English: Faisaliyah Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Have Democratic Voters Had Enough Of Corrupt Insiders From The Party's DC Establishment Rigging Primaries?
Today the House Ethics Committee tabled the spurious ethics charges Chuck Schumer cooked up against Alan Grayson to drive him out of Congress and make room for Wall Street's errand boy, pitiful Schumercrat Patrick Murphy. In fact, instead of investigating Grayson, the Ethics Committee has decided to investigate Murphy for directing one of his sleazy staffers to leak confidential information to the media during the Office of Congressional Ethics investigation. The corrupt Beltway Democratic Party Establishment feels itself under attack and is reacting ruthlessly to protect its powe... more »
Saudi Arabia Tries To Restrict Iran's Oil Production
An oil tanker © Francisco Bonilla / Reuters *RT:* *Saudi Arabia preventing Iranian oil tankers from entering its waters – report* Riyadh is apparently taking steps to thwart Tehran’s return to the world oil market after the ending of Western sanctions. Iranian oil tankers are being stopped from entering ports in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the FT reports, quoting shipping data. Due to these obstacles, by mid-April only about eight tankers will have sailed from Iran for Europe according to shipbrokers, the newspaper reports. The transported cargo is only 12 million barrels. After th... more »
Saudi Arabia Unveils Its Austerity Plans
A Saudi man poses with Saudi riyal banknotes at a money exchange shop, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia © Faisal Al Nasser / Reuters *Daily Mail*:* Saudi Arabia unveils its AUSTERITY plans as the nation prepares to cope with tumbling oil prices… but insists it will NOT start taxing people’s incomes * * Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wants to raise $100bn a year * Non-oil income would come from subsidy cuts and new levies, he claims * Second-in-line to the throne also has plan for $2trillion investment fund * The Deputy Crown Prince said the kingdom must 'diversify its investments' S... more »
The Panama Papers Will Probably Lead To Deadly Purges In Some Countries
*CBC*: *Panama Papers: How the release of the documents could lead to deadly political purges* Data reveals alleged links to family, friends of current and former dictators. Embarrassment, prosecution, political instability and murder — all possible ramifications, say some observers, of the leak of millions of confidential documents revealing the hidden offshore assets of billionaires, top government officials, celebrities and athletes. "I'd be stunned if insiders in the authoritarian governments that this has been leaked on are not caught up in purges and killed as a consequence... more »
Port Henry Opens for Business
We had our first game set in Port Henry last night - not a ton of details about the city played a large part as a lot of the game was taking Icons for a spin for the first time. However, our heroes did stop a vile communist villain from destroying the Port Henry Nuclear Power Plant from going kaboom and that's a good thing. *Unearthly Adventure Comics *#251 is in the record books. I have been getting a better idea of the city with an eye towards adventure opportunities. You can see the marked up map above, a bit different from the previous version. Some highlights: - I pushe... more »
Cruz, Sanders Look to Edge Out Front-Runners in Wisconsin
[image: Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders] MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders hoped to turn the tables on their parties’ front-runners in Wisconsin Tuesday and emerge from the Midwestern battleground reinvigorated in their pursuit of the White House. Even with wins in... more »
Would Donald Trump defeat Hillary Clinton? Who would win if they face each other in the general election?
Here is a very careful analysis of electoral prospects. I will make it a lot simpler. Donald Trump is mobilizing the ignored core of the c onservative population who has felt left out for generations now. That provides a numbers advantage that must be met by an equal turn out of the so called progressive vote. It is not going to happen with Hilary. This early momentum is not going to go away either and it is overwhelming for the Democrats. Worse, the Republican race is essentially over save a skirmish or two. We now have a full assault landing on Hilary while she is wra... more »
Concussion Damage long-lasting, UBC Study Finds
*Areas of significantly reduced myelin in athletes with concussion two weeks after an injury.* The news regarding concussions is not getting any better. We are facing a complete overhaul of our sports industry before this is over. It takes a long time to recover damage and we know also that repetition sharply increases recovery times. Thus every significant concussion should lead to immediate benching for likely a good month. We also need to advance known healing protocols as soon as possible. that is what will allow earlier returns. Now just how are we going to remove co... more »
BC First Nations Restore Ancient Seafood Farms
This is an important revelation. It allows the creation of many natural communities along the coastline of the North West. Do note that i envisage a natural community of 150 individuals living in a modern multifamily structure and having facilities to support common activities producing individual and communal wealth and internally guided by the rule of twelve to manage internal credit. The surrounding country is best managed as an active forest with some growing areas. Thus having a massive population along the coast will support the continuing development of the forest as... more »
Transpicuous News: Panama Pandemonium
Welcome to the world of April 6th 2016- Pandemonium reigns in the fall out of the release of the "Panama Leaks" this week. Bigwigs are being outed, politicians are being screamed at and egged, and at least one government is being dissolved as a direct effect of the release of the Panama Papers. and the conspicuous absence of any American's being named has brought some screamin' clarity as to whom controls? the "International Consortium of Investigative Journalists"..... ... and of course, I'm rather pleased that a spot light is being shone on the political situation in Iceland, ... more »
John Kasich: The Candidate Who Wouldn’t Leave
[image: WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Republican U.S. presidential hopeful and Ohio Governor John Kasich speaks as he participates in a discussion with Javier Palomarez, president & CEO of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, at the Newseum October 6, 2015 in Washington, DC.] There was an old Saturday Night Live fake movie trailer narrated by horror movie veteran Christopher Lee. John Belushi played a houseguest who couldn’t take a hint from a couple that just wanted to go to bed. The husband tells... more »
Cruz Takes Wisconsin By Double Digits, Sanders Tops Clinton
[image: Ted Cruz] WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Latest on campaign 2016 as voters in Wisconsin head to the polls for the state’s presidential primary (all times Eastern Daylight Time): 11 p.m. Ted Cruz’s chief spokesman says Ohio Gov. John Kasich is only staying...more »
Is The War Against The Islamic State Becoming Another Vietnam?
U.S. Senator John McCain speaks during the inauguration ceremony of the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (StratCom COE) in Riga, Latvia, August 20, 2015. REUTERS/INTS KALNINS Leo Shane III, Military Times: *McCain: ISIS fight becoming another Vietnam* The U.S. fight against Islamic State militants risks becoming “another slow, grinding failure” like the Vietnam War, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman warned Tuesday. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has been a frequent critic of the White House approach in the Middle East, but invoked his own past as a Vietnam ... more »
Charles Barkey Will Always Be A Republican At Heart... But A Weird One
I don't know much about basketball but one of the perks of becoming president of Reprise is that I got the Lakers seats and season tickets that belonged to the company's founder. The company's founder was Frank Sinatra. The Coliseum had a best seat in the house. It wasn't Jack Nicholson's; it was mine. When the Laker Girls kicked, one of their feet came within a few inches of my nose. I even got to feel like I knew some of the Lakers players. I never got to know Charles Barkley though; never met the guy, even though we shared a birthday, February 20, albeit a few years apart. Bark... more »
Official Rescue of Tigers Underway at Thailand’s World Famous Selfie Temple
*Vic Bishop* - A huge win for animal rights activists who've been fighting exploitation of tigers for years.
Revealing and closing the achievement gap: Standardized testing does neither
Sent to the NY Times, April 5, 2016 "Big question on New York State Tests," (April 5) reports that one of the arguments in favor of a robust standardized testing program is to reveal achievement gaps. But we already know which children are doing poorly and we know what to do about it. Decades of research has revealed that the major cause of the achievement gap is the effects of poverty, including poor nutrition, lack of health care, and little or no access to books: the best teaching in the world will not help if children are hungry, ill, and have nothing to read. There is no evi... more »
Is Donald Trump's Antiwar Message Resonating With 'White America'?
*J.D. Vance, New York Times*: *Why Trump’s Antiwar Message Resonates with White America* MY grandma — we called her Mamaw — loved her country. Born in eastern Kentucky coal country at the beginning of the Great Depression, she credited so much of the good in her life to America’s bounty. When I interviewed her about her life for a school project, she spent most of the time talking about World War II: her dad’s love letters from the Pacific; how her younger brother lied about his age in an effort to enlist. “We did it,” she told me, still beaming with pride more than a half-century... more »
Gov’t Subsidies Encourage Farmers to Use Land for Solar Panels, Not Growing Crops
[image: Solar Panels, Solary Power, Solar Energy, Green Energy] Farmers are taking advantage of lucrative subsidies and tax breaks from North Carolina, Georgia and the federal government to indulge in the risky business of replacing their crops with solar panels. Solar companies have installed solar panels on about 7,000 acres in pastures... more »
EPA Funded Attack Ads Against Farmers, and Congress is Furious
[image: EPA - 900] Federal lawmakers are furious with the Environmental Protection Agency for funding billboards that accuse farmers in Washington State of polluting local waterways. A coalition of environmental groups and an American Indian tribe used EPA funds to put up two billboards as... more »
Gov. Bryant Stands Up to Liberal Bullying and Enacts Mississippi Religious Freedom Bill
[image: Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant poses a question to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack who was the guest speaker at the National Governors Association Education, Early Childhood and Workforce Committee meeting in Washington, D.C., on Sunday, February 26, 2012.] Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed the Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act, a law that guarantees religious freedom in the wake of last year's activist Supreme Court decision redefining marriage for the country. The Left, big business... more »
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Is this the real world? Or is it just fantasy? The truth started with a dream- a dream that the spectacular Seljarlandsfoss waterfall in southern Iceland could be photographed with a backdrop of an aurora-filled sky. Soon after a promising space weather report, the visionary astrophotographer and his partner sprang into action. After arriving, capturing an image of the background sky, complete with a cool green aurora, turned out to be the easy part. The hard part was capturing the waterfall itself, for one reason because mist kept fogging the lens! Easy come, easy go- it took about... more »
Chet Raymo, “Beyond The Porch-light Of Language”
*“Beyond The Porch-light Of Language”* by Chet Raymo "The title of this post is another phrase from the poet Pat Boran. It struck me, I suppose, because of the way readers sometimes refer to this blog as "the porch." (I forget who first suggested the image; was it you, Theresa?) A lovely image, evoking friends in rocking chairs sipping ice tea or gin-and-tonics on a drowsy summer night. Out there in the darkness lightnin' bugs flash their sleepy semaphores. Somewhere afar off heat lightnin' illuminates the horizon. Our language drifts into the dark. We have words too for stars, for... more »
"Holding On..."
"We are fast moving into something, we are fast flung into something like asteroids cast into space by the death of a planet, we the people of earth are cast into space like burning asteroids and if we wish not to disintegrate into nothingness we must begin to now hold onto only the things that matter while letting go of all that doesn't. For when all of our dust and ice deteriorates into the cosmos we will be left only with ourselves and nothing else. So if you want to be there in the end, today is the day to start holding onto your children, holding onto your loved ones; onto th... more »
Economic News , Data & Views ( April 5, 2016 ) Overview - What Is Hot Today ( 1. Market Moving News - Stocks , Currency , Bonds in Focus. 2. Monetary Policy In The News . 3. Greek Bailout Review Updates. 4. EZ Data For The Day. 5. Crude News For Today. 6. Panama Papers Updates. 7. Refugee Crisis News For Tuesday. 8. Libya Political Updates. 9. Latest In Brazil Ongoing Political Crisis. )
Overview....... "Hello Friend"....... *Holger Zschaepitz* @Schuldensuehner 2h 2 hours ago Stocks Fall Most Since February, Yen Surges to 2014 High. http:// washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=13 76-O54SRM6K50Z801-5B200PONPF0SGL8RUFKV24V5TC … *MarketWatch* @MarketWatch 3h 3 hours ago The Dow and S&P 500 logged their worst one-day drop in a month http:// on.mktw.net/1RMa08s *Bank of island* @Bankofisland 3h 3 hours ago *Europe* *Stocks* Fall Most in Six Weeks on Weak German Factory Data http:// bloom.bg/1SMTFCL via @*business* *Wal... more »
The Panama Papers Scandal: Geopolitics Of Corruption - George Soros And The "Panama Leaks"
Ever since the release last week of the "Panama Papers" I smelled a rat.... The timing of the "release" of these documents could not have come at a better time for the criminals in the US/Israel/NATO cabal, especially with their mounting losses and defeats in their vain attempt to destroy Syria... On top of that, we have the rising dissent in the United States, and ever where around the planet, as people are finally waking up to the criminality and blatant corruption of their own governments. And as well we have the gloomy world wide economic picture with full collapse definitely com... more »
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- March 5, 2016
*Global Times editorial:* *Powerful force is behind Panama Papers* A huge leak of confidential documents from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm alleged to have been a facilitator of money laundering for its clients has shocked international public opinion. Over 11 million documents were passed to German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung by an anonymous source. These documents have been reportedly investigated by some 300 global journalists for a year. The Western media soon collected the most eye-catching information from the documents and leaders of non-Western countries have... more »
World News Briefs -- April 5, 2016 (Evening Edition)
*Reuters: **Iceland's leader resigns, first casualty of Panama Papers* Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson is to resign, his party said on Tuesday, becoming the first casualty of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm which have shone a spotlight on the finances of an array of politicians and public figures worldwide. The Panama Papers showed the premier's wife owned an offshore company with big claims on Icelandic banks, infuriating many in his country who joined mass street protests calling for him to resign. The more than 11.5 million documents, leaked fr... more »
Fighting terrorism: When is a war not a war?- Lies Canada's Government Tells
*Amazingly enough the Globe & Mail actually published an article, I found to be very thoughtful.* Foreign Affairs Minister Stéphane Dion and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau insist that Canada is not at war with the Islamic State. The two men are trifling with a very important word. *The question is, why are they doing it? * Perception management, very big in Canada. Trudeau no different then his predecessor and Stéphane Dion.... sheesh! There are probably hundreds of definitions of what war is, given that archeological evidence shows that armed conflict predates the existence of w... more »
Kurdish Gorran Party & London, England- What is the connection?
*Keep it under your hat!* We’ve discussed the rather violent Gorran party, on several occasions, here at the blog. Gorran is the PKK affiliate party, challenger to KDP in the Iraqi Kurdish region. There is some misinformation around, seeming to originate with Israel, that Gorran is an Iranian supported party. If it is supported by anyone in Iran, it is Iranians who identify as kurds. *So, who are the real benefactors of Gorran? * A very vital clue may come from the fact that *the leader of Gorran, a man called Mustafa, has left Iraq for London. **Yes, the London that is in Engl... more »
Untitled
there is no second I feel some th*iing * elese when I talk to yo*u* *I am travelling to* someplace else every time I am within one meter of you time stops life stops and then you talk' and I try so hard to keep up with your read but I am still' so lost in the beautiful pages
Free Download: Joseph Chilton Pearce, “The Crack In The Cosmic Egg”
*“The Crack In The Cosmic Egg”* New constructs of mind and reality. by Joseph Chilton Pearce "The classic work that shaped the thought of a generation with its powerful insights into the true nature of mind and reality. • Defines culture as a "cosmic egg" structured by the mind's drive for logical ordering of its universe. • Provides techniques allowing individuals to break through the vicious circle of logic-based systems to attain expanded ways of creative living and learning. The sum total of our notions of what the world is- and what we perceive its full potential to be- form a... more »
"The Universe Might Be A Giant Hologram. Cue The Existential Crisis..."
*"The Universe Might Be A Giant Hologram. Cue The Existential Crisis..."* by Macrina Cooper-White "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." - "Sherlock Holmes" "Is the world around us really just a trick of the eye? Scientists have long believed the universe could be a giant hologram- a two-dimensional realm that only seems to be three-dimensional- and now a group of Viennese researchers have done the math to prove that such a scenario isn’t quite as far-fetched as it seems. The idea that the universe is a 3-D “projection” o...more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Hoorn, Noord-Holland, Netherlands. Thanks for stopping by!
"FBI Landmines Await Hillary Clinton"
*"FBI Landmines Await Hillary Clinton"* Hillary Clinton will soon face questions from FBI director James Comey and federal prosecutors about her email scandal. by Bob McGovern *"Fiat justitia, ruat caelum."* "Let justice be done though the heavens fall." "Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton will have to be on her toes when she is finally grilled by federal prosecutors and the FBI about her email scandal because she could end up facing perjury and contempt charges if she missteps and gives the wrong answer. FBI agents are reportedly nearing the end of their investigation into ... more »
Destruction of Monuments and Memory in the Middle East: Erica Hunter
*An excerpt from, "The Ancient Sites Now Under Threat From ISIS in Libya" By Jack Moore, Newsweek, March 4, 2015: * Armed with sledgehammers, chisels and a video camera, ISIS militants took their propaganda campaign to Mosul museum last month, destroying statues and artifacts, dating back to the ancient Assyrian and Akkadian empires, and posting the results online and in slow motion. The terror group’s impetuous destruction of statues and artefacts in Iraq’s second city, which it has controlled since its march across the Sunni-majority northern regions of Iraq last summer, has cau... more »
Department Of Justice Launches Inquiry Into Arizona Primary
The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice is launching an investigation into last month’s Arizona Democratic primary. Thousands of voters waited for long hours to cast their ballots even while Hillary Clinton was being declared the winner. 100,000 people have signed a petition demanding a revote in Arizona claiming their voting rights were infringed. Gawker reports: In a letter to the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, the Justice Department said it was looking to find out if the county followed federal elections law during the March 22nd primary. Many voters repor... more »
Big Mountain Resistance Region, BIA-Hopi Impound Animals
By NaBahii Keediniihii Censored News April 5, 2016 - Old Dams at Big Mountain - Images are a bit unclear as to what animals are being rounded up but its very likely horses. No immediate information came with the photos but one blurb states, "four stock trailers were filled with cattle." Other images seem to show police on horseback chasing horses in the distance.
all the things I still dont know
After all this time you would think I got it all figured out but hmans are not like rings on trees you never know despite the age just how juvinle they are at heart
Genocidal Famine Policies To Control Populations: From The British Empire's Orchestrated Famines To Totalitarian Regimes And Now The Globalists' Wet Dream of Worldwide Mass Starvation
*"Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people." - war criminal Henry Kissinger.* *An excerpt from, "Proving the Irish Famine was genocide by the British" By Niall O'Dowd, Irish Central, April 5, 2016: * The most significant section of Tim Pat Coogan’s book on the Irish Famine is not his own writing, but his printing of the United Nations definition of genocide. *“The Famine Plot”, published by Palgrave MacMillan, was released in America and Coogan should have been here to launch it but in a separate but equally confounding plot he was denied a visa... more »
DAHBOO77: Exposed! More Bombshell Proof That Soros Is Funding Chaos In Ukraine
*Title: Exposed! More Bombshell Proof That Soros Is Funding Chaos In Ukraine. Source: DAHBOO77. Date Published: April 5, 2016. Description: * People begging in subway cars and trains – a familiar scene from 1990’s Russia, when millions of people where impoverished overnight by Western inspired economic shock therapy. Nor are destitute citizens of EU’s poorer countries like Bulgaria and Romania unfamiliar to Stockholm metro users since they could access the Shengen zone. Now it has come to the Netherlands – Ukrainians begging the Dutch to vote Yes in a referendum on EU-Ukraine asso... more »
Who Ignited The Latest Armenia-Azerbaijan War?
*An excerpt from, "Why the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict is a no-win situation for Moscow" By Vladimir Mikheev, Russia Beyond The Headlines, April 4, 2016: * Baku seems to have been emboldened by the gradual build-up of its armed forces, capitalizing on the steady flow of oil revenues. *Under the presidency of President Ilham Aliyev, which has lasted for more than a decade, the Caspian Sea state’s annual military spending has surged by almost 30 times. Last year, defense expenditures totalled some $3.6 billion – a figure that exceeds the entire Armenian state budget.* Since 2010, A... more »
April 5: The Greatest Story Never Told
https://www.icij.org/#_ga=1.162088828.1749684605.1459878751 Above is the website of the organization that broke the story of the Panama Papers. It's a branch of the Center for Public Integrity whose home page is below. https://www.publicintegrity.org/ I am a little concerned at the list of donors for these organizations. It includes, for example, the Rockefeller Foundation and similar types from families of questionable backgrounds. On the good side, it is a pretty full list of the donors. And some of its work has been pretty good. I am still a little suspicious about the material ... more »
Feds Set up Fake University, Arrest 21 in Bogus Visa Case
[image: Visa - 900] NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- The University of Northern New Jersey fielded no sports teams, held no graduation ceremonies and had no instructors, classes or degree programs. It did have a very attractive website that promised an “exceptional” education for foreign... more »
Obama Administration Pushed Release of ‘High Risk’ Bomb Makers From Guantanamo
[image: Guantanamo Bay detention facility, Guantanamo Bay Detention Center, Gitmo] The Department of Defense released two al-Qaida bomb experts Monday from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The two Libyan terrorists will go to the custody of the sub-Saharan African country of Senegal. Salem Abdu Salam Ghereby and Omar Khalif Mohammed Abu... more »
Feds Spend Over $700 Million on a Radioactive Waste Plant That Doesn’t Work
[image: Process pipe is installed inside of the Integrated Waste Treatment Unit in 2011.] The Department of Energy spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars on a radioactive waste treatment plant that ended up breaking down because federal officials didn't bother to properly test the facility before construction was completed, according to a recent audit. Federal... more »
Thompson Gives Ravitch Credit for Opt Out Movement
Following NPE's very late “call” for “a national opt,” it is not surprising to see the history of the opt out movement already being revised to give credit to education’s “American Idol,” Diane Ravitch. John Thompson writes at Huffington Post, Three cheers for the Opt Out movement! When the history of the collapse of data-driven, competition-driven school improvement is written, the parents and students of the grassroots Opt Out uprising will get much - or most - of the credit for driving a stake through the heart of the testing vampire. Of course, leaders like Diane Ravitch will be... more »
WhatsApp Provides End-To-End Encryption For Billion Users
WhatsApp is now providing end-to-end encryption in all their messages. One billion users worldwide will now be able to use the app knowing that their messages would be inaccessible to anyone except the recipient. The Facebook owned company believes that encryption leads to better security all around. From today all communications on the world’s most popular app would be secure. Even Whatsapp would not be able to see the real content of the messages sent between users. Windows Central reports: From Wired: This means that if any group of people uses the latest version of WhatsApp—whet... more »
So it goes
Goo Goo Dolls - City Of Angels Lyrics Artist: Goo Goo Dolls And I'd give up forever to touch you 'Cause I know that you feel me somehow You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be And I don't wanna go home right now And all I can taste is this moment And all I can breathe is your life Well sooner or later, it's over I just don't want to miss you tonight And I don't want the world to see me 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand When everything's meant to be broken I just want you to know who I am And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming All the moments of truth in your li... more »
Quote of the Day: “America did this to itself. That’s the bad news.”
*“Trump blames America’s economic problems on China. But China did not force America to become a less economically free country. America did this to itself. That’s the bad news. “The good news is that America has the history and the grounding to restore greatness, i.e., prosperity, military security, and first and foremost, the preservation of individual rights.”It’s hard to imagine anything more optimistic or realistic than what lifted America to the greatness it once enjoyed. If only [America would] give it another chance.”* ~ Michael Hurd, from his article ‘Optimism Is M... more »
"Did You Ever..."
"Did you ever, when you were little, endure your parents' warnings, then wait for them to leave the room, pry loose protective covers and consider inserting some metal object into an electrical outlet? Did you wonder if for once you might light up the room? When you were big enough to cross the street on your own, did you ever wait for a signal, hear the frenzied approach of a fire truck and feel like stepping out in front of it? Did you wonder just how far that rocket ride might take you? When you were almost grown, did you ever sit in a bubble bath, perspiration pooling, notice a ... more »
The Poet: May Sarton, "Unison Benediction"
*"Unison Benediction" * "Return to the most human, nothing less will nourish the torn spirit, the bewildered heart, the angry mind: and from the ultimate duress, pierced with the breath of anguish, speak of love. Return, return to the deep sources, nothing less will teach the stiff hands a new way to serve, to carve into our lives the forms of tenderness and still that ancient necessary pain preserve. Return to the most human, nothing less will teach the angry spirit, the bewildered heart; the torn mind, to accept the whole of its duress, and pierced with anguish… at last, act for love.... more »
Midday Musical Interlude: Ludovico Einaudi, “The Royal Albert Hall Concert- The Tower”
Ludovico Einaudi, “The Royal Albert Hall Concert- The Tower” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BI8N2569jSg
"How It Really Is"
“You go up to a man, and you say, "How are things going, Joe?" and he says, "Oh fine, fine— couldn't be better." And you look into his eyes, and you see things really couldn't be much worse. When you get right down to it, everybody's having a perfectly lousy time of it, and I mean everybody. And the hell of it is, nothing seems to help much.” - Kurt Vonnegut
The Economy: “Why Bankers HATE It When You Hold Cash”
*“Why Bankers HATE It When You Hold Cash”* by Bill Bonner "In an extraordinary turn of events, last week we were contacted by our local bankers. Since we were turned down for a mortgage in 1982 (our business finances were thought to be “too shaky”), we have had little truck with them. We pay cash. They mind their own business. But for the first time we can recall, not just one but three suits came to visit. Personable and intelligent, they were worried when they saw how much cash we were keeping on hand. No kidding. They came to visit to propose ways we could “put it to use.” *Too... more »
Super Aleste for the Super Nintendo
Let's have a brief video game interlude. *Super Aleste*, or *Space Megaforce* if one hails from North America, is a stylish 1992 vertically-scrolling shooter developed by Compile. For retro game aficionados, they were a byword for quality shooters in the vintage era of eight and sixteen bit systems. Their *Aleste* series of games were known for fast, frenetic action, imaginative game play gimmicks, and superlative programming. This was a developer at the top of their game and knew how to make symphonies on the machines of the day. Naturally, *Super Aleste* is no different from its ... more »
DC Judge Overturns Own Opposition to $15 Minimum Wage
[image: Fight for $15 - 900] A District of Columbia superior court judge overturned his own ruling Monday, allowing advocates to get the $15 minimum wage on the November ballot. Superior Court Judge Maurice Ross initially ruled Jan. 29 that the ballot initiative be suspended. He... more »
South African President Zuma Survives Impeachment Vote
*The Guardian*:* South African president Jacob Zuma survives impeachment vote* Embattled leader rescued by ANC but position remains shaky as prominent figures join calls for him to resign The South African president, Jacob Zuma, has survived an attempt to impeach him after the African National Congress party gave him its backing. But his long-term future is still in doubt after a string of influential figures called on him to step down. The motion to unseat the president was launched by opposition MPs after the constitutional court ruled that he had ignored an order to repay stat... more »
Al Qaeda's 'Al-Nusra' Faction Is Showing Its True Colours In Syria
*(Click on Image to Enlarge)* *Sam Heller, Daily Beast:* *Al-Qaeda’s Screwing up in Syria* Jabhat al-Nusra went to war with a popular Free Syrian Army faction in Idlib. Big mistake. Tensions between Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra and the mainstream opposition in Syria’s rebel north are at an all-time high. Eyes are on a standoff between al-Nusra and a popular rebel brigade in northwest Idlib province and, playing out in parallel, an ongoing anti-Nusra Twitter jeremiad by the son of the founder of modern international jihadism. Now Syrians in the liberated north are enga... more »
Keep Playing Baby
why keep on keeping on when you cant keep up thats a question that separates the men from the sheep no matter how beautiful The harder they fall the more Jesus is real its programming and I can not be coded No one can save me but me bottom line that's the mathematical result and it also tells me math is hard and I will never master it so just get over it and survive Everyone plays the lottery everyday not to the extreme of those who play or wish to play pro sports or be actors or politicians but we all compete for a few spots on this world we call work and now the fucking robots ar... more »
Panama's Mossack Fonseca Has Certainly Become Very Famous Over The Weekend... Here's Why
I bet everyone inside Fortress Hillary in Brooklyn breathed a sign of relief when the Panama Papers of money launderers and assorted financial criminals started leaking and didn't show any Clintons, Mezvinskys or any of the other shady characters they've surrounded themselves with. I'm told, though, there's plenty more to come. The first political casualty seems to be Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, the right-wing prime minister of Iceland who had set up a secret company in the British Virgin Islands to shelter investments with his rich partner, Anna Sigurlaug Pálsdóttir, who he lat... more »
‘Climate Change': A Leap of Faith?
[image: Blind Leap of Faith - 900] Tomorrow night at Duke University there will be a panel discussion titled "Climate Change Not a Leap of Faith." Among the event hosts is the group Young Evangelicals for Climate Action, an offshoot of the Evangelical Environmental Network. They and... more »
Bernie Supporters Blame Hillary, FTA Agreement for Panama Papers Scandal
[image: Hillary Clinton] Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders are losing it on social media over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's connection to the file leaks from a major Panama law firm. Reporters for the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists in conjunction with... more »
ARTICLE BY FIDEL : Brother Obama
3/28/2016 3:22 PM *HAVANA, MARCH 28, 2016* *OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CUBA CENTRAL COMMITTEE* UPDATED 12:22:31 (https://www.facebook.com /pages /Granma- Engl(ihsthtps://twitter.com /230/5G5r9a6(n/4fme7ea1d_0)E1n1g7l5is)h) *ARTICLE BY FIDEL* *Brother Obama* *We don’t need the empire to give us anything. Our efforts will be legal and peaceful, because our commitment is to peace and fraternity among all human beings who live on this planet.* Author: Fidel Castro Ruz (/archivo?a=482) | internet@granma.cu (mailto:internet@granma.cu) march 28, 2016 12:03:14 The kin... more »
Junk History
*"About the year of Our Lord 1420 a ship, what is called an Indian junk [Zoncho de India], on a crossing of the Sea of India towards the Isle of Men and Women, was driven by a storm beyond the Cape of Diab, through the Green Isles, out into the Sea of Darkness on their way west and southwest. Nothing but air and water was seen for forty days and by their reckoning they ran 2,000 miles and fortune deserted them. When the stress of the weather had subsided they made the return to the said Cavo de Diab in seventy days and drawing near to the shore to supply their wants the sailors sa... more »
loss joss
taking it all in its so big I dont have that imagination just looking at the dailies and wonder what happened to film Soaring like a point break stunt at the simpelist thing and then the Drudgery in the headlines and the toxic life of a worker in a time of PTSD for every occupation cause its all mental One way or another there is going to be a revolution frogs in the pan are many but some will be toads
“NZers' distrust in government is growing”
Well, here’s one piece of news that *is* encouraging: NZers' distrust in government is growing: *A new study commissioned by Victoria University of Wellington’s Institute for Governance and Policy Studies (IGPS) has found that New Zealanders have little trust in government, and that trust has decreased over the last three years. The study, instigated by IGPS director Associate Professor Michael Macaulay and conducted by Colmar Brunton, surveyed 1,000 people across the country on how much they trust key civic groups such as government ministers, police, medical practitione... more »
Sarah Palin Shares Photo Of Dead Pig Before Trump Rally
Former Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, shared a photo of her trophy pig with her fans before the polls opened in Wisconsin. The photo of a dead pig was put on Facebook so that Palin’s fans would go and vote for Donald Trump, a commonsense conservative, who is going to make America great again. The spirit of the wild boar might direct the Republicans towards the White House or the dustbin of history depending on Sarah Palin’s state of mind when she shot the animal. The boar represented all sentient beings, including humans, according to ancient beliefs. The Independent reports: Ahea... more »
How Game of Thrones
And that is exactly how the world works we are told to behave as serfs while the politbreu behave as children with a trust fund and can do anything and we pick of the trash after the worst
Dark Forest in the Mountains - 1993-94 Nagorno Karabakh War Documentary By Roger Kupelian
*Long Live Armenia.* *IMDb:* In the early 1990's, as the Soviet Empire disintegrated, two former Soviet Republics, Armenia and Azerbaijan, squared off against each other over the fate of the 170,000 Armenians living in the small mountainous region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war eventually claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced close to a million people. By the time of the tenuous cease-fire, most of the enclave was in the hands of its longtime Armenian inhabitants. Dark Forest in the Mountains was shot on location in Nagorno-Karabakh and uses a mix of digital animation, li... more »
Shashi Tharur Nails Pakistan Army On Why It Won't Make Peace With India
*"The Pakistan Garrison State: Origins, Evolution, Consequences (1947-2011)" By Ishtiaq Ahmed (2013). * *Title: Shashi Tharur Nails Pakistan Army On Why It Won't Make Peace With India. Source: DLX Area 1. Date Published: March 24, 2016. Description: * Shashi Tharur beautifully summarizes the crux of the India-Pakistan problems. It's the Pakistan Army's vested interests in continuing hostilities with India. Thanks to Kuku Martha for brining this video to my attention. Original Link - http://youtu.be/OjEc8Aeyz-U
Panama Papers Psyop, Complete Inside Job by Real Elites
*The same guys that gave the world the Panama Papers also gave the world ISIS.* *Title: Panama Papers Psyop, Complete Inside Job by Real Elites. Source: WeAreChange. Date Published: April 5, 2016. Description: * In this video Luke Rudkowski goes over the Panama Papers and how the real story of the leaks should be questioned since the fingerprints and motives are directly point to the real elites. Fingerprints of these leaks show the ford foundation, Carnegie Endowment, Rockefeller Family Fund, W K Kellogg Foundation and Open Society Foundation (Soros) helping organize and conduct ... more »
Obama Admin Tells Landlords They Can’t Refuse to House Criminals
[image: for rent - 900] The Obama administration released a warning Monday telling the nation's landlords that it may be discriminatory for them to refuse to rent to those with criminal records. The Fair Housing Act doesn't include criminals as a protected class, but the... more »
Iraqi Forces Face Heavy Resistance in Islamic State-Held Town
[image: People flee their homes during clashes between Iraqi security forces and Islamic State group in Hit, 85 miles (140 kilometers) west of Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 4, 2016. Families, many with small children and elderly relatives say they walked for hours Monday through desert littered with roadside bombs to escape airstrikes and clashes.] HIT, Iraq (AP) -- Heavy resistance has slowed Iraqi forces Tuesday as they pushed toward the center of a town held by Islamic State militants in western Anbar province, commanders at the scene said. Hundreds of roadside bombs, car bombs... more »
Illegal Jewish Schools: Abuse & Missing Pupils Cover Up Revealed
The Department of Education (DoE) has been accused of “covering up” evidence that over a thousands pupils, unaccounted for in mainstream education, were actually being educated at illegal Jewish faith establishments in London. Physical violence and sexual abuse of children is alleged to have taken place inside the premises. The pupils had been moved to illegal Jewish schools operating in the London borough of Hackney and the evidence destroyed, according to an investigation by The Independent: The Department for Education has been aware of the problem since 2010 but does not appear ... more »
Tibor Machan: Racism versus “Bigotry”
*In tribute to **our recently departed friend**, I thought I’d begin posting a few of the many columns Tibor Machan wrote for our Free Radical’ magazine back in the day. He had a knack for writing very simply, but leaving you seeing the world differently thereafter…* *Racism versus “Bigotry”* *by Tibor Machan (2007)* In a recent guest column for *The New York Times*, Robert Wright compared the insulting remarks of former radio talk show host Don Imus to the anti-Muslim tirades of conservative columnist Ann Coulter. He appears to be treating these as very much the same kind of thin... more »
The American Election Circus: Bogus Candidates For Deluded People
Yes, I am back... I have spent the last few days pouring over so many websites, emails, and other information, basically playing "catch up" on what has been happening in our sick world....It will take some time to get up to speed, so bear with me.... I still periodically get the odd comment from my "favorite fan club" the Sayanim/Hasbara/JIDF agents out there that constantly try to attack me for my support of others in the real "truth movement", and recently their focus was on my support of John Kaminski, especially in light of his articles pertaining to the "Third Rail"..... I will... more »
Will the Climate Come Apart Too Fast for the Current Generation's Comfort?
*Monthly mean global surface temperature since 1996 (source; my annotation; click to enlarge)* *by Gaius Publius* I know most of us in the current generation of Americans expect the climate to deteriorate, from a livability standpoint, at some reasonably slow rate over the next century or more. In other words, most people in the U.S. now feel some urgency about climate change (that ship, at least, has left dock), but not so much urgency that they're willing to mobilize the country's resources against it. Which exposes, I think, an argument that comes from a position of privilege,... more »
Iceland’s Prime Minister Resigns Following Protests Over Panama Papers
Iceland’s prime minister Sigmundur DavÃð Gunnlaugsson has stepped down amid widespread anger over allegations that his family attempted to hide millions in offshore account. The leaked “Panama Papers” documents showed he and his wife used an offshore firm to allegedly hide million-dollar investments. Gunnlaugsson asked Icelands President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson to dissolve parliament and call an early election. The BBC reports: The leaks, from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, showed Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company with his wife but had not declared it when he ... more »
Meet Some of the 61 Prisoners Whose Sentences Were Just Shortened by Obama
[image: Obama2 - 900] In his most recent round of clemency, President Barack Obama has reduced the sentences of 61 federal prisoners, allowing most to be freed within months. The White House described those who won commuted sentences as mostly "low-level" drug offenders: 12... more »
US Government Declaring All Out War on Tiny House Living
*Isaac Davis* - The HUD is about to regulate tiny homes out of existence with two short paragraphs of proposed law.
Study: More Guns Do Not Mean More Murders
[image: gun with lock - 900] According to proponents of gun control, more guns in America equals more murders and a more lawless society. Every time there is a mass killing involving guns, liberal politicians rush to call for more restrictions on guns. Those in favor...more »
Can One-Child China Rediscover the Joy of Siblings?
[image: Siblings, Brother, Sister, Family, Children] Reflecting on changes to China's one child policy has often meant discussing the effects of a one-child family. Even after the recent change to a 'two child policy', Chinese couples overwhelmingly continue to choose to have only one child. The... more »
Shining light on the charter school industry's biggest player
*“This increasingly well-rooted network provides the Gulen Movement with daily access to the minds of over 45,000 students, and yearly access to hundreds of millions of hard-earned tax dollars.” — Sharon Higgins* [image: KILLING ED is a new documentary feature film that exposes a shocking truth: that one of the largest networks of taxpayer-funded charter schools in the U.S. are a worst-case-scenario—operated with questionable academic, labor, and H1-B visa standards by members of the Gülen Movement.]The largest chain of charter schools in the United States is that of those associ... more »
Gaia Portal: Illusions of form continue to present, for dissolution
*This one I am late posting. Was assisting a friend the last 2 days. -AK* *Illusions of form continue to present, for dissolution* by ÉirePort *Illusions of form continue to present, for dissolution.* *Rapid scrubbing is noted.* Softenings of the vibrational journey are experienced. *Gaia speaks to all.* ÉirePort | April 3, 2016 at 07:07 | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p2sFUY-xV
Hilarion – April 3, 2016
*I haven't posted one of these in a good while, they haven't resonated within me for over a year, but this one does. Much has shifted in the last year. -AK* *Hilarion * April 3 – 10, 2016 hilarion Beloved ones, *The new beginning that everyone has been waiting for has quietly arrived, without bells, whistles or trumpet blares. It comes as a quiet, peaceful feeling within the depths of one’s being and gently takes root within the garden of one’s soul. Peace within, at last!* Let it slowly and gently unfold and blossom, allowing its gifts to be seen and felt. The stillness of ... more »
ISIS Use Mustard Gas In Attack On Syrian Airbase
ISIS has reportedly carried out a chemical attack on a Syrian military airport in eastern Syria. Militants were attempting to recapture the military airport in Deir ez-Zor when they deployed the chemical weapon on Monday, state media said. A Syrian TV station reported late on Monday that “The terrorists fired rockets carrying mustard gas” and targeting the airbase in the south of Dayr al-Zawr city” According to Press TV: The report did not disclose whether there were any casualties. Russia’s RIA Novosti, however, cited a military source as saying that “a number of soldiers were chok... more »
Scotland generated more than half of its electricity in 2015 from renewables
By Paul Homewood h/t Paul2 It’s no secret that Scotland has set ambitious goals for itself when it comes to renewable energy, and the country’s progressive agenda appears to be paying off. New numbers released by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change show that Scotland generated the equivalent of 57.7 percent […]
Authors pull 14-year-old paper from PNAS over concerns of fabrication
Authors have retracted a 2002 paper from PNAS because part of a figure “may have been fabricated,” and they no longer have the original data to prove otherwise. The paper in question, “Deficient Smad7 expression: A putative molecular defect in scleroderma,” studied the signaling pathways that may underlie the autoimmune disease. It has been cited 198 times, according […] The post Authors pull 14-year-old paper from PNAS over concerns of fabrication appeared first on Retraction Watch.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry: 'Iran Is Less Dangerous Now Than Before The Nuclear Deal'
*The Hill:* *Kerry: Iran is less dangerous now than before deal* Secretary of State John Kerry says Iran is less of a threat now thanks to President Obama's nuclear deal with the country. “It’s not as dangerous as ever because it will not have a nuclear weapon,” Kerry told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday. “It cannot by definition be as dangerous as ever. It’s not just for the short-term. I have faith and confidence that we will know exactly what they are doing during that period of time.” The deal, announced last summer, gave Iran economic sanctions relief in exchange for greater... more »
Iran Deploys Its Elite Special Forces To Syria
Brigade 65 militants who will soon participate in Syrian war as advisers according to Iranian Sources. Asharq Al-Awsat *Reuters:* *Iranian commandos deployed to Syria as advisers: officer* Iran has sent commandos to Syria as advisers, a military official said on Monday, suggesting it is using its army as well as paramilitary forces to help President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the country's civil war. Tehran is Assad's main regional ally and has provided military and economic support to his fight against rebel groups and Islamic State militants. "We are sending commandos from army'... more »
Gaza Workers Discover What Could be an Ancient Church
[image: ancient church - 900] GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Palestinian tourism officials say construction workers in the Gaza Strip have discovered what they believe to be a Christian religious site from the Byzantine era. Heyam al-Bitar, research director for the Hamas-run Tourism and... more »
China Restricts Trade With North Korea Over Nuclear Tests
[image: In this March 14, 2016 photo, a North Korean soldier walks past a truck park near the goods pile up on a dockyard in Sinuiju, North Korea, as seen from Dandong in northeastern China's Liaoning province. China on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 imposed restrictions on imports of coal from North Korea and exports of jet fuel to the North in a potentially significant increase in pressure on Pyongyang following U.N. sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests.] BEIJING (AP) -- China on Tuesday banned most imports of North Korean coal and iron ore, the country’s main exports, in a signifi... more »
2000-Year-Old Dung Helps Reveal Hannibal’s Route Through The Alps
Scientists at Queen’s University in Belfast may have gotten to the bottom of a 2,000-year-old mystery that has plagued historians. Where did Hannibal cross the Alps with his 30,000 men, 37 elephants, 15,000 horses and mules to defeat the Romans? The answer to the riddle may lie in the shape of a 2000-year-old elephant dung. Belfast Telegraph reports: Microbiologists from Queen’s University are part of a team that has found traces of faeces in earth taken from a site in France and have established it dates back to 218 BC – the time when Hannibal and his troops were making their way t...more »
Spain To Scrap Sleeping After Lunch On Hot Afternoons
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy wants to scrap Spain’s long-standing tradition of taking a siesta. The measure should improve work productivity and help Spain compete with its European partners in the cooler north, according to the PM. Mariano Rajoy also wants to extend the working day by one hour. Time reports: “I will find a consensus to make sure the working day ends at 6 p.m.,” Rajoy said, the Independent reported. Currently, it’s customary to begin work at 10 a.m. and break at 2 p.m. for a siesta for as long as three hours, ending the work day at 8 p.m.—a tradition that is at least... more »
Pathology watch: The pathology of the New York Times!
*TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016Kitty Genovese never dies:* With apologies, we'll be taking a sacred name in vain. The name belongs to Kitty Genovese, a young woman who was viciously murdered, then raped, in a famous incident way back in 1964. On March 28, the man who murdered this young woman died, at the age of 81, in a maximum security prison. He had been in prison for 52 years, with one brief breakout during which he raped someone else. In this morning's New York Times, the Times presents a 1700-word obituary of this man, who the paper describes as a psychopath. In the course of its ...more »
Iceland’s PM Resigns Amid Offshore Holdings Controversy, Suggests Successor
[image: In this grab taken from video Iceland's Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson leaves after holding a meeting at Iceland's Parliament in Reykjavik, Tuesday April 5, 2016. Iceland's embattled prime minister has resigned amid a controversy over his offshore holdings, a Cabinet minister said Tuesday as outrage over the accounts roiled the North Atlantic island nation. (APTN via AP)] REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) -- Iceland’s embattled prime minister, facing accusations of conflict of interest because of offshore accounts, stepped aside Tuesday and proposed that the vice chairman ... more »
Information Overload: Feeling Overwhelmed?...
*how to make it stop.* I'm a sucker for "self-help" articles. I'm also a sucker for organizing and minimalist articles, even though I'm attracted to pictures of what most people would call over-decorated rooms, and at times feel very disorganized. Today, after perusing the usual "I hate Donald Trump" and "I hate Ted Cruz" articles, I actually was thinking, "Who gives a sh*t?" Is there skullduggery going on in this primary? Of course there is. There always is. Politics and skullduggery have always held hands and skipped down the lane together. Can I do anything about it? Nope. ... more »
Bill to Make Bible Tennessee’s State Book Heads to Governor
[image: Bible with flag in background - 900] NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Derided by critics as everything from unconstitutional to sacrilegious, Tennessee lawmakers nevertheless plowed ahead with designating the Holy Bible as the state’s official book. Sponsors argue that the bill seeks to honor the historical significance of... more »
Report: Trump Says He’ll Fund Wall by Cutting Remittances
[image: Trump - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump would force Mexico to pay for a border wall by cutting off billions of dollars in remittances sent by immigrants living in the U.S., according to a published report Tuesday. The Washington Post cited a... more »
Kerry Defends Deal to Keep Iran From Becoming Nuclear Power
[image: John Kerry - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday defended the landmark nuclear deal the United States made with Iran ahead of a congressional hearing where Senate Republicans are expected to hammer the Obama administration for considering the easing... more »
Cartoon Donald Trump Talks Poll Numbers With Stephen Colbert
Cartoon Donald Trump gives Stephen Colbert a lesson in fuzzy math. The cartoon Donald appeared on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. He explained why his low poll numbers do not reflect the bigger picture. Business Insider reports: NBC News reported that a recent popularity poll found that an average 30% of national respondents hold a favourable view of the Democratic frontrunner compared to 60% who hold a negative one. In Wisconsin, Trump’s popularity is a bit worse. In a state poll, 70% of respondents hold a negative view of the candidate. “Well, that’s what they say about T... more »
Putin Strikes Back? "You Brought it Upon Yourselves"
*Putin Strikes Back?* Yesterday, we had the release of the "Panama Papers"...complete with cartoon inserts for the braindead morons the dysinfo was intended for. Click on the cartoon face (of the targeted victim or collateral damage) and lies and innuendo immediately pops up! Today, we are given notice that *Puti**n has just signed for the release to the media of archival material kept in the bowels of the Kremlin for just such an occasion.* The material dates from 1930 to 1989. Hmmmm. Wonder what could be covered in that time span....read the news release and I will have my ... more »
UAH & ENSO Updates For March 2016
By Paul Homewood http://nsstc.uah.edu/climate/index.html According to UAH, lower troposphere anomalies fell back sharply in March, down 0.10C. RSS also show a similar picture, down 0.13C. With El Nino conditions continuing to dissipate during March, we may well have now seen the temperature peak in February, as I have been saying for a while. […]
Public school watch: The way our tribe covers low-income schools!
*TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016Our purity may not be helpful:* How does our own flawless tribe cover public school topics? A recent piece at The Atlantic provides a problematic example. We're going to spend the next few days looking at various aspects of this achingly pure piece of work. Atlantic's report was written by Emily DeRuy, a youngish reporter who doesn't have an extensive background in public school reporting. DeRuy graduated from UCSD in 2010; she got a master's in journalism from Stanford two years later. She became an education reporter for The National Journal last July, m... more »
Panama papers
Reading the rolling accounts of the Panama Papers (Iceland's PM just resigned, David Cameron's family has some 'splaining to do), I think we're a scandal away from a popular revolt. Each one of these fucking document dumps nakedly shows how much of the game is rigged against us.
Cate Le Bon
A marvelous mutant mix that sits somewhere between Bjork and St. Vincent.....
Syrian War News Updates -- April 5, 2016
*The Guardian*: *Syrian jet downed near Aleppo as fighting picks up across country* Al-Qaida affiliated rebels bring down plane with surface-to-air missile, amid uptick in violence that poses most serious threat yet to partial ceasefire. Syrian rebels have shot down a government fighter jet south of Aleppo as renewed fighting across swaths of the country threatened to upend a fragile truce. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels from the Nusra Front brought down the Sukhoi-22 on Tuesday in an area where the al-Qaida-affiliated fighters had come under heavy ... more »
Frozen Wall at Fukushima Reportedly Going "Well"
TEPCO reports freezing of soil at the Fukushima site is going "well": Freezing of soil near Fukushima plant going well, says TEPCO THE ASAHI SHIMBUN April 5, 2016, http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201604050046.html The freezing of soil around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to block the flow of groundwater is proceeding “largely smoothly,” the plant operator said April 4.... ...“While we need to keep making efforts to control the temperature deliberately, we can say that the project is proceeding largely smoothly so far,” the company spokesman said. What concerns ... more »
Iceland's Prime Minister Has Resigned Over The Panama Papers Revelations
*BBC*:* Panama Papers: Iceland prime minister resigns* The prime minister of Iceland has resigned - the first major casualty of the Panama Papers leaks which have shed an embarrassing spotlight on the world of offshore finance. The leaks, from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca, showed PM Sigmundur Gunnlaugsson owned an offshore company, Wintris, with his wife. He was accused of concealing millions of dollars worth of family assets. A big protest was held in front of parliament in Iceland on Monday. Reports suggest the agriculture minister will be the new PM. *Read more* .... *More... more »
North Korea Blames The U.S. For Imposing A 'Leningrad-Style Siege'
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un salutes as he arrives to inspect a military drill at an unknown location, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on March 25, 2016. REUTERS/KCNA *Japan Times/AFP*: *North Korea blames U.S. for creating a ‘Leningrad-style siege’* SEOUL – North Korea’s top military body has accused U.S.-led “hostile forces” of laying siege to the country like Leningrad — present-day St. Petersburg — in World War II and Cuba during the Cold War missile crisis. In a statement carried Monday by the North’s official KCNA news agen... more »
China Announces Trade Restrictions With North Korea
*ABC News Online:* *China restricts trade with North Korea as part of sanctions over nuclear program* China has banned imports of gold and rare earths from North Korea, as well as exports to the country of jet fuel and other oil products used to make rocket fuel — a move in line with new United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang. The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution in early March expanding UN sanctions aimed at starving North Korea of funds for its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, after Pyongyang conducted a fourth nuclear test in January and launched a long-... more »
South Korea Believes North Korea Has The Capability To Mount A Nuclear Warhead On A Medium-Range Missile
*(Click on Image to Enlarge)* *New York Times:* *North Korea Is Able to Mount Nuclear Warhead on Missile, South Says* SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea has determined that North Korea is capable of mounting a nuclear warhead on its medium-range Rodong ballistic missile, which could reach all of the South and most of Japan, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The government’s assessment, shared in a background briefing with representatives of foreign news media here, followed a recent claim by North Korea that it had “standardized” nuclear warheads small enough to be carr... more »
The Politics of Citrus Fruit in South-West Asia
*Erin:* Ha-ha! I lived in the land of Albion for ten full cycles of the moon, but I fled after my family were dragged screaming from my home to a mighty wicker tower, where they were sacrificed to the three gods: *Toutatis, Esus *and* Taranis. * First they were garrotted to death, then they were burnt to death, then they were drowned to death. Three deaths to appease the three gods. Then the druids drank their blood and ate their meat and said the harvest would be bountiful. *Lister:* Right. Have you got any lemons? *"Lemons truly are a wonderous fruit!"* *- Jesus **of Caesarea* ... more »
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*Sonny Landreth ~John Wirt, offBeat* *CROSSROADS GUITAR FESTIVAL, 2010 PHOTO BY BARRY BRECHEISEN*
Cruz’s Path to Victory After Wisconsin
[image: In this Jan. 19, 2016, photo, Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas passes his campaign bus as he arrives for a campaign stop at the Freedom Country Store in Freedom, N.H. Cruz is dreaming of a face-off with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, even before the first primary votes are cast. He warns his supporters about what he thinks America will look like under a Clinton administration, predicting a nuclear-armed Iran, amnesty for millions of people in America illegally and the continuation of President Barack Obama’s health care law.] The Wisconsin R... more »
SECRET KLAMATH DAM DISCUSSIONS-PART ONE
. SECRET KLAMATH DAM DISCUSSIONS-PART ONE Tribal members not informed of recent talks By Kayla Godowa-Tufti Censored News Upper Klamath Basin, April 5th 2016- Amid a busy campaign season both nationally and locally, water issues remain a top priority to Klamath Tribal members. New candidates have been nominated in hopes to bring positive change in Indian Country. And water, the
Poll: Should co-authors of a scientific paper be allowed to change their minds?
Since we reported Friday that multiple authors had asked to remove their names from a high-profile 2011 Lancet paper about a risky transplant surgery, a few readers have wondered: Should this be allowed? To recap: The same day the journal announced it was tagging the controversial paper with an expression of concern, it issued a […] The post Poll: Should co-authors of a scientific paper be allowed to change their minds? appeared first on Retraction Watch.
THE TRIBE IN THE MIRROR: Learning to loathe The Other well!
*TUESDAY, APRIL 5, 2016Part 2—How to loathe Candidate Clinton:* How bad does it (routinely) get at the new Salon? Before we revisit the work which led to piteous cries in the night, let's consider a second example of the nonsense this site routinely purveys for us, the flawless bright very smart liberals who feel quite sure that the very bad people are all found Over There. Sunday morning, we were wakened by the analysts' screams. Later that day, we read the piece which affected them so. We also read this piece at the new Salon by Susan J. Demas, whose words of self-praise go on a... more »
ASD Schools Still at Rock Bottom
*Of the 11 Memphis schools that have been in the ASD the longest, all 11 are still in the bottom 10 percent — including three in the bottom 1 percent. But one school — KIPP Memphis Preparatory Middle — sits just below the 10th percentile mark.* --*Memphis Commercial Appeal*, March 31, 2016 If KIPP Memphis Preparatory Middle sits just below the 10th percentile mark, another Memphis KIPP school remains far below that. The KIPP Memphis University Middle School has been in bottom five percent of schools for the past three years (click image to enlarge): When ASD was created with ... more »
The Truth In Sentencing Act does not apply to people convicted of an offence predating the coming into force of the Act
As the decision is not widely available yet it is reproduced below in full: Citation: R. v. Takawgak, 2015 NUCJ 40 Date: 20151023 Docket: 11-13-29 Registry: Iqaluit Crown: Her Majesty the Queen -and- Accused: Silas Takawgak ________________________________________________________________________ Before: The Honourable Madam Justice Cooper Counsel (Crown): A. Porteous; S. Bailey (Student Counsel) Counsel (Accused): D. Berg Location Heard: Igloolik, Nunavut; Iqaluit, Nunavut Date Heard: January 13-15, 2015; June 5, 2015; October 23, 2015 Matters: Criminal Code, s. 146(1); 151 x2; 2... more »
All Sides In The Nagorno-Karabakh War Have Come To An Agreement On A Ceasefire
*(Click on Image to Enlarge)* *Radio Free Europe*: *Azerbaijan, Karabakh Separatists Reach Cease-Fire As Mediators Meet* Azerbaijan and Armenian-backed separatists in its breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh have reached a cease-fire in the mountainous South Caucasus enclave as world powers gather for talks to end the deadliest flare-up there in decades. Earlier, each side reported new casualties as the death toll from four days of fighting rose above 40, with one estimate as high as 64 killed. Meanwhile, Armenian archenemy and NATO member Turkey weighed in to say it was "standin... more »
World News Briefs -- April 5, 2016
*Reuters*:* Panama Papers probes opened, China limits access to news on leaks* Authorities across the globe have opened investigations into the activities of the world's rich and powerful after a cache of leaked documents from a Panamanian law firm showed possible wrongdoing using offshore company structures. The "Panama Papers" have cast light on the financial arrangements of high profile politicians and public figures and the companies and financial institutions they use for such activities. Among those named in the documents are friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin and ...more »
Obama Administration Claims Iran Forces Pulling Back in Syria; Others Say No
[image: Ruins are seen at al-Qaryatain city in the central city of Homs, Syria on Monday, April 4, 2016. Syrian troops and allied militiamen pressed on with an offensive against Islamic State militants in central Syria on Monday, clashing with the extremists around the town of Qaryatain a day after it was captured by pro-government forces. The Obama administration says Iran is drawing down its elite fighting force from Syria, yet Iran is still taking casualties and Tehran said Monday it has dispatched commandos to the war despite a partial cease-fire that took effect a month ago. (AP... more »
Senate: Few Answers on US Theft That Risked Data of Millions
[image: In this Feb. 2, 2016, file photo, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. on Capitol Hill in Washington. Senate investigators indicated April 4, 2016, they’ve received few answers from the Obama administration after a laptop and portable hard drives, likely containing names and Social Security numbers of millions, were stolen from a federal building in Washington state. Johnson, the Republican chair of the Senate government affairs panel, asked Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell on April 4 if the drives stolen from the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement in Olympia,... more »
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*From* *Jenna Orkin* "Unprecedented Leak" Exposes The Criminal Financial Dealings Of Some Of The World's Wealthiest People Vietnam Seizes Chinese Ship In Gulf Of Tonkin The Supreme Court to decide whether people can get a fair trial when jurors make racist comments How One Tiny Vermont College Is Taking On Big Agriculture Did Italy And Malta Actually Agree To Swap Oil Rights For Refugees Was There A Run On The Bank? JPM Caps Some ATM Withdrawals Turkey: The Business Of Refugee Smuggling & Sex Trafficking Mossack Fonseca Has 441 U.S. Clients: Who Are They? Refugees Flooding Ita... more »
Lion Rock 18, Nick Smith as new Chairman of LRI
The Lion Rock Institute (LRI), Hong Kong's first and only independent free market think tank, has a new Chairman, Mr. Nick Sallnow-Smith. For 10 years, 2004-2014, LRI Chairman was Bill Stacey. Then in 2015, he changed job I think and he needed more time there, so LRI Exec. Dir. Peter Wong acted as interim Chairman in 2015 until March 2016. Below is Nick's letter as posted in the LRI website. ---------------- *1 April 2016* *A Message From Our New Chairman* *Dear Lionrockers,* *Despite the date, this is not an April fool’s message! Rather it is my means of expressing my pleasure to... more »
Simon Schama, actually
I watched the Munk debate, which is featured in Douglas Murray’s piece in the Spectator entitled “*No, Simon Schama, people worried about gang rape and FGM aren’t ‘obsessed with sex’”* It was an interesting debate with some fine highlights, what with Nigel Farage and Mark Steyn on the one side and Simon Schama and Louise Arbour (whom I was not familiar with) on the other. It’s the immigration thing, and they stuck to the topic. Oddly enough, Rod Liddle crops up again in this piece from last year by Douglas Murray in which he clearly expresses his views on Simon Schama. Rod Liddle... more »
Violence In Iraq, March 2016
Government offensives in Anbar and Ninewa along with some large bombings led to an increase in violence and casualties in Iraq in March 2016. In Anbar the Iraqi forces continued to make gains in clearing out the Ramadi area and launched several new operations in the province as well. In Ninewa an effort was made to clear the Makhmour area. Faced with these campaigns, IS has turned to car bombings against the Iraqi forces to try to stall their advances and terrorist attacks against civilian targets, especially in Baghdad. Attacks had been going down in Iraq in 2016, but March rever... more »
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- April 5, 2016
Osamah Waheeb/Reuters *Nancy Youssef, Daily Beast*:* ISIS Is Losing Ground, but Not the War* The terror group has suffered a series of defeats in Syria, but while the prevailing Pentagon view may be that ISIS has weakened, there is debate about just how much. The self-proclaimed Islamic State has lost at least three Syrian cities and towns in the past six weeks, including one over the weekend, each time by walking away from the fight. And yet the Pentagon is not sure whether to celebrate ISIS’s losses or brace for even bigger fights against the group than it already anticipated f... more »
A post concerning Rod Liddle
These views are personal and do not reflect the official views of this blog. Did anyone read Rod Liddle’s witty article “Why I feel compelled to defend Boris” which was penned following attacks on Boris by Matthew Parris and Petronella Wyatt, both of whom wrote beastly pieces in the press about their former colleague and 'amitié amoureuse' (respectively.) I have to admit I haven’t read Matthew’s piece, but I did read Petronella’s article in the OMG the daily Mail, which I thought was as affectionate as it was *attacking*, since the impression she gives is that Boris’s private pers... more »
Pick a Number.....Who is the Bully?
Add the US figure to the various NATO nations and you come up with well over 50% of the world total. Who is the threat to world peace? Who is the playground bully?
Cancer researcher earns 9th retraction, for image duplication
Alfredo Fusco, a researcher in Italy who has been under criminal investigation for scientific misconduct, has earned his ninth retraction. Retraction number nine, by The Journal of Clinical Investigation, is for duplicating data from another publication — which has also faced questions on PubPeer about image manipulation, along with many other papers by Fusco. The retraction note for “The […] The post Cancer researcher earns 9th retraction, for image duplication appeared first on Retraction Watch.
Panama Papers: China Blasts Report on Hidden Wealth of Leaders’ Families
[image: China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei gestures during a daily briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office in Beijing, Tuesday, April 5, 2016. The ministry on Tuesday denounced as “groundless” reports based on documents leaked from a Panama-based law firm that name relatives of current and retired Chinese politicians, including President Xi Jinping, as owning offshore companies. Hong said he would not further discuss the reports and declined to say whether the individuals named would be investigated. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)] BEIJING (AP) -- China’s Foreign Ministry o... more »
The Economy: “19 Facts That Prove Things In America Are Worse Than They Were Six Months Ago”
* “19 Facts That Prove Things In America Are * *Worse Than They Were Six Months Ago”* by Michael Snyder “Has the U.S. economy gotten better over the past six months or has it gotten worse? In this article, you will find solid proof that the U.S. economy has continued to get worse over the past six months. Unfortunately, most people seem to think that since the stock market has rebounded significantly in recent weeks that everything must be okay, but of course that is not true at all. If you look at a chart of the Dow, a very ominous head and shoulders pattern is forming, and all o... more »
Fukushima Update: "Scientists: 'Unprecedentedly Huge Mortality Events' Happening Along US West Coast"
*"Scientists: 'Unprecedentedly Huge Mortality Events' Happening Along US West Coast"* Presentation from the 2016 Pacific Anomalies Workshop by ENE News *Russell Hopcroft, Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks:* “We’ve had a number of unusual mortality events in the system where some of the great whales are actually washing up or floating around dead and this is a huge signal we’re talking dozens of whales and this is very atypical for the region.” *Julie Keister, Univ. of Washington:* [Slide: 'Unprecedented Mass Mortality Event' ~100,000 dead Cassin's Auklets] — “Some seabird data for Cassin’s... more »
The Universe
“Today you will be challenged. Challenged by the illusions. Tempted to look to time, space, and all things material for understanding; to judge your place in the world; and to make decisions about your life. Fight it. Go within. Remember there's magic. You're alive for greater things, you are greater.” The Universe “Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!” - www.tut.com
China's Former Top Military General Facing Corruption Charges
China's Central Military Commission former Vice Chairman General Guo Boxiong stands at attention during the playing of the national anthem before a meeting at the Pentagon in Washington July 18, 2006. REUTERS/YURI GRIPAS/FILES *Bloomberg*: *China's Former Top General Faces Trial Over 'Enormous' Bribery* * Charges against Guo Boxiong come as Xi expands military reform * Highest-level graft case to hit army in more than six decades A retired top general of the People’s Liberation Army has been formally charged with taking bribes and will face court martial in China’s highest-level m... more »
Global Military Spending Is Now $1.7 Trillion (And Rising)
*SIPRI*: *Global military spending rises for the first time since 2*011 The US and China continue to be the top spenders, but Saudi Arabia pulled ahead of Russia in 2015. The research institute said falling oil prices and economic crises have created "contrasting trends" across the globe. DW: The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Tuesday published a report showing global military spending increased by one percent in 2015, marking the first increase since 2011. However, falling oil prices and economic hardships have led several countries to drastically cu... more »
Maryland's Senate Race Demonstrates Exactly Why Primaries Are So Crucial
With all eyes focussed on the primaries in Wisconsin today-- although people should remember there is also a runoff for Milwaukee County Executive between billionaire/fake Dem Chris Abele and progressive champion Chris Larson-- this is also one week from the first day of early voting in Maryland, which has a crucial round of primaries 3 weeks from today. The most important House primaries are for the two seats being vacated by the two contestants for the open Senate seat. MD-08 pits progressive Jamie Raskin against two Big Money conservatives, some beer and wine billionaire and C... more »
Sweet Pork Tacos with Cucumber-Pineapple Salsa and Sriracha Mayo
If you're not drooling from the title of this recipe it might be because your brain is trying to figure out how this all works together. It's actually an incredibly balanced meal, with just the right amount of sweetness, light and cool, and spicy. It combines for a light, but filling dish. It's definitely not your typical taco, but it's one you'll remember and enjoy as being incredibly satisfying. *INGREDIENTS* 1 Tbsp olive oil 1 clove garlic 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced 2 tsp fish sauce 1 - 1 1/2 lbs pork ribs, cut into small chunks 2 Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp water *Cucumber-Pineapple ... more »
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*‘Cupcake Nation Alert!’ Harvard Students Find Pro-lifers And American Flags Offensive* Idiocy has been running through America’s college campuses like a brush fire. From students triggered by pro-Trump slogans written in chalk to physical altercations about cultural appropriation and hairstyle, political correctness is the destructive and contagious Black Death infesting the progressive left. So, it should come to no one’s surprise that it’s struck Harvard. Fox News’ Megyn Kelly had on Rachel Huebner, staff writer for The Harvard Crimson, who detailed how the PC police are destr... more »
Reinforced by Grassroots, Senate Republicans Hold Line on Obama’s Supreme Court Nomination
[image: In this photo from June 23, 2015, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Ky., listens during a Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., recently reversed his support for a Senate hearing on the nomination of Merrick Garland.] Conservatives who are normally at odds with Senate leadership are turning out to be important allies in their ongoing campaign to block President Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee. When the Senate recessed in March, conservative groups quickly mobilized activists across... more »
Singapore Man Charged With Illegal Export of IED Tech to Iran
[image: A car explosion caused by an improvised explosion device (IED).] WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Singapore man accused of helping to export technology to Iran that was later found in unexploded improvised explosive devices has been extradited to the United States to face charges, the Justice Department said Monday. Lim Yong... more »
Trump’s Strengths Are His Achilles’ Heel
[image: Donald Trump speaking at the 2014 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland.] Six months ago, I warned that Donald Trump’s strengths could also be the weaknesses that would destroy his campaign. I think we’re beginning to see that play out now. Trump has repeatedly said he is a counterpuncher -- that he... more »
Chile: Pilots Discuss UFO Sightings at FIDAE
*Source: Publimetro and PLANETA UFOhttp://www.publimetro.cl/nota/cronica/pilotos-relataron-en-fidae-impactantes-testimonios-de-avistamientos-de-ovnis/xIQpdd!K2kyT3m6pUL0E/Date: April 5, 2016* *Chile: Pilots Discuss UFO Sightings at FIDAE* The eyewitness accounts formed part of a seminar organized by the Comité de Estudios de Fenomenos Aereos Anomalos (CEFAA) of the Chilean Air Force during the international aeronautical gathering. Professional pilots delivered impressive testimony on the maneuvers of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in Peru and Argentina as part of a seminar ... more »
Syrian Jet Shot Down & Pilot Captured By Al-Qaeda Affiliated Rebels
A Syrian jet has reportedly been shot down by a surface-to-air missile in Aleppo Province. Islamist rebels shot down the warplane on Tuesday in an area south of the city of Aleppo where insurgents are battling the Syrian army and allied militias. The pilot ejected but was captured by the Al-Qaeda affiliated rebel group. RT reports: The Syrian Army has confirmed that an Su-22 jet was downed near Aleppo, an army representative told RIA Novosti. The pilot of the downed plane has been taken by Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front to one of its bases, according to a rebel source cited by R... more »
Soviet Spy Kim Philby: 'I Got Away With Treachery Because I Was Upper Class'
*Daily Mail*: *I got away with treachery because I was upper class: New unearthed video shows British traitor Kim Philby revealing secrets of his success as a Soviet agent to an audience of eager Stasi spies in 1981* * Footage sees Philby boast about passing on top secret information to KGB * He describes evading suspicion because he was part of 'governing class' * Ex-MI6 officer tells German spies there was no 'proper discipline' in SIS * Secretly-filmed lecture was unearthed in the official Stasi archives in Berlin Britain's most infamous spy said he managed to evade suspicion as a... more »
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*Rogue organization explains Australia's warm waters* *Australia's BoM has often been caught out making unwarranted "adjustments" to Australia's temperature record. They are so crooked that they couldn't lie straight in bed. So the screed below is amusing. The seas around Australia -- and Australia has a lot of those -- have apparently warmed up a bit recently. So that's got to be global warming, right? They say so but in a very guarded way. They agree that most of the causative factors are natural but slip in: "with a substantial contributor being human-caused climate ch... more »
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*Climate change threatens hearts, lungs but also brains, says US study* *I sometimes feel like I am the boy who declared that the emperor had no clothes. Nearly every day I find myself pointing out that a claim is GLARINGLY wrong.The huge and fancy report by many authors described below is another example. It is just solid BS. It ignored the basic truth that cold is a lot more fatal than warmth, which is why hospitals struggle more in winter. So warming should REDUCE illness. After that bad start they makes all sorts of links between global warming and other things that ... more »
Researchers: ‘Going Green’ Mostly About Being Trendy and Fashionable
[image: Go Green] People who shop green are mostly doing it to be trendy or fashionable, according to forthcoming market research revealed by the University of Toronto. The research concludes that when people purchase an electric car or install rooftop solar, that decision is... more »
House GOP Gives Conservatives Some Cuts, But May Not Be Enough to Pass Budget
[image: In this March 23, 2016, file photo, House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Trying to win over conservatives, House Republicans are sweetening their budget proposal by putting several programs on the chopping block, including President Barack Obama’s health care law and tax credits for children of immigrants living in the country illegally. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Trying to win over conservatives, House Republicans are sweetening their budget proposal by putting several programs on the chopping block, including Pr... more »
Cruz and Sanders See Today’s Wisconsin Primary as Make or Break
[image: Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, points as he speaks at a campaign stop at Waukesha County Exposition Center, Monday, April 4, 2016, in Waukesha, Wis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)] MILWAUKEE (AP) -- Republican Ted Cruz and Democrat Bernie Sanders are angling for victories in Tuesday’s Wisconsin presidential primaries that could give their campaigns a needed boost, but still leave them with mathematically challenging paths to their parties’ nominations. While... more »
BBC To Erect Statue Of George Orwell Outside London HQ
A statue of George Orwell, author of the dystopian ‘1984’, will soon be erected outside the BBC’s London headquarters, despite his resignation from the broadcaster in 1943 when he grew tired of “pushing propaganda” With a cigarette in hand Mr Orwell will soon take up position among the fellow smokers lurking outside the new main entrance of the BBC HQ. Orwell, real name Eric Blair, will be accompanied by a plaque that reads: “If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear” The Guardian reports: Four years after the BBC rejected the ... more »
Children Who Survived Nepal Earthquake Sold To British Families
Vulnerable children, including survivors of last year’s earthquake in Nepal, are being sold to British families as domestic slaves, according to an investigation. An investigation by the Sun newspaper claims that boys and girls as young as 10 are being sold for £5,250 ($7,468) in India’s Punjab province, close to the Nepalese border. Black market gangs are preying on the children of Nepalese refugees and destitute Indian families, according to the newspaper. RT reports: Last April, a devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed almost 9,000 people, and sent thousands of Nepalese fami... more »
Uncertainties Shadow California Plan for Nation-Leading Wage
[image: California Gov. Jerry Brown lifts a signed bill creating highest statewide minimum wage at $15 an hour by 2022 at the Ronald Reagan building in Los Angeles, Monday, April 4, 2016. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)] LOS ANGELES (AP) -- California’s decision to push its statewide minimum wage to a nation-leading $15 comes with uncertainties that could see the pay jumps postponed if the economy sours or the state budget slumps, while the overall goal of...more »
CIA Blames Obama For Not Liberating Syria From Assad
The CIA’s plot to oust president Assad of Syria has failed. The Syrian Arab Army is liberating parts of Syria from foreign and domestic insurgents. The CIA is blaming president Obama for failure to fully implement the”Assad must go” U.S. policy that led to the reduction of terrorists. Russia Insider reports: The CIA Just Backstabbed Obama The CIA’s plot to oust Assad has failed. Plan B: Blame Obama The Syrian “civil war” was supposed to create another Libya: A destabilized, lawless nation that could be used as a safe haven for terrorists, arms smugglers and human traffickers — anoth... more »
Armenia: Fresh Hostilities In Nagorno-Karabakh Could Lead To Full-Scale War
Armenia has threatened Azerbaijan with “full scale war” amid fresh casualties in renewed hostilities over Azerbaijan’s breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict could escalate as Azerbaijan threatens to expand its operations along the front line after the death of some of its soldiers fighting separatist forces, while Armenia threatens with full scale war and the recognition of the territory as an independent state. Update: Karabakh’s Defense Ministry has been ordered to cease fire and a truce has been agreed according to its press service. RFERL reports: Azerbaijan’s discl... more »
Extremist toured UK mosques to preach jihad per The Times
More from the 'religion of peace' in The Times: 'Britain's biggest Islamic sect allowed a militant linked to al-Qaeda to tour dozens of mosques on a jihadist recruitment drive that spawned terror plots and murders. Senior representatives of the Deobandi sect, a supposedly moderate movement that controls almost half of Britain's 1,600 mosques, hosted the extremist cleric Masood Azhar during a 30-day visit in which hundreds of young Muslims were urged to seek weapons training at terrorist camps in Pakistan.' More here http://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/extremist-toured-uk-mosqu...more »
Panama Papers Reveal North Korea's Off-Shore Companies
*The Guardian: **British banker set up firm ‘used by North Korea to sell weapons’* Nigel Cowie’s front company also allegedly helped regime expand nuclear programme, Panama Papers show A British banker who spent two decades living in communist North Korea set up a secret offshore finance company allegedly used by the Pyongyang regime to help sell arms and expand its nuclear weapons programme. Nigel Cowie – a fluent Korean and Chinese speaker, who studied at Edinburgh University – was behind a Pyongyang front company, DCB Finance Limited, registered in the British Virgin Islands, ... more »
North Korea Issues More Nuclear Threats Against The U.S.
Empty threats: North Korean media published an editorial claiming planned nuclear strikes would kill more American citizens than the September 11 attacks *The Daily Mail*:* North Korea vows to kill 'more Americans than the 9/11 attacks' in latest propaganda rant* * North Korea threatens to launch nuclear attack on the US * State media say warheads are aimed at key sites in Washington DC * Also claimed North Korea will kill more Americans than 9/11 * Latest in a long line of threats made against US in state media North Korea has made yet another threat of nuclear attacks on the US, ... more »
Carbon Pollution is REAL and it is killing Australians
Carbon pollution. Although Malcolm Turnbull, when re-negotiating the Coalition agreement with the National party promised to maintain all of the Abbott government’s policies against the climate change hoax, he has since promised one billion for poorer nations to cope with climate change and has promised another one billion for the reinstatement of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Tony Abbott went to the last election with a Pledge to abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and he won in the walk over. Why doesn’t Nationals Leader, Barnaby Joyce say that the coalition ag... more »
Military Photo of the Day: April 5, 2016
[image: Marines in Israel-900] U.S. Marines face down range during a combined Israeli-U.S. exercise in Israel on Feb. 12, 2016. Thank you to Cpl. Kelly Street for creatively capturing this image!
Al Qaeda Is Planning More Attacks In Africa
*Feisal Omar/Reuters* *Philip Obaji Jr., Daily Beast*:* Watch for More Attacks by al Qaeda’s Shock Troops in Africa* *Nigeria announces the capture of ‘Ansaru’ chief Khalid al Barnawi. But al Qaeda’s men in Africa are still very dangerous indeed—especially to foreigners.* WARRI, Nigeria — First, they attacked the Madison Blu Hotel in Mali’s capital, Bamako, on Nov. 20, killing at least 21 people, most of whom were foreign nationals. Less than two months later, the same group unleashed another batch of young militants on Burkina Faso’s popular Splendid Hotel and a neighboring café... more »
Scientists Believe they Have Found the Origins of the Unique Basque Culture
The argument for isolation misses the obvious. It is that the farmer population grew hugely as to dominate local hunter gatherers in much the came way that the Saan is dominated by local farmers as well. That also means that the farmer's language had to dominate as well. What it could mean though is that a unique group of hunter gatherers with a unique language chose to adopt farming from a farm community. Their population quickly expanded and they then dominated locally thereafter. Similar choices have been made by first nations in historic times. Horse based Buffalo huntin... more »
Dangerous Donald Trump
[image: Trump - 900] Donald Trump’s victories in the Republican primaries may make him seem like a sure winner. But those victories have been achieved by receiving either somewhat less than 40 percent of the votes or somewhat more than 40 percent, but never...more »
Behind Islamic State Lines
According to Abu Qatadah, those who do not convert will be killed. ‘150 million, 200 million, 500 million. The number doesn’t make any difference to us.’ Photograph: © Frederic Todenhöfer 2016 *Jürgen Todenhöfer, The Guardian:* *Into the heart of terror: behind Isis lines* The German writer Jürgen Todenhöfer was the first western journalist allowed to enter Isis-controlled Syria and Iraq – and to return safely. In an extract from his book, he describes what he saw in Raqqa and Mosul, and the chilling moment he realised that his angry, masked driver was one of the world’s most-want... more »
Tweet For Today
Video of a rebel hell cannon getting hit by some kind of artillery, does anyone have more info on it? pic.twitter.com/DQ5O1TuIw5 — BM-27 Uragan (@bm27_uragan) April 3, 2016
Syrian Ceasefire Is Collapsing
*L.A. Times:* *Syria's cease-fire appears to be collapsing* It’s said that spring heralds a time of renewal, but it could mark the end for Syria’s fragile cease-fire. The last few days have brought fresh skirmishes that threaten to derail the tenuous, U.N.-brokered “cessation of hostilities” between forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad and opposition factions. The limited cease-fire went into effect on Feb. 27 and had mostly been holding, despite some violations. The recent clashes have also raised doubts as to whether a second round of peace talks, scheduled to begin at... more »
Pakistani Public Schools Are Pushing Fundamentalism + Punjabis Used Islamic Ideology To Perpetuate Their Dominance Over Sindhis, Pashtuns & Balochis
The disease of Islamic fundamentalism will not be stopped by NATO because it has no strategic reason to do so. Christians who are killed in terrorist attacks in Pakistan, Syria, Egypt, or wherever are filed under "collateral damage" and soon forgotten, because at the end of the day, Islamic fundamentalist proxies are more valuable to NATO than the Christian civilians of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia. *Title: Pakistani Public Schools Are Pushing Fundamentalism. Source: Secular Talk. Date Published: April 4, 2016.* *Title: Punjabis Used Islamic Ideology To Perpet... more »
Musical Interlude: Vangelis, “Message”
Vangelis, “Message” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZpTTokiCrE
It's official - Icelandic bankers have been jailed
If you've been following this blog over the last few years, you know that Iceland took the dramatic step of prosecuting top officers at the country's big 3 banks, all of which were allowed to go bankrupt in the wake of the 2008 financial collapse. Unlike Ireland, it did not turn bank debt into government debt, which increased Ireland's debt by close to 100% of gross national product (GNP) overnight. Though hit hard by the 50% drop of the krona, Iceland has managed a remarkable, though still incomplete, recovery marked by its renewed ability to borrow in foreign currency with less tha... more »
Picture Of The Day
A soldier of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) attends a training session in Heihe, Heilongjiang Province, China. © REUTERS/ CHINA STRINGER NETWORK
China's Elite Have Been Exposed By The Panama Papers
Chinese President Xi Jinping (pictured) has been dogged by foreign media reports of great family wealth. Daily Mail *David Wertime, Foreign Policy*:* Chinese Censors Rush to Make ‘Panama Papers’ Disappear* Several Beijing leaders were implicated in the big leak. Reading social media, you’d never know it. On April 3, the Washington, DC-based non-profit International Committee of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) dropped what struck many as a bombshell: news that a leaked trove of 11.5 million previously secret files from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca showed a dizzying array ... more »
Ryan Still Claiming He's Not "Running"
This morning Ryan Grim and Sam Stein reported that Charles Koch is telling his friends in private that he's confident Paul Ryan is a "shoo-in" to be the GOP's nominee if Trump comes up at least 100 delegates shy." Despite all the Ryan protestations to the contrary *Huff Po* also asserts a close Paul Ryan associate told them that Ryan himself "said he would only be interested in it if the party could unite behind him, a scenario he can’t envision. 'I don’t know what to tell you? He doesn’t want the nomination. And can you imagine the backlash from the Trump forces if someone who di... more »
"A Look to the Heavens"
“Point your telescope toward the high flying constellation Pegasus and you can find this expanse of Milky Way stars and distant galaxies. Centered on NGC 7814, the pretty field of view would almost be covered by a full moon. NGC 7814 is sometimes called the Little Sombrero for its resemblance to the brighter more famous M104, the Sombrero Galaxy. *Click image for larger size.* Both Sombrero and Little Sombrero are spiral galaxies seen edge-on, and both have extensive central bulges cut by a thinner disk with dust lanes in silhouette. In fact, NGC 7814 is some 40 million light-year... more »
Chet Raymo, “The Ultimate Citadel of Humanism”
* “The Ultimate Citadel of Humanism”* by Chet Raymo “Here I go again. It seems lately that these posts drift more and more toward memoir, toward summing up, toward drawing together the raveled treads of a life. What started almost ten years ago as a continuation of my 20 years of science essays in the Boston Globe -- essays that aspired toward a spritely objectivity -- has become willy-nilly an exercise in self-indulgence. That so many of you have stayed for the ride suggests, I hope, that we share certain life-experiences, and that together we articulate a Tao, a way, a common aspi... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Moscow, Idaho, USA. Thanks for stopping by!
“Tell Me Yourself, I Challenge You..."
"You think the end justifies the means, however vile. I tell you: the end is the means by which you achieve it. Today's step is tomorrow's life. Great ends cannot be attained by base means. You've proved that in all your social upheavals. The meanness and inhumanity of the means make you mean and inhuman and make the end unattainable." - Wilhelm Reich “Tell me yourself, I challenge you— answer. Imagine that you are creating a fabric of human destiny with the object of making men happy in the end, giving them peace and rest at last, but that it was essential and inevitable to tortur... more »
“Execution of Palestinian Exposes Israel’s Military Culture”
*“Execution of Palestinian Exposes Israel’s Military Culture”* by Jonathan Cook "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it." - Martin Luther King, Jr. "It might have been a moment that jolted Israelis to their senses. Instead the video of an Israeli soldier shooting dead a young Palestinian man as he lay wounded and barely able to move has only intensified the tribal war dance of the Israeli public. Last week, as the soldier was brought before a military... more »
Hope for the future
It’s easy to be pessimistic about the future, and curmudgeonly about younger folk. See. Alex Epstein from the Center for Industrial Progress takes another view: *For the past several years I've thought that the Internet-dominated world will exacerbate certain kinds of problems for certain young people (manifested through all sort of addictive behavior and inability to concentrate on anything important) but enable other young people to become far more capable and productive than I and other "high performers" were at their age. I am thoroughly enjoying the latter category the... more »
Will Ukraine President Poroshenko Survive The Revelations In The Panama Papers?
*Reid Standish, Foreign Policy:* *Will the ‘Panama Papers’ Bring Down Ukraine’s Chocolate King?* Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko came into office in 2014 vowing to fight his country’s endemic corruption and break the bonds between business interests and politics in Ukraine. That’s going to be a lot harder now that leaked documents have revealed a secret offshore company setup in Poroshenko’s name and not disclosed in his public income statements. Ukrainian politicians wasted no time in using the revelations put forward against Poroshenko in the so-called “Panama Papers” — a t... more »
"About the Bombshell 'Panama Papers' Leak"
*"About the Bombshell 'Panama Papers' Leak"* By Sarah Lazare/AlterNet "The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung and more than 100 other media partners dropped the explosive “Panama Papers” leak on Sunday. The trove is described by ICIJ, a global network of investigative journalists, as “11.5 million leaked files to expose the offshore holdings of world political leaders, links to global scandals and details of the hidden financial dealings of fraudsters, drug traffickers, billionaires, celebrities, sports stars and m... more »
How to Debate a Wingnut: Cenk Uygur Slices & Dices Ann Coulter
. . *By MARC McDONALD* One thing that has long been a pet peeve of mine is when I watch a Progressive get stomped on by a Conservative in a debate. More often than not, the latter happens not because the Conservative has the facts on his side. Rather, it's that Conservatives *appear* to do well in debates because they simply spew an endless assortment of lies, often in a loud voice. If you repeat this formula over and over again against a wimpy, unprepared Progressive who's afraid to stand up to you, you will appear to win the debate. And in our TV culture, of course, appearances ... more »
CIA Agent Admits Obama Created ISIS To Invade Syria
According to a new report by a former CIA agent, President Obama created ISIS as an excuse to invade Syria and oust Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. In 2012 the CIA proposed a detailed plan to topple the Syrian leader which was vetoed by Obama. Former CIA operative, Doug Laux, told NBC News that the plan had been met with inexplicable opposition from the White House at the time. Activistpost.com reports: In his book slated for release Tuesday, Left Of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, Laux describes how “CIA officials were pushing a multi-tiere... more »
Russian Intelligence: CIA is a Branch of Wall Street
A Wall Street worker currently on trial on suspicion of spying for Russia says that the CIA and other spy agencies in the U.S. routinely work through Wall Street in order to collect various pieces of economic information against other countries. Eugene Buryakov, a former employee of Vnesheconombank, worked for Russian intelligence undercover at the bank and has not denied his guilt. Fort Russ reports: Usually our spies never admitted guilt, this is something different. As far as I understand our authorities continue to deny as they always do. It is strange for Buryakov to admit gui... more »
France Deploy Armed Guards To Patrol Trains
France have announced the deployment of armed security forces dressed as civilians to passenger trains in an attempt to bolster security in the country in the aftermath of the Brussels attacks. Guillaume Pepy, head of the national railway operator SNCF, said that 3,000 armed plain-clothes officers will patrol trains and are authorised to shoot if necessary. Presstv.com reports: At present, guards patrolling the trains wear navy-blue uniforms embellished with the company logo, and carry visible weapons. Among other measures, a team of special agents will monitor some of the 40,000 t... more »
Supreme Court Bolsters Political Influence of US Latinos
[image: The Supreme Court is seen in Washington, Monday, April 4, 2016, after justices ruled in a case involving the constitutional principle of “one person, one vote” and unanimously upheld a Texas law that counts everyone, not just eligible voters, in deciding how to draw legislative districts.] WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court unanimously endorsed election maps that bolster the growing political influence of America’s Latinos on Monday, ruling that states can count everyone, not just eligible voters, in drawing voting districts. The decision rejected a challenge... more »
Senate GOP Strategy for Dealing with Trump: Keep it Local
[image: Rob Portman] WASHINGTON (AP) -- For months Donald Trump has dominated the political scene like no other. But listen to endangered Senate Republicans as they campaign for re-election and you might not even know he exists. In Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey chaired a... more »
Trump and Cruz Making Final Pitches to Wisconsin Voters
[image: Trump - Cruz - 900] MILWAUKEE (AP) -- After Donald Trump’s toughest stretch of the campaign, he and Ted Cruz made spirited final pitches Monday to Wisconsin voters, who will cast ballots Tuesday in a Republican primary that both consider a key step in the... more »
A challenge to education researchers
For the most part, I read education research like I learned to read it: A bit of introduction, skim methods and results, cut right to the discussion and conclusions. When I was doing my dissertation, I was skimming hundreds of articles and simply didn’t have the time to read every word, unless it was some […]
Russia And The Panama Papers
*Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg*: *Putin's a Pauper, His Friends Are Rich* Recent reports by two consortia of investigative journalists purport to have exposed the dealings and offshore accounts of some of Russian President Vladimir Putin's closest associates. They don't name him as a beneficiary of any account, suggesting that Putin is as poor as a church mouse -- or would be if he ever lost power. The investigations were published by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, respectively. The first names St.... more »
‘Corruption’ as a Propaganda Weapon
By Robert Parry (Consortium News) Sadly, some important duties of journalism, such as applying evenhanded standards on human rights abuses and financial corruption, have been so corrupted by the demands of government propaganda – and the careerism of too many writers – that I now become suspicious whenever the mainstream media trumpets some sensational story aimed at some “designated villain.” Far too often, this sort of “journalism” is just a forerunner to the next “regime change” scheme, dirtying up or delegitimizing a foreign leader before the inevitable advent of a “color rev... more »
Land Defenders Spirit Camp Photos Joye Braun
Photos by Joye Braun Dakota, Lakota and Nakota land defenders establish Spirit Camp to halt Dakota Access pipeline on Standing Rock in North Dakota.
God’s Not Dead 2 Opens, and Opens Eyes to Legal Persecution of Christians
[image: God's Not Dead 2 - Grace and lawyer - 900] God’s Not Dead 2, the sequel to the surprise 2014 hit God’s Not Dead, opened this weekend in theaters across the country, bringing to light the legal battles people of faith are facing in cities and towns nationwide. Starring Melissa Joan... more »
Why We Need Reagan’s Nuclear Defense Approach Now More Than Ever
[image: Reagan-Gorbachev - 900] President Ronald Reagan delivered his famous Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) speech over three decades ago. In it, Reagan emphasized the need to develop a comprehensive layered ballistic missile defense system for the United States. Reagan understood the importance of "rendering... more »
Turkish Leader Rejects ‘Lessons in Democracy’
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticised the West for attempting to give Turkey “lessons in democracy” amid increasing criticism from the U.S. and Europe that Turkey is suppressing press freedoms under his regime. “Those who attempt to give us lessons in democracy and human rights must first contemplate their own shame,” Erdogan said. Middleeasteye.net reports: His comments came after US President Barack Obama said Turkey’s approach towards the media was taking it “down a path that would be very troubling”. Erdogan’s government has recently seized control of major oppo... more »
International Tax Police Find New Culprit to Target: Law Firms
*Guest post by Daniel Mitchell* Many nations in Western Europe can no longer afford their big welfare states. Countries such as Greece, Spain, and Italy already have needed bailouts, while it’s just a matter of time before several other European nations face a fiscal day of reckoning. But the problem isn’t confined to Europe. Countries such as the United States and Japan also have serious long-run problems because of changing demographics and poorly designed entitlement programs. Unfortunately, rather than fix their own fiscal problems, many of these nations are working throug... more »
What a perfect story to have followed the one below! I have listened to many experts on investing who, once they get you hooked, announce that there is a price for their advice. However, in all of the many months that I have come across articles by Mike Larson, he has been giving away the knowledge I've wanted for free. For example, we are now made aware of the fact that car sales are tanking. What more do we need to realize that the U.S. economy is an the verge of a crash that might well exceed that of 1929. I believe that buying gold or silver now while its cheep is your best way to protect your wealth.
------------------------------ Right on Cue, Auto Sales Tank; Here’s What to Watch for Next … *Mike Larson* | *Monday, April 4, 2016 at 4:20 pm* The market’s focus on Friday was squarely on jobs. Investors apparently decided the employment situation was good enough that stocks should be bought, and the Dow edged ever closer to 18,000. But is there something ELSE investors like you should be paying attention to? I think so. I’m talking about fading auto sales! Frankly, the March numbers stunk up the joint. The seasonally adjusted annual rate of sales ended up coming in at 16.6 mill... more »
Commentaries, Analysis, And Reaction To The Panama Papers (Updated)
*Mathew Ingram, Fortune:* *Behind the Panama Papers: How the Massive Document Leak Came to Be* *The huge international project involved 100 media partners, but few major U.S. outlets.* A quiet spring weekend was suddenly shattered on Sunday when news of the “Panama Papers” investigation broke. The massive international project involved approximately 400 journalists across 75 countries, plowing through roughly 11.5 million documents from a secretive Panamanian law firm specializing in creating offshore holding companies. The investigation took more than a year, commencing after Ba... more »
Trump Is A Work Of Fiction But...
The next phase of the Republican Party primary will feature Trump suing individual state parties as they all start ganging up on him-- surely not coordinated by the Paul Ryan Coronation Committee; just a coinkidink-- and stealing his delegates. South Carolina has threatened to take all the state's delegates all from him for saying he no longer considers the loyalty pledge in effect. Louisiana already gave 10 Trump delegates to Cruz and Trump says he's suing the party. Tennessee's delegate contingent has been engineered to be anti-Trump enough for Trump to threaten a suit there as ... more »
Obama Administration Claims Global Warming Will Literally Drive People Crazy
[image: Climate Change, Global Warming Alarmism, Climate Science] The Obama administration released a new report claiming global warming will make mental health issues worse -- the report notes even "perceived" threats from global warming will harm the mentally ill. "Many people will experience adverse mental health outcomes and... more »
"How It Really Is"
Remember, Martha Stewart went to prison for telling *1* (one) lie to *1* (one) FBI agent during *1* (one) interview. Hillary will be questioned by the Director of the FBI, James Comey, a tough former Federal prosecutor. Given her inclination to lie as naturally as she breathes, draw your own conclusions as to the outcome... Indictment, anyone? ◆ *Related:* “Comey’s FBI Makes Waves” “Campaign 2016: Hillary Clinton Says She Is Unaware Of Big Money That Oil And Gas Companies Have Given Her And Family Foundation”
Quote of the Day: The greater truth about death and taxes …
*"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets."* ~ Will Rogers . Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
The Economy: "Was There A Run On The Bank? JPM Caps Some ATM Withdrawals"
*"Was There A Run On The Bank? JPM Caps Some ATM Withdrawals"* by Tyler Durden "Under the auspices of "protecting clients from criminal activity," JPMorgan Chase has decided to impose capital controls on. As WSJ reports, following the bank's ATM modification to enable $100-bills to be dispensed with no limit, some customers started pulling out tens of thousands of dollars at a time. This apparent bank run has prompted Jamie Dimon to cap ATM withdrawals at $1,000 per card daily for non-customers. "Most large U.S. banks, including Chase, Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and Well...more »
The Panama Papers -- News Updates April 4, 2016 (Updated)
*Daily Mail*: *Map reveals how secretive Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca relies on a network of offices with contacts around the world to support its super-rich clients* * Secretive law firm Mossack Fonseca is based in Panama but has branches in more than 35 cities around the world * Success relies on a network of banks and accountants who put clients in touch with the firm to manage their assets * Work with Mossack Fonseca to create thousands offshore accounts, which can be used to conceal financial affairs * Thousands of accounts were requested by major financial institutions in... more »
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- April 4, 2016
*Paul Lashmar, Quartz:* *The Panama Papers: How hundreds of journalists revealed the secrets of some of the world’s most powerful people* With the Panama Papers exposé perhaps we can now say the fortress walls of offshore secrecy are finally cracking. Such havens allow corruption and tax avoidance to take place on a massive international scale by some of the richest and most powerful people on Earth. Meanwhile, the poor get poorer. Western politicians have huffed and puffed about clamping down on offshore havens but in reality their collective breath would not have knocked over a ... more »
Nantou: 101 + 56 = Staggering
[image: DSC01676] *Drew on the 56* Slow news week and I haven't felt much like blogging. But with the excellent weather, it's time for some serious riding. Monday Drew took Eva and myself down to Nantou to do the awesome 投56, 20 kms of desolate hills, via the 投101 through the tea districts above and east of Lugu. Gorgeous. As always, click on read more to see more... *ROUTE NOTES*: To find this road, follow the 16 to Jiji, then turn south across the bridge on the 139. Cross the river, get on the 131. Follow that south, climbing a bit, to the 投101. Follow the 投101 until it ends. The... more »
Guest Post: Tom McIver: Caprice Young and the Master of Deception
*“Jed’s predecessor, Caprice Young, made over $250,000 for her work at the CCSA. Check out the cast of characters on CCSA’s board of directors.” — Kenneth Libby* [image: Caprice "Capricious" Young, Privatization Princess, CORO Fellow, CCSA Alum, ICEF Flunky, and Poverty Pimp.]These pages have addressed right-wing school privatization pusher Caprice Young before. Her early history working with Richard Riordan, predatory capitalist and junk bond felon Michael Milken, and racist, bigoted, anti-immigrant nativist Steve Poizner was discussed in a piece that also exposed her profiting f... more »
Economic News , Data & views ( April 4, 2016 ) Monday's Top Items ( 1. Panama Papers Exploded Onto The Scene Yesterday , Hints Of Many More Revelations Though. 2. Greece - Rocky Bailout Talks Resume Between Greece and Creditors After IMF Leak . 3. Dutch Have Their Referendum On EU- Ukraine Association Agreement April 6th. 4. Refugee Crisis News For Monday. 5. Around The MENA Horn - Items From Libya , Syria & Iraq. )
Panama Papers..... *fred walton* @fredwalton216 19s 19 seconds ago fred walton Retweeted Glenn Greenwald This could impact the impeachment effort against Rousseff... fred walton added, *Glenn Greenwald* @ggreenwald House leader spearheading Dilma's impeachment, Eduardo Cunha-found w/millions in Swiss accounts- is in #PanamaPapers http:// politica.estadao.com.br/noticias/panam a-papers,panama-papers-revelam-107-offshores-ligadas-a-personagens-da-lava-jato,10000024501 … *sushil punia* @sushilpunia 1m 1 minute ago http://ow.ly/36CBT Chile's head of Transparency Interna... more »
April 4: Wow!
The story below is told largely with its focus on Israel, China and Russia. But it's a story that covers the whole world. Yes, even Canada and, who would guess it? -even New Brunswick. And, toward the end there's reference to a book on the subject that looks worth reading. This is about a revolution that is happening to all of us. It's about an economic system which has always been corrupt but is now so sophisticated in its corruption it is a threat to all of us. We're living through a period in which democracy is being destroyed, and in which the nation itself is becoming just a wo... more »
Are standardized tests better than grades?
Sent to the Wall Street Journal, April 4, 2016 Supporters of the current testing program argue that standardized tests can help parents see how their children are doing in school ("Battle Lines Drawn as Student Testing Is Set to Begin" April 3). There is, however, no evidence that the current standardized testing program provides better feedback to parents than teachers' evaluations of students. Studies done at the secondary school level show that grades are an excellent predictor of future academic success, and the results of standardized tests do not add additional information. Th... more »
We Need a President Who Will Lead in Asia
[image: US President Barack Obama during a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the US Ambassador's Residence in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Monday, March 24, 2014.] Whoever occupies the Oval Office in 2017 will face security threats around the world -- including in Asia. Stability in Asia is currently being threatened by North Korea's growing military capabilities, China's increasingly aggressive behavior, historical animosities and rising nationalism.... more »
‘Done Nothing but Drive Us Apart’: Former Radical Black Panther Gets Candid on Obama, Race Relations
[image: Clarence Mason Weaver - 900] Clarence Mason Weaver was once so filled with hatred towards white people in America that he broke up with a girlfriend who had a white dog, the now-conservative told The Daily Caller New Foundation in this exclusive video interview. A... more »
Huge Mysterious Planet Ejected From Milky Way Heading Towards Earth
A 737-page Kremlin report by Aerospace Defence Forces scientists warns that a new planet in our solar system appears to be heading towards us, confirming rumors that the elusive Planet X (or Nibiru) spotted last January is set to collide with the Earth in the near future. Scientists say that Planet x was originally located in the center of the Milky Way galaxy, and has been on an orbital path towards Earth for almost 5 billion years. Whatdoesitmean.com reports: According to this report, in early 1999, the Federation (at its Embassy in Washington D.C.) received an unsolicited “trove... more »
France Stage Terror Drill With Crisis Actors Ahead Of Euro 2016
Government officials in France have staged a fake terror drill using crisis actors in preparation for Euro 2016 this summer. The mock terrorist attack prepares emergency crews for a potential chemical weapons attack at the European Championship games. Dailymail.co.uk reports: More than 2,000 people from the French emergency services took part in a fake chemical attack designed to give them the best possible training should the tournament by targeted. The activities undertaken were also in response to the terrorist attacks that took place in Paris on Friday, November 13 last year wh...more »
Pakistan's Reckoning: India's Policy Towards Balochistan Draws More Attention In Wake of Spy's Arrest
*Related: * *The Crimes of Pakistan Against Balochistan* *Captured Indian Spy's Taped Confession Vindicates Pakistan's Narrative That India Is Funding Terrorism In Pakistan * *Mashal Khan Takkar: Birth And Death of Pakistan* *An excerpt from, "Operation Kalat: Ideas For A Free Balochistan" By Sayan Ganguly, Swarajya, October 3, 2015: * If India hopes that Balochistan can be used as a lever just by dangling the unspoken threat of arming and training the Baloch rebels in the near future, it would be a mistake. That is a very twentieth century tactic which has run its course and will m... more »
Untitled
*5th Annual Levee Breach Bike Tour~Levees.org*
Huge UFO Mothership Has Entered Our Solar System, Say Astronomers
UFO hunters claim that an unusually large object can be seen in recent images captured by astronomers that they say shows a giant UFO entering our solar system. The giant alien structure was spotted approaching Jupiter’s moon Europa – and resembles an intergalactic UFO armada, or mothership, according to online experts. Humansarefree.com reports: Online UFO hunters claim that the images captured recently by two amateur astronomers working independently suggest that a major expeditionary effort mounted by a technologically advanced spacefaring alien race from a distant planetary sy... more »
Record Breaking Numbers Protest In Iceland, Demanding Revolution
Record numbers of protestors have taken to the streets in Iceland demanding snap elections, calling on Prime Minister Sigmundur DavÃð Gunnlaugsson to resign after the Panama Papers revealed he is among several leading politicians with links to offshore tax havens. The protests coincide with ongoing weekly protests held against the Icelandic government’s handling of the financial crisis in 2008 – which some have referred to as the “Kitchenware Revolution”. Icenews.is reports: There had been weekly protests since October 2008 against the Icelandic government’s handling of the financia... more »
Turkey Rejects Drought Claims: “Who Does NASA Think It Is?”
Turkey has slammed claims by NASA that a region in the country is experiencing its worst drought in 900 years. Forestry and Waterworks Minister Veysel Eroglu criticised NASA’s technology as being “inadequate” and, addressing parliament, asked “Who does NASA think it is?” Middleeasteye.net reports: A report released by the US government’s space agency last month found that a drought affecting the eastern Mediterranean since 1998 is “likely the worst… of the past nine centuries”. The report used tree-ring records to track the history of human-induced climate change, concluding that “... more »
Mormons Warn The Apocalypse Is Coming This Wednesday
A Mormon cult from southern Utah believe that this Wednesday, April 6th is the day of the Apocalypse. Coincidentally it’s also the day that their leader, Lyle Jeffs, appears before a judge in a major fraud case. As he appears before the judge an earthquake will cause the walls of a Texas prison to crumble and Lyle’s brother, Warren Jeffs (a Mormon ‘Prophet’ and supreme leader) will walk free. This is despite the fact that Jeffs is currently serving a life sentence for having sex with underage girls as young as 12. Rawstory.com reports: By divine coincidence, perhaps, Wednesday is 6... more »
North Korea To Launch ‘Practice’ EMP Attack
Russian generals have previously warned the EMP Commission that a top-secret design for a super-EMP warhead was accidentally leaked to North Korea in 2004. Now intelligence experts have warned that North Korea’s launch of the KSM-4 satellite on February 7 may be used to “practise” an EMP attack on the United States – potentially causing a blackout on the national grid, killing millions. Allnewspipeline.com reports: On Oct. 8, 2015, NORAD Commander Gortney told the Atlantic Council, “I agree with the intelligence community that we assess that they [the North Koreans] have the abilit...more »
Anonymous Launch #OpIsrael Cyberattack Against Israel
Israel are preparing for an oncoming cyberattack by Anonymous on April 7th, as a group of anti-Israel hacktivists have vowed to cause major disruption across the country in their campaign #OpIsrael. Israeli cybersecurity experts have said they are not concerned with the threat, claiming that the country is prepared for whatever the hacktivist group throws at them. Techcrunch.com reports: The attack has taken place every year on April 7since 2013 and was first launched on the eve of the Holocaust Remembrance Day with a stated goal of erasing Israel from the Internet. “The nightmare ... more »
100-year-old Grandma Booted Out Of Her Home For Being Noisy
A 100-year-old grandmother has been given two weeks to vacate her Palm Desert apartment, by a judge who ruled in favor of her landlord who complained that she was “too noisy.” Evelyn Heller must now leave her apartment following the brief trial at Palm Springs court house on Friday. The Independent reports: Deep Canyon Desert LLC, the company that manages Ms Heller’s apartment, said they evicted the elderly woman because she often had loud, disruptive verbal arguments with her daughter. According to the Desert Sun reports, Ms Heller was also accused of keeping the apartment in a “de... more »
World News Briefs -- April 4, 2016 (Evening Edition)
*Reuters*: *World figures deny wrongdoing as 'Panama Papers' reveal offshore wealth* Governments across the world began investigating possible financial wrongdoing by the rich and powerful on Monday after a leak of four decades of documents from a Panamanian law firm that specialized in setting up offshore companies. The "Panama Papers" revealed financial arrangements of global politicians and public figures including friends of Russian President Vladimir Putin, relatives of the prime ministers of Britain, Iceland and Pakistan, and the president of Ukraine. While holding money i... more »
‘Fugit Amor,’ by Auguste Rodin
[image: 9867f0db1e56d32bb8a78f7d1dfa6778] "*Fugit amor*" is the Latin for fugitive or transient love… [image: Capture] The Rodin Museum explains the piece: *‘Fugit Amor’ is without question one of Rodin’s most beautiful compositions: the two straining bodies are combined in one perfect flowing movement. This two-figure group, which appeared twice on ‘The Gates of Hell,’ [depicting figures from Dante’s ‘Inferno,’ and] was exhibited as an independent work from 1887 under the names ‘The Dream’ and ‘The Sphinx,’ which show how closely it related to the Symbolist aesthetic of the... more »
Andrea Mitchell Said British Sailors Were Held by Iran in 2007 for 'Months and Months.' That's Not True.
Appearing tonight on MSNBC in advance of Barack Obama's final State of the Union address, foreign correspondent Andrea Mitchell spoke to Rachel Maddow and Chris Matthews about Iran's seizure of two U.S. Navy riverine gunboats (and 10 crew members) that had entered Iranian territorial waters on their way from Bahrain to Kuwait - perhaps accidentally, perhaps due to a mechanical malfunction or
Politics and the Panama Papers
After expending a long day compiling and pouring over spreadsheets, I wasn't expecting two terabytes worth of them would bring a smile to my face. Yet that happened last night when the massive leak from Mossack Fonseca of Panama City flashed across the world's media. In a society like ours where everyday folk can't move for video cameras and tracking devices, it's welcome when those at the top feel the heat of, for want of a better phrase, surveillance from below. As the data hasn't been dumped online for all and sundry to skim through, there will be more than a few scandals buried... more »
“White Sheets and Red Golf Caps”–updated
[*UPDATE*: I like this summary from a Facebook friend: “But at the end of the day, Tracinski is right, and dressing up economic protectionism, white supremacism, and tribalism isn't a defense of western civilization.”] Robert Tracinski ably explains the fetid sewer of support flushed out by Donald Trump – people who understand Western civilisation not as a set of ideas, but as some kind of symbol of their racial identity. They’re calling themselves alt-right; he’s identified them simply as The Other Left. Or even more simply: Yes, The Alt-Right Are Just a Bunch of Racists: *I’... more »
NATO Paved The Way For ISIS To Take Palmyra
American author Daniel Lazare blames American action and inaction for the capture of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra last year, which was liberated recently by the Syrian Arab Army. Washington and its allies in the Middle East funneled arms to terror groups such as Daesh and al-Qaeda and later sat back and watched as Palmyra fell into the hands of their favorite Islamists. Western leaders and allies blamed president Assad for their shortcomings, repeating the mantra “Assad must go” while Palmyra was being beheaded and pulverized by terrorists. The west’s deafening silence after t... more »
Taliban Smartphone App Removed From Google Play
A Taliban technology that allowed for the spread of online hate and extremism has been removed by Google. An app developed for Android smartphones which allowed the Taliban to connect with a wider digital audience was removed from Google Play store after it was branded as ‘hate speech.’ The app, named Alemarah, was part of the Taliban’s advanced technological efforts to compete with the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL who have recently made inroads into Afghanistan and Taliban territory and are better positioned in the cyber world. The Mirror reports: The app, named Alemarah, gave Android s... more »
Siri Now Responds To Rape Claims
Siri, the iPhone’s built-in digital “assistant” has been criticized for not understanding the full meaning behind a victim telling the artificial intelligence that they were a victim of sexual assault. However, the tech giant has now updated the software so that Siri is better equipped to deal with sensitive queries. According to IBNLive: In the past, Siri gave responses to statements like “I was raped,” inadequately. It would simply respond, “I don’t know what you mean by ‘I was raped'” and instead redirected users to web search. Even alternative digital assistants like Google Now... more »
The End Of Days? Satellite Photo Shows Nile River Blood Red
A recent image supplied by the European Space Agency (ESA) shows a photo of the Nile River in Egypt running a blood red color. GeoBeats News reports: The red in the picture signifies the presence of vegetation, reports CBS News. Gathered by the new Sentinel-3A satellite, the picture taken on March 3, 2016 is teeming with detail. Egypt showcases its capital city of Cairo, as the Nile River pulses toward where it empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Sitting distantly northward are the islands of Cyprus and Crete. Somewhat counterintuitively, the Red Sea also appears in the image, on the... more »
Even Your Wine Isn’t Safe From Monsanto: Here’s Why
Ah, organic wine. Those of us who are against GMOs take comfort in knowing that our wine is, at the very least, organic. Or is it? Now, some devastating research has revealed that Monsanto’s tentacles have made their way into ‘organic wine’ in California. According to TheInertia.com: Recent tests show that this is the case with Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. This herbicide is produced by Monsanto, and it is used by farmers as a heavy-duty herbicide. Samples of wine from 10 different vineyards indicate the presence of Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, in every sample. It shou... more »
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