map from CIA World Factbook 2002, converted from original format (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Benghazi Again? Investigate the Damned NSA!
Speaker of the House John Boehner on Friday announced that the Republicans
will soon be setting up a special investigative tribunal to once again flog
that long dead horse that is the Benghazi scandal. Now that the corporate
scam that is the Affordable Health Care Act aka Obamacare is pretty much
dead as a campaign issue the GOP is going to count on once again going back
to the future in rolling out the blatant election year scam of yet another
investigation into what it is that happened in Benghazi on September 11,
2012. You have to give it to the sleazy Republicans, they are pred... more »
My Town, Our Town, Your Town
A short time ago, Peter Van Buren posted an article on
TomDispatchthat addressed the central theme of his new book, *Ghosts
of Tom Joad: A Story of the #99 Percent*. Van Buren used to be a State
Department official who'd seen firsthand the excesses in Iraq that
always
seem to favor the 1% there. After 20+ years working for the kind folks
at
Foggy Bottom, he'd lost his job when he decided to turn whistleblower
and
expose some of those excesses and abuses of American taxpayer dollars.
In "This is Not Your Land, This is Their Land", he'd profiled four
communities: Atlantic Cit... more »
Gangs & Counter-gangs: Sir David Sterling, The SAS and the Post-Colonial Destabilisation of The Empire
*"At the end of the war, SAS was disbanded, but it was soon revived to
crush the Malay insurgency in Malaysia, and the Mau Mau insurgency in
Kenya. *
*In his 1960 book Gangs and Countergangs, Col. Frank Kitson boasted that
the British were covertly leading several large-scale Mau Mau units, and
that many, if not all Mau Mau units had been synthetically created by the
colonial authorities.*
*This article appears in the October 13, 1995 issue of Executive
Intelligence Review.*The SAS: Prince Philip's Manager of Terrorism
by Joseph Brewda
On the eve of the first of six schedule... more »
May 2: glimpses of responsible journalism...
The front page actually has two stories that seem to belong there.
The first one is about, I think, a much more serious problem than the story
suggests. The wife of the president of U de Moncton was given a $200,000
contract to redecorate their house. The president says it wasn't him who
did it; it was the Board of Governors. Yeah. I'm sure he protested, but
they muscled him aside. Tough gangs these boards of governors.
By the way, who sits on a board of governors and who dominates it? Usually,
it's businessmen.
Then he says the board did it because it noticed that many presidents
... more »
NRSC Clearly Understands They Can Lose South Dakota, But Guy Cecil Is Still Filled With Poutrage
DSCC executive director Guy Cecil isn't thinking clearly... or doesn't give
a shit if the Democrats keep control of the Senate or not. The battle over
the Senate could well come down to one state: South Dakota... and Cecil,
who rides roughshod over pathetic DSCC chairman Michael Bennet, refuses to
play. When Beltway political reporter Alexandra Jaffe asked the question, Why
Is Rick Weiland Getting Cold Shoulder?, there is never a mention of Cecil.
No doubt he was just too busy trying to worm his way into the Hillary For
President Campaign taking shape, but its hardly a secret that... more »
KIPP Teacher Asks: "Would we let this happen if the students were white middle class?"
I interviewed a former KIPP teacher I will call Keith. Keith was highly
successful at KIPP for longer than most teachers last at any KIPP, which is
1-2 years. Keith shared a great deal, and much of it I had heard from
others: the 80-100 hour weeks, the silent lunches, the incessant chanting,
the compulsive attention to detail, the straight lines of uniformed
students, the clipboard for keeping track of the token economy, kids
staying as late as 7 PM at school to finish homework they had failed to
finish the night before, the singular focus on closing the test score gaps,
the loss... more »
Ukraine Crisis: The Battle for Slavyansk
*May 3, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - LD) - The unelected regime currently
occupying Kiev, Ukraine, has once again attempted to crush multiplying
uprisings across the nation's eastern and southern regions, after earlier
setbacks. In the eastern city of Slavyansk, home to roughly 116,000
Ukrainians, the regime has unleashed helicopter gunships, armored vehicles,
and special forces deployed by helicopter in a city-wide assault that has
left many dead, and many more wounded.
The city's defenders have downed several helicopters and have been clashing
with regime forces throughout the day. B... more »
This story is about Tuscaloosa’s schools!
*FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014*
*And about schools near you:* In the current Atlantic, Nikole Hannah-Jones
has written a lengthy, fascinating report about the racial history of the
Tuscaloosa (City) public schools.
She describes the way Tuscaloosa integrated its dual school system after
being taken to court in 1975. Starting in 1979, the city began operating a
single high school for all its students, white and black, and a single
middle school.
The new arrangement was “clumsy and unpopular,” Hannah-Jones writes, “but
its consequences were profound.” Here’s the way it worked:
HANNAH-JONES ... more »
Randi W. Blows An Easy One (For A Change)
RANDI WEINGARTEN, LOOKING . . . CONFUSED. I love unions, but I have a
hard time fathoming the leadership of contemporary American teachers’
unions. With so many glaring idiocies afloat from the world of education
deform (aka GERM - as Pasi Sahlberg calls it), you’d think it would be
impossible not to find incisive things […]
BEALE AFB DRONE PROTEST
Direct action at Beale AFB in California by Veterans for Peace and others
on April 29 following the reading of an indictment for war crimes.
I lived on this base from 1969-1971 and graduated from nearby Wheatland
High School. I hope to get to one of these protests at Beale at some point.
Friday Nerd Blogging Part Two: Who Says There is a Gap?
One of the constant refrains one will hear in civil-military relations is
that there is a gap between the civilians and the military–a deep, wide gap
in values, perceptions and so on. Well, here is some proof (not great
video) that the gap is over-rated: H/T to Mrs. Spew
BBC Trending update
Ha!!
Further to our post about BBC Trending, “Who is too young to learn about
the horrors of the Holocaust” I see BBC Watch has just published this.
The so-called ‘new law’ is not even a law. It is in fact “a new pedagogic
programme of the Ministry of Education”.
“The programme organises the exposure of the children to content on the
subject of the Holocaust, from the early ages to high school, and *in each
age group there is adjustment of the content to the developmental,
cognitive and emotional abilities of the children to deal with the
material.”*
As I said, not a question of... more »
Medicine of plants
Natural Supplements to help us get better...
Below are the plants that will restore the normal functions of the stomach
and or liver that is provided too much damage was not done because of
"ingested poisons" or suicidal attempts.
*Milk Thysle* The story goes that the milk Thysle plant was believed to
give the expectant mothers increased lactation, It was also believed that
the mottled white veins were caused by the drops of milk from the virgin
mary when nursing baby Jesus.
Apart from that, the fruit of the plant contains SILYMARIN a substance that
promotes the SELF-... more »
NEWS ROUND-UP
*People in the Philippines staged major protests during Obama's visit to
sign new agreements to allow US military bases to return to their country.
The US was kicked out of the Philippines in 1992 and had to close its Navy
and Air Force bases. *
- At Beale AFB in California on Tuesday, the two main gates into the
base for the first time during rush hour commute were successfully shut
down,* simultaneously. *Thirteen people were arrested, six were
veterans and three others had never done civil resistance before. Beale
AFB hosts the Global Hawk (Surveillance drone),... more »
Playoff Break
Now that we are in the second round I will be absorbed totally by the
totality. Montreal has a real shot at the Cup. I can not comment on
anything without that happy feeling. Unless the administration of the human
world demonstratively changes for better or worse I got to say the Habitat
is where I am living. If you are not a Montreal fan, I am sorry for you,
may you find some other path to true joy.
Victim Fine Surcharge
Tinker v. The Queen, 2014 ONCJ 208:
Applicants have brought an application under the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms challenging the s. 737 Victim Surcharge amendments, which came
into effect on Oct. 24, 2013. Notice under the Courts of Justice Act s. 109
-- " I hold that the requirement in s. 737(2)(b) for a surcharge, where no
fine is imposed on the offender, does infringe s. 7 of the Charter and
cannot be saved by s. 1."
Rob Ford antics
The Colbert report. ;)
Here is collection of antics:
Brandan Boyle-- Bipartisan When It Comes To One Thing: The Republican War Against Women
I'm no fan of conservative-leaning New Dem Allyson Schwartz. Earlier today,
I mentioned in passing how she was one of the bought-out Wall Street shills
who voted with the GOP for Bush's anti-family bankruptcy bill. But there is
one area where no one can deny Schwartz's heroic stature and that's when it
comes to women's issues. She has been staunchy pro-Choice and a leader in
the fight for women's health issues, no small matter. It would be tragic if
one of Philadelphia's most ardent opponent's of women's health, an
ambitious state legislator dear to the heart of the corrupt party ... more »
Cute Sophomore Student Council Campaign Video - Innovative and Unique with the bloopers at the end.
Something for your enjoyment and laugh (bloopers at the end). Here is my
daughter's Sophomore Student Council campaign video, it had to be 30
seconds to one minute.. It is innovative and unique. We used the tricks
our dog can do and incorporated them into her campaign. Her flyers had a
picture of her and Shiraz. This video is the original campaign video but I
added the bloopers at the end.
Climate Tricks 29: Bioethanol to Save the Planet, or Pollute the Planet?
The use of biofuels is one of the schemes invented by the climate alarmism
and energy rationing movement to help "save the planet". By using organic
materials like corn and sugar as additive or actual liquid fuel to
vehicles, it is hoped that the use of petroleum products which emit CO2
that "pollute" the air and further raise greenhouse gases (GHGs) and warm
the planet, will be lessened.
There are a few bioethanol processing plants in the Philippines, riding on
the Clean Air Act I think, that requires the use of biofuels nationwide.
Now here's the twist. Residents, church and local... more »
Friday Nerd Blogging: Make Mine Marvel
This summer may be the most Marvelous yet with Captain America 2,
Spider-Man 2, X-Men Days of Future Past (otherwise X-Men First Class 2) and
Guardians of the Galaxy. Sure, not all are by Marvel Studios but all are
based on Marvel Characters. Do we need so many sequels (with GoG being
essentially a sequel
Continue reading
Alabama Makes Clear Parent Rights for Opting Out of State Tests
From AL.com:
. . . .“There’s been a lot of concern about the amount of standardized
testing that the school system does,” Cox said. “It’s not just a Baldwin
County issue; it’s all over the country. Every time the children turn
around, they’re being tested for something, and more and more parents have
become concerned about it.”
Cox stressed that it is permissible for parents to opt out of the tests: *“There
is no Alabama law or federal law that states they cannot opt their children
out, which means that it is perfectly legal to do so,” he said. “There
seems to be some confusion over ... more »
Mike's Story Part 11: Apprentice Devils
*By **Jenna** Orkin*
The reason Mike felt impelled to confess the burundanga episode had to
do with an event that had taken place back home.
FTW subscribers used to get news updates on a daily basis, if memory
serves. One afternoon we opened the email to find a long account,
supposedly from Mike, describing his life in Caracas as one of debauchery -
drinking, whoring and blowing money which had been raised from those same
subscribers after the computers were smashed and FTW's fate hung in the
balance. (This chronology, too, is drawn from memory and may be inaccurate
in som... more »
John Boehner will announce the formation of a select committee on Benghazi, led by Rep. Trey Gowdy...
*as my hubby just said, "It gives new meaning to kicking ass and taking
names."*
*Whoohoo!*
Trey Gowdy back in October of 2013:
O’Reilly’s remarks about Donald Sterling!
*FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014*
*We regard this as good news:* Over the weekend, Cliven Bundy basically
disappeared.
The kooky rancher was blown away by Donald Sterling, the pitiful NBA owner.
On Monday evening, Bill O’Reilly opened his Fox News program with extended
remarks about Sterling.
Below, we show you a large portion of what O’Reilly said. For background,
see our previous post.
We regard it as good news that Fox News viewers have been hearing these
remarks and quite a few others like them. You’ll never be told about this
at Salon, where you’re constantly propagandized and trained in... more »
Russia requests UN Security Council meeting after dawn raids on Slavyansk
*Is Russia going to broach the topic of Russian peacekeepers at this
meeting?*
*The Security Council meeting begins at 1200 noon EST *
The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting at noon
Eastern time to discuss Ukraine at the behest of Russia
We have three sources for the news, video & images below* USA Today & Itar
Tass & GMA*
As Ukraine mounts a major assault Friday against pro-Russian forces in
eastern Ukraine, Russia has called for an emergency meeting of the United
Nations Security Council to discuss the escalating violence.
A spokesman for Russia's... more »
Doctor Who Tardis Bag Tutorial with Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings
*Today, I am so excited to have one of my favorite people in the whole
word, Marissa from Rae Gun Ramblings, here to share a fantastic project.
Marissa is a creative and sewing master, some of my favorite projects from
her blog include her DIY Moby Wrap and her Fancy Nancy Dress Tutorial. If
you are a Harry Potter fan, be sure to check out the amazing Harry Potter
baby costumes in her shop! Make sure you check out her blog and leave some
comment love! *
[image: Step by step instructions for how to make your own Dr Who Tardis
bag at Rae Gun Ramblings]
I am so stinking excited to be he... more »
Synchronicity - A Friday Rule 5 post
Yesterday I posted this piece about 'shocking' female body hair, with
examples of Madonna, Beyonce, Britney Spears, Drew Barrymore and Lily
Allen. Today I discovered this video of Kate Upton shaving...
Synchronicity!
EYES OFF THE PRIZE: The things we liberals can’t be told!
*FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014*
*Part 4—Saint Joan keeps us barefoot and clueless:* In large part, we agree
with something we read in Salon.
Can things like this be said at Salon? In a typically muddled piece
designed to stir our liberal hate, Paul Rosenberg said something good about
the racial attitudes of the American people:
ROSENBERG (5/1/14): [Donald] Sterling’s self-immolating drama vividly
illustrates what the questions involve. *It’s not just that
Americans—unbeknownst to Sterling, Cliven Bundy and Limbaugh—have come to
an overwhelming consensus that racism itself is evil, though tha... more »
"Pray for my brother ..."
In keeping with my empty, trivial subject matter until such a time as I
have time to think about more substantive things I bring you the laughable
request of the teary-eyed Doug Ford that we all "pray" for his brother.
What's moved Doug to tears this time, after all the other incidents of
drinking and whoring and consorting with gangsters in order to enjoy their
illegal substances? Could it be the nail in the coffin for Doug's dreams of
continued political fame? Could it be that there are finally images
available to the public and Rob and Doug can't even try to lie this time?
A... more »
The Sacred Circle Poem by M.N. Hopkins
If you would like to read more, please visit:
*http://www.poemhunter.com/michael-hopkins*
Digby Wins the Hillman Prize
Congratulations
to the incisive and indefatigable Digby for winning the 2014 Hillman
Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism. You can read the Sidney
Hillman Foundation's announcement here and her characteristically humble
post on the matter here. (But surely you were reading her blog
Hullabaloo already.)
The hoax of creative destruction
There is a condition in the European Union’s terms of union in which the
under-developed countries of Europewho aspire to join the EU allowed free
movement of goods only on the reciprocal condition that the developed
countries will allow the free movement of labor. What’s obvious in this
condition is the fact: that the free movement of goods (free trade) only
benefits the countries who have a strong manufacturing base; and the free
movement of workers only favor the under-developed countries where labor is
cheap.
Now, when the international financial institutions, like the IMF and ... more »
Things to do after finishing a book
I just finished my cyber security book, provisionally titled Cyber Hype
versus Cyber Reality. The feeling of loss has set in. I don’t know what
to do with myself now, I am sleeping more than normal (but that could just
be jet lag). Working on articles seems like too small a task. Starting a
new
Continue reading
Prospect Heights T Party Dumps the Tests
Teachers at a New York City high school fired a shot across the bow of the
concept of a nationalized education industry Thursday, becoming the first
in that state to refuse to administer a standardized test tied to the
controversial Common Core national standards.
The boycott by teachers at Prospect Heights International School in
Brooklyn comes amid a small but growing “opt out” movement in which
thousands of parents across the country have refused to let their children
sit for standardized tests tied to Common Core’s data-hungry student
assessment industry.
The state assessments a... more »
Untitled
*Fracking opponents pack two St. Tammany meetings ~Faimon A. Roberts III,
B.R. Advocate*
*New levees could knock down the next Katrina, but are they enough? ~WVUE*
*Could wind power knock down hurricane strength? ~WWLTV*
*Subsea 7 Wins More Work from BP in the Gulf of Mexico ~Rob Almeida,
gCaptain*
*Fiya Fest Today! ~NOLA DEFENDER*
Donna Edwards To Helm The DCCC's Red To Blue Program
I'm still in the beginning on the awesome new book by Elizabeth Warren, A
Fighting Chance. I just read a few pages every night before going to bed
and then meditate on it as a lesson of the day. I'm reading about her focus
on bankruptcy and how her academic peers-- and the entire Establishment--
defined bankruptcy as a kind of moral failure for the men and women who had
been forced into it, often through the kind of medical catastrophe that
could devastate any family. People filing, her research showed, weren't
"lazy bums"-- the preconception-- but, more often than not, ordinary
f... more »
Tolerating Rot
As Rob Ford heads off to rehab in Chicago, Carol Goar writes that Canadians
are besotted with shameless politicians:
A casual lawlessness has crept into the high offices of the land.
It is not outright criminality, punishable by fines and jail time (at least
not yet). It is an attitude among those entrusted with power that they
don’t have to play by the rules; that wrongdoing carries no consequences;
and that a half-hearted apology will set everything right.
Besides Ford, she enumerates several other recent examples of political bad
behaviour:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has... more »
Welcome to SC: A Heaping Stumbling-Bumbling Mess of Ineptitude
Welcome to SC: A Heaping Stumbling-Bumbling Mess of Ineptitude. via Welcome
to SC: A Heaping Stumbling-Bumbling Mess of Ineptitude.Filed under: PAUL
THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Non Farm payroll Friday - May 2 , 2014 -- Whopping 288K Jobs Added In April, Far Higher Than Expectations; Unemployment Rate Tumbles To 6.3% ....... But also note that labor participation fell to the lowest level since 1978 !
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-05-02/one-million-people-dropped-out-labor-force-april-participation-rate-plummets-lowest-
One Million People Dropped Out Of Labor Force In April: Participation Rate
Plummets To Lowest Since 1978
[image: Tyler Durden's picture]
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/02/2014 08:54 -0400
- BLS
- Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Unemployment
inShare
And so the BLS is back to its old data fudging, because while the
Establishment Survey job number was a whopper, and the biggest monthly
addition since 2012, the Household Survey showed an actual d... more »
The KMT Brings order to the Galaxy
*Noodle shop, Huaxin St.*
The commentary on the nuke plant from the pro-nuke side is both comically
stupid and revealing. South China Morning Post says it's time for a
"rational" debate on energy in Taiwan.
*But Taiwan, like Japan, has little choice but to consider nuclear power
because it lacks the natural resources to generate electricity. *Taiwan's
three operating nuclear power stations, two of them in New Taipei City in
the north where the fourth is being built, have operated safely for many
years, while providing nearly 20 per cent of the island's electricity.
Taiwanese need ... more »
Kirov was murdered by a lone gunman
"It must be asserted that to this day the circumstances surrounding Kirov's
murder hide many things which are inexplicable and mysterious and demand a
most careful examination. There are reasons for the suspicion that the
killer of Kirov, Nikolaev, was assisted by someone from among the people
whose duty it was protect the person of Kirov. A month and a half before
the killing, Nikolaev was arrested on the grounds of suspicious behaviour,
but he was released and not even searched. It is an unusually suspicious
circumstance that when the Chekist [Borisov] assigned to protect Kirov wa... more »
War watch May 2 , 2014 - Syria ships out or has destroyed 92.5 percent of its chemical weapon arsenal , US makes nonsensical complaint that Syria is " stalling " by not getting the rest out of Latakia port ( said port located in Rebel controlled territory ) ........... 33 Killed, Scores Wounded in North Syria Barrel Bomb Strike Barrel Bomb Hit Marketplace, Started Fires ......... Afghanistan has another bloody day as a bomb explodes at a checkpoint killing at least 11 ( spring time means fighting season has begun in earnest )
Syria .....
US Accuses Syria of ‘Stalling’ on Chemical DisarmamentClaims They're
Keeping Useless Chemicals as 'Leverage'
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2014
Print This | Share This
The Obama Administration continues to rail at what has by all other
accounts been a very successful chemical weapons disarmament in Syria,
accusing the nation of “stalling” because they fell slightly short of a
self-imposed deadline to have all the chemicals out of the country by last
Friday. Syria got only 92.5% out by then.
Syria has struggled to get those shipments out of the country through
Latakia port, as ... more »
Consciousness, The reality of our situation and Matrix Design
Gregg Braden explains consciousness in this short video. How our mind and
heart are electromagnetic energy together. It is through the energy of our
heart that is 5000 times stronger than our mind energy, we draw and create
all things around us. It is through gratitude and Love we create more than
just thinking in our power of attraction and the laws of attraction. I have
sincerely and
Laws of physics cannot be hacked
*Hackers of physics do not beat Nature; they only fool people*
Shaun Maguire, a PhD student who blogs together with John Preskill, spent
his childhood hacking computers. It is natural for him to do the same thing
to Nature:
Hacking nature: loopholes in the laws of physics
A source of the (especially young) people's excitement about physics is
their desire to beat the old laws of Nature and to hack into systems around
us. To get unlimited moves in the Candy Crush Saga. To make a compromise
with a vendor machine: to acquire the chocolate while paying no money. To
be able to subscribe... more »
Battleground Ukraine: A Comprehensive Summary (From A Russian Perspective) ----- A different perspective , even for those secure in their own viewpoints , take a gander and ponder ..... As offered for " westerners needing to understand what is really happening in both the Ukraine and the wider Anglo-US-NATO globalisation drive ... "
Catharsis Ours - 11 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-30/battleground-ukraine-comprehensive-summary-russian-perspective
Battleground Ukraine: A Comprehensive Summary (From A Russian Perspective)
[image: Tyler Durden's picture]
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/30/2014 20:04 -0400
- Afghanistan
- Brazil
- China
- Corruption
- FBI
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- International Monetary Fund
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Kuwait
- Mexico
- Middle East
- Napoleon
- Poland
- Reality
- Saudi Arabia
- Time Magazi... more »
Hard Men of Letters
Mary Beard’s insightful (and suitably uncomfortable) lecture on the
suppression of the public voice of women is a good starting point for a
more general discussion of oppressive language in the digital age. This is
no small matter of etiquette. Abuse is not everyone’s cup of tea. While
some revel in it, many others are put off from bothering to contribute.
This is not just an infringement of their rights but a loss for us all. It
allows the oppressive a greater say than other, perhaps more rewarding,
commentators.
First then, why might someone tend to lace their postings with aggres... more »
Silence Is A State Of Mind - An Insight by Michael Brine
[image: Silence State of Mind M. Brine]Source of poster:
http://notesalongthepath.com/2014/04/30/silence-is-a-state-of-mind-a-guest-post-by-michael-brine/#respond
Paul Craig Roberts, “US Economy Is A House Of Cards”
*“US Economy Is A House Of Cards”*
by Paul Craig Roberts
“The US economy is a house of cards. Every aspect of it is fraudulent, and
the illusion of recovery is created with fraudulent statistics. American
capitalism itself is an illusion. All financial markets are rigged. Massive
liquidity poured into financial markets by the Federal Reserve’s
Quantitative Easing inflates stock and bond prices and drives interest
rates, which are supposed to be a measure of the cost of capital, to zero
or negative, with the implication that capital is so abundant that its cost
is zero and can be ha... more »
“Why Right-Wingers Think the Way They Do: The Fascinating Psychological Origins of Political Ideology”
*“Why Right-Wingers Think the Way They Do: *
*The Fascinating Psychological Origins of Political Ideology”*
By Chris Mooney
“If you want one experiment that perfectly captures what science is
learning about the deep-seated differences between liberals and
conservatives, you need go no further than "BeanFest". It’s a simple
learning video game in which the player is presented with a variety of
cartoon beans in different shapes and sizes, with different numbers of dots
on them. When each new type of bean is presented, the player must choose
whether or not to accept it—without knowing,... more »
Greg Hunter, “Weekly News Wrap-Up 5.2.14”
*“Weekly News Wrap-Up 5.2.14”*
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
“There is a new revelation in the Benghazi, Libya, tragedy where four
Americans were murdered in a terror attack on September 11, 2012. An email
has surfaced that some are calling a “smoking gun” because it lays out the
talking points to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice in prep for the Sunday talk
shows. Rice said the attack was motivated by a protest because of an
anti-Islamic video. There was no protest, and the video did not cause an
attack. Everyone on the ground in Libya knew this was a well-planned terror
attack by a... more »
MBDA’s advanced air defence system for the British Army enters assessment phase
[image: FLAADSLand system]A £36M contract from the UK Ministry of Defence
(MOD) has been placed with MBDA for the Land variant of the Future Local
Area Air Defence System (FLAADSLand).
This will fund an Assessment Phase that will demonstrate the adaptation and
evolution of core weapon system subsystems (e.g. command & control) for the
land environment, and prepare for the transition from Rapier Field Standard
C (FSC) in British Army service.
TheFLAADSLandsystem will provide the British Army with a world leading
Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) system that will be one of the most
a... more »
Turkey inducts EDH-standard T129 attack helicopters
[image: T129 attack helicopters]Ankara has formally inducted the first nine
Turkish Aerospace Industries T129 attack helicopters, marking the end of
deliveries of the interim-standard EDH model.
Derived from the AgustaWestland AW129 by TAI and Aselsan under Turkey’s
ATAK requirement, deliveries of the rotorcraft began in April 2012.
The EDH model is designed to cover an urgent operational need to replace
some of the Turkish army’s Bell AH-1 Cobras, but lacks the anti-tank
missiles to be carried by the eventual T129B variant.
Read more
New Developments at North Korea’s Sohae Complex
[image: Sohae Complex]Recent commercial satellite imagery indicates that
North Korea is conducting a number of significant activities at the Sohae
Satellite Launching Station (“Tongchang-ri”) related to the development of
larger space launch vehicles (SLVs) and long-range ballistic missiles.
Specifically, these activities are:
- One and maybe more engine tests of what is probably the first stage of
a KN-08 road-mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) were
conducted in late March/early April 2014. With this latest activity, three
KN-08 rocket engine test serie... more »
Supporting RAF Tornado aircraft until their retirement
[image: Tornado F3]We have agreed with the UK Ministry of Defence a £125
million extension to the support contract provided by us for the RAF’s
Tornado GR4 fleet until the aircraft are due to be retired in 2019.
With the changes to the contract, an estimated £90 million saving to the UK
Ministry of Defence has been identified through greater efficiencies in
fleet management.
The contract amendment builds on from the original and highly successful
Availability Transformation: Tornado Aircraft Contract (ATTAC) which
initially started in 2006 and was due to expire in 2016.
Read more
Turkey extends missile defense bids further
[image: FD-2000 (HQ-9) missile defence systen]Turkey has extended the
validity of bids in a multi-billion dollar missile defense system tender
for the second time despite having provisionally awarded the deal to China,
a senior Turkish defense official said.
Turkey’s NATO allies voiced concern when it said in September it had chosen
China’s FD-2000 missile defence system over rival offers from
Franco-Italian Eurosam and U.S.-listed Raytheon Co. It said China offered
the most competitive terms and would allow co-production in Turkey.
The official said the bids from Eurosam and Raythe... more »
Akash surface-to-air missile testfired
[image: Akash surface to air missile]India on Thursday successfully
testfired indigenously-developed surface-to-air Akash missile with a strike
range of 25 km and capability to carry warhead of 60 kgs from the
Integrated Test Range at Chandipur as part of a user-trial.
Describing the launch as successful, Defence sources said that the
sophisticated missile was testfired at about 10.58 hours from launch
complex-3 of the Interim Test Range.
“The mission was successful. The trial was conducted by Indian Air Force
personnel,” ITR Director M V K V Prasad said.
Read more
Boeing Flies Production Configuration AH-6i Light Helicopter for the 1st Time
[image: AH-6i light attack/reconnaissance helicopter]Boeing's AH-6i light
attack/reconnaissance helicopter has flown for the first time in its
production configuration, moving the program another step closer to
full-scale production while continuing to prove the helicopter's close air
support and attack capabilities.
Boeing pilots flew the aircraft for less than 20-minutes at low speeds in
forward, rearward and sideward flight at low elevations during a recent
test. Future tests will expand the flight envelope over the next several
months.
"This first AH-6 flight in the production... more »
Harris Corporation Awarded $19 Million Avionics Production Contract by Boeing for the U.S. Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet
[image: F/A-18E Super Hornet]Harris Corporation, an international
communications and information technology company, has received a two-year,
$19 million full-rate production contract to provide key avionics
components that will enhance flight crews' targeting capabilities on the
U.S. Navy's F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet fighter aircraft.
The Distributed Targeting System will significantly improve the aircraft's
networking capabilities, enhance targeting precision and shorten the time
period from target sensing to shooting.
"Start of full-rate production is a key milestone in the F/A-18 E... more »
Demography 21: China Overtaking the US' GDP Size in 2014?
The IMF's World Economic Outlook (WEO) came out last month. I checked some
numbers, particularly GDP size via Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) valuation.
The top 4 are still the US, China, India, Japan, in that order. China will
overtake the US by 2019, with a projected GDP size of $22.41 trillion for
China and $22.09 trillion for the US.
Then there was an article from The Economist that was well-circulated
yesterday. Here is the short article and the chart.
Crowning the dragon
April 30th 2014
*UNTIL 1890 China was the world’s largest economy, before America surpassed
it. By the end o... more »
Lawmakers Defend F-22 Whistleblowers
[image: F-22 Raptor]Two prominent lawmakers have sent a letter to Defense
Secretary Chuck Hagel asking him to order the rapid completion of a nearly
two-year long investigation into an Air National Guard pilot who publically
spoke about safety concerns with the F-22 Raptor.
"We're two years down the line and the Inspector General's report has still
not been issued," Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., told reporters May 1.
Warner sent the letter along with Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Il., to help
ensure that the two F-22 pilots that brought attention to the issue do not
receive retaliation for spea... more »
Japan puts early-warning aircraft on Okinawa amid China's moves
[image: E-2C Hawkeye]Japan has permanently assigned a new early-warning
aircraft unit to Naha Air Base on Okinawa in response to Chinese probing
around its southern island chain, officials say.
The Asahi Shimbun reported that four E-2C aircraft and approximately 130
members of the Japan Air Self Defense Force have been permanently
repositioned from Misawa Air Base in northern Japan.
The aircraft from the 603rd Airborne Unit will be responsible for
surveillance and patrolling the peripheral airspace of the southwestern
region, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman.
Read more
Untitled
*Lord Lawson gets a forum*
*The essay excerpted below is based on the text of a speech given to the
Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment at the University of
Bath*
There is something odd about the global warming debate — or the climate
change debate, as we are now expected to call it, since global warming has
for the time being come to a halt.
I have never shied away from controversy, nor — for example, as Chancellor
— worried about being unpopular if I believed that what I was saying and
doing was in the public interest.
But I have never in my life experienced t... more »
Carrier Abraham Lincoln marks overhaul milestone
[image: USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Upper-Level Structure]The aircraft
carrier Abraham Lincoln is marking a milestone as part of its refueling and
complex overhaul at a shipyard in Newport News.
Huntington Ingalls Industries says shipbuilders recently placed a new
upper-level structure on top of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier's
island, which is similar to an airport control tower.
The structure will contain the ship's primary flight control systems when
outfitted and serves as the platform for many of its various radars and
antenna systems.
Read more
Lawmaker Says Sequester Could Force Navy to Drop to Eight Carriers
[image: USS John C. Stennis]The Navy will have a huge fight on its hands to
keep the current fleet of carriers at 11, U.S. Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash.,
the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, said May 1 in
discussion hosted by the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments.
“They will have a devil of a time keeping them at eight carriers,” he said.
The main culprit for this, Smith said, would be the return of sequestration
in fiscal 2016, as the Navy has to balance building Littoral Combat Ships,
Virginia-class submarines and destroyers along with refueling costs f... more »
How immigration benefits some but not the majority
Four people are going out together for the day
Each contributes £100 so the group has £400 to spend - 4 x £100 = £400
They then discover that number 4 has invited someone else to join them –
number 5
Number 5 is poorer but is willing to pay £50
Number 4 tells the others that the group can now afford a better day out as
it has £450 instead of £400 - (4 x £100) + (1 x £50) = £450 instead of 4 x
£100
However, number 1 does the sums and works out that they now have only £90
each to spend rather than £100 - £450/5 = £90 rather than £400/4 = £100
The others think he is wrong, because if... more »
China, Russia Military Ties Deepen With Naval Drill in East China Sea
[image: Type 052C (Luyang) class DDG]On Wednesday, China announced that it
plans to hold joint naval drills with Russia in the East China Sea later
this month.
“These drills are regular exercises held by China and Russia’s navies, and
the purpose is to deepen practical cooperation between the two militaries,
to raise the ability to jointly deal with maritime security threats,”
China’s Defense Ministry said in a statement published on its website.
Voice of America reports that the joint naval drills will be held in late
May off the coast of Shanghai.
Read more
I Am A Gardasil Survivor From Canada by Jenny Keats
[image: I survived Gardasil]JennyI am a Gardasil Survivor
By Jenny Keats
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Sane Vax, Inc. 30 April 2014
*We will not give up, or give in – we are HPV vaccine survivors!*
I struggled for years to finally reach the point where I thought my life
was as close to perfect as it was going to get. That was before Gardasil.
Now, everything is different.
I was just beginning to really live my life to the fullest. I started
taking the courses I would need to attend college to become a Veterinary
Technician. I only have two mathematics courses left to take. I loved
... more »
Deadspinning and Black Sports Online....... on the Donald Sterling fiasco ( check out Bomani - listen to the WHOLE thing - once he gets warmed up , he sets the roof on fire! ) ....... and Jameis " Crab Legs " Winston
Catharsis Ours - 17 hours ago
Sterling's offensive behavior was no secret for years
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[image: Donald Sterling]
Donald Sterling, who bought the Clippers in 1981, is the NBA's
longest-tenured owner.
Danny Moloshok/AP
Shortly after the Clippers made Danny Manning the top pick of the 1988 NBA
draft, team owner Donald Sterling invited the player and his agent, Ron
Grinker, to talk contract in Beverly Hills. It was recounted to me how
Sterling lounged around his mansion in a bathrobe ope... more »
CBC. Public Broadcasting Goes To The Wall.
*The Crumbling Mainstream Press and Media in Canada.*
Written by Robin Mathews
Part Three. The CBC. Public Broadcasting Goes To The Wall.
*It was “The National”, and it was April 24.*
I don’t very often watch television, and so the experience was shocking –
to watch on a large screen what is believed by many to be one of the most
informative news productions in Canada.
Not a television watcher, I saw - perhaps – what others don’t normally
see: “Infopropaganda” – a combination of show business, technological
sleight-of-hand, “celebrity”, dress-up, make-up, and... more »
Dancin' With Rahm And Cory-- Our New Guest Blogger Is No Fan Of The Third Way Politicians
Last week, *Politico* ran a story about Rahm Emanuel's narcisistic
television show on CNN, Chicagoland. Hadas Gold's [no relation to Ari Gold]
article accused Rahm and his team of colluding with CNN.
Gold asserted that Rahm and his staff would read over scripts, direct
camera angles, and oversee music selection in order to yield an artistic
result that painted the Mayor and his administration in a good light. So
yes, while much of Chicago burned, Rahm was busy looking at himself on
"Final Cut."
More than 700 emails show that the production team, led by executive
producer Marc L... more »
The 2008 Common Core Sales Job: Part One
In 2008, the National Governors Association (NGA), the Council of Chief
State School Officers (CCSSO), and Achieve, Inc., released a
report, Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a
World-class Education. The Gates and GE foundations funded the report. The
content of this report begs for careful examination. Thus, I plan to
examine it closely in […]
Peaches and Heroin
"Whenever anyone dies without a physician in attendance to certify the
cause of death, it is the duty of the *local coroner *or *medical
examiner*to investigate, to have an autopsy performed if indicated, and
then
formally *to determine and record the cause of death. *
No coroner, of course, wants to be in a position of having to answer *"I
don't know"* to such queries. A coroner is supposed to know--- and if he
doesn't know, he is supposed to find out.
At some point in the history of heroin addiction, probably in the early
1940s, the custom arose among coroners and medical examine... more »
Iraq Election Updates ... May 1 , 2014 -- Sunni discontent likely to rise ( Iraq Vote Sets Stage for Another Sectarian Battle Most of Anbar Polling Places Never Opened .... ) .........
Anti war .....
Iraq Vote Sets Stage for Another Sectarian BattleMost of Anbar Polling
Places Never Opened
by Jason Ditz, April 30, 2014
Print This | Share This
Iraq went to vote today in its first post-occupation national election. The
vote largelywent off smoothly, which officials attributed to security
forces across the nation.
From al-Qaeda’s perspective, there was really no need to attack the polling
places, however, as the vote itself is liable to be more destabilizing for
the country than anything they could’ve done.
The 2010 election saw a Sunni-dominated secular bloc winning... more »
Why is everyone just jumping ugly on Justice Nino "Loop-de-loop" Scalia for his big booboo? After all, Justice Clarence AGREED with him
*Maybe it comes down to this: Who's the bigger dope, the clown who makes
the colossal legal booboo (left) or the one who says, "That goes for me
too" (right)?*
*by Ken*
I'm grateful to Daily Kos's Pollwatcher for calling my attention to the
story, but I have to take exception with the headline "Uh-Oh, Scalia Screws
Up Royally. Time To Retire." Oh, I'm not disagreeing with the part about
Justice Nino screwing up royally. That's true and hilarious. I just don't
see why he should think about retiring. Just because of the suggestion that
he's lost his marbles?
What marbles? He once h... more »
My own moment of Zen
I'm making a major life shift this month. The path is uncertain but too
enticing to refuse. [Image via and via]
Fukushima Updates - April 30 , 2014 -- THREE WORD SUMMARY - " It's all lies " from government ( and Tepco ) .......Slow death of Japan reflected by steadily rising cancer occurrences ( when doctors and Hospitals will bother to do their jobs and actually test folks ) , slow admission that all hope is gone regarding stopping leaks at the Fukushima Reactors , slow walk admission that official data regarding radiation releases previously were way , way off ( so can you disregard any data presented now regarding radiation releases / leaks / contamination of land , sea and foods too ) .....
Catharsis Ours - 22 hours ago
Energy News.......
02:05 PM EST on April 30th, 2014 | 27 comments
AP: “This town is dead”… Locals feel Fukushima plant could explode any
minute; Yearly ‘safe’ radiation levels exceeded “in a matter of a few
hours” — TV: “Fukushima evacuees complain of health problems”; Nearly 70%
of households affected
11:43 AM EST on April 30th, 2014 | 36 comments
NHK: Officials admit it may be impossible to stop leaking at Fukushima
reactors — Will be investigating ‘bottom of containment vessels’ for holes
— Gov’t asking engineers from outside Japan for help with melted fuel
(VIDEOS)
09:51 AM EST... more »
Gold and Silver News and Views - May 1 , 2014 --- Ahead of Friday Non Farm Payroll Report ( a day for much mischief and manipulation of gold and silver ) , items of note from Jesse's Crossroads Cafe , Investment Dynamics and Gata ...... Overt manipulations , the sense something isn't just not right but rather seriously wrong , shrinkage at both COMEX and GLD ( 21 tons since mid- April ) ?
http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2014/05/gold-daily-and-silver-weekly-charts-non.html
( For all of the charts referenced , head to the link above ... )
01 MAY 2014
Gold Daily and Silver Weekly Charts - Non-Farm Payrolls Tomorrow
"Every century is like every other, and to those who live in it seems worse
than all times before it...
God alone knows the day and the hour when that will at length be, which He
is ever threatening; meanwhile, thus much of comfort do we gain from what
has been hitherto, not to despond, not to be dismayed, not to be anxious,
at the troubles which ... more »
Bitcoin news April 30 , 2014 -- US Lawyer: Mt. Gox Settlement Proposal Could Make Former Users Whole ....... Why Banks Hate Bitcoin, What Banks Do And Why We No Longer Need Them ...... MasterCard pays lobbyists to focus on Bitcoin ........ New US Treasury FinCEN Ruling Clarifies , Money Transmission Status Of Renting Bitcoin , Miners And Hashing Power
Catharsis Ours - 23 hours ago
Coin Desk ......
US Lawyer: Mt. Gox Settlement
Proposal Could Make Former Users
Whole
Pete Rizzo (@pete_rizzo_) | Published on April 30, 2014 at 21:30 BST | *Analysis, Law, Mt.
Gox, News*
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[image: judge, mt. gox]
The ongoing legal battle over the future of Mt. Gox took a sudden turnon
29th April, when it was announced that Sunlot Holdings, the investor group
seeking to buy what remains of the business, and lawyers representing the
company’s global consumer creditors had struck a settlement deal.
Under that proposal, former exchange users would support Sunlot’s bid ... more »
Birdie Africa
An effort to rout a separatist group touched off a fire that killed 11
people, including 5 children.
By MARGALIT FOX
Published: September 27, 2013
When the boy ran from the house, he was burned over a fifth of his body and
so malnourished that at 13 he looked like a child of 9.
He had never been to school and could not read, write, use a toothbrush or
tell time. His mother would die in the fire he had fled.
Yet after years of rehabilitation from injuries physical and psychological,
he graduated from high school, served in the Army, became a father and made
a career as a long-h... more »
Self representation by non-lawyer for a one person corporation a norm
Darrell Waisberg v. J. Kirby Inwood, 2014 ONSC 2282:
[89] As noted by J.W. Quinn J in *Lamond v. Smith* (2004), 11 C.P.C. (6
th) 104 (ON SC), the historical reluctance of superior courts to grant
leave to a corporation to be represented by a non-lawyer has little merit
in the case of a one-person company. Self-represented parties are a fact
of daily life in the courts. Mr. Inwood will be before the court,
representing himself, whether or not he is also allowed to represent his
companies. While the plaintiff may have legitimate concerns about Mr.
Inwood's ability to fulfill, on... more »
Always Clear You Browser Cache and History, Always Say "No" to Cookies
*From my last visit to The Daily Telegraph (MI6/Hollinger) website.*
Bugger. They're onto me - bet they've even opened a new file, now....
*GCHQ: It looks like a great, big government arsehole.*
*Funny, that.*
Oh, well. In for a penny, in for a pound.
Have this, ya buggers:
*Professor Pritchard of Gonville and Cauis College Cambridge* is the
leading recruiter for *MI6* agents. He identifies and recruits the most
intellectual geniuses for *MI6*.
The following three people are members of *MI6*, an organisation which
forms this supposed great country's intelligence service. It... more »
Friday Morning Ramble, The ‘New Tool’ Edition
[image: image]
David Parker has a new tool. Oddly enough, the tool invokes compulsion.
*Parker’s Plan is Anti-Innovation & Prosperity: Why There Must Be No
Compulsory Kiwisaver.* – Mark Hubbard, LIFE BEHIND THE IRON DRAPE
Oh, and if you read the fine print:* “Labour may look at controlling
immigration as a way to affect housing demand and general price
inflation.” *And there are more signs that Labour is putting out the
welcome mat to Peters…
*Always read the fine print...* – KEEPING STOCK
“Mr Cunliffe, cc Mr Parker, that mess of pottage you called a 'Big Tool'
and all the cond... more »
German TV- Who were the Maidan Snipers?
Broadcast on german state television on the 10.4.2014 this investigative
report presents evidence for their having been snipers from among the ranks
of the opposition, shooting at their own people at Independence Square
(Maidan) in Kiev.
The show is called Monitor, and it was screened on WDR which is part of the
state broadcaster
The common core: A bad solution aimed at the wrong problem
Sent to Newsweek
Alexander Nazaryan ("Sorry, Louis C.K., but You’re Wrong About Common
Core," May 1) says our schools need the increased "rigor" of the common
core because they are so bad: "China, South Korea and Germany are leaving
us in the chalk dust, most Americans can barely find America on the map
...".
Not so. When researchers control for the effect of poverty, American
students' international test scores are at the top of the world. Our overall
scores are unspectacular (but not terrible) because we have so much child
poverty, 24%, the second highest among all economica... more »
A memory card in a camera cannot be searched without a separate warrant
R v Brown 2014 BCSC 112
A N A M N E S I A ( a loss of forgetfulness )
ANAMNESIA : a loss of forgetfulness from StrangeLoop on Vimeo.
A N A M N E S I A
( a loss of forgetfulness )
for the interactive net-narrative visit :
www.anamnesia.net
a TeachingMachine production
in association with the Institute for Cinema Studies
presented by Brainfeeder
director / animator
David Wexler ( Strangeloop )
assistant director
Micah Nelson
producer
Jake Bloch
executive producer
Wai Trask
story by
Strangeloop and Darryl Cobb
*with a special acknowledgement to Leigh J. McCloskey
string compositions and arrangements
Gavin Gamboa and Jake Bloch
sound design
MonoPo... more »
Ontario Budget
Would raise the income eligibility threshold for legal aid services to
allow an additional one million low-income Ontarians to be able to find a
lawyer
Why not visit Tuscaloosa?
*THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014*
*We find those photos pleasing:* Tomorrow, we plan to resume our series of
posts about the Tuscaloosa schools.
In the meantime, why not visit Tuscaloosa itself?
In yesterday's installment, we linked you to photos of black and white kids
together in the Tuscaloosa schools (city and surrounding county). We think
those photos are pleasing.
We’re glad those Alabama kids are getting that kind of experience. We’re
grateful to the many people who are making those schools function. And of
course, we believe in those kids.
Do you have some other suggestion? Aside f... more »
Fake "Moderate" Republicans Like Susan Collins Defeated The Minimum Wage Increase-- What Next?
The vote yesterday to shut down the Republican Party filibuster of the
minimum wage bill ended badly, 54 in favor, 41 opposed (not counting Harry
Reid who had to switch his vote to oppose so he can bring the bill up again
later). It needed 60 votes to overcome the filibuster. Five votes shy. The
only Republican to cross the aisle and vote with the Democrats was Bob
Corker of Tennessee, meaning Susan Collins (R-ME), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dean
Heller (R-NV), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Rob Portman (R-OH) weren't in the
moderate mood yesterday or are perhaps never in the moderate mood on
... more »
Harper Conservatives REFUSE Inquiry Into Report Of 1000 Murdered And Missing Aboriginal Women In Canada
*Call it what you like. I call it what it is ..... racism.*
*"OTTAWA - The Conservative government is resisting renewed calls for an
inquiry into murdered and missing aboriginal women and girls despite a
media report that suggests there may be hundreds more cases than previously
thought.*
*Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney was asked Thursday to finally call a
inquiry in light of a report by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
that Canada may be home to more than 1,000 cases of murdered and missing
women.*
*His answer, in short: no*
Montreal Gazette
Natives get restless RE Hillary Clinton!
*THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014*
*Collins and Chozick start up:* We’ll admit it. We can’t quite believe that
Hillary Clinton could win in 2016.
We’re not saying she *can’t* win, since she certainly can. We’re saying we
have our nagging doubts.
If you watch MSNBC, you’re being propagandized differently. A few weeks
ago, the children filled your heads with sugarplums about how far Clinton
is ahead of leading Republicans.
Joy Reid pleasured us rubes while guest hosting at Hardball. We were struck
by how *small* Clinton’s margins were:
REID (4/16/14): We’ve got new polling on possible preside... more »
Recommended reading
BBC Watch has posted a series of articles forensically deconstructing Jeremy
Bowen’s recent series of reports about the expiration of the Middle East
‘peace deadline’, Mahmoud Abbas’s joint venture with Hamas and John Kerry’s
clumsy remarks about Israel and apartheid.
The latest post reveals some relevant background (which Bowen’s reporting
conceals) surrounding the ‘man-in-a-cave’ broadcast, in which a Palestinian
man is presented to us as a helpless victim of Israeli racism, when in fact
Khaled al-Zeer is a known agitator with a criminal record. There’s a
pattern here, the BBC tak... more »
More Competition
Steve Cecchetti and Kim Schoenholtz are blogging, mainly on issues related
to money and banking.
The blog seems meant to complement and promote their textbook. Who would
ever think to use a blog for such a purpose?
The EU's 20 absurdities: a poll
Around May 24th, the citizens of EU countries will vote deputies to the
European Parliament. This "parliament" isn't terribly important – for
example, it is not allowed to propose any legislation (it is the only
"parliament" in the world with this minor defect) but we may still think
that it's important that the right people will be able to speak on that
forum.
Various parties opposing the creeping European unifications are expected to
make a strong showing – taking over approximately 1/3 of the Parliament. We
will probably see that the Euroskeptics are far from being a uniform bo... more »
BBC Trending
A new-to-me category of the online BBC website is titled “BBC Trending” This
article looks like little more than a gratuitous attempt to garner and
gloat over the Israel-bashing and holocaust-denigrating comments that are
bound to follow barely hidden under a threadbare cloak of *innocent face*
concerned ‘inquiry’. Creepy and mischievous. The comments below the line
illustrate the inevitable.
“ *Who is too young to learn about the horrors of the Holocaust? A new law
in Israel means kindergarten children will be taught about the Nazi
genocide for the first time, triggering an acer... more »
Ottawa's 1.2 million requests for private information from telecommunications companies
If this does not upset you then I don't know what will. Harper regime is
watching you.
How to Get Internet Service in Aouchtam Morocco
As many of you know Aouchtam sits in a steep valley and has really poor
cell and 3G data reception because there is no local Moroc Telecom cell
tower, the nearest ones are near Oued Laou and Amsa which are a few
kilometers away. The Internet issue is problem for all the bloggers
currently here.
I wish I could take credit for this idea but it was suggested by our
resident Russian engineer Levon... I love the way Russian's think! But I
did build it and test it out and it does indeed work well!
Basically its a D-LINK 3G router available at Marjane in Morocco (the
Walmart of Morocc... more »
Ineffective assistance of counsel
*R. v. Zheng,* 2014 ONCA 345:
[22] In *R v. Archer*, (2005) 293 O.A.C. 56, at paras. 119-21, this
Court summarized the principles relating to an appellate court’s analysis
of a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel. The appellant must
demonstrate: (i) that the material facts in support of the claim have been
established on a balance of probabilities, where those facts are contested;
(ii) that counsel’s acts or omissions amounted to incompetence; and (iii)
that counsel’s ineffective representation caused a miscarriage of justice.
Trial counsel’s performance at trial is ... more »
anti-Soviet ops heating up for the cold war
Things are heating up in the Crimea - now that it is part of Russia, the
New York Times is writing about how bad it is since a Ukranian was not able
to get good service at the consulate. As if after the US 'annexing' Iraq
and Afghanistan the natives were able to get any service at all anywhere...
So Professor Cohen at NYU is now telling us we are in the middle of a cold
war.
Cold wars seem to go all over the globe...they include media wars and trade
wars, with a umber of Soviets now blacklisted from the US and US citizens
barred from doing business with them.
And in all Soviet frien... more »
METRO | Lamar W. Hankins : Rick Perry investigation may have legs
Did Governor Perry try to strong-arm Rosemary Lehmberg into resigning? Upon
reflection, some of the criminal complaints against Perry may have a
legitimate basis. By Lamar W. Hankins | The Rag Blog | May 1, 2014 AUSTIN —
When they … finish reading *METRO* | Lamar W. Hankins : Rick Perry
investigation may have legs
Eighty activists intercepted Russian tanker carrying first Arctic oil
Early
this morning, 80 activists intercepted a Russian oil tanker, delaying
it from docking in Rotterdam harbour. The tanker was carrying the very
first oil from icy Arctic waters.Among the activists were #Arctic30
members Sini, Faiza, Tomasz, Phil, Gizem, Pete and Anne Mie, who spent 2
months in a Russian prison last year following a peaceful protest at
the very same platform this oil came
Ukrainian Crisis Was Always About Containing Russia
A secret no more, NATO's continued existence is hegemonic in nature - its
meddling in Ukraine an act of war against Russia.
*Image: NATO expands. Who is the aggressor? **May 1, 2014 *(Tony Cartalucci
- LD) - To careful and honest observers of the events unfolding in Ukraine,
it was clear from the beginning that the US and EU through NATO were
creating unrest in an attempt to foster regime change in Kiev. They had
done so already, admittedly according to the Guardian which would admit in
its 2004 article, “US campaign behind the turmoil in Kiev,” that:
*…while the gains of the oran... more »
Class Struggle as a Process of Production
I have just finished Michael Lebowitz's *Beyond 'Capital'*, which is a
truly extraordinary book. In lieu of a proper post this evening, here's a
small chunk.
Just as every activity of the worker alters her as a subject who enters
into all activities, similarly the process in which workers struggle for
themselves is also a process of production, a process of purposeful
activity in which they produce themselves in an altered way. They develop
new needs in struggle, an altered hierarchy of needs. Even though the needs
that they attempt to satisfy do not in themselves go beyond capital,... more »
MAY DAY: LET THE WORKERS BUILD RAIL
*Let the Workers Build Rail *
Let the workers build rail
and let their children have life
We need to transform
diversify
convert
swords into plowshares
it says so in a holy book
some call it the word of god
others say it just makes
good sense
better use of our resources
sitting on the train
gazing out the window
as the world passes by
I want to go back
to the way the good lord
made us
wise advice
swords into plowshares
In the present
the swords rule
the land is paved over
car parks
the earth cries out
for breath
we don't hear
our minds occupied
*$$$* and success
our hearts hard... more »
Rigging The System-- Our Congress In Action
If there's one lesson I'm getting out of the new Elizabeth Warren book, A
Fighting Chance, so far, it's that the system is rigged-- fixed against
ordinary Americas to favor economic and political elites. "Economic and
political elites"... where is the line that even differentiates them these
days? In an essay Bob Borosage wrote for Truthout, Corporate Tax Breaks:
How Congress Rigs The Rules, he starts with a quote from Warren:
*The game is rigged and the American people know that. They get it right
down to their toes.*
Most people may roll their eyes when they hear a phrase like "... more »
The look of a racial pseudo-discussion!
*THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014*
*When experts pretend to discuss:* What do pseudo-discussions look like?
Consider the pseudo-discussion of the term “Uncle Tom” on Don Lemon’s CNN
program last night.
Last weekend, Rep. Bennie Thompson dropped the UT-bomb on Clarence Thomas.
He then defended his use of the term to CNN’s Dana Bash, who didn't seem to
know how to question him about it.
(Basic question: Are such insults OK? As always, opinions may differ.)
Was it OK to drop that bomb? Last night, Professor Ogletree offered this
analysis:
OGLETREE (4/30/14): I'm a good friend of Bennie Thomps... more »
what i'm reading: what's a dog for by john homans
John Homans' *What's a Dog For? The Surprising History, Science,
Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend* is my kind of dog book. I
don't care for memoirs of heartwarming doggie hijinks or heartbreaking
rescue odysseys. I've lived those stories myself, and books of that sort
don't advance my knowledge of the species I've shared most of my life with.
I am endlessly fascinated by canine behaviour - by what we know, and don't
know, about dogs. So is John Homans. Homans is the executive editor of New
York magazine, and before he adopted his lab-mix Stella, was a relative
novice a... more »
Almost Half of Worcester Central School Students Refuse State Tests
from the Times Journal:
Jim Poole
*4/30/2014*
Nearly half the students at Worcester Central School refused to take
mandated tests in third through eighth grades.
Thanks to a concerted social media effort, 45 percent of the
students--maybe the highest percentage in the state--opted out of the
English Language Arts and math tests.
Repercussions for the school lie in the future and are unclear, according
to Superintendent Bill Diamond.
Fed up with mandates and standardized tests, Stacy Serdy, the mother of
three elementary students, led the social media efforts.
"It really has ... more »
The one hundred and eighty ninth weekly "No shit Sherlock" award
The Commentator reveals that 'Leaked documents reveal Tory spinners in
intensive anti-UKIP media briefings - The Commentator.
No shit, Sherlock.
TRUTHOUT: Taking Back Cinco
TAKING BACK CINCO:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/23422-taking-back-cinco
Thursday, 01 May 2014 09:26
By Roberto Cintli Rodriguez, Truthout | Op ED
From no acknowledgment at all, to a proud celebration of "Mexican-ness," to
a commercialized beerfest, Cinco de Mayo has seen many transformations in
the last half-century. It is time to transform it again and recover meaning.
I grew up before Cinco de Mayo was celebrated in this country. I grew up at
a time when Cinco de Mayo became a day that celebrated a victory (May 5,
1862) by an underdog, a ragtag Mexican army that repelled ... more »
May Day Mayday
The best part about May 1st is that the April 30th midnight deadline for
more annoying-than-usual Democratic fund-raising has passed. Here's a
typical example, titled "Crumbling Down" --
Karen:
The FEC deadline at midnight is a big deal.
If we don't meet our goal, we will fall behind.* If we fall behind, we risk
our work crumbling down because the Koch brothers' chosen candidates will
walk into office.*
We can't afford to let these guys to win. We have to fight back.
*If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your
donation will go through immediately:*
*Expres... more »
The Art of Removing the Rotten Core
Coming on the heels of the rapacious profiteering and privatizing scheme of
NCLB, and designed in the dark by a tiny team of technocrats led by the
prissy Platonist, David Coleman, the Common Core was doomed from the start.
Designed, without doubt, to be the testing delivery system to guarantee
another generation of harder tests and more school meltdowns and subsequent
takeovers, the arrogant education antiquarians in charge of CorpEd's
strategies seriously under-estimated the wrath and power of parents,
teachers, students, and the man on the street. The fight, for sure, is not
o... more »
EYES OFF THE PRIZE: Where in the world was the so-called press?
*THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014*
*Part 3—Ostracizing the blowhard:* In this morning’s Washington Post, E. J.
Dionne—a very careful person—offers some pleasing pabulum.
Dionne offers some pleasing pap about the recent conduct of NBA players. As
he closes, he ladles this spoonload of porridge:
DIONNE (5/1/14): The NBA players showed how possessing real power can bring
about change within a few media cycles. Their voices would be welcomed by
those trying to stop efforts to rob rank-and-file African Americans and
others with low incomes of democracy’s most fundamental right.
*It’s nice that Oba... more »
May 1: Today, we have the comment of the century.
The only story in Section A worth reading - and even that only for a sort
of bitter amusement - is "Tories set to tackle spending:: premier". Wow!
The Flash in person.
It took him four years to recognize there is a problem - and it's a
problem New Brunswick has had for a very, very long time. And he's going
to do something about it. Yep. He's going to order cabinet ministers to
stay within their budgets. Well, that should wrap it up.
The problem is that neither he nor Mr. Gallant has given the slightest
indication of any understanding what has caused our economic problem in the
fi... more »
You can get anything you want
By Capt. Fogg
You hear a lot about "enlightened self-interest" and mostly from people who
think Ayn Rand's fiction illustrates a paved path to a better world. Of
course I can't argue against enlightenment in principle or against the fact
that as living beings we must put self-interest on a high plane. My problem
though, is with the slipperiness of the term. In general it resembles
self-interest wearing a nice Sunday suit, but everyone has his own ideas,
from the ascetic practicing Ahimsa, to the libertine, to the employer or
Investor amassing wealth. It's hard to pin down, but you... more »
The Mystery Of Malaysian Flight MH370's Disappearance Continues: Jim Stone's Flight 370 Summary Report
Over 55 days now, and the trolls, liars, and misfits in our so called
"mainstream media" are continuing their lies and deceptions about Malaysian
flight MH370's "mysterious" disappearance... They continue to promote the
LIES that this aircraft turned southward after definitely turning west
towards the US military installation at Diego Garcia, and are still
parroting the laughable fraud that the aircraft "crashed" in the Indian
Ocean off the coast of Australia in very deep water.....I have long given
up on these clowns and their lying BS, for we all know the truth now that
this aircr... more »
To wax or not to wax, that is the question
The subject o body hair seems to becoming more and more of an issue as the
relatively recent supremacy of the waxed female body is challenged.
A film 'Secret Garden' examines the issue, here's a preview
Meanwhile The Mirror is shocked by the display of female body hair, as the
headline reveals:
'Madonna's not the only one to flaunt hairy armpits - here's more famous
faces who forgot to shave'
Here's that shocking Madonna image...
Gosh! I'm lost for words. Don't The Mirror's 3AM team ever see real women?
It's interesting that The Mirror believes that women must have forgotten to
... more »
Revisiting James Baldwin’s “Black English”
Revisiting James Baldwin’s “Black English”. via Revisiting James Baldwin’s
“Black English”.Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: Becoming Radical
Very Important Video: The (US) Federal Reserve Explained In 7 Minutes
The United States of America is entering its final stages before it
collapses... It can no longer project the power it once did across the
globe, and the nation is now one of destitution, ruination, and poverty...
That sadly is fact.... The other fact is that most of the American people,
who I have always admired for decades, are totally unaware of their
upcoming demise... I have said it before that many will wake up one day
with their economy collapsed and their nation in ruins, and only then will
they be asking: "What the HELL just happened"... At that point it will be
too late to... more »
Plaintain: This Little Weed Is One Of The Most Useful Medicines On The Planet by Jess Smith
[image: not weed weed]This Little Weed is one of the Most Useful Medicines
on the Planet
by Jess Smith
You’ve stepped on it, ignored it, and tried to eradicate it from your lawn.
However, this innocuous little weed is one of the most useful medicines on
the planet, just begging to be harvested.
There are two major types of plantain in BC, Canada: Lance and Broadleaf.
Generally, all 200-plus varieties of plantain yield the same results. It
grows especially well in poor, rocky soil (such as driveways) and is often
seen alongside dandelion. More often than not, you will see plantain
... more »
The Global Warming Fraud: The Deadly Diesel Deception
The Global Warming scare is a massive hoax and swindle..... Right now we
are watching as our planet is going through a natural cooling phase due to
diminished solar radiation output from our Yellow Dwarf star, Sol.... This
is a natural cycle that has gone on for billions of years..... But the
fraudsters and hucksters behind the Global Warming fraud are still pushing
their criminal agenda forward and are right now trying to convince our
governments to fleece their own citizens with more taxation through the
scam of "carbon taxes" to "curb Carbon Dioxide emissions"...
For this artic... more »
Urban Nomad Film Festival May 9-18th
In the coming week; from May 9th up till May 18th, the Urban Nomad 2014
Film Festival will be running at the Lux Cinema in the Ximen area.
This has a whole slew of 21 documentaries and films with something for
everyone's taste.
Go to www.urbannomad.tw for full schedule
also found at urbannomad.blogspot.tw
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its
sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores
of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!
Untitled
*Deal would derail coastal lawsuit ~Mark Ballard, New Orleans Advocate*
*Prospective St. Roch Market tenants say city too slow to act ~WWLTV *
*I-Team: Perricone, Mann surrender federal licenses ~WDSU*
*Lee Zurik Investigation: Questions abound in Alario's campaign spending
reports ~WVUE*
*Art at the intersection ~Sharon Litwin, NolaVie*
*Fruit-based drink gives entertaining, healthy alternative ~Keyle Peveto*
Rob fucking Ford
Busy day, as par yooshoo-al. But I can't resist typing something about the
cretinous poster-boy for right-wing failure; Rob Ford.
It's in all the papers, yeez can read about it yerselves if you haven't
already. Rob Ford was supposedly smoking crack about last weekend at his
sister's place. And he was drunk and belligerent in public last Monday.
There's a video for the crack smoking and audio of the drinking.
Oh, and "Ford Nation"? Any statements you make about his economic
achievements and how they outweigh his gigantic hypocrisy and obnoxiousness
just show you for the deluded ignor... more »
British Healthcare Fact of the Day
"In Britain, even though they're already paying for the National Health
Service, six million Brits—two-thirds of citizens earning more than
$78,700—now buy private health insurance. Meanwhile, more than 50,000
travel out of the U.K. annually, spending more than $250 million, to
receive treatment more readily than they can at home."
Source.
Discussing Research Methodology with the Gates Foundation
Rick Hess, in “A Small Request for My Friends at Gates,” was kind enough to
urge the Gates Foundation to consider three of my research proposals. Rick
Cantrell, the Senior Program Officer for Research and Data, responded to
Rick’s post. Dr. Cantrell and I talked for nearly 1-1/2 hours. I would
again like to thank […]
Donald Sterling: It's Not Just The Racism... It's The Grotesque And Oppressive Nature Of Economic Inequality Writ Large
Sterling's wife, Rochelle, is suing his girlfriend, V. Stiviano, claiming
she received more than $2.5 million in lavish gifts from the Clippers
owner, including a $1.8 million duplex, a Ferrari, two Bentleys and a Range
Rover
You've probably read a *lot* more about Republican Donald Sterling than you
have about Dr. Gloria Bromell Tinubu, the Democratic nominee for SC-07.
That's the way the media works. It's a big deal that Sterling, a lifelong
racist and sociopathic bigot, is barred from even *attending* an NBA
game... for life. It looks like at least three teams nudged the NBA into... more »
Bring back firing squads?
From The Plague, by Albert Camus:
"Have you ever seen a man shot by a firing squad? No, of course not; the
spectators are hand-picked and it's like a private party, you need an
invitation. The result is that you've gleaned your ideas about it from
books and pictures. A post, a blindfolded man, some soldiers in the offing.
But the real isn't a bit like that. Do you know that the firing-squad
stands only a yard and a half from the condemned man? Do you know that if
the victim took two steps forward his chest would touch the rifles? Do you
know that, at this short range, the soldiers... more »
Untitled
*GOP's Common Core Re-brand Hustle*
By Michelle Malkin
This weekend on "Fox News Sunday," anchor Chris Wallace credited his guest,
Republican Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, with leading the nation as the "first
state to fall out of the Common Core national education standards." If only
it were true.
Wallace didn't do his homework. And presidential aspirant Pence was too
busy daydreaming about 2016 to correct him.
Reality check: Last week, Pence faced the anger of hundreds of Indiana
parents, educators and activists at a public Indiana Business Roundtable
meeting to discuss his phony ch... more »
Labour Racketeering
There has been a lot of sound and fury of late about the Temporary Foreign
Workers Program. Terry Glavin writes that the program was set up in 1974 to
ease bottlenecks in the labour markets.
But, in 2002, the Chretien government instituted the "Pilot Project for
Hiring Foreign Workers in Occupations that Require Lower Levels of Formal
Training." That is when the train went off the rails. And, under Stephen
Harper, the Pilot Project became official government policy:
Just how many guest workers are we talking about anyway? The numbers appear
to be far, far larger than is generally... more »
We need to vote out NC ALEC Legislators
Saw this tweet last night and thought - well...
ask and you shall receive
More garbage for public schools in North Carolina. We need to vote out all
of the #ALEC legislators http://t.co/JbHkUOxopV #ncpol
— Eric Bracke (@EricCBracke) April 30, 2014
But remember - this is only a partial list because
ALECers hide their membership - because they know what they are doing is
wrong and they are ashamed.
Really - get rid of these slimeballs that belong to the extremist,
pro-corporate American Legislative Exchange Council.
*North Carolina - Past and Present*
Austin Allran NC Tom Apodaca... more »
Syria Updates May 1 , 2014 --- Various updates regarding the ongoing Syria Wars , One pitting the Government vs against insurgents / jihadists / mercenaries - and their funding sources and freedom fighters , the other ongoing War is internal among the various insurgents / jihadists / mercenaries and their funding sources and freedom fighters ...... news on the political fronts - domestic and international ......
Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Syria ......
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2014/05/al_qaeda_in_kurdista.php
'Al Qaeda in Kurdistan' breaks ranks with ISIS over Syria
By BILL ROGGIOMay 1, 2014
A group calling itself "al Qaeda in Kurdistan" sided with al Qaeda's emir
against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham in the ongoing dispute over
control of the jihad in Syria. In doing so, the group also renewed its
pledge of "allegiance" to Ayman al Zawahiri and Mullah Mohammad Omar, the
leader of the Afghan Taliban, and said it would fight the ISIS if needed.
Al Qaeda in Kurdistan released its statement on ... more »
Can't John Kerry Just Shut the Hell Up?
Secretary of State John F. Kerry is off the chain, continuing to spew so
many allegations without proof that he could be a permanent replacement for
the blowhard Congressman Mike Rogers on the Sunday morning 'news' show
circuit. It is pretty obvious by now that the neocons best laid plans to
stick it to Vladimir Putin by launching a coup in Kiev while the Russian
leader was distracted by the Sochi Olympics has gone up like a bag of
flaming dogshit. The US-EU-NATO debacle in Ukraine has all of the hallmarks
of a neoconservative foreign policy misadventure and is going swimmingly,
l... more »
The Limits of Self-defense, the Threat of Violent Right-wing Extremism and the Job of Leviathan
One night, I'm being attacked in my home by a right wing extremist
neighbour, who doesn't like the anti-racism slogan on my door. He catches
me by surprise when I come home from this evening's grocery shopping and,
armed with a stick and bottle, he forces himself into my hall as I unlock
and open my door. Inside, he starts to push me further in, yelling violent
threats and hitting me. But I manage to regain the initiative, because a
friend of mine is sitting in my living room, waiting for me to return, for
us to prepare some dinner together, and when she joins me, we outnumber the
e... more »
Six string pheno papers
*It's the first of May:* time to read the Czech children's most memorized
poem, Karel Hynek Mácha's romantic 1836 poem "Máj". Try the translation by Edith
Pargeter or James Naughton or the translation to some other languages(including some audios).
May Day turned out to be a busy day on the arXiv, especially when it comes
to papers on string (and string-inspired) phenomenology. I will briefly
mention six papers, including three articles on string inflation.
First, Savas Dimopoulos, Kiel Howe, and John March-Russell of
Stanford-Oxford (a perfect rhyme, indeed) wrote about
Maximally... more »
Notes from the Road: Some Observations about What is Wrong with the Good Fight
by Doug Martin
During my talk recently to the Southeast Education Task Force in
Indianapolis, a member of the Indiana Department of Education said there
wasn’t a manufactured crisis in education, that our kids were indeed, many
of them, failing. She quoted some Ph.D who appeared with Condi Rice
recently, the former Bush official who has a Exxon tankernamed after her
and helped the profiteers handsomely by sending our kids off to a war in
Iraq to die along the side of the road. Luckily, John Harris Loflin, a
social justice activist in Indy, responded, pointing out that measuring
... more »
Musical Interlude: Era, “Avetino”
Era, “Avetino”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGSek7n9kS8
Five Most Popular Posts for April
The five most popular posts of the month were:
1. A Defence of the SWP
2. UKIP's Turn to the Workers
3. What is Len McCluskey Trying to Achieve?
4. Peaches Geldof and Celebrity
5. UKIP, Politics and Populism
That hundreds and hundreds and hundreds flock to read stuff about the SWP
never ceases to amaze me. What is it about our movement that causes
disproportionate numbers of fine activists, socialists and not a few
keyboard class warriors to pour over what is a diminutive and rapidly
diminishing political party? It would take me a while with my finest
sociology hat on to come up wit... more »
Happy May Day 2014
May Day. Also known as Labour Day.
In many countries, May Day is also Labor Day. This originates with the
United States labor movement in the late 19th Century. On May 1, 1886,
unions across the country went on strike, demanding that the standard
workday be shortened to eight hours. The organizers of these strikes
included socialists, anarchists, and others in organized labor movements. Rioting
in Chicago's Haymarket Square on May 4th including a bomb thrown by an
anarchist led to the deaths of a dozen people (including several police
officers) and the injury of over 100 more.
... more »
Turkey's Whirling Dervishes - Why did modern dance lose its spin?
everything in this universe spins, or has spin, and I was wondering when
the act of dancing lost its spin factor.
Look at kids when they do the happy dance, what do they do? Spin, on the
spot or in groups. Spinning (and laughing) is a natural part of what Nature
is. But apart from the recent break-dancing (back-spinning craze), these
days, dancing is a one-plane stepping ritual, usually guarding a hand bag
on the dance floor. You move from one side to the other, stepping with your
left foot, then stepping with your right foot. Sometimes there's a flip, a
hand clap or a turn.
Bu... more »
KC-390 Prototype Final Assembly Underway At Embraer
[image: KC-390]Embraer will begin final assembly of the first KC-390
multirole tanker transport at the end of April, marking a major milestone
in the Brazilian company’s ambitious plans to diversify into the military
airlifter market.
The fuselage, empennage and wing sections of the first aircraft are being
completed prior to assembly at a specially built production site at Gaviao
Peixoto, Embraer’s extensive test facility near Araraquara in south-central
Brazil.
The final body join, expected to take around three weeks, starts the clock
ticking on a fast-paced development-and-test... more »
Two new missile corvettes to join Russia's Caspian flotilla
[image: Buyan class FS]Russia's two newest missile corvettes, the Grad
Sviyazhsk and the Uglich, have successfully undergone navy sea trials and
will be assigned to the Caspian flotilla by July, a spokesman for the
Southern Military District said Wednesday.
"The two ships are due to join the Russian navy at the end of the first
half of 2014. Most likely, they will be assigned to the Caspian flotilla by
July 1," the spokesman said.
He added the pair will be the first Buyan-M-class corvettes to join the
Caspian flotilla.
Read more
Russia Starts Combat Helicopter Training Flights on Baltic Border
[image: Mi-28NE Havoc]A newly formed Russian army helicopter brigade has
begun training flights in the northwest of the country near the borders
with the Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, a spokesman for the Western
Military District said Wednesday.
“Helicopters of the army aviation brigade of the Western Military District,
based in the Pskov region, have begun regular training flights in the skies
over northwestern Russia,” Col. Oleg Kochetkov said.
Kochetkov said the flights involve dozens of Mi-28N Night Hunter and Ka-52
Alligator attack helicopters as well as Mi-8MTV-5 and Mi... more »
Push for Growler jets points to military growth despite spending cap
[image: EA-18G Growler]It wasn't looking good for the Growlers. The
Boeing-made fighter jets, used to jam enemy radar, were left out of the
Pentagon's budget for next year. And with spending strictly limited by a
budget cap, the plane seemed headed for extinction.
But in reality, the Growlers aren't dead yet. Like dozens of other
programs, the EA-18G Airborne Electric Attack Aircraft, as they're
officially known, have ended up on something called the "unfunded
priorities list," an inventory of what the Pentagon would like to buy if it
had several extra billion dollars to spend.
Sec... more »
Sweden appoints new Swiss ambassador amid fighter jet scandal
[image: JAS-39 Gripen]Sweden appointed a new ambassador to Switzerland
Wednesday, a day after a media report that the current envoy lobbied Swiss
parliamentarians to promote the sale of Swedish fighter jets.
The Swedish government denied any links between the replacement of Per
Thoeresson and the planned sale of 22 Gripen aircraft -- approved by the
Swiss parliament last year, but still pending a May 18 referendum on
financing.
"Everyone working at the (Swedish) foreign ministry is part of a rotation
system," foreign ministry spokeswoman Catalina Axelsson told AFP.
Read more
Nimitz sets sail for flight deck qualification
[image: USS Nimitz (CVN 68)]The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) got
underway April 28 for the first time since returning from a nine-month
deployment in December 2013.
Nimitz set sail for a routine flight deck certification. Completing flight
deck certification is essential in preserving the ship’s warfighting
capabilities.
“We are excited to get back to sea,” said Capt. Jeff Ruth, commanding
officer of Nimitz. “The crew has worked hard to maintain the ship since we
returned from deployment. We are motivated to get back out and make sure
our ability to launch and recover aircr... more »
Defence officials scramble to figure out details of military force heading to Europe
[image: HMCS Regina]Although Canada’s CF-18s are joining NATO units in what
the Conservative government says is a show of force over the crisis in
Ukraine, defence officials can’t yet say whether the warplanes are going to
be armed.
Clarity on Canada’s role in the crisis didn’t improve Wednesday with the
announcement by Prime Minister Stephen Harper that a Canadian frigate in
the Arabian Sea will join NATO maritime forces responding to the situation
in eastern Europe.
Department of National Defence officials couldn’t provide details such as
where the ship is headed and when it migh... more »
Frigate combat systems to be upgraded
[image: HMNZS Te Kaha]A Canadian company has won a large contract to
upgrade the combat systems on two New Zealand navy frigates.
The contract is worth $446,000 and will involve work on the radar, missile
and sonar systems on the HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana.
The work will be carried out by Lockheed Martin Canada, and is due to begin
in 2016.
Read more
Philippine Navy eyes French frigates
[image: FS Prairial]Amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the
government is looking at French frigates for the Philippine Navy’s use.
Naval officials were given a tour yesterday of the French Navy’s
surveillance frigate Prairial – a 93.5-meter ship with both military and
civilian characteristics, making it ideal for multiple purposes including
disaster relief and other humanitarian missions, operations against piracy
and international drug trafficking, and territorial patrol.
The Prairial is one of two French warships deployed in the Pacific – one in
Tahiti and the other... more »
B&W Announces $195 Million in Naval Reactors Contracts and Orders
[image: USS George H.W. Bush]The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) announced
today that its subsidiary B&W Nuclear Operations Group, Inc. (B&W NOG) has
received contracts and orders from the U.S. Naval Reactors Program worth
approximately $195 million.
Four new incrementally funded contracts totaling $76.8 million were awarded
for engineering design, fabrication and further development work on the
Ohio-class submarine replacement program.
A new contract valued at $18.8 million was also awarded for disassembly and
recovery of highly enriched uranium materials in FY2014.
Read more
Western Military “Monitors” Turn Up in Eastern Ukraine
*May 1, 2014 *(Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - Bloomberg reported in their
article, “Russia Faces More Sanctions as Monitors Held in Ukraine,” that:
*In Ukraine, pro-Russian militants yesterday captured a bus carrying
observers sent by member states of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, a 57-nation group that includes Russia and the U.S.
focusing on conflict prevention and preserving human rights, Ukraine’s
Interior Ministry said in a statement on its website. They were holding 13
people hostage in Slovyansk, it said. *
*The observers — who include four Germans and c... more »
Funding to Replace Nuclear Subs Up in the Air
[image: USS Main]A key U.S. House panel leader says Congress won’t create a
special funding stream for nuclear-armed submarines this year, but he
thinks the idea of bankrolling the vessels outside of the Navy’s strained
shipbuilding budget is almost certain in the long term.
Representative Randy Forbes (R-Va.) told reporters on Tuesday morning that
replacing today’s Ohio-class ballistic-missile vessels “is a national
strategic concern” that cannot be allowed to fall victim to an already
underfunded naval ship-procurement plan in coming decades.
That plan, by his estimates, is $4 bil... more »
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