Arkansas Oil Spill (Photo credit: NWFblogs)
IN GOD WE TRUST ...item 3..FAMU seeking more funds to fight hazing (11:53 PM, Jun 6, 2012) ...item 4a / 4b.. FAMU events director facing fraud charges (August 28, 2012 10:20 AM) ... (Photo credit: marsmet462)
HOMELAND SECURITY ...item 3.. FSU - Emails show support for Stand Your Ground (May 31, 2012) ...item 4.. Bradley offers several names when arrested (Jun 21, 2012) ... (Photo credit: marsmet471)
English: ExxonMobil facility in Baton Rouge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Black churches target ‘Stand Your Ground’
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based
coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7
million African Americans, has authorized 3500 black churches in Florida
to work with Representative Alan Williams to overturn the Stand Your
Ground Law.
The most important living memorial for Trayvon Martin, his
family, and every black youth in Florida and across the country is for
the church to use its extraordinary power to overturn and kill the Stand
Your Ground Law, organizers said. This law has caused great legal
complications for prosecutors.
Hat Tip Because I Can
Preaching women rally to expand Medicaid
STEM
Takes a while to load. Curiously, demonstration problems for calculating the area of a triangle use the method for calculating the size of a rectangle....not that for a shape which diminishes to a point at one end, which is half as much.
3:28pm MDST
A conservative approach to teacher evaluation
Sent to the Washington Post, April 4, 2013
Gates’ suggestions ("A fairer way to evaluate teachers," April 3) assume
that there is something seriously wrong with teacher quality and teacher
evaluation in the United States.
I question both assumptions. We are always interested in improving
teaching, but there is no evidence of a teacher quality crisis: When
poverty is controlled, American students’ scores on international tests are
near the top of the world. Our overall scores are unspectacular because
there are so many children living in poverty in the US, 23.1%, the second
highest... more »
A Primer on DilBit Spills in a Corporatist State
If you want an idea of what's in store for British Columbia if
Harper/Redford/Enbridge/Beijing *et al* manage to drive their pipelines
through to the coast, you need only look to the most recent dilbit spill in
Arkansas.
*AlterNet* offers a handy summary, *6 Things You Need to Know About the
Arkansas Oil Spill.*
ExxonMobil which is allegedly dealing with the Arkansas clean-up has so
much clout it somehow got the FAA to declare the airspace over the pipeline
leak a no fly zone. Exxon now has control of the airspace over its damned
fiasco and it's even trying to throw a blanket ove... more »
Ron Paul Thinks The Russian Mafia Got Its Billions Safely Out Of Cyprus
As you already know, Tuesday, as rumors have predicted, Cyprus' right-wing
finance minister, Austerity backer and former chairman of Laiki, the
country's second largest bank, Michael Sarris quit the government. Monday
evening we looked at the stench of corruption pervading Cyprus' right-wing
government and how the new conservative president's family made out like
bandits days before Anastasiades shut down the banks. It looks like the Russian
criminal oligarchs, like Dmitry Rybolovlev, who helped finance his rise to
power, also made out just fine, at least according to Ron Paul's Te... more »
Sample Chemtrail Courtesy Notice
Click to enlarge view
I received this in my email yesterday, thought I would share one
individual's efforts in Washington State against the spraying of
Chemtrails. We've been getting them very severely here in San Diego the
past two weeks. In June of 2011 after a very heavy chemtrail spraying I
came down a lung clot that required 9 months of Coumadin therapy. The
doctors could find no source of the clots in my legs or abdomen which where
they usually come from. -AK
Sample Chemtrail Courtesy Notice
What happens on the first day of school!
*THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013*
*Eduardo Porter writes about kindergarten:* In yesterday’s New York Times,
Eduardo Porter devoted his weekly column to the potential rewards of early
education, especially for low-income kids.
Eventually, he touches a topic we have questioned before. He paints a
picture of low-income kids on their first day traditional school, the day
they begin kindergarten:
PORTER (4/3/13): Research by Mr. Heckman and others confirms that
investment in the early education of disadvantaged children pays extremely
high returns down the road. It improves not only their cogn... more »
Best Western Hotel Grand Opening in Haiti
Ismael
(Photo by John Carroll--April 4, 2013)
How the NRCC redesigned their website
The GOP decided their only problem is they're not selling their "starve
granny to feed the rich more caviar" agenda well enough. So in an effort to
win the affection of the cool kidz, the National Republican Congressional
Committee redesigned their site by stealing from others.
Yes. The committee that elects Republicans to the House is taking
BuzzFeed's advice to heart... by copying BuzzFeed itself.
The committee spent hours poring over BuzzFeed's site map and layout,
studying how readers arrived at its landing pages and bounced from one
article to the next. Unsurprisingly, a ton ... more »
Time for some cuteness overload...
I'm headed off to work.
Today I'm serving up rice pilaf with smoked sausage and chicken. Lovely...
Your moment of Zen
At the State Fair. (personal collection)
The Fight for Real Journalism: Spotting the frauds in journalism
*By Brenda Norrell*
*Censored News*
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com
A return to authentic journalism requires the halt to 'copy and paste'
journalism, which is plagiarism. Before posting news articles from sources
like Indian Country Today, or Huffington Post, readers should check the web
to see if the article is a rewrite, and the theft of someone's genuine hard
work, for the benefit of a paycheck, an ego, or both.
Many times you will see the original article on Google, on Google News or
Web. If not, e-mail the reporter and ask: 'Were you there?' 'If not, did
you use a brief pho... more »
MONTH OF DRONE ACTIONS NATIONWIDE
Washington's overseas drone strikes and their surveillance use at home has
long attracted the attention of activists. Groups across the U.S. political
spectrum say the strikes breach American law and hurt the country's
international standing. Now a month-long anti-drone campaign has kicked
off, with a protest in Manhattan.
Here in Maine our drone effort is focused on trying to get the state
government to pass a bill to require law enforcement agencies to obtain a
legal warrant before using drones for domestic surveillance.* *Even this
will be an uphill struggle for us because th... more »
Educating Girls (Part Two)
*Craig*: Continuing on from Sue's *Educating Girls* post...
Rawan Yaghi isn't quite the bookish, apolitical innocent Jon Donnison's
article makes her out to be.
She has her own Twitter feed which shows a rather different side to her:
[image: Rawan]
Rawan@MyFreePal
We write for Palestine. #*Gaza* #*Palestine* #*Resistance* #*Rights*#*
English* Expect babysitting tweets.
Gaza- Palestine · http://wresist.wordpress.com/
She's also a blogger:
We Resist | Because our children deserve better lives.
wresist.wordpress.com/Feb 6, 2013 – Because our children deserve better
lives. (by Rawan ... more »
A 'fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic law'?
The BBC report on what they call a 'fundamentalist interpretation of
Islamic law'. Apparently:
'The UK has urged Saudi Arabia not to carry out a reported sentencing of
paralysis for a Saudi man as punishment for paralysing another man.
A Foreign Office spokesperson said London was "deeply concerned" by the
sentence, describing it as "grotesque".
Such punishment was "prohibited under international law", the official
added.
Saudi media reports earlier said the 24-year-old man could be paralysed
from the waist down if he could not pay his victim £250,000 in
compensation.
Ali al-K... more »
Ideology Isn't the Natural Basis of Politics
I hope everyone has read the latest Ta-Nehisi Coates NYT item, this one
about Benjamin Carson and other Obama-era black conservatives. It's as good
as you would expect it to be.
It sparked a series of tweets from Jamelle Bouie about a distinction
between the people Coates is talking about, "black conservatives," and what
Jamelle calls "conservative blacks."
Conservative blacks are simply black people with conservative views.
They’re folks like my parents: Church-going military veterans.
They care deeply about black people, and hold views that are recognizably
conservative. In a le... more »
While You Slept
Reblogged from: http://adaptingtograce.com/2013/04/04/while-you-slept/
*While You Slept*
*by Elaine Meyer*
Thursday
Apr 4, 2013
I had a long talk with an old friend yesterday – a fellow light-worker, or
angel on Earth. We both shared quite honestly what we were feeling right
now at this stage of the awakening, with the current OPPT Movement and all.
We both agreed that we held some unexpressed feelings of pain and
exhaustion, and both had experienced a very real sense of being “done”,
along with a wondering if it was time to move on from this plane. I cannot
tell you how heali... more »
Causation
*Ediger v. Johnston*, 2013 SCC 18 restores a multi-million damages award to
a B.C. girl whose health and future were severely compromised by a
birthing-room error. In a ruling today, the court restored a $3,224,000
damages award to Cassidy Ediger, who is now 15 years old and suffers from
permanent spastic quadriplegia and cerebral palsy. The Court held:
The Legal Test for Causation
[28] This Court recently summarized the legal test for causation in
Clements v. Clements, 2012 SCC 32, [2012] 2 S.C.R. 181. Causation is
assessed using the “but for” test: Clements, at paras. 8 and 13; R... more »
Bill Maher's Take on Christianity and Just About Everything Else
Maher, on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and it is hilarious.
Croatian Language Courtesy Notice
Croatian Language OPPT Courtesy Notice
Agreeing to a summary judgment
It is becoming common in civil matters for parties to agree a case is fit
for summary judgment. In effect the parties agree to a modified stated
case. The Court of Appeal accepts this - an example is Ivandic v. Bank of
Nova Scotia, 2013 ONCA 214 where the Court notes:
[1] The parties agree that this case was an appropriate one for summary
judgment
Oil Spill: Who Pays for Clean-Up?
*Exxon's Duck-Killing Pipeline Won't Pay Taxes To Oil Spill Cleanup Fund *
[excerpt] “the pipeline was carrying “low-quality Wabasca Heavy crude oil
from Alberta.” This oil comes from the region of Alberta where the
controversial tar sands are located. Heavy crude is strip mined or boiled
loose from dense underground formations that often contain a large amount
of bitumen. This oil is very thick and needs to be diluted with lighter
fluids in order to flow through pipelines…A 1980 law ensures that diluted
bitumen is not classified as oil, and companies transporting it in
pipelines do ... more »
Would You Like To See John Boehner Lose His Seat In 2014? Let's Get Started
When EMILY's List started they were the bee's knees-- an inspired
organization meant to help put progressive women into political office in
numbers more commensurate with their share of the population. In recent
years, I've come to distrust EMILY's List as I see them backing horribly
conservative and unqualified women against sterling progressive men who are
better on women's issues-- and everything else-- than their miserable
sadsack candidates. The worst example, though by no means the only, was in
2008 when they ran right-wing anti-Semite Nikki Tinker against Steve Cohenin Memph... more »
Mohawk Nation News 'Canada Demonstrates Corporatism'
[image: mnnlogo1]
CANADA DEMONSTRATES CORPORATISM
Posted on April 4, 2013
**
*MNN. APR. 4, 2013.* Canada is the first corporate state that the bankers
want to model all other states after for the one world order. Minister of
Foreign Affairs, John, Baird is used to the banker-controlled Canadian
press, not to answering real questions. He confirmed that Canada is a
corporation that depends on money, bribery and lies, as all corporations
do. The Foreign Affairs Minister’s job is to deliver the bribe, eg., “Sign
this, or vote like this, or you won’t get any money”.
[image: Arabs see a... more »
Last Call for Tony Blair
I'm gonna miss the New Democratic Party and, by the sounds of it, I'll be
missing it more than they will. At least Tommy didn't live to see it.
It seems the New Dems have seen the error of their ways. Or perhaps
they've discovered that standing on principles, no matter how lofty, is for
losers.
And so the NDP leadership is heading to that great outhouse in the woods to
take a massive, ideological dump.
*NDP brass are taking a second shot at jettisoning some of the socialist
baggage that many — including party leader Tom Mulcair — feel might hold
them back in the next federal el... more »
Untitled
*Two AmeriCorps teams pulled from New Orleans following member’s death~Uptown Messenger
*
Archery Lessons for Businessmen in Toronto
It is not just little kids who are getting into archery as a sport (thanks
to the Hunger Games, Brave, The Avengers, Arrow and similar films/TV shows).
It is also adults and even people you wouldn't normally see doing archery -
including businessmen.
That is right.
CEOs, bankers, investment managers, stock market analysts... your boss!
In other words people you would normally expect to be playing golf or
tennis are taking up archery instead.
So does this mean that in the future many golf and tennis clubs will start
offering archery ranges as an additional service?
Maybe. It is en... more »
Lawrence just can’t quit Mr. O!
*THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013*
*The latest from Brokensoul Mountain:* Last night, the constantly horrible
Lawrence O’Donnell went out and did it again.
To watch the full segment, just click here. Although we’ll warn you:
Lawrence devoted a full eight minutes to this latest pile of crap.
To understand what Lawrence did, we have to go back to Keith Olbermann.
In the old days, KO wasn’t able to spend his whole hour making smutty
remarks about young conservative women, or even about Kirsten Dunst.
(Conventionally attractive women seem to make KO mad.)
For that reason, he devoted endless se... more »
House of Pain
Here's my problem with much of the media coverage of the gratuitous
and cruel imposition of national austerity known as Sequestration -- or if
you will, "The Sequester." No human faces or names are even being appended
to it anymore. The generic Congress Critters gave birth in their
laboratory, and abandoned the baby. And we, to paraphrase a line in H.G.
Wells's *The Island of Dr. Moreau*, have become the bubbles blown by the
baby.
So, instead of "President Obama and hundreds of bought-and-paid-for
politicians in Congress are cutting thousands of poor children from Head
Start", we'r... more »
BANGING THE WAR DRUMS
The media is talking war with North Korea and slapping China around a bit
as well. The American people are frozen in fear and depression and most
won't be able to respond.
The mass of the people are economic basket cases and have yet to verbally
connect the US military empire's endless wars to their local financial ruin.
Many are worried about losing their guns to the feds, but they don't seem
to notice that they've already lost their tongues - and the precious right
to speak out and demand real change. If people wait just to use their guns
then it will be much too late.
Walmart Employee Cuts Leave Shelves Bare
Clifford, S. (2013, April 3). Walmart Strains to Keep Grocery Aisles
Stocked. The New York Times,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/04/business/walmart-strains-to-keep-grocery-aisles-stocked.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130404&_r=0
[Excerpted]
Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer and grocer, has cut so
many employees that it no longer has enough workers to stock its shelves
properly, according to some employees and industry analysts....
Before the recession, at the start of 2007, Walmart had an average of
338
employees per store at its United States stores and Sam’s Club loc... more »
Mohawk Nation News 'Sexual Rev'
[image: mnnlogo1]
SEXUAL REV
Posted on April 4, 2013
****
*MNN. Apr. 3, 2013. *Pedophilia is promoted at the highest level of the
Canadian corporate structure, the PMO [Prime Minister’s Office]. The need
to indulge in the desire for natural sex is the most potent human emotion
to create action. The state is continually trying to control it to their
advantage.
*The goal of the Sexual Revolution is to change the moral compass off of
true north and bring it under the control of evil. By manipulating the
data, perversion and the occult have almost become the norm. Dr. Albert
Kinsey ... more »
Thursday Morning Linkage – ISA Special
Arriving in the middle of the International Studies Association annual
meeting, here is your Thursday morning linkage… Man tries to smuggle 10% of
endangered Madagascan tortoise population into Thailand DRC military
facilitating poaching and pillaging in UNESCO world heritage site Just when
the French thought it was safe to go home: suicide bombers in Timbuktu Bad
Continue reading
North Korea and the Drums of War
There are two sides to every crisis, and the dangerous situation developing
on the Korean Peninsula is no different. Unfortunately, the commentary coming
out of the BBC sets the tone for the British press. It's the idea that the
collective senility that grips the North Korean regime (and what we all
like to have a laugh about, including this blog) explains why Kim Jong-un
is banging the drum of war. The South, the USA, they're so much innocent
bunnies caught in the DPRK's nuclear-tipped headlights. Kim is simply a mad
man holding the world to ransom simply because he can.
Well, no.... more »
Cyber Battle Report; Anonimous in court
The more laws a nation has in the books the more corrupt that nation is....
The HB Gary CIA case continues....
*Barrett* *Brown*’s Mother faces Prison | *Hacking* Tricks & Security
…
*hacking*stuffs.com/2013/03/31/*barrett*-*browns*-mother-faces-prison
Anonymous hacktivist *Barrett* *Brown*’s Mother faces Prison for hiding
Evidences. The legal troubles of *Barrett* *Brown*, the alleged
spokesperson of the *hacking* ...
Anonymous member *Barrett* *Brown* Arrested by FBI - *Hacking* News
the*hacker*news.com/2012/09/anonymous-member-*barrett*-*brown*
-arrested.html
A... more »
Put Your State Funding Where Your RepubliCON Mouth Is.
The Righties want less government - let's start
The sequestration - which seems to be a HUGE hit with the repugs - should
start in their states first.
Kinda a prize for winning.
The state is hardly unique. It's one of many shutting air traffic control
towers, gutting Head Start preschool services and making adjustments as
U.S. budget cuts become reality. What sets Kansas apart is that it's home
to some of the sequester's strongest backers. Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas)
referred to sequestration as "the first significant tea party victory" in
Washington, while Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-... more »
Guess who's coming here?...
*Bill Whittle!*
*We already have our tickets... *
*Dinner with the Virtual President Bill Whittle*
[image: Bill Whittle] 6:30 pm, Saturday, April 20, 2013
Coeur d'Alene Inn - 506 Appleway in Cd'A
No host bar
$30 per person. The Reagan Republicans are getting two or three tables so
if you are interested in going please call Ron Lahr at 509-435-6349.
Bill Whittle is an American conservative blogger, political commentator,
director, screenwriter, editor, pilot, and author. He is best known for his PJ
Media internet videos and short films, one of which, "Three and a Half
Days", has be... more »
Follow Up to Courtesy Notice
*
*
*Follow Up to Courtesy Notice*
April 4, 2013
Hello all,
Our Canadian friend Donna has written this beautiful Follow-up Letter to
CN, and we believe that by making it public it will benefit a lot of people.
"Here is my followup letter (not sent yet to my credit card company) ~
comments invited...
April 4, 2013
John last name
c/o P.O. Box XXXXX, STN XXX X
Toronto, ON MXX XXX
Reference Number Alleged: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Dear John,
I understand your confusion over my last letter to you accompanying my
Courtesy Notice of March 6, 2013 as evidenced by your phone call message... more »
GATEKEEPERS DOWN: Thomas L. Friedman expounds on the schools!
*THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2013*
*Part 4—Letting the amateurs try:* You live in a world without journalists.
On the street where you live, an education reporter with a fine pedigree
can be so preternaturally clueless that she doesn’t even know how to access
the simplest educational dats.
She doesn’t know why D.C. schools display an unusually large black-white
achievement gap. That said, such cluelessness is quite routine within the
guild we still describe as the American “press corps.”
Alas! In fact, your mainstream “press corps” is a guild and a club—a club
whose members no longer funct... more »
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists - secrecy for sale - inside the global offshore money maze
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (==ICIJ==) has
obtained an unprecedented cache of information about cash in tax havens and
begun to publish its findings.
*The names of thousands of people have been revealed and their wealth
management plans disclosed. Many involve secret companies set up in the
British Virgin Islands (BVI).*
*
**Several high-profile politicians have been named and potentially shamed.
French President Francois Hollande's campaign manager Jean-Jacques Augier
has links to a BVI company. While the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev
and m... more »
Gossip costs lives
This article illustrates the BBC’s habit of promoting gossip and
tittle-tattle and presenting it as news (or comment)
BBC Watch’s Hadar Sela has detailed what’s wrong with it.
Donnison omits relevant factors concerning the deceased prisoner:
*“Abu Hamdiyeh was connected to both the PA security forces and the
terrorist organization Hamas or to note that he was known to be involved in
recruitment for paramilitary activities, weapons training, providing
weapons and finance for terror and bomb-making in addition to his role in
the attempted suicide bombing of Café Caffit in Jerusale... more »
Can Religion Kill ALEC's "Stand Your Ground" Laws?
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Something useful for religion to focus on for a change.
Hopefully - the higher power will give you folks a hand.
*Black churches target ‘Stand Your Ground’*
Anthony Evans
Posted: Thursday, April 4, 2013 12:05 am
By American staff | 0 comments
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of
34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African
Americans, has authorized 3500 black churches in Florida to work with
Representative Alan Williams to overturn the Stand Your Ground Law.
The most important living memor... more »
I Hate When I Agree With Newt About Anything
Yeah, he's right about this:
At a National Review breakfast briefing on Thursday, Gingrich called the
RNC’s push for regional primaries and a limited number of primary debates
is a “total waste of time.” It’s one of the few parts of the RNC’s
post-election report where he disagrees with the party’s recommendations.
The regional primary thing, Newt says, is a waste of time because it's not
going to happen. He's right! It's not going to happen; it's also very
difficult to see why it's a particularly good thing, even if it was
possible.
As far as debates, Newt obviously has a dog in ... more »
LDC's Are Closing In On Us
It seems they've called our bluff.
"We" are the First World, the developed countries, the big producers and
consumers of fossil fuels, the big emitters. We are also the rich
countries.
"They" are the LDCs or Least Developed Countries. They're the poor
countries; the places we think are really backward, NatGeo spots; and
they're the people who are the smallest emitters of greenhouse gases.
They're also the people who are most likely to be left to deal with the
worst impacts of our greenhouse gas emissions, the climate change impacts
we have largely manufactured for them.
Sha... more »
Planetary Boundaries as Power Grab
Writing at the Huffington Post UK, Melissa Leach, Director of the STEPS
Centre at Sussex University, asks a provocative question:
When the cover of the *Economist* famously announced 'Welcome to the
anthropocene' a couple of years ago, was it welcoming us to a new
geological epoch, or a dangerous new world of undisputed scientific
authority and anti-democratic politics?
The occasion for raising this question was Prof. Leach's participation last
month in a United Nations meeting of experts on the development of new
sustainable development goals. Leach describes a meeting in which
... more »
Untitled
*President of LSU Faculty Senate speaks to Levees.org on expenses relating
to Ivor van Heerden lawsuit*~*“The $457,000 that LSU has expended on legal
costs for the Ivor van Heerden case brings the total cost of this shameful
episode, including the $453,000 settlement, to at least one million
dollars. What else could the expenditure of that sum have done? It could
easily have paid Dr. Van Heerden’s salary until his retirement, an action
that would have put LSU’s support for free inquiry and free speech beyond
question. Alternatively, that sum would cover the cost of a ½% goodwill
sal... more »
Surprise! Canadians Do Want the Opposition to Cooperate!
The poll I helped pay for has been released.
And guess what? All those pundits saying Canadians don't want cooperation
among the Fucking Useless Opposition® are wrong.
*Canadians support electoral reform, would vote for cooperation candidates
– new national poll*
April 4 – Toronto – A new national Environics poll shows that Canadians
think our democratic system is broken, overwhelmingly favour proportional
representation, and are willing vote for cooperation candidates to defeat
Conservative MPs in the next federal election.
The telephone poll, which sampled 1,004 voters, comes j... more »
'Substantial Portion' of Libor Suits Dismissed
The 'Libor' scandal concerns the London interbank offered rate, which
according to *The Wall Street Journal* is "the benchmark for interest rates
on trillions of dollars of loans to individuals and businesses around the
world" (Enrich & Munoz, A1)
I learned about the specifics of how the libor rate is set at Max Keiser.
http://maxkeiser.com/2012/07/
15 big banks submit records of the inter-bank interest rates they pay and
the Libor rate is supposed to be averaged from these records of the 15 big
banks.
However, the banks colluded in emails to submit falsified records in order
... more »
Iraq Sees Progress In U.N.’s Human Development Index, But Is Still At Bottom Of The Middle East
For the last thirteen years, the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) has been tracking the growth of countries in Africa, Asia, South
America, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Pacific. Instead of looking at just
economic statistics, the Human Development Index (HDI) also ranks life
expectancy, education, and control of resources. Since 1990, the UNDP has
seen steady growth in developing nations. Of 132 countries that were
tracked only two had lower scores from 1990 to 2012. This even occurred
while the richer nations ran into a recession in the mid-2000s. Iraq has
seen progr... more »
Untitled
*Explosive gas found under house slabs near Texas Brine Sinkhole*
*Louisiana science advocate Zack Kopplin will be a guest on Real Time with
Bill Maher tomorrow *
* Audit: $700 million in Katrina, Rita aid may have been misspent*
*Inspired by Federal Flood of N.O. 8/29/05, North Dakota enables citizens
unmolested access to firearms*
*Disaster communications: covering the ‘last mile’ ~Jacobo Quintanilla*
* Trinity Artist Series*
*Krewe of Alla says without more riders, they'll be forced to move to
Uptown route*
*Freret Street Festival this weekend!*
*Treasures form the Point this ... more »
Bee Colony Collapse in California Accelerates Rapidly this Year
Majia's Blog - 6 hours ago
A New York Times video here:
The bees are dying and cannot be kept alive in California.
40% to 50% of insects lost to colony collapse disaster since last year.
A new class of pesticides is seen as responsible.
An article addressing the bee collapse is here: Mystery Malady Kills
More
Bees, Heightening Worry on Farms March 28 2013 by M. Wines NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/science/earth/soaring-bee-deaths-in-2012-sound-alarm-on-malady.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130329&_r=0
[excerpted]
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — A mysterious malady that has been killing
honeybees en mass... more »
RIP MLK and Liberalism
Five years ago, *WaPo* columnist EJ Dionne wrote a column on the 45th
anniversary on the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and
it was entitled "When Liberalism's Moment Ended." It was the rare article
that would prove to be transformative to me as both a human being and a
liberal and helped pinpoint for me the answer to a nagging question that
had been bothering me like a cat hair in the eye:
When, exactly, did liberalism die? I didn't know and wasn't even sure
it could be traced back to a split second in time, to a specific number of
square feet, to a s... more »
"Reformers" Seek to Overturn California Education Laws Based Solely on Evidence-Free Beliefs, Part Two
As I explained last week, the "astroturf" school "reform" organization, Students
Matter, and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group want to strike down five
education laws that supposedly "are destroying California's public
education system, demoralizing the teaching profession, and robbing
California children of their future." In *Vergara v California*, they claim
"California's Schools Hire And Retain Grossly Ineffective Teachers At
Alarming Rates." So, they want the court to strike down five laws
protecting the rights of teachers. *Vergara* also demands that schools use
teacher "eff... more »
Why "a Blind Eye" about KIPP?
Former Rutger's basketball coach Mike Rice is the outrage of the moment,
but his firing took months and a viral video:
Video shows Mike Rice's ire
Maybe a moral response to Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) requires a
viral video.
Apparently that is what it takes for organizations and the public to
respond to inexcusable but prevalent behavior—especially when that behavior
is mostly by white men in authority at the expense of mostly African
American young men who are essentially powerless.
Charles Blow confronts and names the culture surrounding Rice's behavior as
a coach:
Fro... more »
Public alarm over climate change grows, Yale study shows – ‘There is something fundamentally different in the way Americans are engaging with the issue of climate change’
[image: Results of the ongoing Yale study, 'Global warming's six Amercas'
for September 2012. The number of Americans alarmed about climate change
has increased from 10 percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2012, while the
dismissive group has decreased in size, from 16 percent in 2010 to 8
percent in 2012. Graphic: Yale Project on Climate Change Communication]
By Emma Goldberg, Staff Reporter
2 April 2013
(Yale Daily News) – Yale researchers have found that Americans are growing
increasingly alarmed about climate change.
On March 15 Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on... more »
James Hansen retires from NASA to fight global warming – ‘As a government employee, you can’t testify against the government’
[image: James E. Hansen of NASA, who retired in 2013 to fight global
warming with activists, reflected in a window at his farm in Pennsylvania.
Photo: Michael Nagle / The New York Times]
By JUSTIN GILLIS
1 April 2013
(The New York Times) – James E. Hansen, the climate scientist who issued
the clearest warning of the 20th century about the dangers of global
warming, will retire from NASA this week, giving himself more freedom to
pursue political and legal efforts to limit greenhouse gases.
His departure, after a 46-year career at the space agency’s Goddard
Institute for Space St... more »
In Mexican villages, few are left to dream of U.S. – ‘It’s a new Mexico, it’s a new United States, and the interaction between them is new’
[image: So many residents of villages like Genaro Codina, in Zacatecas,
Mexico, are already in the United States that it is unclear whether eased
American citizenship rules would prompt any other Mexicans to try to
immigrate. Photo: Adriana Zehbrauskas / The New York Times]
By DAMIEN CAVE
2 April 2013
EL CARGADERO, Mexico (The New York Times) – The pretty houses in the hills
here, with their bright paint and new additions, clearly display the
material benefits of having millions of workers move to the United States
over the past few decades. But these simple homes also reveal why... more »
Read Stuff, You Should
Happy Birthday to Robert Downey, Jr., 48. Surprised how many of his movies
I've seen; I count at least nine movies he's been in that I've seen,
despite that I never have watched Weird Science.
And some good stuff:
1. Alex Pareene on "the Mark Penn test."
2. Iraq dead-enders, from Dan Larison.
3. The future of marriage; Reihan Salam's view.
4. Yeah, I agree with Matt Yglesias about immigration, except I think I
might be more pro-immigration than he is.
5. Ezra Klein on GOP health care policy.
6. And Abby Rapoport looks at NoDak populism.
The Four H's
The Conservative attack machine is primed and ready to go. When Justin
Trudeau becomes leader of the Liberal Party in ten days, the Conservatives
will unleash the same kind of smear campaign they used on Stephane Dion and
Michael Ignatieff. Their message will be that Trudeau is a lightweight with
a thin resume.
But Bob Hepburn writes in the *Toronto Star* that the Harper Party would be
wise to rethink that strategy. Both the federal and the Ontario Tories have
chosen leaders who, at the time of their ascension, offered pretty thin
gruel:
In comparison, Harper’s work resumé when ... more »
Homemade Thai Fried Rice
My 4-year-old is a picky eater. A VERY picky eater, that being said, rice
is our magic ingredient. For whatever reason, she LOVES rice and so most of
our food revolves around it in one form or another. We often end up with
containers of unused rice in our fridge and until we discovered this recipe
it would sit for a few days before being chucked. This delicious Thai Fried
Rice changed all that, in fact I find myself purposely making too much rice
so there will be leftovers.
You will need:
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Pork loins, cut into strips
2 cups day old rice (cold)
1 cup Kal... more »
Imagine A Liberal Lion Replacing New Dem Vice Chair Allyson Schwartz In Congress: Daylin Leach
Admirably, Allyson Schwartz has been a real fighter for Women's Choice.
Unfortunately, her progressive credentials stop there. PA-13-- Northeast
Philadelphia -- is one of the most liberal districts in Pennsylvania. Obama
beat McCain 65.4-33.7% in 2008 and did even better last year-- 66.2-32.9%.
Schwartz was reelected with 69% of the vote, 66% in Montgomery County and
74% in the parts of the district within Philadelphia. She's always been
extremely cautious to not get out ahead on any contentious issues and tends
to vote very conservatively for a Democrat in a safe seat, especially... more »
Graham Ovenden - there's no smoke without fire - sex criminal artist.
Well, if you look at Graham Ovenden's art, it's no real surprise that
Ovenden was 'up to no good' LOOK AT IT.
*Graham Ovenden sex crimes: Tate removes artist's work.*
*Prints by the artist Graham Ovenden have been removed from the Tate's
online collection following his conviction for child sex offences. Ovenden
was found guilty at Truro Crown Court on Tuesday of six counts of indecency
and one of indecent assault against girls in the 1970s and 80s.* [source BBC
]
*'mild' compared to some of the prints*
*Lord McAlpine owned Ovenden “art”*
*That other “Elite” paedophi... more »
Saying no to debt servitude and other slavish behaviours
*Debt is a drag on your future earnings.**: DEBT IS A DRAG ON ALL YOUR
FUTURE EARNINGS*. Therefore debt should be taken on, only with the greatest
of consideration and thought.
For the sole reason that it leaves you poorer for the foreseeable future.*
That's right debt leaves you poorer in the future*: Don’t expect a banker/
credit card pusher to tell you that one!
Bankers/ credit card pushers are like just like big pharma- They want you
hooked for life.
They want debt enslavement to be your lifestyle drug habit. *Don’t become a
debt junkie.*
That said, let's move onto this articl... more »
Beauty in Soleil
Photo by John Carroll (April 3, 2013)The "worst slum in the western
hemisphere" is filled with people like this.
John A. Carroll, MD
www.haitianhearts.org
Mining 11: Big Projects in the US, UK, Canada and Australia
Among the arguments hurled against large scale mining in the Philippines is
that the rich countries are heavily regulating if not closing some of the
big mining projects there to protect their environment, so we should not
allow -- or at least heavily regulate -- big mining to continue in our
country and protect our own environment too. The message here, both
explicit and implicit, is that "mining = environmental destruction". So the
policy implication is that "less or no mining = less or no environmental
damage." This is wrong.
As repeatedly argued in my previous articles here, no ... more »
Mobile phone completes 40th anniversary
The initial mobile phone call was completed 40 years ago yesterday, on 3
April 1973.Marty Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola, called a rival
coworker at other telecoms company and announced he was speaking from "a
'real' cellular phone”. A report accepted by the International
Telecommunication Union found that there were six billion mobile phone
subscriptions worldwide in 2012.
Martin Cooper, now aged 85, is well-known as the "father" of the mobile
phone. He was also satisfied to have been one tread ahead of the
competition. *According to Dr Mike Short CBE, former president of ... more »
Educating Girls
Craig alerted me to this, so hat tip to Craig. It’s Jon Donnison *again*.
Groans and sighs please..
It's at about 40:50 in, on this link, which is to yesterday's Eddie Mair's
PM programme. It's another one about a Palestinian student - from Gaza - a
topic that is in danger of becoming one of Eddie's favourites?
"There are 7 universities in Gaza" announces Jon. "Palestinians put a high
value on education" opines he. Ingratiatingly, opines me.
[...........]"adventurous is a word to describe *what it's like here*.
We've had an Israeli airstrike and Palestinian rockets being fired i... more »
Some anti-monarchists need educating
The BBC and various anti-monarchist groups like to misrepresent the cost of
the UK monarchy and this annoys me. This piece repeated the familiar
misrepresentation that:
'The total cost of keeping the monarchy was £38.2m during the 2009-10
financial year, a drop of 7.9% (£3.3m) on the previous year.'
This looks at just one side of the equation: the costs of the Civil List
which is soon to be replaced by the awfully named "sovereign support
grant". The other side that is as usual ignored is that in 1760 it was
decided that the entire cost of the Civil List should be paid by Parliamen... more »
Stop the Eviction of Lehman Brightman, founder United Native Americans
*
Fighting (L to R) Black Americans and American Indians United
San Francisco, 1976
Clyde Bellecourt, Kathleen Cleaver, Lehman Brightman Elder Abuse By Contra
Costa County & Wells Fargo Bank*
Press statement
Posted at Censored News
*Stop the Eviction of Lehman and Quanah Brightman*
When: April 4th 2013
Where Richmond Court 100 37th street
Richmond Ca, 94805
Time:1:00pm
We are asking our Community of Home Defenders & Indigenous Warriors to
Gather in Support of Stopping the Eviction of the Brightman Family from
their Home of 26 years.
We Believe It's Time for Contra Costa County to H... more »
an.oth.er night of uber-vivid dreaming - The Quickening?
it was literally another night of emotionally profound and maddeningly
realistic dreaming.
*one:* family taken for a ride (I wonder if this means literally) by a
plastic-hulled river boat captain down a swirling river assault course. You
steered the boat by pushing on the front of it and leaning left and right.
We were then taken back to the start and allowed to have a go on our own.
Woke up with the fear as soon as it 'started looking a lot more difficult
than he'd made it look'.
*two:* dream *suckubus* literally 'drank me dry', with gulping glee. I also
knew she shouldn't have b... more »
Silver's Effect on Cancer and Healing
There is important information toward the end of this article. It turns
out that silver induces a dedifferentiation of cancer cells and other
fibroblasts to produce embryonic cells able to assist the healing process.
This could be both safe and hugely important. It is only a matter of time
before these research threads are picked up and fully developed.
The other argument pursued here is that more needs to be done in terms of
silver based antimicrobial activity. Our present protocols have turned out
to be fleeting and this is were silver holds an edge.
It is clear tha... more »
Mapping Breakthrough for Plant Insect Bipomes
The take home of course is that DNA extraction of insect stomach contents
will now allow us to thoroughly map an insect’s preferred biome right
across the whole spectrum of plants and insects. There will still be
omissions, but I think that with some care that those will be scant.
Once understood and fully mapped, both plants and insects will become
natural pathfinders to each other. You also could hardly ask for a better
description of a particular biome when you are making plans to manage that
biome.
So I expect this work to become profoundly important to establish ... more »
Defining Democracy
I will add one key item to the general discussion. It is that effective
power must be shifted downward. It is not enough to elect a king and call
it democracy. In fact, the lesson we can take from China is that lower
levels are operationally autonomous and potentially quite annoying to any
centrists. The solution is to drive demos at the municipal level at least
and then allow higher levels of polity to arise as demanded until it
naturally feeds the universal demos that elects the national heights.
Otherwise we are treated to an unending series of faux elections and ... more »
Water and Plant Consciousness
This item deepens our understanding and perceptions regarding plant life
and perhaps reminds us that we are the ultimate protectors.
The observation of the tetrahedral geometry impressed upon water's
freezing is helpful. I can go further than that because another 'form' of
water crystallizes into a long stack. I published my thoughts on this in
my unpublished manuscript titled 'Paradigms shift'. Critically this other
form of water can be used to accelerate burn and wound healing and
additionally sharply reduce death by shock and third degree burns.
Although I have no... more »
Thim on Defense
Over at the superb China Policy Institute blog, Michel Thim has a piece on Defense
Policy under President Ma... after reviewing the continuity between the
Chen and Ma Administrations in some areas of defense policy, including the
Hard ROC policy, Thim observes:
Defence-planning notwithstanding, there are several challenges, some
temporary, some embedded in the specific conditions in Taiwan, all of which
the Ma administration ought to address sooner rather than later. One of the
most urgent matters is the imminent fighter jet gap. A significant
component of the current jet fleet (F-5... more »
MICK PHILPOTT; JIMMY SAVILE; KRAY TWINS; CHILD ABUSE
*Ann Widdecombe and Mick Philpott.*
Ann Widdecombe, the daughter of a Ministry of Defence civil servant, was a
minister in the UK government department responsible for the police in
England, and the UK security service MI5.
*In 2007, Ann Widdecombe spent a week living with the Mick Philpott family
for a television documentary.*
On 2 April 2013, Mick Philpott was found guilty of the manslaughter of six
of his children.
In 2007, Philpott also appeared on The Jeremy Kyle Show, which is similar
to the Jerry Springer Show.
The six Philpott children died as the result of the Allenton... more »
I don't play golf but one of these could tempt me
Bubba Watson's hover golf cart.
*Thanks to Theo Spark for the video spot.*
Reframing string theory in terms of observer horizons
Yasunori Nomura and Jaime Varela – sometimes with Sean Weinberg – wrote several
papers that explain a reason why the argument by AMPS that black hole
firewalls have to exist isn't warranted.
If I try to summarize the error by AMPS as phrased by these authors, I must
say that AMPS assume that the equivalence principle holds for the "entire
state vector" and they impose a "one size fits all" classical background
geometry for all possible quantum states. In reality, the equivalence
principle only holds for states that respect a classical background and
different classical backgrounds... more »
The Nationalist Hour with Rodney Martin
In this inaugural broadcast of *The Nationalist Hour with Rodney Martin*,
legal basis for racial preservation will be explored. ANA Co-Founder Rodney
Martin will showcase Dr. Wilhelm Stuckart, a devout Christian German legal
scholar who was also a NSDAP Party Member from 1930 through 1945 and served
in the Interior Ministry and co-authored significant laws relating to
racial preservation.
The following will be discussed:
- Hitler’s thoughts on U.S. Racial Policy in 1928, which he described as
"racially successful"
- Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor
... more »
Are any ALEC legislators on those lists?
*Secret Files Expose Offshore's Global Impact*
*
*
*Center for Public Integrity** *| Posted: 04/03/2013 6:01 pm EDT | Updated:
04/03/2013 6:56 pm EDT
Dozens of journalists sifted through millions of leaked records and
thousands of names to produce ICIJ’s investigation into offshore secrecy
By Gerard Ryle, Marina Walker Guevara, Michael Hudson, Nicky Hager, Duncan
Campbell and Stefan Candea
International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
A cache of 2.5 million files has cracked open the secrets of more than
120,000 offshore companies and trusts, exposing hidden dealings of... more »
Can You Imagine Lady Gaga Playing A Republican Convention-- Neither Could She, Despite The Million Dollars They Offered
Mitt wanted his convention to look hip and happening. They got Journey
instead
When I was first coming up in the music business I avoided the whole idea
of ever being forced to sell out by starting my own independent label.
Others used to have to ponder the age-old question, "what if someone asks
you to work Journey, Foreigner or REO Speedwagon?" In the world of
progressive activism I was aghast when "liberal" politics operatives would
explain how they had to go to work for a Blue Dog or New Dem-- or even a
Republican-- because they had to feed their family. What a horrible
position... more »
Why Isn't ALEC Bragging About Their Part in the XL Pipeline?
Why Isn't ALEC Bragging About Their Part in the XL Pipeline?
Why?
They hide behind blogs written on an ALEC supported webpage - but they
don't have the guts to come out and state that ALEC state legislators at
the state and federal level are helping move the XL Pipeline along.
Bunch of cowards - hiding in the shadows.
A one paragraph snip – if you want to read the whole thing – go find it –
I’m not going to link to it.
Alberta Bound: Observations from the Canadian Oil Sands
ALEC Blog Team | April 3, 2013 | Add a comment
Alberta Bound: Observations from the Canadian Oil Sands
By the ... more »
Lollapalooza Single-Day Passes Sell Out
*Lollapalooza Single-Day Passes Sell Out*. Single-day tickets for
Lollapalooza sold out in less than two hours on Wednesday.
The single-day passes for the music festival in Grant Park went on sale at
10 a.m., and by 11:45 a.m., the promoters announced tickets had sold out.
[image: Lollapalooza Single-Day Passes Sell Out]
Three-day passes also sold out last month, in less than three hours; VIP
passes sold out on Tuesday.
The only tickets left for Lollapalooza are through pricey Travel Packages,
which include three-night stays at Chicago hotels, plus general admission
or VIP tickets f... more »
Shain Gandee Dead - MTV Buckwild Star Dies at 21
*Shain Gandee Dead - MTV Buckwild Star Dies at 21*. MTV Buckwild star *Shain
Gandee *and two others were found dead in his car in West Virginia on
Monday. He was 21. Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper of West
Virginia, where Gandee lived, told People magazine that the reality TV
personality was discovered unresponsive in his car with his uncle, David
Gandee, 48, and another person.
[image: Shain Gandee Dead - MTV Buckwild Star Dies at 21]
Carper said that the family notified authorities on Sunday that they were
missing since Saturday.
He added that MTV had been filming all week... more »
KOREA: WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF ANOTHER WAR?
It’s not really a historians function to delve into the ‘what ifs’ of
history but it’s not unreasonable to ponder what may have happened had the
USSR turned up to that UN Security Council meeting in June 1950 and vetoed
the decision to militarily intervene in the invasion of South Korea by the
North. Instead, the USSR chose to boycott the UN meeting in protest against
the UN allowing the Chinese Nationalist government based in Taiwan to
represent the Chinese people and the UN voted to intervene and we ended up
with the Korean War that resulted in millions of casualties and brought th... more »
Watergate: Nixon's Options
I don't have an update today (there's stuff going on, but I'm going to fold
it into tomorrow's), so instead I'm going to answer a question from
comments.
I'm confused. The President, Haldeman, Ehrlichman and Dean have now talked
through the situation repeatedly, but never seem to have come up with a
viable plan that gets everyone who's 'on the same team' off the hook. If
there's no such possibility, then what are they doing? These are clever and
highly experienced politicians- they must have SOME plan, no?!
Surely, at some point someone needs to get the Committee to Re-Elect guys
i... more »
"All I'm asking for is compassion and dignity," says a grieving man -- I say he should be out for those scumbags' blood
*"On top of my grief and uncertainty and horror, I found myself having to
fight to claim what our legal documents already said was mine. I obtained a
court order to correct the probate and to get the items that had been
removed from my house returned. However, after thousands of dollars and
months of legal wrangling I gave up. I sacrificed most of the assets to
which I was legally entitled for the sake of my sanity. . . .
"[A]s difficult as the last year has been, I've been incredibly fortunate.
I knew my rights. I had attorneys looking out for me. I had a strong circle
of supportiv... more »
Hilarion - March 31, 2013
*
**Well this certainly explains why my cat is with me constantly and now
sleeping next to me! :) -AK*
*
* *Hilarion *
April 1, 2013 in Hilarion
Beloved Ones,
As you continue to release old patterns and cycles of thought and behavior,
you are finding yourselves feeling more sure and confident in yourselves
and your abilities. We see that you are constantly reminding yourselves of
the Light that you are and steadfastly holding to it. This is very
important as it helps to reinforce the greater field of Light that now
surrounds your planet and allows you to tap into it. Those of y... more »
Ex-Goldman Sachs trader faces fraud charge after surrender to FBI
*
*
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/apr/03/goldman-sachs-trader-fbi-fraud
*Ex-Goldman Sachs trader faces fraud charge after surrender to FBI*
*Matthew Taylor expected to plead guilty amid accusations he defrauded firm
by concealing a $8.3bn futures bet gone wrong*
Dominic Rushe in New York
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 3 April 2013 12.10 EDT
A Goldman Sachs sign on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange.
Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
A former Goldman Sachs trader surrendered to FBI agents Wednesday amid
accusations that he concealed a $8.3bn futures bet that went wron... more »
The Goal - To Destroy Climate Change Deniers
Kinda a dollars against deniers program
From The Hill
Greens get billionaire ally, money
By Alexandra Jaffe - 04/03/13 05:00 AM ET
A California billionaire is pledging to spend as much of his fortune as
necessary to make climate change “the defining issue of our generation.”
Tom Steyer, who made his riches as a hedge fund manager, told The Hill on
Tuesday that he wants to make climate change a campaign issue for years to
come and Democratic support for environmental protections as widespread as
support for gay marriage and immigration reform.
“The goal here is not to win. The goa... more »
I Suggest Republicans Endorse Matricide
Saw this headline today and it set me off - based on a post I did yesterday.
Priebus suggests Obama, Democrats 'endorse infanticide'
By Alexandra Jaffe - 04/03/13 01:43 PM ET
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus suggested Wednesday
that Democrats "endorse infanticide" by supporting women's health provider
Planned Parenthood.
In an op-ed posted on the conservative site RedState, Priebus highlights
movements made by state legislatures in North Dakota and Florida over the
past week to restrict abortion rights.
Watch this Video - Every minute of it!
How 'Pro-Life'... more »
The Great Deformation of 2008, and beyond!
*Guest review by Llewellyn Rockwell*
It didn’t take long for opponents of the market to pounce after the events
of 2008. The crash was said to prove how destructive “unregulated
capitalism” could be and how dangerous its supporters were—after all,
free-marketeers opposed the bailouts, which had allegedly saved Americans
from another Great Depression.
In *The Great Deformation*, David Stockman—former US congressman and budget
director under Ronald Reagan—tells the story of the recent crisis, and
takes direct aim at the conventional wisdom that credits government policy
and US Fed... more »
Walker (WI-ALEC) Loses - Beats "Someone Else" by 1 Percentage Point
*The Quinnipiac University Poll *
From March 26 - April 1, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,711 registered
voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.4 percentage points. The survey
includes 712 Republicans with a margin of error of +/- 3.7 percent. Live
interviewers call land lines and cell phones.
*(If Republican or Republican Leaner) If you had to choose, would you
prefer that the Republican party nominate for President a candidate with
experience as a governor or experience as a United States Senator?*
*(If Republican or Republican Leaner) If the Republican primary for
Pres... more »
If a government can't provide licence plats... Part 2
A little over a year ago, I wrote about the Honduran government’s baffling
inability to get licence plates into the hands of drivers.
I saw scads of cars and motorcycles without licence plates, and thought at
first that people were just ignoring the law.
But it turned out the government didn’t actually have the plates, and
hadn’t for almost a year. That was a major hassle for drivers, who had to
keep going back to the licensing office every month to get temporary
permits, a process that took hours.
And in a country with a big crime problem, some 330,000 vehicles and
motorcycles with... more »
M408 is NOT a Free Speech Hill to Die On
As regular readers here know, we don't give a flying fuck about whether Warawa's
Wank is voteable or not. As long as it's got the CONtard knickers in knots,
it's all good with us.
But for interested parties, there was this today on Twitter.
WARNING: My next series of tweets will deal w/ Mark Warawa's motion & his
so-called qstn of priv. & why journos & pundits are overreacting.
— Thomas Hall (@ThomasHall17) April 3, 2013
That would be Thomas Hall who describes himself as 'retired House of
Commons procedural clerk, Constitution nerd, and word nut dans les deux
langues officielles... more »
John Key and his Bugger in Chief
The story of the appointment of John Key’s acquaintance/childhood
friend/soul mate (pick one) to the position of head of our government’s den
of spies and buggers* has been revealing. And not just because it’s exposed
*again* the Prime Minister’s convenient memory, or lack thereof.** (If John
Key has really and truly forgotten all that he’s claimed over the last four
years not to have remembered, isn’t that grounds to question his
competence? And who, any longer, believes his memory is that convenient?)
Key was asked, in Parliament, whether he had had contact with Ian Fletcher
si... more »
GOODBYE for now
*
* *This blog post is from Lois Tucci's caregiver... -AK*
http://just4ublogdotcom.wordpress.com/2013/04/03/goodbye-for-now/
*GOODBYE for now*
Posted on April 3, 2013 by sojournerbe
How does one say “Goodbye” to a loved one knowing that person only left a
temporary embodiment and is still ‘Present’ in their new form? Although our
eyes cannot see that new spirit, our Inner Eye can as it is directly
connected to the Eternal Heart.
What does a new angel look like? Let’s see…..check into the Heart and
visualize~
Thank you Loie for BEing. Now you are assisting us all as Source in get... more »
Break The Spell
Ever feel that every day life is crowding in? That matters of the mundane
are obscuring your view of the enchantment? Life can be complicated at
times. If you find mundane issues are clouding your judgement I have a
tonic for you :>)
Take a multi faceted cut glass crystal wash it well. Hang it at a sunny
window, take note that the crystal is blessing you with rainbows on your
ceiling or walls. Use a large glass, rinse well and fill with water. Hold
the glass by the crystal so that tiny intense rainbows are held within the
water.
As you do this look out of the window into the worl... more »
Check your philosophical health!
Since your life is a function of the choices you make, your philosophical
health may be just as important as your physical health.
Take your philosophical health check here.
Do it now!
(Hat tip Russell W., who scored zero. And so did I, for what that’s worth.)
Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission
to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
The worst questions to be asked at a conference
The following is a guest post by Peter Henne. – Once again, the
International Studies Association annual meeting is upon us, followed by
the Midwest Political Science Association conference. It’s a good bet that
most readers of the Duck will be attending one or both of these, or other
upcoming meetings. One of the best
Continue reading
Dr. Jacob Needleman - Awakened Human Beings
Source: YouTube Channel BarakaBee.
"State-Wrecked: The Corruption of Capitalism in America"
*"State-Wrecked: *
*The Corruption of Capitalism in America"*
By David A. Stockman
"The Dow Jones and Standard & Poor’s 500 indexes reached record highs on
Thursday, having completely erased the losses since the stock market’s last
peak, in 2007. But instead of cheering, we should be very afraid. Over the
last 13 years, the stock market has twice crashed and touched off a
recession: American households lost $5 trillion in the 2000 dot-com bust
and more than $7 trillion in the 2007 housing crash. Sooner or later —
within a few years, I predict — this latest Wall Street bubble,... more »
Why Republicans don't care what the voters want
The GOPers have already rigged the system so they can't lose.
Last January, the Republican Party published a triumphant report bragging
that “Republicans enjoy a 33-seat margin in the U.S. House seated yesterday
in the 113th Congress, having endured Democratic successes atop the ticket
and over one million more votes cast for Democratic House candidates than
Republicans.” The report touts the role GOP gerrymandering played in
enabling Republicans to keep the House despite losing the popular vote,
citing states like Michigan, where “Michiganders cast over 240,000 more
votes for Demo... more »
PENTAGON TURNS SCREWS ON ASIA-PACIFIC
- Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, Commander of Pacific Command,
recently told the Boston Globe that the biggest long-term security
threat in the Pacific region is climate change. “The ice is melting and sea
is getting higher,” Locklear said, noting that 80% of the world’s
population lives within 200 miles of the coast. “I’m into the consequence
management side of it. I’m not a scientist, but the island of Tarawa in
Kiribati, they’re contemplating moving their entire population to another
country because [it] is not going to exist anymore. We have inter... more »
Neanderthals... In Northeast Georgia?
*Discover* isn't a political magazine and doesn't get into the politics of
the science stories it publishes. Something tells me, though, that lunatic
fringe science-deniers on the House Science Committee, like Paul Broun (R-Pit
of Hell), Mike McCaul (R-TX), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Steve Stockman (R-OK
City Federal Building), Steven Palazzo (R-MS), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Tom Massie
(R-KY), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Jim Bridenstine (R-OK), Randy Weber (R-TX) and
Chris Stewart (R-Utah), don't subscribe. They should-- if, for no other
reason-- to get a better understanding of the people who vote... more »
Don’t You Know that God Gave Americans the Power to Fix All Wrongs? What Are You? Some Kind of Idiot, an Anti-American, a Pinko-Liberal-Commie? (Plan Revealed for Stealing FDIC Insured Depositors' US Funds by Non-Anti-American Pinko-Liberal Commies)
I believe Paul Craig Roberts has the right title for his latest essay. And
to read a little further into that title, it's something I've noticed for
long over a decade because it seems to be the same national understanding
that informs the opinions of those who want to tell me that the USA is
still the best place in the world to live (it isn't, by the way), and that
I should GET A JOB (and
6 Imágenes bonitas de paisajes para disfrutar
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Velero en un bello amanecer
[image: Velero en un bello amanecer]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de amaneceres*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
VIDEO Chief Red Cloud: Destruction of Mother Earth
Chief Red Cloud, Native American leaders, Medicine Men and Medicine women
talk about an Environment in Crisis. About the BP oil spill and water
shortage. We must live and teach Love and Respect for everything.
Hermosa cascada en el bosque
[image: Hermosa cascada en el bosque]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de cascadas*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
El hada de la luz y la magia
[image: Hada de la luz y la magía]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de hadas*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Delicada y perfumada flor del pantano
[image: Delicada y perfumada flor del pantano]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de flores*
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com
Recently Retired Federal Researcher Says Harper Conservatives ARE Muzzling Scientists ...
*A retired federal researcher based in Saskatoon is going public with
concerns Ottawa is muzzling scientists like her.*
***Marley Waiser, 59, spent more than 25 years with Environment Canada,
most recently with the National Water Research Institute in Saskatoon.*
***She retired last year, about a year after CBC News did a story about
pollution in Regina's Wascana Creek that referenced her research.*
***In an interview, she says she wasn't allowed to talk to a CBC reporter
about that story, but now wants her voice heard.*
***"I was reticent to come forward for fear of losing my jo... more »
GOPers gone wild in North Carolina
What happens when delusional voters give Republicans complete control of a
Statehouse? This bill to establish a state religion in North Carolina,
along with the possible mandating of Christian prayer in all schools and
public meetings, is getting all the buzz today. It doesn't say which
religion they intend to establish as the one and only officially sanctioned
church tasked with the praising of the Lord God. If this really happens I
see potential for some heavy infighting between the Baptists and the
Methodists. (Half kidding.)
I don't see this going anywhere myself. It's pure pan... more »
Jim Carrey's Video Is Hysterical
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0433b30576/cold-dead-hand-with-jim-carrey
This hilarious video is no longer available on You Tube because too many
people have been violating copyright laws. But it's well worth it to visit
the address I've published above.
You can also get the lyrics of Jim's parody song at
democraticunderground.com
As "Sam Elliot" says, "Enjoy the show." -- mj
UPDATED 4/4/13: RESPONSE TO SHELDON NIDLE UPDATE OF APRIL 2, 2013
*New comments at the bottom of this post. -AK*
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
*RESPONSE TO SHELDON NIDLE UPDATE!!!*
*Reblogged, edited and added to from the original blog post at:
http://opptanswersforquestions.blogspot.ca/2013/04/response-to-sheldon-nidle-update.html
*
*From Sheldon Nidles update:*
...we are as well setting up the scenario for how your global governance
morphs into the one that we have been describing to you.
Our friends have thus given us the weapons to push this governance from
power and replace it with a temporary one that can set the stage for what
are indeed fai... more »
"I need to know you're with me"
I need to know you're with me
It seems a simple choice -
succumb, or overcome?
Succeed, or fail?
Winner, or loser?
The english language is riddled with dualities,
each one of them cheapening
the fascinating variegated integrity
of creation itself.
(I.E., us.)
Many of us are force-fed these notions
and our mind, fulfilling it's function, digests them -
integrating yes/no understandings into our identity.
Are you fat, or skinny?
Stupid, or smart?
If you're not pretty you must be ugly,
and if you're not a 'have'
you must be one of the unfortunate 'have-nots.'
Are you good at dancin... more »
Video Evidence of Significant Releases of Radioactive Steam From Fukushima Unit 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBChBYpm1Cw
I recommend watching the video carefully. After about 1:30 colors -
particularly red and purple - begin to be evident in the streaming 'steam'
releases.
Opt Out Goes Viral
*Opt Out Goes Viral*from Yinzercation
"We’ve gone viral again! And the Governor is listening. On Sunday, the *
Post-Gazette* published Kathy Newman’s terrific Op Ed about why she is
opting her son out of high-stakes-testing. [See “A Plague of Cheating”] In
the past 48 hours, *over 23,000 people* have shared that story on Facebook
from the paper’s website and it has generated an incredible nationwide
discussion with over 300 public comments. Yes, over twenty-three thousand
people have not only read about our grassroots movement but have shared the
story (we know the actual number of ... more »
Interested in the Autism Vaccine Controversy? New Report
* The Childhood Immunization Schedule and Safety: Stakeholder Concerns,
Scientific Evidence, and Future Studies* The National Academies Press,
http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13563&utm_medium=etmail&utm_source=The%20National%20Academies%20Press&utm_campaign=NAP%20mail%20new%2004.02.13&utm_content=&utm_term=
*Authors:*
Committee
on the Assessment of Studies of Health Outcomes Related to the
Recommended Childhood Immunization Schedule; Board on Population Health
and
Public Health Practice; Institute of Medicine
[Excerpt from 'Description']* The Childhood Immunization
Schedule... more »
Mark Cuban may draft Brittney Griner
Mark Cuban may draft Brittney Griner - Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban
would be willing to give Baylor women's star Brittney Griner the
opportunity to prove she could play in the NBA.
Cuban said he would consider selecting Griner, a 6-foot-8 three-time
All-American and Big 12 player of the year, in the second round of the NBA
draft. If the Mavs don't draft her, Cuban said he would have "no problem
whatsoever" inviting Griner to try out for a spot on Dallas' summer league
team.
"If she is the best on the board, I will take her," Cuban said before the
Mavs' Tuesday night game again... more »
Cell phone service has arrived in Cape Dorset, Nunavut
*To say cellphone service is Nunavut is spotty is putting it mildly.
Rogers has no service -- I don't know why they don't put in one cell tower
in Iq.*
*
**Story*
**
*
*
The first pre-paid phones went on sale a few days ago, and similar services
will soon be coming to other parts of Nunavut.
Buyers crowded into the office at the Cape Dorset Print shop. For many, it
was their first chance to buy a cell phone.
"There is a large divide, a cell phone divide across Canada, so these guys
are now on the other side, they have cell phone service," said Adnan Ahmed,
the general manager wit... more »
Finding Dory, sequel to Finding Nemo, due for 2015 release
Disney Pixar have announced that *Finding Dory*, the sequel to the studio's
classic 2003 animation Finding Nemo, will be released in cinemas in 2015.
Finding Dory Finding Nemo's long-anticipated sequel has been announced. It
is called Finding Dory, stars Ellen Degeneres and will be released in
November 2015.
Comedian Ellen DeGeneres, who voiced *Dory *in the original film, thrilled
Nemo fans when she spoke publicly about the film for the first time.
DeGeneres said the time Pixar had taken to make the sequel was "worth it",
adding: "The script is fantastic. It has everything I loved ... more »
Thoughts for the brain...
I am, I hope, about to have something of mine (a rewrite of the recent
Another Green World post) put up on the IS Network blog. The point of the
piece will be there is something to be said for socialists incorporating
environmentalist politics in a non-utopian way.
Part of the difficulty of green politics is who is expected to put on the
agenda, let alone into action. The piece ends with a set of suggestions,
possible demands that can link improving quality of life to curbing
greenhouse gas emissions to tangible action in the here and now.
The other problem with green politics is ... more »
Mohawk Nation News 'Instigating Unity'
[image: mnnlogo1]
INSTIGATING UNITY
Posted on April 3, 2013
**
[image: bring democracy]*MNN. Mar. 23, 2013. *CELAC is the “Community of
the States of Latin America and the Caribbean”. It is a newly formed
non-armed organization, established at a meeting in Caracas Venezuela on
December 4, 2011. The late President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is one of the
founders. President Sebastien Pinera of Chile is co-chair. 33 sovereign
states of the Western Hemisphere are members, representing 600 million
people. **
*Canada and US cannot join. CELAC wants to deepen integration in the
Americas;... more »
THE CIA's 'GLADIO B'
Gladio B: The Origins of NATO's Secret Islamic Terrorist Proxies
*1.* The CIA's *Gladio A *carried out terrorism in Europe.
Gladio A employed many former Nazis.
The CIA's* Gladio B* did 9 11.
Gladio B uses fascist Moslems.
*Heroin routes. www.globalresearch.ca*
Gladio A and Gladio B cooperate with various mafias.
"Until 9/11, the majority of heroin operations were by Russia...
"After 9/11 that control shifts to NATO.
"With their takeover of the Afghan poppy, production skyrockets."
*Synopsizing Sibel Edmonds: The Evolution of Operat...*
AYMAN AL ZAWAHIRI of Gladio B
Gladio B... more »
Goofus and Gallant on Goldstein!
*WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013*
*Two angles into the world:* We can’t help liking Kevin Drum, although we
struggle to resist such reactions here on our sprawling campus.
That said, we chuckled when we read Drum’s post about Dana Goldstein’s epic
fail concerning Atlanta’s NAEP scores.
In this case, we played the thundering Goofus to Drum’s annoyed and
harrumphing Gallant. That said, after taking a look at the record, Drum
provides some data which we withheld:
DRUM (4/3/13): *A quick look tells me that reading scores for black 8th
graders increased from 233 to 249 during Hall's tenure, a... more »
Obama Misfires, On And Off The Court
The video below is a perfect metaphor for Obama's presidency.
Whether it comes to the economy or foreign policy Obama keeps missing the
target. The only time he got a basket as President was when the
announcement of Osama Bin Laden's death in Pakistan was made almost two
years ago, and we all know that was fake, so that didn't even count. That
was a clear violation. The scriptwriters at the CIA got the assist and the
basket on that one.
Throughout his presidency Obama has made only two shots: the elections of
2008 and 2012. And those were easy baskets because no one was guarding him... more »
California: 'Death of Delta' coffin being delivered
*
http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/peripheral-tunnel-opponents-will-hold-death-of-delta-funeral/
*
*Stop Governor Jerry Brown, Natural Resources Secretary John Laird and
Deputy Secretary Jerry Meral from overseeing the Death of the Delta. Attend
the news conference outside the Bay Delta Conservation Plan meeting on
Thursday, April 4, at noon in Sacramento at the Red Lion Woodlake
Conference Center, 500 Leisure Lane.*
* *
Peripheral tunnel opponents will hold "Death of Delta" funeral
Coffin will be delivered to Jerry Meral, tunnel point man
by Dan Bacher
Posted with permi... more »
Carrying us back to old Virginny!
*WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2013*
*Rachel Maddow runs us rubes about those very long lines:* In fairness,
Rachel Maddow covers some perfectly decent topics.
Her play list is limited for our taste, and her political sense is quite
weak. But worst of all, she just isn’t overwhelmingly honest.
As part of that problem, she sometimes peddles big piles of bogus facts.
Consider what happened on Monday night, which was, after all, April 1.
The state of Virginia had passed a new law requiring more documentation to
vote. That was a perfectly worthwhile topic, but Rachel just couldn’t help
it.
The... more »
Define 'illegal'
'Associated Press, one of the largest news agencies in the world, will no
longer use the term “illegal immigrant” to describe those who migrate to a
country in violation of their immigration laws, their Executive Vice
President announced on Tuesday.
Their style guide will no longer permit the term ‘illegal immigrant’ or the
use of ‘illegal’ to describe a person. It will now only use of the word
“illegal” to describe an action, such as “living in or migrating to a
country illegally”.
It is believed that most of the 1400 U.S. newspapers which use AP will
likely follow their decisi... more »
Fox News' Greatest Fuckups of All Time.
Fox News Greatest Fuckups by Robert Crawford
It's one thing to hear evidence of Fox "News'" fuckups but another
entirely to see the evidence in a barrage of images. Like pixels on
television, these screengrabs proving Fox's misinformation, stupidity, lies
and sheer ignorance paint a picture of Roger Ailes' network of being merely
the propaganda arm of the GOP, Wall Street and the US Chamber of Commerce.
What follows are over 80 of the most outrageous Fox "News' screengrabs I've
been collecting over the past 6 years.
"Why Can't It?"
"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
- Will Rogers
More on Talk and Action and Agenda Setting and Climate
I wrote one over at Plum Line yesterday about a Media Matters push to get
people to lobby the broadcast networks to run more stories about climate.
My argument was that it's unlikely that such an effort would be successful,
and that if the goal was more attention to climate, the more likely way to
get results would be for activists to target politicians, and especially
the president. Basically, the path going activists to parties to
politicians to news coverage works better than the more direct activists to
news coverage path.
After some pushback, I'm thinking that it wasn't the sma... more »
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