Three-Day Kayak and Hiking Tour of the Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz) (Photo credit: mikebaird)
Newark Airport, NJ. Foreground: Terminal C; background: The borough of Manhattan (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Newsroom of the New York Times (Photo credit: Wikipedia)The New York Times profiles The One True Channel!
*MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014*
*Or at least, two reporters pretend:* For years, we’ve been saying that our
big newspapers ought to report about the work being done our cable “news”
channels.
This morning, the New York Times takes our advice! The paper reports about
MSNBC, the cable news channel they *don’t* seem to fear.
Michael Barbaro and Bill Carter do the reporting. As they start, their
basic premise is wildly overstated:
BARBARO/CARTER (1/20/14): *It was a match made in moderately minded
Northeast Corridor heaven.*
Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey needed a TV network that would ... more »
Digging deeper into the principal controversy in Newark, NJ #p2
Have you been following it? We have. There may be some connections to the
bullying tactics of the Christie administration. There might not be. I
don’t know. But what happened Newark in recent days is part and parcel of
the assault on meaningful conversations in education, especially when it
challenges prevailing reform interests. We’re starting […]
Public Opinion in the Midst of War
I have been an admirer of Sam Whitt’s work for some time. He has always
done interesting research, being one of the first to study and publish on
Katrina and run surveys/experiments on divided post conflict societies.
Whitt and his colleague Vera Mironova, conducted a survey of civilians and
rebels in Syria during the Civil War.
Continue reading
UK Government Policy Papers of ChemTrails and GeoEngineering
*“HAARP is a weapon of mass destruction, capable of destabilising
agricultural and ecological systems globally.”“‘Climatic warfare’
potentially threatens the future of humanity, but has casually been
excluded from the reports for which the IPCC received the 2007 Nobel Peace
Prize.”Weather Warfare by Michel Chossudovsky, The Ecologist, December
2007 *
*Memorandum 152*
*Submission from John C D Nissen*
SUMMARY
- Gravity of situation-global warming poses a threat to the survival of
human civilisation.
- State of denial-few scientists are prepared to admit that th... more »
THE NEW SAM-AND-COKIES: Horrible work!
*MONDAY, JANUARY 20, 2014*
*Part 1—The Times and The One True Channel:* Inexorably, your Daily Howler
keeps banging out those results.
For years, we have said that it ought to be front-page news when cable news
channels mislead or misinform the public.
This morning, the New York Times runs a front-page report about one of the
cable news channels—the channel the Times *doesn’t* fear.
The Times report about MSNBC is absurdly misleading in at least one major
respect. Still, its front-page placement sets a useful precedent.
We’ll examine that profile in our next post.
For now, let’... more »
Global distrust in government and business rising- prepping for Davos
Why on earth would the citizens place any trust in the two pilfering bed
fellows of government and business.
When the largest problem on this planet is government and multinational
pillaging business.
And the stupidity of globalization.
Trust in elected leaders has fallen sharply, a global survey
suggests, citing Europe's stuttering response to its debt crisis and the
protracted United States budget battle that nearly led the country to
default on its debts as key reasons for the drop.
Ahead of the gathering of political and business leaders in the Swiss
resort of Davos, the... more »
How much Money do I have to give a society to keep me safe?
Answer is all that you got, plus what you can borrow against, and when the
time comes to crime, mostly if will be I found your son with a joint, and
being a good person I did not charge him with a crime, I found real
punishment by pissing in his face.
Yes that could be a true story, and if your a cop that complians you are a
unicorn. A mythical being that would say a bad word, all the time living at
home with children and telling them your great word.
Now to lie to your kids is an easy escape. Everyone does it to the ends
that meet their ends of not performing in a modern landscape... more »
Crown required to produce legible notes as part of disclosure
R v Lalani, 2014 ONCJ 10:
57: "....in my view, the provision of a typed version of one of the
investigative officer's notes where that officer's handwritten notes were
illegible was more than simply a courtesy; it was part of the Crown's
disclosure obligation."
Boats in Arctic Bay, Nunavut
A brisk minus 34 outside
In Remembrance
*Now we must develop progress, or rather, a program—and I can't stay on
this long—that will drive the nation to a guaranteed annual income. Now,
early in the century this proposal would have been greeted with ridicule
and denunciation as destructive of initiative and responsibility. At that
time economic status was considered the measure of the individual's
abilities and talents. And in the thinking of that day, the absence of
worldly goods indicated a want of industrious habits and moral fiber. We've
come a long way in our understanding of human motivation and of the blind
... more »
Reasonably Defeating the Men in Black
Ironically the first Black man the men in Black met was ready for them. The
men in black live on taxpayers dollars designated to keep the taxpayer
safe. This is a fantastic idea. Intellectually equivalent to communism.
In some of the most urban Tiger free areas of the world people are employed
in schools to beat a drum. These schools in a hundred years have never had
a tiger attack. A logical argument is made in this third world country
starved for money to make a real difference. We could put the money from
the drum beater into nutrion and education. However the drum beater remai... more »
Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: “This rigid refusal to look at ourselves”
Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: \”This rigid refusal to look at ourselves\”.
via Dream Deferred, MLK Day 2014: “This rigid refusal to look at
ourselves”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Romney Is No New York Doll
Greg Whiteley's film, *Mitt* debuted at Sundance in Utah Friday. The
documentary is a very up-front and personal look at Romney's two failed
attempts at the presidency. At the bottom of this post is a trailer that
will give you a good feel for the movie, which was made by director Greg
Whiteley. According to Byron York, Whiteley's film New York Doll, had
impressed Romney enough for him to grant Whiteley the kind of access needed
to make this kind of movie. Don't start wondering which of the two Dolls'
album is Romney's favorite. The 2005 film "brilliantly chronicled a
broken-down... more »
Untitled
*Lafayette man accused of causing California wildfire ~The Daily Advertiser*
*Dot McLeod lost her home and was injured while being evacuated. She died
last week at 91 in a Texas hospice ~Natalie, Pompilio, Phily.com*
*MLK Day events across the country, in New Orleans ~WWL*
*Dr. John to headline 2014 BR Blues Festival ~John Wirt, The Advocate*
Fundamentally Wrong
Stephen Harper, we are told, has received a rock star welcome in Israel.
Leaving aside for the moment the diversion it creates from scandal at home,
one should be very uncomfortable about what Harper is stirring up in the
Middle East. Jeffrey Simpson writes that, while successive Canadian
governments have always supported Israel,
none, however, has gone as far in embracing Israel as Prime Minister
Stephen Harper’s government – to the point of distancing Canada from
traditional allies in the United States and Europe, abandoning even the
pretense of balance and nuance, and contribut... more »
THE SOUL OF OUR NATION
MLK was a treasure.....if we each pick up the baton they can't kill us all.
Keep planting the olive trees so we can feed the next generation.
Unreasonable fruitcakes
Steve Evans in Warnemunde. Misunderstood?
Since writing the blog post ‘Unreasonable fanatics” the comment count on
the BBC Watch/ Steve Evans thread has leapt into the stratosphere.
Somewhere amongst them, someone wondered if, perhaps, removing the commas
altogether would help to clarify the meaning. See if you think it does.
(I’m sounding like Craig now)
*It was a time when Jews* *who displeased the Nazis* *risked their lives*.
Well, this (non) punctuation looks as though it means the Jews were okay in
1935 Germany, living the life of riley - but if they happened to
‘displease’ t... more »
Affordable and Quick Super Bowl Party Ideas
“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate
Media Group™ and Rubbermaid and Sharpie but all my opinions are my own.
#pmedia #RubbermaidSharpie http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO”
I am pretty sure the only thing my husband loves more than football is the
food that goes along with it. Every year, we throw a Super Bowl party and
every year involves hours of prep work as well as hours of cleanup. This
year, I decided to try something a little bit different with one of our
play off game parties and I loved the results. This party was easy to pull
together, the ... more »
Contested History, again
*A *cha hua*, camellia blossom.*
This week saw two struggles over Taiwan history. The first took place at
National Chengkung Universty, where the students voted to name a square
after Deng Nan-jung, the pro-democracy and free speech advocate. J Michael
Cole had excellent coverage last week. The Taipei Times editorialized the
other day:
While the university administrator’s move to dismiss the vote betrayed the
spirit of democracy, the arguments of history professor Wang Wen-hsia (王文霞)
in expressing her opposition to the naming of the plaza underestimated
Deng’s efforts and ignored... more »
Hidden at the end
this BBC article entitled 'Iran nuclear: Curbs on uranium enrichment begin'
starts 'Iran has begun curbing uranium enrichment under a deal which will
also see international sanctions eased, the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA)
says.
Earlier, centrifuges used for enrichment were disconnected at the Nantaz
plant, Iranian TV reported.'
Hidden away right at the end of the report is this somewhat important
passage:
'Sounding a note of caution, former IAEA deputy director Olli Heinonen said
that if Iran decided to renege on the deal, it would only need two to three
weeks to produce enough ... more »
Buy the best you can afford its mostly cheaper
From clothes, to cars spending more often costs you less in the long run.
In addition you enjoy the pleasures of the extra finery at the same time .
When it comes to construction the benefits are exponential. Skip the
granite counter tops and go straight to passive windows and a heat
exchanger.
The Champlain bridge is a case in point. Saving $ 2 million in 1962 is now
going to cost the taxpayer up to $5 billion in 2013. Road salting to
combat ice played a large role in this debacle. So why don't we build new
bridges and overpasses with heat pumped heating and not use any salt at... more »
My MLK Post: An Assignment for Test-Driven Reformers
On this day dedicated to the memory of a remarkable man who gave his life
(literally) for the sake of civil rights and social equity, I expect that
education privatizers will use the opportunity to promote themselves as
“overcoming” opposition to their self-serving, destructive policies. They
might even go so far as to imply that Martin Luther […]
james frey: author, liar, sweatshop boss
Today I break one of my own rules, and write about a book I didn't enjoy.
Not only that, but I trash the author, too. But perhaps *author* is the
wrong word. Maybe I should call him the factory boss.
I know something about how difficult it is to write a book, and I feel
solidarity with all writers. When it comes to blogging about books, I
usually employ the old saw, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't
say it". So when I didn't like *I Am Number Four*, I wasn't going to write
about it. Until I discovered what it really is.
*I Am Number Four* is a youth novel, the first in ... more »
Tell The Swedish Goverment To Ban GMOs and Monsanto? - It's Up To Citizens If It Will Be Done
Swedish Goverment: Ban GMOs and Monsanto
Why this is important?
Sweden is the only country in Europe that has said OK to GMOs. They have
been growing GMOs through Monsanto daughter companies for over 10 years and
now have crops of potatoes and sugar beets well established. This a very
bad for the people in Sweden and around the world. Why did Sweden say yes
to this ?
*STOP GMO FOOD NOW!*
To sign the petition, please click on the link provided below:
*Petition Link*
Justice Delayed is Justice Denied
See Kosilek vs Spencer III USCA 1st Cct No. 12-2194
THOMPSON, Circuit Judge. Twenty years after prison inmate Michelle Kosilek
first requested treatment for her severe gender identity disorder, the
district court issued an order requiring the defendant, Luis S. Spencer,
Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Correction (the "DOC"),1 to
provide Kosilek with sex reassignment surgery. The court found that the
DOC's failure to provide the surgery — which was said by a group of
qualified doctors to be medically necessary to treat Kosilek's condition —
violated Kosilek's Eighth ... more »
Mega Default In China Scheduled For January 31
*Caleb spotted this article at the Drudge Report, Heather Tucci-Jarraf has
long said China is the world's most bankrupt economy... - AK*
*Mega Default In China Scheduled For January 31*
http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2014/01/19/mega-default-in-china-scheduled-for-january-31/
Gordon G. Chang, Contributor
I write primarily on China, Asia, and nuclear proliferation.
OP/ED | 1/19/2014 @ 8:08PM
On Friday, Chinese state media reported that China Credit Trust Co. warned
investors that they may not be repaid when one of its wealth management
products matures on January 31, the ... more »
Musical Interlude: Adiemus, “Adiemus”
Adiemus, “Adiemus”
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL8kZ-iVk90
Eastern Provinces Of Canada GE Food Tour - Feb 28th to July 1st 2014
The Eastern tour planning is well under way! Please see the map to find the
name and email address of your provincial Coordinator. We are also still
looking for provincial coordinators in Quebec, PEI, New Brunswick, and
Newfoundland. The cu...t off dates for applying to be a host are as follows:
Tour 1 - Feb 28th
Tour 2 - April 30th
Tour 3 - July 1st
Please contact GEFoods.Tour@gmail if there are any interests or inquiries,
and make sure to visit and like their page:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/GE-Foods-Tour/392980204169482
#GEFoodsTour #GMOs #DrThierryVrain #TonyMitra #... more »
Angie's Diary - Tandem novel excerpt - Paradise Interrupted
Book review site ANGIE'S DIARY has just run an exclusive excerpt from my
new WAR WORLD novel "Tandem (a G3 whistleblower novel)".
Here's how it opens:
*PARADISE INTERRUPTED *
*“Every life form on this Hell Planet … can be (technologically)
controlled,” was the message I got. Rammed right into the centre of my
skull. New word, for me, MENTICIDE: the death of one’s thoughts. Field
Notes Of Lieutenant Colonel Lionel G Fischer* [ source AD]
Read on by clicking the above AD link.
Monday Linkage – MLK Day Edition
Good mornin’ Ducks! Here are your links: Oliver Steunkel discusses “The
Death of IMF Reform?” at the Post-Western World Blog. The US Congress’
rejection an IMF funding request by the Obama administration “… leaves the
188-nation group without additional resources and blocks an increase in
voting power for China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets.”
Continue reading
Eta function and the sum of positive integers
In the previous articles, I described various calculations of the sum of
positive integers and discussed the context in which it is right to say
that the sum is equal to \(-1/12\). Here, I want to sketch a justification
of the value that is perhaps more morally justifiable than (even) the
zeta-function regularization and other regularizations – a derivation that
is rooted in the symmetry transformations of some physical quantities.
The derivation will be based on the properties of \(\vartheta\)-functions
(vartheta functions), especially the Dedekind \(\eta\)-function (eta
function).... more »
Musical Interlude: André Rieu, "Conquest of Paradise"
André Rieu, "Conquest of Paradise"
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G2MCGmypaY&html5=1
ISRAEL’S DEPUTY DEFENCE MINISTER HINTS AT UNILATERAL ATTACK AGAINST IRAN
Further to my post earlier today regarding the possibility of Netanyahu
taking matters into his own hands and launching an attack on Iran on the
off-chance that the US Congress will comes to Israel’s aid, it seems that
such a possibility is very likely.
Israel’s Deputy Defence Minister, Danny Danon, has written a piece
published in *Politico* hinting that Israel might indeed launch a
pre-emptive unilateral attack against Iran. While Danon doesn’t state
specifically that Israel will attack Iran, he does cite Israel’s previous
attacks against nuclear facilities in Iraq in 1981 and Syr... more »
Fischer Scientifically Proves That Transgender People Can Cure Themselves
J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jan;93(1):182-9
A 46,XY mother who developed as a normal woman underwent spontaneous
puberty, reached menarche, menstruated regularly, experienced two
unassisted pregnancies, and gave birth to a 46,XY daughter with complete
gonadal dysgenesis.
US National Library of Medicine
Klinefelter syndrome is a condition related to the X and Y chromosomes (the
sex chromosomes). People typically have two sex chromosomes in each cell:
females have two X chromosomes (46,XX), and males have one X and one Y
chromosome (46,XY). Most often, Klinefelter syndrome resul... more »
Musical Interlude: Joe Bonamassa, "Driving Towards The Daylight"
Joe Bonamassa, "Driving Towards The Daylight"
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTG-bCMG05E
Scott Simon Rocks the Blog World (and other links)
[image: FTV_Jan_2014_100]
*A sausage vendor in Jiji.*
Just to point you to something really great, longtime anthropologist Scott
Simon has opened a blog, Anthropology of Taiwan. Dr. Simon is brilliant and
insightful. Can't wait! Other links...
_________________
*Daily Links*:
- Ben rips the attack on Deng Nan-jung in an excellent post on character
assassination.
- Taiwanese mil recruiters looking to recruit out of Burma?
- Taiwan KOM is one of world's toughest bike races.
- Lee Teng-hui is a voice of sanity on Senkaku issue, says Japan owns
the islands.
- ACER pos... more »
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Billions of years from now, only one of these two galaxies will remain.
Until then, spiral galaxies NGC 2207 and IC 2163 will slowly pull each
other apart, creating tides of matter, sheets of shocked gas, lanes of dark
dust, bursts of star formation, and streams of cast-away stars.
*Click image for larger size.*
Astronomers predict that NGC 2207, the larger galaxy on the left, will
eventually incorporate IC 2163, the smaller galaxy on the right. In the
most recent encounter that about peaked 40 million years ago, the smaller
galaxy is swinging around counter-clockwise, and is now sl... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Deerwood, Minnesota, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
The Battle Over The Honolulu Congressional Seat-- One Progressive And A Whole Lot Of DINOs
So far this cycle, when we've talked about Hawai'i politics it's almost
always been about a Senate primary in which corrupt New Dem Colleen
Hanabusa is challenging progressive Senator Brian Schatz. But there's
another important race in Hawai'i, which is not unrelated-- to fill the
Honolulu-based House seat Hanabusa is giving up (HI-01).
For one of the bluest states in the nation-- Hawaii gave Obama 71% of its
votes in 2012 and the state legislature is made up of 24 Democrats and just
one Republican in the Senate and 44 Democrats and 7 Republicans in the
House-- there are an overab... more »
Reduce Footprints Is Back!
[image: Happy New Year & Welcome Back to Reduce Footprints Blog]
Happy 2014 and welcome back to Reduce Footprints. I hope that you enjoyed
the holidays, kept them green, and are ready for an exciting new year!
Before leaving for my hiatus, I asked you to give me your Reduce Footprints
"Wish List": suggestions, ideas, and a general critique of the blog. Many
of you obliged me with wonderful comments, which I have taken to heart.
Here are the ideas which we are implementing this year:
Meet and GreetThe purpose of the Meet & Greet link-up is to grow our
community, get acquainted with ea... more »
“10 of the Nuttiest, Nastiest Right-Wing Statements This Week—Pot Freak-Out Edition”
*“10 of the Nuttiest, Nastiest Right-Wing Statements This Week—*
*Pot Freak-Out Edition”*
By Janet Allon
*1. Nancy Grace:* People on pot shoot, stab and strangle each other: It is
now abundantly clear that Nancy Grace has never smoked, or known anyone who
smoked marijuana. How do we know this? On her show this week, she
hysterically ranted hat marijuana is highly addictive, and that it causes
people to go on bloody killing sprees. Her guest, Mason Tvert of the Marijuana
Policy Project (MPP), tried to inject some reason into the conversation, by
pointing out that “marijuana’s addicti... more »
The Battle For Human Survival
We are in a fight for our very lives... Right now, the criminal psychotic
Jewish elite are working their best at poisoning our food through the
insidious chemicals that are added to our food supply as well as through
the criminal use of GMO foods via the Jewish run Monsanto, and destroying
our minds via their control over our media and by the lies they perpetuate
through their so called "history books"... We are indeed watching their
long sought plans to have the Gentiles destroyed or made their permanent
slaves unfold before our very eyes...
For this article, I want to present this... more »
Clarifying the Cross Strait Situation, Redux: Etzioni in The Diplomat
[image: FTV_Jan_2014_138]
*A Yanshui Street corner.*
Amitai Etzioni, longtime international affairs expert, writes on the
strategic ambiguity of the US commitment to Taiwan in The Diplomat....
True, even if the restraint both sides imposed on themselves (and on their
respective hawks) is made more explicit, either side could violate it.
However, the more explicit the agreement the less likely is that it will be
subject to misunderstandings and the more likely it is to survive. It may
well be impossible at this stage to turn the implicit understanding, such
as there is – if there is ... more »
China credit markets will be a key focal point over the next two weeks ! Chinese Money Markets Spooked Despite Slight Beat (And Miss!) In GDP ....Bank of America Is Actively Preparing For The Chinese January 31 Trust Default
Chinese Money Markets Spooked Despite Slight Beat (And Miss!) In GDP
[image: Tyler Durden's picture]
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/19/2014 21:16 -0500
- China
- default
- Gross Domestic Product
inShare
*UPDATE: China overnight repo rates just spiked to 6% - the worst since
June...*
Chinese *overnight repo rates were already on the rise (several trades at
5.5%: 200bps above Friday's close)* as contagion concerns over wealth
management product default spreads and the *Chinese Business Climate Index
tumbled to its lowest since June 09*. Equity futures were sliding ... more »
Gold and Silver news and views January 18 , 2014 - Ed Steer's Saturday missive , Koos Jansen missives - focusing on China , Andy Hoffman declaring COMEX is in technical default on the December Contract for Gold !
Catharsis Ours - 14 hours ago
http://www.caseyresearch.com/gsd/edition/eric-sprott-one-more-sign-of-manipulation-in-the-gold-market
¤ YESTERDAY IN GOLD & SILVER
The gold price drifted aimlessly in Far East trading on their Friday---and
that continued into morning trading in London. But once the noon silver
fix was in, which was also the low of the day, away the price went to the
upside. The rally got capped shortly after 11:30 a.m. EST in New
York---and that was it for the day.
The CME Group recorded the low and high ticks at $1,237.30 and $1,254.60 in
the February contract.
Gold closed on Friday in New York at... more »
Australasia: the world leader in excessive house prices
Alan Moran at the always enlightening Australian economics blog Catallaxy
Files is uncomfortable sharing his country’s appalling housing
affordability ranking with New Zealand.
There is one area where Australia leads the world [which it shares with New
Zealand]. Demographia’s 10th Annual Survey of house prices - this one
covering 360 cities in nine countries – shows Australasia imperiously
blitzing all opposition other than Hong Kong in house prices. To ensure
against distortions from different standards of living and costs, the
survey compares median house prices in terms of a... more »
MeTA 15: Forum 2014 on Healthcare Ethics and Transparency
The Medicines Transparency Alliance (MeTA) Philippines will hold its annual
forum this year with a timely theme, Transparency and Ethics in Healthcare.
Things that are expected of various players and professionals in the health
sector -- pharma companies, drugstores and pharmacies, hospitals and
clinics, doctors and pharmacists, etc. And patients and the public too, we
should have our own "code of ethics". Here is the provisional program for
the event three weeks from now.
The Mexico City Principles (MCP) is a set of ethical conduct adopted by
APEC member countries for the pharmace... more »
Obama's Special Ops Surge: America’s Secret War in 134 Countries, NC Fracking Results To Be Kept Secret, Milwaukee Voucher School Disappears After Getting $2 Million in Taxpayer Funds, Fake HillBillies Run Amuck and Bill Maher Rules!
BREAKING NEWS! "Fracking Chemicals In North Carolina Will Remain Secret,
Industry-Funded Commission Rules" What, exactly, are those chemicals being
pumped underground during the fracking process? In North Carolina, no one
has to say. On Tuesday, the 15-member state Mining and Energy Commission
voted unanimously to pass a rule that would let fracking companies keep
secret the makeup of the
Ten Reasons Why Taichung is the Best City
[image: FTV_Jan_2014_195]
*Processing pork.*
I saw Ten Reasons Why Taipei is the Best City on Facebook. It lists ten
reasons why Taipei is the best city: safety, shopping, food, 7-11s, the
people, expenses, the sights, the events, transportation, and culture. To
which I reply: Harumph! Taichung is clearly the better city.
*1. The people.* People in Taipei aren't friendly, people in Taipei are
cold -- compared to people in the rest of Taiwan. That includes Taichung,
though in fairness, Tainan and Kaohsiung are even better. If you think
people in Taipei are friendly, you need to get o... more »
Imágenes bonitas que puedes mirar para relajarte un poco
[image: Aviones volando]
[image: Barco en la isla]
[image: Cabaña entre los árboles]
[image: Castillo en el mar]
[image: Mar congelado]
[image: Gatitos con mensaje para facebook]
[image: Mujer hada]
[image: Paisaje de otoño]
[image: Lago cubierto de hojas]
[image: Mujer bonita]
[image: Venado junto a las manzanas]
WOULD THE U.S. ENJOIN WITH ISRAEL IF ISRAEL LAUNCHED A UNILATERAL ATTACK AGAINST IRAN?
On Monday, 20 January 2014, the agreements entered into between Iran and
the so-called P5+1 will come into effect that will relieve Iran of some of
the sanctions against it and release billions of much needed dollars into
the Iranian economy.
On top of that, President Obama seems to have prevailed in his stoush with
a large bipartisan group of Senators wanting to push a bill in the Senate
that was pushing for increased sanctions against Iran that would be
triggered at the slightest sign of faltering on the agreement by Iran. Also imbedded
in that bill is a clause that gave Israel th... more »
Robert Reich on "David Brooks' Utter Ignorance About Inequality"
Occasionally David Brooks, who personifies the oxymoron "conservative
thinker" better than anyone I know, displays such profound ignorance that a
rejoinder is necessary lest his illogic permanently pollute public debate.
Such is the case with his New York Times column last Friday, arguing that
we should be focusing on the "interrelated social problems of the poor"
rather than on inequality, and that the two are fundamentally distinct.
*-- Robert Reich, in his blogpost* "David
Brooks' Utter Ignorance About Inequality"
*by Ken*
Now Bob Reich is maybe the smartest person I've ever kn... more »
Drum Majors and Gatekeepers
*"**Where are all our 'responsible' black leaders...?"*
*Translation: "Where are all the Negroes we pay to come and attack this
fool?"*
*Nice watch, Jesse.MARSHALL FRADY: King aides, long resentful of Jackson,
saw his behavior as brazen opportunism. They were already angry that he had
spoken to the press in the hours after the assassination and furious that
he had so dramatically inflated his own part in the story of King's final
moments.ANDREW YOUNG: A lot of those resentments that had been buried in
the movement, and that allowed us to work alongside each other, but never... more »
“Aucklanders Give a Hoot – Len Brown Should Get the Boot”
*I still maintain that a lame duck Auckland mayor is the very best outcome
for all Aucklanders – given what an Auckland mayor *could do* with the
powers Rodney Hide gave him,* if* he thought he had popular support behind
him. Stephen Berry from **Affordable Auckland** figures otherwise, however,
this short Guest Post …*
Auckland mayor Len Brown says Aucklanders generally "don't give much of a
hoot" about his battles over the last few months.
The people of Auckland do give a hoot about your disgraceful conduct Len.
And in 34 days, The Len Brown Stand Down March will show you just h... more »
Selections from, comments on Ravitch, Everything you need to know about the common core
Excerpts from, and a few friendly comments on, Diane Ravitch's essay,
Everything you need to know about the common core. (Comments marked with
"SK"). My hope is that this very strong essay will turn the tide.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2014/01/18/everything-you-need-to-know-about-common-core-ravitch/
1. "These two federal programs (NCLB and Race to the Top), which both rely
heavily on standardized testing, has produced a massive demoralization of
educators; an unprecedented exodus of experienced educators, who were
replaced in many districts by young, i... more »
A World of Wounds
“One of the penalties of an ecological education is that one lives alone in
a world of wounds. Much of the damage inflicted on land is quite invisible
to laymen. An ecologist must either harden his shell and make believe that
the consequences of science are none of his business, or he must be the
doctor who sees the marks of death in a community that believes itself well
and does not want to be told otherwise.”
~ Aldo Leopold, *A Sand County Almanac*
After a trip back north for Christmas with the family, I returned to Palm
Beach in good time to escape the Polar Vortex and consequentl... more »
"The Retail Death Rattle"
“I was part of that strange race of people aptly described as spending
their lives doing things they detest, to make money they don't want,
to buy things they don't need, to impress people they don't like."
- Emile Gauvreau
You really need to read this post, unable to place it here:
“The Retail Death Rattle”
- http://www.theburningplatform.com/
A Tale of Two Protests: Ukraine and Thailand - Part III
*Image: The US backs mobs in Kiev, Ukraine attacking police with clubs,
sticks, and baseball bats - while it calls protesters in Bangkok, Thailand
"anti-democratic militants" even as the US-backed regime there carries out
nightly, and now daily terror attacks against them. *
....
*January 20, 2014* (ATN) - When last looking at these two protests, one in
Eastern Europe's Ukraine, and another in Southeast Asia's Thailand, it was
concluded that:
It is more than mere fascist ideology that attracts the West to Svoboda in
Ukraine and the regime of Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand - it is ... more »
UK Set to Sell Out it's Population's Medical Data and Records to Private Industry and Health Insurers
I
posted almost a year back about a then apparently more restrictive, but
to my eyes still outrageous, move of the UK government to frivolously
open
up a genomic database created out of the medical records and samples
collected within the NHS in the course of normal health care (for
diagnostics, safety and quality assurance purposes) for research not
only
by public research institutions, but also private companies in the
pharmacological and medical technological area. Now, if this lengthy
accountis to be belived, it transpires that, apparently, the data base,
which is
due to be launc... more »
Straw Dogs
When the philosopher John Gray looks out over the world, he sees a bloody
madhouse, a hell broth of deranged magical thinking. In his bestselling
book, *Straw Dogs*, he turns into a ruthless vigilante who tirelessly
pounds the stuffing out of ridiculous ideas that condemn us to mindless
self-destruction. What might happen if we ever succeeded at clearing the
decks of loony whims? Would this make it easier to think clearly, and move
onto a path with a future?
By the time you get to the end of the book, not one sacred cow is left
standing. He rubbishes our entire belief system. ... more »
Capitalism and Nature
It's not customary for me to do a reply to a reply, but Boffy made a couple
of comments on this piece looking at the progressive creds of the Greens
that begged replies requiring more elaboration than the character count in
the comments boxes allow for.
Boffy's first point replied to my observation that, "Wealth and power
insulates the owners of capital from the consequences of climate change to
a degree. As human beings their long-term interest lies in a
post-capitalist future. But, in a society such as ours, while people own
capital, in a very real sense capital owns people and t... more »
The One Side of the Argument Show
There's a response from the BBC on their Complaints page about last
Tuesday's edition of *The One Show*
The One Show, BBC One, 14 January 2014
Complaint
We have received complaints about Paul O'Grady's appearance on the One Show
on 14 January. Some viewers felt that his views on benefit reform were not
adequately challenged.
BBC's Response
The One Show is a topical magazine programme which occasionally reports on
prominent news stories. Following media coverage of the debate around
Channel Four's Benefits Street, The One Show asked members of the public
for their views on the p... more »
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