimericana Books* has been a repository for all 'rights returned titles' that I, Mike Philbin, have written in collaboration with various writers or under various pseudonyms, Michael Paul Peter, Hertzan Chimera and my role as editor of the Chimeraworld anthology (which made it so its sixth annual issue). I've recently re-secured the rights to all my paperback-published novels from 2008 to the present day. As soon as the final-edit is completed on CUSTODIAN (free planet¹), I'll be publishing it through the brand new Chimericana Books (using a different... more »
Growing Complaints About Security Operations In Iraq
In response to the deteriorating security situation, the Iraqi military has launched a series of clearing missions in Anbar, Ninewa, Tamim, and other provinces recently. These operations have received a growing number of complaints from politicians and average citizens who claim that the police and army are violating people’s rights, carrying out arbitrary arrests, hindering travel, and destroying property. This is in direct contrast to government statements, which emphasize the cooperation of the public. This turn of events points to two major shortcomings with the Iraqi forces. T... more »
Sask Premier Brad Wall 'Displays Double Standard' ... Criticised By All Other Sask Political Party Leaders
** *Premier Brad Wall has really stepped into a big mess with his criticism of Federal Liberal Leader, Justin Trudeau. All leaders of Saskatchewan political parties have now made that perfectly clear:* * **=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=* *Sask New Democrats** * *"Wall has criticized federal Liberal party leader Trudeau for accepting hefty payments for speaking at charity events, but provincial NDP Opposition Leader Cam Broten says the premier should look “inwardly.”* *“The premier is so passionate about highlighting some of the mistakes that have been made at the national level, while at the ... more »
The case of the unreimbursed body wash!
*WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2013* *The Washington Post attempts to report on McDonnell:* In Monday morning’s Washington Post, Laura Vozzella authored a long, peculiar report about Virginia governor Robert McDonnell. According to Nexis, the 1450-word piece appeared on page B4 of the Metro section. Yesterday, we found a hard copy edition of Monday’s Post, and the piece appeared on B1. It may have appeared in different places in different editions of the paper. Wherever it may have appeared, Vozzella’s report was long and odd. It was terrible journalism. Vozzella’s report formed the basis f... more »
The Realist Report with John Friend
On this edition of *The Realist Report*, we'll be joined by my good friend Zan Overall, also known as The Wise Old Man, to discuss 9/11 and the "truth" movement, and current events. Be sure to check out Zan's *YouTube channel*. Please visit *The Realist Report* on TalkeShoe to download this and past episodes.
Southern Man Saves A Life
So Southern Man and Teen Daughter (henceforth refered to as the Little Mermaid) and Southern Son all wander down to the local water park for a morning of fun and sun. And eventually Southern Man found himself on the big rental tube out in the deep end of the Wave Pool while Little Mermaid frolicked nearby. It wasn't too crowded nor too loud. In fact it was rather calm and peaceful and Southern Man was half watching Little Mermaid and half dozing off. And then Southern Man heard a faint voice. "Help..." Southern Man glaced around and spied a young man nearby. He didn't seem to be ... more »
When You Act Look Like A Baboon, The Monkey Starts to Look Cute
Should Justin Trudeau have collected speaking fees while sitting as an MP? In my books, no, he should not have. I find charging people to hear a sitting MP speak to be a gross violation of the ethics an MP should hold themselves to. However, to Justin's credit, he disclosed all of his income in February and has since stopped collecting fees since he won the leadership race. He has even proposed
Checks & Balances
Back in the primordial era, American schools used to teach that our three branches of government provide a system of checks and balances to ensure that no one entity can ever ride roughshod over the system. The courts can strike down unconstitutional laws, the legislature makes sure that the president doesn't glom onto too much power, and the president has the power of the veto pen. Round and round Democracy goes, like a happy little amusement park ride. That was then. Today we have a unified Triad of Terror operating in a funhouse of smoke and mirrors, grotesque simulacra of what t... more »
DESTROYING NATURE FOR A NAVY BASE
*C**onstruction trash and debris floats out of a gap in the silt protectors. Gangjeong was once famous for the cleanliness of it's Joongdeok Sea.* *Although just recently made, these caissons are already falling apart, perhaps due to rough weather and poor construction.* On June 5 and 12, the Gangjeong village SOS (Save Our Seas) Ocean Team again took to the seas to monitor the Navy base construction. On one of the trips, June 12, they were joined by a large group of students from an alternative school who had come to visit Gangjeong. The students had a short experiential learnin... more »
Chief Wonk tells a funny, interesting enough if it wasn’t also milquetoast
It’s this guy, Rotherham. Bellwether, or what have you. Some consulting firm. Some kind of professional love affair brewing between Duncan and Weingarten? M-haps. Although, I would have used the Tiffany version instead. Tagged: Duncan, rotherham, weingarten
Plagiarism the new norm in Indian country journalism
An action packed week in Indian country! Where are the Indian country reporters? (Photos by Andrew Ironshell, Black Mesa Water Coalition and Dawn Dyer.) Plagiarism the new norm in Indian country journalism By Brenda Norrell Censored News There's a great deal of action happening this week in Indian country, but you wouldn't know it by the national Indian news. Instead of having reporters
MICHAEL HASTINGS TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT THE PENTAGON GENERALS
*Journalist Michael Hastings* *died in a mysterious car crash on 19 June 2013.* Hastings was a critic of the Pentagon generals. In 2010, Michael Hastings described General Stanley McChrystal's staff as "a handpicked collection of killers, spies, ... political operators and outright maniacs." McChrystal was sacked by Obama in 2010. *Gen. Stanley McChrystal helped cover up the circumstances of Army Cpl. Pat Tillman's death.* * * *Gen. McChrystal was fired from job he never deserved to have* *On 11 November 2012, Michael Hastings wrote that we should never have trusted General Da... more »
Obesity Officially Declared a ‘Disease’ Requiring ‘Treatment’
*If you are an American, being obese doesn’t just mean you are overweight anymore.* Melissa Melton The American Medical Association voted Tuesday that obesity is now officially a ‘disease that requires treatment’. The LA Times reported: In the end, members of the AMA’s House of Delegates rejected cautionary advice from their own experts and extended the new status to a condition that affects more than one-third of adults and 17% of children in the United States. ‘Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affec... more »
The Cascadia Fault Line: Locked, Loaded And Ready To Fire
Chris Carrington On a dark winter's night in January 1700 a tsunami struck Japan. It flooded fields, swept away villages for miles inland and cost many lives. Even as far back as 1700 the Japanese had made the connection between earthquakes and Tsunami, but this time there was no earthquake, no warning to allow the people time to evacuate to higher ground. The tsunami was called the ‘orphan tsunami’ because it had no ‘parent’ earthquake. For more than 300 years the origin of the orphan tsunami remained a mystery. In the 1980s Hiroo Kanamori and Tom Heaton published a paper that sa... more »
things i heard at the library: an occasional series: # 9, or why this new librarian found the reference desk a little scary
In this post, I described doing reference as "a bit scary," and Impudent Strumpet asked why. I started to write an answer, ran out of time, then found myself on my first real shift at the reference desk! During my training and orientation weeks, I did two half-shifts at the desk during non-busy hours - a second chair, so to speak, when there is normally only one person working. But this week I had my first proper evening shift, during peak hours. It is also exam week for high schools, so every available space in the entire library is filled with groups of teenagers studying (or no... more »
Obama Bankrupts Coal, Boosts Fracking
*Shutting Down Coal-Powered Plants Is Making Energy More Expensive, and Hydraulic Fracturing More Common* Aaron Dykes All over America, coal power plants which provide stable, cheap energy are being shut down under Obama-led regulations and the C02 control agenda. Although coal is dirty, regulations have helped clean it up, and natural gas from fracking is worse … but hydraulic fracturing is exactly what Obama is using to replace coal – at great cost to the environment. Based on what we already known about fracking, it is contributing to groundwater contamination, adding radioac... more »
High Level Opposition to Escalating Syria's Conflict
Stephen Lendman Dozens of responsible world leaders oppose Washington's war on Syria. They do so for good reason. They want peaceful conflict resolution. They're against greater escalation. Few say so publicly. On May 15, the UN General Assembly adopted an anti-Assad resolution. It's non-binding. It was Arab League-led. Washington co-sponsored it. It followed four others since 2011. It passed 107 - 12. Over 70 nations refused support. They endorse peace, not war. They oppose greater foreign intervention. Russia called the measure "counterproductive and irresponsible." Assad expre...more »
Obama, Syria and the Aspin doctrine: Plans for a "limited" strike on Syria?
Here is what has been on my mind. Let me run it past all of you here. We have all this jockeying for position prior to Geneva II. Not just Israel/NATO/GCC. Not just Russia. Syria, also. We had the very, very important battle at Quassi(y)r. The loss of the strategic town by the NATO terrorists and subsequent moves by the SAA have weakened the NATO/Israel/GCC position. Obama reacted by using the chemical weapon/red line/humanitarian R2P meme as a justification for a possible no fly/buffer zone being enacted in parts of Jordan and possibly Turkey. The discord in Turkey allows for this...more »
Lawless NSA Global Spying
Stephen Lendman *Image* NSA is one of 16 known US spy agencies. Perhaps others operate secretly. Black budgets conceal what's spent. Amounts are enormous. They're unconscionable. Used responsibly, they'd relieve hunger, shelter the homeless, heal the sick, and educate young people hungry for knowledge. Out-of-control, unregulated, unmonitored practices operate lawlessly. Enormous harm results. Rogue states operate that way. On June 1, 1952, Harry Truman authorized NSA. On October 24, revised National Security Council Intelligence Directive (NSCID) 9 followed. On November 4,... more »
United Stasi of America through the Echelon Prism
SARTRE Signals collection has a long secretive and enigmatic history. The very definition of espionage implies spying, most closely associated with foreign sources. Since the Echelon network, the unified function of data retrieval became a given during the cold war. With the revelation of Prism, advances in sophisticated electronic devices and software algorithms provide a major leap. The article, Is PRISM the US version of Echelon?, sums up the evolution. With this kind of setup and ambition to capture and evaluate private conversations (well, not so private now), makes Echelon ... more »
Government twisting facts on NSA ‘targeting’ Americans for surveillance according to reports
Medill DC/Flickr Madison Ruppert The U.S. government is reportedly distorting the facts on the National Security Agency (NSA) targeting Americans for surveillance without a warrant, something which NSA leaker Edward Snowden affirmed in saying the NSA uses “weasel” words. In response to a damning report published by CNET based on statements made during a closed briefing, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence issued a statement essentially saying that the report was entirely false. The briefing was an apparent attempt to deal with therecent outcry following the revela... more »
As the World Turns - It Melts
From HuffPo this morning STOCKHOLM -- The World Bank says it will increasinglyview its efforts to help developing countries fight poverty through a "climate lens." In a report released Wednesday, the international lending institution warned that heat waves, rising seas, more severe storms and other impacts of climate change will trap millions of people in poverty. As a result, the Washington-based bank said it is stepping up support for efforts to curb climate change and to help the world adapt to it. "Urgent action is needed to not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also... more »
Mining 24: The Regalian Doctrine
A friend, law student and Objectivist, free market blogger Froi of the http://vincenton.com/ wrote a good legal and economic opinion on mining. In his article last June 08, 2013, *Regalian Doctrine Versus RP’s Mining Industry andEconomic Progress, *he traced the history of this philosophy and its negative impact on regulate-tax-regulate thinking in mining. It's a long paper, reposting only portions of it. Below, among the products of mining that many anti-mining activists fail or refuse to recognize. *The primitive, colonial Regalian Doctrine* But… such a statist notion is founded ... more »
Breaking Non-News! The Rise of Poverty and the Fall of the Middle Class Affect Schools
The next time you see the world’s richest corporation, Exxon Mobil, trying to use school bashing to divert attention away from their obscene wealth, minimal tax rate, job export plan, and climate change denial positions, be reminded of the other facts that help us understand what may have contributed to our international test score positions–25th […]
NSA scandal: the deepest secret of the Ed Snowden operation
Jon Rappoport Everyone wants to see a hero. When that hero emerges from the shadows and says all the right things, and when he exposes a monolithic monster, he’s irresistible. However, that doesn’t automatically make him who he says he is. That doesn’t automatically exempt him from doubts. Because he’s doing the right thing, people quickly make him into a spokesman for their own hopes. If he’s finally blasting a hole in the dark enemy’s fortress, he has to be accepted at face value. He has to be elevated. When dealing with the intelligence community and their spooks and methods,... more »
Real Life Spy Drama On U.S. Bound Plane? “I’m Dead Already, They’re Gonna Kill Me”
Passenger Daniel Perry is escorted off a United flight from Hong Kong Is he really connected to the NSA scandal? Mac Slavo To add further drama and confusion to the story of Edward Snowden, NSA Spying and Central Intelligence Agency involvement, a passenger on a U.S. bound flight out of Hong Kong Monday claimed that intelligence agents had detained him, were going to kidnap him, take him to a safe house, and that they planned to kill him because of his knowledge about the recently released leaks. According to witnesses, passenger Daniel M. Perry relayed to other passengers aboard ...more »
Will It Be “Lights Out” For Parts of America This Summer?
Chris Carrington The 2013 Summer Reliability Assessment from NERC highlights that some states are well below the reserve capacity thats recommended to cope with peak demand of electricity. The report, published in May shows major concerns about Southern California and Texas stating: Tight supply may lead to operational challenges Peak demand in Texas has risen, but production and spare capacity hasn’t, leading to a deficit of 1% between supply and demand. Much of Texas is bone dry, with scarcely any moisture to be found in the top layers of soil. Grass is so dry it crunches under...more »
Huge Area of Sea Floor Movement Off Iberian Coast
Chris Carrington Continental Europe has started to move towards the United States as a new subduction zone forms off the Portuguese coast. This is the start of a cycle that will see the Atlantic Ocean reduce in size and finally close as what scientists refer to as a ‘passive margin’ becomes active. A subduction zone is an area where one of the plates that cover the Earths’ surface is driven underneath the plate it is colliding into. Such faults are known to produce mega-thrust earthquakes when they get stuck and then slip allowing massive pressure to be released. The Indonesian q... more »
Supreme Court Decides: Anything You Don't Say Can and Will be Used Against You
Daisy Luther Everyone knows that when building a police state, it’s vital to strike a few Constitutional rights off the books. Now, we can add the right to remain silent to the graveyard of the American justice system. How can you expect the people to be properly subjugated with all those pesky freedoms that the Bill of Rights blathers on about? The would-be totalitarians can chalk up another victory, because the Supreme Court has made the decision that if you opt to remain silent, that silence can (and will) be used against you in a court of law. The Fifth Amendment to the Con... more »
“This Is A Glock Block” – Frustrated Homeowners All Over America Are Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands
Michael Snyder All over the United States, frustrated homeowners are banding together, arming themselves and patrolling their own streets. One of the primary reasons this is happening is because police budgets all over the nation are being slashed at a time when violent crime rates in the United States are increasing and many of our largest cities are being transformed into crime-infested war zones. So instead of waiting for government to come up with a solution, many Americans are taking matters into their own hands. For example, one community group in Milwaukie, Oregon has sta... more »
WotW: Boosting Your Blog's Reach Through Social Media
Wouldn't it be great if you wrote a blog post and thousands of people instantly knew about it, read it, commented on it and begged you for more? Of course it would, but for the vast majority of bloggers, that's not reality. After all, a blog is merely a website, and getting people to go to that website can be tricky. There's an entire industry dedicated to helping people find websites. Kind of crazy. But, just because it doesn't happen automatically doesn't mean there aren't things you can do to help out your cause. After all, who knows your blog and your content better than you?... more »
SILLY SEASON: Killing the pig in a shark attack!
*WEDNESDAY, JUNE 19, 2013* *Part 2—Low-IQ pundits hunt bimbo:* In fairness, when we’re killing the pig in a shark attack, things like this will happen. Early Monday afternoon, Amanda Marcotte was killing the pig at Salon. In this case, the pig was Miss Utah, “whose real name is Marissa Powell.” The night before, Powell, who is 21, gave an incoherent reply to a less than fully coherent question. Now, Marcotte and a school of low-IQ pundits were staging a ritual of the season—a new form of shark attack. When we’re killing the pig in a shark attack, things like this will happen! Below...more »
Read Stuff, You Should
Happy Birthday to Kathleen Turner, 59. Good stuff: 1. John Side does some teaching: why we should care what happens to Obama's approval rating. (I thought I remembered writing a version of this myself a while back, but I can't find it; either way, John's is better. 2. Kevin Drum on medical inflation. 3. And very good one from Ezra Klein on Bobby Jindal.
The Chinese Version of Agenda 21 and Why the US Should Care
Dave Hodges As most aware people already know, England often provides us with a forward-looking view of where our police state surveillance grid will be in three or four years. The US has another canary in the mine from which to predict its future, and it has to do with how China is implementing Agenda 21. China has long led the world in repressive and inhuman enforcement of its one child policies, mandatory sterilization and forced abortions. We also know that China permits corporate slave labor (e.g. Walmart) within its boundaries by globalist corporations. China is indeed a mo... more »
Now You Are Man - A Poem by M.N. Hopkins
*Your Heart* Now You Are Man *Success is relative* ** *Failure is a prelude to success* ** *Success is a culmination of trail and error over countless centuries of what you call time* ** *Detach from these notions of success and failure* ** *Be at peace and be in love with all aspects of your living* ** *See clearly and know that all is a part of a Divine plan * ** *And all play their part to bring about a balance to the Whole* ** *Dark and light* ** *Good and evil* ** *Male and female* ** *All compliment each other and cancel each other out to bring a balance to the total continuum* *... more »
Leaked U.N. Report Outlines Iran Sanctions-Busting, As IAEA Details “Steady” Nuclear Progress | TheTower.org
'Iran is making "steady progress" in expanding its nuclear program and international sanctions do not seem to be slowing it down, the U.N. nuclear agency chief told Reuters on Monday… "There is a steady increase of capacity and production (in Iran's nuclear program)," Amano said in an interview. Asked if international punitive steps aimed at making Iran curb its atomic activity were slowing it down, he said: "I don't think so … I don't see any impact."' More here http://www.thetower.org/leaked-u-n-report-outlines-iran-sanctions-busting-as-iaea-details-steady-nuclear-progress/ B...more »
Whenever Margin Debt Goes Over 2.25% Of GDP The Stock Market Always Crashes
image source Michael Snyder What do 1929, 2000 and 2007 all have in common? Those were all years in which we saw a dramatic spike in margin debt. In all three instances, investors became highly leveraged in order to "take advantage" of a soaring stock market. But of course we all know what happened each time. The spike in margin debt was rapidly followed by a horrifying stock market crash. Well guess what? It is happening again. In April (the last month we have a number for), margin debt rose to an all-time high of more than 384 billion dollars. The previous high was 381 b... more »
In- fighting between moderate Syrian rebel groups and islamists leads to willowing out of moderates in Syria .....Blast hits military site in Latakia ! ...
Syrian War within the War - Islamists winning battle to achieve supremacy withing Rebel fighting ranks.... http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/19/us-syria-rebels-islamists-specialreport-idUSBRE95I0BC20130619 (Reuters) - As the Syrian civil war got under way, a former electrician who calls himself Sheikh Omar built up a brigade of rebel fighters. In two years of struggle against President Bashar al-Assad, they came to number 2,000 men, he said, here in the northern city of Aleppo. Then, virtually overnight, they collapsed. Omar's group, Ghurabaa al-Sham, wasn't defeated by the gov... more »
Farmers' Market Sues City over 'Pave or Vacate' Mandate
Heather Callaghan A farmers' market in Mount Jackson, Virginia is causing an uproar by saying, "Yes, we're suing the town." This little market bought an unoccupied former business building in Mount Jackson in an effort to improve the town and provide a fun place for all kinds of vendors. The market performs every year at a financial and emotional loss because they believe it's so important and rewarding to provide a market and a place for local fare. Otherwise, people have to go to the next town over for organic and the town remains more abandoned. They wanted downtown Mount Jack... more »
Third Week of Bradley Manning Trial Highlights Circumstantial Evidence
image source *Activist Post* We have spoken to Nathan Fuller at Bradleymanning.org who has given us gracious permission to reprint his daily firsthand reports, which you can find below with additional updates, commentary, and video. *Summary * Days 7 and 8 of Bradley Manning's trial have highlighted the government's reliance on circumstantial evidence such as third-party websites in order to support their contention that Manning deliberately released confidential information to WikiLeaks, and that he knew that information (if he even did release it) would wind up in the hands of ... more »
Farewell Bernanke – Thanks For Inflating The Biggest Bond Bubble The World Has Ever Seen
Michael Snyder Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is on the way out the door, but the consequences of the bond bubble that he has helped to create will stay with us for a very, very long time. During Bernanke's tenure, interest rates on U.S. Treasuries have fallen to record lows. This has enabled the U.S. government to pile up an extraordinary amount of debt. During his tenure we have also seen mortgage rates fall to record lows. All of this has helped to spur economic activity in the short-term, but what happens when interest rates start going back to normal? If the average... more »
Post Your Anti-Monsanto videos
Saw this on Common Dreams this morning Seeking to bypass an almost-total corporate media blackout of the rising movement against GMOs, a coalition of anti-Monsanto groups is launching a campaign this summer calling on people to make and share online videos highlighting the issue. More here to help reclaim our food supply. Almost-total media blakcout? Here in Minnesota - there was NO coverage of the March on Monsanto - May 25. If you took a video of your local March on Monsanto - it can get get national exposure. See the article below Mike Adams – *Monsanto Video Revolt announced... more »
Detroit financial woes caused in part by Riverboat gambling with derivatives.....
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-18/derivative-losses-bad-bets-and-aggressive-assumptions-leave-detroits-pensions-massiv ( Similar to Jefferson County , Detroit hosed by Banksters ..... one shouldn't make derivative bets you don't understand... ) Derivative Losses, Bad Bets, And Aggressive Assumptions Leave Detroit's Pensions Massively Underfunded [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/18/2013 09:52 -0400 - Creditors - Detroit Late last week, Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr, outlined his plan to stop a disaster becoming a catastrophe i... more »
Afghanistan political situation takes another swerve as Karzai is upset with change in US policy to the Taliban......
Afghan threat to boycott Taliban talks President Karzai says his officials will not take part in negotiations in Doha, unless process is led by Afghanistan. Last Modified: 19 Jun 2013 12:37 [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker] [image: Email Article] [image: Print Article] [image: Share article] [image: Send Feedback] Al Jazeera speaks to Shukria Barakzai, an Afghan MP, about the suspension of talks with the United States The Afghan government says it will boycott talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha, until the "process is Afghan-led". "As long as the peace p... more »
BOOM! Talk About Dropping a Truth Bomb on Live TV
*Youtube* This is an older video, but it's worth watching. Former U.S. Marine Ken O'Keefe goes off on a truther rant like no other. You won't ever see this on CNN. Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.
When Did The GOP Become The Party of Unrelenting Misogyny?
Yesterday, crazed woman-hater--and very sick, deranged closet case-- Trent Franks (R-AZ) finally got a bill passed... kind of. Even Republicans found his rape comments so offensive and so dangerous to GOP election prospects that they took him off the case before the vote and put up an anti-Choice woman as the bill's "sponsor," Tennessee crackpot Marsha Blackburn. Franks'/Blackburn's offensive, ugly anti-woman bill would ban abortions after 20 weeks. The exemptions are premised on a Republican ideological psychosis that "women lie" and can't be trusted. It's pure authoritarian, Bi... more »
N.M. County Approves Fracking Ban
Rachel Rindfleisch at Contaminated Nation - Water Contamination, Land Pollution & Hazardous Waste locations - 3 hours ago
By: Nathan Lamb Citing a desire to protect local water supplies, Mora, New Mexico, has become the first county in the United States to ban fracking, according to this story from the L.A. Times. Energy companies use "fracking"—hydraulic fracturing—to extract hard-to-reach oil and gas deposits from the ground. The process involves using a pressurized cocktail of water, sand and chemicals to fracture underground rock. Federal law doesn't require companies to disclose what chemicals are used; they are considered trade secrets. This has spurred water quality concerns in communities acro... more »
Teaching in Dystopia: The Common Corpse
Offred (June) in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale examines a subtle distinction about words: “We lived, as usual, by ignoring. Ignoring isn’t the same as ignorance, you have to work at it” (p. 56). In the dystopia of Gilead, Handmaids gradually and then fully conform to their status: “That is what we are now. The […]
We Are Way Past an Orwellian Police State and It's Only Going to Get Worse
*Youtube* Subscribe to Charlie McGrath's Channel WideAwakeNews.com Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.
Foreign Death Squad Network in Syria Larger Than Stated by West
Brandon Turbeville Although evidence supporting the claims that the overwhelming majority of the Syrian “rebels” are made up of foreign fighters is not surprising to anyone who has investigated the unfolding crisis in Syria at any length, it might indeed come as a shock to those whose only source of information are mainstream Western media organizations like CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and other similar corporate outlets. Yet the extent to which foreign mercenaries and religious fanatics make up the majority of the “rebel” (more aptly named “death squad”) ranks might surprise even those who... more »
The economic massacre in Italy as 134 Retail outlets close every day ... Greece and Cyprus updates - June 19 , 2013 !
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-19/its-massacre-each-day-134-retail-outlets-close-italy "It's A Massacre" - Each Day 134 Retail Outlets Close In Italy [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/19/2013 08:13 -0400 - Carry Trade - E-Trade - Italy If anyone is still not convinced that surging stock bourses in Europe are indicative of anything more than central bank liquidity, carry trade allocation and localized asset bubbles, we present a snapshot of what is actually happening on the ground via Italy's Ansa: "*It's a massacre*," said Confese... more »
Untitled
*OPP creates plan for inmates in event of major storm ~WWLTV* *Two bald eagles poisoned in Thibodaux ~Steven Ward * *Scientists project large ‘dead zone’ in Gulf this summer ~Amy Wold* *Six Terrebonne Parish oystermen arrested* *Sheriffs discuss hurricane prep in Orleans* *No open guns at federal Army Corps of Engineers sites* *The Crab Queen of Dulac, An Outspoken Love for Louisiana’s Seafood Community*
The Gulf Gets Bigger
Two reports -- one released yesterday, the other today -- paint a pretty grim picture of where the country is. The Huffington Post reports that Canada's wealthiest continued to do well last year: The stock markets came roaring back after a shaky 2011, and so did the wealthy. Canada’s high net worth individuals (those with liquid assets of $1 million or more) saw their wealth grow 6.8 per cent last year, according to a new report from RBC and Capgemini. That’s a considerably better rate than what the average Canadian saw. Household net worth in Canada grew a comparably measly 1.4 ... more »
WI Proves - ALEC Economic Report Misleads Public
It's disgusting that the ALEC economic report gets so much press - when there is one state out their that specifically shows that implementing ALEC economic policies is NOT good for the people. Governor Scott Walker - an ALECer, with the help of ALECers in the Wisconsin legislature, has followed the ALEC legislative playbook, since he first stepped into office. He has implemented every nasty thing that ALEC pushes from tort reform, to de-unionization, privatizations of government services, voter restrictions, and ultimately, to selling public assets. In the most recent ALEC econom... more »
MN Gun Nuts RUIN Family Friendly Event
Think about it. You and your neighbors spend over a year to get the city to agree to close your street – so you and your neighbors can have a family friendly event on the street in your neighborhood. Think about the work with the city to get this approved. Think about the planning that goes into this for you – YOU – to provide a family friendly safe environment for your children to play and ride their bikes for a couple of hours. Several groups of neighbors did this in Minneapolis and St. Paul The neighborhood events, known as Open Streets, started as single Minneapolis neighborho... more »
Get 'em young, train 'em right: dope testing for schoolchildren in Taichung
*Steve contemplates the beauty of a soon to be drug tested landscape* Don't miss Far Eastern Sweet Potato's disturbing post on the apparent pattern of organized crime attacks on critics of Beijing in Hong Kong: a preview of what will happen here? It certainly worked that way in the martial law days. But here at home in the Intelligent City of 2013, the City is mandating massive drug testing for school students (Chinese). Taichung AmCham sent around an English summary: While the city had previously announced plans to increase the numbers of students pulled out for urine drug testing... more »
BEN FELLOWS - THE COOK REPORT
*Ben Fellows.* Anonymous left the following comment on the post "BEN FELLOWS IS MISSING": *"*There's a site called *Guardianlies* with a document called "The Cook Report: The One that Got Away" that casts a different light on the Cook Report sting. It says: "...they met up with ‘Richard Roberts’ and another Cook Report investigator, posing as ‘Ben.’ "In furtherance of the entrapment of Ian Greer, the portly *‘Richard’ and the handsome young ‘Ben’ masqueraded as openly gay partners. ... * "A few days later ‘Ben’ called at IGA’s offices and told Greer that IGA had indeed been favou... more »
"Technology Causes Inequality" Refuted
I'm getting to this a little late due to extensive travel (in South Africa now), but David Cay Johnston has a nice writeup of a recent paper on inequality based on the World Top Incomes Database. The paper, by Facundo Alvaredo et al., is important because it largely refutes the idea that technological change is the big reason for diverging incomes between skilled and unskilled workers. As Johnston writes: That [sharply different levels of increased inequality] is significant because it means that new technologies and the ability of top talent to work on a global scale cannot explain... more »
Jordan's Turn in the Sun?
Conrad makes the argument pretty clearly here that the stage is now set for a real settlement. As I posted yesterday, this can be led by Jordan in particular who has the most to gain. Done properly Palestinians can travel to jobs on the east bank and the west bank can become a successful refugia rather than some war zone. The Arab spring has made it abundantly clear that they will no longer tolerate Islamo fascism and that they desperately need to get their own houses in order. It has been a task literally put off for two generations. It is a task that the rest of the w... more »
Burgeoning Local Food Revolt
What has happened is that industrial agriculture and the processing industry in particular has lost the trust of the consumer. Worse is that over half the population has no difficulty in paying for premium quality food whose production is known to them. This is not yet a runaway transition to organic farming, but I am certain now that we are going there. In fact, the developing GMO crisis may well be the key tipping point. We are messing with mother here and the industry has been conning mother since the fifties selling awful convenience foods that are damaging to the he... more »
Nuclear Bomb Tests Confirm Brain Regeneration
So why does our hippocampus shrink? I think we need to know this simply because it smells like something we can stop or even improve on. To start with we need comparative studies based on many samples with documented life ways. We really have to compare Eskimos to Zulus to discover predictive variation. It also goes directly to the heart of the race variation question. It is the one part of the brain that our nurture affects hugely and whose potential across race and various genotypes can be investigated. A large number of interesting questions regarding human variations c... more »
True Poverty at One Third Population
Yes, this needs to be said. The measures of poverty have been manipulated for so long it is hard to see how they can be trusted at all. The same holds true for inflation figures, unemployment other inconvenient yardsticks. This tells us outright that one third of the population is effectively underwater and not covering basic necessities. That is the third that needs to be underwritten to hugely increase the wealth of the US itself, simply because they also will lack access to capital and the means to increase their incomes. That policy mavens seem never able to get this... more »
Syria is Iran's Stalingrad with Gary Gambill
This really asks two questions. The first is whether Assad has a long term winning position at all and the answer to that is surely negative. The second is to ask what is Iran thinking? Even if a short term victory is possible, they lose because everyone else will be engaged in quickly overturning that victory. At best though, they will drag out the war for possibly a decade and consume their human assets while doing so in a clear cut Sunni Shite war. Once again, the only problem that either the USA or Israel has is that one or the other actually wins. I never quite saw... more »
Top Ten Reasons to Legalize Marijuana Now
The absurdity of the Marijuana Prohibition is continuing and can only continue because the stakeholders have purchased the vote. Even the weight of propaganda is no longer enough to sustain a majority in favor of prohibition. The same applies equally to all drugs that can be self prescribed. The prohibition protocol is a stunning failure in every way shape and form and can be defended only by the utterly incompetent. I personally loathe drugs in any form and rarely drink even alcohol. I am also loathe seeing our civilization been hijacked by a utterly unnecessary crimi... more »
Let Them eat Wood?
We have a continuing effort aimed at somehow exploiting cellulose. It is a difficult problem not from a lack of chemical pathways but rather for lack of a cost effective pathway. This is obviously continuing and we are really no further ahead than were five years ago when I first pointed this out. I do think that it will still be solved sooner or later. This is not zero energy or perpetual motion. It is a case of tricky biochemical pathways been developed that are highly productive. Certainly doing anything clever with wood chips would be exceedingly welcome. The defa... more »
Obamacare Drives Minimum Income Entitlement
My personal intuition is that Obama care as constructed simply cannot work. Thus the loud creaking noise this represents is right on schedule. A more sensible approach would be to offer matching funds to any state wanting to create a state system and a regulatory portability oversight body to slowly bring common cause to bear. Even better would be to do just that while approaching the Canadian system in order to improve their system at the same time. This then becomes a platform for rapid improvement. The real bottom line is that the insurance model cannot work as a univers... more »
A Socialism for the 21st Century with Richard Wolff
When Socialism fails and when Capitalism fails, they fail for precisely the same reason. The singular belief that top down command and control actually works best when it is the least effective way of optimizing impact. Neither have learned to operate at the community level in terms of credit and wealth production. In fact the natural instinct is quite the opposite until a crisis is induced in both regimes and all variations of them. The crash part may not even be dramatic. The USSR succumbed to a persistent withdrawal of services from its increasingly suppressed workers th... more »
Fibromyalgia Disease Mode
This is a very important piece of clinical teaching that should refocus the patient's approach to both healing the disease and the management of it. We have poor understanding of chronic infections, particularly viral. They set up shop and wait for opportunity to encroach. The cold sore is a great model. This informs us that in the majority of cases, a cure can be effected. That is new. However it is certainly complicated and not limited to one disease vector. *Fibromyalgia Disease Mode* *http://www.envita.com/lyme-disease/is-fibromyalgia-the-real-diagnosis/* *W... more »
Bilderberg Group
This annual affair is essentially a social gathering of the folks with the most responsibility in the world. They can really screw things up and it gives comfort to know that they can speak to their counterparts on a friendly basis with a common set of assumptions. I suspect North Korea is not invited. The opinions listened to do matter just because it sets terms of engagement that may be right or wrong but will exist. Recall the nonsense around global warming. A session such as this one can put an agenda firmly on the road or alternatively kill it for a generation. T... more »
Chipotle First US Chain Restaurant to Label GMOs by Anthony Gucciardi
Chipotle First US Chain Restaurant to Label GMOs by Anthony Gucciardi Natural Society, 18 Jiune 2013 In a display of effective consumer activism, Chipotle Mexican Grill has become the first US restaurant chain to go ahead and* label all GMOs sold through their locations on the menu*. And unlike Whole Foods and other grocers, who are making similar strides but are actually years away from actual implementation, *Chipotle has already launched the labeling initiative into existence*. In case you’ve never heard of Chipotle, it is a ‘natural’ Mexican food restaurant that you could s... more »
Confessions - Kanae Minato - film review
I have to share this gloriously down-beat film with the readers of Free Planet. "Confessions"(based on Kanae Minato's 2008 novel Kokuhaku) tells the disturbing tale of revenge taken by a substitute teacher (played by Takako Matsu) upon the students she feels are responsible for the death of her daughter. You've really never seen a film directed with such ambivalence to the morals of the day. It's a unique horror ride for all those concerned that 'schools aren't looking after our kids'.
Speaking more truth to Parent Revolution plutocrat power
“The resolution by board member Steve Zimmer requires the district to independently verify the signatures and how they’re gathered by Parent Revolution, the group that helps to organize parents in efforts to take over schools. The district will also increase the amount and types of information available, such as an analysis of five years of […]
BBC AND CHILD ABUSE
*Stuart Syvret* More and comments here *http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/...*
Huawei unveils slimmest Smartphone- Ascend P6
*Huawei has unveiled what it says is the world's thinnest smart phone.* The Android-based Ascend P6 is 6.18mm thick and is also inquisitive in that it has a 5 megapixel front camera for high quality self-portraits. Huawei supposed it designed one of the slimmest and narrowest circuit boards in the commerce to press the electronics into the new handset. *Huawei is previously a well known brand in China where it grew to become the country's biggest manufacturer of telecoms equipment after being founded in 1987.*According to Ben Wood, director of research at consultancy CCS Insig... more »
The Waste Land, read by T.S Eliot (whole poem with notes)
Related: *Nick Mount on T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land*. *T.S. Eliot - The Waste Land (1922)*. The Waste Land, read by T.S Eliot (whole poem with notes). Source: YouTube Channel Menurella. Date Uploaded: January 23, 2013. Description: The Burial of the Dead: 00:00 A Game of Chess: 04:58 The Fire Sermon: 10:21 Death By Water: 18:19 What The Thunder Said: 19:00 Written in 1921-1922. "The use of recurrent themes is as natural to poetry as to music. There are possibilities for verse which bear some analogy to the development of a theme by different groups of instruments ['different vo... more »
The Situation of The Kurds In Syria, Turkey, And Iraq
Things are looking grim, but, then again, what else is new?* * Everybody expects a major war to break out between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the central government in Baghdad. Iraqi officials are excluding Erbil from its new oil plans, taking away a key economic lifeline between the two centers, and thus removing the last incentive to stay in a federal partnership. The KRG *has a customer in Turkey*, but with the recent uprising there, how reliable is it? The Turkish economy will slide down if there is serious unrest, plus it does not look like that the peace betwee... more »
Using the Los Angeles school privatization pushers’ own propaganda against themselves
“Several studies of Los Angeles schools showed substantial gains from class size reduction. One found that smaller classes increased reading scores by 9.5%, math scores by 13.9% and language scores by 14.5%, with double these gains for “high need” students. Two other controlled studies also show significant gains in Los Angeles, with effect sizes that […]
Kenneth Wilson, RIP
Kenneth Wilson died from complications of lymphoma (a blood cancer) in Saco, Maine (where he and his wife were previously brought due to their love for kayaking) on Saturday, aged 77 years and 1 week. He received his Nobel Prize in 1982. His adviser was Murray Gell-Mann and students included Jackiw, Shenker, Peskin, and Ginsparg. *See also:* WSJ, WaPo, Yahoo, NECN, Newsday, Google News, Physics World, Cornell, Press Herald, John Preskill, Clifford Johnson, a Shmoit More importantly, he taught us about the concepts of effective field theories and the renormalization group that have e... more »
The idiocy of the “two-state solution" - a history lesson many should learn from before debating with me
'After the 1967 war, Israel accepted UNSC resolution 242, under which Israel would give back lands it had occupied to its neighbors in return for peace treaties that would guarantee "secure and recognized boundaries." The clear intent of the resolution was that Israel would give back some of the land, but not necessarily all of it, particularly because the pre-war boundaries were not 'secure'.' More here http://fresnozionism.org/2013/06/the-idiocy-of-the-two-state-solution/
Edward Snowden - Q&A with Thue Guardian June 17 , 2013.... China refutes Dick Cheney's balderdash from Sunday that Snowden could be a spy for China ! New York City Police Commissioner delivers a strong rebuke to the NSA Spying campaign - even goes as far as to say Edward Snowden was right about privacy abuse !
Catharsis Ours - 9 hours ago
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nsa_should_come_clean_ray_kelly_dfAKlqJ4keYDNiJqANhIMO 'NSA should come clean about domestic spying': Ray Kelly - By JENNIFER BAIN - Last Updated: 6:18 PM, June 17, 2013 - Posted: 4:09 PM, June 17, 2013 Police Commissioner Ray Kelly launched a stinging rebuke to the federal government’s secret phone and Internet monitoring campaign — and suggested leaker Edward Snowden was right about privacy “abuse.” “I don’t think it ever should have been made secret,” Kelly said today, breaking ranks with US law-enforcement officials. His blast came d... more »
House price inflation: a bubble in need of a pin
Since the last two posts here encompassed the twin topics of money-printingand housing—and since Gareth “Captain” Morgan has emerged from his quarter deck today to berate the Reserve Bank for “a long history now of Reserve Bank prudential policy combining with selective tax policy to provide a toxic little no brainer for property investors”—I figured I’d link up all three topics in one hit, so to speak, by pointing out how the Reserve Bank is busy buggering up the demand supply of the affordable housing equation just as successfully as councils are buggering up its supply. New Zea... more »
The World Is Less Peaceful In 2013
Just before the brutal crackdown in central Istanbul by Recep Tayyip Erdogan's authoritarian regime in Turkey, Vision of Humanity released their 7th annual Global Peace Index, showing that Europe is the most peaceful region, with 13 of the top 20 most peaceful countries. I guess the violence in Gezi Park will bring that average down for 2014. Overall, the Global Peace Index shows that the world has become less peaceful, with a sharp rise in the number of homicides. The GPI measures peace in 162 countries according to 22 qualitative and quantitative indicators of the absence of vi... more »
Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) - Take a Walk
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 »
Musical Interlude: Vangelis, "Oceanic Fields of Coral"
Vangelis, "Oceanic Fields of Coral" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mo89tLJ2n2A&html5=1
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Here is one of the largest objects that anyone will ever see on the sky. Each of these fuzzy blobs is a galaxy, together making up the Perseus Cluster, one of the closest clusters of galaxies. The cluster is seen through a foreground of faint stars in our own Milky Way Galaxy. *Click image for larger size.* Near the cluster center, roughly 250 million light-years away, is the cluster's dominant galaxy NGC 1275, seen above as a large galaxy on the image left. A prodigious source of x-rays and radio emission, NGC 1275 accretes matter as gas and galaxies fall into it. The Perseu... more »
What do you call a limbless man in a pile of paper dollars
[image: image] The Green’s Russel Norman has backed down on the plan he issued so loudly last year—loudly, frequently, and to everyone who would stand still to listen—to fix all the country’s ills by printing money. His plan was killed not by his realisation that he was talking fruitcake economics, but because of a tidal wave of rational outrage at the Ginger Whinger’s insanity. Or in Greenspeak, “The feedback we’ve received on that element of our proposal made clear it did not have the broad support it would need to work.” Crikey, even their potential coalition partners in the L... more »
"How's Your Inner Beggar?"
"How's Your Inner Beggar?" by Henry Makow Ph.D. "This being the weekend I am reflecting on the timeless question of human happiness. What do people want? Simple creatures, we want to feel good. If you can make other people feel good, they'll love you. But how many of us bother? We are too busy trying to make them make us feel good. We are feel good addicts, hoping to wring our happiness from the world. Food, drink, drugs, sex, money, power, love. In "The Power of Now," Eckhard Tolle has a story about a beggar who asks a stranger for money. The stranger tells the beggar to look ...more »
Obama: U.S. Has 'Legitimate Need' To Be Involved In Syria
"Now, in terms of what my goals are. The goals are a stable non-sectarian representative Syrian government that is addressing the needs of its people through political processes and peaceful processes. We’re not taking sides in a religious war between Shia and Sunni. Really what we’re trying to do is take sides against extremists of all sorts and in favor of people who are in favor of moderation, tolerance, representative government and over the long term stability and prosperity for the people of Syria." - President Barack Obama, from his *interview* with PBS host Charlie Rose on ...more »
"Being Human: A Personal Credo"
"Being Human: A Personal Credo" by John Robbins "There is so much pain and death in our times. This is not an easy time to be a person of conscience and feeling. It can be terribly hard today to stay in touch with your deep soul. It can seem all but impossible to keep your love alive. The world has a way of blowing relentless hurricane winds at our little flickering candles of faith. This is what I have to say at this time in history. I stand here in the face of the anguish of our time, and I affirm that it is possible to see it all, to gaze fully into the abyss, and yet not be... more »
20 imágenes de paisajes naturales para coleccionar
Ver todas las imágenes | Seguirnos en Twitter | Ser fan en Facebook Ver más *imágenes de paisajes* ¿Busca usted paisajes, animales, playas, lagos, ríos, flores y amaneceres? Visite: www.bancodeimagenesgratis.com ¡Gracias!
Sick Canadian Prime Minister Says "Evidence" Shows Assad Has Used Chemical Weapons
I have stated clearly in the last few articles that the criminal US President, Barry Soetoro, is a psychotic freak who wants to lead the United States into a new war against the innocent nation of Syria to please his Jewish masters in Tel Aviv..... This criminal is lying to the American public that Syrian President Al-Assad has used chemical weapons against his own people, even though all the evidence clearly shows that it has been the US/Israeli bought and paid for criminal and murderous mercenary "rebels" that have done the deed..... I originally thought that the criminal US Presi... more »
The Realist Report with John Friend
On this edition of *The Realist Report*, we'll be joined by Bill Finck of * Christogenea.org*. Bill and I will be discussing the Founding Fathers, the U.S. Constitution, Christianity, and early American history. Please visit *The Realist Report* on TalkeShoe to download this and past episodes.
The Daily "Near You?"
Torino, Piemonte, Italy. Thanks for stopping by.
Chet Raymo, “Squaring The Circle”
* “Squaring The Circle”* by Chet Raymo "Here is a little story about the best and worst of Western civilization. It can be summarized in one word: square. Yep, that's right. Square. The ninety degree corner, the plumb-bobbed line. Forget the squiggle, the wiggle, the curlicue, the arc. We're talking orthogonality here. We're talking perpendicularity. I was flying across the country the other day at 37,000 feet. From the Mississippi to the Rockies, for a thousand miles, as far as the eye could see, the land was ruled into one-mile squares, as neat as the tiles on your kitchen floo... more »
Take your hand off it, Tony
Unable to remove his hand from the suite of policy levers he’d like to pull, the BNZ’s alleged economist Tony Alexander has had another brainstorm since the weekend, when he issued his 8-point programme of government meddling to fix house prices that appeared on the *Herald*’s front page this morning. His brainstorm involves three new levers he’d like to begin polishing. Tony’s original plan consisted of eight points ranging mostly from the fanciful to the farcical, including the creation of a Super-SOE “whose sole purpose is to undercut existing building materials suppliers,” “a... more »
Kyle Bass interview - The Next 18 months in Japan will define economic orthodoxy for the West
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-06-18/kyle-bass-next-18-months-will-redefine-economic-orthodoxy-west Kyle Bass: "The Next 18 Months Will Redefine Economic Orthodoxy For The West" [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 06/18/2013 21:33 -0400 - Bank of Japan - China - Demographics - ETC - Iceland - Japan - Krugman - Kyle Bass - Kyle Bass - Mexico - Monetary Base - New York Times - Volatility Kyle Bass covers three critical topics in this excellent in-depth interview before turning to a very wide-rangi... more »
Robert Skeels Attends a pRev Meet and Greet
Reblogged from Diane Ravitch's blog: Robert Skeels attended a "meet and greet" sponsored by pRev (the organization formerly known as Parent Revolution). Read what he learned as he socialized with those who are prepared to close down 50 public schools in Los Angeles. Why? Well, firing people makes better schools. Or does it? We know […]
Pats Star Aaron Hernandez questioned in a murder ? WTF ????
http://abcnews.go.com/US/patriots-star-aaron-hernandez-questioned-murder-sources-abc/story?id=19430625#.UcEDQT7DVoY Patriots' Star Aaron Hernandez's Home Searched After Killing [image: PHOTO: New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez looks on during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field, Dec. 23, 2012, in Jacksonville, Fla.] New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez looks on during an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field, Dec. 23, 2012, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Michael DeHoog/Sports Imagery/ Getty Images) Sha...more »
Purchase money resulting trust
Nishi v. Rascal Trucking Ltd. 2013 SCC 33 upholds the doctrine of purchase money resulting trust. A purchase money resulting trust is a species of gratuitous transfer resulting trust that arises when a person advances funds to contribute to the purchase price of property, but does not take legal title to that property. Where the person advancing the funds is unrelated to the person taking title, the law presumes that the parties intended for the person who advanced the funds to hold a beneficial interest in the property in proportion to that person's contribution. This presumption... more »
When we make "tradeoffs" for "national security," shouldn't we know what we're trading off?
*"Since President Obama is asking us to trade some of our privacy with respect to our phone calls and our use of the Internet for greater protection against terrorism, at the very least we need to know exactly how our privacy is being violated."* *-- Aryeh Neier, in a *New York Review of Books* blogpost, "Spying on Americans: A Very Old Story"* *by Ken* In this voluminous NYRB blogpost (I'm thinking it must be parked on the NYRBlog while awaiting inclusion in a future issue of NYRB), Aryeh Neier -- longtime national director of the ACLU, executive director of Human Rights Watch, an... more »
#IranElection: Wide Asleep in America's Twitter Coverage
Remember that when Iran polls reflect what Western media wants, they're considered legit, but when they don't, they're dismissed as skewed. — Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) June 12, 2013 Western media busy getting narrative straight: If Jalili, vote was rigged. If Ghalibaf, vote was rigged. If Rouhani, president has no power. — Nima Shirazi (@WideAsleepNima) June 12, 2013 Remember, people
NSA and cyberspying updates - June 18 , 2013.....
[image: Print This Post] Print This Post “Civil Libertarian” Obama’s Options On Surveillance By Cynthia L. Cooper on Jun 18, 2013 *[image: bush-obama2]Editor’s Note: Readers of this site will have seen discussion here about the extent to which Obama—or any president—is free to significantly deviate from a consensus on most “security policy.” For a recent example, see “**Why Obama Cannot Undo the Surveillance Society—But We Can**.” Nonetheless, it is reasonable to ask why, if Obama is the top decision-maker in this country and a purported civil libertarian, does he not at least try to... more »
Scary travel warnings are hurting Honduras
One of the papers ran a big feature this week on tourism in Copan Ruinas and what strategies might kickstart the flagging industry. Somebody mentioned that one problem might be that the marketing approach had become too boring. Maybe. But I have a feeling that the terrifying travel warnings about Honduras issued by virtually every developed country might be the bigger problem. The U.S. State Department issued its scariest warning yet yesterday, raising the spectre of kidnappings, carjackings, "disappearances," rape, and even the possibility that the Honduran police will kill... more »
TALKS WITH THE TALIBAN? NOW THERE’S A NOVEL IDEA – AGAIN!
It was two years – almost to the day – that I last commented about talks with the Taliban that might have ended the war in Afghanistan. Nothing came of it. Nor did anything come of the talks that were proposed back in October 2008. Since then at least 2287 allied soldiers have died and only your deity knows how many civilians have been killed since. Now the Western allies are suggesting that talks might still be a good idea. But, given the history of past proposals to talks with the Taliban, you don’t have to be an ‘expert analyst’ to foretell that talks are likely to be “complex, ... more »
Russia assets its loud but clear voice on Iran and Syria ..... Coincidentally , there is a massive explosion in Russia !
Russia taking the lead position regarding the Middle East...... http://www.debka.com/article/23056/Lavrov-Iran-agrees-to-halt-20-percent-uranium-enrichment-West-must-lift-sanctions Iran has confirmed it is prepared to halt its enrichment of 20-percent uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported on the ministry website Tuesday, June 18. He urged Western nations to reciprocate by lifting sanctions. DEBKAfile: It was not clear whether this was a temporary suspension, an absolute halt – or a dodge for getting sanctions eased to enable the incoming Iranian president Hassan R... more »
Syria updates - Secretary Kerry urged Obama and Pentagon to begin immediate airstrikes on Syrian airfields - note Army General Martin Dempsey totally squashed Kerry ..... for now of course... Meanwhile , did Israel strike Syria at Damascus Airport ? Bushama War Policy ...... so says Ron Paul !
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/06/18/report-kerry-urged-obama-pentagon-to-begin-immediate-airstrikes-on-syrian-airfields/ Report: Kerry urged Obama, Pentagon to begin immediate airstrikes on Syrian airfields POSTED AT 5:51 PM ON JUNE 18, 2013 BY ALLAHPUNDIT Man, we’re a long way from 2004 if John Kerry is urging shock and awe against a Middle Eastern dictator over WMD and most Republicans are pounding the table against a reckless intervention. Cycle of life, my friends. Flash-forward to this past Wednesday. At a principals meeting in the White House situation room, Secretary of S...more »
False Flag Watch - June 16 , 2013 - FWIW
Catharsis Ours - 16 hours ago
http://truthernews.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/ciaal-qaedalibyansyrian-rebels-false-flag-terror-threat-assessment-u-s-water-supply-bio-terror-and-stinger-missile-attacks-on-airliners-now-trending/ ( FWIW - WE know an excuse is needed to spark off the next kinetic actions ... ) CIA-Al Qaeda-Libyan/Syrian Rebels False-Flag Terror Threat Assessment: U.S. Water Supply Bio-Terror And Stinger Missile Attacks On Airliners Now Trending<small style="color: #747775; font-family: Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em;
Barista Kids Aren’t Drinking the Kool-Aid
Parents of the Barista Kids in Montclair, New Jersey are Opting Out. Reported by teenage journalists who still know what education should look like. Here’s the petition. Pass it around. The petition states: We are parents and community members of Montclair, New Jersey. We write because we believe in Montclair’s identity as a community of intellect, […]
Quote of the day: “It is not that freedom has no disadvantages…”
[image: _Quote]It is not that freedom has no disadvantages, since everything has these. To use these disadvantages in argument against it is to say to a man trapped in the mire: Do not get out, as you cannot do this without some effort. - Frederic Bastiat, from his 1848 essay “Laissez-faire,” collected in *The Man and the Statesman: The Correspondence and Articles on Politics* [Hat tip Cafe Hayek] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
An Open Message to The NSA
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Kalidasa, "Look To This Day"
"Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life. In its brief course lie all the realities and truths of existence, the joy of growth , the splendor of action, the glory of power. For yesterday is but a memory, And tomorrow is only a vision. But today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness, and every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day..." - Kalidasa
Where part truth does not equal to the whole truth.
There is little doubt the 38m lightning arrestor weighing some 100 metric tonnes did fall off from the top of the 21-storey Menara UMNO building on 13 June 2013; crashing onto the ground at a speed of 130kph. Anyone with secondary school physics should be able to calculate that. We do not need an engineering expert or a professional architect from Singapore to tell us that. But honestly, did the 100 odd tonne lighting arrestor hit the car Lim Chin Aik was driving, spot on to “pulverise anything that came into contact with it” as asserted by the 35-year old Singapore-based archit... more »
Where part truth does not equal to the whole truth.
There is little doubt the 38m lightningarrestor weighing some 100 metric tonnes did fall off from the top of the 21-storey Menara UMNO building on 13 June 2013; crashing onto the ground at a speed of 130kph. Anyone with secondary school physics should be able to calculate that. We do not need an engineering expert or a professional architect from Singapore to tell us that. But honestly, did the 100 odd tonne lighting arrestor hit the car Lim Chin Aik was driving, spot on to “pulverise anything that came into contact with it” as asserted by the 35-year old Singapore-based architect... more »
SOLAR (R)EVOLUTION by renowned German biophysicist, Dieter Broers
Thanks to Lydia for passing this along! Quoted from Youtube: Galactic Synchronization Ray or Super-massive Black Hole;Excerpt clips from the movie: SOLAR (R)EVOLUTION by renowned German biophysicist, Dieter Broers.The current Consciousness Shifts correspond to a super-massive Galactic Synchronization Plasma Ray originating from Sagittarius A - reaching us through our Sun. Its ongoing influence on us will be ending by mid-2013. Humanity and planet Earth is being upgraded at this very moment! Please visit the Solar (R)evolution web site, buy or rent the Full movie: http://www.s... more »
3D printers going to Mars
*In preparations to a manned Mars flyby Nasa has chosen the next batch of brave men and women to do a go to and return to Mars.* *On board of the spacecraft will be a 3D printer, not just any 3D printer but a printer that is able to print not only plastic, but metal also...On the long trip to and back, parts will break and need to be replace Small thrusters Valves even actuators...On the 2nd trip in preperation to a permanent settlement Large multi material 3D printers will be dropped on to the selected zone to be habitated...* *Printers that will make blocks out of the martian sand.... more »
Greece " suddenly " finds a 1.2 billion hole in its healthcare budget ! Meanwhile , as the Coalition seeks to find a way out of the ERT debacle which as it stands today , ERT is still off the air despite the Administrative Court Order of Monday ! And Troika complaints about the property tax raise the possibility Greece is about to come undone - just as Cyprus comes undone as it seeks bailout number two !
Greece hitting the wall - again ! Will Greek depositors face the next bail -in ? If you're greek , do you want to keep your money in a bank there and find out ? http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2013/06/18/greece-was-the-ert-shutdown-a-dumb-move-or-a-distraction/ GREECE: Was the ERT shutdown a dumb move or a distraction? Hints of Troika raids on social security budgets and private pensions [image: samarasdevious]*Devious, moi?* In one mighty bound over the last week, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has managed to do what no other politician has since the Greek crisis began: unite the ... more »
Mitch McConnell threatens Harry Reid
In a facedown between the two old geezers who both have held on to their seats of power for far too long, Mitch McConnell warns Harry Reid about the consequences of shutting down the GOP's obstruction function. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday starkly warned Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) not to eliminate the filibuster on presidential nominations, threatening to end the 60-vote threshold for everything, including bills, if he becomes the majority leader. “There not a doubt in my mind that if the majority breaks the rules of the Senate to change the rule...more »
Did President Obama use his interview Monday with Charlie Rose to inform that Ben Bernake was finished as Head od the Federal Reserve ? Keep in mind , Ben has already dropped a huge clue when he announced he would NOT be participating , that he obviously would NOT be giving the Keynote Speech - at the Federal Reserve seminal event of the year - The Jackson Hole Symposium !
http://www.businessinsider.com/larry-meyers-says-obama-fired-bernanke-2013-6 Last night, President Obama said in an interview, "Well, I think Ben Bernanke's done an outstanding job. Ben Bernanke's a little bit like Bob Mueller, the head of the FBI - where he's already stayed a lot longer than he wanted or he was supposed to." That raised some eyebrows and really turned up the volume on the conversation today regarding potential successors to replace Bernanke when his term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve expires in January. In an interview with CNBC this afternoon, former Fed Govern... more »
Turkey protest - June 16 - 18 , 2013 .... Sex as a police punishment for protesters - really in 2013 ? Police to consider ( treat ) protesters as terrorists - are the police going to escalate to live rounds ? Latest police raid on Gezi Park.... ...
Catharsis Ours - 17 hours ago
http://rt.com/news/turkey-police-raids-arrested-864/ Dozens arrested as Turkish police raid private addresses in Ankara, Istanbul Get short URL Published time: June 18, 2013 10:50 [image: A protestor reacts as he is arrested by Turkish police officers, in Istanbul, on June 16, 2013.(AFP Photo / Ronny Roman)] A protestor reacts as he is arrested by Turkish police officers, in Istanbul, on June 16, 2013.(AFP Photo / Ronny Roman) <div id="___plusone_0" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-or... more »
So the British Lions tried their hand at AFL
Yes, it’s true: the touring British Lions played a game of AFL against Carlton at the MCG, in front of a crowd of more than 26,000. Not the British Lions who just lost to the Brumbies, you understand, but the 1888 British Lions. Tours were obviously a bit more informal in those days. So how did they do? The visitors played the Australian game better than their most sanguine friends anticipated, for the fact may as well be admitted that on going into the field on Saturday, all that they knew of it practically had been picked up in two muff practice matches. In face of this, the ... more »
Satire: “Obama, Putin Agree Never to Speak to Each Other Again”
* * *“Obama, Putin Agree Never to Speak to Each Other Again”* by Andy Borowitz LOUGH ERNE, NORTHERN IRELAND (The Borowitz Report) — ”The G8 summit ended today on a constructive note, with President Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin reaching a broad agreement never to speak to each other again. “It’s better this way,” said Mr. Obama, frostily standing in the general vicinity of Mr. Putin for the last time ever. “We truly despise each other.” “I couldn’t agree more,” said Mr. Putin, looking as though he had just smelled something bad. “My hatred of this man knows no bounds.” Accord... more »
"A Letter From Your Ever-Vigilant Friends at the NSA"
* * * **Click image for larger size.*** * * *"A Letter From Your Ever-Vigilant Friends at the NSA"* by Will Durst "Dear U.S. Citizen, Please accept our most egregiously sincere apologies for the difficulties and inconveniences the secret monitoring of your phone records and email and GPS units and foreign travel and bank accounts and yes, even your snail mail has evidently caused. We here at the NSA strive for the perfection of our services, which depend on the chronic obliviousness of you, our valued customers. Unfortunately, due to one disgruntled deadbeat (who escaped to Chi... more »
Hickory Ground Poarch Creek 'Never Surrender' Ancestors Burial Grounds
. Poarch Creek continue to defend burial grounds from tribal casino Censored News Hickory Ground Poarch Creek were at Elmore County courthouse supporting Wayland Gray, Mike Deo, Mike Harjo, and a Cherokee from Alabama, "Maggot," in their court hearings today, Hickory Ground said in a statement. Three of the ones arrested had their trespassing charges dropped. Wayland Gray was
Politico? Why Not?
There's an interview of Politico's maestros over at TNR which, to tell the truth, I haven't read yet, but it's causing a bit of a fuss -- Politico and the normally sensible Nate Silver are feuding a bit, for example, mainly (as far as I can tell) because Politico likes to take silly swipes at Silver. But at any rate, I like what Ed Kilgore says about Politico (his emphasis): Regular readers know that I’m not a Politico-hater; I think the site serves a legitimate reporting function and sometimes does it well and other times at least covers a lot of landscape that might otherwise esca... more »
Begich Admits What His Voting Record Proves: At Heart He's A Republican
Yesterday on CNBC Mark Begich (D-AK) admitted what people who watch Senate votes closely have already figured out: he's really a Republican calling himself a Democrat. Tied with the wretched Heidi Heitkamp, Begich has been voting more frequently with the GOP this year than any Democrats other than arch-conservatives Kay Hagan (D-NC), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Joe Donnelly (D-IN) and Claire McCaskill (D-MO). Begich is constantly pulling the Democratic Senate caucus away from progressive policies and advocating against working families and for predatory corporations. But... more »
Iranian Schindler That Saved Jews is Celebrated at The Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center
** *"In the Lion's Shadow: The Iranian Schindler and His Homeland in the Second World War"* by Fariborz Mokhtari. "Fariborz Mokhtari was a political science professor at Norwich University in Vermont before joining the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies in Washington, DC in 2002. He has written numerous articles and policy documents including "Dealing with Al-Qaeda" for American Foreign Policy Interests. He lives in Washington, DC." (Source: Amazon.com). *Wikipedia*: "Abdol Hossein Sardari was an Iranian statesman and diplomat who saved the lives of many Jews durin... more »
Memorable first lines from philosophy journals
Now this is neat. A summary of some of the best, most memorable, opening lines (often unintentionally) from philosophy journals. Including these four: “Let there be no vulgar suspense: the title will be answered in the affirmative.” - Timothy Williamson, *Is Knowing a State of Mind* “Imagine a dog idling in the foreground, a tree in the middle distance, and a turnip lying on the ground behind the tree.” - Willard Van Orman Quine, *On the Nature of Modern Values* “To talk about thinking seems to me so presumptuous that I feel I owe you a justification.” - Hannah Arendt, *Thinki... more »
Untitled
To all Angola 3’s devoted supporters, we’ve received some devastating news. Herman Wallace has had an initial diagnosis of liver cancer. There are still very few details to share. Outside medical specialists are visiting him today. Both the legal team and supporters are exploring every avenue of relief for Herman, whose criminal case has been stalled in the courts for over three years. As we receive further information we will share it with you.
So Should Policy Schools Have PhD Programs?
So, I teach at a policy school, and though our core pedagogical enterprise is the MA program, we have a small PhD program that is a mix of political science, economics, and maybe a dash of public administration. Though I have not worked closely with that many PhD students, the ones I have worked have been Continue reading
The Economy: Ron Paul, “Out Of Thin Air”
* * *“Out Of Thin Air”* by Ron Paul “When I talk to many teenagers and grade schoolers, they seem to have no problem comprehending the fact that if you just create a lot of money, it’ll be like Monopoly money and it won’t have value. Governments do that for all kinds of reasons, especially to enhance political power to fight wars we shouldn’t be fighting or to pass welfare programs that aren’t deserved. When you print that money, the value of that dollar has to go down, and then one of the consequences of inflating the money will be higher prices. But there are a lot of other pr... more »
The kings of click-bait journalism
New Republic posts an interview with Politico's head honchos John F. Harris and Jim VandeHei that illuminates their business model. It's an interesting piece if you have a high tolerance for smug pricks, but this is the graf that explains why Charlie Pierce dubbed their rag, "Tiger Beat on the Potomac." JH: We have an obligation to be interesting. *We don’t think of ourselves as the electric company or the water company: Well, we have a responsibility ...*”2 That was a mindset in a previous generation of journalists. That mindset might have even been legitimate. There really were ... more »
"Po Po Talking To You? One Sentence Response Required"
* * *"Po Po Talking To You? One Sentence Response Required"* by Karl Denninger "From the USSC yesterday: "In a case with important implications for individuals at the early stages of a police investigation, the high court said that a suspect must verbally invoke his or her Fifth Amendment right to remain silent to prevent police and prosecutors from using any resulting silence and incriminating body language as evidence of guilt during a jury trial." Got it? You must tell the police (or any arm of police) if you are not yet under arrest that you are invoking your 5th Amendment... more »
One People show – June 17th (US)/18th (Australia) – Ginger’s Summary
http://kauilapele.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/one-people-show-june-17th-us18th-australia-gingers-summary/#more-20602 One People show – June 17th (US)/18th (Australia) – Ginger’s Summary Posted on 2013/06/17 by kauilapele [Kp note: I'm posting this because I feel this is important. Have not listened, yet. But I "get" that this is important... especially after the Shasta mission.] ————————————————————————— One People show – June 17th (US)/18th (Australia) – Ginger’s Summary http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thecollectiveimagination/2013/06/18/the-one-people Will begin with how Lisa ended t... more »
"More NSA - STOP MUDDYING THE WATERS"
* * *"More NSA - STOP MUDDYING THE WATERS"* by Karl Denninger "There's another hearing going on right now regarding the NSA spying. Let me be clear once again: I have no problem with the NSA paying attention to foreign communications for the purpose of interdicting terrorism. If that surveillance winds up connected to US persons then a warrant can be obtained under the clearly-existing standards of probable cause and from there you move forward. This is clearly Constitutional and is what is being described with the allegedly-foiled plots to bomb the NY Subway and NYSE. It is ... more »
Blondie - Rapture
Apart from the proprietor of this blog, has history given us anyone cooler than Debbie Harry?
Fake Red Lines: Orwellian Double-Speak Is Now the Language of the United States Government (The Pay At That Level Must Be Astronomical (Nation-Destroying)) and Mad Men Rule (Proper)
Orwellian double-speak is now the language of the United States government. Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Assad for harming “peace talks” while the US arms its Syrian mercenaries. I'm so ashamed of Mr. Skull & Bones Kerry. He's not the guy he portrayed himself to be after Vietnam. Polls demonstrate that 65% of the US population opposes US intervention in Syria. Despite this clear
In Wake of BP Disaster, NSA Spying Comes As No Surprise to Gulf Coast Advocates
In Wake of BP Disaster, NSA Spying Comes As No Surprise to Gulf Coast Advocates
GOP WoW Illuminated by OLB Beauty
This is probably one of the most striking photo's I have seen in a long time. Had to steal it and share it. Sizing it for my blog - distorts it. See the pic >>>HERE<<< From @leslieamsterdam as posted @progress2day
ALEC - LImited Government, Unless it Benefits an ALEC Member
It is sometimes, (not often) amazing to me when I see what ALEC members do. The actions of some ALEC members could viewed not only as secretive - but as morally corrupt. Here we have a member of the extremist American Legislative Exchange Council who believes in limited government – unless taxpayer dollars are paying for his personal expenses. Evidently for McDonnell, taxpayer dollars should be used to pay for “his” needs and as opposed to the needs of the people. *WASHINGTON, June 17 (Reuters) *- Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell and his wife used taxpayer money to pay for sun... more »
Breaking: Where The Professors Are!
*TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013* *At long last, the Times explains:* For years, we’ve asked a basic question: Where the Professor Harold Hill are the nation’s top academics? We began to ask this question in the mid-1990s. We watched the “press corps” struggle, for two solid years, to answer a rather basic question: Did Newt Gingrich’s Medicare plan call for “Medicare cuts,” as President Clinton was saying? Or would Gingrich’s plan simply “slow the rate at which the program would grow?” This question turned out to be much too hard for our professional “press corps.” Night after night, pundi...more »
Robert Sutherland, Canada's first Black lawyer
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Robert Sutherland (1830–1878) was the first known graduate of colour at a Canadian university, and the first Black man to study law in British North America. A graduate of Queen's University, Sutherland qualified to practise law in Ontario under the then prevailing system of apprenticeship and examination. He studied at Osgoode Law School and practised law for 20 years in Walkerton, Ontario. He was very successful; on death in 1878, Sutherland's left a large bequest (his entire estate of $12,000) to Queen's University, roughly equivalent to the institution's annual operating budget.... more »
Harper sidesteps questions over whether it was appropriate for his taxpayer-funded office to be distributing documents to media about paid speeches Justin Trudeau made before he was elected to Parliament
Again, a failure to distinguish between the role of government and the dictates of the Party: Story here:
Iraq No Closer To Solving Its Electricity Problems
2013 looks to be another year that the Iraqi government fails to end its energy supply problems. Since the beginning of the year various officials and offices from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to his deputy Hussein Shahristani to the Electricity Ministry have promised that by the end of the year there will be no more blackouts and power outages in the country. In June for example, the Electricity Ministry said that it had achieved its highest production since 2003. This has been met by widespread skepticism by members of parliament and the public as Baghdad has become completely ... more »
It's Tuesday... (bonus feel good video)
*what's going on.* On the other hand, what's not going on? The events unfolding in the world are, to quote this administration, unprecedented. *ObamaCare: * Bunkerville: Obamacare will share personal health info with other state and fed agencies Conservative Hideout: Medical Privacy Ends with ObamaCare *Scandal: * Jeffrey Lord: The IRS Immigration Fraud Scandal UK Daily Mail: Hidden camera catches wireless company employees passing out 'Obama phones' to people who say they'll SELL them for drugs, shoes, handbags and spending cash Father Z: Pres. Obama sticks his nose i... more »
Getting Off the Wheel
For thousands of years, human history has been punctuated by a continuous chain of aggression, conflict and wars. These conflagrations are far too numerous to effectively catalog without requiring documentation on such a massive scale that it would be more than enough to depress even the most stoic and dispassionate of historians. Some of these conflicts span decades due to a seemingly endless cycle of aggression followed by violent retaliation and retribution that inspires the adversary to further atrocities and on and on it goes until either side or both are so decimated and exh... more »
G- 8 Declaration WILL NOT mention the fate of Syrian leader Assad & Updates!
*ABC * *The G-8 summit's joint statement on ending the Syrian civil war will not mention whether Bashar Assad must step down from power as part of any peace settlement, a senior Russian diplomat said Tuesday ahead of the document's publication.* ***Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told reporters the eight nations have agreed they should not specify any outcome from peace talks that all agree should start soon in Geneva.* ***Ryabkov said the talks should aim to create a transitional coalition government for Syria, but should not predetermine whether Assad can particip... more »
Laurie Watt scores a win for real journalism over sycophancy
Score for one for competent, responsible journalism. A communications officer in the Prime Minister’s Office sent an email to The Advance, in Barrie, Ont., encouraging the paper to do a story on a speech that Justin Trudeau gave in the community six years ago. Trudeau got $10,000; the local college lost $4,118 on what was supposed to be a fundraiser. An OK little story, although Trudeau wasn’t an MP at the time. But PMO communications staffer Erica Meekes asked that the the information - including a poster for the 200 event - be identified as coming from a “source.” Instead, reporter L... more »
Book I Read ...
Just thought I'd should mention a little gem of a book i recently read. *War At Sea: A Canadian Seaman On The North Atlantic*, by Frank Curry. In many respects, it's unremarkable. It's a little repetitive and there's not much in the way of broader insights about the effect of the war on Canadian society. Curry seems almost entirely uninterested in providing much background about himself or with providing us with even the months in which events are occurring. On the other hand, it is a highly engaging first-person account of what it was like to be an ASDIC (Sonar) operator on a Can... more »
More Reflections on the EDL
Reading another Tommy Robinson related thread on Harry's Place the other day (pre the infamous Sunday Politics show) made me ask myself, again, was I wrong to give the benefit of the doubt to Tommy Robinson, or should I have even let myself listen to him? After all, he has been thoroughly dismissed as racist, labelled far-right, and lumped together with the BNP, surely I must be a gullible fool for allowing one single utterance from him through my less than impenetrable fingers-in-ears defense mechanism. Perhaps commenter ‘Ginger Beer’ was right all the time, and our worries ... more »
Globalizing Human Rights
My colleague and friend James Ron has a new article up at Open Democracy (with Shannon Golden and David Crow) on asymmetric access of global populations to human rights machinery. The article is one in a new Open Democracy series “Open Global Rights,” which aims to “ relocate the [human rights] conversation away from the west Continue reading
Ken Macleod on Iain Banks
We missed Ken Macleod’s public eulogies for Iain Banks: he did an interview for As it Happens, wrote an article in The Guardian, and has some brief personal words on his blog. From the conclusion of his Guardian piece: The reputation and reception of Iain Banks as a mainstream author may fluctuate in the future. His verve and talent will always be recognised, Continue reading
A Certain Kind of Selfishness
This is more of a riff on Phil’s post from last week than a direct reply; the post that Dan and I wrote addresses more directly the issue of actor autonomy that we think Phil misunderstood us on we and Phil were clearly on different semantic pages, so I am not going to go back Continue reading
When Will The Republican Party End It's Sick Jihad Against American Women?
There may be a gender gap, but there are still millions of women who vote for Republicans. Really. True, Obama won the two-party vote among female voters in the 2012 election by 12 points, 56% to 44%, over Republican challenger Mitt Romney. But that means 44% of women-- and they're not all in the South-- voted for Romney. Obama's 12 point advantage was smaller than his 14 point advantage in 2008, though substantially bigger than the Democratic advantages in 2000 and 2004 when Bush ran. The Democrats have been pretty good at exposing the depth of the Republican War On Women... with... more »
I’ve visited @NCTQ, we should all be underwhelmed #teacherprep
Paul Thomas and Jim Horn have already warned us about NCTQ and its thoroughly biased “advocacy.” There are some updated links in there, here’s a few more on the new report specifically: From NPR; NCTQ’s chief hypocrisy; And MSNBC. and the Wall Street Journal. Kind of a mixed bag here. I’m not sure if there’s […]
Immigration activists invade private property: Every one of these criminals belong in jail
*this is appalling.* *The police should have been there with paddy wagons and arrested every last one of them for trespassing. They're actually standing on his porch! And the traitors in our government want to give these people amnesty? * via Gateway Pundit: *Todd Starnes* at Townhall reported: Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is calling for a criminal investigation after a huge mob of illegal alien supporters surrounded his private home Saturday and held a rally on his front porch. At least 200 members of Sunflower Community Action were bussed into Kobach’s Kansas City-ar... more »
Vetting the UFO Field
Almost from the point that civilian UFO investigations began, there has been an expressed desire to find evidence of alien visitation. The mere fact that these organizations were looking toward the extraterrestrial does not negate the research they have done. Often scientists have an opinion of how an experiment will conclude, which is one of the reasons for double blind tests. But the gathering of information can be done without the bias of the investigators getting in the way of collecting the data. It is only when data are ignored that the problem arises. Sort of the corollary t... more »
One of Premier Brad Wall's Gov't MLA's scrambles to repay 'speaking engagement' fees ...
** [image: Progressive Bloggers] *Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall has caused some problems for one of his caucus members with his attack on Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau for charging speaker fees while sitting as an MP:* * **"Sask. Party MLA and former Saskatchewan Roughriders offensive lineman Gene Makowsky has paid back more than $2,000 in fees he received this spring for appearing at charity events.* *Makowsky returned the money this weekend after Premier Brad Wall made national headlines criticizing federal Liberal Party leader Justin Trudeau for accepting hefty payments for sp... more »
Please, More Reporting Like This (Judges ed.)
Fascinating parenthetical in Emily Heil's story about judicial vacancies: Some vacancies have remained without nominees because home-state senators have yet to make recommendations to the White House to begin with — and in states with two GOP senators, that means they can delay the process there. (However, we hear that President Obama has sufficiently badgered at least Democratic senators to start providing names of judges, and observers are expecting a “raft” of new names from the White House soon.) First, it's good reporting to note the Senate's role in the delays in judicial nomi... more »
BRAZIL TOO
Now people are protesting in Brazil as they see cutbacks in education and social spending. The whole world is fed up with the corruption that comes from our governments being taken over by corporate power. They privatize - they cut back - they steal our natural resources - they pollute our Mother Earth - they make war and use police violence to repress the public - and then they lie about their devious intentions. The world is moving in a wave against these corporate dominated governments. Keep it going.
Risks and Future Energy
My principle concern is the risks related to various forms of post carbon energy technology. I assume that there are unacceptable risks related to continued use of fossil fuel energy technology. There are people who regard carbon based fuels as acceptable, but their argument treats carbon based fuels as entailing no risks, or, so little risk, that risk consequences can easily be managed. These arguments must be classified as metaphysical, since they are not subjected to any scientific tests before being pronounced true beyond all doubts. Most critics of the climate change hypoth... more »
THE NEW BIG POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST
[image: modern-day don quijote] *Tunisia in the good old days by elmina* * **David Paul Goldman*, who is Jewish, writes in* Asia Times* that *Syria and Egypt can't be fixed* Goldman writes that *"Syria and Egypt are dying. "They were dying before the Syrian civil war broke out and before the Muslim Brotherhood took power in Cairo."* This sounds like Israeli propaganda. *The new face of the Middle East - Mossad's al-Qaeda mercenaries.* *Aangirfan believes that Syria, Egypt and Tunisia WERE making good progress before the outbreak of the CIA-Mossad-MI6's Arab Spring.* *A.* Under Ben... more »
Photos Navajo Action! Navajos pump CAP water, press end to dirty coal industry
Photos by Black Mesa Water Coalition . Black Mesa Water Coalition said, "At 9am this morning Navajo people dropped pumps into the Central Arizona Project's canal and began pumping water into buckets then into the back of a water tank in the back of a truck. We came to demonstrate that water can be pumped using solar power. We came to demand Power Without
Massive Protests in Brazil
Last night hundreds of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets in protest. In this Vine, you can see the scope of the demonstrations, which the AP reports consisted of 240,000 in cities across Brazil. (h/t Global Grind via @MichaelSkolnik) Global Grind has 10 images from the protests. The protests were set off by a hike in bus fare, but emerge from a climate consisting of police brutality toward demonstrators in earlier protests and widespread economic instability at a time when billions of dollars in public funds are being spent to host the World Cup and the Olympics.
Maddow massively jumps the shark!
*TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013* *One of the most egregious reports we've ever seen on cable:* As we’ve told you in the past, Rachel Maddow isn’t what you’d call obsessively honest. Her problem seems especially strong with respect to political figures of whom she disapproves. This seems to have led to the opening segment of last night’s program, one of the most egregious reports we’ve ever seen on cable. The dishonesty was so extensive that we won’t try to detail it today. We will only say this: If you want to see the way the world works, you should watch that 17-minute segment, the segme... more »
That fetus is doing WHAT?
As predicted, RAPEublicans can be funny about abortion, just not intentionally. Get a load of this. As the House of Representatives gears up for Tuesday’s debate on HR 1797, a bill that would outlaw virtually all abortions 20 weeks post fertilization, Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) argued in favor of banning abortions even earlier in pregnancy because, he said, male fetuses that age were already, shall we say, spanking the monkey. “Watch a sonogram of a 15-week baby, and they have movements that are purposeful,” said Burgess, a former OB/GYN. “They stroke their face. If they’re a mal...more »
Tiwesdæg: the Left-hand of Linkage
David Silbey on the long century of the US surveillance state. Don’t throw the espionage baby out with the domestic-surveillance bathwater? Tom Nichols throws the gauntlet down at opponents of more active US involvement in the Syrian civil war. Dan Trombly ruminates on the concept of “blowback” in light of recent domestic terror attacks in the west. Developments Continue reading
Most species originate in the tropics
Yesterday was the first really good day of 2013 to swim in a pond – two months later than in 2012 – and today is the first supertropical day of the otherwise cloudy year 2013 with temperatures reaching 35 °C in Pilsen where the warmth has its headquarters. Prague was colder but 33.5 °C was still enough (by 0.3 °C) to beat the record for this day which didn't occur in 2012 but in... 1934. ;-) A tropical topic may therefore be appropriate. Because Slovak geologist Mr Adam Tomášových is among the 8 authors of the paper, the science section of the Slovak daily Sme.sk reviewed the article... more »
Untitled
*Sheriff: Site of Florida Gas explosion looks like a bomb went off ~WWLTV* * *Pipeline Explodes in Washington Parish ~NOLA DEFENDER*~*Director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, Ann Rolfes*, said the rash of incidents points to a significant problem within the gas industry. *"The petrochemical industry in this state has an accident problem, and they've certainly shown it in the last five days,"* said Rolfes. *"We need to hire more people, and we need to figure out how to get renewable energy in this state so that we can get safe jobs for workers." *
PRISM barely scratches the surface ... 50 years of global surveillance
Mick Meaney This report looks at the reality of the global surveillance network and explains how PRISM is just a small part in a decades-long agenda to monitor citizens. *Sources*: http://www.duncancampbell.org/content... http://www.duncancampbell.org/menu/jo... http://www.nickyhager.info/ebook-of-s... http://www.nickyhager.info/exposing-t... http://www.cyber-rights.org/intercept... http://retro.nrc.nl/W2/Lab/Echelon/st... http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suyRP... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF5mrw... http://www.fas.org/irp/program/proces.....more »
Canada Being Assimilated Into a U.S. Dominated North American Security Perimeter
Dana Gabriel Canada’s prime minister recently addressed the CFR, a globalist think tank who have been a driving force behind the push towards deeper North American integration. The U.S. and Canada are now further advancing this agenda through the Beyond the Border agreement. Both countries are increasing bilateral border transportation and infrastructure coordination. This includes a common approach to border management, security and control. They are also integrating an information sharing system that would be used to track everyone crossing the U.S.-Canada border and entering or... more »
Syria and Iran: In America's Crosshairs
Anthony Freda Art Stephen Lendman Obama's on a fast track toward tyranny. He's heading for greater intervention against Syria. Ravaging the country entirely is planned. At issue is establishing another pro-Western vassal state. Mass killing and destruction don't matter. Imperial priorities come first. Longstanding plans pre-date 9/11. Former French Foreign Minister Roland Dumas doesn't know the half of it. If he does, he didn't say. He told French parliamentary channel (La Chaine parlementaire) viewers: I’m going to tell you something. I was in England two years before the viol... more »
Watch Your Cash: New BAIL-IN Rules Will Force “Failed Bank Losses on Investors”
Mac Slavo When the Cypriot government forced account holders to cover bank losses earlier this year most of the world assumed this was a one-off event, limited only to the people of Cyprus. Though warnings urging depositors to get their money out of banks spread across the world, few have taken them seriously. Perhaps now they’ll reconsider. We’re all familiar with bail-outs, as in the government rescuing failed institutions, namely banks, by injecting them with tens of billions of dollars to prevent collapse. But have you ever heard of a bail-in? Japan’s Financial Services Agen... more »
Skynet to Launch October, 2013
Jack Mullen Business Insider published an article about the NSA data center being constructed in Bluffdale, Utah. The facility, being roughly 1 million square feet, will house a computing and data harvesting and long term data storage facility to be operational by October 2013. (Source) The stated purpose of the facility is to "listen and decode all foreign communications of interest to the security of the United States." But in light of the recent revelations of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, the data center under construction in Utah is far more likely a tool of the United S... more »
Putin to Cameron: Do You Want to Arm People Who Eat the Organs of Their Enemies?
*Youtube* During a press conference ahead of the G8 summit Vladimir Putin offers a scathing put down in response to David Cameron's vain attempt to portray the Syrian "rebels" as fighting for secularism and democracy. Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.
Fascist Revolving Door at 'Digital Blackwater' Booz Allen
*Youtube* Booz Allen could use some more government scrutiny. Maybe it would, if the private defense contractor didn't have such a revolving door relationship with Washington. Just how much is your private information in their hands? A 100 billion emails a day! Subscribe to the Young Turks Channel Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.
British MP George Galloway on the Anti-G8 Summit and Bilderberg
*We Are Change* Luke Rudkowski interviews British politician George Galloway at an Anti-G8 event about why he is against the G8's policies and his thoughts on the recent Bilderberg meeting. WeAreChange.org Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.
Obama’s Syria Policy Looks a Lot Like Bush’s Iraq Policy
Dees Illustration Dr. Ron Paul President Obama announced late last week that the US intelligence community had just determined that the Syrian government had used poison gas on a small scale, killing some 100 people in a civil conflict that has claimed an estimated 100,000 lives. Because of this use of gas, the president claimed, Syria had crossed his “red line” and the US must begin to arm the rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian government. Setting aside the question of why 100 killed by gas is somehow more important than 99,900 killed by other means, the fact is his above e... more »
Taiwan-Phils Fishing Pact? Probably not....
*One of the great joys of biking in Taiwan is meeting all the friendly people.* With Taipei and Manila agreeing to forego the use of force in settling disputes at sea at a recent meeting, a pact which enormously favors Taipei since Philippines' boats rarely poach in Taiwan waters, but the reverse, alas, is all too common, the possibility of an actual fishing pact between the two sides is being raised. Discussions (a second preparatory meeting) are scheduled for July... Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs director-general Benjamin Ho, in an int... more »
When should a conviction should be set aside because it was not supported by the evidence before the trial judge
*R. v. Kinney*, 2013 YKCA 5 is a useful source for when conviction should be set aside because it was not supported by the evidence before the trial judge: [10] The approach to be taken in considering this contention was discussed by the Supreme Court in R. v. Biniaris, 2000 SCC 15 (CanLII), 2000 SCC 15, [2000] 1 S.C.R. 381, and summarized as follows by Madam Justice Arbour in the companion case of R. v. A.G., 2000 SCC 17 (CanLII), 2000 SCC 17 at para. 6, 2000 SCC 17 (CanLII), [2000] 1 S.C.R. 439: *[6] ... embarking on the exercise mandated by s. 686(1)(a)(i) of the ... more »
A Presentation by Kerri Rivera.- 38 Autistic Children Recovered in 20 months with MMS
This presentation will outline the approach Kerri has used successfully to help recover 38 children from a diagnosis of Autism. She will explain how MMS (chlorine dioxide) has become the “missing piece” to the autism puzzle for so many of the families that she works with. MMS is available worldwide, and is extremely cost effective, bringing recovery in reach of all families, despite economic or geographic limitations. This presentation seeks to prove that Autism truly is curable. *View Video Presentation by clicking on the link below:* ** *http://www.autismone.org/content/38-chi... more »
Microsoft No. 1–in Turning Over Data to NSA
You might say that Gates got the ball rolling. From the PRISM slide show recently exposed (click to enlarge):
Vaccination Lies and Other Tales
Dees Illustration Catherine J. Frompovich Breaking news out of Rawalpindi, Pakistan, is something the medical profession—and Big Pharma—probably do not want parents in the USA to hear or know. Children who have been fully vaccinated against measles are coming down with, you guessed it, measles! How can that be, when vaccinations are supposed to ‘immunize’ children against the very diseases for which they get the toxic ‘jabs’? Measles is not the only vaccine slipup; whooping cough has been disproving vaccine ‘science’ for quite a while now. Natural News blew the whistle on that i... more »
Law enforcement accesses increasingly massive facial recognition databases with few legal standards
image credit: AV-1/Flickr Madison Ruppert According to a new report, the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance program isn’t all Americans have to be concerned about. Searchable facial recognition databases are growing increasingly massive and few legal safeguards are in place. Facial recognition systems in the United States are on the rise thanks to a wide variety of initiatives including the FBI directly sharing facial recognition software with police departments while also deploying a $1 billion facial recognition system around the country. Since facial recognition s... more »
The Politics of the Human Heart
*Image* Janet C. Phelan When I was in grade school, the alarms would begin and, whether we were in instruction or at lunch or recess, we knew what those sirens meant. We would put down whatever was in our hands -- pencils, forks, a softball -- and file into the auditorium. There we would put our heads between our knees, cover our little necks with our forearms and wait for either doomsday or the all clear. Some little girls would always begin to sob. We never knew whether it was a drill or not until the all clear sounded. Unlike so many of my classmates, I was never worried. A sm... more »
The Great American Dragnet: Over 200 Million People Are in the Facial Recognition Database
Daisy Luther You are probably participating in the facial recognition database whether you want to or not. Most likely, your visage is there to be easily identified, without your consent, even if you’ve never committed a crime. Using the vague criteria of “law enforcement purposes”, the United States has more than 200 million Americans filed away in various facial recognition databases. If you have a driver’s license or any other government photo ID, your face is probably one of them. The Washington Post reports: Law enforcement use of such facial searches is blurring the tradi... more »
Researchers Discover Flaxseed Regresses Cardiovascular Plaque in Animals
Sayer Ji *Quick Summary* - Researchers discover flaxseed regresses cardiovascular plaque in an animal model - Flaxseed may provide an ideal estrogen alternative in older women - Flaxseed has three major beneficial components - There are over 50 researched health benefits of flaxseed A promising new study published in the *American Journal of Physiology*and Circulation Research titled, "The Effects of Dietary Flaxseed on Atherosclerotic Plaque Regression," looked at whether flaxseed in the diet of rabbits is capable of regressing atherosclerotic plaque, the primar... more »
Alessandra Stanley gets it right!
*TUESDAY, JUNE 18, 2013* *About Morning Joe and Miss Utah:* As noted in our previous post, Alessandra Stanley profiles quite a few news programs in today’s New York Times. We’d have to say her aim is true as she describes Morning Joe: STANLEY (6/18/13): “Morning Joe” on MSNBC is not really the CNN show’s competition—it’s a sassy, personality-driven program about politics. At its best, that rambunctious, fast-talking cable talk show, anchored by Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski, can sound like a screwball comedy set in a Washington think tank. *On a bad day it turns into a C-Span ... more »
Paper touts ‘no jail’ option in exchange for reduced Charter protection
A startling idea -- especially as the Constitution expressly applies to offences -- almost certainly not lawful: *A discussion paper issued by the federal Department of Justice is suggesting that for certain offences, the assurance of lower penalties or no time in jail in exchange for reduced protection under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms could lead to a more efficient criminal justice system.* * **A number of options to achieve these goals arise in the proportionality discussion paper issued by the federal steering committee on justice efficiencies and access to justice. * * **... more »
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