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| Biosphere 2 near Tucson, Arizona, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
O'odham honor Zapatistas Galeano August 2, 2014
O'odham Voice Against the Wall August 2, 2014 Tucson, Arizona Zapatista Solidarity Event in honor of Companero Galeano, murdered Zapatista teacher in La Realidad 1080 Contzen Ave. Tucson, Arizona 85705
Why APPR in NYS has to go.
Why APPR in NYS has to go..Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face
I hate Prostitution
I am not a lawyer. I am just someone who thinksaboot justice. Attacking the courts is a Tea Party Party favour. It will not work in Canada. We knew 200 years ago that electing Judges was making judgments based upon those that favored you. Its the idea of democracy being tea partied into a white orifice. It will not work in Canada. We do not want companies with religious exemptions. Does that not sound like Iran? I have to admit this prostitution bill is a tough nut. I am against prostitution and believe most people in this trade are not looking at a Pretty Women horizon. On the oth... more »
USA True Unemployment Is 23.1% - Almost Four Times the Official Rate (Includes Uncounted Unemployed Still Looking/Hoping)
What happened to the way the unemployment rate was calculated historically is a topic worth an essay to itself. I've even written a few myself previously dealing with this private tragedy, but the implications of what it did to the official unemployment number and why is what we have to deal with today in the USA as our government places all its focus on taking over the resources of foreign
About this Costco brouhaha over Dinesh D'Souza's book...
*in which the echo chamber of the right sounds just as silly as the libtards.* I worked for Costco so allow me to enlighten you. Costco carries about 3500 SKU's *total* and has limited space. Their profit margin is incredibly small. They run by the numbers. They have to or they will go broke. Costco is not a bookstore. It simply sells some books along with all it's other offerings. It has a responsibility to its shareholders and their *very* highly paid employees. If Dinesh D'Souza's book is not meeting the numbers, it has to go. They carry (IMO) a higher number of conserva...more »
Who Would You Rather Follow-- Katy Perry Or Rick Perry?
Followers of which of these two would you define as a moron? Democrats are worried that base voters aren't going to turn out in November-- and they should be worried. The collection of atrocious corporate shills and conservative shitheads Steve Israel recruited isn't going to inspire any base voters I ever heard of to go vote. Israel tells donors he plans to win the 17 seats the Democrats need to win back the House. It's more likely the net outcome will be a stinging loss. Elizabeth Warren beat a popular incumbent Republican senator in 2012, Scott Brown, the biggest recipient of Wall... more »
Saving a school: Predatory enrollment
The Washington Post discussed recently the immense pressure administrators, and staff as well, are under to re-enroll students in their schools in order to keep and maintain resources. The move is a sign of the tremendous pressure on the District’s traditional public schools. Charter schools, which appeared less than two decades ago, now enroll nearly […]
Analyzing The Finances Of Al Qaeda In Iraq Interview With RAND’s Patrick Johnston
The United States has a huge amount of captured Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) documents that are archived at West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center’s Harmony Program. Patrick Johnston of the RAND Corporation has been going through these records studying the group’s finances from 2005-2010. They show that while AQI might have been started by the Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi it soon became a self-sufficient organization based upon fund raising within Iraq, and that this money played a crucial role in sustaining the group through its ups and downs. *1. Since 2003 the U.S. has captured ... more »
Ron Jacobs : BOOKS | The evil that was Phoenix|
Douglas Valentine’s ‘The Phoenix Program,’ gives lie to the ongoing attempts to turn the U.S. war in Vietnam into a noble effort. By Ron Jacobs | The Rag Blog | July 8, 2014 “Phoenix was far worse than the things … finish reading Ron Jacobs : *BOOKS* | The evil that was Phoenix|
IMAGE OF AMERICA TAKES ANOTHER HIT: ROLLING SICK
Ring of Fire reports: It’s called “rollin’ coal.” And for several years, rural rednecks in America have been modifying their diesel trucks to turn their semi-adequately managed emissions into churning black smoke. Why? Just to see who has the worst fuel efficiency, who can dump the most carbon emissions into the atmosphere, and be the most obnoxious jerk. But “rollin’ coal” isn’t just a thing to do, they actually consider it a lifestyle, a way to conduct themselves, and a personal identity. “Your truck is not just something to get you from point A to point B,” said Robbie, a Sout... more »
Why No One Cares What Obama Says About the Economy Any More (Obama Ignored His Own Team of Economists and Increasingly Relied on Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (Who Lacks Any Expertise in Economics) for His Economic Advice) Michael Hudson on The New Cold War's Ukraine Gambit (What They Have In Mind for the Ukraine - Jump On b
Obama's not as bad as he appears (as far as understanding anything abut Economics goes). But that's far enough for US already. Bill Black explains: Obama is not open to hearing the economic views of anyone who got the crisis correct or anyone his advisors consider to the left of Paul Krugman (who is mildly left in economic terms). James Galbraith captured the first point brilliantly in
Everything must start with a vision
*Everything must start with a vision. Kirk Sorensen began to talk about the Thorium vision in 2006, and he documented the scientific story of what ORNL had discovered between 1950 and 1975.* *I already knew something about the story, because my father had played an important role in its scientific origins.* *I was the 33rd member of the energy from Thorium discussion group, the only open discussion group devoted to nuclear power in 2007, At that time Molten salt nuclear technology was virtually unknown, even in the small nuclear community. We started out as a grass roots effort, and... more »
IN THE YEAR 2525: Anthropologists deconstruct Ball!
*TUESDAY, JULY 8, 2014* *Part 1—The role of the vassal liberal:* Exciting note: For one day only, we offer history which was channeled to us this weekend from a highly reliable source in the future. That channeled history is shown starting now: By the year 2525, anthropologists had begun to settle on an explanation of the failed American nation-state of five centuries before. At one point, they came to focus on a rune-like text from a young broadcaster named Krystal Ball. Ball was one of many “vassal liberals” in the employ of the priests as the rapid disintegration occurred. Acco... more »
Mis-Estimating the Effects of NCLB on Teachers’ Job Satisfaction
I expected to have mixed feelings when reading “Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al. On one hand, their finding as summarized in the press was so surprising that I knew a careful and skeptical reading would be required. On […]
Duncan's Latest Party Balloon Just Got Popped in Tennessee
When NAEP reported in May that Tennessee high school seniors finish next to last in NAEP proficieny in the latest testing derby (just behind West Virginia), it took some of the glory from the earlier report on NAEP scores for grades 4 & 8 that Kevin Huffman and his band of TFA lawyers plastered on every available wall space at the TN State Department of Education--even the elevators. But Huffman had an explanation for those lower high school scores: you see, high school students came through the system before his antiquarian style of 19th Century educational leadership and manageme... more »
Neoliberal Death Match, 2016?
There is no blue Wall Street. There is no red Wall Street. There's only the United States of Wall Street. And needless to say, it's not purple. It's a bilious shade of green. With the media-political complex incessantly announcing that the Democratic branch of the Money Party will anoint Hillary Clinton from a large field of potential progressive candidates, the Republicans find themselves facing an inverted predicament. Out of a field of countless right wing extremists, none could possibly match Hillary in loyalty to High Finance, bloodthirsty Neocon credibility, and out-of-touch... more »
channelling Hertzan Chimera - or piercing The Electromagnetic Veil - contact with the Ancients
now, those who know me and/or know of the writing of this Free Planet blog KNOW with 100% accuracy that I am about the least psychic person writing on the internet right now. I don't have visions. I don't contact the dead. I have no spiritual convictions whatsoever. Okay, I've described a couple of weird dreams I've had, but who hasn't had weird dreams, right? And remembered them, right? And maybe thought they were dreaming for a Galactic Race who couldn't, right? Anyway, for the ten years of the 1990s (or maybe longer i.e. from earlier, like in the mid-80s) I'd been dreaming about ...more »
Ridley Scott's Prometheus - reboot the Giger franchise from orbit - it's the only way to be sure
*this bitch ain't rollin'* having forced myself to rent out the film for £1 from the local library, I think I now understand (just a little more about) Ridley Scott's PROMETHEUS - as theatrically released. - The Opening Scene: that planet is not even Earth, it's just a Fecundity Rite performed by a Sacrifist on any old galactic rock within a star's Goldilocks Zone. - The LV-223 Military Base: that's the inter-galactic clean-up squad who go in before the Priests arrive to bless a cleansed world. - The Ritualistic Suicide: that's what makes a planet fertile with ... more »
Pie N Mash Films - Bill Maloney interviews Chris Fay - institutionalised 8 hour snuff paedo
we've been disgusted by the recent legal revelations of serial child abusers like Gary Glitter, Jonathan King, Max Clifford, Rolf Harris, Jimmy Savile and others, here Bill Maloney of Pie N Mash Films *discusses with anti child abuse campaigner Chris Fay the current circumstances surrounding former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, Labour MP for Rochdale Simon Danzcuk's question to the House of Commons, Government cover-ups and other sensitive issues that are relevan*t. Filmed *THIS TIME LAST YEAR*.
Punitive Moral Absolutism
distractify.com I don't agree with Jonathan Kay very often. But in yesterday's *National Post* he wrote: The most shocking thing about the government’s 2012 changes to the Interim Federal Health Program is that, despite its Scrooge-like spirit, they haven’t actually saved any money: The cost for treating people simply was downloaded to charities, pro bono doctors, community healthcare organizations and the provinces. It’s hard to escape the conclusion that this move was made mostly for other... more »
Are “Teacher Professional Partnerships” a viable career ladder option?
Dear Teachers, During a school day, have you ever wondered, silently or aloud, any of the following statements: 1) There’s a more effective way of doing ____________________, 2) If we could only change ____________________. 3) I wish we could start doing ____________________. If you answered ‘yes’ to these statements, then this message is for you. Perhaps, there is a more effective way. Perhaps, […]
Stories from the NB abortion clinic
At DAMMIT JANET! we have posted much about choice and abortion rights. FH and I started off at _Birth Pangs_ over 7 years ago, writing about the erosion of women's reproductive choices and our human right to control every aspect of our sexualities and procreation potential. Since founding DJ! we have expanded our feminist scrutiny to other current concerns, while offering our criticism, our support and our activism. But like salmon swimming against the current we are compelled to return to violence against women and reproductive choices; wife battering (as we called it then), rape... more »
The Meaningless Moratorium Has Ended Before Anyone Knew It Began
The union misleadership stooges of the NYSUT have signed on to a Gates-approved moratorium that just ended. Under a plan that Cuomo will sign into law, teachers, as the headline goes, get a "break" from teacher evaluations based on test scores. Or, rather, they got a break in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014. The moratorium is over before anyone could celebrate the big victory that Weingarten, surely, will shout about from the rooftops, along with her dwindling list of wishful thinkers. This represents the kind of dissembling and manipulation that only the stooges of the NYSUT could call ... more »
Trending Bad
The other day I wrote about an edition of BBC Trending, which I heard in the middle of the night on the BBC World Service. To recap: But the item that caught my ear was the one devoted to hashtag “GazaUnderAttack” , which they tell me has been trending, on and off, since one of the IDF’s previous incursions into Gaza, probably Operation Pillar of Cloud. The thing about the latest flurry of activity over at hashtaggazaunderattack is that people (mainly from Malaysia, somewhere else I've forgotten *and the UK) *have been furiously Tweeting images of ‘dead babies’ willy nilly, no m... more »
Book Review: The Here and Now &Second Star
In a word full of plagues, food shortages and death, Prenna James is part of an immigration not to another place, but another time. The immigrates arrive in New York in 2010, and must do everything they can to keep themselves inconspicuous as to not change the course of the future. Prenna struggles to fit in, and when she meets Ethan, the rule of forming no close relationships outside of the community seems impossible to keep. In the beginning I really liked the premise of The Here and Now. Usually when we think of the future, we liked to think of all the crazy new technologies we w... more »
Cuomo Digs Up ConservaDem Kathy Hochul-- Promptly Hides Her From The Democratic Base
When Republican Congressman Chris Lee was caught, shirtless, online trolling for younger women, he resigned and nominal Democrat Kathy Hochul, the County Clerk of Erie County won the special election to replace him, primarily because a wealthy, well-known teabagger, Jack Davis, pulled votes away from her GOP opponent. She immediately joined the corrupt, Wall Street-owned New Dems and began amassing a conservative, anti-family record, working hard, for example, to reduce Medicaid spending. New York Democrats hoped they had found another Kirsten Giillibrand, a pro-NRA conservaDem w... more »
Untitled
*British watchdog says universities should take pupils 'on potential' to help poorer students* *But how do you judge potential? Any objective test will just end up measuring IQ -- and we can't have that. Or can we? We did once* A university watchdog has told campuses to help poorer pupils win more places by looking beyond would-be students’ qualifications when recruiting. Professor Les Ebdon said they should admit undergraduates according to ‘academic potential’ rather than simply totting up their GCSEs and A-levels. The head of the Office for Fair Access (Offa) also revealed ... more »
US doing everything in its power to tick off Germany ? ( July 8 , 2014 ) Following swiftly on the heels of the latst spy caper that unraveled involving Germany's Intel service , now German Banks are being targeted ? US Set To Alienate Angry Germany Next, As Crackdown Shifts From BNP To Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank ...... In what is certainly a coincidence , Germany's Merkel visits China for the seventh time since 2005 ! Takeaway -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in China for her seventh visit since 2005, with economic ties topping the agenda and a high-powered business delegation in tow.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-08/us-set-alienate-angry-germany-next-crackdown-shifts-bnp-commerzbank-deutsche-bank US Set To Alienate Angry Germany Next, As Crackdown Shifts From BNP To Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/08/2014 08:04 -0400 - China - Deutsche Bank - France - Germany - Iran - JPMorgan Chase - New York Fed - None - Obama Administration - Reserve Currency - Reuters inShare As we reported over the weekend in "By "Punishing" France, The US Just Accelerated T... more »
Ukraine Updates ( July 8 , 2014 ) - Status of Civil War in South East Ukraine , economic situation , odd item concerning Russia ...
Tweet.... *Steve Rosenberg* @BBCSteveR · 20h I sense that the journey from Sloviansk to Donetsk isn't going to be easy. Someone has blown up this railway bridge. pic.twitter.com/1ijhDIuCTi [image: Embedded image permalink] Anti War...... Bridges Destroyed as Ukraine Vows ‘Blockade’ of Rebel-Held CitiesBoth Sides Trade Blame for Bridge Blasts by Jason Ditz, July 07, 2014 Print This | Share This With the loss of Slovyansk, large numbers of east Ukrainian rebels are falling back to Donetsk, digging in at their de facto capital and preparing to barricade the streetsagainst a m... more »
Afghanistan Election Update -- While Ashraf Ghani leads in early tabulation of results from the Runoff vote , Abdullah Abdullah not inclined to go away quietly --- Abdullah calls Afghanistan run-off 'rigged' Former foreign minister says he is the winner of the poll and that nobody who "committed fraud" should take power.
Al Jazeera..... Abdullah calls Afghanistan run-off 'rigged' Former foreign minister says he is the winner of the poll and that nobody who "committed fraud" should take power. Last updated: 08 Jul 2014 09:01 [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker] [image: Email Article] [image: Print Article] [image: Share article] [image: Send Feedback] Abdullah rejected the results of the election at a rally of his supporters in Kabul [AFP] Afghan politician Abdullah Abdullah has rejected the results of June's presidential run-off, calling the vote that put his arch-rival Ashraf Ghani ah... more »
What Every Teen Needs To Know About Getting Paid At Work
I wrote about general workplace rights teens and young adults need to know. And before that I wrote about workplace sexual harassment. But there's even more you probably didn't learn about work when you were in school. I bet your high school and college didn't tell you about what you're entitled to be paid under the law, what hours you're allowed to work, how to figure out if your internship should be paid, and allowable work breaks, did they? If you're a teen or young adult starting or looking for a summer job or internship, getting paid (or getting a meaningful learning experience)...more »
US Set To Alienate Angry Germany Next, As Crackdown Shifts From BNP To Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank
*US Set To Alienate Angry Germany Next, As Crackdown Shifts From BNP To Commerzbank, Deutsche Bank* Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/08/2014 08:04 -0400 http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-08/us-set-alienate-angry-germany-next-crackdown-shifts-bnp-commerzbank-deutsche-bank As we reported over the weekend in "By "Punishing" France, The US Just Accelerated The Demise Of The Dollar", following the record $9 billion fine against French BNP, the outcry has been fast and furious, with virtually everyone in the local chain of command, from Total CEO to the head of the Bank of France (a... more »
End of Harpergov?
The always good to read Kirbycairo makes the case that endless anger politics and court-corrected legislation has doomed the Harpercons in the next election. I'd say yes, likely true if all other things were equal. However, this is also why why the Fair Elections Act exists. They just need enough seats, not all of the seats to keep on keeping on and I simply don't trust the FPTP system and the
Email the Indiana State Board of Ed: Another Power Grab in the Works
by Doug Martin Once again, former conservative radio show host/free-market Christian/current Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his corporate theocrats on the State Board of Education (made up of Koch Brothers-connected Indiana Policy Review Foundation fake scholars, former Christel DeHaan operatives, and hedge fund Democrats, among others) are seeking to strip supt. of public schools Glenda Ritz of more power. The ISTA recently noted that the "board will propose dramatic new board procedures through approving a resolution that will form a one-time, ad hoc committee that will approve... more »
Iraq Update ( July 8 , 2014 ) Round up of news of the day on the political front , the state of play on the sectarian war , news pertaining to Kurdistan and tweets of the day !
Rudaw...... Kurds Warn They Will Respond to More Iraqi Attacks on Tuz KhurmatuBy RUDAW 39 minutes ago [image: The Peshmerga strengthened their positions in Tuz Khurtamu after the withdrawal of Iraq’s armed forces from the region last month.] The Peshmerga strengthened their positions in Tuz Khurtamu after the withdrawal of Iraq’s armed forces from the region last month. ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Kurdish Peshmerga forces have been instructed to “respond appropriately” to any attack on Tuz Khurmatu, an official warned, after Iraqi jets bombed the town center on Sunday, killing four peop... more »
France lashes out against US dollar, calls for ‘rebalancing’ of world currencies
http://rt.com/business/170864-france-balance-dollar-bnp/ *France lashes out against US dollar, calls for ‘rebalancing’ of world currencies* Published time: July 07, 2014 10:24 Get short URL French Finance Minister Michel Sapin (Reuters/Denis Balibouse)French Finance Minister Michel Sapin (Reuters/Denis Balibouse) *The French government wants to break the monopoly the dollar has on international transactions* after the country’s largest bank, BNP Paribas, was slapped with a record $9 billion fine and a 1-year dollar trading ban. Michel Sapin, the French finance minister, called ... more »
No Shit, Sherlock - BBC News - #BBCtrending: Are #GazaUnderAttack images accurate?
The BBC have finally worked something out, here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-28198622 'Over the past week the hashtag #GazaUnderAttack has been used hundreds of thousands of times, often to distribute pictures claiming to show the effects the airstrikes. Some of the images are of the current situation in Gaza, but a #BBCtrending analysis has found that some date as far back as 2009 and others are from conflicts in Syria and Iraq.' No Shit Sherlock
The Double-Edged Sword of Drone Technology
*July 8, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - LocalOrg) - When we think of drones, we think of remote controlled or semi-autonomous death machines, eyes in the sky, and a future where a despotic global regime can torment us from unreachable heights. But what if alongside their drones, flew ours? A balance of power allows the cutting edge of drone technology to slice the other way - and in our favor. *The Nightmare* As the NSA builds an omnipresent surveillance network across the planet's surface - tracking each and every one of us, ranking us autonomously into various threat categories with t... more »
Games for [Theresa] May
*From Hansard:* Child Abuse 3.35 pm *The Secretary of State for the Home Department (Mrs Theresa May):* With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the sexual abuse of children, allegations that evidence of the sexual abuse of children was suppressed by people in positions of power, and the Government’s intended response. I want to address two important public concerns: first, that in the 1980s the Home Office failed to act on allegations of child sex abuse; and, secondly, that public bodies and other important institutions have failed to take seriously their... more »
The Moss Dossier
Now then, now then, who have we got here? This is the background story of the guest house http://chris-ukorg.org/cover-ups/elm...-sexual-abuse/ The source is a former Young People in Care protection officer called Mary Moss. She's now frightened for her life, though releasing this has probably bought her some protection. Operation Fairbank is supposed to be dealing with this but as the lists contain names of so many police they must be covering it up. At the top we've got: **** ******* (Con), the former --------- to -------, also accused by Chris Spivey of raping a twelve yea... more »
Blacked Out by US Media NSA Whistleblowers Testify in Germany
During the Fourth of July holiday and all of the phony patriotic excesses in *The Homeland* - I happened to catch a brief portion of Friday's nationally televised New York City fireworks display and was sickened and astonished at the overt worship of militarism - why don't they just do away with the subtlety next year and just roll the tanks and missiles across the Brooklyn Bridge like the old USSR. What passes for patriotism, loyalty and sacrifice to country here on the star-spangled lemming colony is putrid rot, distilled down into a potent brew of American exceptionalism from w... more »
"Some People..."
“Some people never go crazy. What truly horrible lives they must lead.” - Charles Bukowski
Spain: First Case Filed Against HPV Vaccine Manufacturers and Health Authorities By Alicia Capilla
Spain: First case filed against HPV vaccine manufacturers and health authorities By Alicia Capilla President of AAVP Sane Vax, Inc. 8 July 2014 AAVP, together with law firm Almodóvar & Jara, filed the first of a long series of lawsuits for damages caused by HPV vaccines. The complaint is filed in the High Court against health authorities and vaccine manufacturers. The process of trying to find justice now begins for one of the Valencian girls who suffered an adverse reaction after the second shot of Gardasil in 2009. Spanish families whose lives have been adversely impacted... more »
Pope Francis told victims of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic clerics the Church should "weep and make reparation" for crimes he said had taken on the dimensions of a sacrilegious cult.
*Sacrilege is the violation or injurious treatment of a sacred object or person. It can come in the form of irreverence to sacred persons, places, and things. When the sacrilegious offence is verbal, it is called blasphemy, and when physical, it is often called desecration. In a less proper sense, any transgression against what is seen as the virtue of religion would be a sacrilege. "Sacrilege" originates from the Latin sacer, sacred, and legere, to steal, as in Roman times it referred to the plundering of temples and graves. By the time of Cicero, sacrilege had adopted a more e... more »
Are you always green?
[image: Are you always green?] Over the holiday weekend, I heard someone say that because it was a holiday, they could relax their rules. I got to thinking about green living and wondered if there were ever a time, or situation, when you would put the environment aside? Is it always your foremost consideration or are there circumstances in which you'd bend your environmental rules? That's the focus of this month's survey: *If you are reading this post via email, please use the following link to access the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L9JFS9M.* Create your free online surv...more »
Gripen Closes In On Operational Meteor Capability
Defence and security company Saab and FMV have concluded missile integration firings with Gripen and the MBDA Meteor BVRAAM (Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missile). These latest firings, conducted earlier this year, further verified missile integration with Gripen and validated seeker performance and missile range. This was the last major trials task required to clear the new missile for operational service on the Gripen C/D multi-role fighter. Read more
Denel Dynamics upgrading missile range
[image: A-Darter air-to-air missile]Denel Dynamics is upgrading and improving its range of air defence, air-to-air and anti-armour missiles as it continues developing its product line and focus on future missiles. The Umkhonto naval surface-to-air missile has been sold to three users, including the South African Navy, Finland and an undisclosed customer. Denel is planning to deploy the Umkhonto in the ground based air defence system (GBADS) environment and has recently tested the weapon from a ground based launcher, destroying targets at a range of 20 km, an improvement of 5 km. R...more »
India close to finalizing Apache and Chinook chopper deals worth over $2.5 billion
[image: AH-64D Apache Longbow]India is now close to inking major deals worth over $2.5 billion for two iconic American helicopters, the Apache attack and Chinook heavy-lift choppers, which thrashed their Russian rivals both technically and commercially earlier. Defence ministry sources on Monday said the around $1.4 billion deal for 22 AH-64D Apache Longbow gunships, armed with deadly Hellfire and Stinger missiles, and the $1.1 billion one for 15 CH-47F Chinooks, equipped with powerful contra-rotating tandem rotors, are "almost ready" now. "These two deals for IAF will be placed f... more »
Russia successfully tests long-range interceptor missile
Russia has successfully carried out test launch of a long-range interceptor missile which will be part of a new fifth generation air defence system S-500, according to a news report. Russian news agency Itar-Tass quoting a source in the Defence and Industrial Complex, said the test launches were conducted in late June. "All goals and tasks set within this event were fulfilled completely," the source was quoted as saying. Read more
Navy's cruiser problem: Service struggles over modernization, replacements
[image: Ticonderoga class CG]The Navy and Congress are in a sort of faceoff over the fleet’s cruiser force. To extend their service lives, the Navy is asking to take half its cruisers — CGs in Navy-speak — out of service now and gradually bring them back starting in 2019. Congress, fearful that Pentagon budget-cutters will instead decide to cut costs and reduce the force, is insisting the ships be modernized now and kept running. A level of discomfort — if not outright distrust — has been created as the service changed its original 2012 request to decommission seven cruisers under...more »
India Successfully Tests BrahMos Supersonic Cruise Missile
[image: BrahMos]India Tuesday successfully test-fired the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a defence base in Odisha, an official said. It has a range of 290 km and can carry a conventional warhead of up to 300 kg. The missile was launched from the Integrated Test Range in Chandipur in Balasore district, about 230 km from here. "The test was successful. It was a land version of BrahMos. It was done with a total indigenous airframe," M.V.K.V. Prasad, director of the test range, told IANS. Read more
Allies to Face Off with Stealthy Sub
[image: HMCS Victoria]This week the Canadian long-range hunter-killer submarine HMCS Victoria will head to deep waters off Hawaii and pretend to be a foe of the United States and other nations during Rim of the Pacific war games. Surface ships, helicopters, patrol aircraft and other subs will be seeking to get their figurative sights on the 230-foot Victoria in return -- which won't be an easy task. In the cat-and-mouse game that is undersea warfare, U.S. Navy subs have nuclear power that lets them stay submerged for a long time, but diesel electrics like the Victoria have a whispe... more »
Arms Exports Thrive Amid Military Revamp
[image: Hanoi (Kilo) class SSK]President Vladimir Putin announced Monday that Russian arms exports continue to flourish, with $5.6 billion worth of weapons and military hardware having been sold in the first half of 2014, while its portfolio of export orders have expanded by $15 billion. Moscow's plans to expand its presence on the global arms market come at a time when the modernization of Russia's military and industrial production base is high on the agenda. The need for boosting domestic arms production has been highlighted by events in Ukraine, where Russian defense contractor... more »
Untitled
*Could Consuming MORE Energy Help Humans Save Nature?* By John Horgan Even before I arrived at the annual “Dialogue” of the Breakthrough Institute, an Oakland, California, think tank that challenges mainstream environmental positions, I was arguing about it. "Ecopragmatists" contend that higher energy consumption may help us "decouple" from, or reduce our impact on, the environment. Photo: Breakthrough Institute. When I explained some of the institute’s positions to two green friends, they were aghast that I would hobnob with a group that favors nuclear power, natural gas, geneti... more »
Leidos Building Autonomous Unmanned Vessel to Track Submarines; John Fratamico Comments
[image: Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel]Leidos is building an Autonomous Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel for long-term monitoring of submarines as part of an anti-submarine warfare program by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency. ACTUV will be equipped with sensors, electro-optics and radars, as well as sensor control, navigation and status reporting features to support intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions, Leidos said Monday. “It would help keep our troops out of harm’s way and provide capability in more harsh environmental conditions for a lo... more »
Submarine Maker Plans R.I. Expansion
[image: Ohio class SSBN replacement]Submarine maker Electric Boat plans to double its workforce in Rhode Island to build a new class of submarines under a $95 billion Navy program, welcome news in the state with the nation's highest unemployment rate. The workforce at the North Kingstown manufacturing plant could double by 2028 to about 6,000 people, said Sean Davies, the site's general manager. That is roughly the same number of employees who built submarines there at the peak of the Cold War. Rhode Island's economy has struggled to rebound since the Great Recession. The state's u... more »
"Fukushima Update, July 7, 2014"
*"Fukushima Update, July 7, 2014"* by ENENews.com – Energy News TIME, July 7, 2014: "A “once in decades” storm is approaching Japan’s southern islands with winds up to 150 mph, the country’s weather agency said The Japan Meteorological Agency [predicted] the super typhoon will grow into an “extremely intense” storm by Tuesday. “In these regions, there is a chance of the kinds of storms, high seas, storm surges and heavy rains that you’ve never experienced before,” a JMA official said “This is an extraordinary situation, where a grave danger is approaching.” Weather Channel, July 7... more »
Boeing Commemorative Lecture 2014: Choice or accident? The outbreak of the First World War
*Wikipedia:* Margaret Olwen MacMillan, OC (born 23 December 1943 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada) is a historian and professor at the University of Oxford, where she is Warden of St Antony's College. She is former provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson University. A leading expert on history and international relations, MacMillan is a frequent commentator in the media. Her most successful work is Peacemakers: The Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and Its Attempt to End War, also published as Paris 1919: Six Months That...more »
A Chronicle of Echoes Gets Noticed in Salon
This summer, I am writing my second book, this time on the history, development, and promotion of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). On July 4th, I finished writing the ten-chapter body of that book, which means that even though I now turn my attention to proofing, editing, and formatting my references, I do not […]
Will Hate Talk Radio Last Out The Decade?
WBT, Charlotte's News Talk 1110, broadcasts mostly local talk (plus Rush Limbaugh) and is the ratings leader in the market. Their signal is so big they can be picked up anywhere on the East Coast of the United States. Last week they announced they were firing popular comic hosts, Brad Krantz and Britt Whitmire. At WBT, *Brad and Britt*” had aired in afternoon drive-time for the first year, then moved to early evenings. The show had good ratings, Krantz said, but station management stopped supporting them after apparently receiving a few complaint calls from legacy listeners. "W... more »
Tory, Tory Same Old Story....The Return Of Mike Allen
When I first caught word that beleaguered MLA Mike Allen allowed back into Tory caucus I thought someone must have surely imbibed a bit much over the weekend. But, no. There it was in black in white as I began to peruse media sources. My shock turned to disbelief and then anger, quite frankly. I'm still stunned as I try to make sense of it all and I've had to step away from my keyboard several times here in order to get something coherent down on paper, or screen as it where. When I learned prior to the last provincial election that our city would get a second MLA do to some el... more »
IT’S ONLY ISRAEL’S INTERNAL POLITICS THAT PREVENTS THE ZIONISTS FROM TAKING OVER THE WEST BANK AND THE GAZA STRIP
It is Israeli internal political bickering over how to proceed with creating a Greater Israel by overrunning the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with the eventual aim of annexing both territories to Israel that prevents them from doing it right now. One the one side there’s Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman of the extreme right-wing Beiteinu party and Israeli Economy Minister Naftali Bennett of the equally right-wing The Jewish Home party, calling for an immediate invasion of the occupied territories after the murders of the three Jewish boys, while on the other side there’s ... more »
Prof. Robert Weiner: The Nature & Impact of WWI
Video Title: Prof. Robert Weiner: The Nature & Impact of WWI. Source: Lafayette College. Date Published: November 30, 2010. Description: Robert Weiner, Jones Professor of History at Lafayette College, discusses "The Nature & Impact of World War I" for Alumni Summer College. "It's Darwin to the reverse. It's not the survival of the fittest. The fittest go first. . . So what was decimated is the middle class. Everybody takes part, but it's a middle class war. There was no aristocrat who didn't lose a child, a cousin, a brother, a parent, a husband. No aristocrat who said I'm not go... more »
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
“Congratulations are due to Tom Arup for composing this gem: ‘The Anglican Church has told the Abbott government to change its approach to climate change, urging it to respect and base its policy on scientific evidence.’ The comic power in that paragraph is equal to several kilotons of the finest plutonium. Here we have an organisation founded on belief and faith now demanding that selected scientific opinions inform government policy. These same people think they can talk to the planet’s inventor just by putting their hands together.” - Tim Blair, ‘Carbon Church’ Content... more »
Healthcare: Unequal Access Is UnCanadian
Sound familiar? Although abortion has been legal for 41 years in the U.S. and it is a very safe procedure, we still face many challenges. Since legalization, we have faced a relentless anti-choice movement that is well-funded and organized, and backed by Evangelical and Catholic churches. More recently, those within the movement have shifted their focus from making abortion illegal to making it inaccessible. .... These restrictions have led to a situation where even though abortion is still legal in all 50 states, a woman’s access to care in the U.S. is largely dependent on where s... more »
"Sunny John" Boehner doesn't deserve to be made fun of by Alexandra Petri
*If Alexandra Petri and I are both having a spot of trouble with misbehaving words, it's in the great tradition of *Saturday Night Live*'s perpetually angry scourge, Emily Litella (Gilda Radner), who (for example) couldn't understand what all the fuss was about "violins in schools."* *"The American people said they wanted change, but really what they wanted was just a little bit off the top because anything else would frighten their spouses. . . ."The president thought that when we said we wanted jobs and changes, we wanted jobs and changes. He will learn. Even then, he used fewe... more »
Bulgaria Banking troubles ( July 4 , 2014 ) ......Accusations fly as to the reasons behind bank runs at both Corpbank as well as First Investment Bank - corporate clashes the cause or was perceived instability and lack of liquidity the reason ? Are there systemic problems with the banking system in Bulgaria ? The fact the Central Bank had to step in regarding CorpBank and the subsequent lifelines / bailouts that have followed , seem to reflect deeper concerns than Boardroom drama ..... As previously discussed , the fact that Bulgaria is caught in the middle of the South Stream battle between the EU / US vs Russia , makes the timing of the banking concerns " interesting " .....
Catharsis Ours - 18 hours ago
Business Insider...... Accusations fly in Bulgaria’s murky bank run [image: Reuters] - BY MATTHIAS WILLIAMS AND TSVETELIA TSOLOVA, REUTERS - JUL. 4, 2014, 5:50 AM - 1 - FACEBOOK - LINKEDIN - TWITTER - GOOGLE+ - PRINT - EMAIL [image: A general view shows the main office of Bulgaria's Corporate Commercial Bank in Sofia in this picture taken July 1, 2014. Picture taken July 1, 2014. To match Insight BULGARIA-BANKING/ REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov (BULGARIA - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY)] Thomson Reuters General view shows the main office of Bulgaria's Corporate Commerc... more »
The Children of Ash: Cosmology and the Viking Universe
Related: *The Shape of the Soul: The Viking Mind and the Individual*. Video Title: The Children of Ash: Cosmology and the Viking Universe. Source: Cornell University. Date Published: December 11, 2012.
Mythopoeia- Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
*Before we get to the mythical Abu Bakr al Baghdadi lets talk Mythopoeia.* *Mythopoeia* (also *mythopoesis*, after Hellenistic Greek μυθοποιία, μυθοποίησις "myth-making") is a narrative genre in modern literature and film where a fictional mythology is created by the writer of prose or other fiction. The authors in this genre integrate traditional mythological themes and archetypes into fiction. I happened across a myth just today. A story filled with very common archetypes,(PDF) employing evocative language The myth concerned none other then Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. The myth appear... more »
"Washington can’t stop lying. Don’t be convinced by last Thursday’s job report that it is your fault if you don’t have a job. Those 288,000 jobs and 6.1% unemployment rate are more fiction than reality." "Since 1994 there has been no official measure that includes discouraged people who have not looked for a job for more than a year. Including all discouraged workers produces an unemployment rate that currently stands at 23.1%, almost four times the rate that the financial press reports." -- Paul Craig Roberts
------------------------------ *Virtual Economy’s Phantom Job Gains Are Based on Statistical Fraud — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ July 7, 2014 | Original Here Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter *Virtual Economy’s Phantom Job Gains Are Based on Statistical Fraud* *And More Fraud Is in the Works* Paul Craig Roberts Washington can’t stop lying. Don’t be convinced by last Thursday’s job report that it is your fault if you don’t have a job. Those 288,000 jobs and 6.1% unemployment rate are more... more »
“Do I Have the Right to Be?”
*“Do I Have the Right to Be?”* by Peter Atterton “It’s a disturbing thought: All of us are alive today thanks at least partly to some mass atrocity that was committed in the past. This is because war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and ethnic cleansing invariably affect who is born after them. Who knows how many of us can claim, “Even if the Holocaust had not occurred, I would still have been born”? And if you can, perhaps because you were conceived before 1933 or shortly afterward without having been influenced in some way by the effects of Hitlerism, what about the Crus... more »
Fear Rules as TSA Goons Now Empowered to Steal Your Cellphone
With the latest wave of ginned-up terrorism alerts, this one being due to the ominous and mysterious Muslim menace of ISIS which could be straight out of Hollywood, the TSA goons at airports will be unleashed anew. The Department of Homeland Security's airport Gestapo has kept a rather low profile lately since the heady days of humiliating old women in medical diapers, herding attractive women into a side room for "extra" screening and feeling up children as well as stealing the possessions of passengers but the renewed climate of fear-mongering is about to unleash the goons with ... more »
UPDATED: Benjamin Fulford: Some kind of major show-down is looming this month as new BRICS bank set to launch
*Updated 7/8/2014 added link to Karen Hudes messages mentioned below.... -AK* *Views below are Benjamin Fulford's... had to laugh though at the Karen Hudes remark... -AK* *Some kind of major show-down is looming this month as new BRICS bank set to launch* Posted by Benjamin Fulford July 8, 2014 There are many signs the ongoing financial war for the future of the planet is heading for a major inflection point as the BRICS heads of state meet July 14-16 to formally set up their alternative to the cabal controlled IMF and World Bank. The cabal has already signaled its displeasure...more »
Criminal American Officials Lose Their Minds Over Their Defeat In Syria, Compare Assad To Hitler
*Stephen Rapp: Go fuck yourself, you stinking pile of dog shit. Nobody believes your lies about Syria.* An excerpt from, *"U.S.: Assad’s ‘Machinery of Death’ Worst Since the Nazis"* by Josh Rogin, The Daily Beast, July 7, 2014: Tens of thousands of photographs showing the Syrian government’s torture, murder, and mass starvation of civilians in custody are evidence of the kind of systematic atrocities not seen since Hitler’s Nazi regime exterminated millions during World War II, according to the State Department’s top war crimes official. Stephen Rapp, the State Department’s ambass...more »
Strategies of accords are but embellishments to the original
*Strategies of accords are but embellishments to the original* by ÉirePort Strategies of accords are but embellishments to the original. Harmonic oscillations of Higher Order now shape Gaia movements. Stipulations of ascension have now been fulfilled, and mirings released. Resumption of Gaia mandates occurs. Action is called for from all Hue-Beings.. ÉirePort | July 7, 2014 at 09:48 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2sFUY-s1 *mire (mr)* n. 1. An area of wet, soggy, muddy ground; a bog. 2. Deep slimy soil or mud. 3. A disadvantageous or difficult condition or si... more »
The Shape of the Soul: The Viking Mind and the Individual
*"The Viking Way: Religion and War in the Later Iron Age of Scandinavia"* by Neil Price. *Wikipedia:* Neil Price is an English archaeologist specialising in the study of Viking Age Scandinavia and the archaeology of shamanism. He is currently a professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. Born in south-west London, Price went on to gain a BA in Archaeology at the University of London, before writing his first book, The Vikings in Brittany, which was published in 1989. He undertook his doctoral research from 1988 through to 1992 at the Unive...more »
Investigating Paedophile Politicians
As Parliament prepares to disband for the summer, a vast supercell hangs poised to send tornado after tornado ripping through the political establishment. Rumours have long-circulated about paedophile MPs, and the absence of several dossiers submitted to the Home Office by the late Tory MP Geoffrey Dickens have forced Theresa May to establish a wide-ranging enquiry. Good. Let there be no doubt. If the olds boys' networks have child abusers in their midst, and have conspired to protect them from the consequences of their crimes I hope these vile creatures are dragged from the shadow... more »
ECONOMICS FOR REAL PEOPLE: The clash that defined modern economics
[image: The clash that defined modern economics] *Students have now finished exams, and our friends at the Auckland University Economics Group have seized the opportunity of a visit from two stellar international speakers to offer a very special public event this Thursday, an evening with two world authorities on Say’s Law and Hayek:* On Thursday at the University of Auckland Business School, two world authorities are talking on the most important economic debate of the last century, and asking this question: *How do you restore health to an economy in difficulty? * It is a ... more »
The collective illiteracy of education reform
I have no idea how any reform conversant can say what follows with a straight face: When people say the education system is too focused on the adults at the expense of the kids, it can be dismissed as a throwaway line. In fact, as our ongoing conversation about stakes and consequences shows, it’s so much […]
How Much Of A Role Will Climate Change Play In The Congressional Elections This Year?
Yesterday, Yale's School of Forestry & Environmental Studies released a report and survey, The Politics of Global Warming, that should send shivers down the spines of Climate Change deniers in Congress. "We find," they reported, "that registered voters are 2.5 times more likely to vote for a congressional or presidential candidate who supports action to reduce global warming. Further, registered voters are 3 times more likely to vote *against* a candidate who opposes action to reduce global warming." The study also finds that while Democrats are more convinced that human-caused g... more »
Palestinian Parody about ISIS
Title: Palestinian Parody about ISIS. Source: MEMRI TV. Date Published: July 7, 2014.
Devolution. Evolution. Revolution. The Future Is Now.
Devolution. Evolution. Revolution. The Future Is Now. *written by **Robin Mathews* July 2014 This week, this month, maybe this year, the economist of choice is Thomas Piketty, professor at the Paris School of Economics. Very briefly, Piketty points to present developments in capitalism. Unchecked capitalism (as it exists increasingly in the present devastation of democracies and the empowerment of private corporations) leads by its very nature to unequal concentrations of wealth. No surprise. Put another way, when the rate of return on investment exceeds th... more »
Untitled
*Bricks, rebar, huge rocks inside the 17th Street canal levees (which is no surprise) ~Fix The Pumps* *Levee officials to question corps about debris, lack of rip-rap stone in parts of 17th St. Canal levees ~Mark Schleifstein*
As If There's Not Enough Radiation Floating Over Already, It's Not Corrupt (As Long As They Get To Define Their Own Corrupt Behavior), and Facebook Manipulation Applauded By Dummies?
Is it hot enough for you? And the hits just keep on coming! (h/t Casey Kasem - R.I.P.) (Thermite genesis at WTC?) Gordon Duff is known to make some people hot. He and July are running neck. (Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.) Monday, July 7th, 2014 Posted by Gordon Duff Officials Site “Thermo-Nuke” in 9/11 DemoUS ‘Superbomb’ too classified for Obama to know ‘US
The Decoupling of Food and Land
The graphs above come from this post at The Breakthrough Institute by Jon Fisher of The Nature Conservancy. The graphs show something profound in global agriculture: the world is producing more food per person on less land. While there are caveats and details that are important, overall these twin trends are good news. Do head over to @TheBTI and read Fisher's excellent discussion.
The Economy: “How to Die Poor”
*“How to Die Poor”* by Bill Bonner “The game of speculation is the most uniformly fascinating game in the world. But it is not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor.” – Jesse Livermore, “How to Trade in Stocks” “The trouble with capitalism's guardians is that they have no respect for it. Markets have been around for at least 2,000 years. Since then they have evolved in many directions, with fancy and sophisticated techniques... and elaborate systems and complicated instruments that tak... more »
The unbearable pointlessness of Newswatch
Newswatch is completely pointless. It showcases viewers’ complaints about BBC programmes, and then someone from the BBC replies: “No. We got it right”. Since it’s compiled by the BBC, produced by the BBC, conceived by the BBC, put together by the BBC, I can’t see why it’s there. It’s like taking an exam with the answers already supplied. Never mind, I like Samira Ahmed, so I watched an episode on iPlayer because it addressed the BBC’s reporting of the current I/P conflict. What a pointless programme it is though. A viewer’s comment was featured: *“ I wanted to congratulate the BBC... more »
Tips Diet Dan Turunkan Berat Badan Secara Alami Terbaru
Tips Diet Dan Turunkan Berat Badan Secara Alami Terbaru - Bagi anda yang memiliki tubuh kurang ideal dan merasa kurang percaya diri saat berjalan dengan teman lu karena berat badan anda yang berlebihan. simaklah satu Tips Baru yang kami ajukan di sini untuk anda semua. sesungguhnya amat banyak daya yang bisa kita lakukan untuk menurunkan berat badan kita dan dapatkan tubuh yang ideal sesuai
Cara Praktis Mendaftar Paketan Internet XL Terbaru 2014
Cara Praktis Mendaftar Paketan Internet XL Terbaru 2014 - Persaingan di antara Operator seluler sekarang ini semakin gencar,terbukti dengan berbagai paket jagat maya yang ditawarkan oleh setiap Operator seluler. Dari yang memasang kuota sampai paketan yang unlimited,semua itu di lakukan untuk menarik konsumen agar mau menggunakan karu di operator seluler itu seorang diri. Yang akan kita bahas
Cara Menghilangkan Jerawat Memakai Tea Tree Oil
Cara Menghilangkan Jerawat Memakai Tea Tree Oil – Anda pasti akan merasa sangat sebal ketika nimbul jerawat dimuka anda, dan pasti anda akan melakukan setiap tipe cara untuk menghilangkan jerawat tersebut dengan cepat tanpa harus meninggalkan bekas pada muka anda. Dan untuk cara menghilangkan benjol itu sebetulnya anda banyak cara, mulai dari menggunakan produk instan yang kini sangat banyak
Not The Nine O'Clock News and Rolf Harris
This Not The Nine O'Clock News sketch from December 1980 just made my jaw drop when I saw it. The Independent reports that '(John) Lloyd (the series Producer) said that he and the team had been making a "pathetically mild" joke about how they "had to drum up an audience for a terrible Saturday show" - and that it was "awful" to look back on the video in the wake of Harris' sex abuse convictions.'
Germany Upset with U.S., Merkel in China, signed agreements of trade.... No dollar to be used? China signs Yuan trade agreement with France and Luxembourg
Germany and Merkel are very upset with the U.S. once more over spying. This time it has been discovered a spy for the U.S. was within Germany's Foreign Intelligence agency. Merkel is using some very harsh words against the U.S. It also came at a time that Merkel is in China right now signing trade agreements with them. "If the reports are correct it would be a serious case,"Merkel
14 Ultimate Diaper Bag Essentials
Thanks to Huggies for sponsoring today's discussion. It has been awhile since I have carried a diaper bag. When my 2-month-old was born, my oldest had been out of diapers for more than three years. This time around, I decided to pack my ultimate diaper bag. No being stranded at the store without a plastic sack to put wet clothes in, these are my essentials when it comes to my diaper bag. - Diapers. The most important thing in any diaper bag is of course, diapers. I like to make sure I have at least three with me before I leave the house. - Wipes. I love Huggies wipe... more »
IMF pushes Ukraine to ‘voluntarily committing suicide’
A man walks past a currency exchange office in Kiev*Good reading below* Western support will allow more IMF and European lending to prop the Ukrainian currency so the Ukrainian oligarchs can move their money safely to British and US banks, *economist and author Michael Hudson* told RT’s Truthseeker. *RT:**Could you summarize for us the tried and tested steps that will lead from IMF loans, to Ukraine's best assets ending up in private Western hands - the IMF's 'knee-breaker' role as you memorably described it as?* *Michael Hudson:* The basic principle to bear in mind is that* financ... more »
Protect the Pope
*"A priest who has sex with a child betrays God.* *A priest needs to lead children to sanctity, and children trust him. * *But instead he abuses them, and this is terrible. * *I compare it to a satanic mass."* *- Francis I* Pope Francis has begged forgiveness from the victims of sexual abuse by priests, at his first meeting with the victims since his election. He condemned the Church's "complicity" in hiding the abuse and said it must "weep and make reparation" for the "grave crimes" committed by clerics. He met the six victims, two each from Ireland, Britain and Germany, after ... more »
Wisdom Is As A Stream That Flows Eternal - A Poem by M.N. Hopkins
*There is wisdom everywhere,* *in everytime* *and in everybody.* *Yet, it is rooted outside all three* *as it flows through the veil that separates the Worlds.* *Wisdom is as a stream that flows eternal.* *Some drinking from it's life giving waters* *while others are distracted from it's shores* *A few nourishing themselves with it's Life giving waters.* *Once again nourished,* *they are able to share their insights with others* *Others insight and become inspired* *As wisdom continues it's flow etternal.* M.N. Hopkins *If you would like to read other of my po... more »
Will Chris Christie Resign In Return For A Suspended Sentence That Keeps Him Out Of Prison?
In October you'll be able to dig this post up and say, "Wow, those *DWT* folks sure knew what was up before anyone else." Fact of the matter, we've been predicting an eventual Chris Christie plea bargain since January when the Bridge-gate scandal started spiraling out of control. But over the weekend we got the word from an impeccable source that he'd be resigning as governor as part of a bargain to keep him out of prison and he'd do it before the first snow falls-- unless the first snow fall comes early. I was unable to ascertain what the smoking gun is, just that Christie won't ...more »
Analysis Of Ayatollah Sistani’s Fatwa To Defend Iraq Interview With Tel Aviv Univ’s Rachel Kantz Feder
On June 10, 2014 Mosul fell to the Islamic State and other insurgent groups. The next day Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani issued a fatwa calling on Iraqis to protect the country’s shrines and to defend the nation. Sistani’s move caused controversy both inside and out of Iraq as many interpreted it as sectarian incitement for Iraq’s Shiite to take up arms against Sunnis. Rachel Kantz Feder of The Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies and a lecturer at Tel Aviv University argues that the fatwa was as much about the threat posed by the Islamic State as it was abou... more »
Will Ontario Province Canada Be The First To Protect It's Bees?
[image: Foto: BREAKING! Ontario intends to become the first province to restrict the use of a controversial pesticide linked to bee deaths, requiring farmers and other commercial growers to apply for permits to plant seeds treated with neonicotinoid insecticides. READ MORE HERE: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/pesticide-linked-to-bee-deaths-to-be-restricted-in-ontario/article19480431/ #Neonicotinoid #Ontario #Bees #Pesticide #Insecticide #gmofreecanada] BREAKING! Ontario intends to become the first province to restrict the use of a controversial pesticide linked to... more »
Attempt to Depose University of Texas President
Over the July 4th weekend, UT System Chancellor Cigarroa demanded that UT President Bill Powers resign or be fired by July 10th. Bill Powers refused but offered a timetable to step-down. Supporters of the embattled president have launched a petition drive that now has nearly 8500 signatures. At stake is the future of higher education Continue reading
Transient thought for the day
I’m not saying anything new here. Nothing I say is set in stone. Like Lily Allen on Desert Island Discs, this is what I’m saying today and I reserve the right to change my mind tomorrow or the day after. Some pro-Israel bloggers and commenters like myself might feel we have some explaining to do. We found it hard to believe that the murderer of the Palestinian youth could have been a revenge attack perpetrated by Israelis. It seemed so uncharacteristic; so un-Israeli. Now we have to accept that we were mistaken. PM Netanyahu and other Israeli spokespersons have given heartfelt assu... more »
Replace Arne Duncan with whom? THIS GUY!
Sunday July 6th kicked off our first in a series of shows on the craziness that is education reform in the counties surrounding Denver, CO, particularly Douglas County, where we’ve featured topics previously on @ the Chalk Face. I’m sure the reader has heard the NEA’s call for the current Secretary’s resignation. I am also […]
Open Thread: Hello Kitty edition
Because only real manly, masculine men like Islamic Front leader Zahran Alloush can get away with using Hello Kitty notebooks. Today's Mrs. JP's birthday and we're going to be busy celebrating that, making this one of the most time- and money-consuming times of the year (yesterday was #2 son's birthday, one he unfortunately shares with right wing meatheads Sylvester Stallone and George W. Bush). Anyway, I wanted to let you know that weeds aren't sprouting up between the floorboards at Casa de Pottersville just yet. I'm researching a post about our dreadful, underpublicized... more »
Hack the First Class Lounge
When the whip comes down! When you beat the Man you never win, Lufthansa will probably hire a Lawyer, a really smart one, and stereotypical its going to be a Jewish one. So in 2014 we will have a Jewish lawyer skinning the flesh off a German, for figuring out how to eat stuff out of the corporate oven for free. BTW I have transferred hundreds of times through Frankfurt, and I am not kidding, I am totally serious, they have a self serve beer keg, and food to die for, In a remake of the Holocaust I imagine a first class lounge where African Emigrants are drinking so much beer and e... more »
It's Monday...
*what's going on.* Self Evident Truths: * Offending the Innocents - Gay Adoption and the Destruction of the Family* Weekly Standard: *An Unfolding Fiscal Disaster. The calamitous finances of Obamacare. * Hot Air: * WH trying to pre-empt sticker shock on September premium increases * Capitalist Preservation: *Obama's irresponsible taunt to Republicans * Mychal Massie: *Blacks Still Don’t Get It * Always On Watch: *The Ultimate Madness? * Survivalist Blog: *A few underground economy examples to start your day * Becoming Minimalist: *The American Dream Does Not Cost $130,000/y... more »
Droplets and pilot waves vs quantum mechanics
I've been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of idiocy about quantum mechanics that we may encounter in the would-be scientific mainstream media. A new wave of nonsense claiming that someone overthrew quantum mechanics is appearing on a daily basis. Please, don't send me links to this stuff, there has been just way too much of this worthless trash that is getting worse and worse. The first individuals who would start campaigns against theoretical physics a decade ago – various Shmoits – should have been given a proper thrashing at that time so that they wouldn't climb out of the sewera... more »
The Almighty Dollar Is In Peril As The Global ‘De-Dollarization’ Trend Accelerates
[image: Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...] Michael Snyder As the Obama administration continues to alienate almost everyone else around the entire planet, an increasing number of prominent international voices are starting to question why the U.S. dollar should be so overwhelmingly dominant in global trade. In previous articles, I have discussed Russia's "de-dollarization strategy" and the fact that Gazprom is now asking their large customers to start paying in currencies other than the dollar. But this is not just a story about Russia any longer. As you will read ... more »
REFUGEE
We all are running from something throughout our lineage our people ran from the wild woolly Mother Earth our home Now those who run get locked inside cages even the babies from south of the border NAFTA took them down but we don't talk about that we just turn on the brown people and drive them away keeps us distracted from what Mr. Big is doing to all of us Some are paid to divide and incite chaos quite a job killing your own people find it hard to understand It's Mr. Big's favorite play Modus operandi MO every criminal has a routine Some call it the Strategy of Tension worth notin... more »
The Politics of the Human Security Agenda
Just in time for you to head to the beach with a copy, my new book is now available from Cornell University Press.* As many of you know, this is the culmination of a my 6-year NSF-funded research project on why some human security problems get on the global agenda and others don’t. The answer in Continue reading
The Agenda Behind the 'Refugee' Crisis on the Border
[image: Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...] *Editor's Note: Whether or not you support open borders the following report should concern you.* Aaron Dykes Truth Stream Media Behind the endless throngs of desperate Central American children arriving on the U.S. border and a steady wave of illegal immigrants from Mexico and beyond is a covert plan for global economic warfare — those building up the world of globalization are tearing down the sovereignty and financial strength of the United States and Europe to make way for the coming corporate new world order. A genera...more »
what i'm reading: the spirit catches you and you fall down, truly excellent nonfiction
*The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of two cultures* by Anne Fadiman contains dozens of passages that I'd like to share. My library copy is shamefully dog-eared, and I intend to buy a copy of the book for my bookshelf. But I'll restrain myself and will share only a single anecdote, related in the early pages, which drew me in. In an intermediate French class at Merced College a few years ago, the students were assigned a five-minute oral report, to be delivered in French. The second student to stand up in front of the cl... more »
J Michael's Officially Unofficial is Out!
J Michael Cole's autobiographical book Officially Unofficial is now out on Amazon (no Kindle version yet). From the blurb: In this long-awaited memoir, journalist J. Michael Cole takes the reader on a journey of self-discovery as he explores the dreams, motivations, successes, failures, and frustrations of an idealistic foreign correspondent in Taiwan. This semi-autobiographical work will appeal to anyone who is interested in the practice of journalism and the politics of a democratic society that lives under the constant threat of authoritarian China. Although the external forces ... more »
Going After The Courts
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/ Lawrence Martin wrote last week that the Supreme Court is the Harper government's real opposition. And today, in the Toronto Star, Tim Harper writes that it would not be a surprise if the prime minister went after the courts in the next election campaign: This is a government determined to bring its brand of law and order to this country, whether it is cracking down on bogus refugee claimants, giving police more surveillance powers, bringing in mandatory sentencing, ending early parole... more »
7 + 7 = '14
Spot the Memes : 7 + 7 = '14 from Spike EP on Vimeo. "Hundreds of passengers were evacuated from a broken-down train in the Channel Tunnel in an incident that has led to long delays to travellers. The 06:20 BST train from Folkestone, carrying 382 people, stopped about a quarter of the way to France. The passengers were evacuated and taken on to the French terminal. Long delays and queues are expected all day. The broken down train reached France at 17:15 BST where passengers were reunited with their cars. A spokesman for Eurotunnel said services should run normally on Tuesday." *O... more »
Kindergarten Achievement Tests Before Kindergarten
Riverdale and Horace Mann are now using a new test to make sure that only kids who can afford IPads and tutoring get in. Could you pass the test? Which flag completes the pattern?
Tom Guild Beat His Conservative Opponent 42.1% to 30.9%-- Runoff August 26
We don't always expect much from Republican bastions like Oklahoma. But Blue America endorsed an across-the-board progressive, Tom Guild, to run for the congressional seat based in Oklahoma City. And a couple of weeks ago Tom came in first in a tough 3-way primary against a very conservative state Senator who is the polar opposite of a progressive. Tom walked away with 42.1% of the vote while that state senator drew 30.9% and a third candidate took 27%. Oklahoma law requires a runoff, which has been set for August 26. To build on his momentum from the primary, Tom needs to raise $... more »
Israel experiencing its own Arab Spring moment ? ( July 7 , 2014 ) - Israel Shuts Highways as Clashes Sweep Country Police Crack Down on Israeli Arab Protesters ........Israel Arrests Six Over Killing of Palestinian Teen One of the Six Reportedly Already Confessed ......... Hamas threatens revenge after Gaza air raids Leaders call Israeli attacks, in which nine were killed, a "grave escalation" and promise deaths will fuel resistance......
Israel Shuts Highways as Clashes Sweep CountryPolice Crack Down on Israeli Arab Protesters by Jason Ditz, July 06, 2014 Print This | Share This Mulitple Israeli highways have closed down today as major public protests erupted among the nation’s Arab minority, and police attempts to crack down on them led to major clashes. Israeli officials reported large numbers of arrests, but exactly how many was unclear, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to “restore calm” with security forces, and protesters blocked traffic with burning tires. The Israeli Arab protests centered around the... more »
Brand X
Brand X from Spike EP on Vimeo. *"We have this degenerate character... * *So we see the hyperactivity of British Intelligence, right?"* When I was asked to edit an issue of the New Statesman I said yes because it was a beautiful woman asking me. I chose the subject of revolution because the New Statesman is a political magazine and imagining the overthrow of the current political system is the only way I can be enthused about politics. When people talk about politics within the existing Westminster framework I feel a dull thud in my stomach and my eyes involuntarily glaze. L... more »
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*Vancouver Schools' New LGBTTQ+ Policy Includes Gender-Free Pronouns Xe, Xem and Xyr* The Vancouver (British Columbia) Board of Education has approved a sweeping new policy for accommodating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, queer, questioning and “all sexual and gender identities,” including the creation of three pronouns, replacing masculine and feminine with xe, xem and xyr (pronounced ze, zem and zur). Two spirit is an Aboriginal term which means having both feminine and masculine spirits. It's not limited to gender expression or sexuality, but encompasses them ... more »
Nuclear power, public health, air conditioning, and the "Torch of 2011" (reposted)
I am Reposting this July 19, 2011 post, [image: NorthAmerica] I spent most of the last 37 years in Dallas, Texas. There is an old saying in Texas that Houston was built on oil, San Antonio was built on gold, and Dallas was built on paper. The truth is, however, that Dallas was built on chilled air. Dallas residents will endur day after day of heat from May to September, often long continuous runs of 90 degree plus days, and sometimes with long continuous runs of one hundred degrees plus days. The record numer of 100 degree or more days in one Dallas summer is 69. I lived through t... more »
Do Bookshops Have A 2020 Vision?
We have all read about the decline of the independent bookstores in the UK and US. However, we have also seen the relaunch of Foyles in Charing Cross, the expansion of the Hatchards brand by Waterstones to St Pancras, the growth online of the bargain bookseller, The Works. So what is the future of the Bookstore and does it have a vision of itself in 2020, or is its vision somewhat out of focus and requiring both short and long sighted correction? Stanley Unwin once said that, ‘To write books is easy, it requires only pen and ink and the ever-patient paper. To print books is a li... more »
Bloodsuckers McCain and Graham Hit Sunday Circuit to Peddle More Lies
*“Name me someone that’s not a parasite and I’ll go out and say a prayer for him”* *- Bob Dylan (Visions of Johanna)* A 2001 piece at satirical website The Onion entitled “Bush: 'Our Long National Nightmare Of Peace And Prosperity Is Finally Over'” published shortly after his inauguration was astonishing in the uncanny ability to so accurately predict the future. Now in mid-2014 we are a nation at permanent war, whether it be Afghanistan, a new Cold War with Russia or the third bite at the apple in Iraq it is as Orwell once put it "Oceania has always been at war with Eastasia". The...more »
Independence Day can mean many things!
*MONDAY, JULY 7, 2014* *The freedom from being challenged:* We’ve been visiting friends in the Hudson Valley over the Independence Day weekend. Reading yesterday’s Washington Post, we were reminded that “independence” can take many forms. For a case in point, consider Chris Cillizza’s weekly feature in the Sunday Outlook section, “Worst Week in Washington.” Each Sunday, Cillizza names the Washington figure who had the worst week. Yesterday, he chose Hillary Clinton. Below, you see his full presentation, headline included. As we read Cillizza's piece, we thought a familiar old free... more »
Anna Dillon - landscape artist - oil of the mind
*Anna Dillon at work*...once I'd realised that the Free Planet blog had *'not a snowflake's chance in hell'* of dissuading the for-profit prison-world slave-economy from ruining this delightful place we call home, I started to get more interested in (or seem to have gravitated more towards) sharing painters whose work really catches my eye. This way Free Planet becomes a more personal expression of a world of Creativity, Passion and Kinship - this way we all adopt our Custodian role in our own unique and viable ways. Today's blogpost concerns the artwork (and lovely and stylised it ... more »
Four Reasons Why Organic Gardening Is The Way To Go
[image: Foto: 4 Reasons that Organic Gardening is cheaper than you think. Growing your own food is never meant to be expensive. If we grow as Mother Nature intended us to grow food, then we will not only be enjoying really sumptuous and nutritious food, we will also be producing it at very low cost. This is a great way for us to take back control of our food. Plant a garden. It's as cheap as dirt. READ: http://freshorganicgardening.com/4-reasons-why-organic-gardening-is-cheaper-than-most-people-think/ #PlantASeed #GrowYourOwn #OrganicGardening #CleanFood #Organic #garden #ConserveWa... more »
Japan set for first arms export under new rules
[image: Patriot PAC-2 radar]Japan is set to approve its first arms export following relaxation of its self imposed ban, as the nation aims to boost its global military and economic presence, a report said Sunday. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries plans to export a high performance sensor to the United States, which will use it in the Patriot Advanced Capability 2 (PAC-2) missile defence system to be exported to Qatar, the Nikkei business daily said without citing sources. Tokyo’s decision, likely to become official later this month, comes after Japan in April amended its traditional stric... more »
That was close! Jet plane flies dangerously close to spectators’ heads at air show
Spectators at a recent air show in Waddington, near Lincoln, were given a particularly close look at a fighter jet. Like a scene out of Top Gun, the plane screams over the heads of the crowd, only missing them by a few feet. People duck and jump for cover, with one observant man commenting: ‘That was a bit close, wasn’t it?’ Read more
3D printer drones will take to skies by 2040, claim BAE scientists
[image: 3D printed UAV]3D printers could be so advanced by 2040 they could create small unmanned aircraft, BAE Systems claim. These unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) could then potentially be used as a group of wide-winged aircraft for protracted or enduring surveillance or as rotary-winged UAVs to rescue single civilians or soldiers from dangerous situations, the defence firm’s scientists and engineers suggest. The researchers, who have been working on futuristic aircraft technologies, have been looking at the idea that they could be created by super hi-tech onboard 3D printers, an ad... more »
US Military in Europe: From Forces Rotation to Permanent Presence
[image: E-3A Sentry]Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Roivas urged NATO on June 20 to establish a permanent presence in his country responding to Russia's Ukraine policy that his government sees as a threat. He said the allies were to "open your eyes and stay awake". Asked if he would like to see a permanent mission in Estonia, Roivas told Reuters, "Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania are the border states, and it is only logical that air policing and air defense for example are present on the borders." According to him, "NATO has to be a visible presence at all of its areas... more »
HPV Vaccines: Time for Science by Norma Erickson
HPV Vaccines: Time for Science by Norma Erickson Sane Vax, Inc., 2 July 2012 According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of January 2014 fifty-two countries have included HPV vaccines, either Gardasil or Cervarix, in their national immunization programs. During the last five years, the SaneVax Team has been contacted by representatives from 24 of those countries who are seeking to understand the vast array of new medical conditions occurring in the wake of these programs. (Note: SaneVax has been contacted by multiple people in Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, ... more »
Thai navy launches new submarine squadron
[image: U206 class SSK]The Royal Thai Navy's Submarine Squadron will be officially unveiled today in a move that underscores the navy's push to have submarines added to the naval fleet. The squadron and training centre will be opened by navy chief ADM Narong Pipattanasai at the Sattahip naval base in Chon Buri province, the unit said on its Facebook page. The unit commanded by Panu Punyavirocha is equipped with everything including a German-made submarine simulator except one thing: Real submarines. Read more
Defence pact to lead way for joint submarine venture
[image: Soryu class SSK]A historic deal for unprecedented defence co-operation between Australia and Japan to be signed this week by prime ministers Shinzo Abe and Tony Abbott creates the possibility of the two nations jointly building a fleet of hi-tech submarines. The co-ordinated push for closer defence ties by the two leaders has dramatically increased the likely levels of co-operation on what will be Australia’s biggest ever defence project. Mr Abe flies to Australia today for a visit that will seal a much closer economic and defence relationship between the two nations. Read ...more »
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*Lame, lame, lame* *There's some lame stuff written about global warming but the nonsense below takes the cake. Hair colour is determined by your genes, not by the temperature. The only way the frequency of a particular gene can be reduced in nature is for that gene to be selected against in mating. And why a slight increase in temperature would make redheads less desirable in bed is not explained* Global warming could lead to the extinction of Scotland's redheads, expects have claimed. Experts believe that Scotland’s gloomy climate has led to a red hair emerging as a genetic ... more »
Ute Frevert - The Honour Game: Male Pride and Female Humiliation in Europe's 1914 July Crisis
*Wikipedia:* Ute Frevert (born 10 June 1954 in Schötmar, Bad Salzuflen, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German historian. She is a specialist in modern and contemporary Germany, with an interest in social and gender history. She currently serves as the executive director of the Center for the History of Emotions at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development. From 2003-2007 she was professor of German history at Yale University. *Video Title: Ute Frevert. Source: Fritt Ord. Date Published: November 24, 2013. Description:* 'The Honour Game. Male Pride and Female Humiliation in... more »
Alan Waldman : Brit TV critics call ‘Line of Duty’ the best cop show ever, and for good reason
The BBC’s riveting, best-performing drama in a decade, starring Lennie James, is an intelligent, surprising look at police corruption. By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | July 6, 2014 [In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his … finish reading Alan Waldman : Brit TV critics call ‘Line of Duty’ the best cop show ever, and for good reason
You Not Wanting To Be Known For Something That You Have Done, Is Not The Same Thing As You Not Having Done It
Rachel Maddow does not play requests. "We will not," she explained, "stop reporting on the political actions, and the consequences of the political actions, of rich and powerful men, even if they send angry letters every time we do it." If you've read much of Thomas Frank's work, you probably have a good idea he's in the same boat. Frank's *Salon* article this morning, about the deal with the Devil business Republicans made with the racists and crackpots, will probably generate a lot of the same kind of angry letters the Koch b
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