Thursday, January 31, 2013

31 January - Blogs I'm Following II

Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-...
Bashar and Asma al-Assad, President and first-wife of Syria. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10:27 pm MST

UK: Divorce cases could be settled under Sharia and religious courts after landmark High Court ruling over Jewish couple's dispute

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 1 minute ago
Divorce cases could be settled by Sharia and religious courts after a landmark High Court ruling. The settlement of a young Jewish couple was approved under the rabbinical court of Beth Din, which is said to be the first time that an English family judge has sent a divorce dispute to a religious court. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271682/Divorce-cases-settled-Sharia-religious-courts-landmark-High-Court-ruling.html

We're proud to help firms make billions by avoiding tax, top accountants tell MPs

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 1 minute ago
Britain's biggest accounting firms yesterday said they were ‘proud’ of making billions helping companies avoid UK tax. In ‘shocking’ evidence to MPs, bosses told how they regularly advised wealthy corporate clients to use offshore havens and legal loopholes to minimise UK tax payments. They admitted to having more than 200 offices in tax havens such as the Cayman Islands or Switzerland. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271633/Were-proud-help-firms-make-billions-avoiding-tax-accountants-tell-MPs.html

Pakistan polio vaccination policeman shot dead by gunmen

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 5 minutes ago
A policeman providing security for a polio vaccination team in Pakistan has been killed by gunmen near the north-western town of Swabi, officials say. The killing is the latest in a spate of deadly attacks against vaccination workers in the country. In December at least eight people engaged in polio vaccinations were shot dead in Karachi and the north-west. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21244016

Syria opposition says talks must focus on Assad departure

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 5 minutes ago
The opposition Syrian National Coalition said on Thursday that any talks on the country's political future must be about the departure of the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. A day after SNC chief Moaz al-Khatib expressed openness to discussion with members of the regime, the political commission issued a statement reaffirming the group's charter that "any negotiation or dialogue must be about the departure of the regime and its pillars." http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Africa/Syria-opposition-says-talks-must-focus-on-Assad-departure/Article1-1004824.aspx

US calls Iran's plan to upgrade uranium work 'provocative step'

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 5 minutes ago
The White House said on Thursday that Iran's installation of advanced uranium enrichment machines would be a "provocative step" in further violation of United Nations resolutions against Tehran's nuclear program. Iran, in a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency earlier this month, said it would use the new centrifuges - a model called IR2m - at a unit in the Natanz plant where Iran is enriching uranium to a fissile concentration of up to five percent, according to an IAEA communication to member states seen by Reuters. http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/u-s-calls-ir... more »

Egypt factions seek talks, opposition call for protests

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 5 minutes ago
Rival factions Thursday condemned violence which has killed dozens of people in a week of unrest in Egypt, and pledged support for a national dialogue, as the opposition called fresh rallies set for Friday. Top Islamic scholar Grand Imam Ahmed al-Tayyeb chaired talks between liberal opposition heads, Islamists, youth groups, independents and church members at the headquarters of Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h4IXLaYmxBd6E1NxcG-24oU7JKSg?docId=CNG.3ef9f5fd7e964311f17db090f7f7b624.f1

Cameron Shows Grit in North Africa, but Stirs Concerns About New Entanglements

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 minutes ago
Prime Minister David Cameron emerged Thursday from hurried visits to two North African capitals boasting a sheaf of commitments to new partnerships in the fields of defense, counterterrorism, intelligence-sharing and military training, including for special forces. He also won plaudits for courage. In Algiers on Wednesday, he became the first British prime minister to visit since Winston Churchill wallowed in warm Mediterranean dips during stopovers to and from Egypt in World War II. Postwar British leaders shunned Algeria through its bloody war against the colonial French and, afte... more »

U.S. skeptical about Argentina-Iran "truth commission"

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 minutes ago
The United States on Thursday voiced doubt that Argentina and Iran's planned "truth commission" would bring to justice those responsible for the deadly 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center. Argentine courts have said Iran was behind the attack on the Jewish center, which killed 85 people. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-argentina-iran-usa-idUSBRE91006H20130201

Mohawk Nation News 'The Grudge'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 15 minutes ago
MNN: THE GRUDGE Posted on February 1, 2013 Mohawk Nation News http://www.mohawknationnews.com Herr Harper, the crime is genocide!   THE GRUDGE  MNN.  Jan. 31, 2013. We remember that Canadians elected megalomaniac Stephen Harper as CEO of the Corporation of Canada. His two main goals for the shareholders are to get rid of the landowners, the Indigenous

Unknown substance leaking from Deepwater Horizon site

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
More than a month after BP and the Coast Guard finished a subsea operation to inspect the Deepwater Horizon site for oil leaks, no source has been found. Also, BP and the Coast Guard have not publicly identified a mystery white, milky substance observed seeping from the wreckage. But they say it's not oil and it's not harmful. Recurring oil sheens have been spotted in recent months around the Deepwater Horizon site. Several missions to inspect the sunken Deepwater Horizon platform, riser pipe, wellhead, relief wells and containment domes found no oil leaks. However, the Coast Guard ... more »

Thousands of dead fish an 'unbelievable' mystery, Australia

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
Thousands of fish have mysteriously washed up on the shores of Burrinjuck Dam, north-west of Canberra. Liz Richardson from Good Hope Tourist Resort told The Yass Tribune the amount of dead fish was "unbelievable". "Every type of fish," she said. "Lots of baby fish, lots of small cod." http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/thousands-of-dead-fish-an-unbelievable-mystery-20130201-2dolk.html

Large landslide collapses 35 houses in SW China

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
A large-scale landslide has collapsed 35 residential houses in mountainous Zhenxiong county in southwest China's Yunnan province, local authorities said Thursday. Starting Monday, the gradually deteriorating landslide has affected the life of 712 villagers in Zhongtun township, according to the Zhenxiong county government. The landslide also damaged 928 houses in the county. http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90882/8116897.html

Mount Lokon volcano erupts in Indonesia

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
Mount. Lokon in North Sulawesi of the central part of Indonesia erupted on Thursday, spewing ash by up to 800 meters to the sky, head of National Volcanology Agency Surono said here. The volcano first erupted at 06:56 local time Thursday (2256 GMT Wednesday), releasing ash up to over 800 meters high and the second one at 10:44 local time (0244 GMT), but the height of the ash could not be monitored as it was covered by cloud, Surono said. "We do not issue an evacuation zone, as the frequent of quake and its strength has been weakening," he told Xinhua over phone. http://news.xinhua... more »

Nine people killed as freak hailstorm rains massive boulders down on Indian villages

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
Hailstones the size of boulders have rained down on villages in southern India. At least nine people were killed when the violent weather hit several villages in the state of Andhra Pradesh. The hailstorm which lasted for almost 20 minutes, destroyed crops, houses and live stock, causing devastating financial implications for residents. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271147/Nine-people-killed-freak-hailstorm-rains-massive-boulders-Indian-villages.html

Fireworks Truck Explodes Killing 26 In China

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
At least 26 people have been killed after a truck carrying fireworks exploded causing a bridge to collapse in China. China National Radio says the explosion in Henan province completely destroyed a highway bridge high above the ground. It said many trucks fell off the bridge after the explosion. http://news.sky.com/story/1045997/fireworks-truck-explodes-killing-26-in-china

Pemex Oil Company HQ Blast Kills 14

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 minutes ago
Fourteen people are dead and 80 injured after an explosion at the headquarters of Mexican oil company Pemex. Injured workers were seen being evacuated after the blast at the state-owned firm blew out windows and damaged three floors of the tower in Mexico City's commercial centre. There are reports that as many as 30 people could be trapped in the debris from the explosion, which occurred in the basement of an administrative building next to the iconic, 52-storey skyscraper. http://news.sky.com/story/1045967/mexico-pemex-oil-company-hq-blast-kills-14

Frithjof Schuon On The Eye of The Heart

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 22 minutes ago
*"The Eye of the Heart: Metaphysics, Cosmology, Spiritual Life." *

Vegan Recipe - Lacto-fermented garlic dill pickles!

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 27 minutes ago
*If you've followed me for any length of time, then you know that I believe that eating meatless meals is one of the easiest ways to live green. That's because the amount of natural resources involved with producing food and the cost in fossil fuels to process, transport and cook it, are less for plant-based foods versus animal-based foods. So, eating meatless meals is good for the earth!* * * *Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Jayedee of Life in the Lost World. I've been following Jayedee for a long time. Her blog is a wonderful mix of posts ... giveaways, reviews and ... more »

R.J. Rushdoony-- Alive And Well In Montana! Meet Freak Of The Week, State Rep Jerry O'Neill

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 27 minutes ago
Rushdoony and O'Neill-- crackpots Every now and then, Montana hard right Republican politician Jerry O'Neill pops his head out of the dumpster he lives in to demand something quaint-- like getting paid in gold and silver for his services or having state legislatures elect senators again, rather than ordinary Americans. O'Neill lives in the tiny hamlet of Columbia Falls (which has 966 families, 96.27% of whom are white; there are a few Native Americans and a Black person too) and people there must like him. They keep voting for him. That might change now that he's introduced a bill in... more »

5.9 Magnitude Earthquake EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 1st February 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 42 minutes ago
Magnitude 5.9 Date-Time Friday, February 01, 2013 at 02:17:27 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 12:17:27 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 6.951°S, 147.667°E Depth 34.8 km (21.6 miles) Region EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA Distances 44 km (27 miles) SSW of Finschhafen, Papua New Guinea

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS - 1st February 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 43 minutes ago
Magnitude 4.9 Date-Time Friday, February 01, 2013 at 01:49:14 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 12:49:14 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 10.983°S, 165.446°E Depth 34.8 km (21.6 miles) Region SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS Distances 50 km (31 miles) SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

4.8 Magnitude Earthquake SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS - 1st February 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 43 minutes ago
Magnitude 4.8 Date-Time Friday, February 01, 2013 at 00:42:59 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 11:42:59 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 11.056°S, 165.481°E Depth 9.9 km (6.2 miles) Region SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS Distances 54 km (33 miles) SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

5.1 Magnitude Earthquake SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS - 1st February 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 43 minutes ago
Magnitude 5.1 Date-Time Friday, February 01, 2013 at 00:18:08 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 11:18:08 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 11.034°S, 165.334°E Depth 10.7 km (6.6 miles) Region SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS Distances 64 km (39 miles) WSW of Lata, Solomon Islands

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 49 minutes ago
Magnitude 4.6 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 23:57:00 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 10:57:00 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 10.990°S, 165.478°E Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program Region SANTA CRUZ ISLANDS Distances 49 km (30 miles) SW of Lata, Solomon Islands

Protest Destruction of Peaks! Stop Snowbowl! Idle No More!

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 52 minutes ago
Protest Destruction of the Peaks! Stop Snowbowl! Idle No More! Join us February 1-9, 2013In Flagstaff, Arizona The multimillionaire owners of Arizona Snowbowl are preparing to celebrate "75 years" of ecological destruction and cultural genocide. We plan on being there to insure that we honor 500 years of resistance! We have NEVER been idle. In 1983, after decades of persistent community

4.4 Magnitude Earthquake ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 53 minutes ago
Magnitude 4.4 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 20:31:01 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 02:31:01 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 14.375°N, 92.854°E Depth 27.2 km (16.9 miles) Region ANDAMAN ISLANDS, INDIA REGION Distances 295 km (183 miles) N of Bamboo Flat, India

Burning My Boston Globes

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 1 hour ago
*I'm just tired of **sifting** through the unread piles, folks, and I needed to do something to keep warm.* "Massachusetts plan to burn waste is opposed; State disputed on safeguards for environment" by Beth Daley | Globe Staff, December 31, 2012 A state plan to *loosen a nearly quarter-century moratorium* on *new waste incinerators* is renewing a *long-simmering trash war* in Massachusetts over how to deal with the *vast amounts of garbage* that residents and businesses generate each day. * **Everything is framed in terms of a war in my war paper (sigh). * * **As for vast amounts ... more »

A Final Salute to the Boston Globe

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 1 hour ago
*Flying the surrender flag up now... * "More towns designing flags to join State House display" by Noah Bierman | Globe Staff, January 02, 2013 Peru is part of a trend, as once flagless towns in the Commonwealth adopt flags, after a bit of coaxing from constituents and state lawmakers, who say a flag is a way to instill community pride and to remind the rest of the world that their municipalities matter. Towns, of course, don’t need flags. Unlike countries that wage battles or race to the moon, or states that christen dams and tunnels, many communities have been content with humb... more »

VIDEO International Treaty to Protect Sacred Lands Signing 2013

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 hour ago
Published on Jan 31, 2013 Signing Ceremony - January 25, 2013 Ihanktonwan Homelands, Yankton Sioux Tribe, South Dakota International Treaty to Protect the Sacred from Tar Sands Projects Supported by Yankton Sioux Tribe, The Black Hills Treaty Council, The Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association, Yinka Dene Alliance, Indigenous Environmental Network, West Coast

Musical Interlude: Moody Blues, "Land of Make-Believe"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
Moody Blues, "Land of Make-Believe" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E32Nvlb8p98 • For the Dreamers, still believing and hoping for a better world, may you never stop dreaming... - CP

Roger Baker : Can TxDOT Avoid Financial Disaster? / 2

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 2 hours ago
Is a change of direction in order? Image from Cypress Creek Mirror. Agency in denial: Can TxDOT avoid financial disaster? / 2 By Roger Baker / The Rag BlogFebruary 1, 2013"Denial isn't just a river in Egypt." -- Mark Twain Second of a two-part series. A glaring example of the Texas Department of Transportation's (TxDOT) denial of financial reality is that they view their roads in a way that

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
“The delightful Dark Doodad Nebula drifts through southern skies, a tantalizing target for binoculars in the constellation Musca, The Fly. The dusty cosmic cloud is seen against rich starfields just south of the prominent Coalsack Nebula and the Southern Cross. Stretching for about 3 degrees across this scene the Dark Doodad seems punctuated at its southern tip (lower left) by globular star cluster NGC 4372. *Click image for larger size.* Of course NGC 4372 roams the halo of our Milky Way Galaxy, a background object some 20,000 light-years away and only by chance along our lin... more »

Chet Raymo, “Stretching The Imagination”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
*“Stretching The Imagination”* by Chet Raymo *“Professor, that stuff you spoke of in class this morning- about the beginning of the universe..."* Yes? *"Well, you know how you said that the universe began 14 billion years ago as an infinitely small point...?"* Yes, that appears to be the case. An explosion from a point of infinite energy. Space and time expanding from nothing. Matter coalescing from cooling radiation. Stars, galaxies... *"To tell the truth, I'm having a hard time believing it. I mean, the idea that everything that exists today, the billions and bill... more »

Must-Read Posts Today

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 3 hours ago
If you want to understand what we're up against in resisting the Northern Gateway and Kinder Morgan plans, you must read Ray Grigg's expose on Harperin the *Common Sense Canadian. *The bastard we have as a prime minister is plainly diabolical and ready, willing and able to inflict harm on Canada and the world. Richard at *Canadian Trends *shows how corporatism and petro-politics is playing hell with Alberta's economy and its provincial budget. Much of what he writes could apply to your province too. Also read Richard's take on why Alberta's petro-economy is a ship that has saile... more »

The "30 Rock" finale: The New Yorker's Emily Nussbaum says she'll miss the show ("quotable to a nearly psychotic degree") "like a stalker misses her stalkee"

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
*by Ken* By the time this post posts, new episodes of *30 Rock* will be a thing of the past, at least on the East Coast -- I guess in the Mountain and Pacific time zones the one-hour finale will still be upcoming. I've got the finale happening in real time as I write, though I can't say I'm really watching it, since I'm, you know, writing this post. (I'm trusting the DVR to do its thing, though it has been increasingly independent-minded over the last year or two. Well, there's always "On Demand.") As it happens, *The New Yorker*'s TV critic, Emily Nussbaum, is watching now too, ... more »

RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : Progressive Economist Robert Pollin, Author of 'Back to Full Employment'

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 3 hours ago
Economist Robert Pollin. Image from Unionocity. Rag Radio podcast: Economist Robert Pollin discusss his new book, 'Back to Full Employment' By Rag Radio / The Rag Blog / January 31, 2013 Progressive economist, activist, and author Robert Pollin was Thorne Dreyer's guest Friday, January 25, 2013, on Rag Radio, a syndicated radio show produced at the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas. The

Poll Closing is Imminent

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 3 hours ago
If you’ve got a ballott — i.e., an email with a survey link — and you haven’t voted for the OAIS blogging awards, time is running out. Don’t let your vote be the difference between elimination and survival for your favorite blog.

What Chuck Hagel Knows

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 4 hours ago
Obama's Republican nominee for Defense Secretary, Chuck Hagel, is getting mauled in his confirmation hearings by his former colleagues like Ol' Grumpy (John McCain). Obama has praised Hagel as a Vietnam combat veteran today's soldiers can follow. Hagel was an outspoken critic of Bush's war on Iraq (although he reluctantly voted for it initially) and he plans to steer America clear of entanglement in the Sahara. His views have rubbed former colleagues like Senator "Bomb, bomb, bomb; bomb, bomb Iran" McCain the wrong way. In 1968, while McCain was being held in a North Vietnamese... more »

Broun (GA - Nutcase) Wants A Promotion

2old2care at Because I Can - 4 hours ago
GOP Rep. Paul Broun is informing donors that he will enter Georgia’s open-seat Senate race, with an official announcement expected shortly. Broun appears likely to become the first Republican to enter the race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Saxby Chambliss Hope Georgia says - Hell No! Oh, myyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy Last week, Congressman Paul Broun (R-Lunatic, GA) pronounced evolution, embryology, and the Big Bang theory, “lies straight from the pit of hell”. In his speech, Broun claimed that as a legislator he takes direction from the Bible: And what I’ve come to learn is that it’s th... more »

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 4 hours ago
Bronx, New York, USA. Thanks for stopping by.

“Incestuous Amplification, Economics Edition”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 4 hours ago
*“Incestuous Amplification, Economics Edition”* by Paul Krugman "It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we *know* that ain't so." - Will Rogers “Back during the early days of the Iraq debacle, I learned that the military has a term for how highly dubious ideas become not just accepted, but viewed as certainties. “Incestuous amplification” happen when a closed group of people repeat the same things to each other – and when accepting the group’s preconceptions itself becomes a necessary ticket to being in the in-group. A fundamentally flawed notion – say... more »

Minnesota US House Races - May Get Some PAC Help

2old2care at Because I Can - 4 hours ago
Minnesota - lookie - lookie Hopefully Jim Graves will run again and they send some love his way. Hopefully we can get that loonie in the 6th District to go home and cuddle up to Marcus - permanently. Gotta find someone in the second that the PAC can put their money behind. House Majority PAC, the super PAC formed in the 2012 cycle to support Democratic House candidates, has rolled out its first round of Republican incumbent targets for the 2014 cycle. They are: Rep. Michele Bachmann – Minnesota’s 6th Rep. Mike Coffman – Colorado’s 6th Rep. Gary G. Miller –... more »

Explosion Hits State Oil Company Building In Mexico City, 14 dead

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 4 hours ago
What appears to be a significant explosion has rocked the Pemex tower in Mexico City. Television images are showing smoke billowing from the glass high rise in the Mexican capital. Pemex, the state-owned oil company, tweeted that an explosion happened in the administrative building next to the oil giant's headquarters and that injuries have been reported. The towers, Pemex said, have been evacuated. El Universal, one of Mexico's biggest newspapers, is reporting that at least 30 are injured. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/01/31/170790603/explosion-hits-state-oil-company-... more »

Today in Sarah Palin News

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 5 hours ago
By now you probably know that Sarah Palin's 3-year gig at *FOX News** *is over. Seems she's now been consigned to *GlennBeckistan*. But luminaries like Palin don't "just fade away" like old generals. No, their passing is the subject of much observation and reflection. For example, *AlterNet* did a retrospective on Palin's *FOX* gig that tallied everything she said on air and divided that into her million dollar annual salary. The result? Sarah earned $15.85 a word. It didn't make any difference whether they were wacky, goofy or bore only the faintest resemblance to the En... more »

Climate Change: “Humans Have Already Set In Motion 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
* “Humans Have Already Set In Motion 69 Feet Of Sea Level Rise”* by Chris Mooney “Last week, a much discussed new paper in the journal "Nature" seemed to suggest to some that we needn't worry too much about the melting of Greenland, the mile-thick mass of ice at the top of the globe. The research found that the Greenland ice sheet seems to have survived a previous warm period in Earth's history - the Eemian period, some 126,000 years ago - without vanishing (although it did melt considerably). But Ohio State glaciologist Jason Box isn't buying it. At Monday's Climate Desk Live b... more »

North Korea holds emergency war lectures across country in "preparation for conflict with South"

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 5 hours ago
North Korea has convened nationwide emergency lectures to follow-up on yesterday’s military readiness posture change. Lecturers reportedly told assembled citizens that President-elect Park Geun Hye is preparing to go to war with North Korea so they must be ready to defend the nation in response. A source from Hyesan in Yangkang Province told Daily NK today, “Lectures were convened shortly after the declaration of ‘preparation for combat mobilization.’ He said that the alliance of imperialists including the UN are sanctioning us to try and crush socialism in the only such country le... more »

Israel threatens Syria with more airstrikes

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 5 hours ago
An Israeli air attack staged in Syria this week may be a sign of things to come. Israeli military officials appear to have concluded that the risks of attacking Syria are worth taking when compared to the dangers of allowing sophisticated weapons to reach Hezbollah guerrillas in neighboring Lebanon. With Syrian President Bashar Assad's grip on power weakening, Israeli officials fear he could soon lose control over his substantial arsenal of chemical and advanced weapons, which could slip into the hands of Hezbollah or other hostile groups. These concerns, combined with Hezbollah's... more »

ALEC - Yes Massah, yes massah

2old2care at Because I Can - 5 hours ago
Folks – if you don’t read this one closely – you’re gonna miss the nasty bits by the American Legislation Exchange Council. . I’m not going to bold it to make it easy for you. It’s a game of “Find the ALEC Nasty Bits" Yep folks – this is from the November 2011 ALEC Civil Justice Task Force Meeting in Snottsdale AZ. *NOTE 2011* AT December 11that 3:25 p.m. MODEL LEGISLATION: Amendments to the Product Liability Act Victor Schwartz, Partner, Shook, Hardy & Bacon; Civil Justice Task Force Co-Chair Original Product Liability Act Summary: The Model Product Liability Act (... more »

Loretta Lacy: Useless police officers cite same woman four times in a matter of hours for speeding, no insurance, marajuana, yet let her go each time

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 5 hours ago
The 49-year-old woman who received no fewer than four speeding tickets last week after flying down on I-90 as fast as 112 mph has been identified. Loretta Lacy, of Sioux Falls, S.D., was heading to Racine, Wis. and trying to make it in time for her granddaughter’s formal dance that evening. Lacy was first stopped in Martin County at 2:25 p.m. after authorities received multiple complaints of her speeding, and weaving in and out of traffic. She was ticketed for speeding (she passed the trooper at 112 mph), no insurance and possession of marijuana. http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2013/0... more »

Israel Attacks Syria: And Syria Does Nothing But Complain To The UN?

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 6 hours ago
The curtain is being pulled back. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Europe, the United States, and now Israel are waging an aggressive and illegal war against the people of Syria. There was never an armed revolution in Syria. There was popular discontent and signs of peaceful revolt but that's true of any country. The "Free Syrian Army" are drugged up mercenaries and Jihadist terrorists who attack ethnic and religious minorities, loot and burn down homes, and basically wreck shit up. Syria makes formal complaint at UN over 'Israeli' attack. Source: Euronews. Syrians Defiant Over Israel... more »

Cookies

Southern Man at Southern Man - 6 hours ago
At both work and church the Girl Scout dads are in full cookies selling mode... The original. Oh, so delicious. $3.50 per box. The generic imitation. Oh, so equally delicious. $1.34 per package. What's a Southern Man to do? Why, use the online Wal-Mart product locator, find a store with thin mints, and stock up. Can't beat a plate of thin mints and a glass of cold milk!

Thursday Afternoon Linkage: Zero Dark Thirty Catch up

Megan MacKenzie at Duck of Minerva - 6 hours ago
Given the growing debate surrounding “Zero Dark Thirty”, it is now mandatory to have a strong opinion on the movie. In addition to the excellent posts on this blog, including “Zero Dark Thirty” Debate Needs and Interrogation and “Zero Dark Thirty”: Touchstone Par Exemplar by Jeffrey Stacey the internet is awash with excellent commentary on Continue reading

The Mental Illness of Canada's Parliament

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 6 hours ago
Anyone who believes that selling the world's most carbon-intensive petroleum is a good thing must embrace certain irrational beliefs or suffer the pangs of cognitive dissonance. They must have some ability to disconnect the impacts of bitumen from the climate change that is already setting in around the world. Would any of our parliamentary bitumen boosters say that accelerating and worsening climate change impacts is a good thing? Would any of them be so bold even as to say it's a worthwhile result to achieve? Would they claim that Canada is entitled to do that if only because ... more »

The Real News: Major Cuts Needed to 1.2 Trillion Dollar National Security Budget

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 6 hours ago
Source - The Real News: Lawrence Wilkerson: Pressure from arms manufactures and politicians protecting jobs make it difficult to have a rational approach to US military budget.

Sylvia Stolz - Reply to Holocaust Denial Accusations

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 6 hours ago
*Sylvia Stolz, my hero*

Because He Has Intellect, And You Don't, Senator

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 6 hours ago
A senator asked incoming Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel why the Iranian foreign ministry supported his nomination, and during his questioning he *repeated the lie* that Iran said it wants to "wipe Israel off the map." My god, no wonder Obama wants to act like a dictator. There are fucking morons below him. This level of ignorance is dangerous.

It Starts ... Harper And The Conservatives Get Back At Aboriginal And First Nations People For Acting Up ....

leftdog at Buckdog - 6 hours ago
* Stephen Harper pledged more dialogue and respect for Aboriginal and First Nations people when he met with Chiefs as part of the Idle No More protests. But what's this? .... Mere days later, the Federal government began the shut down of the comprehensive Information Portal for Federal government programs and services for **Aboriginal and First Nations! Just to add 'insult to injury', the Harper Conservatives are relegating information services to the dust bin.* * **See what happens if you dare challenge Mr. Harper and the Right wing party that supports and maintains his government.... more »

Blogger's Note: As I cruise the (mostly liberal) internet news and opinion sites, I seem to be finding more and more unworkable solutions proposed to solve non-existant, unimportant, or insoluable-due-to-partisan-bickering problems. To get a grip on the REAL problems facing We the American People, I keep returning to the columns of (Republican) economist Paul Craig Roberts. Today's message is really scary, but it seems far better to know what's afoot than to bury our heads in the sand.

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 7 hours ago
------------------------------ *In Amerika Law No Longer Exists: the extermination of truth — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ January 31, 2013 | Original Here In the 21st century Americans have experienced an extraordinary collapse in the rule of law and in their constitutional protections. Today American citizens, once a free people protected by law, can be assassinated and detained in prison indefinitely without any evidence being presented to a court of their guilt, and they can be sentenced to prison on the basis of secret testimony by anonymous witnesses ... more »

Ed Markey Has To Fight Off Two Anti-Choice Conservatives-- Stephen Lynch & Scott Brown

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
John Kerry gets to cap his career off as Secretary of State. Huzzah! I like the sound of "Elizabeth Warren, senior Senator, Commonwealth of Massachusetts," but... but by taking Kerry out of the Senate, Democrats now face the task of holding a seat. Scott Brown, Wall Street's favorite politician, is likely to run again, which means it won't be a cakewalk. The almost universal favorite for the Democratic nomination, with endorsements from the DSCC and from Kerry, is progressive champion Ed Markey, the dean of the Massachusetts delegation, who has a stupendous record in the House, no... more »

#IDLENOMORE J-11 2013 EARTH REVOLUTION by TA'KAIYA BLANEY - YouTube

rc at GlobaLove Think Tank - 7 hours ago
#IDLENOMORE J-11 2013 EARTH REVOLUTION by TA'KAIYA BLANEY - YouTube January 11th at City Hall, Coast Salish territory (Vancouver, B.C) :) Video by: Damien Bouchard -

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 7 hours ago
*Pulitzer winner Bob Marshall to cover environment for The Lens*

Snowmobiler Caleb Moore dies a week after crash

Rich Rifkin at Lexicon Daily - 7 hours ago
CNN is reporting sad news out of Aspen, Colo. Snowmobiler Caleb Moore died Thursday, a week after a crash that has raised new safety concerns about the X Games. He was 25 years old. ... Moore, a freestyle snowmobiler, was attempting a backflip at the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado, when he couldn't rotate his machine enough to land properly. The skis dug into the lip of the slope, bringing the 450-pound snowmobile crashing down on him. The vehicle slammed into Moore's head and chest. What X Games athletes do is incredible. And incredibly dangerous. And as they push the envel... more »

Sedna by Billy Merkosak

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 7 hours ago

Time Has Run Out

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 7 hours ago
"Time cutting 500 from its staff" Associated Press, January 31, 2013 NEW YORK — Time Inc., the magazine unit of Time Warner Inc., says it is cutting 6 percent of its global staff of 8,000, or about 500 people. The cuts began Wednesday and will affect domestic and international workers. In a memo to staff, Time chief executive Laura Lang said the company *must become more nimble*, and operate on multiple platforms. She said operating more efficiently will create room for critical investments and new initiatives. The unit publishes magazines such as Fortune, InStyle, People, Real Simp... more »

Migrants are sending £335BILLION to their struggling families back home... more than three times the world's total aid budget

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
The amount of remittance money topped £335billion last year as more people than ever choose to live abroad, according to figures from the World Bank. It has sparked debate whether this so-called remittance money could be a viable alternative to relying on help from other governments. Britain's shadow minister for international development, Rushanara Ali, who was born in Bangladesh, believes the UK government should try to harness migrant money to complement aid spending. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271320/How-migrants-sending-335BILLION-struggling-families-home--times-w... more »

Burger King admit it has been selling Whoppers containing horsemeat

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Burger King has tonight admitted that it has been selling burgers and Whoppers containing horsemeat despite two weeks of denials. The fast food chain, which has more than 500 UK outlets, had earlier given a series of ‘absolute assurances’ that its products were not involved. However, new tests have revealed these guarantees were incorrect in a revelation that threatens to destroy the trust of customers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271440/BREAKING-NEWS-Burger-King-admit-selling-beef-burgers-Whoppers-containing-horsemeat.html

Young people full of promise and hope!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 8 hours ago
*THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013 * *One dead, the others ignored:* Nicholas Kristof wrote a type of good news column today. Kristof discussed our national high school chess champion team. This is the way he started: KRISTOF (1/31/13): You see America and its education system in all their glorious, exhilarating, crushing, infuriating contradictions in our national high school chess champion team. Chess tends to be the domain of privileged schools whose star players have had their own personal chess coaches since elementary school. *Yet the national champion team comes from a high-povert... more »

It's Always the Same Even for the F-35

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 8 hours ago
History is rich with accounts of novel weaponry breakthroughs that changed the battlefield forever, failed miserably, or fell somewhere in between. Regardless of the outcome it seems that, whenever the next big thing comes along, somebody will inevitably take a long bet on it working. The promise routinely seems far greater than the result but we instinctively go for it because we just want so much for it to work. History also teaches us that we rarely, if ever, get it right the first time out. We go into these things with assumptions gilded with perceptions of our own omnipote... more »

Going With Their Strength

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 8 hours ago
I'm mostly over a Greg's place today, but I'll do a quick post here based on a twitter exchange...it's in reference to Ted Cruz's questioning of Chuck Hagel today, which featured a bunch of dubious Hagel quotes. So I said: "GOP takeaway from 2012 seems to have been: wow, we need more campaigns built around out-of-context quotes" To which Matt Yglesias had the sensible reply: "It’s a kind of hammer/nail issue, right? They’re really good at drawing attention to out of context quotes." Yeah, that's just about right. I suppose I can also do the "elsewhere" stuff here, since it's relev... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago

French intervention in Mali Where have the jihadists gone?

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
WHEN French soldiers blazed into the northern city of Gao on January 26th, they won the decisive victory of a three-week-old campaign to dislodge jihadists. But only when they paraded through the mud-built streets of the mystical town of Timbuktu two days later did the triumph feel real. Rebels in remote Kidal, their last redoubt, may still hold some sway but reportedly want to negotiate. France is keen to present the intervention as a joint effort with African forces, yet its soldiers did not wait around for Nigerians, Senegalese, Ivorians and various others to arrive. Some 2,900 ... more »

Could Egypt fall apart?

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
The renewed bloodshed and defiant protests in Egypt prompts a provocative question: Could Egypt really collapse? Just two years into a revolution that ignited during the Arab Spring, Egypt's defense minister warned this week the raging conflict "may lead to the collapse of the state and threaten the future of our coming generations." On Wednesday, analysts described that statement as overreaching, but none dismissed the severity of the country's problems. http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/31/world/meast/egypt-collapse-analysis/?hpt=hp_t3

Spanish prime minister Rajoy accused of hiding secret income

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy's government was rocked by a major corruption scandal on Thursday after the publication of documents that allegedly showed him receiving €250,000 that had been hidden from tax authorities. Rajoy denied the allegations after El País published extracts from what it said were secret accounts for his People's party (PP). But opponents called for his resignation and ordinary Spaniards asked whether those now imposing spending cuts and tax rises in the middle of a painful recession had previously indulged in, or tolerated, systematic tax avoidance. El... more »

White House warns Syria over 'weapons to Hezbollah'

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
The White House has warned Syria not to transfer weapons to Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon. The warning came amid contradictory claims of an Israeli strike in Syria. Syria says Israeli war planes bombed a military research centre north-west of Damascus, but the US and others say lorries carrying weapons bound for Lebanon were hit. Israel has maintained silence about the incident, but Syria has made a formal complaint to the UN. Damascus says it reserves the right to defend itself, while its allies Russia and Iran have strongly denounced the attack. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/wo... more »

Atlanta, Price Middle School Shooting: Teen Shot In Head

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Police officials in Atlanta say two suspects are in custody after at least one person was shot at a middle school there. Police say a 14-year-old student was shot in the head and taken to hospital on Thursday morning. Information on the teen's condition was not immediately available. A teacher suffered minor cuts and bruises and was given medical help at the scene, said Atlanta Fire Captain Marian McDaniel. http://news.sky.com/story/1045891/atlanta-school-shooting-teen-shot-in-head

"Tearing Down to Rebuild: Rethinking Complaining"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
*"Tearing Down to Rebuild: Rethinking Complaining"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "When we spend all of our time complaining, we are in essence in constant destroy mode rather than building mode. We all know someone who has elevated the process of complaining to a high art. Sometimes funny, sometimes exhausting, these people have the ability to find a problem just about anywhere. In its more evolved form, complaining is simply the ability to see what’s not working, in one’s own life or in the external world, and it can be quite useful if followed to its natural conclusion—fin... more »

Kahlil Gibran, "The Madman"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
*"The Madman"* by Kahlil Gibran "It was in the garden of a madhouse that I met a youth with a face pale and lovely and full of wonder. And I sat beside him upon the bench, and I said, “Why are you here?” And he looked at me in astonishment, and he said, “It is an unseemly question, yet I will answer you. My father would make of me a reproduction of himself; so also would my uncle. My mother would have me the image of her seafaring husband as the perfect example for me to follow. My brother thinks I should be like him, a fine athlete. And my teachers also, the doctor of philos... more »

Cameron promises closer ties with Libya to boost security in North Africa

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
British police investigating the 1988 Lockerbie bombing are to visit Libya for the first time. Following talks in Tripoli with Libyan prime minister Ali Zeidan, David Cameron said officers from the Dumfries and Galloway force had been granted permission to travel to the country. "I am delighted that the Dumfries and Galloway Police team will be able to visit your country to look into the issues around the Lockerbie bombing," he told a joint news conference. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/lockerbie-bombing-police-to-visit-libya-for-first-time-8475379.html

"Government to Dispose of Radioactive Waste By Putting It In Our SILVERWARE"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
*"Government to Dispose of Radioactive Waste* * By Putting It In Our SILVERWARE"* by WashingtonsBlog "The overwhelming scientific consensus is that any amount of radiation – no matter how small – can cause cancer and other serious health effects. (Current safety standards are based on the ridiculous assumption that everyone exposed is a healthy man in his 20s – and that radioactive particles ingested into the body cause no more damage than radiation hitting the outside of the body. In the real world, however, even low doses of radiation can cause cancer. Moreover, small part... more »

Colombia rebels free seized oil workers, kill four soldiers

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Colombia's FARC rebels on Thursday freed three oil contractors kidnapped a day earlier, military sources said, though the guerrillas killed four soldiers in the south as they step up pressure during peace talks. The kidnappings and other violent incidents came days after the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, made clear during peace negotiations in Cuba that it would continue to capture armed forces, possibly hampering the talks. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-colombia-rebels-idUSBRE90U12R20130131

Syria warns of response to Israel attack

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Syria protested to the United Nations on Thursday over an Israeli air strike on its territory and warned of a possible "surprise" response. The foreign ministry summoned the head of the U.N. force in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to deliver the protest a day after Israel hit what Syria said was a military research centre and diplomats said was a weapons convoy heading for Lebanon. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-syria-israel-attack-idUSBRE90U0TX20130131

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake LUZON, PHILIPPINES - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Magnitude M 4.5 Region LUZON, PHILIPPINES Date time 2013-01-31 17:14:15.0 UTC Location 14.12 N ; 120.73 E Depth 233 km Distances 5 km N Tumalim, Philippines

three library issues, part 3: the human library

laura k at wmtc - 9 hours ago
January 26, 2013 was the first Human Library Day, but the Human Library, also known as the Living Library, has been around for several years. The idea is to assemble a diverse group of people to be "books", then invite an audience to "borrow" the books by engaging them in conversation about themselves. The "book" person talks to the "reader" about her or his life, giving people an opportunity to interact with a greater range of human diversity than they might normally encounter. Human books might be called, for example, activist, musician, lesbian, Muslim, doctor, cancer survivor, w... more »

"Turning point" and "Disarray"

Boris at The Galloping Beaver - 9 hours ago
Government ministers should know better by now than to say things like this. Turning Point and Disarray are popular terms for describing the early phases of Western wars in developing countries. Really, all they mean are that the war has entered a new phase because the hardscrabble enemy unsurprisingly discovered they couldn't survive conventional combat against a NATO-standard offensive and

Women, Vaccines & Bodily Integrity

Barbara Loe Fisher at Vaccine Awakening - 9 hours ago
Posted 1/24/2013 *By Barbara Loe Fisher* * * 2013 was only a few days old when I saw a photo of 61-year old Ethel Hoover, a veteran hospital nurse, who had only missed 4 or 5 days of work in 22 years, she was fired from her job for declining to get a flu shot. *Defending Freedom of Conscience* On her last day of work, she wore black. In the photo, she was standing straight, looking directly into the camera, unafraid, signaling strong ownership of the principled choice she made in defense of autonomy, [1]freedom of conscience [2] [3] and protection of bodily integrity. [4] “This is ... more »

DISPOSSESSED in FUKUSHIMA

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 9 hours ago
On July 19, 2011 Fukushima citizens met with spokespeople for the Japanese Government. The meeting was recorded and posted on YouTube[i] In the video, a spokesperson for the people of Fukushima repeatedly asks, “As other people do, people in Fukushima have a right to avoid the radiation exposure and live a healthy life, too. Don’t you think so?” The government official, Akira Satoh, Director of the Local Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, responds, “The government has tried to reduce the radiation exposure dose as much as it can.” The citizens’ spokesperson presses, “So, are... more »

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Magnitude M 4.6 Region CENTRAL EAST PACIFIC RISE Date time 2013-01-31 17:09:59.9 UTC Location 8.99 S ; 108.51 W Depth 10 km Distances 3024 km S Acapulco

Extension of time to perfect an appeal

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 10 hours ago
Mortazavi v. University of Toronto, 2013 ONCA 66 deals, in part, with extending the time to perfect an appeal. The Court holds: [21] The overriding principle the court must consider in deciding whether to grant a party an extension of time to perfect an appeal is whether the justice of the case requires it. In applying this principle, the court typically takes into account the following four factors: 1. Whether the appellant formed an intention to appeal within the relevant period; 2. The length of the delay and explanation for the delay; 3. ... more »

A Quarter-Baked Note on Grand Theory in IR

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 10 hours ago
Political scientists often say that ‘no one reads books anymore.’ I’d add that ‘almost no one reads book reviews.’ This is a shame. Although most book reviews are paint-by-numbers affairs, some smuggle in provocative claims or important statements about aspects of the field.* For example, in his Perspectives on Politics review of Miles Kahler, ed. Networked Politics: Agency, Continue reading

TEXAS TARSANDS ACTION Blockader disrupts oil and gas pipeline conference

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 10 hours ago
BREAKING: Blockader Disrupts Oil & Gas Pipeline Conference January 31, 2013 Tarsands Blockade www.tarsandsblockade.org UPDATE: 12:00 PM – Ramsey has been arrested. Demonstrate your support and contribute to his bail here. PHOTO: Ramsey Sprague being detained by police. Ramsey took the opportunity to educate the officers on the dangers of tar

Business Bureaucracy 6: Presentation at Rotary Club of Manila Bay

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 10 hours ago
Last night, I was the guest speaker of the Rotary Club of Manila Bay, RI District 3810, held at Astoria Plaza in Ortigas. Thanks to a friend way back in UP, Bobby Galvez, who is the club President-Elect (PE), for inviting me. Below is my 24-slides presentation. Thank also to Club Pres. Francis "Pankoy" Santaromana for the warm welcome and nice Certificate of Appreciation. Later in the evening, Sen. Koko Pimentel, one of their active club members, came. Group photos to follow. See also: Business Bureaucracy 1: Avoiding government: Egyptian experience, March 12, 20... more »

“Federal Rule Limits Aid to Families Who Can't Afford Employers' Health Coverage”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
*“Federal Rule Limits Aid to Families Who Can't* * Afford Employers' Health Coverage”* By Robert Pear “When someone says, 'It's not the money, it's the principle of the thing', it's the money.” by Kin Hubbard WASHINGTON - “The Obama administration adopted a strict definition of affordable health insurance on Wednesday that will deny federal financial assistance to millions of Americans with modest incomes who cannot afford family coverage offered by employers. In deciding whether an employer's health plan is affordable, the Internal Revenue Service said it would look ... more »

Israel on Notice - Remove Settlements or Face Justice

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 10 hours ago
The United Nations Human Rights Council has told Israel to remove all settlements from the occupied West Bank or else be prepared to be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court for violations of the Geneva Conventions. In other words, get out or stand as an outlaw country, a criminal state. True to form, Israel responded dismissively, calling the demands "counterproductive and unfortunate." *All settlement activity in occupied territory must cease "without preconditions" and Israel "must immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers", said the UN Human R... more »

Meet the Next Senator From Massachusetts

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 10 hours ago
William ‘Mo’ Cowan to be interim US senator * **I mean after him. Sometimes I guess it's okay to be a lock-step loyalist, huh?* Cowan’s path to Senate began in small-town N.C. For Patrick’s top aide ‘Mo’ Cowan, echoes of boss’s rise, obstacles Patrick confident in choosing confidant Cowan * **Cowan the crony?* In naming Mo Cowan to Senate, Patrick lessens state’s clout *Globe doesn't like him? * * **I'm sorry, folks, but I simply won't have time to read those items.* *Looking ahead*: "Leaders in party support Markey" by Frank Phillips | Globe Staff, December 29, 2012 Top members... more »

Perfumadas y coloridas flores adornando el paisaje

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 10 hours ago
[image: Perfumadas y coloridas flores adornando el paisaje] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de flores* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
Magnitude mb 4.5 Region STRAIT OF GIBRALTAR Date time 2013-01-31 16:48:12.0 UTC Location 36.41 N ; 6.10 W Depth 40 km Distances 5 km E Chiclana, Spain

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
Magnitude 4.9 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 16:04:47 UTC Friday, February 01, 2013 at 01:04:47 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 35.983°N, 139.746°E Depth 47.7 km (29.6 miles) Region NEAR THE SOUTH COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Distances 0 km (0 miles) NW of Kasukabe, Japan

4.8 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
Magnitude 4.8 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 14:53:41 UTC Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 11:53:41 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 36.767°N, 140.490°E Depth 10.1 km (6.3 miles) Region NEAR THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN Distances 12 km (7 miles) E of Daigo, Japan

Hundreds of Birds Washed-Up On South Coast

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
Hundreds of birds have been washed-up along the south coast, covered in an unidentified "creamy waxy substance". The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) said the guillemots, a kind of auk, were discovered on Lyme Bay near Weymouth. They have been taken to West Hatch Animal Centre in Taunton but attempts to clean them have been hampered by not knowing what the substance is, Grahame Madge, of the RSPB, said. http://news.sky.com/story/1045833/birds-washed-up-on-south-coast

HMV Staff Use Twitter To Reveal Redundancies

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
HMV staff have used the company's Twitter account to reveal workers at the head office and other non-shop employees are being fired. The staff used the social media service to inform followers that 190 people were being made redundant. http://news.sky.com/story/1045744/hmv-staff-use-twitter-to-reveal-redundancies

Lindsay Sandiford Loses Death Penalty Funding Battle

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
A British grandmother has lost a legal battle over the UK Government's refusal to fund her appeal against a death sentence imposed by an Indonesian court for drug smuggling. Two judges in London refused to declare unlawful a Foreign and Commonwealth Office refusal to pay for "an adequate lawyer" to represent Lindsay Sandiford, 56, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. http://news.sky.com/story/1045822/bali-brits-death-penalty-funding-battle-lost

Encantadora mariposa comiendo el polen de las flores

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Encantadora mariposa comiendo el polen de las flores] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de mariposas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Record precipitable water measured in Michigan and Illinois – ‘What planet is this?’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 11 hours ago
[image: Car overturned by the tornado near Adairsville, Georgia, on 30 January 2013. Photo: WSB-TV on http://pic.twitter.com/2lAL0Lmc] By Jeff Masters 30 January 2013 […] Today's severe weather outbreak was helped by record levels of January moisture, as a flow of unusually moist air rode northwards from the Gulf of Mexico, where water temperatures were about 0.5°F above average. Meteorologists use a term called "precipitable water" to discuss how much water vapor is in the atmosphere. Precipitable water is defined as how much rain would fall on the ground if one took a vertical ... more »

Kitty Genovese and continuing silence!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 11 hours ago
*THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013* *The “story” about her death:* In this morning’s New York Times, Leslie Kaufman writes a fascinating piece about journalism and novels. On its face, Kaufman discusses the brutal, once-famous murder of Kitty Genovese, a 24-year-old New York City woman who lost her life in 1964. But at its heart, this fascinating news report is about something quite different. The Genovese murder became nationally famous because of what it supposedly showed about deteriorating civic culture. According to the standard story—a story which came from the New York Times—38 pe... more »

Rana intentando comer la fresa exquisita

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Rana intentando comer la fresa exquisita] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de ranas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Venado luciendo sus elegantes y duros cuernos

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Venado luciendo sus elegantes y duros cuernos] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de venados* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

It's the New Normal and We Have to Figure Out How to Live With It

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 11 hours ago
Each day, *Google* serves me a banquet of the latest news stories from around the world on selected topics including climate change, drought and floods. It's an amazing service that helps one stay atop developments in areas of interest. They're only news reports and, therefore, subject to all the vagaries associated with that type of information, but, over the course of many months a pretty clear picture emerges of what's actually going on with our world. Scientists are now saying they were mistaken to call climate change "global warming." Not because the globe, our planet, isn... more »

Zumba and Zombies

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 11 hours ago
*Reading the Globe might turn you into one.* *Better start with the exercises*: Zumba instructor prostitution story grips Maine town Police release 21 names in Zumba sex case * **It's Maine's Heidi Fleiss.* Coach quits in Maine Zumba prostitution scandal * * *At least he wasn't pumping some adolescent's pooper.* * *"In Zumba prostitution case, now 62 accused clients" Associated Press, November 27, 2012 The number of accused clients in a high-profile prostitution case in Maine now stands at 62 with the release of four more names by Kennebunk police Monday. Four men have already plea... more »

Why People Charged With Crimes Deserve Bail

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 11 hours ago
* Huffington Post* A dreadful murder in Toronto where the suspect was on bail has, once again, led to media outrage. Calls to restrict or even prohibit bail have been made. Even the Justice of the Peace who heard the bail hearing has been pilloried for implementing a publication ban required by the Criminal Code itself. What is striking about the media outrage is how ill-informed the response seems to be about bail itself. There is a Constitutional right to reasonable bail not to be refused without good reason. People charged with offences have not been convicted and, while most ... more »

Lindo perrito con sus amigos los gatitos

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Lindo perrito con sus amigos los gatitos] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de gatitos y perros* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Mohawk Nation News 'Perfect Storm Coming'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 11 hours ago
MNN: PERFECT STORM COMING Posted on January 31, 2013 Mohawk Nation News http://www.mohawknationnews.com   PERFECT STORM COMING MNN.  Jan. 31, 2013.  The corporate chiefs have always been part of the white serpent’s tail. Duct tape won’t fix the big crack in the Harper-AFN unity ship. Captain Shawn Atleo of the

Mali-- Is France Freeing The Slaves? I Don't Think So

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 11 hours ago
This month, the army of the quasi-legitimate Malian government-- with the help of French fighters and cheers from a few African neighbors-- turned back the Islamists' drive on Mopti (the landlocked country's biggest river port, Mali's Chicago) and Bamako (the capital) and then retook the only two big towns that had been in rebel hands, the legendary Sahara trading cities of Gao and Timbuktu. I tried explaining the significance of this to a friend yesterday and he thought I was telling him about a version of speed-cum-ecstasy that club goers are using these days and asked me if I k... more »

Camino hacia la luz del sol bajo el árbol

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Camino hacia la luz del sol bajo el árbol] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de arboles* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

three library issues, part 2: rfid self-checkout

laura k at wmtc - 11 hours ago
Increasing numbers of public libraries are moving towards a self-checkout system, based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology. This is not the slow and often painful process you encounter in Ikea or Home Depot, where customers are forced to supply free labour by doing the work of cashiers, while corporations pocket the savings. (I've been planning to write about that for a while; future post.) RFID in libraries is a simple process: you can view an example here. Customers can check out a big stack of items by placing the entire stack on the sensor and inserting their li... more »

Hermoso campo de flores bajo un cielo espectacular

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Hermoso campo de flores bajo un cielo espectacular] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de campo de flores* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Natalie McMillan Jailed After Baby Killed By Falling TV

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 11 hours ago
A woman who killed her baby son when she knocked a television on his head while high on drink and drugs has been jailed. Natalie McMillan, 25, put her "self-indulgent drugs lifestyle" ahead of the welfare of her son Kian, who died from "catastrophic injuries", Preston Recorder Judge Anthony Russell QC said. http://news.sky.com/story/1045809/mother-jailed-after-baby-killed-by-falling-tv

Rico coco lleno de agua fresca sobre la arena del mar

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Rico coco lleno de agua fresca sobre la arena del mar] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de arena* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Cascada llena de brisa rodeada de plantas

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Cascada llena de brisa rodeada de plantas] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de cascadas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

New from CREDO: Charter Schools are No Better than Public Schools, and Don't Expect Them to Change

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 11 hours ago
*A slightly different version of this post appears at Common Dreams.* * *A new analysis of charter schools in the U. S. is out from CREDO, the Stanford-based outfit that found in 2009, when there were 4,700 charters across 40 states, that 17 percent of the nation’s charter schools were scoring better on standardized tests than the public schools they were created to replace: While the report recognized a robust national demand for more charter schools from parents and local communities, it found that 17 percent of charter schools reported academic gains that were significantly better... more »

Bella isla con pasto y palmeras para relajarse

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 11 hours ago
[image: Bella isla con pasto y palmeras para relajarse] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de islas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

No Point

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 12 hours ago
In perennially NON-breaking news, Canadians feel much the same about abortion as they have for years. Which is basically: All's swell. Now can we please all STFU about it? Only 23% of us know there are no legal restrictions on abortion at any time. That's actually an improvement. In 2010, just 21% of Canadians knew there are no restrictions. And, still and forever, a tiny number of nutbars want to ban abortion altogether, nationally just 5%. But the regions are interesting. Atlantic Canada comes in as least banny at 1%, followed by Quebec at 2%, BC at 3%, and Saskitoba at 4%. Alb... more »

the event

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 12 hours ago

What to make of David Suzuki?

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 12 hours ago
I don’t like David Suzuki. That’s been the case for many years now, ever since I showed up at a book-signing in Victoria to interview him and discovered that the man I had thought of as a kind, wise environmentalist was in fact an obnoxious, rude guy who made no attempt to hide his contempt of the fans gazing at him all fawn-eyed and adoring. I’ve generally kept my opinion of him to myself, however, for fear of seeming un-Canadian. I don’t know what the process is for becoming a beloved Canadian icon, but have long recognized that once someone achieves that status, any Canadian who... more »

Eight Isn't Enough

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 12 hours ago
I haven't been around much, I know, and for that I'm sorry. I've been busy pouring gallons of water into sand dunes and watching it disappear without a trace. At least, that's the metaphor that most readily springs to mind because trying to accumulate awareness of your self-published books, and translating that awareness into actual sales, has been just like that. Or, as I also like to put it, it's like dropping a ball of lint from 50 miles in space and waiting for the impact. To show just how unforgivably lax I've been while establishing myself on Goodreads, Twitter... more »

New Version of Intercept Website Available Now

Intercept at The Intercept - 12 hours ago
Readers of the Intercept are encouraged to move to the new site and continue following the stories that are important to us. The Intercept was constructed in October of 2009 as an alternative to the dismal coverage of world events, national headlines, corruption and election fraud among local news outlets surrounding Tucson, AZ. The Intercept became a regular habit for us news junkies who share and sometimes construct or write various posts and news items for an expanding international audience. Providing this service has become an educational endeavor as we search through what i... more »

We Can't Go On Meeting Like This

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 12 hours ago
From *The Guardian*, video of what a lot of Chinese are enduring these days.

Severance is based on prejudice

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 12 hours ago
R. v. Robins, 2013 ONCA 65 is a recent source for the principle that severance of charges ought to be based on any prejudice arising from trying matters together: [2] The appellant submits that the trial judge erred in failing to sever the weapons offences from the child pornography offences. Whether to grant severance is a discretionary decision. The trial judge made no error in principle and her decision is not unreasonable. There was little, if any, prejudice from the joint trial. There was no suggestion that the appellant used the weapon or that it had anything to do ... more »

Syria takes complaint, regarding Israel's unprovoked attack, to UN

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 12 hours ago
*Syria has formally complained to the United Nations over a reported Israeli attack within its borders.* * *Israel has declined to comment. The Russian Foreign Ministry said: "If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violates the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it." The Syrian army statement said the Jamraya centre - which was focused on "raising our level of resistance and self-defence" - was damaged in the attack, and specifically denied report... more »

BLANCO AND BALKANIZATION: Conservative teen-ager gets knocked up!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 12 hours ago
*THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2013* *Part 4—Disdain for them the people:* Might Richard Blanco’s poetic vision really be coming to pass? At last week’s inauguration, Blanco imagined us as “one people.” He pictured us as “one country—all of us,” pursuing the future “together.” Could such a vision be coming to pass? In this post, Kevin Drum asks if the fever is breaking within the modern Republican Party. If it is, we may be approaching the day when “all of us” can perhaps work together again. That said, tribal forces stand in the way of any such resolution. Tribal forces urge us the people... more »

The Societal Implications of Women in Combat

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 13 hours ago
This is a guest post by Dorit Geva. Geva is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Central European University, and has written a book on conscription politics in France and the United States. Megan H. Mackenzie wrote an earlier post on this topic. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s announcement that some 230,000 combat jobs might Continue reading

SEXY INDONESIANS

Anon at aangirfan - 13 hours ago
* * The gentleman in this porn film "bares a striking resemblance to Anis Matta, the secretary general of Indonesia's Islamist *Prosperous Justice Party* (PKS)" PKS stars in new Porn and Sex Thriller. | THE DRUM Anis Mata *Indonesia's version of the Muslim Brotherhood is the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS). * (Playing with Fire in Indonesia). *On 31 January 2013, we read that Indonesia's anti-graft agency has arrested the head of the PKS on suspicion of corruption.* The PKS is Indonesia's largest Islamist party and is part of the coalition government. *The very well fed Luthf... more »

Now about that pot of gold...

Sophia at AMERICAN KABUKI - 13 hours ago
As we grind through our days now, in one way or the other the question creeps in – when? When will I have prosperity? When will the corrupt financial system collapse? When will debt be erased? When will I be truly free? When? What I’m about to say is not rhetoric or evasion. I’m as broke and pressured as you are. It is, however, an answer that requires some thought. It may not completely satisfy. It is time to get what freedom encompasses. It has nothing to do with war or a flag. Freedom is truth. We have all been lied to for our entire lives. As you may have ... more »

Pathetic, or Just Cynical?

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 13 hours ago
The *New York Times* published an unsigned editorial today bemoaning the lack of spunk in the Democratic Party. They place the blame squarely on the shoulders of Harry Reid and Max Baucus, with the powerful Reid once again misrepresented as a Mr.Peepers milquetoast and Obama consigliere Max Baucus cast as the slimy corrupt renegade from a Wild West red state. Not once does the editorial so much as wag a pinkie finger at President Obama. It embraces the same tired old canard that fear and timidity are at the root of inaction by the erstwhile party of the people: That’s particularly ... more »

New Fukushima Video

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 13 hours ago
Thank you Nuckelchen for capturing clear evidence of emissions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQtaJBtsqtI

China's Filthy Air Prompts Mask Rush and Sale of Fresh Air in Cans

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
For the fourth time this year, a murky haze has descended over north China, leaving residents of Beijing choking on toxic smog. China's air hasn't been this bad since 1954, according to the state-run People's Daily newspaper. In a remarkable record of dirty air, 24 out of January's first 29 days this year had air classified as hazardous. And the skies have still not cleared. The Air Quality Index from the U.S. embassy, designed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, shows that the concentration of fine particulate matter, known as PM 2.5, has been hovering at the top of the ... more »

UN: Israel Must Withdraw From Judea, Samaria (The Occupied West Bank Territories)

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
The recommendation came in a report issued Thursday by the U.N. Human Rights Council, which has a history of passing numerous biased resolutions condemning Israel for various alleged ‘crimes’ each year. "Israel must, in compliance with Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, cease all settlement activities without preconditions," the report said in part. "It must immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers from the occupied Palestinian territories." http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164771#.UQqPHuim3aZ * **Matt's thoughts:* Hey, hey. Stop that. You... more »

RUSSIAN MIG-31 JET FIGHTER BUZZES SINAI NEAR ISRAEL TO SEND MESSAGE

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
The Syrian announcement of an Israeli air strike on a military site near Damascus Wednesday, Jan. 30, drew strong condemnation from Moscow the next day: “Such action if confirmed would amount to unacceptable military interference in the war-ravaged country,” said the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry Thursday. “If this information is confirmed, then we are dealing with unprovoked attacks on targets on the territory of a sovereign country, which blatantly violate the UN Charter and is unacceptable, no matter the motives to justify it.” Israel has made no comment on t... more »

A Man Of His Word?

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 14 hours ago
After meeting with First Nations chiefs three weeks ago, Stephen Harper vowed that his office would give native issues "enhanced oversight." Shawn Atleo got the impression that the government was finally taking notice of the First Nations. But when Stephen Harper met with his caucus yesterday -- and listed his priorities -- he did not say a word about native issues: He said that the government will be focused this spring on four areas that are “priorities” for Canadians: • families; • the safety of streets and communities; • pride in being a Canadian citizen; • personal financia... more »

When Love And Power Unite Almighty Grace Endows Mankind

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 14 hours ago
*"When Love And Power Unite Almighty Grace Endows Mankind." * *Egmont.*

Lean Moms- A Month Later and a Giveaway ($147 Value)

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 15 hours ago
Just about a month ago, I confessed to being a stress eater. One of my major goals for the year is to see my pre-baby weight on the scale. I have tried many different things to accomplish this and nothing has seemed to work. Which is why I turned to LeanMoms. I have been following the LeanMoms program for 1 month now and I feel great. My husband works out everyday and he offered to do my workouts with me to help me stay motivated. I can't lie he has had to drag my butt to exercise every single day, except yesterday. Why? I am feeling so good. With LeanMoms, I was so sore at first,... more »

NRA Assaults Congress

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee-- one of the most divided and partisan committees in the Senate, which includes NRA shills and gun fanatics like Ted Cruz (R-TX), John Cornyn (R-TX) and Jeff Sessions (KKK-AL)-- held the first Congressional hearing on gun violence since the Sandy Hook school massacre-- or as the far right extremists like to call it, the Sandy Hook Hoax. Former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords started the hearing with a simple and pointed statement: "Thank you for inviting me here today. This is an important conversation for our children, for our communities, ... more »

It's tax return deadline day

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 15 hours ago
In the UK today is the day that personal tax returns are due to be submitted to HMRC. If you're going to be up late working on your figures, here's some appropriate music... Beatles - 'Taxman' "Be thankful I don't take it all" Do I really need to remind you of the rest of the lyrics? So get your return in and pay the tax, even if you do so from behind gritted teeth!

This Post is Tit

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 15 hours ago
*Literally....* "Pageant hopeful to have mastectomy" by Hannah Dreier | Associated Press, January 12, 2013 LAS VEGAS — Win or lose Saturday, Miss America contestant Allyn Rose will have conveyed a message about *breast cancer* prevention using her primary tool as a *beauty queen*: her body. The 24-year-old Miss DC plans to undergo a *double mastectomy* after she struts in a bikini and flaunts her roller skating talent. She is removing both breasts as a *preventive measure* to reduce her chances of developing the disease that killed her mother, grandmother, and great-aunt. ‘‘My m... more »

Facebook slumps as mobile ad growth fails to impress....Shame!

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 15 hours ago
Shares of Facebook Inc were set to open 7 percent lower on Thursday as a surge in fourth-quarter mobile advertising revenue failed to live up to Wall Street's high expectations. Three brokerages downgraded the stock of the No. 1 social network, which has struggled to develop a full-fledged mobile advertising business. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/31/us-facebook-shares-idUSBRE90U0NK20130131

Pygmy Elephant Deaths: More Protection Needed

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 15 hours ago
More than a dozen pygmy elephants have been found dead and possibly poisoned in Malaysian forests, leading to calls for better protection for wildlife in the country. The WWF conservation group said 14 Borneo pygmy elephants have been found this month in areas where woodland was being turned into plantations. It called for patrols to be stepped up to prevent more of the animals, which are endangered and thought to number fewer than 1,200, being killed. http://news.sky.com/story/1045054/pygmy-elephant-deaths-more-protection-needed

David Cameron Makes Surprise Trip To Libya......With Promises to help Police and Army

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 15 hours ago
David Cameron has made a surprise visit to Libya where he promised to help bolster the police and the army. The Prime Minister said Britain was ready to provide training and advice amid growing concern about the security situation in the region. http://news.sky.com/story/1045631/david-cameron-makes-surprise-trip-to-libya

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 15 hours ago
Lots of good choices today, but I'll go with a Happy Birthday to Connie Booth, 69. And a bit of good stuff: 1. We have a new Senator. Okay, not for long, but still: Sean Sullivan answers "Who is Mo Cowan?" 2. TNC on Mamet. Also: they're reading Hobbes over there, apparently. Sounds like fun...I really don't think I can justify taking on one more thing (I'm a little scared by how the collapse of the cover-up is going to play out for me over the next few months), but, well, it's a little tempting. 3. And grading Professor Hagel: Dan Drezner is up to the job.

Wikileaks: The Year 2012 in Review

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 16 hours ago
30 January 2013 *Youtube link: ** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWW2wcl6w9I&feature=youtu.be*

VIRAL PLS - Petition for FCC Chair Appointnment

2old2care at Because I Can - 16 hours ago
I received an email through a listserve I belong to tonight that brought something to my attention that I want to bring to your attention. *We really need this to go viral. REALLY!!!!* Most of the time it is important for the people to speak. Most of the time we don’t get a chance. Here is our chance and we must take it. We need to tell the White House what we want. The FCC – your phones, your TV, your radio, your internet, community broadband. This is BIG stuff kids and you can make a difference by signing a petition. Most times the voice of the public is ignored in the areas of t... more »

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake PAPUA, INDONESIA - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 16 hours ago
Magnitude 4.6 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 12:10:50 UTC Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 09:10:50 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 4.487°S, 138.273°E Depth 84.1 km (52.3 miles) Region PAPUA, INDONESIA Distances 230 km (143 miles) ESE (109°) from Enarotali, Irian Jaya, Indonesia

The Break-Up of the WRP

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 16 hours ago
Absolutely shocking: One of my abiding memories of 1985 is of a members’ meeting in Scotland, where I lived, held in the week when Healy’s supporters comprised a faction, i.e. after the charges had been tabled but before they had been heard. The meeting was addressed by the late Corin Redgrave (brother of Vanessa), for the CC minority, and myself for the CC majority. Redgrave opposed charging Healy, on the grounds that it would damage the revolutionary leadership. In discussion, a veteran member of the Scottish organisation asked Redgrave whether he could “look me in the eye and tel... more »

Bears on ice

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 16 hours ago

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 17 hours ago
*Joe Vitt claims Saints owner threw NFL personnel out of the team’s facilities* *Super Bowl seminar canceled; bounty scandal to blame?* *Super Bowl Tickets Available; Bring Cash, Lots, to the Hotel* *Lycée Français leader explains bullying stance* *Study: Why Broke, Ambitious Millennials Love New Orleans* *Corps of Engineers wants illusion of "public feedback" on plan protecting Terrebonne* *Drought Causes Ripple Effect Along Mighty Mississippi River* *Sinkhole project seismic work raises concerns* *New Orleans Through Wendell Pierce’s Eyes* *Edward J. Branley - LEGENDARY LOCALS ... more »

Pakistani Energy Minister who Embezzled $850 Million, Arrested in Abu Dhabi

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 17 hours ago
During his time as Pakistan’s head of the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority between 2009 and 2011, Tauqir Shariq embezzled around $850 million. Before he could be captured and tried he managed to flee the country in secret and disappear. The news has just been released that he has been arrested in Abu Dhabi, and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) have stated that he could be handed over to authorities in Islamabad within days. http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Pakistani-Energy-Minister-who-Embezzled-850-Million-Arrested-in-Abu-Dhabi.html

UN probe says Israel must remove Jewish settlers

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 17 hours ago
UN human rights investigators called on Israel on Thursday to halt settlement expansion and withdraw all Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices violated international law. “Israel must, in compliance with article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, cease all settlement activities without preconditions. It must immediately initiate a process of withdrawal of all settlers from the OPT (occupied Palestinian territories),” said a report by the inquiry led by French judge Christine Chanet. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/24451434-6b90-11e2-8c62-00144feab49a.html

Mali conflict: France backs possible UN peace force

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 17 hours ago
France's defence minister has said he backs the idea of sending a UN peacekeeping force to Mali. Jean-Yves Le Drian's comments come as the French troops continue to secure the most northerly town of Kidal. France has deployed some 4,500 troops during the three-week offensive against militant Islamists in the north of Mali - an area the size of France. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21274518

Russia 'Concerned' By Israeli Air Strike on Syria

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 17 hours ago
Russia has said it is 'deeply concerned' over reports that Israeli jets attacked a scientific research centre inside Syria. The country has held back from condemning the action as yet, but says it will do so if the report is true. Syria announced on Wednesday that an Israeli air strike attacked the research centre after reports had emerged out of Israel earlier claiming a convoy had been attacked on the Syria-Lebanon border. http://news.sky.com/story/1045513/syria-russia-concerned-by-israeli-air-strike

JOGGING NEWS - new jogging record - ten miles

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 17 hours ago
in a (slow) time of one hour and forty-five minutes, I've just set a new non-stop jogging record of TEN MILES. Botley, through Oxford, up Headington hill, and back home past the Orthopaedic hospital up there. Six miles out, four miles back; accurate route verified by Google maps. That's sixteen kilometers in European money.

4.9 Magnitude Earthquake SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 17 hours ago
Magnitude mb 4.9 Region SOUTH OF MARIANA ISLANDS Date time 2013-01-31 10:13:53.9 UTC Location 11.98 N ; 143.06 E Depth 60 km Distances 250 km SW Tamuning

5 Ways to Strengthen Your Immune System by Elizabeth Renter

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 17 hours ago
Source of poster: http://www.encognitive.com/node/11145 Ways to Strengthen Your Immune System by Elizabeth Renter Natural Society, 31 January 2013 *It’s flu season, and even if you don’t fall ill like Piers Morgan after **publicly receiving a flu shot from Dr. Oz**, you still run the risk of getting sick. Particularly in the colder months, when we are sitting inside more often, our houses are closed up, and we stay in close quarters—it’s the perfect time for illness to thrive. But, when you take precautions to keep your immune system running on high, you can skip the tissues... more »

Ryanair Loses EU Fight Over Ash Cloud Row

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 18 hours ago
A court has ruled Ryanair flouted EU law by refusing to pay out cash to a customer left stranded by the Icelandic volcanic ash cloud three years ago. Denise McDonagh from Ireland was due to fly back to Dublin from Faro on April 17, 2010, but was trapped in Portugal for a week after the eruption closed down much of European airspace for nine days. She ran up hotel, meal and refreshment bills of 1,130 euro (£940), and submitted them to the airline when she returned to Ireland. http://news.sky.com/story/1045552/ryanair-loses-eu-fight-over-ash-cloud-row

4.8 Magnitude Earthquake NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 18 hours ago
Magnitude 4.8 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 10:20:04 UTC Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 09:20:04 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 1.763°S, 12.957°W Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) Region NORTH OF ASCENSION ISLAND Distances 701 km (435 miles) NNE of Georgetown, Saint Helena

6.0 Magnitude Earthquake SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 18 hours ago
Magnitude 6.0 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 09:53:43 UTC Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 12:53:43 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 55.584°N, 134.745°W Depth 9.7 km (6.0 miles) Region SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA Distances 101 km (62 miles) W of Craig, Alaska

Czech temperature record 1961-2012

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 18 hours ago
Because Frank E. L. asked me about related issues, I have downloaded all the monthly/regional Czech Hydrometeorological Institute's temperature datafrom the years 1961-2012 to Mathematica and calculated all statistical quantities I considered interesting. Here is the PDF preview of the notebook. Click at the red tile. Let me describe what I have found. First, I had to figure out the right URLs of the HTML pages that contain the tables in an importable enough format, import them with some sensible formatting options to Mathematica so that they quickly become an array, and replace dec... more »

Simple Teriyaki Sauce

Casey at The Adventures of Limited Eating - 19 hours ago
*Simple Teriyaki Sauce* One of my favorite dishes is Teriyaki glazed baked salmon served with steamed broccoli and rice. I find it a comforting and indulgent meal that is super simple and nutritious. When trying to avoid gluten and sugar teriyaki can be slightly difficult. But I have found the perfect combination to get that same teriyaki flavor without the limited eater hostility. Here it goes... - 2/3 cup gluten free soy sauce - 1 tbsp Agave nectar - 1 tsp ground coriander - 1 tsp ground paprika - 1 tsp garlic powder - 1 tsp corn starch mixed with 1/4 cup of warm water 1. Mix all ... more »

South Africa Train Crash Injures 150

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 19 hours ago
At least 150 people have been injured in a collision between two passenger trains in South Africa during the peak morning commute. Many children were among those injured in the crash, which left the driver of one of the engines needing to be rescued from his cab. The accident happened when a train collided with a stationary locomotive near Attridgeville, a suburb west of Pretoria. http://news.sky.com/story/1045482/south-africa-train-crash-injures-150

Pimlico Teenager Killing: Man Arrested

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 19 hours ago
A 20-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a teenager was stabbed to death in Pimlico, central London. Police investigating the killing of 16-year-old Hani Hicham Abou El Kheir detained the suspect during early morning raids across the capital. On Sunday evening shortly before 7pm, officers were called to reports of a youth stabbed near Lupus Street. http://news.sky.com/story/1045529/pimlico-teenager-killing-man-arrested

Sarai Sierra Missing: Turkish police search for 'Dutch tour guide' who chatted online with New York mother before she vanished in Istanbul

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 19 hours ago
Turkish police are looking for a person who chatted with a New York City mother-of-two on social networking sites before she vanished while travelling alone in the country. Sarai Sierra, 33, has been missing since January 21 when she was supposed to return home to Staten Island from the two-week trip. Turkish police have set up a special unit to find her and her husband and brother have flown to Istanbul to help with the search. A senior police said that Sierra had exchanged messages with a person before she disappeared and police were now trying to trace the man or woman as a pos... more »

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake NEAR SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA - 31st January 2013

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Magnitude 4.3 Date-Time Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 08:27:28 UTC Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 06:27:28 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 7.271°S, 144.084°E Depth 33.3 km (20.7 miles) Region NEAR SOUTH COAST OF NEW GUINEA, P.N.G. Distances 109 km (67 miles) S of Ialibu, Papua New Guinea

Jimmy Lee Dykes Siege continues into its second day

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Police negotiators are still trying to bargain with an Alabama gunman, more than 24 hours after he abducted a six-year-old boy from his school bus and held him hostage in his underground bunker. The suspect, Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, who also allegedly shot dead the driver of the bus when he tried to protect the children, is described as a 'paranoid survivalist' with 'anti-American views'. He is fiercely protective of his property in rural Midland City, Alabama. Neighbors said he beat one of their dogs to death with a pipe after it ran onto his land and pulled a gun on the the man who... more »

George Zimmerman's legal team say he is out of money AGAIN and must raise at least $30,000 a month in donations - as lead attorney pushes to delay murder trial

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Attorneys for the former Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged with shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin dead made a public plea Wednesday asking for more money to fund his defense. George Zimmerman's lead attorney, Mark O'Mara, wrote on a website set up to solicit donations that the legal defense could cost up to $1million, which his client does not have. The lawyer asked the public to donate more money for legal representation, saying on the website that Zimmerman's defense fund has raised more than $314,000 since he was charged, but their war chest is now down to $5,000. ... more »

Colin Kennedy Arrested after he 'raped two of his female friends in their dorm rooms on consecutive nights'

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
A college freshman has been arrested after two of his friends and fellow students accused him of raping them over two consecutive nights. Colin Kennedy, 18, from California, was arrested yesterday at Loyola University, Chicago, after the students, both 19, reported the sexual assaults to police. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270795/Colin-Kennedy-Freshman-raped-female-friends-dorm-rooms-consecutive-nights.html

Gang-raped and drowned at the age of FOUR: Latest horrific attack on girl shocks India a month after notorious bus assault

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Two men face charges of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl in the town of Mandi Dabwali in Sirsa, India, while under the influence of drugs. The alleged crime is the latest in a series of rape cases that has seen the nation undergo debate, self-scrutiny and mass protests calling for greater punishments for rapists and more measures to increase the safety of women. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270589/Two-Indian-men-accused-raping-drowning-year-old-girl-Dabwali.html

Two dead after terrifying cluster of TWENTY tornadoes destroys hundreds of homes as giant 1,000-mile storm hits Southeast

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
A massive,1,000-mile-long storm that formed at least 20 tornadoes beat down on six states throughout the Southeast today, leaving at least two people dead. A Georgia town was devastated with overturned cars on an interstate, wrecked homes and at least one person killed. Another person in Tennessee was also dead. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270878/US-weather-Tornado-tears-Southeast-leaving-dead-homes-destroyed.html

Cannibal Cop: Lawyers for accused 'cannibal cop' want to show pictures of women being cooked and served as food to potential jurors

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
These are the shocking images that the lawyers for accused 'cannibal cop' Gilberto Valle want to show to the jury before the trial even begins. Attorney Julia L Gatto argues that she needs to show the pictures - which include women in sexual positions being cooked or served as food - to prospective jurors to determine whether they can be impartial in weighing the facts of a court case that revolves around violent sexual fantasies. Valle, a New York City police officer, was arrested in October and accused of plotting to kidnap, rape, cook and eat several women. http://www.dailymail... more »

New York cops handcuff and interrogate boy, 7, for hours over 'stolen' $5... and now his family wants $250million

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
The mother of a 7-year-old boy in The Bronx, New York is suing the police for $250 million claiming they overreacted and treated her son like a hardened criminal after he was accused of stealing $5 from another student after school. Instead of a simple trip to the principal’s office, Wilson Reyes was arrested in his third-grade classroom at Public School 114 on Cromwell Ave, handcuffed and held in a room for four hours. Later he was hauled off to the 44th Precinct station house for another six hours of interrogation and verbal abuse, according to the $250 million claim against th... more »

William Harmon III Killed CEO and wounded two others including a lawyer' in Phoenix is STILL on the run as it is claimed he was targeting victims

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
The suspected gunman, William Harmon III, pictured left, is still at large following a shooting spree in a Phoenix office complex that left one dead and two injured. Steve Singer, top right, was killed in the shooting, and lawyer Mark Hummels was wounded. A third victim, a 32-year-old woman, suffered non-life threatening injuries. Other bystanders were also treated for shock after fleeing the scene. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270834/Phoenix-shooting-At-people-shot-gunman-opened-office-complex.html

Three people hospitalized after butane gas explosion at hotel near SeaWorld San Diego caused by makeshift drug lab

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
A powerful explosion on Wednesday ripped through a hotel near SeaWorld San Diego from a room where authorities say a couple was extracting hash oil, sending guests fleeing for safety. A 22-year-old man in the room suffered life-threatening injuries. Also hurt were a woman in the room and a young man staying next door, authorities said. All three were hospitalized. Julie Jordan of San Diego was sleeping with a friend's baby in a nearby room at the three-story Heritage Inn Sea World Hotel when she felt the building shake violently, then heard a loud explosion. http://www.dailymail.c... more »

New York fireman Angus Pascall 'used "key to the city" to lock down elevator and rape 11-year-old girl' is found guilty of assaulting FIVE women

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
A New York Fire Department worker was convicted Wednesday of sexually assaulting five women, one as young as 11 years old, in Brooklyn between 2001 and 2010. Angus Pascall, 36, faces life in prison for the charges. His DNA tied him to the scene of every assault. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271089/New-York-fireman-Angus-Pascall-used-key-city-lock-elevator-rape-11-year-old-girl-guilty-assaulting-FIVE-women.html

Jason London Attack: Actor shows off his bruised face as he claims unmarked hands prove he was attacked in bar brawl

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Dazed and Confused star Jason London has released a photo showing the extent of his injuries following his arrest for alleged involvement in a bar brawl on Sunday. His face appears bruised and swollen, while his hands are unmarked, which London claims proves he was the victim and not the aggressor. The actor was arrested for his alleged violence during the brawl in a Scottsdale, Arizona bar on Sunday. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2271016/Im-victim-Jason-London-shows-bruised-swollen-face-claims-attacked-bar-brawl.html

Banks 'Mis-Sold 90% Of Swaps' To Small Firms......How many more times will they be allowed to Screw us?

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
The Financial Services Authority has revealed that more than 90% of interest rate swaps were mis-sold to small businesses by banks. Last night Sky News City Edtior Mark Kleinman revealed that the City regulator had set out a revised framework for small business enteprises (SMEs) to pursue redress. It is the latest mis-selling scandal to hit Britain's high street banks. http://news.sky.com/story/1045509/fsa-reveals-scale-of-interest-rate-swap-mis-sell

Greek doctors, public transport workers on strike

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 20 hours ago
Public transport workers in the Greek capital have walked off the job in a 24-hour strike, snarling traffic around Athens, while a doctors' strike has left hospitals functioning with emergency staff. Athens was without buses, suburban rail and trolleys Thursday, while dock workers began a 48-hour strike that was to leave islands without ferries for two days. Hospital doctors and ambulance workers were also on strike for the day. The civil servants' union has declared a three-hour work stoppage at all public services from noon in solidarity. http://www.timesonline.com/news/world/eur... more »
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