Monday, March 21, 2016

21 March - My Feedly !

Today The most popular stories in your feedly today

Popular in blogger-following

Nicest strangers ever come to meet newborn after texting mishap
It takes a courage to respond to a wrong number not with rage, but with compassion. Brothers Deorick and Denis Williams received a group text over the weekend with a big, beautiful announcement. Lindsey and Mark Knox has given birth to a healthy baby boy, Carson Knox. It was a routine text, but a slight twist — the brothers had no idea who these people were.  SEE ALSO: This 'hungover' baby is nev
Tiger peeking out of the water emerges as another great Photoshop battle
Some photoshop battles are good, and some are grrrrreat! Reddit user VertonerAura uploaded a picture of a tiger poking its head out of water covered in green leaves for other users to go wild with in Photoshop. SEE ALSO: Warrior frog and its beetle steed go into Photoshop battle Image: reddit,  VertonerAuraThanks to some clever digital artists, the curious cat is now everything from the Cave of
How quickly can a vampire drink your blood ?
Physics students have calculated just how long it would take for a vampire to drain your body of blood. It might be near to the top of the list of unl...
The Veneer of Justice in a Kingdom of Crime
Via: BestEvidence: The criminal global banking cartel has effected a coup d’etat in the U.S. This is why the same criminal financial elite that saw 1000 of its members go to prison 20 years ago (after the S&L crisis) is now above the law. To date, the question of why the U.S. Department of Justice […]
 

Popular in news

The End of Research in Wisconsin
This past June, American academia went into an uproar over Gov. Scott Walker’s new budget in Wisconsin, which not only cut $250 million from higher education, but also severely weakened shared faculty governance and effectively destroyed professor tenure at state universities. Specifically, any professor in the system—tenured or not—could be dismissed or laid off by the 18-member Board of Regents
Boaty McBoatface: What You Get When You Let the Internet Decide
A proposal by a British agency to let the Internet name a research ship is the latest in a trend of web users having some fun with public polls.
Forty millionaires ask New York to raise taxes on wealthy in '1% plan for fairness'
Open letter from ‘New Yorkers who have contributed to and benefited from the economic vibrancy of our state’ says they ‘have the responsibility to pay’More than 40 millionaires on Monday asked New York state to raise taxes on the wealthy, under what they called a “1% plan for tax fairness”. Related: We are New York's millionaires and we say: raise our taxes Continue reading...
Hillary Clinton’s AIPAC Speech Was a Symphony of Craven, Delusional Pandering
Any presidential candidate speaking to AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, during an election year is going to bow to the hawkish elements of the Israel lobby. Hillary Clinton’s keynote speech at AIPAC’s annual meeting Monday, however, was more debased than it needed to be, promising that under her administration, Israel will be spared even the mild rebukes it has suffered under P
 

Popular in science

Two defining features of quantum mechanics never appear together
(Phys.org)—Two of the most important ideas that distinguish the quantum world from the classical one are nonlocality and contextuality. Previously, physicists have theoretically shown that both of these phenomena cannot simultaneously exist in a quantum system, as they are both just different manifestations of a more fundamental concept, the assumption of realism. Now in a new paper, physicists ha
Autism genes are in all of us, new research reveals
New light has been shed on the genetic relationship between autistic spectrum disorders and ASD-related traits in the wider population. Autism spectrum disorders are a class of neurodevelopmental conditions affecting about 1 in 100 children. They are characteriszd by social interaction difficulties, communication and language impairments, as well as stereotyped and repetitive behavior.
Physicists prove energy input predicts molecular behavior
The world within a cell is a chaotic space, where the quantity and movement of molecules and proteins are in constant flux. Trying to predict how widely a protein or process may fluctuate is essential to knowing how well a cell is performing. But such predictions are hard to pin down in a cell's open system, where everything can look hopelessly random.
Beating Human Hearts Grown In Laboratory Using Stem Cells
Health and Medicine Photo credit: A partly regrown human heart within a bioreactor, which replicates the biological conditions around a normal human heart. Bernhard Jank, MD, Ott Lab, Center for Regenerative Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Right now, there are 4,186 people waiting for a heart transplant in the U.S., but with a huge donor shortage not all of these patients are likel
 

Popular in youtube

iPhone SE hands-on — meet Apple's tiny phone
The new 4-inch iPhone is essentially going to be a mixture of the iPhone 6 and 6S but in a body resembling an iPhone 5. For more on Apple, check out our camera shootout comparison between the iPhone 6S Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: https://goo.gl/6vL5sh Here’s our review of the iPad Pro: https://goo.gl/gyTF4W Survival tips to maximize the storage on a 16GB iPhone: https://goo.gl/6F76pd Subs
So You Want to Move to Canada, Eh?
Many Americans have been googling "how to move to Canada," and Canadians have plenty to say aboot it.From: TheEllenShow
Shipwreck From Explorer Vasco de Gama's Fleet Discovered
After 18 years of research, excavations and archaeological analysis, National Geographic grantee David Mearns has successfully discovered one of Vasco da Gama's ships lost at sea in 1503 off the coast of present-day Oman. Together with the Oman Ministry of Heritage and Culture and over 50 crew members they found thousands of artifacts including gold coins, cannonballs, ceramics, and a ship's bell
Apple's iPhone SE event in 10 minutes
Apple debuted a smaller iPhone, a new iPad Pro and brand new watch bands for the Apple Watch. Here's everything you missed. For more on Apple, check out our camera shootout comparison between the iPhone 6S Plus and the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge: https://goo.gl/6vL5sh Here’s our review of the iPad Pro: https://goo.gl/gyTF4W Survival tips to maximize the storage on a 16GB iPhone: https://goo.gl/6F76pd
 

The Corbett Report   

Interview 1150 – New World Next Week with James Evan Pilato
[audio mp3="http://www.corbettreport.com/mp3/2016-03-17%20James%20Evan%20Pilato.mp3"][/audio]This week on the New World Next Week: the Syrian war begins to wind down...maybe; OKC and Unabomber cover up judge gets Supreme Court nod; and hellfire missiles wind up headed for Portland.
 

The EnvironmentaList 

New Film Showcases Logical Energy Alternatives to Destructive Mega Dams in Borneo
Sarawak village rejects Baram dam proposal, begins installing renewable energy projects
Storm in Mexico May Have Significantly Harmed Overwintering Monarchs, Says Expert
Researchers hope to get a better picture of the damage in the coming week
The Cradle of Conservation
Envisioning a new type of conservation in North Dakota’s broken badlands
Berta Cáceres, Honduran Indigenous Rights Leader, Murdered at Home
Cáceres was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2015 for her courageous opposition to mining and other mega-development projects


@ the chalk face   

The case for smugness in education
On a near daily basis, educators are asked repeatedly to let down their guards and be “open” to feedback. Although, when someone asks you as a teacher to be open to feedback, I’d start to build that defensive wall quickly because trouble is coming. Teachers in schools within impoverished communities are inundated with feedback from […]
To those going to #AERA16: Make us care
Because we don’t. And by we I mean teachers. As a former college professor who has attended meetings of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), I know what magic stands behind that curtain. The vast, vast majority of teachers have no idea about AERA or, if they do, don’t care about it. The goal of […]
Extending school days and year will continue flux in DCPS
The Chancellor of DC Public Schools is hell bent on transitioning the entire District, mainly vis a vis most beleaguered schools, to an extended day and school year. The Mayor and Chancellor recently announced a list of roughly ten schools who will be implementing an extended school year of 20 days. These schools are all […]
 

A Closer Look: Jody Paterson   

When all the smoke clears and you see
     I’m just back in Nicaragua after a couple of weeks back in Canada hanging out with my family, and I’m going through one of those re-entry things where I’m suddenly reawakened to the many sad stories in Managua.       Mostly, people cope down here, and with a smile on their face. But when you re-enter after two weeks of happy family time with all your healthy, well-fed and extremely well-tende
 

A Different Perspective 

(Blogger's Note: The following report is posted with permission and courtesy of Rob McConnell and 'X' Zone Radio/TV. Per...
(Blogger's Note: The following report is posted with permission and courtesy of Rob McConnell and 'X' Zone Radio/TV. Permission to repost must be requested from Rob McConnell.)Multiple UFO Sighting in Hamilton, Ontario in February 2016 A HOAX WATCH OUR VIDEO or CLICK THIS LINK - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swBegU6vMzs The following is an investigation by The 'X' Zone Radio/TV Show & REL-MA
Oak Island Revisited
Since it has come up in some of the comments, and because there is a real interest in the Oak Island treasure hunt, I thought it might be time to revisit all of this. I first became interested in Oak Island in the mid-1960s (which I hesitate to mention since that dates me) when I bought John Godwin’s This Baffling World. It was a compilation of stories of the strange and the weird including the Be
Walter Haut - Lost in the Roswell Minutae
Over the years Walter Haut made many recorded statements about what he had done and seen in Roswell in July, 1947. For decades, all he had done, according to those statements, including many to me, was write the press release. He had taken that release to the various media outlets in Roswell… or he had called them and read the release to them over the telephone. He signed an affidavit to that effe
Project Camelot and My Life on Mars
The other day I did Rob McConnell’s X-Zone radio show. As usual, we had a lot of fun and he mentioned to me that Kerry Cassidy had been on his show a few days earlier. It was her premise that “Soldiers who are alleged to be going to Iraq or Afghanistan are actually being sent off planet to places like Mars to fight battles alongside other alien races. Those men and women will have their minds wipe
 

A.E.Brain   

In Summary
Too many times I've seen assertions in Op-Eds and comments that "there is no evidence for a biological origin for transsexuality". Sometimes it's "no evidence whatsover",  sometimes "no convincing evidence", "no peer-reviewed evidence". The impression is given that there's only one or two papers written by pay-for-comment idealogues in vanity press publicati
Correcting a falsehood
The state’s Human Rights Commission wants to be clear: A new rule allowing transgender people to use restrooms that match their gender identity does not permit men to undress in women’s locker rooms. The agency sent out a news release Friday responding to a recent incident in which a man undressed in a women’s locker room in Seattle. According to the news release, the man refused to leave, citing
Sometimes you win...
With such a document, I can apply for a correction of my UK birth certificate under the UK Gender Recognition Act (Overseas Track).I've been waitimg (and agitating and lobbying, and informing, and educating, and persuading) for ten years. I can wait another 6 months.
Ethical Guidelines Related to Mental Health Care
For the record...Mental health professionals need to be certified or licensed to practice in a given country according to that country’s professional regulations (Fraser, 2009b; Pope & Vasquez, 2011). Professionals must adhere to the ethical codes of their professional licensing or certifying organizations in all of their work with trans- sexual, transgender, and gender-nonconforming clients.T
 

Activist Teacher   

Civil liberties activism is a battle against pernicious totalitarianism
Rigorous freedom of expression advocacy, applied irrespective of societal taboos and dominant attitudes, is always political because it always has an effect towards leveling the playing field between powerful state-backed corporate and institutional forces and the individual.  Discourse, including the extremes, is the main democratic mechanism against spontaneous advances of totalitarianism.
A response by McGill Professors to Principal Suzanne Fortier’s condemnation of BDS
A response by McGill Professors to Principal Suzanne Fortier’s condemnation of BDS As McGill professors committed to justice and equity, we strongly disagree with Principal Suzanne Fortier’s official response on behalf of the university administration to the recent Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) motion in support of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel and
It's the Geopolitics, stupid!
By Denis G. Rancourt, PhD Geopolitics determines domestic policy. Geopolitics determines domestic policy. Geopolitics determines domestic policy. This is apparent in the client country "Canada", where no sovereignty is allowed, and where domestic policy is entirely about preventing any emergence of actual democracy. It is glaringly obvious, to anyone who escapes the constant institutiona
Canadian Members of Parliament Vote in Express Contempt for Democracy, in Support of Israel's Apartheid Regime
On February 22, 2016, 68% of the federal members of parliament in Canada's House of Commons voted FOR this motion: That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel, and call upon the
 

Allen L Roland's Weblog   

Approaching The Ultimate Event Horizon / Death
Black Hole in space and Point of singularity Black holes in space are in stark reality worm holes to another stage of consciousness deepest within ourselves as experienced in the near and after death experience. They are not meant to be feared but instead to be celebrated as the ultimate event horizon leading from the chaos of ego consciousness to the singularity of a Unified Field of love and sou
Clinton Fades,Trump Implodes And Bernie Shines
THE FABRICATOR * THE ARROGANT BULLY * THE REAL THING We're halfway through the Presidential Primaries and already a trend is becoming apparent; Hillary's credibility baggage is far too heavy and her light is fading; Trump's arrogance and bullying tactics are now a mirror of many of his followers as his campaign implodes while Bernie's tenacious empowering message wins the day in Michigan ~ and wi
China Meltdown Triggering Worldwide Recession
"China syndrome" is a fanciful term that describes a fictional worst-case result of a nuclear meltdown, where reactor components melt through their containment structures and into the underlying earth, all the way to China. In today's global economic climate it means that China's over built managed economic boom fueled by margin buying and excessive debt has exposed its global illusion o
Tap Into The Field And Heal Yourself In The Process
The basic underlying and uniting force of the universe is a psychic energy field of love and soul consciousness ( the Unified Field ) which lies not only beyond time and space but also beneath our deepest fears ~ and whose principle property is the universal urge to unite. Tap into this timeless and joyous energy field by surrendering to love and heal yourself in the process as countless others, b
 

Angola 3 News   

Albert Woodfox and Robert H King interviewed by CNN's Christine Amanpour
Watch the video interview here, or embedded above.
Poem by Tina Otito Tamsho-Thomas: Tribute to Albert Woodfox
Tribute to Albert WoodfoxAngola 3 Political PrisonerEach and all are waitingHeart, Spirit,Mind.Waiting for the justice day,Liberating Humankind.Years forty three imprisoned,conscious voice unarrested.Waiting for the justice day,Liberty attested.We will bring our warrior home, gifted to the world,Honouring his justice day,freedom flags unfurled.Copyright©Tina Otito Tamsho-Thomas
A3 Newsletter: Albert Is Free - Support Albert's Fund
A3 Newsletter, February 25, 2016: Oh Happy Day - Albert Woodfox is Free At Last (PHOTO: Left to Right, Robert King, Albert Woodfox, and Malik Rahim. This photo and two further below of Albert spending quality time with friends and family are courtesy of Palomita Firecracker's Facebook page.)Giving ThanksWe dedicate this newsletter to the spirit of Anita Roddick for her dedication to the Angola 3 s
Democracy Now! interviews Albert Woodfox
Well, joining us now in a broadcast exclusive from New Orleans PBS station WLAE is Albert Woodfox himself, giving his first televised interview since his release on Friday. Also joining us there is Robert King, the other surviving member of the Angola 3. And Albert Woodfox’s attorney, Billy Sothern, also joins us from New Orleans.We welcome you all to Democracy Now! Albert Woodfox, how does it fe
 

ArmsControlWonk 

Applying Jus in Bello to the Nuclear Deterrent
Dear readers: Here is another in a series of posts on the laws of war and the use of nuclear weapons. This contribution is from Dr. Justin Anderson, a Research Fellow at National Defense University’s Center for the Study of WMD. Justin previously worked at SAIC in support of the Air Force, STRATCOM, OSD General Counsel/International …
Kim Jong Un’s Bomb
North Korea’s Kim Jong Un visited a missile factory and posed with a nuclear weapon promoting the obvious question: Which one is Fat Man and which one is Little Boy? Aaron and Jeffrey discuss. Subscribe to the show in iTunes Download this episode (27MB mp3)
In Defense of the Open Skies Treaty
With the Republican Party in tear-down mode, it’s no surprise that demolition efforts on Capitol Hill have extended to the Open Skies Treaty, which has impeccable Republican lineage. Nor is it a surprise that the demolition crew has gotten an assist from Vladimir Putin, whose record of treaty compliance is not stellar. What’s surprising is …
New Warhead Designs
With the benefit of hindsight and magical thinking, the Nuclear Enterprise and the Arms Control Enterprise should have struck a deal during the George W. Bush Administration: ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in return for production of the Reliable Replacement Warhead. This revisionist history assumes, of course, that backers of the RRW would …
The Coming Backlash
Iran Launch Forthcoming
 

Because I Can   

If Hillary is the nominee and she loses, it is her fault.
I spend a lot of time lurking around the interwebGoing through Twitter feedsGoing through news articles on the MSM and alternative sitesGoing through public Facebook pagesAndListening to left-wing radioOne of the spurious themes I am seeing repeated over and over again is that non-Republican people must for Hillary if she wins the nomination.To that I respondBullshit!This is the United States of
More stories | Mark as read

BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com   

Reagan in 1988: Senate's "Obligation" to Fill Supreme Court Vacancy in Election Year
..By MARC McDONALDMaybe this wasn't news to many progressives, but until I saw MoveOn.org's recent email about this, it was news to me. In 1988, Ronald Reagan (as shown in the video above) stated clearly that it is the Senate's "obligation" to work to fill a Supreme Court vacancy in an election year.Kudos to MoveOn.org for drawing attention to this story. But I will point out that it's p
 

Big Dan's Big Blog 

Did The GOP Establishment Just Enlist K-K-Karl Rove To Take Down Trump Starting With Planting The David Duke KKK Stories?
BUSH's BRAINI recently got in touch again with a political activist friend of mine, plunger, after about 10 or so years. I mentioned to him the David Duke endorsing Donald Trump stories in the "news" right before a primary sticking out like a sore thumb as far as some powerful people trying to take down Trump, and plunger said that tactic has Karl Rove written all over it. I would never
 

Buckdog   

Liberals Reneging on Pot Reform Promises !!! Trudeau Instructs Police Forces To CONTINUE Arresting Canadians For SImple Possession. LYING LIBERALS !!
LYING LIBERALS RENEG ON POT REFORM - 'Keep busting them' says Trudeau!!!Justin Trudeau has advised the nations police to continue to harass and arrest Canadians for simple possession of marijuana. What a lying bunch of opportunists you guys elected as the federal government:Straight.com
 

Cherchez la Verite 

Do you know that Janet Yellen has been guiding the Fed based on these faked data? It's like the enginer of a train being told the track ahead is clear when actually another train coming the other way. Moreover, many people who make their money on the stock market believe that the latest drops in the major markets are just minor glichs, whereas in truth the market is doomed to crash for the reasons Paul Craig Roberts explains below. So if you have positions in the stock markets, you should take your money out now and/or buy into quality gold and silver shares.
Another Phony Jobs Report March 6, 2016 | Original Here | Use original if you wish to receive his newsletter via email Another Phony Jobs Report  And if true it is damningThe monthly payroll jobs reports have become a bad joke.No growth in real retail sales, but 55,000 retail trade new jobs in February.No growth in real consumer income, but 40,000 more waitresses and bartenders.86,000 new jobs in
 

Creekside   

Sunni Ways
G&M : Saudis defend human rights record over $15-billion arms deal with Canada  “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that call[s] for universality of human rights does not mean imposition of principles and values that go against our Islamic values and religion.”Here in Canada, we don't believe calls for universality of human rights means imposition of principles and values that go against our
The Doc the Koch Brothers Don't Want You to See
One year ago, Global News pulled "The Koch Connection" by acclaimed Canadian TV producer and investigative journalist Bruce Livesey just days before it went to air. Promo material about the Koch brothers' influence in Canada, including an interview with an Alberta cattle rancher, was also scrubbed off their site. Livesey told his story on Canadaland and was subsequently fired - along wit
Shopping for human rights
Passed yesterday in the House : "That, given Canada and Israel share a long history of friendship as well as economic and diplomatic relations, the House reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which promotes the demonization and delegitimization of the State of Israel, and call upon the government to condemn any and all attempts by Canadian organizations, groups or indiv
Cons struggle to find their opposition feet
"They're stealing all our best shit," wailed CPC MP Remplestiltskin from her parliamentary selfie twitter account, rattling off all the HarperGov ideas embraced by the Liberals since they formed a majority government in October :Saudi arms deal - checkTPP signed - checkReturn of the F35 bid - checkKeystone XL pipeline - checkEnergy east pipeline - checkVoted for C-51 - checkCanadian Whea
 

DAMMIT JANET! 

Health Minister Philpott Blows a Dog Whistle
Health Minister Jane Philpott blew an anti-choice dog whistle on Tuesday. Did you catch it? While pro-choice activists marched through Charlottetown's streets to protest the lack of abortion services on P.E.I., the issue received some attention in the House of Commons Tuesday.It came in the form of a question from the NDP MP from Nanaimo-Ladysmith, Sheila Malcolmson, who said the service must be a
Mocking the Predators: Guelph Report
40 Days of Preyers seems to be rather a fizzle in Canada this year. First, they're down to only 8 cities -- and a part-time vigil in Saskatoon -- from 15 in the fall last year.There's not much bragging on social media of huge turn-outs or of women successfully coerced convinced to turn around.And if a Québécois MNA is successful with her private member's bill, all such predatory demonstrations wou
Nope. This "Preborn" Victims Law Won't Pass Either
I'm loath to get into this one again, as it drives people cuckoo-bananas, but this is my beat and this story is part of it. Just about a year ago, we reported on the fallout from a brutal murder of a pregnant woman that also resulted in the death of her fetus. That fallout was a petition titled "Molly Matters: Reconsider and Pass Bill C-484."Ken Epp's private member's bill C-484, or &quo
Abortion in Canada: Good and Not Nearly Good Enough News
To its credit, Global News has been running several stories lately about abortion -- especially abortion access -- in Canada. Yesterday, it had two.First, a new poll on unrestricted abortion.Canadian attitudes toward abortion appear to be shifting, according to a new Ipsos poll, as six in ten say abortion should be permitted whenever a woman decides she wants.The Ipsos poll, given exclusively to G
 

Did You Know   

CBC podcast investigates Adrien McNaughton cold case
  The story is about this child, who vanished in 1972 Adrien McNaughton In the summer of 1972, five-year-old Adrien McNaughton disappeared one night without a trace, over four decades ago. Today he would be 49 years old. The tragedy still haunts his family and the town of Arnprior, Ontario. David Ridgen grew up in the same area as little Adrien McNaughton and was a young boy at the time of the di
 

Dr Cintli   

Not Counting Mexicans and Indians
THE VIDEOhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G2ZAwKOCKA&feature=youtu.be
 

Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology 

Argentina: A Community of Earthbound "Pleiadans"?
Source: El Popular.pe (Perú)Date: November 16, 2015Argentina: A Community of Earthbound "Pleiadans"?Less than 70 miles from the provincial seat of Salta, between the communities of Cachi and La Poma, along Route 40, can be found a "Pleiadan base" whose occupants claim to be the embodiment of extraterrestrial beings from some distant corner of the universe.Amid messages and entr
Argentina: UFO Photographed in Catamarca
Source: El Ancasti (www.elancasti.com.ar)Date: 03.06.2016Argentina: UFO Photographed in CatamarcaThe photo was taken at Paraje Chaschuil, Tinogasta, in the Catamarcan "Puna" (montane grassland region) by a group of youngsters traveling across Paso de San Francisco.The photo was taken by one of the youths, whose hobby it is to photograph the most desolate regions of the La Puna region, ac
Argentina: "The South is Being Visited by UFOs"
Argentina: "The South is Being Visited by UFOs"By Andrea Pérez Simondini, Visión OVNI & CEFORAWe have a story to tell you. The newspapers have startled us today with a multiple sighting in the Punta Loyola, Santa Cruz (Argentina) area. It seems that the south has been surprising us with a series of observations which, we could say, require profound investigation.First, there was the
Argentina: Airliner Has a Run-In with UFO Over Rio Grande
Source: Luis Burgos (FAO), Jorge Fernandez Gentile (Quinto Milenio) and www.infouegina.comDate: March 3, 2016Argentina: Airliner Has a Run-In with UFO Over Rio GrandeA pilot from a well-known airline saw a strange "object" as he was about to land in Rio Grande, this object was in an area "forbidden" or restricted to air traffic at such a time, and the pilot asked the tower if t
 

Land Destroyer   

US Invites Thai Fugitive Mass Murderer to NYC
March 15, 2016 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - US special interests have been pursuing a decades-long regional agenda in Southeast Asia in an attempt to create a united supranational front with which to confront Beijing.Exposed first in the "Pentagon Papers" in the 1970's, it was revealed that three fronts existed along which the US sought to "contain" China; the Japan-Korea front; t
Russia "Withdrawing" From Syria?
March 15, 2016 (Tony Cartalucci - LD) Russia spent only 1/50th of its annual defense budget during its ops in Syria - that is based on the most upward estimates of what would be the annual costs and Russia has only been in Syria for 5 months. Its defense export agency, Rosoboronexport, brought in 15 times the amount of money estimated to have been spent on Syria in 2015, and expects to bring in a
Russia's "Mission Accomplished" Moment in Syria
But unlike America's in Iraq, Russia actually has accomplished its mission.March 17, 2016 (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - In what appears to be another carefully planned masterstroke vis-a-vis the US, NATO, and its Persian Gulf allies upon and around the Syrian battlefield, Russia has announced that it is withdrawing its forces after its 5 month long intervention on behalf of the Syrian government in Da
Welcome to the Empire of Chaos
March 12, 2016 (Ulson Gunnar - NEO) When globe-trotting journalist and keen geopolitical analyst Pepe Escobar refers to the United States as the "Empire of Chaos," it may seem like hyperbole. But upon looking deeper at both Escobar's coverage and the United States' foreign policy itself, it is perhaps the most accurate title for this political entity and its means of operation, perhaps m
 

Lexicon Daily

City of Davis Fire Department fleet costs and Chief's statement
Upon a public records request I was given the following information regarding the cost of fuel, repair and maintenance of the Davis Fire Department's five fire engines and how many miles each was driven in 2015:Vehicle Miles Gallons of fuel Cost of Fuel Repair/Maintenance Total fuel + repair 330-E31 10,0232,221$6,721.12$29,841.23$36,562.35330R-E231 2,908470.28$1,333.61$39,052.26$40,385.87320-E32 7
"What Everyone Should Know About Bicycles for Fun and Safety"
Below are the front and back cover and a few interior pages from a booklet I found among her books called, "About Bicycles." My mom likely brought this home from an S&L in Davis then called Central California Federal Savings and Loan Association. I think this is the same institution that became Heart Federal and today is a branch of US Bank.The copyright on this booklet is 1965, thou
 

News From Atlantis.   

Back to Basics. A Departure from Ethic/Spiritual Chauvinism
Since starting this blog, I have endeavoured to search for knowledge.  I have always had a healthy respect for people who are on a journey to increase their understanding of what we call reality. I have never had anything but pity for those who cling to a delusional belief that they have all the answers. Sadly, in my travels through the unknown, I lost my way and fell into the trap of proselytisin
 

Obsidian Wings 

Better Late Than Never Weekend Open Thread
by wj I have to do something to fend off my irritation (akin to the Count's irritation with the Republicans) at seeing nothing but basketball all over my TV. So I'm looking at baseball . . . even though the season hasn't started yet. As ever, 538 is the place to start: http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/bored-with-balance-in-baseball-2016-could-be-your-year/ Perhaps I'm just prejudiced, becau
why i'm in favor of single payer, and other topics...
by russell As most folks probably know, I write code for a living.  I build software.  It's a funny industry, by which I don't mean funny-ha-ha, and is prone to strange enthusiasms.  It can be a little volatile. I currently work for a company that's been around for a while - probably about 12 years, depending on when you start the clock.  The owner started by reselling a software-based service, us
Your Weekend Thread of Openness
by Ugh So the GOP Presidential candidates spent last night pretending they're not all scary monsters. YMMV. The Trump or Cruz question is quite something.   Meanwhile, the SCOTUS rumpus continues, with the Republican led Senate Judiciary Committee looking more and more ridiculous.  That the press treats this as anything other than a naked partisan power play is Bad For Democracy.  But whatevs. On
Mix and Match . . . Or Not
by wj A little while ago, Leonard Pitts had a column entitled If Hollywood Does Not See You — And Reflect You — Are You Really There? It was his take on the much-commented lack of minority, specifically black, actors nominated for the Oscars this year. Now certainly there is reason to wonder why Hollywood seems to have such a limited number (relative to population) of black actors. Especially at
 

Paying attention

All in, I'd rather have cheap, bad buses
I've begun to treat my bus ride to work as a sign of how the day is going to go.If I have an OK seat, not too crunched and arrive not limping, I bounce away from the bus whistling. Nod cheerily to the man with the wire cages full of puppies and the two guys who spend their days turning pallets into furniture by the side of the road.It's an easy commute. I walk about 10 minutes to the Carreterra Ma
 

Pesticide Action Network   

Whole Foods joins the Equitable Food Initiative
Can the marketplace help reform the food system and bring justice to farmworkers? Yes it can. And it just did! Yesterday, Whole Foods joined Costco, farmworkers, growers and consumer advocates to bring real, concrete improvements to the lives of hundreds of thousands of farmworkers across the Americas. By joining the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) buyers of fresh produce promise to help com
Scientific integrity? Yes, please.
Late last year, a respected scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) filed a whistleblower compaint, claiming scientific suppression of his research on pesticides and pollinators. Today, PAN and our supporters helped deliver comments to USDA from more than 140,000 concerned individuals, calling on the agency to respect and support scientific integrity. As a recent article from
People power in the San Joaquin Valley
There’s a lot of power in the San Joaquin Valley. It's a hub for industrial agriculture interests, no doubt, as they've grown in size and scale. But there’s also power in the communities that are organizing to reclaim and protect shared water, soil and farmland. That was the focus this week, as a group of academics, farmers, students, food and environmental justice advocates, and community o
EU puts the brakes on Monsanto's RoundUp
In a surprise move earlier this week, European officials put a hold on continued use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Monsanto's flagship herbicide RoundUp. Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now well into its seventh year of reviewing the controversial chemical. The European delay comes in the face of strong opposition to the proposed 15-year re-licensing agreeme
 

Philosophical Comment   

Personalised, Individualised or Precision Medicine: Three Unaddressed Socio-economic Hurdles
After the BRAIN initiative of 2013, in 2015 US president Obama announced another large scale government funding scheme for biomedical science, on so-called Precision Medicine. Just recently this initiative announced its first pilot study. Leaving the unfortunate terminological analogue of "precision bombing" (eventually known precisely for its lack of precision) to a side, precision medi
 

Real History Blog   

What it's like to phonebank for Bernie Sanders
I spent the afternoon phonebanking for Bernie. I have to tell you, the tools the Bernie Sanders campaign are using are much more sophisticated than what the Obama campaign had. Then, we were still working off of paper lists which volunteers had to type into computers. Bernie's team has built an incredible app you can do from a phone alone or from a phone and computer. This was the most
 

Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home   

Florida Adds "Financial Information" To List of Trade Secrets That Can Get You Tossed In Jail
Florida continues to be one of the worst states in the nation for employees. Zippo has passed so far in favor of employees this legislative session, but legislators thought, "Gee, Florida just isn't rotten enough for employees. Let's make it worse."So they added the very broad category of "financial information" to the list of trade secrets that, if taken, can land employees in
 

Syria Comment   

Call for Submissions: Syrian Studies Association Prizes for Outstanding Dissertation and Article on Syria
Call for Submissions: Syrian Studies Association Prizes for Outstanding Dissertation and Article on Syria In order to promote and highlight excellence in research, the Syrian Studies Association each year awards prizes for the best writing on Bilad al-Sham until 1918 and on Syria in the period following. In 2016, the SSA seeks submissions for the most outstanding dissertation completed between Jul
Harakat al-Hawiya al-Arabiya al-Druziya: Defending Druze Identity in Suwayda’
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi Emblem of Harakat al-Hawiya al-Arabiya al-Druziya, using the familiar colours associated with the Druze sect. Although the Druze originate from a sect within Shi’i Islam, the religious movement evolved over time such that the Druze identity is deemed separate from that of the Shi’a. The same has been true of the Alawites, though as is well known, a number of efforts have
The Dir’ al-Watan Brand: Liwa Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi A logo of Liwa Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi The previous post profiled the emergence of Liwa Dir’ al-Watan (Homeland Shield Brigade) as a Damascus-based militia during the autumn of 2015, complete with its own media office and social media profile. As was also made clear, Liwa Dir’ al-Watan, despite its outward Syrian nationalist appearance, is actually led by the commander of
Liwa Dir’ al-Watan: A New Pro-Assad Militia in Damascus
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi Emblem of Liwa Dir’ al-Watan The brand of “Dir’ al-Watan” (“Homeland Shield”)- and more broadly the concept of a “shield” force- gained increasing currency among pro-Assad militias last year. In part, this branding reflected a regime strategy of consolidating and defending areas deemed more vital in the wake of the loss of more peripheral areas like Idlib and Palmyra, wh
 

tamplins entire   

Recalibrating the BBC’s scales
Improbable as it might sound, all news media are obliged to present themselves as unbiased. This is quite understandable. The alternative would be to openly declare that they distort the truth to suit their own agenda. As the ostensible purpose of news is to convey truth, this would be an own goal. Other, less frank, news outlets would round on the transgressor, shrieking in indignation – how coul
 

The Duck of Minerva   

Building social science knowledge on public attitudes and autonomous weapons
This is a guest post from Michael C. Horowitz (@mchorowitz), Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of Perry World House, University of Pennsylvania Last week, Charli Carpenter published an important piece advancing the conversation about public attitudes, public conscience, and autonomous weapons. Her post critiqued my recent article in Research & Politics on public o
Autonomous Weapons and Incentives for Oppression
Much of the present debate over autonomous weapons systems (AWS) focuses on their use in war. On one side, scholars argue that AWS will make war more inhumane (Asaro, 2012), that the decision to kill must be a human being’s choice (Sharkey, 2010), or that they will make war more likely because conflict will be less costly to wage with them (Sparrow, 2009). On the other side, scholars argue that AW
How (Not) to Measure the “Public Conscience”
A couple of years ago, Human Rights Watch launched a report arguing for a treaty ban on fully autonomous weapons, claiming military robots who target and kill human beings would violate international law. Among other arguments, the report Losing Humanity cited the Marten’s Clause of the Hague Convention, which encourages states to consider the “dictates of the public conscience” in determining whe
The Anthropocene and the End of Large Fauna? Will Political Scientists Show Up?
Geologists now say that humans have had such an impact on the earth that we have entered in to a new age, what has been termed the Anthropocene. On some level, this is a political statement, but on another level, it could be an observable layer in the physical surface of the earth that future generations will excavate to find plastics and garbage. This era, and soon, may also spell the end of larg
 

  

Why I Don't Believe In Milankovitch Theory I: The Earth's Obliquity
The wuwt site Wednesday had a post on "fractal patterns" purportedly seen, in "millions of years" of climate variations, by Peter Ditlevsen, Associate Professor of Climate Physics at the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen, and Zhi-Gang Shao from South China University, Guangzhou in Kina. Along the way, Prof. Ditlevsen wrote: "The astronomical factors that
The Bottom Line About "Climate Science" and "Global Warming"
The war of words over "climate change" and "global warming" continues to be a fragmented one, with a wide diversity of opinions and little focus overall. Most writers on the subject are set in their views now, as the consensus authorities--alarmist propagandists all--have been all along, in the interest of their own favored positions and of the political power these radical act
Ben Is Glory, Glory Is Ben
I read a comment on the jonova site that referred to "the gravitational warming theory". My response: There is no "gravitational warming", per se. There is instead gravitational distribution of atmospheric pressure (the pressure at any level is just the weight of the atmosphere above that level), which imposes a vertical temperature distribution (the "lapse rate" stru
In One Ear and Out the Other
The Real Science site has a post on "Understanding Climate Science in One Paragraph", a paragraph that informs the reader that the globe warmed from 1977 to 1991, and very little if any since. I find this interesting, because I informed the Real Science author and his readers of this (I specified the time period as 1976 to 1989/90) as early as September 2013, nearly two and a half years
 

The Galloping Beaver   

Blue Lives Matter?!?!@£$*%($)£)
What.the.fuck? Cops in the town of Port Hope, Ontario have launched a "Blue Lives Matter" campaign that critics argue is tone-deaf at best and an egregious form of appropriation at worst.
Cons can't help themselves
Yep, you just keep doing what you're doing, Conservatives.  Crass, insensitive, completely oblivious to context and lacking in basic decorum: they still haven't figured out this lost them the last election.  Perhaps they've forgotten how to do politics any other way?  Popcorn?
F-35, IT edition
The latest fun from the plane that just refuses to work is that the radar sometimes fails and needs to be rebooted. There are rumours that Lockheed Martin are proposing to install a direct line to their tech support in all production F-35s.
New Con boss on the Twitters
I think it's going to take the Cons a long time to climb out of the pit their last boss and his pals dug them into.  They've maybe got an intractable problem now in that their vision of the country is simply unpalatable to 60 to 70% of the electorate. This number is likely to shrink further as the older generation (60+ years) of hardline Tory voters passes on. Younger Canadians, X-ers,
 

The High-fat Hep C Diet   

The state of nutritional science, 2016
Someone sent me a link to this paper the other day, it's not something I would have looked at otherwise. However, next time you read a "totality of the evidence" snowjob supporting guidelines on saturated fat consumption, this paper will probably have been thrown on the pile, weighting it a little bit further. Finucane OM, Lyons CL, Murphy AM et al (19 authors). Monounsaturated fatty ac
Good News from Melbourne University's NZO Mouse LCHF "Paleo" Study
The egregious behaviour of Prof Sol Andrikopoulos in his press release to global media has obscured the finding that was the primary purpose of the "Three Mouseketeers" study.The study was supposed to answer a question that is actually of great importance in diabetes research: - the blood sugars of people with diabetes usually improve and can become completely normal on the LCHF diet - t
 

The White Hats Report   

March 7, 2016 – White Hats Report #52 – The Trump Factor – Bush crime family pulls out the Tramp in an attempt to discredit The Donald
The 2016 US Presidential election season has officially entered the Twilight Zone.Before we cue up the Rod Serling lead-in, a history lesson is in order. It’s always good to review the past in order to put the present into proper context.  In the US, from now until November, the Presidential election party primary circuses will take center stage.  The traveling road shows are in full swing with th
February 29, 2016 – White Hats Report #51 – The Trump Factor – More obfuscation, this time by the alternative media
As we gear up for resumption of operations, it has been brought to our attention that a website has cited Lord James’ historic speech of February 16, 2012 as source material for an article that is filled with inaccuracies.  Before we get to that, it should be pointed out that this is the second time his speech has been cited in a disinformation piece, the first being penned by Gordon Duff of Veter
 

thwap's schoolyard   

Two Books I'm Reading
A friend hepped me to The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson. It's about the building of the Chicago World's Fair in 1893; and Larson shows how it was a snap-shot of the times. For instance; the world's first Ferris Wheel was designed for it as US-American engineers' response to the Eiffel Tower that wowed the world at the Paris World's Fair of 1889. Also, while I've read fairly extensively ab
 

Toward a Bioregional State  

F*ck the Habermasian-Beckian Project of a Homogeneous World Culture: We Require a Bioregional Hellenization Instead of an Unrepresentative Globalist Elitism
Castells en Tarragona, EspañaPardon my French. Or Spanish. I was riled--riled like only one can be riled when you have much in common with a thinker though you differ on many small points. Only small points of disagreement between like minds seem to prickle sharper for their rarity. They go against what you thought was a common smooth grain shared between like minds. However, sometimes a tiny pain
 

Vagabond Scholar 

St. Patrick's Day 2016
Happy St. Patrick's Day! Glen Hansard likes to end his concerts with this, and have other musicians and guests (not all of them singers) sing a verse. It's a neat, rousing and inclusive way to end the evening. (Here's some background on the song. The lyrics can vary considerably, and it's not unusual for performers to write new verses.) I've featured some of my favorite Irish tunes in
 

Viva Bolivia   

Ramphastos toucans of Bolivia
Ramphastos Toucans are the largest of the toucan family, related to the Asian/African hornbills, along with woodpeckers, barbets, jacamars and kingfishers.These toucans are tropical and subtropical near passerine birds from Mexico, and Central and South America, which are brightly marked and have enormous, often colourful, bills.This genus has a size ranging from 42 to 61 centimetres (17 to 24 in)
New York Times on Bolivia; journalism or malicious gossip?
For years we have passed information to the New York Times and other papers. They have ignored it, even when a Bolivian consul offered his house to a NYT journalist and offered to set up an interview with Evo Morales. A press reception in the Bolivian consulate in New York, on 30 June, 2010, was ignored by the NYT, the NY Post and the NY Daily News. A short cab or subway ride away from their offic
 

What Is Sustainable   

Understanding Sustainability
 Dearest Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great honor to announce the release of my new book, Understanding Sustainability, a collection of seventy-four reviews of sustainability-related books.  It’s vital that humankind develops a competent understanding of ecological sustainability, and pursues it with all deliberate speed.  A sustainable way of life is one that can continue for millennia without
 

Wit's End   

Love Is Not Enough
Following is the transcript for the 25th Dispatch From the Endocene, which can be heard at ExtinctionRadio.org.  The artwork is by Arthur Rackham, whose depiction of trees rendered them veritable sentient characters in his illustrations of fairy tales.Thanks as always Gene, and welcome Listeners, to the 25th Dispatch From The Endocene.  The transcript and pertinent links will be found on my blog,
A Borrowed Poem
With his kind permission, please find below a poem written by Lee McCormack, a hermit living in the dank and moldy primal forests of Martha’s Vineyard. Writing poetry for 55 years, he is the first ever Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate in the island’s history, nominated from 162 members of the MV Poetry Society. He is also a member of the Cleaveland House Poets.Late For the Dance?Can you believe the
I think we're in real trouble
~ Mitch Brenner, from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, 1963Thank you Gene, and welcome listeners, to the 24th Dispatch From the Endocene.As winter is drawing to a close, I thought I would quote from Silent Spring, which Rachel Carson published in 1962.  She described the changes to a bucolic town…“...a strange blight crept over the area and everything began to change. Some evil spell had settled on t
 

A Very Public Sociologist   

On Iain Duncan Smith's Resignation
When you're the head of a department that has meted out cruel and inhumane treatment to disabled people, when you've sat in the Commons and nodded through cut after sanction regime after tightened eligibility criteria, at what point do you say enough and call time over your complicity in these proceedings? Does one draw a veil over the old ministerial career by claiming principle and love for the
Momentum Vs Workers Power
I recommend reading the comments before this post. It is premised on a mistake.After the the outing of Gerry Downing as a useful idiot for our party's enemies, the race is on to find more specimens of the outrageous, the unhinged, and the anti-semitic. None of it has to do with the disinterested pursuit of a story, of course, and everything to do with inculcating guilt-by-association in the minds
Is George Osborne Finished?
They seek him here, they seek him there. Those lobby hacks seek him everywhere. Is he in heaven or is he in hell? That demned elusive ... Chancellor of the Exchequer. Okay, so my reworked rhyme lifted from the Scarlet Pimpernel doesn't work. But neither do Osborne's sums, so all is balanced in the world. Well, what a torrid few days for the Tories - and not in a good way. To be sure, when Nicky Mo
Driver for the PlayStation
Sony's PlayStation made its mark as  the first "proper" adult video games system, and was marketed to the late teen/twenty something demographic. As such Sony was concerned to build up a roster of hundreds of edgey games that would go down well and sell more systems. Likewise, since the furore around the home versions of Mortal Kombat in 1993, software houses knew blood and sleaze shifte
Boris Johnson: Vanity and Opportunism 53 A Very Public Soc... / by Phil / 29d

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