Tuesday, February 19, 2013

19 February - Blogs I'm Following III

Call to Action! National Defense Authorization...
Call to Action! National Defense Authorization Act (S.1867) Makes America a Police State! (g1a2d0077c1) (Photo credit: watchingfrogsboil)
Witness Against Torture: National Defense Auth...
Witness Against Torture: National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Cements Indefinite Detention (Photo credit: Shrieking Tree)
Huế
Huế (Photo credit: johnlemon)

Most AMAZING INSPIRATIONAL Transformation

For those of you that haven’t seen this, it is one of the most heart touching videos to grace the surface of the internet!

Obama's NDAA: 1984's Thought Police Reincarnate 

Yale study links common chemicals to osteoarthritis

Chemicals in everyday objects may cause disease: UN report

 10:33 pm MST

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose ...

noreply@blogger.com (deBeauxOs) at DAMMIT JANET! - 1 minute ago
That means the more things change, the more it's the same old, same old. In March last year, I wrote a response to George Zimmerman shooting and killed a black kid, claiming that it was self-defense and using the Stand-Your-Ground law in Florida as justification. It was entitled Aileen Wuornos is My Homie. I wondered what would happen if women in the US started MASSIVELY using Zimmerman's pretext. It's obvious that law is supported by the NRA lobby; they often exploit concerns about women's safety as a rationalization for demanding gun-owners rights are sacred, and blahblahblah S... more »

Resolutions are Proceeding at this End Point Period…

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 16 minutes ago
* * * * *Resolutions are Proceeding at this End Point Period…* by ÉirePort Silence in these moment-to-moments is most helpful. Formerly clashing energetics have begun to resolve and centering with Higher Self in the silence is perhaps the most efficient means to allow these to resolve fully. Resolutions are proceeding at this end point period in humanity-duality history. Hue-manity arises out of this. By this we mean Hue-manity General. Global consciousness expansion follows 100th monkey embracement of Hue-manity, by humanity (small h). ÉirePort | February 20, 2013 at 05:09 URL: ... more »

Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 32 minutes ago
Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)! If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far. There's a lot of great information in this post and I encourage you to read through it ... however, if you don't have the time right now, you might find the following quick links helpful: - The #CTWW Gang - The Honor Society - My Final Thoughts on Our Last Challenge - This Week's Challenge Last week we joined Mrs. Green for a "Use It Up" challenge. We were asked to use the food we have in our kitc... more »

Mississippi Finally Makes It Official-- Slavery Is Now Illegal In The Virtute Et Armis State

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 33 minutes ago
Mississippi is also known as the Magnolia State and the Hospitality State... but *Virtute et Armis* is more befitting in the context of a state that took until this week to finally ratify the 13th Amendment a century and a half late. That was the one that abolished slavery. At least Mississippi is, by some way of thinking, ahead of Mali, Niger and Mauratania! After Congress voted for the 13th Amendment in January 1864, the measure went to the states for ratification. On Dec. 6, 1865, the amendment received the three-fourths' vote it needed when Georgia became the 27th state to ... more »

Ennui

Way Way Up at Fort McMurray Adventures - 1 hour ago
Wow, I've been a bad blogger the past little while. It's not that I don't have anything to write about but more to do with deciding what to write and then getting it down on paper so to speak. That, plus my brain is a bit mushy after work on some days. I promise to have something more substantive soon (yes, I know I promised that LAST time....but this time I really, REALLY promise) so in the meantime, I give you a random run down of thoughts.... 1. I blogged about going to work "in the field" in a previous post, which is scaffolder-speak for heading down into the plant to work... more »

"Saskatchewan NDP Leadership - Part 1 - Context" - Guest Post By Dan Tan

leftdog at Buckdog - 1 hour ago
*(Buckdog is covering the 2013 Saskatchewan New Democratic Party Leadership race - today a guest post by Dan Tan):* * **NDP members in Saskatchewan will be tasked with choosing the next social-democratic leader of that province. That leader will be tasked with challenging the misguided, misleading, & merciless governing Saskatchewan Party - and their leader Brad Wall. In service of this internal process, the following series of posts are offered to take stock of both the context of the province…and those men who have pledged to lead it on behalf of the NDP. Before we evaluate the ... more »

Paulo Coelho, “The Mystery of Discovery”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*“The Mystery of Discovery”* by Paulo Coelho “Tonight, before leaving, I’m going to spend time sorting through the pile of things I never had the patience to put in order. And I will find that a little of my history is there. All the letters, the notes, cuttings and receipts will take on their own life and have strange stories to tell me – about the past and about the future. All the different things in the world, all the roads travelled, all the entrances and exits of my life. I am going to put on a shirt I often wear and, for the first time, I am going to notice how it ... more »

“You should be forced to buy this book”

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 hour ago
The title of this post comes from Stephen Hicks, who blogs on a new book by aspiring philosopher-queen Sarah Conly defending paternalistic laws; [image: conly-aa]that is, laws that make you do things, or prevent you from doing things, for your own good. I argue [says the bossy bitch] that autonomy, or the freedom to act in accordance with your own decisions, is overrated … we need the help of others—and in particular, of government regulation—to keep us from going wrong.” To which busybody-babble Hicks drily responds: Rumour has it that contrarian paternalists disagree violently,... more »

Nu - Zebra

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 1 hour ago
Lucien Clergue

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Remember Now”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
2002, “Remember Now” - http://www.youtube.com/

Junius - The Antediluvian Fire

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 2 hours ago
This is from the album *'The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist.'*

Musical Interlude: 2002, “Remember Now”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
2002, “Remember Now” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bq4qjI8VVzg

Nancy Tate ~ Hatonn ~ 18 February 2013

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 2 hours ago
* * * * *Nancy Tate ~ Hatonn ~ 18 February 2013* By FatherMotherGod... - Posted on 18 February 2013 I am here today to tell you all of something that is taking place in the universe. I am Hatonn, and I greet you on the most momentous of days. It is a matter of circumventing the universe and all of its territories and then coming around again. We are in that beginning phase of the return trip around the universe, the one that is beginning to open us all up to who we truly are and what our next steps are. You may be wondering in this moment what I speak of when I include myself, a... more »

Flabbergasted at Boston Globe Flatulence

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 2 hours ago
*Happened when I flipped over the first page and saw this leading its nation coverage. * * **Keep in mind this is coming from the same group of people who claimed that snowfalls were a thing of the past. * "Climate contradiction: Less snow, more blizzards; 2 studies detail global warming, extreme weather" by Seth Borenstein | Associated Press, February 19, 2013 WASHINGTON — With scant snowfall and barren ski slopes in parts of the Midwest and Northeast the past couple of years, some scientists have pointed to *global warming* as the culprit. Then when a whopper of a blizzard smac... more »

Save IR and Politics at University of the West of England

Rodger Payne at Duck of Minerva - 3 hours ago
Earlier today, I received an email alerting me to the fact that the University of the West of England’s Academic Board supported a recommendation from the Vice Chancellor’s Executive Group to close all international relations and politics programs. Apparently, the plan is to refocus the university (one of the ten largest in England) on skills-based Continue reading

Japan whale poachers spill oil during illegal refueling operation – ‘The time has come for the Australian government to intervene and put a stop to this insanity’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 3 hours ago
17 February 2013 (Sea Shepherd Australia) – In the early hours of the 17th of February, while the *SSS Sam Simon *was tailing the South Korean owned *Sun Laurel*, fuel bunker ship to the Japanese whaling fleet, the *Sam Simon*crew noticed the smell of diesel fumes coming from the wake of the *Sun Laurel, *over one mile ahead. Captain Luis Pinho radioed the *Sun Laurel* at 3:00 am AEDT, approximately 15 minutes after the *Sun Laurel* entered Australian Antarctic Territory, informing them that they smelled diesel fumes, could see fuel slicks in the wake of the *Sun Laurel*, had col... more »

Harry Targ : Celebrate the 'Historical Revisionists' / 2

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 3 hours ago
Paul Sweezy and Paul Baran, shown photographed in Cuba, wrote about a new era of monopoly capitalism.  Image from Fotopages. Celebrate the 'Historical Revisionists' / 2 Revisionists argued that while security, ideologies, personalities of elites, and even human nature had some role to play in shaping policy, all of these forces were influenced in the end by economics. And economic interest

The take-no-prisoners LGBT march to world domination claims yet another casualty: Olympic wrestling

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
*It must be the computer world's cohort of virginal young maidens who can't get enough of the tingly tight-singlet action of "wrestling-boner videos."* *by Ken* By and large, the most insidious conspiracies, I think we can agree, are the ones that are so well hidden, that even seem so improbable, as to be off the conspiracy boards altogether. By this standard, there is no conspriacy insidiouser than the Gay War on Wrestling. I've been meaning to get around to this for going on a week, but what with this and that, you know how it is. Anyway, here's the heart of the conspiracy, as r... more »

Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation 02/19/2013

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 3 hours ago
* * * * *Update by Sheldan Nidle for the Spiritual Hierarchy and the Galactic Federation 02/19/2013* 9 Ahau, 8 Zac, 9 Eb Dratzo! We return! Your world has moved even closer to its victory over the dark! There are signs everywhere of what is shortly to happen. Your sacred secret societies have compiled the legal instruments to force the major governments of your world to resign. In consonance with this the military and police forces of these nations have come together in secret to assert that each of them is more than ready to use their powerbases to give their respective governme... more »

XKCD: More ships in the oceans than fish, by weight

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 3 hours ago
[image: Illustraion of how much sea level would fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth's waters The level falls about six microns — slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider silk. Graphic: XKCD] *How much would the sea level fall if every ship were removed all at once from the Earth's waters? – Michael Toje* About six microns—slightly more than the diameter of a strand of spider silk. […] Sea levels will likely rise a few feet by the year 2100. Current fish wet biomass is about 2 billion tons, so removing them won’t make a dent either. (Marine fis... more »

SUMMER SNIPPETS: ‘Wolf Hall’ by Hilary Mantel

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 4 hours ago
*More snippets below from my summer reading…* *While we’re talking about figures undeservedly maligned by history … allow me to introduce to you (if you haven’t already been introduced) a*new *Thomas Cromwell—a man for the modern age.* *Who?* *An apprentice to Cardinal Wolsey, the sometimes benevolent sometimes bullying Thomas Cromwell was the advisor to King Henry VII through one Reformation, three marriages and many royal successes (and successors). He is a villain however in Robert Bolt’s *Man For All Seasons*, and hence—for the generation that venerated that play—a villain ... more »

puppets on a string

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 4 hours ago
"They are laughing at you."

The Most Expensive Weapon Ever Built

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 4 hours ago
Time magazine has published an informative evaluation of the F-35 as it stands today. *The F-35, designed as the U.S. military's lethal hunter for 21st century skies, has become the hunted, a poster child for Pentagon profligacy in a new era of tightening budgets. Instead of the stars and stripes of the U.S. Air Force emblazoned on its fuselage, it might as well have a bull's-eye. Its pilots' helmets are plagued with problems, it hasn't yet dropped or fired weapons, and the software it requires to go to war remains on the drawing board.* *Jack of All Trades, Master of None* *Th... more »

Missing or murdered indigenous women and girls

noreply@blogger.com (deBeauxOs) at DAMMIT JANET! - 4 hours ago
*[...]Michèle Audette, president of the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) states that, “it is incredible that the RCMP is publicly doubting the number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls that has been documented in the Native Women’s Association of Canada’s Database! The high number of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls that has been documented was based on accurate secondary source information that in many instances came directly from police reports that had further been corroborated by NWAC researchers with various police agencies.* * * *NWAC... more »

Stephen Harper, Canada`s Intellectual Disgrace, Exposed

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 4 hours ago
There he is, our national disgrace, the treasonous Stephen Harper.. In a blatant move, two months ahead of time, the Harper mandated closure of the lifesaving Kits coast guard base... Two months before we THOUGHT Stephen Treason Harper was going to close a lifesaving coast guard base, against our will, against common sense, with BC`s elected Federal Conservative MP`s running away, hiding, cowering like gutless losers, spineless jellyfish, Conservative MPs who will be unemployed as of 2015, with help from BC`s electorate... Stephen the freak Harper thought he would use BC`s budget ... more »

China takes over Pakistan port

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 5 hours ago
THE TAKEOVER HAS BEGUN, *muahahaha*. YouTube Video Description - [Channel: JDUS2020]: China has taken over management of a major port in Pakistan in a move that gives it a potential naval base close to the Strait of Hormuz, reports Reuters. China paid most of the $248 million used to build the port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea, aiming to slash the time it takes oil to reach China from the Middle East and Africa. The acquisition of the port has alarmed India, which fears it is being encircled by a string of Chinese-funded ports that also includes facilities in Bangladesh and Sri Lan... more »

Sunday Globe Special: The New Steward of Massachusetts Health Care

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 5 hours ago
*Now I understand why Romney went along with it*: "Steward reshapes Mass. health care business; For-profit hospital chain is growing fast; cutting costs with tough management, innovation" by Robert Weisman | Globe Staff, February 03, 2013 Dr. Gerard B. Hayes’s pace might be called breakneck if he was moving from bed to bed. But he’s remotely monitoring patients at several hospitals from an “e-ICU’’ outpost in Westwood operated by Steward Health Care System. Caregivers at the site watch video screens showing patients in hospital ICUs from Methuen to Fall River. It brings extra sets... more »

Video Simon Ortiz: Indigenous Alliance without Borders Youth Border Action Festival

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 5 hours ago
Acoma Pueblo poet and professor Simon Ortiz Videos and photos from the Indigenous Alliance without Borders' Youth Border Action Festival. Acoma Pueblo poet and professor Simon Ortiz interviewed at the Indigenous Alliance without Borders Youth Border Action Festival in South Tucson, Arizona. Thank you Guojun and the Indigenous Alliance without Borders. More videos from the event:

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
“For now, Comet Lemmon (C/2012 F6a), and Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) are sweeping through southern skies. Lemmon's lime green coma and thin tail are near the left edge of this telephoto scene, a single frame from a timelapse video (vimeo here) recorded on February 12, tracking its motion against the background stars. *Click image for larger size. * Comet Lemmon's path brought it close to the line-of-sight to prominent southern sky treasures the Small Magellanic Cloud and globular cluster 47 Tucanae (right). Sporting a broader, whitish tail, Comet PanSTARRS appears in later video... more »

Winnemem Wintu Chief says Frankenfish must be stopped

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 5 hours ago
Photo of Joe Simmons, Winnemem Wintu Tribe member, Caleen Sisk, Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, and Kayla Carpenter, Hoopa Valley Tribe member, at the State Capitol at a protest against Governor Jerry Brown's peripheral tunnel plan on July 25. Photo by Dan Bacher. Winnemem Wintu Chief says Frankenfish must be stopped  by Dan Bacher    http://

Chet Raymo, “Thinking Like A Tortoise”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“Thinking Like A Tortoise”* by Chet Raymo “The average lifespan in a hunter-gatherer society is 32 years. If you think you'd like the simplicity and ecological integrity of a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, be sure to take your mobile phone and not wander too far away from a hospital. Culture, medical and biological science in particular, changed things dramatically. A century-and-a-half ago life expectancy at birth was 50 years, with child mortality being the most significant limiting factor. By the time I was born, life expectancy at birth was pushing 70 years, with the age-ran... more »

Foreign Meddling Ahead of Malaysia's Elections

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 5 hours ago
Xenophon: The Not-so Impartial Observer *February 20, 2013* (Nile Bowie) - Malaysia’s decision to detain and deport Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has become a hot topic of discussion across the nation’s blogosphere. Xenophon came to Kuala Lumpur as part of a seven-member international team of election observers invited by de-facto opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim. Xenophon attended the Bersih 3.0 street rally during a previous visit to Malaysia and criticised the government for being “authoritarian” in handling the demonstrators. Xenophon was barred from entering Malaysia under t... more »

Climate Change: The Folly of "Demanding" Action

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 5 hours ago
*February 19, 2013* (LocalOrg) - At a recent Washington climate change rally, who is demanding action? Demanding action from whom? What action? In reality, the diminutive, corporate-media inflated rally in DC was organized by the very corporate-financier special interests that have been wreaking terrible havoc on both the human population and the environment of this planet for decades. They are demanding action from a government that already represents their interests. Their demands are policies, particularly financial tax schemes that they themselves created and are are best positi... more »

Gangnam Gaza Style

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 5 hours ago

Ohanian Nails the Common Core, and then Burns It

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 6 hours ago
Too good to miss from our national treasure and every corporate education deformer's nightmare. At Daily Uncensored.

Arguments for a New STAR TREK Series

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 6 hours ago
Because “53 reasons” is just plain stupid, and increments of five are basically listicles, I provide three. 1. We are heading straight for maximum Star Wars saturation. Despite its ham-handed didacticism, Star Trek‘s values are far preferable to those of Star Wars. We cannot allow aristocratic fantasy to bury republican virtue. 2. JJ Abrams is a pretty good action Continue reading

AUSTRALIAN RACISTS FALL OVER THEMSELVES TO AVOID BEING LABELLED ’RACISTS’

There was an interesting article in Australia’s ABC online *Drumbeat* columnyesterday about the visit to Australia of the Islamophobic Dutch hatemonger Geert Wilders scheduled to tour Australia selling his message of hate. Both the article and the myriad of comments that followed the article are well worth a read as the comments demonstrate how fear and hatred in Australia is born out of ignorance. The comments also show how many racists attempt to avoid the ‘racist’ label by denying that Islamophobia is being racist ‘because Islam is a religion and not a race’. This stemmed from my o... more »

Pakistani Hazaras continue sit-in after attack

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 6 hours ago
Source: AlJazeera.

Harvey Wasserman : Our Atomic Dominoes Are Falling

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 6 hours ago
Falling dominoes. Image from ANS Nuclear Cafe. Two reactors down, others teetering: Our atomic dominoes are falling This latest stretch of shutdowns does not mean the death of the industry. Both Georgia and Florida are being assaulted with legislation that would allow utilities to build new reactors while ratepayers foot the bill. By Harvey Wasserman / The Rag Blog / February 19, 2013 Two

Hilary Mantel on Kate Middleton

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 7 hours ago
Kate seems to have been selected for her role of princess because she was irreproachable: as painfully thin as anyone could wish, without quirks, without oddities, without the risk of the emergence of character. She appears precision-made, machine-made, so different from Diana whose human awkwardness and emotional incontinence showed in her every gesture. Diana was capable of transforming herself from galumphing schoolgirl to ice queen, from wraith to Amazon. Kate seems capable of going from perfect bride to perfect mother, with no messy deviation. The rest of Mantel's heresy is h... more »

Substance, Style, and Knowing the Difference

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 7 hours ago
I finally got to the NYT Style section from Sunday, and spotted this gem: “The fabric of politics has always been gossip and jokes and crazy personality stuff and memes,” he said, a little angrily. “I mean, Dukakis in the tank, that’s a meme. Political coverage that wants to be solely high-minded is missing huge chunks of the actual interplay of personality and power that is what actually drives things.” He in this case being Buzzfeed's Ben Smith. Look: it's really, really okay to cover "gossip and jokes and crazy personality stuff and memes." That stuff is fun to read! I love a lo... more »

How Does The Republican Civil War Look From Behind Enemy Lines?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
The Greed and Selfishness wing of the GOP tried asserting it's control over the party it thinks it owns and is running into fierce resistance. The Hatred and Bigotry wing isn't going to take it any longer and seems willing to wreck what's left of the party in an attempt for a full takeover. It's easy to say "You go for it," but there are two major problems. 1- As we learned in the 1940s, fascism is dangerous and 2- old style, "mainstreamish" conservatives are flooding into the Democratic Party. Last week we saw lifelong Republican Patrick Murphy working to reorient the House fresh... more »

The Kevin Drum we want to read!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 7 hours ago
*TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013* *Beyond the valley of the mutual loathing:* Last Tuesday night, Marco Rubio stopped to take a swig of water. By Friday night, the general inanity which ensued had given issue to this: MATTHEWS (2/15/13): *Water-hyphen-gate! Marco Rubio’s water bottle moment may be the image that haunts him for a long time.* Tonight, a look back at some of the other moments that fairly or not have come to define some politicians forever. That brief statement was a tease. Later, we got another: “Up next: Marco Rubio’s big gulp might become the moment that defines the gu... more »

Pain Relief in Haiti--A Short Story

John Carroll at Dying in Haiti - 7 hours ago
Untreated Breast Cancer in Haitian Woman (Photo by John Carroll, 2012)* **As referenced in a previous post, most Haitians have very difficult lives and many of them suffer from painful conditions that are never treated. And their pain is ignored too not because "Haitians have a higher pain tolerance" but because Haitians are poor. * * When Haitians have medical problems that cause pain, they need and deserve pain medication. Pain relief is a basic human right. And ten million Haitians have their fair share of burns, broken bones, and post-operative pain. Haiti has a huge supply of c... more »

Fault lines under Higashidori plant are active

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 7 hours ago
*Ryuta Koike ‘Nuclear watchdog: Fault lines under Higashidori plant are active’ Feb 19, 2013 The Asahi Shimbun http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302190051* [Excerpted] Geological fault lines that run beneath Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture are almost certainly active, according to an expert panel of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The assessment was part of a draft report presented when the panel met on Feb. 18. The panel also called for further studies on the activity of two separate fault lines that exte... more »

Lamar W. Hankins : Selling Cremation Door-to-Door

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 8 hours ago
Neptune Society mailer. Image from Boing Boing. Consumer beware! Selling cremation door-to-door I was treated to a sales pitch full of misleading or outright false claims, all to get me to pay more than double the cost for a simple cremation in the Austin area. By Lamar W. Hankins /The Rag Blog / February 19, 2013 SAN MARCOS, Texas -- I just had the opportunity to be a “secret shopper” --

"Fear By Another Name"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
*"Fear By Another Name"* by Michael Brenner "Assassination of American citizens by presidential dictate, blanket suspension of habeas corpus indefinitely, massive wiretapping and surveillance with and without warrant, torture as the official policy of the United States government – these are trademarks of the “war on terror” pursued since 9/11. This despite the absence of a single serious attack over the past twelve years and the scattering of a defanged al-Qaida – the only group that once had the potential capability to do us major harm. The extraordinary trashing of our c... more »

Musical Interlude: Moody Blues, ''English Sunset''

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
Moody Blues, ''English Sunset'' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDXRemrXsOg

Satire: “House Science Committee Questions Existence of Meteors”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
*“House Science Committee Questions Existence of Meteors”* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— “The chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology said today that the committee would hold hearings next week “to settle the question, once and for all, of whether meteors exist.” “The media has been in something of a frenzy recently on this whole topic of meteors,” said chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas). “I think it’s irresponsible of them to frighten the public about something that, at the end of the day, may be about as real as unicorns.” Rep. Smith ... more »

Poor Richard

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 8 hours ago
What we know about King Richard III we mostly know about from Shakespeare. It is from him we get the vicious deformed hunchback we all “know”: the scheming blackguard “cheated of feature by dissembling nature, deformed, unfinished, sent before his time into this breathing world scarce half-made up”—so lame and unfashionable dogs bark at him as he limps by—so deformed he is unable to prove a lover, hence is determined to be a villain. Yet the body of the last Plantagenet king, the man defeated by Henry Tudor at Bosworth Field—who Shakespeare has despairing at his end, “a horse, a ... more »

WHICH IS SUSTAINABLE?

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 9 hours ago
- An underground single-shell tank at the Department of Energy Hanford, Washington nuclear facility is leaking up to 300 gallons of radioactive waste a year. The tanks contain a mix of high-level radioactive and hazardous chemical waste left from chemically processing fuel irradiated at Hanford reactors to remove plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. As many as 67 of the tanks are believed to have leaked in the past. - Maine Veterans For Peace will hold its annual retreat on Saturday, February 23 at the Viles Arboretum in Augusta. It will ... more »

LANZA, BREIVIK, ISRAEL

Anon at aangirfan - 9 hours ago
*Adam Lanza - faked photo?* "There is ZERO online fingerprint of him, there is ZERO video evidence, there is ZERO car insurance, tax information, phone history... "The neighbors haven’t seen him in years, nobody who lives around the Lanzas seems to have seen him, and the last time there is any record of him at all was 3 years ago. "The FBI apparently can’t retrieve the information from his computer it was so well destroyed (how convenient)." *Has Adam Lanza Even Been Alive The Last 3 Years?* *Adam Lanza at the Saturday Night Live studio.* "What is more likely.. that a computer n... more »

"How It Really Should Be"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago

The BBC and the Palestinian hunger strikers

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 9 hours ago
This BBC article about the Palestinian hunger strikers raised two questions in my mind. First, what is the definition of a hunger strike lasting 200 days? Even the BBC have to report that: 'Mr Issawi launched a hunger strike in August, but the the BBC understands that at points during the 200 odd days he has broken off his hunger strike for short periods only to resume it again.' Hmm, in which case I have been on hunger strike for almost a year now, only breaking it for three meals a day and never overnight. Second, nowhere in the article does it say why the hunger strikers were ... more »

“Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, About To Be Drawn Into The Mali "Liberation"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 9 hours ago
*“Is Nigeria, And Its Light Sweet Crude, * *About To Be Drawn Into The Mali "Liberation" Campaign?”* by Tyler Durden "Precisely a month ago, when we last looked at the ongoing French campaign in Mali, whose diplomatic justification before the people of the "democratic" world was the eradication of "insurgents", and various other "Al Qaeda rebels", we asked readers, rhetorically, to look at a map of Mali and tell us what they see. We even provided an answer: Nothing. Mali is one of the most irrelevant countries in West Africa from a resource standpoint, and what happens ins... more »

Obama finds a way to blame everyone but himself...(video)

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 10 hours ago
*and his lips are moving so you may be assured that he is lying.* He "cut the deficit"? Um, no. My oh my - listen to the laundry list of terrible things that will happen with sequestration. SCoaMF H/T Freedoms Lighthouse

A Whole Lot About Parties, Third Parties, and Change

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 10 hours ago
Recall that Ron Fournier wrote a recent column about how the Republicans and Democrats are in danger of cracking up, and that Brendan Nyhan and I wrote responses bashing him a bit. Well, Fournier apparently doesn't read TAP, but he did respond to Nyhan in a column today that I think is very helpful at sorting out where Fournier -- and his informants, who are political professionals -- have something worth saying, and where they get things wrong. The short version: what Fournier and the political professionals are seeing is the potential for change within the parties. They are (or he... more »

CKNW`s Question Of The Day

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 10 hours ago
Will LNG be the lifeblood of BC`s economy by 2020? Results at 10:30 am.... 68.2 %-no 31.8%-yes We shall see how long it takes for Christy Clark`s team of freepers and cookie cutters to sabotage the question.. ________ On another LNG related note, Bill Good had on air Calgary Herald`s energy expert Mr. Ewart, not for long, a mere 10 minutes, between 8:49 and 8:59 am.. He was very good, meaning quite honest, meaning more bad news for our Governing party of unicorns.. http://www.cknw.com/news/audiovault/index.aspx You know the routine, cue-up 8:00 am, February 19th, fast forwa... more »

Mediocrity watch: Our Rhee on Rose!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 10 hours ago
*TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013* *How to evaluate teachers:* The other day, we noted the irony of Michelle Rhee’s campaign against mediocrity in public schools. We noted that Rhee seemed to be quite mediocre, in various ways, as DC school superintendent. For ourselves, we liked several things about Rhee’s approach—but overall, she was at best mediocre. And if anyone ever doubted that, they should consider her conversation with Charlie Rose last night. Rhee did a segment with Rose on his eponymous program. In one chunk of their conversation, they discussed the best ways to measure teache... more » 

What a shock!

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
I have had a response to my complaint to the BBC Trust. It's a long one and I will take my team reading it and no doubt fisking it BUT here's the summary: 'I am sorry to send a disappointing response, but I do not believe your appeal should be put in front of Trustees.' Quelle surprise.

"In Arduous Officer Course, Women Offer Clues to Their Future in Infantry"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 10 hours ago
*"In Arduous Officer Course, * *Women Offer Clues to Their Future in Infantry"* By James Dao "Last fall, two newly minted female lieutenants joined about 100 men in Quantico, Va., for one of the most grueling experiences that soldiers not in war can experience: the Marine Corps’ Infantry Officer Course. During the 86-day course, candidates haul heavy packs and even heavier weapons up and down steep hills, execute ambushes and endure bitter cold, hunger and exhaustion. Uncertainty abounds: they do not know their next task, or even how long they will have to perform it. At I.O.C.,... more »

Massachusetts Hospitals Are $ick

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 10 hours ago
*I wouldn't know because although I have state-mandated insurance, I can't afford to use it.* * **Enjoy your model, America!* "With *profits down*, future of Mass. hospitals questioned" by Robert Weisman | Globe Staff, September 08, 2012 As they brace for an era of shrinking government funds and mounting pressure to cut prices for medical services, Massachusetts hospitals face growing financial strains. Two dozen — more than a third of the state’s total — lost money last year, including rural community hospitals, urban safety net hospitals, and even affiliates of renowned academi... more »

A parcel description of a property – including an incorporated reference plan – is not definitive of the boundaries or the extent of the land

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 11 hours ago
MacIsaac v Salo, 2013 ONCA 98 is a remarkable decision that, among other things,holds aparcel description of a property – including an incorporated reference plan – is not definitive of the boundaries or the extent of the land [48] Indeed, prospective purchasers of property in the land titles system must understand that the parcel description of a property – including an incorporated reference plan – is not definitive of the boundaries or the extent of the land. Only an up-to-date survey can confirm the location of the boundaries of a parcel of land as they exist on the gro... more »

"To Drone, or Not to Drone?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago
*"To Drone, or Not to Drone?"* by Joel Bowman “Decent folk don’t need Dick Cheney to describe something as “a good policy” to know it’s probably a bad idea. But just in case they missed the point the first time around, the former VP was on television last week to hammer it home for them. In an interview with "CBS This Morning", Cheney brushed aside calls for “checks and balances” against the Obama administration’s controversial drone program. “I think it’s a good program,” Cheney told the host. “I don’t disagree with the basic policy that the Obama administration has pursued in ... more »

Can Debbie Wasserman Schultz Bend U.S. Policy To The Will Of Her Corrupt Financiers, The Fanjul Sugar Barons?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 11 hours ago
Click to read the web of sugar corruption You don't normally see *DWT* championing bills introduced by anti-Choice fanatic and far right extremist Joe Pitts (R-PA). But when he introduced H.R. 693 last week, a new day of bipartisanship may not have dawned, but we recognized that Pitts is doing the right thing for a change. And he was immediately joined by a healthy cross-aisle bunch of co-sponsors that ranges from the lunatic fringe-- Lou Barletta (R-PA), Steve Womack (R-AR) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)-- to solidly mainstream legislators like Jackie Speier (D-CA), Earl Blumenauer (D-... more »

Segregation is Manmade and It Can Be Unmade

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 11 hours ago
Since Wall Street's grand theft of 40 percent of the nation's wealth in 2008, the federal government has passed out billions in grants to states and cities for various projects, many of them even worthy of our tax dollars. This process provided many great opportunities to incentivize policies that could alter what has become the intensification of housing and school segregation over the past 35 years. And yet there were no incentives offered, particularly in the guidance or bonus points or stipulations in Race to the Top. Instead, incentives were provided for more intensely segre... more »

MNN 'Joint Task Force going to end up in the Joint'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 11 hours ago
MNN: JOINT TASK FORCE GOING TO END UP IN THE JOINT Posted on February 18, 2013 Mohawk Nation News www.mohawknationnews.com MNN. Feb. 18, 2013. In 2007 the colonizer’s hired “saboteur”, Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations AFN. He got together with interim RCMP Commissioner Bev Busson, Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, Jacques Chagnon of

Hermosa casa con jardines y albercas para relajarse

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Hermosa casa con jardines y albercas para relajarse] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de casas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Gatitos hermosos listos para jugar

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Gatitos hermosos listos para jugar] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de gatitos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Fantástico lugar con estrellas y rocas en la oscuridad

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Fantástico lugar con estrellas y rocas en la oscuridad] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes fantásticas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Attempted Gotcha Gone Wrong

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 12 hours ago
A resolution has been reached in the case of the pregnant Texas teen suing her parents who were allegedly pressuring her to abort. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the judge ruled in the girl's favour. But I'm not sure it's the propaganda victory the fetus fetishists envisioned . They obviously thought they were being oh so clever in using Roe v. Wade in yet another braindead attempted gotcha. But look what they wind up saying. “This is a tremendous victory, and another life has been saved,” said TCDL (Texas Center for Defense of Life) attorney and President Greg Terra. “Our v... more »

Castillo en medio del mar con un colorido arcoiris

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Castillo en medio del mar con su lancha y un colorido arcoiris] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de castillos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Caballo furioso corriendo entre el río

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Cballo furioso corriendo entre el rio] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de caballos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

La casa de los espantos llena de niebla y árboles raros

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: La casa de los espantos llena de niebla y árboles raros] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de terror* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Saturday

Southern Man at Southern Man - 12 hours ago
It snowed again a little last night, leaving everything sheathed in glittering white. Since this is Southern State by mid-afternoon it was in the mid 60s and that snow was a distant memory. Southern Man had lunch with Southern Son, did a little geocaching, ran errands (which included twelve sheets of sanded plywood for the Woodshop), and made it home by late afternoon to start putting that plywood up eat dinner and drink beer and play computer games all evening. What a life!

Molino de viento en el campo de las flores

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Molino de viento en el campo de las flores] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de molinos de viento* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Pajarillo de flor en flor en busca de polen

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Pajarillo de flor en flor en busca de polen] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de pajaros* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Perritos dormilones sobre el pasto verde

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Perritos dormilones sobre el pasto verde] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de perritos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Bowling

Southern Man at Southern Man - 12 hours ago
There's no better way to end a work week than bowling with twenty of your closest friends. A couple of Manly Men. Photo by Marilyn, probably. Then we went to Denny's. Yes, with Southern Man the party never stops. Various folks took lots and lots and *lots* of pics with the new camera but only a few came out. Looks like Southern Man needs to read that manual! *Lord, thank you for good friends and good food and good times. Amen.*

Rosa roja de los grandes jardines

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 12 hours ago
[image: Rosa roja de los grandes jardines] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de rosas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Propaganda: Haz We Had Enuff Yet?

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 12 hours ago
This is what set off my rage-o-meter yesterday. Canadians may be growing weary of - even hostile to - all those Economic Action Plan ads the Harper government has been pumping out for the last four years. Eight polls the Finance Department commissioned between 2009 and 2012 suggest the TV, radio, print and Internet ads are starting to fizzle - and annoying some people. . . . The eight surveys, commissioned from four polling firms for almost $300,000, have asked the same core questions of random samples of 1,000 people contacted by telephone. 'Even hostile'? Everyone I know is tho... more »

Yeah, Sure. Nuclear's the Safest Alternative (Washington: A Perfect Radioactive Storm)

The waste mitigation work now faces a predicament with the impending sequester, the automatic across-the-board federal spending cuts that are set to take effect March 1 unless Congress reaches a different arrangement on a spending plan. Inslee says this will mean layoffs at Hanford and could even stop work there. He termed the combination of the leak and the budget cuts the "perfect radioactive

Just How Small Are You, Really?

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 13 hours ago
On a clear, moonless summer night I like to sit out in the backyard and gaze up into the heavens. I realize that the lights I am seeing come from a time so far past that it's beyond our ability to really make sense of it. And I know that light also comes from a time of civilizations past and long gone. Just figuring out our miniscule place in the universe is tough enough but now it seems our universe may not be as universal as we might like to think. That Higgs Boson particle, remember that? Well that breakthrough has led to a theory of "vacuum instability" which suggests in ... more »

如果日本和中国对这些岛屿发动战争,美国是条约的约束,以保卫日本。

Barbara Diamond at American Scofflaw - 13 hours ago
然而,这是非常黑暗的一面,因为美国政府没有钱,兵力,或制造,以确保取得积极成果常规战争在这里,它很可能第一次打击核攻击。 而这里 不幸的是,我担心怀特教授的评估可能是正确的。 这里的问题是,如果美国无法赢得在convential战争,美国将使用核武器

Nicolaus Copernicus: 540th birthday

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 13 hours ago
*Off-topic, Higgs*: Fox News, BBC, and others are suddenly excited by the possibility suggested by the Higgs boson mass that our Universe is intrinsically unstable. See some 4-month or years old TRF blog entries. Mikołaj Kopernik was born on February 19th, 1473 – half a millennium and 9.5 months before your humble correspondent – into a rich family in Toruń (thorn) in Royal Prussia, a part of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland. At that time, the nationality of the people was more associated with the territory and not with ethnic groups: modern European 19th century nation states w... more »

My outrage meter just spiked off the dial...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 13 hours ago
*tell me why this is allowed to go on? Someone? * Watch TSA agents harass a mother and her little crippled daughter because we all know that little tiny 3 year old crippled kids in pink wheelchairs are dangerous. Look at the face of that sweet little girl crying because they took away her little stuffed toy. When she says, "I don't want to go to Disney World," because she's so frightened my head almost exploded. Why is this thuggery being perpetrated on the American people by low level ignorant "agents"? The real question is: * **Why are we allowing this?* H/T Gateway ... more »

NYT: The Trouble with Online College

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 13 hours ago
The New York Times Feb 19, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/opinion/the-trouble-with-online-college.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130219 [Excerpted] Online classes are already common in colleges, and, on the whole, the record is not encouraging. According to Columbia University’s Community College Research Center, for example, about seven million students — about a third of all those enrolled in college — are enrolled in what the center describes as traditional online courses. These typically have about 25 students and are run by professors who often have little intera... more »

Transocean pleads guilty, is sentenced to pay $400 million in criminal penalties for criminal conduct leading to Deepwater Horizon disaster

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 13 hours ago
[image: Deepwater Horizon flaring operation. Gas from the damaged Deepwater Horizon wellhead is burned by the drillship Discoverer Enterprise, 16 May 2010, in a process known as flaring. Gas and oil from the wellhead are being brought to the surface via a tube that was placed inside the damaged pipe. Photo: Petty Officer 3rd Class Patrick Kelley] Contact: Stacy Kika, kika.stacy@epa.gov, 202-564-0906, 202-564-4355 14 February 2013 WASHINGTON (EPA) – Transocean Deepwater Inc. pleaded guilty today to a violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) for its illegal conduct leading to the 2010... more »

How Harper Was Conned

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 13 hours ago
Who says you can't bullshit a bullshitter? Don't tell that to the procurement wizards at our Department of National Defence. They've been pulling the wool over the eyes of our gullible prime minister almost since he took office. Michael Byers and Stewart Webb chronicle how hapless Harper got fleeced: *In the style of the classic BBC show, politicians have long been “Yes Ministered” by the Department of National Defence. The problem has reached new heights under Harper, who came to power believing the generals and admirals could do no wrong.* * Defence officials decided the C... more »

Drip, drip, drip...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 13 hours ago
*no comment.* France Approves Euthanasia, Call it a "Duty to Humanity"

Hold That Tiger

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 13 hours ago
First there was Rosemary Woods, the Nixon secretary reputedly responsible for erasing some of the boss's tape recordings at the height of the Watergate scandal. Now we have Tiger Woods-gate, in which the well-known philandering golfer played a round with well-known perfect husband and father Barack Obama in Florida over the weekend, and the courtiers of the media were barred, shunned, dissed, maligned and peeved. Dylan Byers of *Politico* (which Charles Pierce hilariously calls *TigerBeat on the Potomac *) writes that Obama did try to make amends with the stenographers afterwards. Bu... more »

Sunday Globe Special: Deportation Dilemma

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 14 hours ago
*Nothing special about this blog as my readership stats continue to tank. * * **And who can blame you? Who really wants to read agenda-pushing slop from the AmeriKan media anymore. * * *"Program deports many with no criminal record" by Maria Sacchetti | Globe Staff, February 17, 2013 Federal immigration officials are deporting more immigrants in Massachusetts for civil violations than for serious crimes under a fingerprint-sharing program that expanded from Boston to the rest of the state last year. As of December, only 45.6 percent of the 768 immigrants deported through the Secur... more »

“We Will Be Greeted As Liberators,” Why The Bush Administration Saw Iraq As A War Of Liberation

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 14 hours ago
Before 2003, many members of the Bush White House held a rosy image of what the Iraq war would be like. Kenneth Adelman of the Defense Policy Board for example wrote an op ed for the Washington Post entitled “Cakewalk in Iraq.”Vice President Dick Cheney told NBC’s Meet The Press that Iraqis would see the Americans as liberators. These scenarios were based upon several factors including advice officials received from Middle East scholars and Iraqi exiles. Most importantly, President Bush and others were driven by their conviction that what they were doing was right, and therefore wo... more »

SCHOOLED ABOUT PRESCHOOL: It’s all Nixon’s fault!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 14 hours ago
*TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2013* *Part 2—The Culture of Liberal Indifference:* Last Tuesday, in his State of the Union Address, President Obama made an important proposal. “Tonight, I propose working with states to make high-quality preschool available to every child in America,” the president said. Columnists swung into action. Last Friday, David Brooks praised the proposal in a well-reasoned, information-strewn column. As he closed, he apologized for being rude, but he explained the potential gain for the nation in Obama’s proposal: BROOKS (2/15/13): This is rude to say, but here’s... more »

America's Dangerous Hyper-Nationalism

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 14 hours ago
*We're Number One, We're Number One!* *No you're bloody well not, no you're bloody well not!* The United States is many things but it's not the greatest country in the world. It has a chequered past and a chequered present. Yet from mainstreet Hicksville, Arkansas to Capital Hill, Washington, you'll find Americans ordinary and powerful chanting the mantra of their nation as the greatest country in the world, the natural leader of all lesser states. They don't just say it, they believe it, and that shapes their view, not only of themselves but also of you. * * Writing in *The... more »

Australia re-rated on international reinsurance markets after another summer of flooding and extreme weather – Costs soar for reinsurers: ‘Insurers must rate to risk. If they don’t, they have a real difficulty in terms of solvency.’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: Aerial view of flooding in Pullenvale, Queensland. Photo: John Grainger / The Daily Telegraph] By Peter Hannam, Carbon economy editor 18 February 2013 (Sydney Morning Herald) – Australia has been re-rated on international reinsurance markets after another summer of flooding and extreme weather raised the country's peril profile, said Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Rob Whelan. As a result of the re-rating, Australian insurers have to pay more for reinsurance, costs they will pass on to customers. ''Those [reinsurance] premiums have increased in some cases b... more »

As the climate warms, forests encroach on meadowland – ‘Meadows’ biodiversity value is much larger than the area they occupy’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: Mountain bog gentian in the Oregon Cascades, 8 August 2007. Mountain bog gentian is threatened by the invasion of trees, as the climate warms in subalpine Oregon. Photo: Harold Zald] By Carrie Madren 12 February 2013 (Scientific American) – In perhaps the slowest invasion in history, mountain meadows in the Pacific Northwest—where hikers and backpackers revel in breath-taking scenery—are gradually giving way to hemlocks, Pacific silver firs and other conifers. In these high-elevation, subalpine meadows of Jefferson Park in the central Cascade Range in Oregon, snow typic... more »

Unit 61398 - China's Computer Commandos

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 15 hours ago
It's possibly the most successful unit in China's Peoples Liberation Army. Unit 61398 is believed to have hacked hundreds of terabytes of data from targets in Canada, the U.S. and Britain. *The report, by [U.S. security company] Mandiant, identified the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) Shanghai-based Unit 61398 as the most likely perpetrators of the hacking. The company said it believed the unit had carried out "sustained" attacks on a wide range of industries.* *"The nature of Unit 61398's work is considered by China to be a state secret; however, we believe it engages in harmf... more »

Sausage and Tomato Pasta

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 15 hours ago
My in-laws introduced us to this recipe this last month and we have fallen in love. This recipe is easy and delicious. We love the fresh tomatoes it uses and we actually love to make this recipe vegetarian style without the sausage, which is just as good. 16 oz Penne Pasta Kielbasa Sausage 3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 can of tomato sauce 1 can diced tomatoes 3 Roma tomatoes, diced 8 oz of cream 1 teaspoon oregano 1 teaspoon basil Cook noodles according to package directions. While they are cooking prepare the rest of the meal. Cook the sausage and garlic together in olive oil, unti... more »

Immigration Meets DOMA-- No Big Deal, Says Senile Chuck Grassley

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Every time some spoiled multimillionaire piece of garbage announces he's leaving the U.S. because taxes are too high, right-wing sites and fringe lunatics like Satanist Bryan Fischer go wild on twitter. Fischer's latest hysteria was brought on when over-the-hill Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiaosaid he won't fight in America any more because the tax bite is too high. Awwwwwww. Don't let the door hit you on the way out... and, please, don't come back. Yesterday, though, the *NY Times* featured the story of two young men the country should be genuinely sad to see leave, Brandon Perlberg ... more »

Chile: World-Famous Abductee Changes Story

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 15 hours ago
*Source: www.24horas.cl and Planeta UFO Date: 19 Feb 2013* *Chile: World-Famous Abductee Changes Story* *** Corporal Valdés was Never Abducted in Northern Chile *** Corporal Valdés was the protagonist of one of the better-known and strangest cases in the history of ufology. However, his story was completely untrue. In 1977 a group of Chilean soldiers claimed having lived through a paranormal situation. This has become known as the “Corporal Valdés” case, well-remembered by the public, because the soldiers claimed extraterrestrial contact. The story was handed down for generatio... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 15 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Smokey Robinson, 73. Have to throw in a link to songs written by Robinson, too. Also: how does "A Love She Can Count On" fail to reach the Top Ten, anyway? Ah, the good stuff: 1. Jonathan Chait on Republican reformers. 2. Brits, too, need to move on from Maggie, says Alex Massie. 3. Andrew Sprung on where the missing great lines are.

ESCAPE FROM LA, TO THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACE IN THE WORLD

Anon at aangirfan - 16 hours ago
*From LA...* Back home in LA, Jessica Fox worked for NASA by day, and for a film-maker by night. dailymail But, when the elite seek out those ideal places to live, they don't choose LA. They choose places like Wigtown. Jessica Fox swapped California sunshine for Wigtown. How I made a dream come true | Life and style | The Guardian *Near Wigtown* Jessica describes the Wigtown area: "We walked in silence through a soft mist. "As we turned a corner, a view unfurled of silvery marshland. "'This is the most beautiful place in the world,' I gasped." dailymail *Jessica Fox and... more »

Local Residents Dig In for a SECOND Day of Civil Disobedience to Stop Tennessee Pipeline Construction

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 16 hours ago
MILFORD TOWNSHIP, Pa. - On Tuesday morning, two local youth blocked the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Northeast Upgrade construction by locking themselves through a Delaware State forest gate in Milford Township for the second consecutive day. Allison Petryk, of Vernon, NJ and AlexLotorto, of Milford, PA plan to remain at the gate at the end of Schocopee Road throughout the work day again to prevent access by pipeline tree clearing crews. Tree clearing began last Friday within twenty four hours of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Notice to Proceed. Yesterday, residents from thro... more »

Can't the government afford an English editor?

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 16 hours ago
This was sent out for Lunar New Year. A friend posted it to Facebook. It was kindly meant, but you'd think the Mayor's office would have an English editor on tap to clean it up and make it look professional. Really. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums! Delenda est, baby.

Make It British, Make It Local, Make It Happen - Support Local Farmers

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 16 hours ago
Source: https://www.facebook.com/makeitbritish?group_id=0Farming Delivers For Britain Farming delivers. It delivers for you, for me, for all of us. Obviously farming delivers *food* but it also delivers more than you might think. All that delicious, fresh, British produce at your supermarket or local farmers market is only part of the story. Agriculture also makes an invaluable contribution to the *economy*. It creates tens of thousands of *careers*. And farmers look after the * environment* in huge areas of our unique countryside. They also take their roles in ensuring good sta... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 17 hours ago
*Emails Reveal Early Plan by LSU to Muzzle Corps Critic ~Levees.org* *Slabbed sends an open letter to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Leon “Pierre” Muise* *Gretna struggles with rules to prevent neglect of historic properties ~Allen Powell * *Offshore Aquaculture: Bad News for the Gulf* *New Orleans developer now a player in local film scene ~Brian Friedman* *The Virtual St. Joseph Altar*

A Kennedy In Ottawa?

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 17 hours ago
There are rumors that Caroline Kennedy will be the next American ambassador to Ottawa. Lawrence Martin writes that you shouldn't make book on that: It’s not only the iconic liberal name that would grate on the Tories. There’s some history to be recalled here. And from a Conservative perspective, what an ugly stretch of history it is. President John F. Kennedy was Tory enemy No. 1. The Kennedy relationship with John Diefenbaker was the worst in the history of the presidents and prime ministers. The Kennedy administration precipitated Dief’s downfall on a no-confidence vote in 1963... more »

Tuesday Morning Linkage Club

PM at Duck of Minerva - 18 hours ago
Only a handful of links this morning: Seth Masket investigates what happens when you raise the cost of voting. Unsurprising: minority and poor voters suffer more. Tim Burke pushes back against MOOCs and the failure of managerial class models of higher education. Nina Zumel provides a public service by transforming William Cleveland’s plots into ggplot2. Continue reading

Mining 6: Large Investments vs. Large Bureaucracies

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 19 hours ago
The mining is perhaps the most regulated, most intervened, and most taxed sector by the government. Coming second would be the pharmaceutical sector, and perhaps the water and other utilities. One important indicator that there is heavy government regulation and taxation of a particular sector is the high presence of the informal or black market for such sector. In the case of mining, the black market is the high presence of the so-called "small mining" like in Mt. Diwalwal in Davao. In the pharma sector, it's the existence of so many unregistered "health products" like the "magic ... more »

The BBC, any excuse to criticise David Cameron - and a fine example of the tolerance of the left

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 19 hours ago
The BBC have found another excuse to remind us of Johnny Marr's petulant forbidding of David Cameron from liking The Smiths' music. This time it's Johnny Marrs 50th birthday: 'Johnny Marr was only 23 when he left The Smiths in 1987. Now in the year when he turns 50, he is releasing his debut solo album "The Messenger". In between times, he has had spells in Talking Heads, The Pretenders and The The. In 2007 he had his first ever US number one album after joining US indie group Modest Mouse. Johnny Marr told the BBC's arts correspondent Colin Paterson about why he has now decide... more »

The BBC and the terrorists in Southern Thailand

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 20 hours ago
The Islamic terrorists in Southern Thailand havde been responsible for the deaths of over 5,000 people since their insurgency restarted in earnest in 2004. How much have you heard of this Islamist insurrection on the BBC? I finally found a BBC video report on the insurgency, do go and watch the video and read the summary text: 'Following the deaths of 16 insurgents in Thailand in a failed attack on a Thai marine base, the BBC's Jonathan Head speaks to some of the insurgents' bereaved families. The deaths are the largest loss of life the separatist movement has suffered, since it ... more »

Musical Interlude: Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago
Leonard Cohen, "Anthem" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ma5tF6TJpA

NHS Body Contouring, NHS Fertility Treatment and the re-Naming of Countries

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 21 hours ago
here's a good mix of interesting topics: NHS Body Contouring, NHS Fertility Treatment and the re-Naming of Countries. just three things that are irking me this morning. 1) NHS Body Contouring: why are we, the tax payers and contributers to the National Health Service, paying for OVERINDULGERS to have gastric band surgery and then (potentially) reconstructive Body Contouring i.e. ultra-expensive plastic, surgery for an issue that's not a national health service issue. You eat too much sugary fatty foods and move too little (probably because of your sedantary office lifestyle or chron... more »

Bhutan To Be First Country to Go 100% Organic

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 21 hours ago
Bhutan To Be First Country to Go 100% Organic by Anthony Gucciardi Natural Society, 18 February, 2013 If there was ever a nation that could see the purpose behind organic, sustainable farming, it would be a nation that is composed mostly of farmers. Such a place does exist, and it soon may be the first nation to go 100% organic, paving the way for others to do the same on a global scale. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is known for a *high level of* citizen happiness, but it is doing something even more noteworthy in the near future. With Prime Minister *Jigmi Thinley* maki... more »

Musical Interlude: Moody Blues, "The Story In Your Eyes"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 21 hours ago
Moody Blues, "The Story In Your Eyes" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgOtLKttDU4

K-T Boundary Asteroid Event Sharply Tightened

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 21 hours ago
What this means is that the error has been reduced by a full order of magnitude and this will now apply across many other geological questions. Most satisfying though is this result. We all know in our heart of hearts that the impact did it for the megafauna at the end of the cretaceous. Yet a million year error bound does not make anyone brave. Now that we have narrowed it to 11000 years and it is still there tells us that it is almost impossible to have an alternative. We will also now recover an accurate global spectrum of associated geology with a clear idea of di... more »

Large Mammal Ancestry Completed

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 21 hours ago
The rapid expansion of DNA testing capability and general efficiency is now so mature that we are actually mopping up some of the big obvious tasks. I have no doubt that this will soon be expanded to birds in particular and all land animals out there. We continue to confirm that the mammal did not become a factor at all until post K-T. I am not so sure that that will hold up simply because egg eating works so well for rats in particular. That and insect eating and we can anticipate a very successful mammal and many small successful reptiles who are out there. What the... more »

Minimum Wage Considerations

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 21 hours ago
First, let me explain something. All money and derivative credit is first produced by government fiat. It is then spent and extended in a manner to support economic activity that both implements government policy and expands the economy. It then taxed back mostly as it passes through the hands of the people over and over again. Understanding that it should be obvious that it is sound policy to ensure a living wage tied directly to a legitimate measure of inflation and to ensure one hundred percent labor force participation at that wage or better. This naturally stimulates... more »

Gold Forming Bacteria Discovered

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 21 hours ago
It has been thought in the mine exploration business for years that there must exist a biological pathway active in moving water that is able to mobilize gold and also coagulate it to form larger gold complexes. The gold nuggets were forming in environments that just had never gotten hot enough to satisfy the known volcanic process. It may turn out the gold is primarily bio available rather than in any other manner. Much gold deposition I have inspected could be better so explained. At least we now have the sought for medium identified and it is easy to take it forward. And ... more »

"OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA -- CALL TO ACTION"

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 22 hours ago
*"OPEN LETTER TO THE MEDIA -- CALL TO ACTION"* By Brian Kelly To think that this whole story broke less than two months ago is baffling, to say the least. A current google search for "One People's Public Trust," pings back 33M results, as of this day, February 18, 2013. Countless emails continue to flow in from people wanting to BE of service to the cause. This post is a Call-to-action for anyone willing to share their energy in support of bringing freedom to Humanity once and for all... If you are one of the people who has heard the call, and you're ready to stand up ... more »

GANGNAM STYLE; SHOOTING KIDS; GOLD

Anon at aangirfan - 23 hours ago
GAZA CITY (IPS) - “We wanted to do something to bring focus to the plight of Palestinian political prisoners. There are around 5,000 in Israeli jails, including hunger strikers, children, women,” said Mohannad Barakat, 30, one of seven Palestinians who have made a version of the pop song “Gangnam Style” based on life in Gaza. *"GANGNAM STYLE" PARODY PUTS SPOTLIGHT ON GAZA SIEGE* *This photo was posted on the personal Instagram account of Mor Ostrovski, a 20-year old Israeli soldier in a sniper unit.* "It reminded us of a *chilling account another Israeli soldier gave to the grou... more »

MorningBrew w/Gwen Caldwell Interviews Brian Kelly on Orion Talk Radio Network

Brian Kelly at AMERICAN KABUKI - 23 hours ago
MorningBrew w/Gwen Caldwell Interviews Brian Kelly on Orion Talk Radio Network Join us every Wednesday at 9am pst, 12 noon est for a down to earth OPPT discussion with Gwen Caldwell of the Morning Brew show on Orion Talk Radio. Last Wednesday the first show aired live, brining in an astounding 1 million + live listeners, representing a whopping 10 countries! On our first program we discussed the Who, What, When, Where, Why of OPPT, which made for a great platform for listeners discovering the People's Public Trust for the first time. So, if you're trying to share this info... more »

Astronauts Changed by Space Travel

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 23 hours ago

Welcome to Wildrose Alberta! What do you mean they didn’t win?

David Climenhaga at Alberta Diary - 23 hours ago
OK, the National Post got a little overheated with this election-day photo of Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith. But, really, what’s the difference? Below: Premier Ernest Manning and Premier Alison Redford, bookends in Alberta’s endless conservative governing dynasty. In April 2012, spooked by the dangers posed by a far-right Wildrose government, progressive voters in Alberta abandoned ... more »

Untitled

"Opportunity dances with those who are already on the dance floor." - Jackson Brown "No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it." - E.E. Luccock "Celebrate your success and find humour in your failures. Don't take yourself so seriously. Loosen up and everyone around you will loosen up. Have fun and always show enthusiasm. When all else fails, put on a costume and sing a silly song." -Sam Walton

The Realist Report with John Friend

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 1 day ago
On this edition of The Realist Report, we'll be joined by Andre from * TotalFascism.com* to discuss Fascism and National Socialism, and how these ideologies differ fundamentally from Jewish communism and Jewish capitalism. We also discussed his essay *On the Issues: American Third Position vs. Total Fascism*, and solutions to the problems facing our communities, society, and race. This turned out to be an excellent program folks, be sure to download and listen to the full three hours. You can download the entire episode *here*, or subscribe to Truth Militia Radio via iTunes *he... more »

Snippets

When the spaceship Juno headed off to Jupiter during the summer of 2011, three 1.5" tall LEGO figures went along for the ride. The trio should arrive at their destination sometime in 2016. The specially-constructed aluminum mini-figures are the Roman god Jupiter, his wife Juno and the "father of science", Galileo Galilei. "The LEGO crew's mission is part of the LEGO Bricks in Space project, the joint outreach and educational program developed as part of the partnership between NASA and the LEGO Group to inspire children to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics", ... more »

EU watchdogs may turn against Google over privacy policy

*According to French privacy regulator CNIL, EU watchdogs plan to take action against Google by this summer over the web giant's existing privacy policy. *Last October, the firm was agreed four months to amend its policy. But Google supposed its procedures did fulfill with EU law. The new policy was implemented after the company united 60 separate privacy policies into one agreement. The firm should offer a centralized opt-out tool and allow users to make a decision which of Google's services provided facts about them. Google should acclimatize its own tools so that it could lim... more »

Ancient Temple Discovered in Peru

Excavators stand near a newly-discovered temple at the archeological site El Paraíso in Peru. Photo courtesy: Peru Ministry of Culture via LiveScience.com Archaeologists in Peru have uncovered what they believe is a temple, estimated to be up to 5,000 years old, at the site of El Paraíso, north of Lima. Inside the ruins of the ancient room, which measures about 23 feet by 26 feet (7 meters by 8 meters), there's evidence of a ceremonial hearth, where offerings may have been burned, archaeologists say. The temple also had a narrow entrance and stone walls covered with yellow clay, o... more »

Religious Nuts... Dangerous To Normal People And An Efficiently Functioning Society

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
In the new Gallup poll, one is counted as "very religious" if they "affirm that religion is important to his or her daily life and that church is attended either weekly or almost every week." That's 40% of Americans. Another 29% claim to be "moderately religious," meaning "they don’t attend religious services regularly (or that *faith is not* very important to them, but they still attend church regularly). It probably isn't hard to guess that the most religious states are also the poorest, most racist, least educated and most supportive of right-wing political candidates. Here's ... more »

Beloved Author and Thought Leader Debbie Ford Dies at 57

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
* * * * *Beloved Author and Thought Leader Debbie Ford Dies at 57* Posted on February 18, 2013 by NCReview By Laurie Sue Brockway Debbie Ford, 57, the bestselling author and teacher known for her work in helping people break free of their emotional baggage and fears, died on Sunday, February 17, 2013 in her home in San Diego, Calif. She was surrounded by friends and family who gathered around her to lovingly send her off to her next journey. Those of us who knew her, or were in some measure touched by her work, remember her as a physically tiny person who was a huge force of nature... more »

Junius - "Betray The Grave" Music Video

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
Source: ProstheticRecords.

Twisting the Treaty: A Tribal Grab for Wealth and Power

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 day ago
Ahem, allow me to recommend a new book—just published! [image: _TwistingTheTreaty] As you’ll have seen, there are one or two names there that might be familiar. The book appears at an important time in the country’s constitutional history. If the Treaty itself arrived just in time to cement in place and reward pre-Treaty genocidal land grabs by the likes of Hongo Hika, Te Rauparaha and others, then the Maori-National party’s “constitutional review” of today arrives at a time when Maori corporations, having been gifted billions by taxpayers for things we haven’t done, seek to hav... more »

Northerntruthseeker On Truth Hertz Radio, February 18th, 2013

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
This morning, February 18th, 2013, I was on Charles Giuliani's "Truth Hertz" radio show, on the Oracle Broadcasting Network (www.oraclebroadcasting.com), along with my friend, Gregg Kalina, aka.. "Pt1Gard", to discuss a variety of subjects, especially the fraudulent Sandy Hook Operation. Here is the link to that show: http://mp3.oraclebroadcasting.com/Truth_Hertz/Truth_Hertz.2013-02-18_16k.mp3 NTS Notes: I do believe that I did a pretty good job overall....The show flowed pretty consistently, and Gregg, Charles, and Mr. Sammo who called in, made for a great roundtable discussion... more »

Clever Pun on MOOCs

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
Okay, I don’t have one. But I’d like to call attention to some excellent discussion of Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Adam Kotsko asks “what is the business model for online education.” Nigel Thrift analyzes the recent “media obsession” with MOOCs. Louis Betty makes unfortunate swipes at Apple in pursuit of a larger point about Continue reading

Seriously Consevatives,

Boris at The Galloping Beaver - 1 day ago
The reason that no amount of marketing and focus groups will sell the Tar Sands to us is because we do not want an "energy sector" that involves them. There's no magic pill here.

Napoleon On Public Debts

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
*Steampunk Bonaparte. Source: Jennifer Mei.* Related: *Napoleon On Men of Destiny*. *Napoleon On Speculators And Profiteers*. *Napoleon On An Age of Transition & The Dangers of A Militarist Government *. *Napoleon On Alexander The Great*. From, *"The Mind of Napoleon: A Selection from His Written and Spoken Words,"* edited and translated by J. Christopher Herold. Columbia University Press: New York. 1955. Pg. 93-94. [Dictation, Saint Helena, on the financial conditions of France in 1797] The most important thing, in Napoleon's opinion, was to honor the public trust and t... more »
  

 

 


 

 


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