Monday, April 28, 2014

28 April - Blogs I'm Following

English: Map of the complete Choctaw Nation in...English: Map of the complete Choctaw Nation in 1800 before land cessions in relation to the U.S. state of Mississippi. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Portrait of Choctaw Two Girls 1868.English: Portrait of Choctaw Two Girls 1868. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Norma Howard (Choctaw Nation of Oklah...English: Norma Howard (Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma), award-winning watercolor painter with Choctaw stickball sticks made by her son. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Choctaw GroupChoctaw Group (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
4:51pm MDST

Ending Legal Highs Another Legal Low

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 6 minutes ago
The “legal high’ regime was always bound to fail, so it’s hard to mourn its passing. Over its short life, the regime made illegal the sale of a drug that *Lancet *said is safer than alcohol and tobacco, while allowing the sale of drugs of increasing harm. This makes no sense. The tragedy is that the end of this regime does nothing to bring the end of drug consumption, so folk currently consuming these harmful legal highs will be thrown on the mercies of gangsters and criminals selling illegal drugs of dubious quality. Why so? Because however much the War-On-Drugsters think other... more »

(Democracy Dies from Crime of Peaceful Protest) How Long Will We (US) Put Up With This Treatment from the .01%? (The First Trillionaire Will Be - 25 April 2014 Gold/Silver Charts - Madness, Ending Badly)

BREAKING! Search for Flight 370 to be Expanded, Privatized and Drawn Out to 8 Months at an “Estimated” Cost of $60 Million Remember how hundreds of people were seen being arrested and loaded into vans during the Occupy Police Riot? Did you think they'd be released due to lack of evidence concerning real crimes? Do you remember with whom the courts were populated during the Cheney/Bush Junta

NATO Intelligence and the OSCE

Paul Coker at News Spike - 48 minutes ago
*"How can he be a prisoner of war, he's a spy!"* *- Fletcher Prouty on PoW/MIAs* *"I would say to Mr. Zannier, don’t go to Ukraine, rather you should denounce the abuse and perversion of an OSCE vehicle in the name of the OSCE by what is in fact NATO military intelligence, and if you’re caught behind military lines with no uniform, that’s sometimes called espionage, whether that’s the current situation or not, it’s not clear, but I would urge everyone to stop referring to them as OSCE observers, they are NATO military officers."* http://www.nation.com.pk/international/28-Apr-201... more »

Leadhorse Choctaw sharing stickball game in Central and South America

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 50 minutes ago
Now in Central America and headed south, Leadhorse Choctaw shares "Kabooca Towa' stickball game, the game of peace By Leadhorse Choctaw Censored News Leadhorse Choctaw is on a journey through Central and South America, now headed for Honduras, sharing the traditional game of peace Kabocca Towa (stickball game). "It is a game used to settle disputes between tribes and people," Leadhorse

Lament for the Arcade

Catelli at Not Quite Unhinged - 52 minutes ago
Nothing makes me feel like a fossilized old nerd like modern video games. I just can't play most of them. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't have the time (or want to devote the time) required. I grew up in the arcade era with Pac-Man, Q-Bert, Defender, Karateka, etc. I owned and played on a Coleco Adam, Commodore 64 (then a 128), and migrated to IBM PC games through the 386. One

Epolitics and Libertarianism

Phil at All That Is Solid ... - 1 hour ago
Politics is changing, suggests Douglas Carswell. The "internet thingy" means the barriers to political entry, or, at least, political comment are lower than they've ever been. Westminster, hidebound and wrapped in its own importance is threatened with extinction unless it moves with the times. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is hardly fresh stuff. It would have been stale in 2004. Perhaps even as early as *1994* this looked like old jobs. Must have been a quiet in the *Telegraph* office when it got commissioned. Yes, blogging and social media have brought the costs of a public platform down ... more »

Ugly old fat Donald Sterling who wears a rat on his head is a racist?...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 hour ago
*and we care, why?* I just had the unpleasant experience of listening to Sean Hannity display very little outrage over the alleged anti-black comments of the Clippers owner, Donald Sterling. Last week he was turning cartwheels over Cliven Bundy who had the temerity to speak the truth. Doesn't take long to figure this one out. Hannity was a supporter of Bundy, but claims he didn't even know who Sterling was. Yeppers - no guilt by association on Sterling so we can dial down the rhetoric. He did throw out one "despicable" to solidify his anti-racist stance for the world. Despic... more »

"3 Stupidest Right-Wing Reactions to Donald Sterling's Racist Rant"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*"3 Stupidest Right-Wing Reactions to Donald Sterling's Racist Rant"* By Janet Allon *"1. Bill Kristol thinks outrage at Sterling is just hysteria. *The conservative pundit used his perch on Sunday morning’s “The Week” to tell everyone to just calm down about L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling’s abundantly and almost comically evident racism. Kristol allowed that telling his girlfriend not to be photographed with black people or to bring them to Sterling’s basketball games was kinda bigoted, but, "Deeds matter more than speeches," he said, adding, "I don't think the LA Clippers are... more »

“Raising Up Compliant Children in the American Police State”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*“Raising Up Compliant Children in the American Police State”* By John W. Whitehead “The aim of public education is not to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States…”—Henry Mencken, American Journalist (April 1924) "How do you persuade a nation of relatively freedom-loving individuals to march in lock step w... more »

Virginia Republicans Nominated A Congressional Candidate Beyond Execrable-- Meet Barbara Comstock

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 hour ago
Barbara Comstock always pretends she's normal. She isn't When I first started the DWT Book Store, David Brock's story about his journey out of political darkness, *Blinded By The Right*, was one of the very first selections. The 2002 bestseller exposed, first-hand, the hypocrisy among the blue chip and craven Beltway wing nuts with whom he had been associating. One such crackpot, Barbara Comstock, just won the GOP nomination for the Congressional seat Frank Wolf is leaving, VA-10, a Northern Virginia suburban swing district (PVI- R+2) that Obama won in 2008 (51-48%) and lost in 2012 ... more »

HEDGES ON THE MEDIA WAR

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
The crisis in Ukraine and the steadily dropping temperature in relations between Moscow and Washington made many talk about a new Cold War; and many others are worried it may turn 'hot'. But there's another war going on right now: the information war. US Secretary of State Kerry has already attacked RT, calling it "Putin's propaganda machine." But Washington itself uses dubious evidence and fake facts. What is the information war? What methods is America using? Sophie talks to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and veteran correspondent Chris Hedges.

Harry Targ : Workers’ Memorial Day: What is needed?

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 3 hours ago
Remembering those who died on the job and continuing the fight for a safer workplace. By Harry Targ | The Rag Blog | April 28, 2014 The stench is vomit-making as never before. The fat and plucks, the bladders and … finish reading Harry Targ : Workers’ Memorial Day: What is needed?

Bob Feldman : People’s History of Egypt, Part 23, 2006-2011

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 4 hours ago
With 30 percent unemployment and 44 percent of its people in poverty, Egypt saw an eruption of strikes and other protests. By Bob Feldman | The Rag Blog | April 28, 2014 [With all the dramatic activity in Egypt, Bob … finish reading Bob Feldman : People’s History of Egypt, Part 23, 2006-2011

The Case Against the Kevin Huffmans of the World

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 5 hours ago
Kevin Huffman was an English major at Swarthmore in the late 80s and never studied child development, pedagogy, history/philosophy of education, or any of the other subjects that are now viewed as irrelevant and even harmful to education policy know-nothings like Arne Duncan and, of course, Kevin Huffman. Considerations of child psychology, historical contexts, and ethical teaching practices are anathema to the new generation of Gradgrinds and McChoakumchilds who make lucrative careers by applying antiquated business and management techniques within a profession that was once focus... more »

red skies

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 5 hours ago

Poll of the uninformed

skrashen at Schools Matter - 5 hours ago
Published in the San Francisco Chronicle, April 28, 2014 "Most in state approve of policy shifts in education," April 24: Yes, 69 percent of Californians polled said they liked the Common Core standards after hearing a brief statement about them. The statement said only that they "are designed to ensure that students graduating from high school have the knowledge and skills they need to enter college programs or the workforce." I'm surprised anybody would object. Not mentioned is the fact that the standards call for a uniform but untested curriculum and an astonishing amount of t... more »

On The Trail of the Men in Black

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 5 hours ago
*On The Trail of the Men in Black* *By Scott Corrales* INEXPLICATA Contributing Editor* Guillermo Giménez* has reminded us of a case that can be described as a “doubleheader” of high strangeness – a UFO sighting involving humanoid occupant with a bubble helmet (straight out of the contactee tradition) and follow-up visit by the nefarious MIB. In his article *“Los Hombres de Negro en la Argentina”* Giménez brings up the Dique La Florida CE-3 (4 February 1978) which occurred in the province of San Luis, involving a staggering total of six eyewitnesses: Manuel M. Alvarez, Regino S. P... more »

Oliver !

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 5 hours ago
Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor. Reed exemplified his macho image in "tough guy" roles. His films include The Trap, Oliver!, Women in Love, Hannibal Brooks, The Devils, The Three Musketeers, Tommy, Castaway, Lion of the Desert and Gladiator. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed 5th most popular star at the box office.

North Carolina Bigots Must Stop Trampling On Citizens' Religious Freedom

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 5 hours ago
Rev. Geoffrey A. Black, general minister and president of the United Church of Christ Perhaps you saw the article by Nick AConfessore and Jeremy Peters in this morning's *NY Times*, Gay Rights Push Shifts Its Focus South And West. "The country’s leading gay rights groups and donors," they assert, "after a decade focused on legalizing same-sex marriage, are embarking on a major drive to win more basic civil rights and workplace protections in Southern and Western states where the rapid progress of the movement has largely eluded millions of gay men and lesbians. The effort will shift... more »

Mike's Story Part 8 - Orinoco

Jenna Orkin at From the Wilderness' Peak Oil Blog - 5 hours ago
As mentioned in previous posts, before Mike left the US, he disbursed his worldly affects among his loved ones, his FTW (Fromthewilderness) colleagues who were the closest thing he had to family, with the stipulation they be returned to him should he ever come home again; and that for the most part, they were. The exception was me. My gift, which Mike never asked me to return, was, to all appearances, a small envelope of the size to hold a key, with the imprinted legend, "Thank you - It has been a pleasure serving you;" then, in Mike's scrawl, "For Jenna. Two diamonds." I sm... more »

Lump sum spousal support

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 5 hours ago
Racco v. Racco, 2014 ONCA 330: [31] This was an appropriate case for a lump sum payment. The appellant has an ability to pay. There was a high level of animosity between the parties, a history of non-payment by the appellant, the possibility that the appellant's financial situation would continue to be precarious, the desirability of terminating personal contact, the need to effect a retroactive award of support and the need to provide capital to the respondent. These factors support a lump sum award. It was for the trial judge to consider all of them and exercise discretion... more »

An apparently lawful action - calling the police - may constitute extortion

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 5 hours ago
R. v. Karimi, 2014 ONCA 320: [23] The appellant submits that, as a matter of law, a threat to call the police, standing alone, can never constitute extortion. [24] Again we disagree. As this court pointed out in *R. v. H.A.*, [2005] O.J. No. 3777, the context must be considered in determining whether an otherwise apparently lawful threat (i.e., to call police) constitutes an extortive threat. A threat to call the police unless the complainants gave the appellant money could amount to extortion if the jury was satisfied the appellant knew the complainants had not stolen... more »

Alan Waldman : ‘Cold Feet’ was engaging British dramedy about the triumphs and tribulations of three couples

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 5 hours ago
In only five seasons the show garnered numerous awards and nominations, and the cast went on to many other fine TV achievements. By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | April 28, 2014 [In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews … finish reading Alan Waldman : ‘Cold Feet’ was engaging British dramedy about the triumphs and tribulations of three couples

Tornado Op-Ed in the WSJ

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 6 hours ago
I've got an op-ed in today's WSJ. Here is an excerpt: What we can say with some certainty is that the number of years with very large tornado losses has actually decreased. Consider that from 1950 to 1970 the U.S. saw 15 years with tornado damage in excess of $5 billion a year. From 1993 to 2013 there were only four such years, with three since 2008. Read the whole thing here. The peer-reviewed paper (cited by IPCC AR5) and data on which the op-ed is based can be found here.

Graph of the Day: Energy Access Analogues

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 6 hours ago
From this article on energy access in Africa in today's WSJ.

RECKLESS AND DANGEROUS

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 6 hours ago
I see a plan underway aggressive, arrogant, costly the march of Mr. Big out to round up the stray cats who won't submit authority must be 'maintained' Weaken Ukraine divide and conquer create civil war on the bear's border Encircle Russia & China Red menaces no longer but still the competition for control remains The pirate class pushes onward the strategy clear weaken at the edges and destabilize internally means hunker down time and more *$$$* for the MIC The river boat gamblers are rolling the dice again hang on to your hat and your children

The Groupthink Party

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 6 hours ago
At the same time Wall Street bigwigs are signalling, via the *Politico*gossip rag, that they'd be equally OK with a President Hillary Clinton or a President Jeb Bush or a President Chris Christie, comes word that Hillary was guest of honor at Republican John McCain's annual neoliberal schmooze-fest for the ruling class. The press was barred, and so far there is no news about what was discussed. No secretly recorded goodies from a minimum-wage servant or waiter yet, anyway. Her gig wasn't even publicly announced until two days before the event: *The McCain Institute for Internationa... more »

Smile

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 6 hours ago

Is the NHL racist?

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 6 hours ago
Of all the things I know little about but assume I am an authority I am a expert non-expert upon its hockey. Every hockey fan knows instantly how to change the facts on the ground from defeat to victory. Arm Chair quarterbacks are way more prevalent and quoted in hockey over football because the game is so simple. I have never seen a hockey player doing snowboard moves on the ice. PK does this as a routine. The question remains could he have done the job with out the effort and skill? I think it does not matter but if you can do your job with some kind of aplomb you should. Sports... more »

WHERE ARE THE U.S. WMD'S?

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 6 hours ago
*60 Minutes* has become another version of Hollywood news.... but this episode is helpful to the public in that we are reminded that the US still has many nuclear weapons. Why? Who is the enemy? Are they defensive systems or are they part of a larger forward deployed US military machine?

Insurgents Ramp Up Violence Before Iraq’s April Elections

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 7 hours ago
Iraq is due to have parliamentary elections on April 30, 2014. Many insurgent groups are opposed to the voting and are doing their best to disrupt the process. They have attacked polling stations and candidates along with their regular operations against the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the general public. The result is that April has seen some of the heaviest violence and casualties so far this year. In March 2014 the number of security incidents dipped in Iraq, but have picked back up since then. From March 1-7 there were 253 security incidents reported in the press. That w... more »

A Dreadful Advert

sue at Is the BBC biased? - 7 hours ago
Our household stopped subscribing to the Telegraph after one too many of those obnoxious and offensive articles in which Peter Oborne aired his pathological obsession with the Jewish Lobby, but I must admit the Telegraph seemed to have a pretty interesting obsession of their own. (Dissing the BBC) However the Times isn’t entirely deficient in that department either. Bottom of page 13, (£) a piece by Miles Goslett about Lord Patten, illustrated with a distinctly unflattering photo of the soon-to-be ex-chairman of the BBC Trust. “*Patten a ‘dreadful advert’ for the BBC*” says th... more »

Similar fact and collusion

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 7 hours ago
*R. v. Matthew O'Quinn*, 2012 CanLII 67731 (NL PC) Laura Mennie Prov. J. http://www.canlii.org/en/nl/nlpc/doc/2012/2012canlii67731/2012canlii67731.pdf The accused was charged with a number of offences in relation to his girlfriend, including unlawful confinement, assault and uttering threats. The accused had been convicted of similar offences that he committed on four previous separate occasions involving four different girlfriends. The Crown sought to introduce evidence of the previous incidents as similar fact evidence to establish the*actus reus* of the present offences and to bols... more »

“Norm Anti-preneurship” and Russian Use of Autonomous Weapons

Charli Carpenter at Duck of Minerva - 7 hours ago
The New Scientist reports that Russia has announced it will deploy fully autonomous lethal robots as guards around missile bases. Several countries already have autonomous sentry technology (the US, Israel and South Korea) but to my knowledge, this will make Russia the first country to openly deploy such weapons without a human in the loop. Continue reading

Yale Ferguson Award

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 7 hours ago
[Note: This is a guest post by Daniel Nexon]. This is a call for nominations for the third annual Yale H. Ferguson Award, presented by the International Studies Association-Northeast. Information below the fold: The Yale H. Ferguson Award, presented by International Studies Association-Northeast, recognizes the book that most advances the vibrancy of international studies as Continue reading

Meet & Greet the Syrian 'rebel' who got US weapons-

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 7 hours ago
*Washington Post* See Washington Post deliver us a concept of *only good rebels* being armed by the US Washington Post sells us brand good rebels vs brand bad rebels Perception management- US,* brand* good guys, arming only *brand* good guy rebels too. Because the US wouldn't arm* brand* bad guys Seriously. This is how the media presents information.* Everything is marketed to the targeted consumer.* Under the leadership of a young, battle-hardened rebel commander, the men entrusted with the first American missiles to be delivered to the Syrian war are engaged in an ambitious effo... more »

EXCELLENT DISCUSSION OF UKRAINE

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 7 hours ago
What does Washington's "containment" policy mean? What threats does it pose? Will it work against today's Russia? And does this mean Washington has declared a new Cold War? CrossTalking with US scholars Stephen Cohen and John Mearsheimer.

Henchmen

Boris at The Galloping Beaver - 7 hours ago
The man really does have henchmen in the most Hollywood sense. You know, the talentless sycophants that the diabolical characters in every plot seem to attract, who end up causing more problems than they solve? Yeah, that's our boy Harper's pals. Can you even begin to imagine what they'd do if they had competent people? How much of their time is spent trying to mitigate damage caused by the

Trojan Elephant.

sue at Is the BBC biased? - 7 hours ago
There are several pieces on the web about Robert Fisk’s disgraceful report in the Independent, a newspaper that has acquired a reputation for being even more antisemitic than the Guardian. Fisk himself couldn’t have Fisked it any more Fiskishly than Cif Watch has here. *Hamas…handed Israel a gift by bombarding Sderot from Gaza with thousands of inaccurate rockets, most of them home-made. It allowed Israel to kill hundreds of Palestinian civilians as it sought revenge**, and deprived the Israeli left (that which still existed) of their support for the original Israeli withdrawal from... more »

"Nappy Headed Ho's"

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 7 hours ago
So, the recent news about how repulsive-looking L.A. Clippers owner Donald Sterling told his trophy girlfriend not to bring black people to his games, or have her picture taken with them, has got me thinking. It reminds me of the Don Imus scandal where he called Rutger's women's college basketball team "nappy-headed ho's." Of course, there's the recent outbursts by the new right-wing hero, the anti-American (literally) Cliven Bundy, who muses that maybe black Americans would be better off if they were still enslaved. And then there's the sickening spectacle of George Zimmerman, the ... more »

April 28: It don't change much from day to day - do it?

Graeme Decarie at The Moncton Times@Transcript - Good and Bad - 8 hours ago
I always despair of finding anything to comment on (or even to read) in Section A. But today, there was a breath of hope with a report on the provincial Liberal convention. But it proved to be just a short breath. On A10 As usual, the convention put forward "neat" ideas on French immersion, abortion, and public pensions. But the value of a political party cannot rest on 3 (or 30) "neat" ideas. This sort of thing is the stuff of high school president elections. Any group that aspires to public office with control of the lives of hundreds of thousands of people should have more than... more »

1941 The Grand Mufti meets Hitler

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 8 hours ago
In case you forget who were on the side of the Nazis and still want to kill as many Jews as possible today... 1941 The Grand Mufti meets Hitler: http://youtu.be/nSUEx1cKUlg

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 8 hours ago
*Restore Louisiana Now: Stop SB 531!* *Dear Editilla, * *SB 531 is in Louisiana Senate Judiciary Committee A and will be brought up for a vote on Tuesday, April 29, at 9 AM. If approved, it will be a first step in stopping not only the New Orleans Flood Authority lawsuit against 97 oil, gas and pipeline companies, but also granting the industry virtual immunity from prosecution in Louisiana -- for violations of state and federal law! * *PLEASE CALL THESE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TODAY! * *If we stop SB 531 in Judiciary A, it will signal a victory for our entire cause and change the polit... more »

Donald Sterling, even better than Bundy!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 8 hours ago
*MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2014* *Full services start up tomorrow:* We’re headed home on Amtrak. Full services resume here tomorrow. That said: In our view, the weekend’s most appalling news report appeared in yesterday’s New York Times. It concerns the way average people get conned by propaganda and disinformation. Reporting from West Virginia, Jackie Calmes explained why some low-income people failed to enroll for subsidized health insurance or perhaps for Medicaid. They believed various crazy claims about Obamacare: CALMES (4/27/14): *“Literally, people thought there would be chips emb... more »

The Bloody Secession of Eastern Ukraine

Jon Western at Duck of Minerva - 9 hours ago
[Note: This is a guest post by Branislav L. Slantchev, professor of Political Science at the University of California-San Diego] Anna Pechenkina has written an insightful response to my opinion that if the West cares about Ukraine’s pro-Western orientation and integrity (at least what remains after Crimea), then we and the Ukrainians need to brace Continue reading

a baby polar bear, three white lions, and my first visit to the toronto zoo

laura k at wmtc - 9 hours ago
After living in the Toronto area for more than eight years, I still had never visited the Toronto Zoo, opting for several trips to Jungle Cat World and the Haliburton Wolf Centre instead (links here and here). But when one of the polar bears in the Toronto Zoo gave birth in November, there was finally enough incentive to plan a trip. My friend J and I went in March, when the cub was four months old. We took an insane number of photos, which you can see here on Flickr. (The set is about half of what I shot.)

TOURING THE JEJU STORY

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 9 hours ago

Ukraine & the Misleading NATO media

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 9 hours ago
*I see the misleading media is doing what it does so well- Misleading.* *CBC Headline today:* Ukraine crisis: Kharkiv Mayor Hennady Kernes shot in the back City hall in another city seized by masked men with automatic weapons Kharkiv Mayor shot. City hall in another city (notice it is unnamed?) by masked men The reader will then assume the Mayor of Kharkiv was shot as his city hall was seized. This is how media misleads. It's like a sleight of hand... Leading the reader by misleading the reader Let's check the facts! *The Mayor-* -The mayor of Ukraine's second-largest city was sh... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 9 hours ago
*Tornadoes kill 16 in Arkansas, 1 in Oklahoma* *Slight risk of severe weather through Tuesday for southeastern Louisiana ~Mark Schleifstein* *Trial to begin for family of inmate suing Sheriff Gusman ~Meg Gatto, WVUE* *Diocese accepting bids on 9th Ward senior complex ~N.O. City Business* *Good Eggs! * *~Good Eggitilla!~ Looking forward to my 1st delivery!* [image: https://www.goodeggs.com/heathhillfarm] Pastured Eggs from Heath Hill Farm [image: https://www.goodeggs.com/screamingoaks] Oyster Mushrooms from Screaming Oaks Mushroom Farm [image: https://www.goodeggs.com/hollywoo... more »

Everything You Need To Know About The 2014 Virginia Congressional District 8 Candidates

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 9 hours ago
*-by Pachacutec* And with that title, I come as a guest writer to launch DWT into the brave new world of explainer blogging. Howie's a long time friend, and asked me to write up the candidates. I live in the district, used to be a blogger elsewhere, and now I just keep pigeons and snark on twitter. Last week I attended the Virginia eighth district candidate forum sponsored by the NAACP. Of course, all of the opinions expressed below are my own, which translated into English means they are perfect and you should receive them gratefully as sacred, revealed truth. There are currentl... more »

The Real Face Of The Conservative Party

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 10 hours ago
In his eulogy for Jim Flaherty, Stephen Harper said, "It is a fact that Jim, as fiercely partisan as he was, was also genuinely liked and respected by his opponents, liked by his enemies. That’s something in this business, something I envy – I can’t even get my friends to like me.” It was Harper's pathetic attempt at humour. But, like his handlers' attempts to dress him in blue sweaters, or his own rendition of old Beatles songs, there's always something off key or flat when Harper performs. As with any movement built on the cult of personality, the leader wears a false face. Wit... more »

Untitled

jonjayray at EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL - 10 hours ago
*Pupils found with handguns in British schools* Nearly 40 children have been found with guns on school premises over the last three years, a shocking new national survey has disclosed.``````````````` Figures obtained from police forces across Britain showed guns and air weapons had been confiscated on 37 occasions by officers - including two hand guns. The other guns included 27 ball bearing guns and seven other air weapons. The figures showed almost 1,000 pupils in total were caught by police with weapons in schools including a Taser stun gun, a meat cleaver, three axes and a cu... more »

Buy, Read and Then Return Your German eBook?

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 10 hours ago
When we look at the Amazon dashboard we are often confused as why, or how, there can be the odd one ebook return. After all you can see everything you need on the screen, make your mind up and even sample the content before you buy, so why is there a refund. The official Amazon policy on returned eBooks is: 'Books you purchase from the Kindle Store are eligible for return and refund if we receive your request within 7 days of the date of purchase. Once a refund is issued, you will no longer have access to the book. To request a refund and return, visit the Manage Your Kindle page. ... more »

The Greatest Gift You Can Give...... by M.N. Hopkins

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 10 hours ago
*The greatest gift you can give, is the gift of the open heart.* M.N. Hopkins

Do We Continue to Have Ketchup on Your Hands Today?

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 11 hours ago
We first wrote over a year ago and asked, 'Does Publishing have Ketchup on its Hands?' The article was about about the fast food give away of books to children by MacDonald's. We were told by some that it was the parent's choice, the food was not that bad and it was important to reach children. Well since then we have all read many reports about how childhood obesity is getting worse and is being part fuelled by the fast food outlets, but last week an equally important and alarming article was published by the Mind Unleashed organisation entitled 'Hamburger Chef Jamie Oliver Prov... more »

Fighter problems

Boris at The Galloping Beaver - 11 hours ago
I'm gonna take a wild guess and suggest that the new fighter report is somewhat less than totally and utterly enthusiastic about the flying rainbow of awesome that the F-35 is supposed to be. The Cons simply don't like providing the public information about things that make them look bad, poor things. A quick thought: Canada's ancient fleet of CF-18s have undergone upgrades to their weapons

Musical Interlude: The Call, “Let The Day Begin”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 12 hours ago
The Call, “Let The Day Begin” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t5Zmet3x2k

Bitcoin news April 26 , 2014 -- China's cat and mouse game concerning bitcoin continues ----- The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has once again privately warnedbanks and payment companies to restrict customers’ access to bitcoin exchanges, reports indicate. The news is likely to have affected the international bitcoin price, which dropped by around $40 in the space of a few hours this morning.

Catharsis Ours - 13 hours ago
Coin Desk..... Bitcoin Price Drops $40 Following Reports of New PBOC Warnings Jon Southurst (@southtopia) | Published on April 25, 2014 at 11:48 BST | *Asia, BTC China, Exchanges,News, Regulation* inShare10 Share 87 [image: Chinese money and mouse] The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has once again privately warnedbanks and payment companies to restrict customers’ access to bitcoin exchanges, reports indicate. The news is likely to have affected the international bitcoin price, which dropped by around $40 in the space of a few hours this morning. CoinDesk sources said that PBOC offi... more »

Aouchtam Update: WE HAVE QEG RESONANCE!!!!!!!!

D ... Breaking The Silence at Removing The Shackles - 14 hours ago
Good morning from Aouchtam Morocco!!!! As you may of noticed, I have been notably absent from the realms of the grand computer world for the past month,lol. Once we got through the lack of Internet and Communications issues (although they are still ongoing - a work in progress so to speak), it was then QEG build time and it was all hands on deck! I've spent the past 10 days working with Red in the kitchen of the club house to keep over 70 people fed. It's been a daunting, yet amazingly fun time! Justin posted an excellent update about Day One of the QEG build HERE Status of Q... more »

Love & Being Loved According To Louise Hay

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 14 hours ago

India successfully test fires exo-atmospheric missile interceptor

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 14 hours ago
India successfully test-fired for the first time an exo-atmospheric missile interceptor at a defence base in Odisha Sunday. The missile operates outside the atmosphere and is part of the country’s efforts to create a shield against an incoming enemy missile at an altitude of over 100 km, a senior defence official said. The indigenously developed interceptor missile was fired from Wheeler Island off the coast near Dhamra port in Bhadrak district, about 170 km from here. Read more

Iranian Ground Force Test-Fires New Missiles

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 14 hours ago
[image: Naze'at-10 medium-range ballistic missile]Iran's Ground Force has test-fired new mid-range ballistic missiles, Commander of the Army Ground Force Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan announced on Sunday. "A series of new missiles have been designed to be built by the Army's Ground Force," Pourdastan told FNA. "The laboratory production of these missiles has started and one or two samples have been test-fired," he added. Read more

Humanities and LSAT reflect Critical Thinking versus Core Knowledge debate

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at @ THE CHALK FACE - 15 hours ago
“In short, the real literacy crisis occurs whenever we deploy a pedagogy that asks our students only to consume texts and not to produce them as well.” — Richard E. Miller The ABA Journal recently posted a piece entitled “Students with these college majors had the highest LSAT scores” that discusses the findings of Pepperdine University […]

Untitled

JR at GREENIE WATCH - 15 hours ago
*Germany's Vice Chancellor Stuns, Declares Germany’s Green energy revolution To Be On ‘The Verge Of Failure’!* The green energy orgy in Germany is over. The music has stopped and the wine that once flowed freely has long run out. The green energy whores and pimps can go home. In a stunning admission by Germany’s Economics Minister and Vice Chancellor to Angela Merkel, Sigmar Gabriel announced in a recent speech that the country’s once highly ballyhooed transformation to renewable energy, the so called Energiewende, a model that has been adopted by a number of countries worldwide, ... more »

Five F-16 aircraft added to PAF’s fighter fleet

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 15 hours ago
[image: PAF F-16 Fighting Falcon]A first batch of five F-16 fighters was added to fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on Sunday. Air Chief Marshal Tahir Rafique Butt said that addition of new fighter aircrafts would increase the capacity of air force. The PAF chief was speaking at the PAF Base Mushaf in Sargodha where the force received its first batch of five F-16 fighter jets from Jordan. Read more

U.S.-Philippines Pact Could Boost Arms Sales

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 15 hours ago
[image: P-8A Poseidon]A new 10-year security pact between the United States and the Philippines could lead to modest increases in U.S. weapons sales in coming years, especially for maritime surveillance equipment, analysts said on Sunday. The agreement, to be signed on Monday, establishes a framework for an increased U.S. military presence in the Philippines and is part of a "rebalancing" of U.S. resources toward the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region. The deal comes 23 years after the Philippine Senate voted to evict the U.S. military from bases there, ending 94 years of American mil... more »

PLA may build 3 more carriers amid territorial disputes: Kanwa

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 15 hours ago
[image: Liaoning]The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy may build three Liaoning-class aircraft carriers to prepare for a potential conflict with Japan in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the Canada-based Kanwa Defense Review operated by Andrei Chang, also known as Pinkov. Light aircraft carriers such as the Liaoning and Japan's Izumo have become vital for the PLA Navy and Japan Maritme Self-Defense Force amid territorial disputes between the two countries, the article said. It added that Japan may become an even greater threat to China if the country successfully introduces ... more »

Iran to Target Decoy US Aircraft Carrier in Drills

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 15 hours ago
[image: Mockup Aircraft Carrier]An Iranian newspaper is reporting that the country's military plans to target a mock-up American aircraft carrier during upcoming war games. The Sunday report by independent Haft-e Sobh daily quotes Adm. Ali Fadavi, navy chief of the powerful Revolutionary Guards as saying Iranian forces should "target the carrier in the trainings, after it is completed." Adm. Fadavi said: "We should learn about weaknesses and strengths of our enemy." Read more

Join The Global Twitter & Facebook Storm Monday & Tuesday, 28 & 29 April 2014

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 15 hours ago
Join the Global GMO Free Coalition Twitter and Facebook Storm on Monday and Tuesday all around the World! #gmofreeglobal Find the Tweets to use here: *http://www.gmofreeglobal.org/twitterstorm* The Global GMO Free Coalition has launched to ...unite organizations around the world to engage global mainstream media on GMOs, provide expert evidence directly to Public and Governments worldwide, and to disprove industry propaganda. Together, we have the power to change the system. Mission: *http://www.gmofreeglobal.org/en/mission* Become a partner organization: http://www.g... more »

Navy chief regrets lies about Scorpene submarines functions

Ko Savonije at Naval Open Source INTelligence - 15 hours ago
[image: Scorpene class SSK]The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) regrets action by certain parties who spread lies about the functions of the French made Scorpene submarines. The RMN chief, Admiral Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Jaafar said the submarine team had conducted their responsibilities to the best of their abilities and he was proud of them. "As the navy commander, I am disappointed with the lies. The submarines and MV Mega Bakti submarine rescue vessel are brought here for public viewing during armada open day. Read more

Academic Parenting 101: parental leave erosion

Megan MacKenzie at Duck of Minerva - 17 hours ago
Academics are generally pretty lucky when it comes to parental leave- at least on paper. Many universities provide more leave than the minimum required by governments (so more than nothing in the US), yet there are several aspects of our careers that cause parental leave erosion. I should say from the outset that I had Continue reading

VIDEO Rosebud Hip Hop artist Frank Waln live in DC 'Reject and Protect'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 17 hours ago
. Hip Hop artist Sicangu (Rosebud) Lakota performing at 'Reject and Protect' in DC

Joshua Brown : Political Cartoon | Commencement speeches we wish we’d hear

Thorne Dreyer at The Rag Blog - 17 hours ago
Cartoon by Joshua Brown | The Rag Blog | April 27, 2014 [Joshua Brown is the executive director of the Center for Media and Learning/American Social History Project, The Graduate Center, The City University of New York, and is a … finish reading Joshua Brown : *Political Cartoon* | Commencement speeches we wish we’d hear

VIDEO Cheyenne River Robin LeBeau: Fighting Keystone pipeline in DC

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 18 hours ago
. Cheyenne River Lakota Robin LeBeau 'Reject and Protect' in DC Published on Apr 25, 2014 Robin LeBeau speaks about Indigenous resistance to the Keystone XL at Reject and Protect and beyond, on the frontlines out on the land. From spiritual camps in Sweet Grass and Rosebud to peaceful direct action and civil disobedience trainings that are happening on the ground across Lakota Country.

What Won't Poor Old Miss McConnell Do To Keep His Job?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 18 hours ago
How humiliating it must be for Miss McConnell to be prostrating himself before Rand Paul like his job depended on it. It wasn't that long ago that McConnell recruited Trey Grayson to run as the Kentucky Establishment candidate against Paul, who McConnell helped paint as a whacky Tea Party extremist. Now he's writing love paeans in *Time* to the greatness and majesty of Kentucky's popular junior senator, or at least signing his name to one. "[T]he real secret to Rand’s rapid rise from a Bowling Green operating room to the center of American politics is his authenticity." Better tha... more »

Illusions

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 18 hours ago
*Written by Mark Taliano* Canadians are forever being informed, explicitly or implicitly, that the solution to the crisis of the day, or decade, is a freedom-sounding word called “privatization”. This, the free-marketeers tell us, will solve our problems. The reality is invariably the opposite. “Privatization” -- also known as bailed-out, highly subsidized corporatism – is in fact the problem, not the solution. Furthermore, the crises being addressed are often manufactured for the express purpose of rolling out a parasitical regime of corporatization that profits fr... more »

Mohawk Nation News 'Hoffmann and Hoffmann'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 19 hours ago
HOFFMANN & HOFFMANN Posted on April 25, 2014 Please post & distribute. MNN. APR. 24, 2014. Our representation is based on the law of the land, the constitution of the Rotino’shonni:onwe, known as the Great Law of Peace. On May 18, 1997 over 100 of us were peacefully having a traditional tobacco burning ceremony in Onondaga, the capital of the Iroquois Confederacy. At 3.00 pm almost

Arrg, there be gold in that island

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 19 hours ago
The first claims of treasure buried on the island came from a woman named Mary Welsh, who claimed 350 tons of gold raided from Spanish galleons had been buried on the island. She had been a member of a pirate crew led by Captain Bennett Graham, and was transported to an Australian penal colony for her crimes. She possessed a chart showing where Graham's treasure was supposed to be hidden. On her release she returned to the island with an expedition, which had no success in finding anything, with the points of reference in the chart having disappeared.[24] Another pirate supposed ... more »

(Relax! Clooney Taken) Corporate CEOs Demand They Be Tipped Off When Whistleblower Reports Their Crimes (Chief Justice Roberts Smiles As He Misleads US), Court Has Made Disastrous Wrong Turn In Campaign Finance Rulings Says Justice Stevens (Citizens United: Five Justices Unhappy With Limited Case So They Changed It To Give Themselves Opportunity To Change the Law)

Yes, it's true. George Clooney is engaged to Oxford/NYU Law-educated, Lebanese, Enron-Arthur-Andersen-Julian Assange "London's Hottest Barrister." So, make other plans, ladies. Enough said? If only. Change of the current campaign finance (or nation-stealing) laws must be priority #1 if the U.S. is to progress as a democracy responsive to citizens who don't have thousands (or millions) of

Duncan Signals a More Activist Role in Destroying Teaching Profession

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 20 hours ago
Since Team Obama came to Washington, ED has doubled down on support for alternative certification programs by handing out hundreds of millions of dollars to stock urban schools with unprepared beginning teachers who don't know John Dewey from Thomas Dewey, or an IEP from IED. In fact, the less knowledge in the art and science of teaching that one of these Teach for America knock-offs emphasizes, the more likely they are to attract multi-million dollar teacher improvement grants. TFA, alone, has received over $100 million in federal grants. Obviously, this path has not led quickly ... more »

"Have you lost your mind?": Contemplating "the tsunami of dementia that is about to swamp us," Michael Kinsley takes us on a tour

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 21 hours ago
Illustration by Nishant Choksi *"After some reflection, I concluded that as long as I still felt infallible Parkinson's would not stop me from continuing to pursue my dream of becoming Pope."* *-- Michael Kinsley, on his two-decades-past diagnosis of Parkinson's* *by Ken* I guess there are people who think about the way their mind works (or doesn't) and people who don't so much. Still, I had to pause when I read this statement in Michael Kinsley's "personal history" piece in the April 28 *New Yorker*, "Have You Lost Your Mind?: More bad news for boomers" (unfortunately likely to b... more »

REMEMBERING THE TRUTH ABOUT THE VIETNAM WAR

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 21 hours ago
I returned home to Maine this morning on the train from New York City. Fellow Maine Veterans for Peace (VFP) member Doug Rawlings and I were up early at our respective home stays to get to Penn Station for the 7:00 am train to Boston. We had loads of time on the four-hour ride back to Boston and then another two-hour bus ride to Portland to review the remarkable trip. We got to the Judson Memorial Church yesterday at 1:00 pm to help set things up for the national VFP event called* Full Disclosure: An Honest Commemoration of the American War in Vietnam *that would run from 5:00... more »

“Deadly MERS Virus Spreading Out Of Control In Saudi Arabia, Leaps To Egypt As Global Pandemic Begins”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 22 hours ago
*“Deadly MERS Virus Spreading Out Of Control In Saudi Arabia,* * Leaps To Egypt As Global Pandemic Begins”* by Mike Adams “It has long been recognized by intelligent observers that a global superbug pandemic is inevitable. Humanity has created the perfect conditions for it: global nutritional deficiencies, weakened immune systems, high population density, high-speed international travel and systemic abuse of antibiotics by medical professionals. Drug-resistant superbugs like MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) are 100% immune to every conventional medical treatment in existence.... more »

Deep tweets

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 22 hours ago
We need more visionaries. well played, 1930s futurist - well played. pic.twitter.com/kQT4JjIAls — Darren Wershler (@alienated) April 27, 2014

AIM Song Moccasins On the Ground at Red Shirt Community

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
. By Native Impact Published on Apr 27, 2014 April 2014 - Community leaders from across the United States and Canada join together on the Oglala Lakota Nation to become one mind, one spirit to protect the land, children and water - We welcome all to step up and protect sacred water. YOU CAN'T DRINK OIL.

My Book Is Published!

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 22 hours ago
To all who have been asking and waiting: I am pleased to report that my book, A Chronicle of Echoes: Who’s Who in the Implosion of American Public Education, is now available on Amazon.com! At the moment, Amazon.com has the paperback version, listed at $23.35. I hear that the Amazon e-book takes about 30 days until it is […]

Thomas Piketty on Inequality and Capital

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 23 hours ago
*Thomas Piketty has written a popular economics book. In 1936, a difficult-to-read academic book appeared that seemed to tell politicians they could do what they wanted. This was Keynes’s General Theory. In today's Guest Post, Hunter Lewis argues **Piketty’s book does the same in 2014, and serves the same short-sighted, destructive policies*. *Thomas Piketty’s Sensational New Book*By Hunter Lewis Thomas Piketty, a 42-year-old economist from French academe has written a hot new book: *Capital in the Twenty-First Century*. If you haven't already heard of it, you will. Indeed, your '... more »

"7 Absurd Right-Wing Follies This Week: Bundy/Hannity Breakup Edition"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 23 hours ago
*"7 Absurd Right-Wing Follies This Week: Bundy/Hannity Breakup Edition"* By Janet Allon *"1. Cliven Bundy: Black people were better off as slaves. Now, they put themselves in jail. *That Cliven Bundy turned out to be a colossal racist is not a hugely surprising twist ending to the ridiculous Hannity/Bundy love affair, media circus and saga that was such a marvel to behold this week. If there is a more perfect example of Fox and the right being exposed as the utterly backward haters they are, we cannot imagine it. The greatest fiction writer in the world would be hard-pressed to com... more »

Who's Getting Walmart School Privatization Cash?

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 1 day ago
From the NYTimes: Last year, the Walton Family Foundation gave $478,380 to a fund affiliated with the Chicago public schools to help officials conduct community meetings to discuss their plan to close more than 50 schools at a time when charters were expanding in the city. . . . . In 2013, the Walton foundation spent more than $164 million across the country. According to Marc Sternberg, who was appointed director of K-12 education reform at the Walton Family Foundation last September, Walton has given grants to one in every four charter start-ups in the country, for a total of $335... more »

The Church of Rome is Dead

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 1 day ago
[image: netanyahu_lectures_the_pope_on_racial_animus]The Roman Catholic Church is a festering corpse which is only being kept animate in order that it may be used as a battering ram for the total destruction of Christendom. If anyone has any serious doubts that the Church of Rome has been captured by the ancient Jewish enemy, the double canonisation of the anti-Popes John Paul II and John XXIII by the current imposters, Francis and Benedict XVI, should awaken people from their slumber. John XXIII was the driving force behind Vatican II, which formalised the Jewish take-over of the ... more »

In my mother's house

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 1 day ago
My mother throws dinner parties four times a week. Add in three weekly lunch parties, afternoon teas with various friends, and crib at odd hours with the little collection of men my mother has organized to play with her, and it has been a bit like living in a community centre since we moved in to her apartment at the beginning of the month. While Mom’s love for social engagements and constant preparation of meals is foreign to me, it’s been quite interesting to see all of it in action after moving in on our return from Honduras. A lot of the guests are seriously old – last... more »

THe Man is never at rest!

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 1 day ago
Who would be against clean air and energy independence at the personal level?

Corrupt US Establishment Sells “Yats” to Pitch their War

Donn Marten at Carrying a Flag - 1 day ago
While Obama and his Secretary of State John Kerry frantically work to push for the war over Ukraine that the neocon ideologues, global finance mafia, big corporations and the military machine so badly desire an emerging strategy is becoming obvious. The establishment is going to sell the illegitimately installed puppet Prime Minster in Kiev, Arseniy "Yats" Yatsenyuk as a credible pitchman for their lies. "Yats", a former central banker is of course the chosen man for the US backed coup government annexation of Ukraine into the western domain of looter capitalism and ultimately into ... more »

NIN TONANTZIN NON CENTEOTL: OUR SACRED MAIZ IS OUR MOTHER

Roberto Rodriguez at Dr Cintli - 1 day ago
NIN TONANTZIN NON CENTEOTL "OUR SACRED MAIZ IS OUR MOTHER." Today I turned in my final edited version of my forthcoming book: Our Sacred Maiz is our Mother" at 11:11 a.m. There is something magical about : 11:11. I won my first police brutality trial at exactly 11:11 a.m on Nov 7, 1979. Since then, they've been my lucky numbers. In Jan 2,008, I was awarded my PhD in Wisconsin, also, at exactly 11:11 a.m. (11:11 also has a special significance to the Zapatistas). Wish my book was out already but it doesn't get officially published til Nov., however, I will have copies sometime in... more »

Barbara Lee, Lee Rogers Beatles Contest Ends Tomorrow

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Tomorrow is the last day of our Beatles contest celebrating Barbara Lee's endorsement of Lee Rogers. The winner is going to get that very collectible, 32" x 24" iconic Beatles image up top. The portrait was shot by Robert Freeman, the band's favorite photographer, for the cover of *With The Beatles*. Freeman, who did 5 album covers for them starting in 1963, signed this one. Anyone who contributes-- any amount-- to Lee's campaign on this page will have an equal opportunity to "win" the thank you gift-- i.e, the Beatles photograph-- from Blue America. Tomorrow we'll randomly select... more »

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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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? - 1 day 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 from *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 s... more »

Re the SpongeBob SquarePants mushroom

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 1 day 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 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day ago
Roberta Flack - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face 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! - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day ago

Reply to an Idiot

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 1 day 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 ... - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day 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! - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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? - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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? - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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? - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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! - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - The Brezezinski Plan to Attack Russia, Carve the Ukraine and Re-Establish a Greater Poland

Paul Coker at News Spike - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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! - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 1 day 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 - 2 days 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! - 2 days 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 - 2 days 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 »
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