Sunday, November 27, 2016

27 November - My Feedly! 2

Arrival was a lovely film... but what why the central role of TIME TRAVEL in the storyline? I mean, it worked as an editorial style... or did it? Did it really work? Was the Joe Walker recut any better than the original cut? That message from General Shang head of the Chinese military? I was okay with it at the time, or was I? The ending was very much like a recapping of things that have already
...this film never happened, what you're about to see isn't a trailer, it's the best section from a 2014 nine-minute Proof of Concept piece from director David Weinstein mostly showing off the animation/fx skills of co-partner Adam Coggins. The acting, meh. The direction, meh. The creature, m'yeah! It was called ENVOY and in my book that means a messenger or representative, especially one on a di
yeah, here's Demo Man updating (very competently and concisely) the visual-upgrade features in the long-arriving 2.6 alpha version of so-called MMO Star Citizen. Roll on 2017 when alpha version 3.0 is promised...
STAR CITIZEN , is it a singleplayer with an optional sandbox, or is it a sandbox with scripted missions? You'all have read my first and most recent Star Citizen post entitled DOORS where I went into gruesome detail about how to salvage some multiplayer usability from the product SC's sold itself as. But what really is it? This game? What is its user-end experience? SC's universe is being rendered
INDIVIDUAL : (n) a separate universe that sometimes brushes up against a neighbouring universe . Some would argue that we're all one, just a vapid reflection of a greater whole. Some say we can come together, as this one, and it'll all be better. Some say VOTE for this party, VOTE for that party, Elect a Leader... This is a Free Planet - at least that's the basis of my contention - and we technic
...inhaling. ...exhaling. ...very deeply. Brown paper bag. Trying not to feint. Trying to keep a grip. "When I first heard about this live-action version, I was like 'meh'... now, I'm like GIMMEH."

New in Greg Mankiw's Blog

From my friend and colleague George Borjas .
I did not support Mr. Trump, but now that he is our President-elect, I wish him well. To my many friends who are now freaking out, I encourage you to take a deep breath and calm down. Our political and economic system is more robust than you sometimes give it credit for being. Earlier this year, I wrote : People often ask me whether it is frustrating to work in Washington, noting how hard it is to
In a Times column back in July, I noted that the Brexit vote was strongly correlated with education. The recent presidential election shows the same pattern: "College graduates backed Clinton by a 9-point margin (52%-43%), while those without a college degree backed Trump 52%-44%." The graph below shows that it is unusual for the more educated and less educated to be in such substantial disagreeme
Click here to watch me interview Ed Conard about his new book, The Upside of Inequality: How Good Intentions Undermine the Middle Class for C-SPAN Book TV’s “After Words.”
You can hear my interview with Frank Conway over at the Economic Rockstar website .
Here's a round-up of the stars that now form a bright constellation around Jill and Ajamu - and what they have to say: 1.) Dr. Cornel West "I wholeheartedly support Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka. And I’m writing to you today to let you know, they have my endorsement - and I know they have your support as well." 2.) Chris Hedges "It is imperative that you join me in contributing to the Stein/Baraka
With the Electoral College U.S. Presidential win by Donald J. Trump, self-proclaimed racist, xenophobe, misogynist, scientific skeptic and assaulter of women, the majority of people in the United States woke up on 11/9/2016 in a state of shock, bewilderment and despair. Trump's proposed agenda [of stepped-up corporate welfare, dramatic tax cuts for the 1% (who are already not paying their fair sh

New in LILITH NEWS

Finansdepartementet jobber kontinuerlig med å gjøre nordmenns privatøkonomi bedre. De er til stadighet ute i media og foreslår nye lover og regler som skal regulere […] The post Lån uten sikkerhet og lovdata appeared first on Lilithnews.com .
Avida Finans er en svenskeid bank som har etablert virksomheten sin i Sverige, Finland og Norge. Bedriften har helt siden 1985 drevet ulike former for […] The post Avida Finans – fleksibelt forbrukslån appeared first on Lilithnews.com .
Økonomi er en svært viktig del av hverdagen til de fleste, og slettes ikke alle har like god kontroll på økonomien som de kanskje burde […] The post 10 økonomiske ord og uttrykk appeared first on Lilithnews.com .
By Manifesto Joe One thing I've learned in 60-plus years on this planet is that political ideology is not the measure of a person. As a veteran blogger, I've personally known right-wingers who are stand-up folks, and lefties who aren't worth their own shit. And trying to change someone's mind on politics is like trying to change their religion. It tends to be a cognitive thing that one learns from

New in Middle Class Political Economist

As I explained last week , Donald Trump was elected to the Presidency despite having fewer votes than Hillary Clinton. She has already set a record for the biggest popular vote victory despite losing the Electoral College; according to CNN , she now (11/17/16 5:00am EST) leads by about 1,045,000 votes, roughly twice the margin of Al Gore's victory over George W. Bush in 2000. This equates to 0.8%
Yesterday, a non-plurality of the voters chose a new President. Just like in 2000, the Electoral College is not going to the candidate with the most votes. As this new President has also shown himself to not share our democratic ideals, I find it difficult to have much respect for him. Indeed, I am considering not calling him by his name, ever. But perhaps I am just reacting out of the immediate s
For the second time in just 16 years, the new President is actually the loser of the national popular vote (click on "Popular Vote"). This is the fifth time this has happened in U.S. history; the last time it happened prior to 2000 was in 1888. As children, we were all taught to believe in democracy and majority (or as we later learned, sometimes just plurality) rule. But with the way that rural a
Egypt recently requested a $12,000,000,000 USD loan from the International Monetary Fund to be paid back in three years. On November 11, 2016, the request was approved, and the first payment to Egypt, totaling $2.75 USD, will be delivered on November 15, 2016. Furthermore, the Egyptian government has already implemented the conditions imposed by the bank. These conditions include floating the Egy

New in Morton's Musings

Lizotte v. Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, 2016 SCC 52: Litigation privilege is a common law rule that gives rise to an immunity from disclosure for documents and communications whose dominant purpose is preparation for litigation. This privilege has sometimes been confused with solicitor‑client privilege, both at common law and in Quebec law. However, since Blank v. Canada (Minister of Justic
It's then end of a criminal trial and you have been convicted. The judge gave a sentence and you don't think it's fair. Can you appeal and get a different sentence? Maybe. If you want a lower sentence you must convince the appeal court that the sentence is "unfit" or unreasonable. Judges have a wide discretion in sentencing; It is not good enough for you to believe that the judge made just any ki
Mennillo v. Intramodal inc, 2016 SCC 51: There are two elements of an oppression claim. The claimant must first identify the expectations that he or she claims have been violated and establish that the expectations were reasonably held. Then the claimant must show that those reasonable expectations were violated by conduct falling within the statutory terms, that is, conduct that was oppressive,
R. v. Clause, 2016 ONCA 859: [81] Collusion can arise both from a deliberate agreement to concoct evidence, as well as from communication among witnesses that can have the effect, whether consciously or unconsciously, of colouring and tailoring their descriptions of the impugned events: R. v. B. (C.) (2003), 167 O.A.C. 264, [2003] O.J. No. 11 (C.A.), at para. 40. As this court noted in R. v. F.(J
1100997 Ontario Limited v. North Elgin Centre Inc., 2016 ONCA 848: [19] A cause of action is "a factual situation the existence of which entitles one person to obtain from the court a remedy against another person": Letang v. Cooper , [1965] 1 Q.B. 232 (C.A.), at pp. 242-43, as adopted by this court in July v. Neal (1986), 57 O.R. (2d) 129 (C.A.), at para. 23. [20] In Morden & Perell, The Law of
One important component of sexual assault law is consent. Any sexual touching requires that both parties give their consent or voluntarily agree. It can only be given by the persons involved and not by a third party. The relevant time period for determining whether a person consented or not is at the time of sexual contact. Consent is determined by reference to that person's state of mind towards
Homes bought out in Bayou Corne sinkhole disaster provide place for tornado victims ~David Mitchell, The Advocate
The veins of America: Stunning map shows every river basin in the US ~ Daily Mail Created by Imgur user Fejetlenfej , a geographer and GIS analyst with a ‘lifelong passion for beautiful maps,’ it highlights the massive expanse of river basins across the country – in particular, those which feed the Mississippi River, in pink
Study says New Orleans will see one of the highest levels of sea level rise in the world ~Bob Marshall, The Lens
Consider The Alligator II: Big Changes Come To Louisiana’s Gator Ranching Industry ~Scrumptious Chef
Attorneys in BP settlement will divide $555.2 million, modest compared to similar cases, judge says~ The Advocate
By acting upon the old policy of divide and rule, US-led cabal of Israel and India are razing the Muslim unity to obtain their secret designs against the Islamic World. As part of the double game, secret agencies agencies-American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad are using various terrorist outfits such as the Islamic State … US-led Cabal to Raze the Muslim Unity is a post from News Center Pk .
Waging a prolonged war in Afghanistan, the US and other NATO countries have realized that after the withdrawal of foreign troops, Afghanistan would be thrown in an era of uncertainly and civil war. They realize the fact that there is a co-relationship of terrorism or stability in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Therefore, US-led developed nations which … Who are Sabotaging Pak-Afghan Relations? is a po

New in News From Atlantis.

In October 2011 I started the Knowledge Is Power Forum . In the 5 years since it began, it attracted 96 users, 57 of whom posted (39 just lurked), with 44 getting involved in debate (13 posted once only). The Forum gained 499 unique topics, with a total of 1757 posts. These figures are right, as of the time of writing. In addition to the figures above, the Forum attracted a poster who flooded it
Today in 1917, the Jewish politician, Balfour, issued his infamous Declaration, giving the land of Palestine to his fellow Jews. Balfour was not a Palestinian, he did not live in Palestine, but all the same, he felt that as a person of Jewish heritage, working for the contemptible Imperial government of Britain, he had the right to interfere in the lives of people living many miles from the UK. T

New in Not Quite Unhinged

The problem created by the election of Donald Trump to the Presidency of the United States of America, is not the fault of the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton, President Obama, the Democrats or Jon Stewart. It is the fault of the electorate. It is not the fault of neo-liberalism, political correctness or the news media. It is the fault of the electorate. Yes Hillary Clinton received a
How does one process the 2016 US Presidential Election? For those that saw Donald Trump for the narcissistic, misogynistic, racist, thin-skinned bully he is, the fact that he is the President of the United States is logic defying. Those that supported Donald Trump were somehow willfully blind to the fact that there is not one single redeeming personality trait or feature to that man. There is no

New in Our Manmade Disasters

STOP Hillary from stealing the presidency. Please sign up. Your little voice together with millions of little voices all over America and the world, will snowball into 1 giant tsunami VOICE, the ruling elites just simply cannot ignore. Christiantimesnewspaper.com - Breaking-ICE agents-arrest-illegal-immigrants-in-several-states-attempting-to-cast-votes/ With over 5 billion email accounts, 1% amou
What does Hillary's "stronger together", really mean? I, Hillary Rodham Clinton, wishes to thank U, the useful idiots who voted and worked their butts out, to get me elected to Office. stronger together means votes I get, thru means foul & bold, at the expense of the OTHER smearing, scheming, cheating & lying, I beat Trump like no other groaning, moaning, rather be dead, the loser'll wish, sooner
Federico Freddy Cardella Wilmington, NC, United States WATCH THIS FBI THING: SHE"S THE ARCH WITCH & SUPREME MANIPULATOR THUS FAR. But I don't think she will succeed this time. She's scheming again- plotting to undo the weighty letter & findings that FBI Director Jim Comey has just formerly sent to the people's CONGRESS... As usual and on cue, Hillary is trying to flip this thing around with FBI.
Have we met? You look familiar The New Yorker ran a fascinating story about “super-recognizers,” focusing on a small Scotland Yard team whose skills let them identify suspects among hundreds of faces in the murkiest surveillance videos. And it included a link to the Cambridge Face Memory Test , one of the tools used to assess officers’ ability to recognize faces. The test is about 20 minutes. At
I confess to despair watching the U.S. election results last night. I turned off the television before 9:30 p.m., knowing Donald Trump would win but thinking I'd sleep better if there was the faint hope of a different outcome. (I didn't.) My partner refused to watch any of the coverage, choosing to work and play accordion while instructing me not to share any information. I'm not usually deeply in
I wrote about information inequality for The Tyee this week, looking at what's happening as traditional news media fade to black and new business models emerge based on providing high-value information to people and organizations that can pay high prices. You can read it here . As part of the research I went through Postmedia's financial report on the last fiscal year, released last week. It was g

New in Pesticide Action Network

Like other public interest and social justice groups across the country, we're wrestling with exactly what the recent election means for our work going forward. This will take some time to sort, but one thing is already crystal clear: our efforts will be more challenging — and more critical — than ever before. We're ready . There are already deeply disturbing signals from the incoming administrat
Amidst the election turmoil of the last few weeks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) quietly approved more harmful pesticide products for use with genetically engineered (GE) seeds. EPA put Dow's "Enlist Duo" cocktail of glyphosate and 2,4-D back on the market, after pulling it off just a year ago due to widespread concern . The agency also gave a green light to Monsanto's new formul
In late September, California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) released a draft plan for protecting schoolchildren in agricultural communities from drift-prone, health-harming pesticides. The agency's proposed pesticide use rules don't do nearly enough — luckily, some farmers are already doing much more. In brief, these are the proposed new rules: Prohibit drift-prone pesticide applicat
Does glyphosate cause cancer? That's the question Monsanto is desperately trying to prevent the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from answering. With governments around the globe recently divided on how to regulate glyphosate, Monsanto’s spin machine is in overdrive trying to discredit anyone who suggests their biggest moneymaker is toxic to human health. Its latest target is EPA, which
This is a very different post-election blog than the one I planned to write. I was going to call the new president's attention to the political importance of food and farming, highlighting the fact that how we grow our food directly impacts the health of our families, the well-being of our communities and the future of our planet. All of that is still true, but the political winds have dramatical
In early October, thousands of concerned community members across the country joined PAN, Toxic Taters, Corporate Accountability International (CAI) and other allies to participate in the “Farm to Family: Pesticide Free” National Week of Action. The goal of the seven days of concentrated activity was to make an invisible problem visible, and stand with rural communities in potato-growing country
Our practical philosophy group at the Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science at the University of Gothenburg is hiring. We are presently seeking one or several senior lecturers in practical philosophy. This subjects includes all aspects of philosophy relating to human action and social practices, such as applied and general normative ethics, ditto political philosophy and phi
Just a little heads-up that a few days ago I submitted a new article for a coming special issue on the ethics of risk, and has made the "preprint" (my msubmitted manuscript before peer review and editing) available for free reading and download. The article critically assesses the notion of basing an ethics of risk on the core assumption of "defeasible" basic individual moral rights against being
When it comes to weigh the beauty of someone’s face, the very first feature that you must think of at the get go is definitely the nose, which is the centric and probably the pivotal part of human of face that influences the facial beauty to great extent. And when it comes to the beauty of the nasal structure, the pointed tip and sharp nose is of course everyone’s majestic imagination. But not ev
It’s the nose, which plays the cupid between Grecian sculpture and flawlessness of a human face. Hence, the beauty of the nose influences the overall beauty of a face to great extent undoubtedly. Round or oval, whatever facial structure you have, the sharp and pointed nose is the best implication, which is a wow addition to any ordinary face no doubt. But not everyone is blessed with such beautif
The famous saying that the beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder is true undoubtedly. But if you are not that much happy with your overall appearance, and especially there is some great flaw in your face, which stops you from knocking everyone

New in Real History Blog

I think we need a new constitution. There is so much that is simply antiquated and outdated. For one, when the "two Senators per state" rule was created, the states were smaller and closer together. I think California deserves four Senators. The electoral college was a good idea and is actually designed to prevent a madman from getting elected. But what if the guy isn't perceived by enough
While four more states legalized marijuana for recreational use and four passed medical marijuana laws, meaning a majority of states now have some form of legal marijuana, it looks like the Trump administration may step up enforcement on the federal level. What does this mean for workers who need marijuana for disabilities? Nothing good. So far, seven states have passed laws banning discrimination
Well, Donald Trump is our President-elect. He has made a cascade of promises throughout the campaign, and many of them will affect the workplace. First up will be the repeal of the Affordable Care Act. That seems to be Republican priority number one. With control of the House, the Senate, the Presidency and soon the Supreme Court, they will get to do whatever they want for at least two years. So t
People look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them that there are multiple cases saying a noose at work does not equal actionable race discrimination. Well, here's another one . This case was shocking even to me because coworkers testified that there had been multiple instances of nooses hung in this workplace. Plus, the employee claimed other instances of being treated differently than non-black e
So Facebook came out with a yuge announcement that it has a brand new social platform in beta testing called "Facebook At Work." I know, huh? I gasped when I saw this announcement and if you've been doing employment law as long as I have (since dinosaurs roamed), you probably gasped too. What the heck is Facebook thinking? Well, I know what they're thinking. They're thinking $$$$$. I'm thinking po
By Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi Emblem of Kata’ib Humat al-Diyar, featuring Syria as the main part of the emblem and the group’s name beneath it. The predominantly Druze province of Suwayda’ in southern Syria has a variety of militia factions, some of which lean more third-way and reformist from within (most notably the Rijal al-Karama movement) and others of a more Assad regime loyalist orientation. K
China’s Interests in Syria and the Middle East By Dr. Christina Lin Syria Comment – November 13, 2016 Interview with Dr. Christina Lin about China’s view of Syria, ISIS, Ughurs and Turkey What is China’s motivation for a greater involvement in Syria, considering that many Uighur fighters seem to be going to Syria, with the goal of making a new permanent home for themselves, and thus not returning
Anjem Choudhary, 49, founder of Sharia4UK convicted for supporting the Islamic State. @tamhussein Recently, Anjem Choudhary, 49, and Mizanur Rahman, 33, were imprisoned for their active support of the Islamic State. Choudhary’s imprisonment ends, for a small period at least, his decade plus history of agitation in the UK. Whilst the British press lapped up his colourful and extreme pronouncements

New in The Earth and Man: Setting the Stage

[This is an article I originally wrote for Newsblaze.com back in June 2009, and I have since referenced it many times on the internet, most recently in my September 6th post here, "Undirected Evolution: The False Religious Dogma Strangling Science" . I wrote it in an "entertaining" style, for Newsblaze's broad, lay audience.] I don't know where you stand, dear reader, on the subject of whether or
The wuwt site has a post on "Science is in deep trouble...", concerning the sorry consensus-defending state of peer-review and the wider world's mistaken reliance on it as the arbiter of scientific truth. One comment questioned the post, by falsely questioning the author's (Donna Laframboise, I think) qualifications, not her points; I consider that avoidance behavior, and my response is: The syst

New in The Ergosphere

I need some video of an above-ground nuclear test, shot from the ground, with no watermarks and the original sound with no music or voice-overs. Everything I can find has some problem or other, and the original versions are buried way down the search results by all the crapped-up and promoted copies to the point where I wore out before I could dig that deep. ADVthanksANCE.

New in The Excavator

It had to be done. No explanation is needed. It's just time to find a new, and healthier passion. Thank you for visiting and reading this blog, whether it's everyday, once a week, or only rarely. Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, Happy Everything. Goodbye.

New in The Existentialist Cowboy

by Len Hart These flights are critical to the the government's crumbling cover up! Without those flights, Bush and his murderous co-conspirators will have to revise the big lie. They will have to concoct yet another cover story from the ground up! A cover up is on the brink of collapse when those guilty of capital crimes and high treason either turn on one another or are forced to revise the lie!
The CANHEART study findings on HDL have made a big splash, supposedly debunking the idea that raising HDL is a good idea. Of course, raising HDL with drugs by sticking a spanner in the works at some point has never been an effective strategy, and there are genetic polymorphisms that give elevated HDL of little worth, but healthy diet and lifestyle changes that are reasonably expected to extend li
( Tens of thousands march in Malaysia demanding Najib Razak step down, the stench of corruption is wafting across the Pacific Ocean and is now permeating Rich Coleman's ministry ) Prince Rupert News in Brief: Nov. 23 November 23, 2016 · Updated 11:56 AM Minister Coleman details PNW timeline Pacific NorthWest LNG’s investors are scheduled to complete their total review of the project and surroundi
Written by Grant G There has been some interesting developments on the British Columbia LNG front.....and the developments are bad news for BC's LNG superpower aspirations... As reported here in previous posts, Japan has officially challenged the legality of "take or pay LNG contracts"...Japan's LNG use is on the decline as a result of several things..number 1..Japan's population is falling by mi
Written by Grant G Donald Trump's presidential victory ... I have difficulty in describing the hollow feeling within, my internal compass was and is still spinning wildly, not knowing what direction to point, an emptiness filled my soul after Donald Trump triumphed and I'm not an American nor do I live in that country so it's easy to relate to the despair 50 million Americans are feeling.. Alone,
( Premier Christy Clark announces a new LNG export facility to be built near Prince Rupert on Nov. 12, 2013, with Nexen CEO Kevin Reinhart, middle, and Rich Coleman) Written by Grant G "What a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive" There is no better quote than the one above to describe the BC Liberal Government... LNG, did Woodfibre really give a legitimate FID or was it a stage
Written by Grant G Desperate days for Christy Clark....Today's announcement(November 4th/2016..Friday trash dump) by Christy Clark at Woodfibre LNG's proposed site was a made up political ploy, it's mere gobbily goop politics at its worst... Before I break down this Woodfibre LNG stage-play....For Christy Clark and Rich Coleman to go to this length to suck in a gullible public...It means one thin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrLk4vdY28Q See you soon Mr. Cohen The Straight Goods Cheers cEars Wide Open

New in thwap's schoolyard

I really don't want to start blogging again. But the US election farce is finally over and I've had some thoughts and sharing bits of them with one or two friends just isn't enough. So I'll express myself here and then quit for a while. The whole response to this travesty has ratcheted up my misanthropy levels. Hillary supporters deluding themselves that Trump voters have rejected the way of ligh
How stupid and/or ignorant would you have to be to vote for a piece-of-shit like Donald Trump? As stupid as a Canadian "Blogging Tory." As stupid as Davis Aurini. And these people aren't just stupid and/or ignorant. A lot of them are deplorable. (The opposite of "adorable.") We're in for a rough ride world. But, unlike those self-described "progressives" who turned their brains to shit so that th
Keeping in mind my earlier assertions that the Left's inability to fight back makes any idea of resistance null and void, I am changing my advice for US-Americans from "don't vote for either of the two rotten front-runners" to "oppose the system that gave you two such rotten candidates." That is the proper position for non-US-American progressives as well. Yes. Donald Trump is a nasty man. A rapi
Damn this is a beautiful movie! https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_467324&feature=iv&index=10&list=PLHLYMMYCXqijkZCTVfmyhOlpABxXNuTlu&src_vid=TgLB08lTxM4&v=CctH0iAyqYs (It's a link to Iggy Pop's scene in the movie "Dead Man.")
I feel like blogging about two books that I'm currently reading. The first one is Volume One of Ray Monk's biography of Bertrand Russell: Spirit of Solitude. I'm glad I check it out of the library. I knew that Bertrand Russell had been an atheist, an opponent of the Vietnam War and even a vocal opponent of World War One. I'd read several of his essays and bits and pieces of his History of Western
I have something I want to say about the US-American atrocity that some call the 2016 presidential election, but today I just want to post what I think is the best comment on Montreal Simon's over-the-top condemnation of the protesters at the CLC Youth Conference : "As a working class progressive I'd love it if any of the parties actually represented me. Instead the "best" I can

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