11:05pm MDST
Where's Kerry? Update
*John Kerry Rides his bicycle in Lausanne, Switzerland* More than a week has passed since John Kerry fell off his bike (some say it was a stationary bike...others say Kerry was participating in a bicycle marathon) and broke his leg while on business in Europe. I am amazed at the lack of interest or information about this powerful man--who was suddenly removed from the geopolitical scene during a time of unprecedented international tension, brinkmanship and turmoil. I have only been able to find one update. Alternate media journalist Wayne Madsen says this about Kerry: "Secretary ... more »
How China And The U.S. Could Go To War
A color guard of US and Chinese flags awaits the plane of China's President Hu Jintao at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland in this April 12, 2010 file photo. President Barack Obama unveiled a defense strategy on Thursday that would expand the US military presence in Asia but shrink the overall size of the force as the Pentagon seeks to reduce spending by nearly half a trillion dollars after a decade of war. Jonathan Ernst/Reuters/File *Robert Farley, National Interest*: *3 Ways China and the U.S. Could Go to War in the South China Sea* *Here are three ways in which tensions in the S... more »
Are interest rates too high or too low?
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Are interest rates too high or too low? A comment by Roger Garrison from 2002, when the world was trying to recover from the ‘original’ DotCom bust, is still relevant today … … ‘Keynesian stabilisation policy’ should be seen for the oxymoron that it is. Keynesian policies don’t ‘stabilise’ the economy; they Keynesianise the economy. That is, a policy-driven economy mimics the unstable behaviour that Keynes thought to be characteristic of a market economy. So now the central bank has ratcheted the federal-funds rate down to 1.75%, with medium- and longer-term rates coming dow... more »
Ralph Zurmuhle, "Epitaph"
Ralph Zurmuhle, "Epitaph" "Epitaph" solo piano composition by Ralph Zurmuhle coupled with wilderness spirit imagery by Cecil Whitt. Video produced by Sam Henegar of Still Waters Imagery And Media, Inc.
U.S. Army's Public Website Hacked By The Syrian Electronic Army
*WSJ: **Army Website Goes Offline as Pro-Assad Group Claims a Hack* *Twitter account in name of Syrian Electronic Army allegedly claimed responsibility* *WASHINGTON—The U.S. Army’s website was taken offline Monday afternoon, and a Twitter account claiming to be a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army alleged it had hacked the site.* *The Syrian Electronic Army is a network of hackers who back embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.* *Attempts Monday afternoon to load the Army’s website resulted in a “network error” message. The websites of each of the Pentagon’s ...more »
An Incredible True Story of Artificial Clouds and Weather Modification
*Film - *This short film gives a glimpse into weather modification and the effect it's having on our world. The post An Incredible True Story of Artificial Clouds and Weather Modification appeared first on Waking Times.
GOP Bonehead Scott Walker Bones Up On Foreign Policy-- Gets It All Wrong
Republican hopefuls running around Iowa Sunday were using American foreign policy as a prop in their fierce intra-party battle for the presidential nomination-- just the way they are exploiting every other important issue, from immigration reform to equality under the law for minorities. It's all up for demagoguery in Iowa. Unindicted Jersey criminal Chris Christie is promising to make marijuana illegal again in Colorado and Washington if he's elected. Scott Walker told primitive Iowa GOP gatherings that he'd back a constitutional amendment preventing gays and lesbians from marryi... more »
BREAKING!: Judge Brady orders Albert Woodfox's Unconditional Release & Retrial Banned!! (Stay Tuned for Updates)
Writer Emily Lane reported this evening for the Times Picayune that: *A federal judge in Baton Rouge has called for the unconditional release of Albert Woodfox, the only remaining imprisoned member of the Angola 3...* *U.S. District Judge James Brady issued an order Monday (June 8) afternoon ordering the unconditional release of Woodfox from state custody and barring a third trial in the murder charges....Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell's office is seeking an emergency stay from the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, he said, "to make sure this murderer stays in pris... more »
Israel's Tech Capabilities Are Drawing Attention From The World Leading Tech Companies
*(Click on Image to Enlarge)* *Wall Street Journal*: *Israeli Army Builds a Desert Outpost—Tech Firms Follow* *EMC, Oracle, Lockheed and others open offices near future home of cybersecurity commandBE’ER SHEVA, Israel—A global tech hub is sprouting in the Israeli desert.Over the next decade, Israel’s army is moving a large portion of its offices—including those of many of its key technology commands—out of the greater Tel Aviv area and relocating them some 60 miles south, to this city in Israel’s rock-strewn Negev desert. Many of the world’s biggest tech companies are fo... more »
Macro Econ Update
My sister's accounting and auditing firm, Alas Oplas and Co., CPAs (AOC) has produced a new monthly publication, the Business and Economic Update. Issue no. 1 for this month was released last week. I helped in producing that paper. In the coming months, the publication will tackle sectoral issues like energy, trade and investment, healthcare, agriculture, public finance, and so on. AOC has many local clients, and some multinationals, doing business in different sectors of the PH economy. The firm is also affiliated with BKR International, a global network of accounting and auditin... more »
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Colorful NGC 1579 resembles the better known Trifid Nebula, but lies much farther north in planet Earth's sky, in the heroic constellation Perseus. About 2,100 light-years away and 3 light-years across, NGC 1579 is, like the Trifid, a study in contrasting blue and red colors, with dark dust lanes prominent in the nebula's central regions. *Click image for larger size.* In both, dust reflects starlight to produce beautiful blue reflection nebulae. But unlike the Trifid, in NGC 1579 the reddish glow is not emission from clouds of glowing hydrogen gas excited by ultraviolet light from... more »
Chet Raymo, “Yet”
*“Yet”* by Chet Raymo “I mentioned here several times recently Ursula Goodenough's “The Sacred Depths of Nature.” I just noticed a line in the book that I underlined when I first read it a dozen years ago: "It's all very complicated." It's in the chapter on Sexuality, and we all know that sex is complicated. However, the same sentence might have been in any other chapter of the book - Origins of Life, say, or Awareness, or Emotions and Meaning, or Multicellularity and Death. It's all very complicated, and the more we learn about it all, the more complicated it gets. And anyone who ... more »
The Poet: Mary Oliver, "Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?"
*"Have You Ever Tried to Enter the Long Black Branches?"* "Have you ever tried to enter the long black branches of other lives- tried to imagine what the crisp fringes, full of honey, hanging from the branches of the young locust trees, in early morning, feel like? Do you think this world was only an entertainment for you? Never to enter the sea and notice how the water divides with perfect courtesy, to let you in! Never to lie down on the grass, as though you were the grass! Never to leap to the air as you open your wings over the dark acorn of your heart! No wonder we hear, in... more »
"I Rescued A Human Today”
* "I Rescued A Human Today”* by Rescue Me Dog "Her eyes met mine as she walked down the corridor peering apprehensively into the kennels. I felt her need instantly and knew I had to help her. I wagged my tail, not too exuberantly, so she wouldn’t be afraid. As she stopped at my kennel I blocked her view from a little accident I had in the back of my cage. I didn’t want her to know that I hadn’t been walked today. Sometimes the overworked shelter keepers get too busy and I didn’t want her to think poorly of them. As she read my kennel card I hoped that she wouldn’t feel sad about m...more »
"The Best Thing..."
"I *love* living. I have some problems with my *life*, but living is the best thing they've come up with so far. - Neil Simon, “Last of the Red Hot Lovers”, 1970
The Daily "Near You?"
Waynesville, North Carolina, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
"A Conspiracy Fact"
*"A Conspiracy Fact"* by Tina Dupuy "I’ve been assured my in-laws don’t read my column. However, because of their mix of shame, guilt and blame, I’ll be vague on some details. They’ve fallen on hard times. No one wants to talk about it, let alone have it written about and syndicated. But I think their story is illustrative. My in-laws live in a generic suburb of modest mid-century tract homes in the middle of strip mall sprawl. They have a well-attended lawn; two mid-range cars in the driveway, a loyal lab mix sleeping on the porch. They both worked in middle management in not-impo... more »
"Folly..."
“Folly is perennial, yet the human race has survived.” - Bertrand Russell
Chris Hedges, "We Are In a Revolutionary Moment"
*"'We Are In a Revolutionary Moment': * *Chris Hedges Explains Why An Uprising Is Coming — And Soon"* By Elias Isquith “In recent years, there’s been a small genre of left-of-center journalism that, following President Obama’s lead, endeavors to prove that things on Planet Earth are not just going well, but have, in fact, never been better. This is an inherently subjective claim, of course; it requires that one buy into the idea of human progress, for one thing. But no matter how it was framed, there’s at least one celebrated leftist activist, author and journalist who’d disagree: C... more »
Quote of the Day: “To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement.”
*"To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself...Anybody can have ideas--the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph."* - Mark Twain, Letter to Emeline Beach, 10 Feb 1868 [Hat tip James Stevens Valliant] Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
Midday Musical Interlude: Nirvana, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?”
Nirvana, “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pBrDjSFT_E
"If Things Were Bad in 2008… What's Coming Will be Far, Far Worse"
*"If Things Were Bad in 2008… What's Coming Will be Far, Far Worse"* by Phoenix Capital Research "For six years, the world has operated under a complete delusion that Central Banks somehow fixed the 2008 Crisis. All of the arguments claiming this defied common sense. A 5th grader would tell you that you cannot solve a debt problem by issuing more debt. If the below chart was a problem BEFORE 2008… there is no way that things are better now. After all, we’ve just added another $10 trillion in debt to the US system. Similarly, anyone with a functioning brain could tell you that a bun... more »
Report: Israel Conducted 20 'Dirty Bomb' Nuclear Tests
The Negev Nuclear Research Center in Dimona (Screen capture: YouTube, via Channel 10) *Haaretz:* *Haaretz exclusive: Israel tested 'dirty-bomb cleanup' in the desert* *Series of tests in conjunction with four-year project at Dimona nuclear reactor measured damage and other implications of detonation of radiological weapon by hostile forces. * *Israel recently carried out a series of tests in the desert in conjunction with a four-year project at the Dimona nuclear reactor to measure the damage and other implications of the detonation of a so-called “dirty” radiological bomb by hos... more »
MENA Report - ( June 8-9 , 2015 ) - IRAQ ---- After the Fall of Mosul a year ago , hard to believe the US still admits it has no real plan for ISIS in Iraq ...... Syria - Very complicated Syria situation ( Various rebel forces , ISIS and Al Qaeda in Country , Ineffective US foreign policy and Turkey's recent election all stir that pot ) ...... Yemen Situation War , war and more war sums it up.....
Links.... *Saudi Attack Yemeni Capital Kills More Civilians* *Mosul, Iraq Enters Second Year Under ISIS Rule* *Iraq Claims Gains in Long-Contested Refinery Town of Baiji* *Syria al-Qaeda Becoming a More Prominent Part of the Rebellion* Troops Advance in Baiji; 45 Killed Across Iraq Suicide Car Bombing Kills 17 in Iraq Tweets...... *BBC News (World)* @BBCWorld 50m 50 minutes ago President Obama says the US does not yet have a "complete strategy" for helping *Iraq* regain territory from IS http://bbc.in/1HXDPxd BBC News (UK) [image: Photo published for US strategy on Iraq 'n... more »
Mohawk Nation News 'TRC using South African 'White Wash' Model'
TRC USING SOUTH AFRICAN 'WHITE WASH' MODEL Posted on June 8, 2015 Mohawk Nation News Please post & distribute. Nia:wen. MNN. 8 June 2015. The majority of White South Africans take no responsibility for apartheid, though they are the main beneficiaries. Over 40% think apartheid was a good idea, but badly executed. Canada’s “INDIAN reserve” system was the model for the apartheid system.
4 Ways to Spot Big Pharma’s Media Manipulation
*Heather Callaghan* - Giant corporations have a tendency toward 'astroturf' the truth, because it works so well. The post 4 Ways to Spot Big Pharma’s Media Manipulation appeared first on Waking Times.
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- June 7, 2015
Goran Tomasevic/Reuters *Hassan Morajea and Erin Cunningham, Washington Post*: *Libyan gains may offer ISIS a base for new attacks* *MISURATA, Libya — As the Islamic State scores new victories in Syria and Iraq, its affiliate in Libya is also on the offensive, consolidating control of Moammar Gaddafi’s former home town and staging a bomb attack on a major city, Misurata.* *The Islamic State’s growth could further destabilize a country already suffering from a devastating civil war. And Libya could offer the extremists a new base from which to launch attacks elsewhere in North Af... more »
The Eye of the Crocodile
In February 1985, Val Plumwood was having a lovely time canoeing by herself in Australia’s Kakadu National Park. The ranger had assured her that the saltwater crocodiles, notorious man-eaters, never attacked canoes. It was a perfect day, gliding across the water in a beautiful land, no worries. She was a scholar and writer who focused on feminism and environmental philosophy. The Earth Crisis was pounding the planet, and it was obvious to eco-thinkers that this was caused by a severely dysfunctional philosophy. Her book, *The Eye of the Crocodile*, is a fascinating voyage into t... more »
You Are The Final Frontier
*Soren Drier* - Collect and bring forth what’s in your soul and this insane system cannot hurt at you. The post You Are The Final Frontier appeared first on Waking Times.
June 7: My, oh my, what a wonderful day.
My cat has just walked across my keyboard and destroyed a blog I had almost finished. And it's the most important one I've ever done. I'll start again - but I'll have to shorten it to get it done in time. So, forget the news in Section A. There's a big story about a statue erected on the lawn of a Pentecostal church in Moncton to honour the mounties who were killed a year ago. The trouble is that the pastor says it will help the community to heal. For Christ's sake, pastor, the community is not the hero and it's not what needs help. This community, if it's to be any help all, has t... more »
Technology Needs Capital To Produce Economic Growth
*Guest post by Frank Shostak* [image: technology]In his article “The Big Meh” Paul Krugman complains that despite all the information technology advances the effect so far has been negligible as far as economic growth is concerned. Krugman writes “That the whole digital era, spanning more than four decades, is looking like a disappointment. New technologies have yielded great headlines but modest economic results. Why? ... The answer is that I don’t know — but neither does anyone else.” Indeed if one looks at the US’s *real* gross domestic product as compared to the *potential* r... more »
Untitled
*Kids in Louisiana are reading from the Book of Genesis in science classes ~Zach Kopplan, Slate* *NWS: Red River just above 37 feet; likely to stay there ~AP* *Cyril Neville: Lifetime Achievement in Music Award Honoree ~John Swenson, offBeat*
World News Briefs -- June 7, 2015 (Evening Edition)
*Voice of America*: *G7 Leaders Affirm Russia Sanctions* *GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - The leaders of seven of the world’s most powerful countries agreed on Monday to toughen sanctions on Russia, if necessary, to press for a political solution to the conflict in eastern Ukraine.* *At the annual Group of Seven (G7) summit, the leaders said current sanctions will remain in place until Russia helps to fully implement a peace plan agreed to in February in Minsk, Belarus. * *MIDDLE EAST* Obama: 'No complete strategy' *yet on training Iraqis*. U.S. lacks 'complete strategy'* to ... more »
Australian Foreign Minister: Islamic State Wants To Assemble A 'Dirty Bomb'
*The Australian*: *Islamic State’s quest for dirty bomb: Julie Bishop * *The Islamic State terror group is believed to have collected radioactive material from hospitals and research establishments in cities it has captured in Iraq and Syria, raising fears it could build a large “dirty” bomb, says Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.* *Ms Bishop’s comments to The Australian came as terrorism specialists warned that Islamic State could carry out major attacks in Iraq and Syria during Ramadan, which begins on June 17, and that competition among terror groups could see al-Qa’ida carry out... more »
Are Fox News' Constant Attacks Making You Lose Your Religion?
This week Bill Maher took on the GOP and their Fox allies for ramping up-- on cue: election time-- their fake war on Christianity again. Watch the video above. Maher was so good that none of his *Real Time* guests even mentioned that leading the Democratic Party's "war on Christianity" is the left's newest hero, Pope Francis I. Aren't Republican Catholics muttering that the Pope is off the reservation and sounding like Bernie Sanders (or, God forbid, Jesus)? Does this story from Philadelphia sound familiar? "I went the next 20-some years only whipping out Hail Marys on bumpy flig... more »
Living in the Climax of Awakening Ages
*Zen Gardener* - There is a convergence of timeless influences destined to bring humanity into full conscious awareness. The post Living in the Climax of Awakening Ages appeared first on Waking Times.
President Obama Admits That The US Does Not Have A Complete Strategy To Counter The Islamic State
*Daily Mail:* *Obama: 'We don't yet have a complete strategy' to stop ISIS in Iraq* * * Iraqi security forces have failed to keep pace with ISIS fighters, exposing the need for revisions to the joint training program* * * 'We don't yet have a complete strategy,' Obama said during a press conference at the conclusion of the G7 summit today* * * Reason: 'It requires commitments on the part of the Iraqis as well about how recruitment takes place, how that training takes place'* * * 'And so the details of that are not yet worked out,' he said; remark is sure to fire up Republicans, who'... more »
Did President Obama Purposely Ignore and Snub The Iraqi PM At The G7 Summit?
*NBC:* *Obama at G-7 Leaves Iraq's Prime Minister Abadi Hanging* *Talk about an awkward moment: Iraq's prime minister found himself literally edged out by a trio of world leaders including President Barack Obama on Monday.* *Obama — who is in Germany for the G-7 summit — was chatting with Italy's prime minister and the managing director of the IMF when Iraqi Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi sidled up and took a seat on their bench.* *In a cringe-worthy encounter captured on video, Obama and the other leaders appear to be unaware of the Iraqi leader's presence. * *WNU Editor: *Optic... more »
The Iraqi Army Is Still In Disarray
*Wall Street Journal*: *Iraq Struggles to Revive Military for Coming Battles With Islamic State* *There is widespread distrust of their leadership among troops* *BESMAYA BASE, Iraq—Sgt. Abbas Adwani is helping to train a brigade of fellow soldiers for what promises to be one of the toughest battles yet against Islamic State: an offensive on the city of Mosul—the extremist group’s stronghold in Iraq.* *But he and many of his trainees say they still can’t shake the bitter aftertaste of previous fights—some in northern Mosul a year ago, others in Anbar province, where they said th... more »
Iraq - Islamic State War News Updates -- June 8, 2015
Financial Times *New York Times:* *U.S. Will Step Up Training of Iraqi Forces Fighting ISIS, Obama Says* *KRÜN, Germany — President Obama said on Monday that he has asked the Pentagon for a plan to accelerate the American military’s efforts to train and equip Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State, acknowledging that the militant group’s recent gains indicated a need for a shift in strategy.* *“We don’t have, yet, a complete strategy, because it requires commitments on the part of Iraqis as well,” Mr. Obama said at the close of a summit of the Group of 7 world leaders here. “The ... more »
Prometheus
*"Woe to him whom Ishtar had honoured! The fickle goddess treated her passing lovers cruelly, and the unhappy wretches usually paid dearly for the favours heaped on them. Animals, enslaved by love, lost their native vigour: they fell into traps laid by men or were domesticated by them. 'Thou has loved the lion, mighty in strength', says the hero Gilgamesh to Ishtar, 'and thou hast dug for him seven and seven pits! Thou hast loved the steed, proud in battle, and destined him for the halter, the goad and the whip.'* *Even for the gods Ishtar's love was fatal. In her youth the goddes... more »
Tony Di Bart - The Real Thing
No blogging tonight, but there is some top quality choonage. A bit of a grower this one. It only took me 20 years to like it.
"Slave or Rebel? Ten Principles for Escaping the Matrix and Standing Up to Tyranny"
*"Slave or Rebel? * *Ten Principles for Escaping the Matrix and Standing Up to Tyranny"* By John W. Whitehead “Until they become conscious, they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled, they cannot become conscious.” - George Orwell "The more things change, the more they stay the same. It’s a shell game intended to keep us focused on and distracted by all of the politically expedient things that are being said—about militarized police, surveillance, and government corruption—while the government continues to frogmarch us down the road toward outright tyranny. Unarmed ... more »
Media Brainwashing: Myths About Childhood Safety
*Video -* The five things that parents are most worried about in regards to their children have no overlap at with the five things that children in America are actually dying of. The post Media Brainwashing: Myths About Childhood Safety appeared first on Waking Times.
SCOTT WALKER IS THE LEADING REPUBLICAN "DERP"
[image: OHMAN022515color]Paul Krugman just wrote a column on “Fighting the Derp”in economics. I had never heard the word before and was surprised to find out, “’Derp’ is a term borrowed from the cartoon “South Park” that has achieved wide currency among people I talk to, because it’s useful shorthand for an all-too-obvious feature of the modern intellectual landscape: *people who keep saying the same thing no matter how much evidence accumulates that it’s completely wrong.”* We have become a nation of “Derps”. Once upon a time the privilege of derping was relegated to pundits, column... more »
The Economy: "Osama bin Laden Was a “Good Guy”…?"
*"Osama bin Laden Was a “Good Guy”…?"* by Bill Bonner "Who are the bad guys? Sometimes it’s hard to tell. For example, the CIA once backed Osama bin Laden when, as part of the mujahideen, he was helping get the Soviets out of Afghanistan… And imagine the poor landser– a German infantryman– in 1943. From a good family in Hamburg, dragooned into Hitler’s Wehrmacht, and sent to the Eastern Front. He was cold, miserable, hungry, and hunted by the “terrorists” in the woods. Meanwhile, millions of Soviet soldiers – including the dreaded Siberian troops – were determined to kill him. He l...more »
An Israeli Military Analysis On The Current Situation In Syria: 'Syrian Army Defunct, Rebels 100 Yards From Israel Border'
UN observers atop Mount Bental on the Israeli side of the border with Syria, close to the city of Quneitra, on May 30, 2015. (Photo by Yossi Zamir/Flash90) *Times of Israel:* *Syrian army defunct, rebels 100 yards from Israel border, senior officer says* *Hezbollah has lost 100 men in past two weeks, says officer; terms non-conventional threat from Iran as ‘in decline’ in short term* *The Syrian army is a threat that has ceased to exist for the coming decade and the regime is in “the most grave predicament” since the outbreak of war in March 2011, a senior Israeli army officer sa... more »
Islamic State Threatens To Seize The Golan Heights
In a newly released clip in June 2015, the Islamic State issued a warning to rebel groups on the Syrian border with Israel that it intends to control the area. (Screenshot) *Times of Israel:* *Islamic State says it’s eyeing Syrian Golan* *IS warns rebel groups on border with Israel not to aid West; al-Qaeda affiliate currently based ‘100 yards’ away* *The Islamic State released a clip this week warning rebel groups on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights — on the border with Israel — that the organization has set its sights on the area and plans to control it. * *This is the fir... more »
Civil War In Syria News Updates -- June 8, 2015
*Daily Mail:* *Rebel fighters proudly parade the severed heads of their defeated ISIS enemies as Syria descends further into shocking barbarism* ** Local fighters were tipped off about an ISIS assault on the town of Azaz * ** They ambushed ISIS militants before they could launch a deadly attack* ** Rebels then beheaded several ISIS fighters in front of cheering crowds * ** Displayed the militants' mutilated corpses in a square in the centre of town * *Rebel groups battling the Islamic State in Syria have proudly paraded the severed heads of their defeated enemies, in the latest sig... more »
Saskatchewan: The Next Battle Front
Reproductive rights activists in Canada know that while we've won the war over lawless abortion, we're still waging countless battles over access. Recently, the focus has been on Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, where small but long-overdue victories have been achieved by a new generation of pro-choice crusaders. Last week, The Star Phoenix ran four articles on the state of abortion access in Saskatchewan, beginning with an editorial, titled "Silence on abortion is unsafe." It seems that people are afraid to speak. When it comes to the issue of access to abortion in Saskat... more »
U.S. Discloses Details On The Islamic State Leadership And Finances
New insights yielded by a seized trove of materials in Syria include how the Islamic State's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, operates and tries to avoid being tracked by coalition forces. Credit via Reuters *New York Times:* *U.S. Raid in Syria Uncovers Details on ISIS Leadership and Finances* *WASHINGTON — American intelligence agencies have extracted valuable information about the Islamic State’s leadership structure, financial operations and security measures by analyzing materials seized during a Delta Force commando raid last month that killed a leader of the terrorist group in... more »
U.S. Attempts To Recruit Members Of The Taliban 5 'Totally Failed'
*FOX News:* *Sources: Administration tried to recruit Taliban 5 members as informants, effort was ‘total failure’* *The U.S. government tried to recruit members of the Taliban Five as assets, so they could gather intelligence and the U.S. could influence their future actions, Fox News has learned.The effort to "flip" the five Taliban leaders into becoming informants, however, didn't work. A source familiar with the strategy described it as a "total failure." Other sources, who discussed the option on the condition of anonymity, backed up the account. * *Update: *Obama admin. ... more »
Remember The USS Liberty: 48 Years Ago TODAY The Criminal State Of Israel Purposely Attacked The USS Liberty
Today is the 48th anniversary of a true tragedy in our history.... 48 years ago, the criminal and psychotic state of Israel attacked the American surveillance ship, the USS Liberty, in international waters in the Mediterranean Sea, purposely with the goal of having the ship sunk to blame Egypt and automatically have their American slaves at war against Egypt and fully involved in Israel's war of conquest known as the "6 Day War"......Luckily for everyone across the planet, the ship did not sink, but it sustained heavy damage and 34 sailors lost their lives.... To this day the 171 o... more »
CawRANT Events #7
*CawRANT Events #7* It's going to be another scoarcher on the west coast. I need to get outside and water my garden before the midday heat sets in. But before that....I need to *RANT!* There are so many rantacious topics on my list and, without further ado, here goes: First of all...the elite are inexorably working towards the next level of globalization, aka human slavery...called the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement) there is also another Agreement...supposedly even worse, called TIPP which attacks national sovereignty in the areas of cultural programs and services. Ac... more »
Alaska sets new record for earliest day with temperatures in the 90s
*Temperature in Alaska on the afternoon of May 23, 2015, based on data from NOAA's Real-time Mesoscale Analysis (click to enlarge).* *by Gaius Publius* Taking a break from scary Fast Track news (rumors of large-dollar amounts that could be changing hands on the Republican side are starting to frighten me), I'll offer this climate news. But before I do, a few points: - People are getting it, even Republicans, 48% of whom are "more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to fight climate change." - It's not too late to make a big difference. All we have to do is ... ... more »
Supplemental: Vote for Walker, the New York Times says!
*MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015Advice from inside the guild:* Let’s start by stating the obvious. Back in November 2000, people had every right to vote for Candidate Nader. We *didn’t* vote for Candidate Nader, whose lifetime of work we admire. But other people have every right to vote for whoever they like. That said, let’s return to a basic set of questions: Was Candidate Gore really “the lesser of two evils” among that year’s major party nominees? To use the Nader campaign’s formulation, would we still have “ended up with evil” if Gore had reached the White House? Under that formulatio... more »
Obama: Jewish traditions & values make "America a better place"
Following Jewish American Heritage Month, the White House *has released* a letter exchange between a young Jewish boy, whose parents were invited to celebrate Hanukkah in the nation's capital last year, and President Obama. The White House holds a special Hanukkah celebration each year. In *Obama's letter*, the president writes that *"Jewish traditions and values have made America a better place."* *The Times of Israel* reports: In honor of Jewish American Heritage month, the White House published correspondence between US President Barack Obama and a 10-year-old Jewish boy whose pa... more »
Leaving out the antisemitism
Much of the bias we complain about again and again comes into the category of 'bias by omission'. Much of this relates to Israel, antisemitism, and the BBC’s inexplicable blindness to the mountains of vile antisemitic rhetoric that pollutes the Arab world. The example of bias by omission in my previous post, which sets out what Jonathan Dimbleby interprets as the BBC’s excessive cautiousness, is but a tiny indication of an enormous problem. The BBC’s reluctance to broadcast Dimbleby senior’s account of the liberation of Belsen in its entirety is much more than Auntie’s prim and pr... more »
20 Sources of Body Pain and Their Links to Specific Emotional States
*Josh Richardson* - This will tell you a great deal about your personality, emotional state, and body. The post 20 Sources of Body Pain and Their Links to Specific Emotional States appeared first on Waking Times.
Final or Interlocutory
Meisels v. Lawyers Professional Indemnity Company, 2015 ONCA 406: [7] An order that does not finally dispose of the rights of the parties to the litigation will be a final order for purposes of an appeal if it disposes of an issue that "deprive[s] the defendant of a substantive right which could be determinative of the entire action": *Ball v. Donais * (1993)*, *13 O.R. (3d) 322 (Ont. C.A.), at p. 324.
Conservative Party Crimes. Mel Hurtig Writes. For All Canadians
Conservative Party Crimes. Mel Hurtig Writes. For All Canadians. *Written by Robin Mathews/June 2015* Part I *The book is small. Compact. Readable. Important. Read it. Hand it on to your friends. Above all … hand it on to friends who voted Conservative in the last election. * Mel Hurtig calls his new book The Arrogant Autocrat. ‘Chapter and verse’ it itemizes Harper Conservative crimes against the people of Canada, against their laws, their tr... more »
Easy Travel Checkers with Printable Game Board
Over the last little while, I have been teaching my 6-year-old to play checkers. She loves to play games with me and I knew it was something that could keep her occupied for long periods of time on our road trip, I just needed a way for us to be able to pass the game board back and forth between the front and back seats. I picked up a small checkers set from the dollar store, thinking I could just add magnets to the back of the game board, but it was WAY too big for the cookie sheet, so I created my own that is big enough for the game piece but small enough for a dollar store cooki... more »
Yemen's Exiled President Plays Down Coming UN Peace Talks
*Deutsche Welle*: *'No negotiations' at Yemen peace talks, says exiled President Hadi* *Yemen's president has told Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television that UN-brokered talks will not seek reconciliation with rebel Houthi fighters. UN chief Ban Ki-moon had urged both sides to negotiate "without preconditions." * *"These are not talks, it is only a discussion to implement UN Security Council resolution 2216, how to implement it on the ground," exiled President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi told al-Arabiya television in an interview aired on Monday.* *UN Security Council resolution 2216 st... more »
EVER-SO-SLOWLY WE TURN: They’re shoveling hard at the Washington Post!
*MONDAY, JUNE 8, 2015Part 1—Who will tell the people:* The front-page follies continued in yesterday’s Washington Post. Eight days earlier, on May 30, the New York Times started the current run of follies with a puzzling front-page report alleging a “quid pro quo”—a quid pro quo involving You Know Who’s greedy husband. Kevin Drum said he was puzzled by the front-page report. For reasons we discussed last week, we thought the report was vile. The Post took over from there! On Thursday, June 4, a similar front-page report criticized You Know Who’s greedy husband for accepting a char... more »
10 Houseplants that will Clean the Air in Your Home
*Meme - *These 10 houseplants are a natural, economical and beautiful way to clean the air in your home. The post 10 Houseplants that will Clean the Air in Your Home appeared first on Waking Times.
The Political Fallout From The Loss Of Iraq’s Ramadi, Interview With EPIC’s Ahmed Ali
The fall of Ramadi has led to lots of recriminations in both Iraq and in the United States. Prime Minister Haider Abadi, the Iraqi Security Forces, and the Obama Administration have each been blamed for the loss. In Iraq, the role of the Hashd al-Shaabi has also been a major issue as they were in Anbar fighting the Islamic State, but not in Ramadi in part because the premier and the U.S. were reluctant to fully deploy them out of fear that they might cause a backlash amongst the locals. Back in Washington, there are growing criticisms of the White House’s Iraq policy. Many are que... more »
Turkey's Governing AK Party Loses Its Parliamentary Majority In Elections
*New York Times:* *Erdogan’s Governing Party in Turkey Loses Parliamentary Majority* *ISTANBUL — Turkish voters delivered a rebuke on Sunday to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as his party lost its majority in Parliament in a historic election that thwarted his ambition to rewrite Turkey’s Constitution and further bolster his clout.* *The results represented a significant setback for Mr. Erdogan, an Islamist who has steadily increased his power since being elected last year as president, a partly but not solely ceremonial post. The prime minister for more than a decade before tha... more »
Israeli Minister calls on World to Recognize Golan Annexation
*Grrrr.....* *Israel's annexation of Syria's Golan should never be recognized as legitimate, legal, lawful or moral- If anything Israel should have long been ordered out of that area. * * A far-right Israeli minister on Sunday called for the international community to endorse his country’s 1981 annexation of Syria’s Golan Heights, where he called for increased Jewish settlement.* “I call on the international community... to recognise Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan,” Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, said in a speech at a time of increasing world pressure on Israe... more »
Best Progressive Investment Of 2014-15: Ted Lieu
Last cycle we asked you to chip in and help Ted Lieu win the Los Angeles congressional seat from which Henry Waxman was retiring. With your support, Ted won a convincing victory. So, how do we know what's going to happen *after* someone gets elected? In Ted's case, his record of accomplishment as a state legislator was so overwhelming that we had a powerful feeling he would make an exceptional Member of Congress. We were right. He's been more than we could have hoped, getting elected freshman class president in his first week on the job and working effectively on one tough issue a... more »
Is quantum reality "personal"?
*QBism is a strategy to steal credit flavored by tons of redundant babbling* When it comes to the nonsense about quantum mechanics that is written all over the media, I have mostly resigned. But I still do detect new salvos that appear at many places. The newest article at the Quanta Magazine is A Private View of Quantum Reality by Amanda Gefter It promotes QBism (formerly Quantum Bayesianism) and Christopher Fuchs, a man associated with it. The main content of this picture is correct within the error margin defined by all the vague nonsense that is being added even in the similarly... more »
The Nature of American Denial
*SARTRE* - The denial by Americans to admit that their government no longer serves them is staggering. The post The Nature of American Denial appeared first on Waking Times.
Northerntruthseeker Hits The 3 Million Mark!
I checked my statistics just this morning, and officially as of today, my readership for this blog has passed the 3 MILLION mark! It is astounding considering that I run this blog with no advertising, and absolutely no funding or need for donations.....I am absolutely not in this for any monetary gain and absolutely cannot and will not be bought off at any price! People are wanting the real truth about what is going on in our sick world, and I will continue to do my best to tell it to them straight... I want to thank everyone for their support.... And as usual... More to come NTS
It's Monday...
*what's going on.* *Nation: * Nice Deb: *Mob of Unruly Black Teens Crash Private, End-of-School Pool Party, Harassing and Assaulting Party-Goers* Always On Watch: *Video: America Or Somalia?* American Thinker: *Entire World Headed to Us: Ann Coulter Denounced for Noticing * Liberty's Torch: *“Don’t Enter Reality Without It!”* *Economy:* Zero Hedge: * "Literally, Your ATM Won’t Work…"* *Lifestyle: * Becoming Minimalist: *9 Ever-Present Distractions That Keep Us From Fully Living* Daisy Luther: *How To Prep When You’re NOT An Epic Wilderness Survival Guru * *Woodster... more »
World News Briefs -- June 7, 2015
*BBC*: *G7 summit: Climate and extremism lead day two talks* *Climate change and terrorism are top of the agenda on the second day of the G7 summit of economic powers in Germany.* *Chancellor Angela Merkel wants the group to reach an agreement on limiting global temperature rises.* *She is also calling on the G7 members to contribute to a fund for poor countries suffering the worst consequences of climate change.* *There are also talks on the threat from radical extremism with the leaders of Nigeria, Tunisia and Iraq. * *MIDDLE EAST* Activists: Syrian air raids kill 49 *in no... more »
Two more Unanswered Energy Collective Comments from 2011 by Jochem Gruber.
This comment was a response to another post on Jacobson. They are both intelligent and serious, and I think it will be still helpful to give them attention. Jochen Gruber says: When nuclear fuel enrichment and reprocessing is combined with commercial nuclear power generation there is a problem with possible uranium/plutonium clandestine diversion by the state or a subnational group: Henry D. Sokolski (ed.) Falling Behind: International Scrutiny of the Peaceful Atom, Strategic Studies Institute - United States Army War College, February 27, 2008 CB:Reasonable premise. *"Diversi... more »
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- June 7, 2015
*Defense News/AFP:* *US Weighs Missiles In Europe To Counter Russia* *WASHINGTON — The United States is considering a range of moves to counter Russia's alleged violation of a nuclear arms treaty, including bolstering missile defenses or even deploying land-based missiles in Europe, officials said Friday.* *The options are expected to be discussed at a meeting of senior military officers and diplomats convened by Defense Secretary Ash Carter during a visit Friday to Stuttgart, Germany, Pentagon officials told AFP.* *The talks will focus on Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict as ... more »
It Is Fraud, Not Climate Science At All
The masterresource site, among many other blogs, has addressed the new claim that there is really no "global warmng pause" (over the last two decades) to counter the mentally unhinged political narrative (of Barack Obama) of imminent runaway "climate change". My response: *The whole "debate" is laughably incompetent (and has been for 25 years--since the inception of the UN's IPCC, it should be emphasized). All of these "experts" fall far short of competence by not demanding the immediate firing of Karl (et al.) for deliberate deception--fraud, that is--and the immediate rescinding o...more »
Is China Building A Database On Americans?
*Washington Post:* *With a series of major hacks, China builds a database on Americans* *China is building massive databases of Americans’ personal information by hacking government agencies and U.S. health-care companies, using a high-tech tactic to achieve an age-old goal of espionage: recruiting spies or gaining more information on an adversary, U.S. officials and analysts say.* *Groups of hackers working for the Chinese government have compromised the networks of the Office of Personnel Management, which holds data on millions of current and former federal employees, as well ... more »
Untitled
*Dress Code: Public School Prohibits Wearing Cross on Graduation Cap* The principal of a Florida high school says the controversy over a Christian cross on a graduation cap was overblown. According to the Gainesville Sun, a cap with a cross decoration was not worn at Chiefland High School’s commencement ceremony Friday, after the senior was told she wouldn’t be allowed to wear it when getting her diploma, which angered some in the audience. Principal Matt McLelland confirmed that a student, who was not identified, had a decorated cap. She was given a plain cap before the ceremon... more »
Don't Make Book On It. But . . .
http://www.vancouverobserver.com/ It's too early to make predictions about the federal election, but it appears that Justin Trudeau's support for Bill C-51 has hurt him. Michael Harris writes: In his latest poll, Graves placed the NDP and the Conservatives in a tie with 125 seats apiece, and the Liberals at 83 seats, based on a 338 parliament. If that model were to hold, the Trudeau Liberals would see a pick up of 47 seats, the Mulcair NDP would add 30 seats, and the Harper Conservatives would lose 34 seats. Canada would have a minority ... more »
Will Russia's Newest Fighter Be Able To Compete Against America's F-22 And F-35?
*Zachary Keck, National Interest:* *Is Russia's Lethal PAK-FA Fighter Superior to America's F-22 and F-35?* *Russia’s new fifth-generation fighter jet will be superior to its American counterparts in every way, a senior Russian military official has said.* *According to Russian state media outlets, Viktor Bondarev, Russian Air Force Commander-in-Chief, said that the PAK FA will be able to outduel America’s F-22 and F-35 fifth generation fighter jets.* *Speaking of the PAK FA to reporters last week, Bondarev said that “It will be in no way worse than similar American planes such as... more »
Untitled
*Joe Bast replies to a lying "Catholic"* *I have put "Catholic" in quotes above because a true Catholic would try not to break the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not bear false witness ..." in particular. Joseph Bast is President of the Heartland Institute and he is referring below to the widely-circulated letter from the ill-mannered and far-Leftist Michael Milillo that I posted yesterday* I’ve very disappointed that Mr. Michael Milillo would write such a wildly inaccurate and defamatory piece and Mr. Eric Pooley would not take the opportunity to distance himself from it. Alas, ... more »
Aha! - So,Google is fudging numbers.....
*Interesting!* James Corbett is discussing the fact that Google is impeding alternative media. Alternative viewpoints. Alternative editorials etc., Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed Green Crow picked up on that also In a way, oddly enough, that's reassuring.It helps me understand the why of *post reading counts, literally disappearing*. Rather then scratch my head- I now know with more certainty it's just censorship, Meted out by google, as they carry out tyranny's bidding.
Economic News , Data and Views ( June 8 , 2015 ) Greece Updates ( State of Play in Talks Seems To Be - Ball Of Confusion .... Tsipras may or may not meet Merkel / Hollande , GR may or may not seek Emergency Summit or Program Extension - More Questions Than Answers ) , Broader Europe ( German Data - Trade Surplus Widens to 22.3 BN Euros In April , Industrial Output Rises InApril 0.9 % , Dax His Correction Territory ..... Spain - Air Traffic Controllers Begin 4 day Strike , 8 More Cases of Diphtheria reported ) ..... Emerging Markets News - Turkish Election Weak Performance and Loss of Majority By AKP dents Lira And Markets There ..... China Export and Import Data Sags...... Moscow Trade Deal With Iran Moves Forward
Tweets.... Greece.... *Fabrizio Goria* @FGoria 1h 1 hour ago *Greek government spokesman says Greek PM has made clear that this government will fulfill four-year term, elections not in our plans - RTRS *Fabrizio Goria* @FGoria 2h 2 hours ago Greek gvt spoxman: our proposal is starting-point for talks but athens is willing to work to a deal allows for compromise between both sides *Fabrizio Goria* @FGoria 2h 2 hours ago * Greek government spokesman says Greek government had warned it needed a deal so it could avoid a move like bundling of IMF payments - RTRS ... more »
C-51 Hearings: Statement of Ms. Joanna Kerr of Greenpeace Canada
Here we go: *Ms. Joanna Kerr (Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada): * Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving us the opportunity to express our views on Bill C-51, which is critically important. I am Joanna Kerr, executive director for Greenpeace Canada. I am here today with Keith Stewart, who is in charge of the Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaign. [*English*] In my global roles as chief executive of ActionAid International, policy director with Oxfam Canada, and now with Greenpeace, I have seen first-hand the power of protest and dissent in effecting real, transfor... more »
Mysteries of Abydos: Egypt’s flying machines?
[image: Ancient Code] [image: A strange set of hieroglyphs found at Abydos, Egypt. Do they actually depict modern day machines, such as helicopters, planes and submarines? Image credit: Wikimedia] A strange set of hieroglyphs found at Abydos, Egypt. Do they actually depict modern day machines, such as helicopters, planes and submarines? Image credit: Wikimedia I’m going to start of this article by asking you, the reader the question; “What do you see in the above image?”. Do some of the hieroglyphs look a bit odd? unlike the others? Well according to many people that have visited t... more »
Video Shows The Moment A Ukrainian Mi-24 Helicopter Was Shot Down From Within The Cockpit
*Business Insider/Aviationist:* *Video from a Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter allegedly shows the moment it was shot down* *The video in this post was allegedly filmed on Aug. 20, 2014, somewhere near Lugansk where a Ukrainian Mi-24 Hind gunship helicopter was hit and shot down by an anti-aircraft missile while on patrol with another helicopter of the same type.* *Both crew members, reportedly Major Oleg Biryukov and Captain Anton Rodionov, died in the crash.* *It looks like the Hind was flying at low altitude, when it was hit by a missile: in a matter of seconds the helicopter hit th... more »
The Universe
"Hoping, wishing, and praying shouldn't ever be confused with doing. Know what I mean? As in, "doing all you can, with what you've got, from where you are." "Tallyho," The Universe Thoughts become things... choose the good ones! www.tut.com
Additional Arguments Against Legalizing the Trade in Rhino Horn Pt. 3
In my last two posts, I wrote about a recent Foreign Affairs piece that proposed lifting the ban on trading rhino horn and the political and substantive reasons why such an idea is problematic. Are there reasons to think that a one-off sale or even a permanent normalization of the trade might go well? While Save the […]
In A New Cold War How Do The Weapons From The U.S. And Russia Match Up?
*Popular Mechanics:* *How Russian and American Weapons Would Match Up in a New Cold War* *As tensions between the two states rise once more, here's how their weapons systems compare* *It's easy to fall into Cold War calculations when comparing the militaries of Russia and United States. After all, a lot of the same equipment from that conflict is still in use. And because Russia and the U.S. are the world's chief arms suppliers, Cold War weapons are found in the arsenals of armies around the world.* *These, however, are next-generation weapons systems being designed and fielde... more »
A More Detailed Look At Russia's Newest Tank
(Click on Image to Enlarge) *Business Insider*: *The hardware that sets Russia's new tank apart from all others* *Early last month Russia's new third-generation T-14 Armata tank was revealed to the world during Moscow's annual Victory Day parade.* *According to the Associated Press, military weapons experts from Russia and some from the West say Russia's new main battle tank will surpass all Western tanks.* *"The tank is the first to have an internal armored capsule housing its three-man crew and a remotely controlled turret with an automatic weapons-loading system, features th... more »
Strengths & Weaknesses of the Contenders for Australia's Submarine Replacement Programme
[image: Collins class SSK]Plans to replace the existing Royal Australian Navy's (RAN) Collins-class submarines began in 2007 with the launch of "SEA 1000" also known as the Future Submarine Programme. In February this year, the Australian Government announced the acquisition strategy for the Future Submarine Program and invited three countries: France, Germany and Japan to participate in a competitive evaluation process. Here is our analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each contender: - The Japanese Soryu class; - The German Type 216; - The French evolution of S... more »
NATO's First Alliance Ground Surveillance Aircraft Unveiled Northrop Grumman and European Industry Partners Enable a new System of Systems ISR Capability
Expanding NATO's joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability, Northrop Grumman Corporation and its industry partners together with NATO leaders unveiled the first NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft to an audience of customers, distinguished guests, employees and community leaders. The unmanned aircraft, a wide area surveillance Global Hawk, is part of a broader system of systems solution that will advance the Alliance's evolving ISR needs during a full range of NATO's missions such as protection of ground troops and civilian populations, borde... more »
Irritant Watch =UPDATED=
*UPDATE*: Read it: today's most important post on the business dealings of KMT Chairman Eric Chu's family. It's just business as usual.... I've often remarked on this blog that one of the Ma Administration's policies is to put forth issues that will keep relations with neighboring countries and the US irritated, in order to reduce their willingness to intervene on behalf of Taiwan against China and to make Taiwanese feel isolated and resigned to becoming annexed to China. Note the obsessive focus on China, Japan, and the US -- and the total neglect of Philippines, Malaysia, Indone... more »
Russia conducts surprise Soyuz 2-1A launch carrying Kobalt-M
Russia has launched its Soyuz 2-1A rocket in a surprise mission from the Plesetsk cosmodrome at 15:24 UTC. The launch, using a rocket that recently failed during the Progress M-27M mission, was clouded under secrecy due to its payload, the Kobalt-M spy satellite – rumored to be the final film-return photo reconnaissance spacecraft. The Soyuz 2-1 rocket is derived from the earlier Soyuz-U and the Soyuz 11A511 before that – and first flew in November 2004. The rocket was intended as an eventual replacement for all of the Soyuz and Molniya variants then in service. Read more
IAI Unveils a UHF Radar that Tracks Stealth Aircraft from Hundreds of Kilometers Away
[image: Ultra C-22 AESA Radar]Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) is unveiling an advanced, UHF, Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar at the Paris Air Show. It is designed to search, detect and track ‘air breathing targets,’ including low-observable (stealth) aircraft, missiles, UAVs and ballistic missile targets at very long range, providing operating early warning. The new radar, which has already become operational with an unspecified customer, is part of the new ULTRA family of UHF radars developed by IAI’s ELTA Systems Group and subsidiary. Read more
Nuclear missiles could be sited again on British soil in new 'Cold War' with Russia
[image: B-52 Stratofortress]The UK could site American new nuclear missiles on British soil amid heightened tensions with Russia, Philip Hammond has indicated. The comments raise the prospect of a return to a Cold War-type arms race with Russia over the use of nuclear missiles. The Foreign Secretary said there were “worrying signs” about the increased activity of Russian forces and the UK would consider the pros and cons of taking US intermediate-range weapons. Read more
PAF JF-17s to participate in Paris Air Show
[image: JF-17 Thunder]At least three Pakistan Air Force (PAF) JF-17 Thunder fighter aircrafts along with a contingent, comprising pilots and technicians, departed for Paris today, to participate in the upcoming Paris Air Show 2015. PAF spokesperson Air Commodore S M Ali said, "The 51st Air Show organised by French Aerospace Industries Association will start on 15 June, 2015 at the Le Bourget Parc des Expositions and would continue till 21 June, 2015." The spokesperson also said one JF-17 fighter aircraft will perform in the flying display and another will be on static display throug... more »
Watch the US Navy test its electromagnetic jet fighter catapult
The US Navy's next-gen electromagnetic catapult for aircraft carriers works! Well, OK, the military hasn't exactly used it to launch an actual fighter jet yet, but a recent test has proven that it can handle 80,000 pounds of steel. The Navy has been testing the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System or EMALS for months aboard the Gerald R. Ford carrier, but this is the first time a "dead-load" (or a wheeled steel sled that weighs as much as a jet) is involved. Read more
Israel Aerospace Industries unveils upgraded 'suicide' drone
Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. today unveiled an upgraded "suicide" unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of staying in the air for six hours and flying for long distances. The new UAV, one of the Harop series, was revealed at the end of a series of operational tests conducted in recent months, in which it demonstrated its observational capabilities, its maneuvering capabilities, and its ability to destroy its targets. The UAV, which carries explosives, can be launched from either land-based or naval systems. It can also be launched far from its target without revealing the UAV ... more »
Britain's defence chiefs face tough choices ahead
[image: RAF F-35 Lightning II]America is anxious about Britain's defence expenditure. Perhaps the problem is the escalating cost of overly complex equipment. Prior to the 1992 British election, discussing the case for cancelling the increasingly expensive Anglo-European Eurofighter aircraft with Labour's defence spokesman, I suggested the defence requirement for this aircraft to be out-dated with the fall of the Berlin Wall; and the shifting Russian political and military landscape. Labour's defence spokesman — later Tony Blair's Secretary of State for Defence — highlighted the lowe... more »
Norway Commits to NATO Missile Defense System
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[image: USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54)]After meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Norway's Prime Minister said the country is obliged to take part in the missile defense system. Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg pledged that Norway will increase its military spending in line with NATO policy, and also contribute to the NATO missile defense system, after a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday. "It is necessary for us to contribute to this," Solberg told a press conference on Friday following the meeting. Read more
Congress counters U.S. air power decline, restocks Air Force, Navy with planes, missiles
[image: F/A-18 Super Hornet]American air power is declining at the very moment U.S. warplanes have been thrust into a long war in the skies over Iraq and Syria and must contain aggressive militaries in Russia and the Pacific. Now Congress, which has watched combat readiness decline under the crunch of automatic budget cuts called “sequestration” in 2013, is intervening. Congress is restocking the Air Force and Navy with more missiles and planes than requested in President Obama’s defense budget. The backdrop: The Air Force continues to shed jet fighters, and, more troubling, overse... more »
China Is Getting Ready To Test Asia’s Largest Surface Warship
Wikipedia *Popular Science:** China's Getting Ready to Turn on Asia's Biggest Warship* *A landlocked test rig for the Type 055 Cruiser nears completionThe Type 055 cruiser test rig in Wuhan is well on its way to opening for business. Built to test the Type 055's sophisticated electronics and integrated stealth mast, the mockup now has major electronic sensors and systems installed, along with a coat of PLAN gray paint.The Type 055 cruiser test rig made its Internet debut in March 2014 on Chinese websites. With a projected length of 160 to 180 meters, judging from the test rig's... more »
U.S. Navy Awards $4.3 Billion To Build The Aricraft Carrier USS John F. Kennedy
© REUTERS/ Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc *Wall Street Journal*: *Navy Awards $4.3 Billion in Aircraft Carrier Deals* *Huntington Ingalls secures two deals related to nuclear-powered carriers* *The Pentagon on Friday awarded contracts valued at $4.3 billion to Huntington Ingalls Industries Inc. to continue work on the Navy’s second Ford-class aircraft carrier following two years of wrangling over cost overruns on the first vessel.* *Huntington Ingalls is the Navy’s only builder of nuclear-powered carriers, with work under way on the first two of an anticipated four-ship flee... more »
Americans Are Becoming More Pessimistic On The War Against The Islamic State
*CNN:* *ISIS campaign as unpopular as Iraq offensive before 2007 surge* *Washington (CNN)Americans are as dissatisfied with the U.S. military campaign against ISIS as they were during the Iraq War's least popular days, according to a new CNN/ORC poll released Monday.And nearly the same percent of people blame President Barack Obama's policies for the current situation in Iraq as those who hold President George W. Bush responsible, the survey showed.Overall, 44% say they blame Obama's policies for the problems in Iraq and 43% blame Bush; 11% say both are equally responsible. ... more »
Video Shows Hezbollah Using U.S. Abrams Tanks
*Vocativ:* *Hezbollah Militia Using American-Supplied Tanks In Iraq Battles* *Last week they paraded men they’d captured in Anbar province as ISIS fighters who were now their prisoners. This week Iraqi Hezbollah, a Shiite militia group that has joined other units to fight alongside Iraqi security forces to retake the city of Ramadi from ISIS, broadcast footage of its fighters at the helm of Abrams tanks, supplied to Iraq by the U.S. military.* *The Abrams tanks with the militia’s logo were caught on a video showing the battle between ISIS and the Shiite militias in Anbar province... more »
Islamic State Show Off Their US-Made Spoils Of War
*Daily Mail:* *ISIS show off their US-made spoils of war: Fighters behind the wheel of millions of dollars in American hardware, a month after Iraqi army fled Ramadi* * Militants are seen driving Humvees, cargo trucks and MRAPS * The US are believed to have given them to IRF forces to aid the fighting * Video released by the terrorist group seems to show their 'spoils' * The stolen, top-of-the-range equipment will enhance their protection * Military officials say around 2,000 Humvees have ended up in ISIS hands ISIS have reportedly shown off US hardware they seized from Iraqi troo... more »
Islamic State Is Converting Captured U.S. Humvees Into Suicide Car Bombs
Islamic State militants seen last year with a captured Iraqi army Humvee at a checkpoint outside Beiji refinery. *Business Insider:* *ISIS is turning US Humvees into Iraq's worst nightmare* *More than two-thirds of the Humvees the US supplied to Iraq to fight terrorists have ended up in the hands of Islamic State militants.* *And the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh), has not wasted any time in converting those vehicles into one of its deadliest and most nightmarish tools: suicide car bombs.* *According to Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, ISIS controls about 2,300 arm... more »
Not Out of Africa
[image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Sapiens_neanderthal_comparison.jpg] What has remained misunderstood is the rate of genetic movement. Original geographic primate movement is slow and painful as new niches have to be accessed and then adapted to. Thus folks living on the edge of the jungle have to alter their lifeway in order to live by the sea or the desert. This requires time to adjust and learn and then time to expand enough to fill the niche. This had to have taken many thousands of years and easily could have been done a million years ago. Once d... more »
European Empire
If we think of and treat Europe as a nascent Empire in the traditional sense, then it is possible to properly assess the future. Russia is very much a part of this tradition and desperately wants a proud role in that meme. The EU has divested most of the natural political stress unto the constituent provinces rather successfully. German and Greek politics continue to matter. What is needed in this construct is the unifying office of the Emperor holding the same powers as the Queen of England or the Pope for that matter. Their task is to communicate and focus a larger glo... more »
Bernanke Is Right About China
[image: Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke sits during a session at the Brookings Institution January 16, 2014 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)] I can understand China wanting to make its currency a reserve currency. Yet this must mean a completely free tradability or just why would anyone settle in the stuff. That is the issue. In the meantime the USA has flooded the world with US currency to the extent that everyone has a goodly supply and it really is the true global currency. And yes, the USA has benefited wonderfully from this arrangement.Unfortunately,... more »
Sovereignty – An Awakening Slave’s Most Challenging Reflection
[image: http://wakeup-world.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Sovereignty-%E2%80%93-An-Awakening-Slave%E2%80%99s-Most-Challenging-Reflection.jpg] The central problem is not the creation of fiat money from thin air which is not a problem but a solution in itself, but that the king controls the process with his interests paramount. Worse, the king is not smart enough to make the right decisions for you. The real truth is that fiat money is perhaps mankind's greatest invention after money itself. Yet it has been applied in ignorance and tainted with fear and has produced the distort... more »
Lynn Miles passes
Lynn Miles, the longtime activist and fighter for human rights, democracy, and peace, passed away in the early morning hours today. He was a very great human being who always spoke truth to power, and will be missed by all who knew him, and by Taiwan. *Om shanti, om shanti, om shanti*. FocusTaiwan's report. Also WantWant's, which puts in the important detail: the gov'ts final act in his life was to indict him... _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of l... more »
Fukushima Update: "Your Radiation This Week"
*"Your Radiation This Week"* by Bob Nichols "Good Day, this is “Your Radiation This Week.” These are the recorded Radiation Highs that affected people this week around the United States and in your neighborhood. Let’s get right to it." *RADIATION CPM* CITY STATE* *Listed in Counts per Minute, a Count is One Radioactive Decay Registered by the Instrument. *50 CPM is an Alert Level* Partial Counts are noted. Uncounted radiation would make the actual Count higher. 391 CPM Concord, NH Gamma and Beta Radiation Combined. 338 CPM Boston, MA Partial Radiation Data Only. 223 CPM ... more »
Arguments Against Legalizing the Rhino Horn Trade Pt. 2
In my last post, I reacted to a Foreign Affairs piece that suggested lifting the ban on rhino horn, as South Africa has toyed with in the lead up to the 2016 CITES meeting it will host. Whether or not this would be a one-off sale like the one for ivory in 2008 or more of a permanent […]
Explosion at WTC 2 approximately 5 seconds after impact
This is approximately 5 seconds after impact. Does this look like a jet fuel explosion? ZZZZZzzzzzz.....
Iraq Is Still On The Brink After One Year Of War Against The Islamic State
*ABC News (Australia)/AFP*: *Islamic State: One year since IS assault began, Iraq still on the brink* *A year after the Islamic State (IS) group launched a brutally effective offensive, Iraq is struggling to survive as a unified nation, gripped by seemingly endless violence, sectarianism and humanitarian tragedy.* *IS began the offensive on June 9, 2014, and overran a third of the country, declaring it and areas in neighbouring Syria a "caliphate" and carrying out atrocities from beheadings and mass executions to enslavement and rape.* *The jihadists have been driven out of some ... more »
U.S. Still Searching For A South China Sea Strategy
*Financial Times*: *US struggles for strategy to contain China’s island-building* *China’s efforts to dredge new land on remote coral atolls in the South China Sea have left the US struggling to come up with a response.For Washington, Chinese land-creation has helped make allies of former adversaries now fearful of military domination by an assertive China. The latest example was the trip to Vietnam last week by Ashton Carter, US defence secretary, who pledged US patrol craft to the Vietnamese navy.But there is a limit to how far countries in the region are willing to present ... more »
British 'World-Record Sniper' Talks About PTSD
A British sniper team in Afghanistan (Credit: ABC) *ABC News (Australia):* *Craig Harrison: World-record-holding British sniper haunted by visions of men he killed* *The former British army marksman who holds the record for the longest range sniper kill in combat says he has lost all trust in the armed forces because of the way he has been treated.* *Craig Harrison, who served as a sergeant in the Blues and Royals cavalry regiment, killed a Taliban machine gunner with a shot over a distance of 2.5 kilometres - the length of 25 football fields, and almost twice as long as his rif... more »
A Former U.S. Navy SEAL Critiques A Video On The Islamic State's ‘Navy SEALs’
*We Are The Mighty:* *Watch a Navy SEAL hilariously critique a video of ISIS ‘Navy SEALs’* *ISIS has elite Navy SEALs. Well, at least that’s what they want you to think.* *The terror group released a five-minute propaganda video in April showing fighters coming out of the water with AK-47s at the ready and learning martial arts. Then there were the masked men sneaking up and taking out clueless guards using nothing but knives.* *A few weeks ago, Independent-Journal Review decided to ask real U.S. Navy SEAL Jonathan T. Gilliam to analyze and critique the video. It turned out to b... more »
Unfreezing the Status Quo & Moving Toward Real Change
This is a mural from one of the walls on the Pitzer College campus where our conference 'track' has been meeting the last three days. There are several colleges linked together here but I saw more political murals on the Pitzer campus than on the others. This mural I particularly love because it expresses the reality of America as I see it. People of color know the score but have little voice. They don't have the money, the power, nor the institutional connections to effectively speak. They are often repressed when they try to speak by police, courts, educational systems and... more »
Legalizing the Rhino Horn Trade: A Terrible Idea? Pt. 1
Two weeks ago, I came cross a provocative piece (paywall, free version here) Foreign Affairs published earlier this year by Alexander Kasterine from the UN/WTO International Trade Center on legalizing the trade in wildlife, namely for rhino horn, but conceivably for other species that are currently illegal to trade under the Convention on the International Trades […]
Quote of the Day: “The Greens are as dead in the water as Labour…”
*“The Greens are as dead in the water as Labour: they’ve gone about as far as they can go … Just as Labour has lost its working class roots through the disappearance of the working class [by prosperity], so the Greens have lost their environmental roots as the environment outlook looks better than ever.”* - Jo Holmes, from her post ‘Metrosexual Greens need to stop blubbering’ at the JoHolmes blog Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
An In-depth Look At U.S. SEAL Team 6
Navy SEAL Team 6 is best known for killing Osama bin Laden in 2011. In the past 14 years, special forces have been involved in tens of thousands of operations in the Middle East, but a New York Times investigation raises questions about oversight of these missions. Here, U.S. Navy SEALs exit a C-130 Hercules aircraft during a training exercise in Fort Pickett, Virginia. U.S. Navy *New York Times:* *SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines* *The unit best known for killing Osama bin Laden has been converted into a global manhunting machine with limited out... more »
The Conflict In Ukraine is Splitting Families And Friends
*Voice of America:* *Ukraine Conflict Divides Families, Friends * *KRAMATORSK, UKRAINE - The conflict in Ukraine may have galvanized those who support a united, independent country, but it has also sewn divisions between them and neighbors, friends and family who lean toward Russia. The political tensions have severed relationships and even led some couples to seek divorce.* *Lyudmila and Denis Sakhno married 17 years ago and expected to spend the rest of their lives together. But marital tensions spiked when Russia-backed rebels took advantage of a power vacuum in Kyiv to seize ...more »
Musical Interlude: Chuck Wild, Liquid Mind: “VI Spirit - Through My Eyes (Nebulae)”
Chuck Wild, Liquid Mind: “VI Spirit - Through My Eyes (Nebulae)” - http://www.youtube.com/
"A Look to the Heavens"
“The universe is filled with galaxies. But to see them astronomers must look out beyond the stars of our galaxy, the Milky Way. For example, consider this colorful telescopic view of spiral galaxy NGC 6384, about 80 million light-years away in the direction of the constellation Ophiuchus. At that distance, NGC 6384 spans an estimated 150,000 light-years, but this close-up of the galaxy's central region is about 70,000 light-years wide. *Click image for larger size.* The sharp image shows details in the distant galaxy's blue spiral arms and yellowish core. Still, the individual star... more »
"Forever And Forever And Forever..."
“For nothing is fixed, forever and forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.” - James Baldwin
Chet Raymo, “Beyond The Porch-light of Language”
*“Beyond The Porch-light of Language”* by Chet Raymo “The title of this post is another phrase from the poet Pat Boran. It struck me, I suppose, because of the way readers sometimes refer to this blog as "the porch." (I forget who first suggested the image; was it you, Theresa?) A lovely image, evoking friends in rocking chairs sipping ice tea or gin-and-tonics on a drowsy summer night. Out there in the darkness lightnin' bugs flash their sleepy semaphores. Somewhere afar off heat lightnin' illuminates the horizon. Our language drifts into the dark. We have words too for stars, fo... more »
"Never Look Down..."
"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right road." - Dag Hammarskjold
“Tiahuanaco: Gateway to the Gods”
“Tiahuanaco: Gateway to the Gods” by Dan Eden . "Ask most people who are the oldest civilization or where the oldest civilization lived and you'll hear answers like Mesopotamia (Iraq), Egypt or Iran. While these cultures can be traced back to 4000 B.C., the mysterious ruins of Tiahuanaco, in Bolivia, could be 14,000 years old! If you think the Great Pyramid in Egypt is a technological marvel, wait until you see what artists and engineers were doing in Tiahuanaco. This culture thrived at the breathless, oxygen deprived elevation of 13,000 feet. They managed to somehow move stones weig... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Longview, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
Walt Whitman, "Animals"
*"Animals"* "I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self contain’d; I stand and look at them long and long, They do not sweat and whine about their condition; They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins; They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God; Not one is dissatisfied — not one is demented with the mania of owning things; Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago; Not one is respectable or industrious over the whole earth." - Walt Whitman
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