Sunday, April 27, 2014

27 April - Blogs I'm Following

Mount Raung . Photo was taken from Malaysia Ai...Mount Raung . Photo was taken from Malaysia Airlines flight MH853 (from Kuala Lumpur to Denpasar, Bali). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2:23pm MDST

Greece Updates April 27 , 2014 -- Concerning Greece fiscal condition whether the so called primary budget surplus is allegedly 3.4 billion ( or is it 1.5 billion as per Troika calculations ) , just note the Greek debt sinkhole is now at 175 percent of GDP ! Other items of note , present FM Stournaras scurrrying away from the frontlines to run the bank of Greece after May Election for European Parliament and Local Authority Elections - smart move ...... Pasok finances a tad shady ( shocking , now let's look at New Democracy ) ....... Hmm , thought there would absolutely be no further needs for austerity measures , thought Greece was doing so well as per the EU ----- Takeaway - The European Commission may hail the “Greek progress” in its April 2014 review of the second Economic Adjustment Programme for Greece. The EC may hail the primary surplus and the structural reforms. However at the same time it stresses the need for additional austerity measures totaling 7.7 billion euro for the years 2-15-2017....... Greece 2021 ( why not 2031 ?? ) ---- Greece got a plan. A growth and development plan with the futuristic title “Greece 2021″, that is seven years from now. The plan was submitted by Finance Minister Yiannis Stournaras to Euro Working Group on Thursday in Brussels in the context with the Greek debt relief request. Here is to note that the development plan is the first after Greece sought the aid of the International Monetary Fund in 2010.

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 13 minutes ago
*Primary budget surplus is no panacea It cannot compensate for the need to revive the economy, and priority must be reviving investmentsBy Dimitris KontogiannisThe primary surplus of the general government a year before schedule is important in many respects but it is not a panacea for the country’s economic problems. If the economy does not recover and grow at satisfactory rates in the years ahead as official creditors forecast and market participants bet with their money, the primary surplus may turn out to be a short-lived memory. Even if it is ... more »

Malaysia Airline Flight 370 Mystery Day 48 April 26 , 2014 Updates -- Indian Ocean underwater to be extended from present search area -The submarine drone Bluefin 21 has so far searched about 95 percent of a 10 square km (6.2 square mile) area of the Indian Ocean seabed, pinpointed after the detection of acoustic pings believed to be from the plane's black box flight recorders....... Flight 370 families irate -- KUALA LUMPUR - Ten Malaysia Airlines staff were held against their will for hours by Chinese relatives of flight MH370 passengers, the airline said on Friday, at a Beijing hotel that has seen increasingly tense confrontations over the missing plane ..... The Malaysian government was forced to perform an abrupt u-turn yesterday after earlier insisting it would not release its report into missing flight MH370. Families of the 239 missing people on board the Malaysia Airlines flight reacted with fury after officials said the contents of the preliminary report into the mystery would not be released. But Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said last night that the report could in fact be made public as early as next week.

Catharsis Ours - 13 minutes ago
New Straits Times..... 26 April 2014| last updated at 02:04PM MH370 Tragedy: Indian Ocean undersea hunt to be extended 0 0 Google +0 0 0 comments PERTH: The undersea search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 is to be extended beyond the small area identified as its most likely resting place as the quest for any sign of the missing plane enters its 50th day today. The submarine drone Bluefin 21 has so far searched about 95 percent of a 10 square km (6.2 square mile) area of the Indian Ocean seabed, pinpointed after the detection of acoustic pings believed to be from the p... more »

ALEC Legislators - Protecting Profits of Dirty-Fuel Energy

2old2care at Because I Can - 16 minutes ago
There are some major problems with the arguments being used by ALEC legislators to implement ALEC dirty-fuel corporate written legislation that punishes residences that have gone solar. I'm not an energy expert - so the fact that I can see these flaws and bring them to others attention - does not speak kindly of the solar industry experts - who have intentionally chosen to keep their mouths shut - and chose not to properly inform the public on theses bills. and not debunk the ALEC arguments. Solar energy experts have reported on the bills - bitching, whining and moaning about the bill... more »

Fisking and Pilgering

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 47 minutes ago
In the *...and other matters* section of this blog, please let me steer you towards a fine fisking of the *Independent*'s Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk by *CiF Watch*'s Adam Levick. It outlines Mr Fisk's latest "distortions, half-truths and fabrications". No one is more deserving of a fisking than Robert Fisk (even Jeremy Bowen). According to the *Collins English Dictionary *'to fisk' means 'to refute or criticize (a journalistic article or blog) point by point'. Many of us have fisked things over the years. The verb 'to fisk' and the noun 'fisking' have caught on to suc... more »

Re the SpongeBob SquarePants mushroom

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 hour ago
This week's *The Unbelievable Truth *featured some of the sillier common names scientists have given to recently-discovered species. I thought I'd share. There's an African millipede called the wandering leg sausage... the Burmese sneezing monkey... the ninja slug... the yeti crab... ...and the SpongeBob SquarePants mushroom...

Niggle Farridge

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 hour ago
It's hard trying to be impartial, and slips are inevitable. We aren't machines after all and what we really think will sometimes get blurted out, however hard we try to keep our opinions to ourselves. Poor Andrew Marr evidently doesn't have a high opinion of UKIP and UKIP supporters. He slipped up twice this morning and evidently couldn't help himself from outblurting his real thoughts about them. ("Outblurting"? Very Thomas Hardy that.) First, as spotted by Biased BBC readers, Andrew Marr referred to a "cracking picture" of an odd looking chap in a blazer on the front page of *Th... more »

Acknowledgement of the optout movement from @John_Merrow

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 2 hours ago
This from John Merrow at Learning Matters. The opt-out movement may become a force to be reckoned with, if and when it organizes effectively. What has to happen, it seems to me, is that the movement must also be FOR something. I suggest a straight trade: two weeks of project-based learning for every day of testing […]

John Manley's Ode to Corporate Loveliness

Alison at Creekside - 2 hours ago
John Manley, chief of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives, was quite breathless in his Sunday Edition ode to corporate loveliness. Sure, according to Canadians for Tax Fairness : "analysis of the top 60 companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange found only four companies paid the full corporate rate. More than half paid less than 10 per cent, and 13 firms paid less than five per cent." but they contribute in "lots of other ways" Manley insisted ... like property taxes which you and I also pay so wtf, John? Your Ode to Corps? Here you go - I fixed it for ya. Shall I comp... more »

Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 3 hours ago
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face http://youtu.be/Go9aks4aujM I heard part of this this on a TV advertisement just now and it reminded me how beautiful this song was.

Awwwww! Let's just hope the Bronx Zoo doesn't name either of the new baby gorillas "Cliven"

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
Photos by Julie Larsen Maher for the Wildlife Conservation Society *Do gorillas have Mother's Day?* *I don't know, but I don't think Mom needs words to clue us in to how enthusiastic she would be about anyone or anything presuming to mess with Junior. Speaking of whom, judging by those big gorilla-eyes he or she -- we'll explain below -- certainly seems to have this "camera" thing pretty well figured out.* *by Ken* I'm playing catch-up on this story; we always like to stay on top of stories that are bound to make readers go, "Awwwww." However, thanks to The Frisky's Jessica Wakeman... more »

China and Russia continue to push forward to non UDS hegemony goals .... April 25 , 2014 Updates --- PBOC Pressures USD Hegemony; Starts Yuan-Denominated Gold & Oil Trading ....... Forming Of Eurasian Economic Union And Joint Currency Accelerates - Several Russian media outlets have reported that Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus, that currently form theEurasian customs union, will sign an agreement in May to accelerate the formation of an economic union and a joint currency: Altyn........ Jim Willie says petrodollar day of reckoning comes this year - 2014 !

Catharsis Ours - 3 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-25/pboc-pressures-usd-hegemony-starts-yuan-denominated-gold-oil-trading PBOC Pressures USD Hegemony; Starts Yuan-Denominated Gold & Oil Trading [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/25/2014 15:00 -0400 - Central Banks - China - Foreign Central Banks - Germany - Monetary Policy - Renminbi - Yuan inShare9 With 23 foreign central banks diversifying from US Dollars to Renminbi and the PBOC actively aiding numerous major financial hubs around the world with bilateral currency swap agreement... more »

On the value of teacher preparation, from a former teacher educator

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 4 hours ago
Allow me to make some very direct assertions at the outset. The President plans to roll out this summer new criteria for evaluating teacher preparation programs, all with which I thoroughly disagree. No other major course of study at the university must put up with such scrutiny. The National Council of Teacher Quality, as indicated in […]

Odd and / or disturbing news of the day April 27 , 2014 -- The Minority Report ( movie ) comes to life ? Twitter allegedly now can predict crime and quick , obvious questions spring to the mind - The big question is, does it work? For Greber, the answer is a firm “sometimes.” “It helps for some, and it hurts for others,” he says .............. JP Morgan decides in 2014 to suddenly decide to close hundreds of porn performers bank accounts by May 11 , 2014 - based on this 2012 FDIC warning ( Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that included adult entertainment on a list of businesses that might have a higher risk of consumer fraud. The warning, however, does not require banks to refuse services to those in the porn industry. ) And is Bank of America following suit ? ? And what is special about May 11 , 2014 ( Eastern Regions of Ukraine Referendums set for May 11 , 2014 come to mind , surely just a coincidence . ) .......... MEET AISIGHT – THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOFTWARE BEING INSTALLED ON CCTV NETWORKS GLOBALLY .......... PHONE COMPANY BID TO KEEP DATA FROM N.S.A. IS REJECTED

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
TWITTER CAN NOW PREDICT CRIME, AND THIS RAISES SERIOUS QUESTIONS April 27, 2014 Share It | Print This SOURCE: MOTHERBOARD Police departments in New York City may soon be using geo-tagged tweets to predict crime. It sounds like a far-fetched sci-fi scenario a la *Minority Report*, but when I contacted Dr. Matthew Greber, the University of Virginia researcher behind the technology, he explained that the system is far more mathematical than metaphysical. The system Greber has devised is an amalgam of both old and new techniques. Currently,many police departments target hot spots f... more »

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Day 47 April 25 , 2014 -- Fruitless underwater search to expand ( Authorities just fishing now , no clue where to search in the Indian Ocean ) , US throw out reality the search will go on fruitlessly for years ( or until folks get bored and tune out ... ) .......... TENSIONS REIGNITE! Desperate MH370 families protest at M'sian embassy after chaotic meeting with MAS , MAJOR U-TURN: M'sian PM swerves from previous MH370 'NO SURVIVORS' 'ENDED IN OCEAN' claims, to release report next week

Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
25 April 2014| last updated at 02:05PM MH370 Tragedy: Seabed search to widen 0 0 Google +0 0 0 comments <ins id="aswift_0_anchor" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom-style: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: none; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-width: initial; color: black; display: block; font-size: 13px; font-weight: normal; font: inherit; height: 60px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-l... more »

April 27: Another step back....

Graeme Decarie at The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad - 4 hours ago
This will probably be just a short note. It bothers me I was not more critical of Gwynne Dyer, yesterday. He was commenting on the Ukrainian crisis - and rather dismissive of it. They were just, he said, replaying the old strategic game, probably to later include China. But nothing much with relation to China is likely to happen for thirty years. So why worry? Russia cannot invade the US; it can't match the US for military spending; any damage it could do to the US is bearable; So why worry? The trouble with all that reasoning is that thirty years is not a long time; Russia has l... more »

Can Israeli "tourists" be trusted?

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 4 hours ago
Abe Foxman, the obnoxious director of the Anti-Defamation League, is upset that Israel has not been admitted to the Visa Waiver Program, a program administered by the U.S. State Department that "allows citizens of participating countries to travel to the United States without a visa for stays of 90 days or less," according to *the official website* of the Program. The U.S. intelligence community has been unenthusiastic about admitting Israel into the program and granting Israeli "tourists" - who in many cases turn out to be spies - essentially unfettered access to the United States.... more »

Poland linked to destabilization of Ukraine ? Poland's NIE media outlet says yes ! Proof of Poland’s Participation in the Ukrainian Pandemonium -- Polish media outlet Nie has published a bombshell account about direct Polish involvement in Ukraine’s destabilization. Its source alleges that the Polish Foreign Ministry had invited Ukrainian militants into the country and trained them outside of Warsaw in September 2013 ....... US FINANCIAL SHOWDOWN WITH RUSSIA IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN IT LOOKS, FOR BOTH SIDES .........US Nuclear Fuel in Ukraine Risks Second Chernobyl – Scientists

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 4 hours ago
http://orientalreview.org/2014/04/17/proof-of-polands-participation-in-the-ukrainian-pandemonium/ Proof of Poland’s Participation in the Ukrainian Pandemonium Thu, Apr 17, 2014 Europe, Phenomenon of Terrorism, Ukraine *By Andrew KORYBKO (USA)* [image: Proof of Poland’s Participation in the Ukrainian Pandemonium] Polish media outlet Nie has published a bombshell account about direct Polish involvement in Ukraine’s destabilization. Its source alleges that the Polish Foreign Ministry had invited Ukrainian militants into the country and trained them outside of Warsaw in September 2013. Co... more »

New Jackass City

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 4 hours ago
After the Hank Aaron backlash, Cliven Bundy and now Donald Sterling, it makes me realize that maybe Dr. King's legacy was ultimately a failure and we're just one Act of Congress away from nationwide racial apartheid that the Koch brothers, ALEC and the state Senate had already seriously considered implementing in one North Carolina school district. And, as if that wasn't enough to sour you on this country of ours, check out this ABC video from four years ago and then tell me if charges of racial profiling are exaggerated (Tip o' the tinfoil hat to constant reader CC).

Northerntruthseeker Rant For Sunday, April 27th, 2014

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 5 hours ago
[image: rant-jpeg-b] It is indeed Sunday, and I am of course presenting here my usual "Rant" where I take a look at what is happening around the world. I take what we are being told by the liars in the mainstream media and rip that to shreds... I have been under attack again for my statement that the media is controlled by the Jews... I honestly do not know what planet these morons are from or if they have been living under a rock for the longest time because of course almost ALL of our media and ALL of so called "Hollywood" (which I rightfully call Jewlywood) is completely cont... more »

MASSIVE BREAKING Ma announces halt to Fourth Nuclear Plant Construction

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 6 hours ago
It ain't over til the fat lady sings, but for now, the Ma gov't has taken another one on the chin. Yesterday thousands rallied in Taipei against the backdrop of longtime democracy activist Lin I-hsiung's hunger strike to end construction of this plant. The fifth day in, the Ma Administration threw in the towel and announced that it was halting construction of the plant. Lin I-hsiung could not be permitted to die. We went through this a couple of years ago when the Ma Administration terminated that horror that was the naptha cracker down in Changhua, blaming the environmentalists. T... more »

SUNDAY SONG

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 6 hours ago

Reply to an Idiot

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 6 hours ago
I've been too busy to be able to write a post about Elections Canada's recent admission of its utter uselessness. (I've also wanted to say something about how mindless it is to refer to the Ukraine Crisis as the return of the Cold War. It is a crisis and all the posturing and troop movements make it terrifyingly possible that there will be shooting. Reflexively calling it a "Cold War" lulls people into thinking that it will never get hot.) It turns out that Saskboy was getting one of those occasional infestations of harpercon trolls, in this post. I decided to help push back with s... more »

UKIP, Politics and Populism

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 6 hours ago
What a week for UKIP. By any standard political measure, the blowback from their British Jobs for British Workers campaign, the Faragey-bargy over expenses and employment of his German wife as secretary, and the tendency of candidates who can't help but say stupid, racist things would have been severely bruising. And yet as we survey the damage wrought by a hurricane of hypocrisy, bigotry and lies we find UKIP with nary a scratch. Today's YouGov poll for the *Sunday Times* finds them leading the pack for the European elections on 31% (Labour are second with 28%, the Tories on a pit... more »

Bitcoin Updates April 27 , 2014 -- Chinese bitcoin exchange BTC China has stopped accepting RMB deposits to user accounts from a major bank ( China Merchants Bank ) , revealing the move in a post on its Weibo page - action came as China Merchants Bank announced it would no longer allow its customers to engage in bitcoin related transactions and essentially would require all such businesss to close their accounts !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 6 hours ago
http://www.coindesk.com/btc-china-halts-rmb-withdrawals/ BTC China Halts RMB Account Funding Jon Southurst (@southtopia) | Published on April 26, 2014 at 22:36 BST | *Asia, BTC China, Companies,Exchanges, News, Regulation* inShare8 Share 35 [image: China] *UPDATE (27th April, 4:55 BST):* Chinese bitcoin exchange BTC China has stopped accepting RMB deposits to user accounts from a major bank, revealing the move in a post on its Weibo page. Management decided to proactively halt deposits from one of the country’s largest banks, China Merchants Bank, after the bank posted on its public... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 7 hours ago
*‘Ladies in red’ back in Capitol to fight for independent levee boards ~Jeff Adwlson, New Orleans Advocate* *Signs of healing left at New Orleans St. Roch cemetery ~WDSU* *Brian Blade Finds A 'Landmark' In His Shreveport Roots ~NPR* *Tipitina’s “Instruments A-Comin’” benefit Monday keeps the music playing for children in N.O. ~Jessica Taylor, Uptown Messenger* *JazzFest Food: The Classics ~NOLA DEFENDER*

Humans Fighting Back Against Climate Change

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
At some point it will be too late. Earth may become uninhabitable. I can imagine Koch grandchildren firing up their spaceships and taking off for the next planet they'll destroy. Maybe they'll take along the conservative legislators and political entrepreneurs who aided and abetted them along for the ride. I mean, even when they get to Planet X, someone has to wash the dishes and dig the ditches. The rest of us? We'll curse our grandparents for not having saved us when they could of. I keep a list of Koch products handy and go out of my way to avoid them when I shop. It's not eno... more »

Untitled

jonjayray at EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL - 7 hours ago
*School Choice Lifts Wisconsin Mother and Daughters* You don’t have to invite 15-year-old Donnica Coleman to share her thoughts about school choice. She bubbles over about how her destiny has changed like the flip of a switch since she left her public middle school and entered Wisconsin’s voucher program. “I wasn’t even an OK student,” she says unabashedly. “I was skipping class and had something like 100 truancies. I was an ‘F’ and ‘D’ student. I was always fighting.” Lorice Wren, Donnica’s mother, nods in agreement. “I never got called,” the 34-year-old says. “At the time, I wa... more »

Perhaps It's Just Stupidity

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 7 hours ago
In at least one way, Stephen Harper is absolutely consistent: He is the author of his own misery. That was apparent in 2008, when he almost brought his government down by removing public funding for political parties. It was apparent again last week when the Supreme Court reminded Harper that, if he wanted to reform the Senate, he would have to play by constitutional rules. And, Robert Asselin writes, it was apparent when Barack Obama decided to delay approval of the Keystone Pipeline. Harper has only himself to blame: Back in November 2008, President-elect Obama issued a stateme... more »

War Watch April 25 , 2014 -- Afghanistan will most likely see a run off to elect its new President in June as none of the candidates have more than fifty percent of the vote , shockingly , we now see Afghans turning on US doctors - Afghan Hospital Guard Kills Three US Doctors in Kabul US Nurse Also wounded in Incident ..... Syria nears completion of chemical weapon handover ( 92.5 percent of chemical material removed and destroyed despite an ongoing war and having to move the chemical material through Rebel controlled areas ) , ongoing battles between Government and Rebels - Northern Syria , Homs , Aleppo and areas around Damascus seem to be in focus presently ....... Iraq - daily carnage across the country and somehow a free and impartial Election is supposed to occur in less than a week ....

Catharsis Ours - 7 hours ago
Afghanistan..... Afghan Hospital Guard Kills Three US Doctors in KabulUS Nurse Also wounded in Incident by Jason Ditz, April 24, 2014 Print This | Share This An Afghan security guard working for the Interior Ministry opened fire on American doctors in a Kabul hospital today, killing three and wounding an American nurse. The hospital, affiliated with Christian charity Cure International, was established in 2005, and specializes in pediatrics. Dr. Jerry Umanos, a pediatrician from Chicago, had been working there since many years. The two other doctors,identified as a father and son, ... more »

As the US State Department launches its third annual " Free the Press Campaign " , the continuing attempts by the US Department of Justice to jail New Times Reporter James Risen places the campaign in a bizarrely ironic posture ! As does an examination of Sharyl Attikson " smothering at CBS - follow the bread crumbs leading to brothers David Rhodes ( President oc CBS News ) and Ben Rhodes ( Deputy Security Adviser to President Obama ) and the stories shutdown that Ms Attkinson attempted to report on - Benghazi / Fast & Furious / Swine Flu sham with CDC complicity !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
Media member is the cross hairs ..... Sharyl Attkinson..... http://www.infowars.com/explosive-what-really-happened-to-sharyl-attkisson-at-cbs/ Explosive: What really happened to Sharyl Attkisson at CBS? - [image: The Alex Jones Channel][image: Alex Jones Show podcast][image: Prison Planet TV][image: Infowars.com Twitter][image: Alex Jones' Facebook][image: Infowars store] *Jon Rappoport* Infowars.com April 24, 2014 [image: Image: Youtube] Image: Youtube Sharyl Attkisson, CBS’s top investigative reporter: gone, resigned, floating free, unchained, now viewed by the news ... more »

Was 'BH' B.S.?

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 8 hours ago
Were I being curmudgeonly I would complain that *Broadcasting House *on Radio 4 this morning engaged in yet more banker-banking (complete with cash register ka-chings as details of pay amounts were read out) and featured a satirical piece mocking UKIP's famous immigration poster. Other curmudgeons might take these as signs of left-wing bias. I'd also moan, where I in that kind of mood, about 'typical BBC navel-gazing' given that there was a self-congratulatory report about a previous *BH *report as well as a plug for another Radio 4 show (*Just a Minute*). I'd also grumble that P... more »

Cliven Bundy: The Real Welfare Leech

Marc McDonald at BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com - 8 hours ago
*By MARC McDONALD* I don't know much about the cattle business. But I'd suspect that if one owns a cattle ranch, your biggest expense by far is buying food for your cattle. Wingnut hero Cliven Bundy owns a prosperous cattle business. His cattle get to graze for free on publicly owned land. (That's right: all taxpayers, including you and me, are subsidizing Bundy's business). He refuses to pay the $1 million he owes the government for supplying his cattle with free food over the decades. In short, Bundy is a government welfare leech. He can't be bothered to pay the same grazing fee... more »

Ukraine Updates and related Russia news April 25 , 2014 -- S&P downgrades Russia to just one small step above junk status to BBB- and a furious Russia declares BS to that and further sanctions -- Putin Presidential Advisor proposes 15 measures to attack NATO countries IF additional sanctions are brought forward against Russia due to the Ukraine situation .... Scorched Earth policy being recommended ! In Eastern Ukraine , a helicopter exploded at Kramatorsk Airport , meanwhile Ukraine complains Russia is trying to start WW3 ! Additional sanctions aren't one way ( Visa admits Russia sanctions hitting business ) , Gazprom sends Ukraine 11.4 billion bill for unshipped gas ( where are those billions from the IMF / EU and US going to go - to Russia and to service Ukraine's debt ) ..... Russia reporters kidnapped in Donetsk - the fact that they were abducted while heading for an interview with an Opposition leader could indicate the Ukraine Security forces or perhaps Right Sector could be the culprits ( John Kerry to denounce this action in any minute ) .....

Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
Late afternoon / Evening news items ....... Russia shifting to War footing ? http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-25/russian-warplanes-repeatedly-enter-ukraine-airspace-helicopter-buildup-latvia-surges Russian Warplanes Repeatedly Enter Ukraine Airspace; Helicopter Buildup By Latvia Surges [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/25/2014 15:12 -0400 - fixed - Latvia - Ukraine inShare If the following news had been "sourced" by Ukraine news agencies, we would caveat it by saying it is almost certainly propaganda. However, since the source f... more »

Voles

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 10 hours ago
Alan has posted some interesting material at *Biased BBC *this morning, including a piece on how Al-Jazeera praised the restraint of the Israeli military (not something you're ever likely to hear from Jeremy Bowen) and an extract from an essay by left-wing former BBC reporter Nick Jones on the problems facing the corporation. (He reckons its problems ultimately stem from "the free-for-all of the Thatcher era and then the bonus culture of the Blair years"). Here at *Is the BBC biased? *though, we've got something about voles for you. Yes, voles. There was an interesting *The* *Li... more »

Guest Post By 'Sage: TO BE in the LIE - "BELIEVE"

Sherrie Questioning All at Sherrie Questioning All - 10 hours ago
A very good friend of mine wrote this: TO BE IN THE LIE "BELIEVE" - It is excellent! Thank you, Sage for writing this and allowing me to put it on the blog. From 'Sage": According to the few survivors of the ferry incident where so many died, they were told by those in authority to don life vests and patiently wait for help. The majority did just that. The only survivors were

Iran equips S-200 air defense system with new missiles

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: Sayyad-II]Iran’s S-200 air defense system has been equipped with domestically manufactured Sayyad-3 missiles, the deputy commander of the Khatam-ol-Anbiya Air Defense Base announced on Saturday. Brigadier General Shahrokh Shahram said that Sayyad-3 missiles are able to hit targets at medium altitudes. Iranian experts had previously upgraded the Russian-made long-range medium-to-high altitude surface-to-air S-200 air defense system by installing Sayyad-2 missiles on it and designed a mobile launcher for the system. Read more

NPR releases its own anti-SUSY rant

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 11 hours ago
The recent Lykken-Spiropulu anti-SUSY diatribe in Scientific American has sparked some echoes. One of them was published on the NPR website. The piece titled Are Physicists Ready To Give Up The Chase For SUSY? (NPR) was written by Marcelo Gleiser. I had the feeling that I have already seen the name somewhere. Well, a TRF search shows that this name has already appeared 4 times. In pretty much every single case, the story implied that Marcelo Gleiser is an aggressive idiot. And believe me, I didn't *impose*this coherence. Unfortunately, this story is no different. First, the title is... more »

Denmark Gardasil Injuries: No More Excuses, We Need Answers by Tine Albek

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 11 hours ago
Tine Gardasil Injuries: No more excuses, we need answers *By Tine Albek* *Copenhagen, Denmark * *Sane Vax, Inc. 26 April 2014* I am 28 years old. Before Gardasil, I worked as a full time painter and decorator, a career I had enjoyed since 2004. In my spare time I was involved with Crossfit training, walking, roller tours and actively socializing with friends and family. I have travelled a lot. Generally I was very physically active whether at work, or leisure activities! I had my first injection of Gardasil on the 15th of September 2012. Back then, I felt like I had done so... more »

Five dead in British military helicopter crash in Afghanistan

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: Lynx AH Mk.9A]Five service members were killed when a British helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, the NATO-led coalition forces and the British Ministry of Defence said. An Afghan official said the helicopter carrying soldiers from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) had crashed due to technical problems. "ISAF is still in the process of reviewing the circumstances to determine more facts," ISAF said. It did not provide details of their nationalities. Read more

Afghan militant group shoots down US spy aircraft

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 11 hours ago
[image: RQ-4 Global Hawk]An insurgent militant group Hizb-e-Isami Afghanistan said on Saturday that its fighters had shot down an American spy aircraft in Kunar province. The militant group’s spokesperson, Haroon Zarghoon told sources by phone.The drone aircraft was flying over Kunar’s Shegal district when hit by the Hizb’s fighters, He said the US drones are routinely fly over the border regions and also carry out strikes on the positions of the armed resistance groups. There was no comment from the ISAF forces in Afghanistan. Read more

Original sub designer has high hopes for Truong Sa submarine

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: Truong Sa submarine]Nguyen Huu Bao, now an old engineer, is remembered by many as the person who successfully built the unmanned torpedo disarming vessel called T5. At the time, Bao worked for the Ship Design Sub-institute, now called the Ship Technology Institute. As a young engineer, Bao was assigned to design the engine for a mock-up of a ship which could “swim under the water to serve combatant purposes”. In 1960s, the engineers of the sub-institute undertook the design and manufacture of implements of war. An idea was raised at that time that Vietnam needed a ship which... more »

Power in numbers: China surpasses Japan with surface combat ships

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 12 hours ago
[image: Type 052D Destroyer]China has surpassed Japan in the construction and purchasing of new surface combat vessels, according to an Apr. 25 article on the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by military analyst Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov. China's surface combat vessels may not be as good as their Japanese counterparts in terms of quality, the article said, but the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has a greater number of destroyers and frigates equipped with active electronically scanned array radar. The PLA Navy currently has six Type 052C guided-missile destr... more »

The shortest commercial airport runway in the world - Saba airport aka Yrausquin airport

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 12 hours ago
Saba airport aka Yrausquin airport 'The airport's risky reputation arises from the airport's physical position: it is flanked on one side by high hills; and on the runway's other side and both ends, cliffs drop into the sea. Additionally, the runway at the airport is extremely short (400m) this creates the possibility that an airplane could under/overshoot the runway during landing or takeoff and end up in the sea or dashed on the rocky cliffs. Although the airport is officially marked as closed to traffic (X), regional airline propeller aircraft are able to land there under waiver... more »

the gluten-free hoax: nutritionism run amok

laura k at wmtc - 12 hours ago
Today I saw a bag of high-end cheese puffs, made with organic corn and real cheese. WHEAT FREE and GLUTEN FREE, the package boasted, which made me chuckle. Yup, just like all cheese puffs for all time. Like most snack food, cheese puffs are made of corn, and corn does not contain gluten. Marketing old products with a new twist to take advantage of a nutrition craze is nothing new, of course. I remember when *fat-free* and *low-fat* labels were slapped on everything. (This craze happened to coincide with some of my worst dieting addiction.) In those days, supermarket shelves were lade... more »

Stop The GMO Crops - Video Presentation

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 13 hours ago
*18 March 2013 * This film present some of the dangers of GM-crops, and calls for people across Europe and beyond to take action to stop them. We need a future of food and farming that benefits people and planet, and not the pockets of big business. We need to stop GM-crops from spreading across Europe. This film has been produced by Corporate Europe Observatory, Friends of the Earth Europe and Sourced TV.

Popes, Sharia Watch UK and Wonga

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 13 hours ago
The canonisations of Popes John XXIII and John Paul II inevitably dominated this morning's edition of *Sunday. * Two former popes have never been canonised on the same day before - and, to make it even more historic and unprecedented, they'll be canonised by two living popes - Francis and Benedict XVI. (That's a lot of popes!) Even though the BBC already has two experienced Rome correspondents - the veteran David Willey and former Middle East correspondent Alan Johnson - *Sunday *followed hallowed BBC tradition and dispatched William Crawley to the Eternal City as well, which must... more »

Video: Bill Gates “Explains” Common Core

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 14 hours ago
In the following six-minute video at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) in March 2014, Bill Gates demonstrates his privileged view of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Gates has contributed over $4.3 million to AEI, with over $1 million in 2012 for “exploring the challenges of Common Core,” among other issues, so it is only fitting that AEI should […]

Arizona Republican Plays Footsie With The Gays… Or At Least The Wealthy Gays

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 16 hours ago
Ron Barber is both a New Dem and a Blue Dog-- very much a member in good standing of the Republican Wing of the Democratic Party. According to ProgressivePunch, Barber's crucial vote score for 2013-'14 is a horrific 25.0, a record that is far more in tune with the GOP, particularly on economic matters, than with the Democrats. In fact there are only 2 Democrats who vote more reliably with Boehner and Cantor than Barber-- John Barrow (GA) and Jim Matheson (UT), each of whom represents a much more conservative district. Barrow's district has a PVI of R+9 and Matheson's is R+16. Barb... more »

Untitled

JR at GREENIE WATCH - 16 hours ago
*To hell with Archimedes! Melting iceberg to cause sea-level rise* *The sheer scientific illiteracy of the story below is hard to beat. Ever since Archimedes we have known that melting ice does NOT raise the water level. And note that the breakoff is part of an Antarctic ice EXPANSION* NASA has reported an iceberg bigger than Chicago breaking into the ocean off Antarctica. Known as B31, it is one of the biggest on the planet at 255 square miles (660 sq km) and up to 500 metres thick. NASA has been monitoring Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier by satellite since a crack was spotted ... more »

Dismembered Russia [1918]

Paul Coker at News Spike - 17 hours ago
Article from the The New York Times published at the end of World War I showing the provisional boundaries of the Ukrainian People’s Republic emerged from the collapsed Russian Empire, later incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922. From the 1851-1980 NYT Archives.

Zbig

Paul Coker at News Spike - 17 hours ago
Zbig - The Ukraine Crisis and the Brezezinki's Plan for a Greater Polandfrom Spike EP on Vimeo. "The Young Poland of Lelewel and Worcell demands the re-creation of the Polish state and rollback of the 1772-95 partitions of Poland. But they go much further, laying claim to Poland in its old Jagiellonian borders, stretching from the shores of the Baltic to the shores of the Black Sea. This includes an explicit denial that any Ukrainian nation exists. In the orbit of Young Poland is the poet Adam Mickiewicz, a close friend of Mazzini’s who was with him last year during the Roman Repu... more »

California LOVES Common Core!

Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE - 18 hours ago
I’ve heard the title of this article proclaimed no fewer than five times in the past two weeks. I hear it in response to those questions I ask about the validity, efficacy, and usefulness of the Common Core State Standards. “Where’s the evidence?” I ask. You want evidence? CALIFORNIA LOVES COMMON CORE! There’s your evidence! […]

South Korea's PM resigns over Sewol ferry disaster Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announces resignation amid criticism of government handling of the Sewol ferry disaster.

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 18 hours ago
South Korea's PM resigns over ferry disaster Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announces resignation amid criticism of government handling of the Sewol ferry disaster. Last updated: 27 Apr 2014 01:15 [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker] [image: Email Article] [image: Print Article] [image: Share article] [image: Send Feedback] South Korea's prime minister has announced his resignation over the widespread criticism over the government's response to the April 16 ferry disaster. Prime Minister Chung Hong-won announced his resignation early on Sunday at an emergency press confe... more »

No, I DON'T "have a chance to win" -- and by the way no, I'm NOT signing your online petition

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 19 hours ago
*I hope the president won't be too disappointed when he finds out that I'm not going to meet him in San Francisco. If he's coming to New York anytime soon and wants to, you know, maybe have lunch, he can have someone call ahead and I'll check my schedule. I'm not paying for his lunch, though.* *by Ken* I'm not going to tell you who sent me this e-mail message, with the subject heading "We'll fly you to meet President Obama in San Francisco," because I don't want to embarrass the person or persons. (I'll give you a hint, though: It rhymes with "Duh Shmemocrats.") I feel obliged to p... more »

"The crisis in Ukraine originated with Washington’s overthrow of the elected democratic government and its replacement with Washington’s hand-chosen stooges. The stooges proceeded to act in word and deed against the populations in the former Russian territories that Soviet Communist Party leaders had attached to Ukraine. The consequence of this foolish policy is agitation on the part of the Russian speaking populations to return to Russia." "Instead of realizing its mistake, the Obama regime has encouraged the stooges Washington installed in Kiev to use violence against those in the Russian-speaking areas who are agitating for referendums so that they can vote their return to Russia." "Washington’s arrogance is unprecedented and is capable of driving the world to destruction." - Paul Craig Roberts

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 19 hours ago
------------------------------ *Moving Closer To War — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ April 26, 2014 | Original Here Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter Moving Closer To War Paul Craig Roberts The Obama regime, wallowing in hubris and arrogance, has recklessly escalated the Ukrainian crisis into a crisis with Russia. Whether intentionally or stupidly, Washington’s propagandistic lies are driving the crisis to war. Unwilling to listen to any more of Washington’s senseless threats, Moscow no l... more »

Untitled

JR at GREENIE WATCH - 19 hours ago
*To hell with Archimedes! Melting iceberg to cause sea-level rise* *The sheer scientific illiteracy of the story below is hard to beat. Ever since Archimedes we have known that melting ice does NOT raise the water level. And note that the breakoff is part of an Antarctic ice EXPANSION* NASA has reported an iceberg bigger than Chicago breaking into the ocean off Antarctica. Known as B31, it is one of the biggest on the planet at 255 square miles (660 sq km) and up to 500 metres thick. NASA has been monitoring Antarctica's Pine Island Glacier by satellite since a crack was spotted ... more »

Anonymous Ukraine hack correspondence of US Army Attache AssistantinKiev and discover a plot against Ukraine

Paul Coker at News Spike - 21 hours ago
Anonymous Ukraine Hack Correspondence of US Army Attache Assistant in Kiev and Discover a Plot Against Ukraine from Spike EP on Vimeo. *Ihor,Events are moving rapidly in Crimea. Our friends in Washington expect more decisive actions from your network.I think it's time to implement the plan we discussed lately. Your job is to cause some problems to the transport hubs in the south-east in order to frame-up the neighbor.It will create favorable conditions for Pentagon and the Company to act.Do not waste time, my friend.Respectfully,JPJason P. GreshLieutenant Colonel,... more »

New World Order Police Recruiting Video for Arkansas

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 22 hours ago
*Apr 24, 2014* *strongtower0914* comments are disabled for recruiting vid, wonder why lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V45XA...

Tony Strickland Brings The Republican Party's War On Women To Santa Clarita Valley

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Right-wing ideologue and career politician Tony Strickland-- likely to continue making horrible hiring decisions I wonder if Tony Strickland wishes he had stayed in Ventura County's congressional race against Julia Brownley instead of hopping into the crowded field to replace Buck McKeon in the district next door. As soon as it was announced that it had been decided that he would be McKeon's handpicked successor, local Republicans recruited state Senator Steve Knight to run against him. On top of that, two other Republicans, Troy Castagna and Navraj Singh, and a Libertarian, David B... more »

Sudden Death Syndrome Update ( April 24 , 2014 ) for Bankers / Financial Industry Professionals collects 15 victim as a french female banker commits suicide by leaping 14 floors to her death - after questioning her Supervisors ..... ( See 4/20/14 missive for additional color and back story ) ....

Catharsis Ours - 23 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-24/52-year-old-french-banker-jumps-her-death-paris-after-questioning-her-superiors 52 Year-Old French Banker Jumps To Her Death In Paris (After Questioning Her Superiors) [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/24/2014 18:38 -0400 - China - Deutsche Bank - France - Hong Kong - Tata inShare There have been 13 senior financial services executives deaths around the world this year, but the most notable thing about the sad suicide of the 14th, a *52-year-old banker at France's Bred-Banque-Populaire... more »

Doing the Stability-Instability Dance

Steve Saideman at Duck of Minerva - 23 hours ago
The stability-instability paradox is a concept from nuclear deterrence land: that if two sides both have nuclear weapons that can survive a first strike, it might just create deterrence at the strategic level AND free up both sides to engage in violence at lower levels. Sounds just like an air-headed theory that would never happen Continue reading

If You Squeeze It, You Get Lemon Juice: The American F35 Fighter Plane Fiasco - Money For Nothing? Boeing Says F35 Isn't So Stealth After All

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
I called it a long time ago… The newest American "fighter" plane, the infamous F35 Lightning is a hunk of junk and a complete waste of taxpayer money. This aircraft is so wrought with troubles that the list would take up an entire article in itself…. The fact is that this aircraft has been a boondoggle from its inception almost a decade ago, and nations everywhere would be better off seeking a better fighter replacement for their aging fleets elsewhere… For the longest time, one of the key selling points for the corrupt F35 has always been its so called "advanced Stealth capabilit... more »

The End Of The American Empire: Global Resistance To American Empire Increasing

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
We are right now on the brink of World War III, or so it appears…. Right now, the criminal US government is refusing to back down from their insane push for war with Russia over their newest puppet regime in Ukraine's failed attempt to secure the hearts and minds of the Ukrainian people…. The eastern Ukrainians, primarily Russian speaking, have seen the writing on the wall and know that their future does not sit with a Rothschild IMF enslaved Ukraine, but with the prosperous Russian Federation.. They, like their fellow Russians in Crimea before them, are rightfully wanting a referen... more »

Reject Keystone Live Video DC Sat, April 26, 2014

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
. Twitter photos Sat., April 26, 2014 Watch video recorded live today below! We Act Radio Streamed live on Apr 26, 2014 Cowboy Indian Alliance, joined by thousands in the climate movement. Censored News video screen capture Photo by actress activist Daryl Hannah Photo by actress activist Daryl Hannah Saturday, April 26, 2014 . . Cowboy Indian Alliance fighting

Queen Hillary the Inevitable Joins the Fray

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 1 day ago
It was a foregone conclusion but Hillary Rodham-Clinton has just locked down the Democratic party nod to replace Barack Obama as the reigning imperial warlord of planet Earth. She may as well just start picking out the color of the drapes for the Oval Office because it is a done deal. Elizabeth Warren? You have to be kidding. Joe Biden? He personifies Lyndon B. Johnson’s famous description of Gerald Ford as *“so dumb he can’t fart and chew gum at the same time"* - no way. The Republicans have zilch and their coming electoral triumph in November will be washed away by Hillary and m... more »

"Racism" Press Release From Cliven Bundy

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 1 day ago
[image: Bundy Ranch]PRESS RELEASE Friday, April 25, 2014 We are trading one form of slavery for another. What I am saying is that all we Americans are trading one form of slavery for another. All of us are in some measure slaves of the federal government. Through their oppressive tactics of telling the ranchers how many cows they can have on their land, and making that number too low to support a ranch, the BLM has driven every rancher in Clark County off the land, except me. The IRS keeps the people of America in fear, and makes us all work about a third or a half of the y... more »

Major pundits are brighter than Bundy!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*SATURDAY, APRIL 26, 2014 * *Or at least, so they claim:* By now, the point has been clearly established. Many major American pundits are brighter than Cliven Bundy. In this morning’s New York Times, Gail Collins and Charles Blow establish the fact that *they* are brighter than Bundy. In her column, Collins lists the things we’ve learned “from the Crazy Rancher Guy saga.” In his own piece, Blow is able to recognize “the Mount Kilimanjaro-size amounts of ignorance packed into” two recent statements by the rancher guy. In truth, it isn’t hard to be brighter than Bundy, who hails from ... more »

Just Keep on Gardening

theozarker at The Conflicted Doomer - 1 day ago
April 26, 2014 Having decided the Empire has pretty much won the propaganda war over Russia concerning the Ukraine and that, whatever is going to happen will happen despite anything most of us can do about it, I’m doubling down … Continue reading →

April 26: one step back.....

Graeme Decarie at The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad - 1 day ago
I was in a bit of a rush yesterday, and didn't comment. on an item on B3 "Warning sounded on shale gas." This was a follow up to a story on April 24 of an earlier meeting, also of the New Brunswick Energy Institute. Both appeared to be critical of shale gas but, really, neither was. The message in both cases was the same. It appeared critical of shale gas development, but also sympathetic with just a little more research and a few more regulations. After reporting on one of the speakers, it added a reportorial opinion which should never appear in a news story. It says of a critic o... more »

LHC black hole: a catastrophic movie

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 1 day ago
It was sort of inevitable that tonight, I would be watching a catastrophic movie on TV Prima (in Czech dubbing) about the LHC black hole. The original name of the 2013 German-Austrian film is Helden – Wenn dein Land dich braucht (Heroes: When Your Country Needs You, IMDB) ------------------------------ Trailer in German: click here The movie by the commercial TV station RTL that got mostly negative reviews is 140 minutes long – a big movie, indeed. The budget was €8 million i.e. $11 million – a lot. The very topic, the deadly LHC black hole, was silly so I had known that it would be... more »

Does Washington Want War With Russia?

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 1 day ago
*(this article is, imo, a very important summary of the ridiculous posturing by the Western Banksters in Ukraine, trying their best to drag us into direct conflict with Russia . . however the writer seems to be hopelessly lost in the thinking that socialism is the answer to capitalism . . when all we have ever needed is a Free Market . . Capitalism & Socialism are one and the same . . a few cruel Banksters at the top, and death and misery for the 99% . . .)* *By Bill Van Auken* April 24, 2014 "ICH" - "WSWS" - Does Washington want a war with Russia? A review of recent US actio... more »

Labour and David Axelrod

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 1 day ago
LabourList's Mark Ferguson concludes his piece on last week's appointment of Obama spinner David Axelrod to Labour's election team as a "big deal". But is it, really? I hope it is. After all Axelrod doesn't come cheap - an unstated six figure fee has done the rounds. Will his impact on the party carry more weight than say five or six extra full time Labour organisers working marginal constituencies? I can't help but feel sceptical about these big beast hires from overseas, regardless of who they work for. The Tories have imported Lynton Crosby from Australia to run vicious right-wi... more »

Straight from the Trojan Horse's mouth?

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day ago
When you've been following a story closely at, say, Andrew Gilligan's column in the (right-leaning) *Telegraph* or at (left-leaning) *Harry's Place, *and they've been somewhat of the same mind about it, then the BBC's coverage of the same story can appear to come from somewhere unique to the BBC. Somewhere strange. The Trojan Horse story is a case in point. Yes, all credit must be given to *Newsnight *for leading their Thursday edition with some freshly-discovered developments in the story, but the results were tame by the standards of what I've been reading elsewhere. It's as i... more »

Wouldn't It Be Ironic If Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm Were Reunited With "Fat Tony" Morelli In Prison?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Most Americans never heard of Michael Grimm until the infamous "I'll break you in half like a boy" incident on the balcony of the Congress. If you're a *DWT* reader, you've been reading about Michael "Mikey Suits" Grimm, Gambino Crime Family mobster turned Staten Island GOP congressman, since 2005 when he had a tangential role in a hushed up case of New York mobster/real estate developer Tom "Gus" Kontogiannis giving Randy "Duke" Cunningham $400,000 to try to buy a pardon from then President George W. Bush. Kontogiannis, a Long Island Republican real estate developer, could have ... more »

Sushi Summit Bottoms Out

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 1 day ago
There's suddenly a reason to be cautiously optimistic: in the neoliberal death match euphemistically known as the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), the little guy just won an important round against the steroid-fueled defending champions of Team Corporate Elite. The small family farmers of Japan, who prefer to keep both their families and their farms intact, delivered a stunning blow last week to Big Ugly Ag. But Big Ugly Ag's promoter (Barack Obama of America), after canoodling over Sushi with P.M. Shinzo Abe of Japan, has vowed to come back for another round of fishy antics. Team ... more »

peter gric

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 1 day ago
peter gric

McDonalds Canada CEO and Foriegn Workers

LeDaro at LeDaro - 1 day ago
How did this guy become CEO? Or maybe it's his kind of attitude, insensitivity, which is required of a McDonalds CEO. Unbelievable listening to this, how he dismisses the controversy over the Temporary Foreign Workers program as "bullshit." This is a complex issue, where workers overseas, living in poverty, seek work to support their families. There is also an issue of exploitation of labour, foreign workers who may not know their rights, who may fear being deported, and who may accept lower wages and fewer benefits, who would be less likely to unionize. It is reprehensible that ... more »

Abominable Idolatry!

Capt. Fogg at The Impolitic - 1 day ago
By Capt. Fogg Abominable Idolatry! Pretty spectacular language for an era so far removed from the Iron age, but then The United States is always an exception. “Do you hear me ladies? It is an abominable idolatry to love your children more than you love your husband, and it will ruin your marriage. And yet you blame it on him because he ran off with some other woman!" Them are fightin' words, from the fightin' preacher Det Bowers whom you probably never heard of if you're not from South Carolina. You're probably never heard a name like Det either and I can only speculate that it... more »

The Not So Great White Hope

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 1 day ago
(By *American Zen*'s Mike Flannigan, on, loan from Ari.) "And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton*...*" - Cliven Bundy "Slavery is such an ugly word..." - Stuart Best, *Murphy Brown*, from his special interest position paper Perhaps, when he was growing up in the Nevada desert back in the 50's, Cliven Bundy had always dreamed about being a cowboy. And, to look at him now, with his Bushian pretensions and personal fortune he's made in the cattle business, it would seem as if he'd succeeded in realizing his boyhood dream. But between then and now... more »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Why are Louisiana’s universities suddenly out of money? ~Robert Mann* *CBD window washers pulled to safety after cable snaps ~New Orleans Advocate* *Decisions just weeks away on re-opening Bayou St. John’s sea gate to the lake ~Sam Tabachnik, The Lens* *Crawfish Pie ~Saveur* *“Get ready for the First Annual Shamarr Fest at Shamrock 2014″* [image: http://www.shamarrallen.com/] *City Hall warns Jazz Fest vendors, parking lots to get permits* *Venues across N.O. cash in on Jazz Fest with 'after shows' ~WVUE*

Cars Stalled by UFOs - Part Two

KRandle at A Different Perspective - 1 day ago
I have long been under the impression that in many UFO EM cases in which car engines stalled, the car spontaneously started when the UFO departed. I then noticed in a couple of cases that it was reported that the car was restarted, which is not the same as it just restarting up on its own. I had suggested that we might want to revisit these cases of EM effects to see what we might learn from them. Using various sources including my files, Project Blue Book, Dick Hall’s *The UFO Evidence*, Mark Rodeghier’s *UFO Reports Involving Vehicle Interference*(because, frankly, I wasn’t all t... more »

Mike's Story Part 7: South of the Border

Jenna Orkin at From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog - 1 day ago
By Jenna Orkin The morning of July 12, 2006, Carolyn Baker called. "Are you sitting down?" "Yes." Then I did. "Mike's in Venezuela. He got there this morning.” Email to Mike, August, 2006: * when carolyn told me where you were, i was shocked but not surprised. you had left a trail of breadcrumbs: the line, "there are few things that could make me think of leaving this country but the loss of internet independence is one of them." i knew from the very denial that you were thinking of leaving this country. it was a snap to figure out where you would go; you'd me... more »

NYC SAYS NO TO 'PIVOT'

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
As President Obama tours Asia Pacific to strengthen military alliances and promote the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Asians in New York City came together to say "No to the U.S. pivot to Asia," "US troops out of Asia," and "No to the TPPA."

It Takes Sunny Ways

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 1 day ago
Yesterday -- for the second time in a month -- the Supreme Court reminded Stephen Harper of two truths about Canada. The first is that, as prime minister, he is obliged not to make the rules but to follow them. The second is that this country is a federation. Harper has consistently operated on the assumption that he can ignore the constitution. Errol Mendes writes: This is a landmark decision and, along with the Supreme Court’s take on the Nadon appointment, it shows the court nailing down the fundamental constitutional limits of the Canadian parliamentary and federal order for a... more »

Ninth Circle Cult - Pope Francis

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 1 day ago
*(This article sat in one of my browsers for several days . . it is very dark and most of this kind of info, even if true, will be very difficult to 'prove' to a skeptic . . that said, I had about decided not to post it, and closed the browser window . . Then, for some reason, I wanted to look at it one more time, so I did several searches, and would find links, but EVERY ONE of them had been removed, no longer existed . . I searched for the original writer on the Examiner, Judy Byington, and all of her articles are gone . . I was able to find this copy of the article on a cache... more »

Meet Shayan Modarres (D-FL)

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Extremists Orlando has grown so much over the last couple of decades that the metro area now has 4 congressmembers, Corrine Brown (FL-05), John Mica (FL-07), Alan Grayson (FL-09), and Daniel Webster (FL-10). The districts were gerrymandered in such a way to put gigantic numbers of Democrats in Brown's and Grayson districts so that Mica's and Webster's would be relatively safe. These are the PVIs-- along with Obama's 2008 percentages: FL-05- D+21/73% FL-07- R+4/49% FL-09- D+8/60% FL-10- R+6/47% It isn't *that* much of a stretch for a well coordinated, carefully planned two-cycle pla... more »

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jonjayray at EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL - 1 day ago
*Affirmative action is doomed. Here's what progressives should do about it* *Instead of cobbling minority preferences onto a broken system, liberals should attack the racial injustices at the root of the problem* This week's Supreme Court ruling in the Michigan affirmative action case tried to strike a Solomonic middle ground, neither demanding nor forbidding states from using racial preferences in university admissions, while endorsing the right of each state's voters to decide such matters themselves. In practice, however, the decision marks the beginning of the end of the era o... more »

SECRETARY OF BLOVIATION

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
John Kerry and the "last resort" rule as a cause for optimism From: The Vineyard of the Saker Listening to Kerry today I went through a series of rather contradictory emotions. First, I felt disgusted, then my disgust turned to anger, then to outright amazement and, by the end, I actually felt rather happy. Let me explain why. First, of course, my stomach turns every time I hear this prototypical representative of the 1%er plutocracy speaking to the world as if he was some kind of Emperor-schoolteacher scolding a class of rather dumb and unruly kids for their bad behavior and... more »

Ukrainian Coup Junta influence waning: Russian aircraft violates Ukie airspace?!!?

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
*First- *There are a few reports that Russian planes violated Ukrainian airspace Did they? Did they not? Well the Pentagon claims they did? Pentagon claims - without providing details. It’s not clear what the intent was. Or if this really happened? *Second- Webster Tarpley. Give it a listen! Interesting background information* Download this clip (mp3, 10.27 megabytes) Play this clip in your Computer's media player *Guns and Butter *"Ukrainian Crisis In Historical Context" with Webster Tarpley. Citizens of Ukraine unwilling to fight on behalf of the fascist coup; *Ukraine as a crea... more »

The very essence of the cabal’s misdeeds, the financial system, exposed for all to see. What was the response? Total silence.

urupiper at Yesterday 's Lies - 1 day ago
[image: Project Camelot] About 48 - Paladin Speaks Out 23 Apr 2014 About 48… For those of you familiar with the White Hats Reports, you’re aware that we have suspended publishing reports, and more importantly, failed to release report #48 as promised. I have been asked about that on numerous occasions in the recent weeks and months and feel perhaps I should address it here. Our objective with these reports was primarily to continue the exposure of the withholding of the World Global Settlements (WGS) funds, the Wanta Funds, the CMKX debacle and the various other financial frauds... more »

Malaysia Airline Flight 370 Mystery Day 46 April 24 , 2014 -- Is conspiracy rumor once again becoming conspiracy fact ? From Malaysia Chronicle , consider the following -- " As if the MH370 saga couldn’t get any more strange, now officials are saying that the flight LANDED according to this newly released video report from Dahboo7 via the original story from the Daily Mail " ..... For those that doubt the conspiracy theory ( and that is understandable ) , then consider this point - if Malaysia has nothing to hide , why are they hedging on making a public report on their initial report pertaining to flight 370 ? From Malaysia Chronicle note -- Malaysia has yet to decide whether to publicly disclose an initial report submitted to international aviation authorities on the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the country’s director-general of civil aviation said on Wednesday ..... In other news , nothing found in the Indian Ocean and debris washed ashore discounted as being related to Flight 370 ship still fruitless search and the underwater search by Bluefin 21 almost a wrap too .... ......

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Thursday, 24 April 2014 11:07Shock! MH370 Landed Say Officials! SO WHERE ARE ALL THE SURVIVORS?Written by beforeitsnews.com - font size [image: decrease font size] [image: increase font size] - Print - E-mail - Comments (10) Rate this item - - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 (3 votes) [image: Shock! MH370 Landed Say Officials! SO WHERE ARE ALL THE SURVIVORS?] As if the MH370 saga couldn’t get any more strange, now officials are saying that the flight LANDED according to this newly released video report from Dahboo7 via the original story from the Daily Mail. Will... more »

Some News On Terrorist Funding In Syria, Improving US-Iranian Relations, A Palestinian Unity Government, New Kurdish Divisions Emerging Along Syria-Iraq Border, And Disinfo About The Ukraine Crisis [4.26.14]

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
President Barack Obama greeting the leader of Kuwait, Shaykh Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al Sabah, at the White House in August 2009. At the time, President Obama said: "We're also discussing important regional issues ranging from the *importance of moving the Arab-Israeli peace process forward*, to the situation in Afghanistan, *our joint counterterrorism efforts*, and our need to emphasize Iran meeting its international obligations. And I'm confident that, based on this conversation and ongoing work between our two countries, that we can strengthen not only Kuwaiti-U.S. relationships, *bu... more »

Ukraine Updates April 24 , 2014 -- News of the morning -- A day after the acting government in Kiev announced the Geneva agreement is void and that it would once again send special forces to deal with "terrorists" in east Ukraine, it had made good on its promise and over the past few hours, Ukrainian tanks, APCs and other special forces troops took control of a checkpoint north of Slavyansk on Thursday, following what numerous reports confirm was an exchange of gunfire..... reports vary but fatalities have been alleged ( perhaps 6 ) .... and without wasting much time Russia , the response from Putin has come - diplomatic and potentially the start of military action !

Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Late day news...... http://www.businessinsider.com/john-kerry-statement-ukraine-russia-putin-2014-4 John Kerry Just Gave Russia A Final Warning BRETT LOGIURATO APR. 24, 2014, 6:33 PM 1,428 18 - FACEBOOK - LINKEDIN - TWITTER - GOOGLE+ - PRINT - EMAIL [image: John Kerry] AP United States Secretary of State John F. Kerry U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry provided Russia with a stern warning Thursday evening: Start complying with the de-escalation agreement brokered last week in Geneva, or face the wrath of new U.S. sanctions. Kerry delivered a terse statemen... more »

I met reactionary Fernando Espuelas' challenge, now will he demand the same of Gates, Zuckerberg, and Dell?

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at Schools Matter - 1 day ago
*"Another issue involves concerns that charter schools may be screening students by requiring parents to provide information related to special education eligibility and services on the lottery application. Over the past two years, a review of applications has found a considerable number of schools requiring such information despite efforts by the District to eradicate this through oversight of the application process." — LAUSD Office of the Independent Monitor (OIM) Modified Consent Decree* [image: Right-wing reactionary Fernando Espuelas challenges me to do something he would ne... more »

Strange things going on in Russia and Bolivia

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
1. A car appearing from 'nowhere' in Russia... 2. A mysterious figure 'appears' and moves at a Bolivian football match...
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