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| Athabasca Falls (Photo credit: susteph) |
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| Athabasca River (Photo credit: dicktay2000) |
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| Photo of Athabasca University (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Photo of Athabasca University (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Sunday Classics preview: Long live Tsar Boris Feodorovich!
*The Cathedral of Our Lady of Smolensk, part of Novodevichy Convent, where
Boris Godunov, who had been the power behind the throne of his
brother-in-law, the newly departed Tsar Feodor, retreated in 1584, waiting
to be implored to accept the throne. The rise of the curtain is preceded by
this deeply forlorn orchestral introduction:*
*MUSSORGSKY: Boris Godunov: Prelude (ed. Rimsky-Korsakov)*
*Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, cond. Decca, recorded November
1970*
*by Ken*
No, Sunday Classics isn't back from hiatus exactly. It's more like a hiatus
from hiatus. I've been pond... more »
Red Ice Radio - Egypt Roundtable - Hour 1 - Ancient Technologies & Khemitology
YouTube Video Description - [Channel: RedIceRadio. Posted on February 22,
2013]:
This roundtable discussion features Egypt experts Stephen Mehler
(archaeologist and prehistorian), Chris Dunn (craftsman and engineer),
Patricia (artist) and Yousef Awyan (stone mason), Gary Evans (Infinite
Connections) and Brien Foerster (Peruvian expert and sculptor) all of which
will be guiding a unique 2 week tour of Egypt. In the first hour, we'll
discuss ancient Egypt and the highly advanced civilization that was there
before writing. This advanced civilization had knowledge of science based
... more »
Taxpayers and students have a right to know what’s happening at Athabasca University
Athabasca University from the air, with the town of Athabasca in the
background. Below: Former VP Academic Margaret Haughey, President Frits
Pannekoek and former VP IT Brian Stewart. What the heck is going on at
Athabasca University? It was revealed to the university’s faculty earlier
this week that four senior administrators have left their positions ... more »
Adequacy of reasons
R. v. Burnie, 2013 ONCA 112 is yet another adequacy of reasons case:
[28] It is a well-established legal principle that the reasons a judge
gives in a criminal trial without a jury fulfill an important function in
the trial process and where that function goes unperformed, the judgment
may be vulnerable to reversal on appeal: *R. v. Sheppard*, 2002 SCC 26,
[2002] 1 S.C.R. 869.
[29] Speaking on behalf of the Supreme Court in *Sheppard*, Justice
Binnie noted, at para. 21, that it is a reviewing court's task, "not so
much to extol the virtues of giving full reasons, which no on... more »
Musical Interlude: 2002, “An Ocean Apart”
2002, “An Ocean Apart”
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfPONyDT_WQ
"A Look to the Heavens"
“The Sleeping Beauty galaxy may appear peaceful at first sight but it is
actually tossing and turning. In an unexpected twist, recent observations
have shown that the gas in the outer regions of this photogenic spiral is
rotating in the opposite direction from all of the stars! Collisions
between gas in the inner and outer regions are creating many hot blue stars
and pink emission nebula.
*Click image for larger size. *
The above image was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2001 and
released in 2004. The fascinating internal motions of M64, also cataloged
as NGC 4826, are th... more »
Ruined Health and Environmental Injustice
Majia's Blog - 2 hours ago
I've been battling a terrible flu and secondary bronchitis for 9 days now.
I hate being sick so much. I'm happiest when I'm outside hiking or swimming
so being sick is absolutely antithetical to enjoying my life.
I keep thinking about the people in Japan and elsewhere who have had their
health permanently ruined by wanton pollution.
Destroying someone's health is destroying their life.
Yet the nuclear industry is allowed to ROUTINELY contaminate the
environment with radioactive emissions like tritium that destroy health and
cause intergenerational genetic damage.
The Fukushima nuc... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
Your Nightly Dose of Reality: Pakistan's Army
Tarek Fatah, an award-winning Canadian writer of Pakistani origin and
founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, compares Pakistan's army to
Al-Qaeda in the video below. He says, "Pakistan is like a carcass being
looted by these vultures."
But Fatah's disdain for the top brass of Pakistan's army is not shared by
the Pakistani people. Back in December 2011, Aakar Patel wrote in his
article called, *"Why Pakistan’s army is more popular than its politicians"*:
A Pew poll reported by Reuters a few months ago said the army was
“overwhelmingly popular” in Pakistan. It said 79 percent of P... more »
"The 12 Rules of Survival"
* "The 12 Rules of Survival"*
by Laurence Gonzales
"As a journalist, I've been writing about accidents for more than thirty
years. In the last 15 or so years, I've concentrated on accidents in
outdoor recreation, in an effort to understand who lives, who dies, and
why. To my surprise, I found an eerie uniformity in the way people survive
seemingly impossible circumstances. Decades and sometimes centuries apart,
separated by culture, geography, race, language, and tradition, the most
successful survivors–those who practice what I call “deep survival”– go
through the same patterns... more »
Thin snowpack in U.S. West signals summer of fire and drought – ‘We’re running out of time’
[image: Thin mountain snow in Colorado and across the West could signal
another summer of drought and wildfire in 2013. Photo: Matthew Staver / The
New York Times]
By JACK HEALY
22 February 2013
DENVER (The New York Times) – After enduring last summer’s destructive
drought, farmers, ranchers and officials across the parched Western states
had hoped that plentiful winter snows would replenish the ground and refill
their rivers, breaking the grip of one of the worst dry spells in American
history. No such luck.
Lakes are half full and mountain snows are thin, omens of anothe... more »
Let's call the whole thing off
There's a reason Republicans love to demagogue about "out of control
spending" but refuse to name specific cuts they want to make. It's because,
when asked about specific cuts, the majority of the electorate loves
spending and in fact wants to spend more. If you don't want to dig through
the numbers, Plum Line summarizes the polling.
As it turns out, the people love the very programs Republicans most want to
cut and care the least about the spending Republicans are fighting to
protect. Although there's some small variation, for instance callous cons
care less about helping the poor... more »
Right-wingers all over agree: We don't need no stinkin' democracy!
*
* *by Ken*
In a "Letter from Jerusalem" in the January 21 issue, which appeared just
before the January 22 Israeii election, *New Yorker* editor David Remnick
wrote an interesting piece ("The Party Faithful") that I didn't get around
to reading until *after* that election, with its surprisingly un-extreme
result. Remnick, in his piece, seemed quite prepared for what most everyone
was expecting: the next step in Israel's seemingly unstoppable free fall
into the clutches of its demonic Far Right.
The extremist crazies, for their part, seemed pretty confident that Total
Victory was... more »
Bathroom Success!
I was beginning to think I'd never see the day but my bathroom is now
complete. (Okay, there's still the light fixture but that's a minor issue
compared to the other things I needed to get taken care of.) I had the new
flooring installed this morning and got the new toilet put on late this
afternoon to finish things off.
It's my first upgrading/reno I've ever done and I'm pretty impressed with
the results if I do say so myself. I was hoping to get it all taken care
of for under $1000 and as an added bonus I managed to come in slightly
under that.
And what a huge difference now... more »
Friday Baseball Post
The Friday Baseball Post is really an elsewhere this week; for those who
didn't see it earlier, I wrote something for Baseball Prospectus about Paul
Richards (who regular readers will know I had developed a bit of an
obsession with). So there's that. Bonus fact. You know Walker Cooper,
right? He managed exactly two years, both in the minors. The first year,
with the 1958 Indianapolis Indians, he managed Joe Altobelli, Sam Mele, and
Bobby Winkles. Perhaps not the greatest set of managers of all time, but
that's a still a lot of games managed for one minor league roster, no? Also
-- t... more »
Untitled
*Former Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office purchasing chief, friend of Gusman,
resigns from jail ~Tom Gogola, The Lens*
Academic Freedom and the Challenges of Going Global: LSE Cancels Conference in UAE.
Apparently, the Arab Spring will not come to the UAE this weekend. Planners
of an LSE conference on the implications of the Arab Spring set for this
weekend in UAE have cancelled the event after efforts by senior UAE
officials to control the content. From the BBC: A senior LSE academic told
the BBC he
Continue reading
First Nation Terrance Nelson: Refusing to be the 'house nigger'
Refusing to be the 'house nigger'
Terrance Nelson
By Terrance Nelson
First Nation Roseau River Ojibway
Censored News
Evander Kane has every right to challenge racism in the NHL and in Winnipeg. Despite the attack by Don Cherry upon Evander
Kane for using the "race card", there is no doubt that racism in the
NHL is real. Not long ago Boxing, Baseball, Football, and Basketball
Global Musical Chairs
There's nothing like self-interest to shape one's perspective.
With the ascendancy of the emerging economies: - China, India, Brazil,
Russia, Mexico and South Africa - those of us in the developed world face
the prospect of possibly having to do with less as our rivals muscle us out
of some markets that were once ours for the taking. They've got money,
they want to buy the stuff we want, they'll compete and we're going to have
to pay more for somewhat less.
But imagine what the future holds for the have-nots. They too are going
to have to compete with the new wealth and as the r... more »
Russians Rushing From Syria
*Not
really, but that was the agenda-pushing narrative and impression my
mouthpiece media was trying to give. *
"Rebel fighters give ground to Syrian troops in Aleppo" by Dalal Mawad
and
Damien Cave | New York Times, August 09, 2012
BEIRUT — There were new, disputed accounts regarding an equally
contentious
claim by the insurgents that they had *killed a senior Russian
general*acting as a military adviser to government forces around the
capital,
Damascus.
A *rebel group calling itself the Hawks Special Operations Battalion
said
in a video posted on YouTube* that it had ‘‘eliminate... more »
John Friend on The Real Deal w/ Dr. Jim Fetzer
Last Wednesday, February 13th, I was a guest on Dr. Jim Fetzer's radio
program *The Real Deal*. We discussed the Sandy Hook "shooting" hoax, the
use of fake victims and scripted actors to perpetuate PSYOPS on the public,
and the PSYOP aspects of the alleged Jewish "Holocaust" during WWII. You
can download the entire two hour program *here*.
Ending the day in a healthy way...
*Mark Sisson, of Mark's Daily Apple, has some pretty good suggestions.*
A few things I would add to the list:
- Review your day in your appointment or day book.
- Review what you'll be doing the next day and make a list.
- Put out your clothes and accessories (your kidlets, too.)
- If you need to take things with you the next day (ie: books, reports)
make a pile so you won't forget anything. I routinely forget to put on my
watch if it's not on the pile.
- Say your prayers.
Most of my suggestions focus on the next day, but it's very relaxing to
know that the nex... more »
saucer on the moon
Watch video: UFOs captured on film during the Apollo Program
Frank Herbert, "Litany Against Fear"
"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain."
- Frank Herbert,
"Dune", "Litany Against Fear"
Paulo Coelho, "The Consequences of Fear"
*"The Consequences of Fear"*
by Paulo Coelho
"• *Worry* is a mechanism of our psyche that prompts us to do something.
The prompting energy is fear – usually fear of some consequence. Because it
is fear, the person tends to avoid thinking about it. Thus worry tends to
perpetuate itself in a circular way – the fear causes non-action, and
non-action further causes worry.
• *Anxiety* is a fear whose object is nonspecific or vague, whereas worry
is about something specific and identified. Anxiety is the result of
repeated unprocessed fears that have accumulated in one’s subcons... more »
Some links you'll like
First of all another cultural inventory, Me Blog Write Good, not as
detailed as Pushing Ahead of the Dame or Shabogan Graffiti, but it's the
kind of write-up cum scholarship The Simpsons deserve. It goes well with
the tumblr, Crudely Drawn Filler Material.
Also, check out this American online magazine, Red Wedge, slogan:
Independence of art for the revolution - revolution for the liberation of
art. The current feature is by a very promising young writer you'll be
hearing a lot more of.
"Fear"
*"Fear"*
by The DailyOM
"The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear- fear of the
unknown,
the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is
safety."
- H. L. Mencken.
"Anything worth doing will always have some fear attached to it. For
example, having a baby, getting married, changing careers- all of these
life changes can bring up deep fears. It helps to remember that this type
of fear is good. It is your way of questioning whether you really want the
new life these changes will bring. It is also a potent reminder that
releasing and grievi... more »
Why The GOP's Far Right Base Loves Fringe Lunatics Like Louie Gohmert
New polling from Pew, indicates that the Republican Party-- at it's core
(so values, principles, policies, agenda)-- is woefully out of step with
normal American voters. We're not just talking about the sad antics of
Republican psychopaths and vaudevillians like Virginia Foxx, Louie Gohmert,
Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, Rand Paul and Steve Stockman; we're talking
about the heart and soul of the GOP, their financial backers and the crackpot,
Foxified base of the party. In short, the public disagrees with everything
the Republican Party has been talking about for at least five years. ... more »
"The Case of the 5-Year Old Bubble Gun Terrorist"
* "The Case of the 5-Year Old Bubble Gun Terrorist"*
by Simon Black
"A few weeks ago in the Land of the Free, a five-year-old girl in
Pennsylvania was labeled a terrorist threat. Fortunately for the citizens
of Northumberland County, local authorities managed to detain this
nefarious kindergartener before she could exact her villainous deeds on
thousands of innocents. Authorities were tipped off after someone overheard
a conversation between the girl and one of her classmates in which she
mentioned plans to shoot people… with a bubble gun. Administrators at her
local elementary ... more »
Good News: The Building Trades Unions Aren't Endorsing A Republican In Massachusetts
A few days ago Nate Silver warned in his *NY Times* column that Ed Markey
doesn't have Kerry's Senate seat in the bag. He shows the states as
"likely" Democrat. Only likely... when the GOP can't even find a plausible
candidate and after Obama won 61% of the state against Massachusetts'
former governor. He won every county and every congressional district. The
closest Romney came was in John Tierney's 6th CD where he took 43.9% of the
vote.
Most everyone, though, has written off Markey's primary as a bit of
practice for the main event. He's running against ConservaDem and
anti-Cho... more »
WWE Tea Party Character Upsets Tea Party
Usually when wrestling veers into politics liberals tend to be the butt of
the joke. This time around, however, WWE's Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter are
irritating the real Tea Party by pretending to be right wing blow hards.
*The Majority Report* has more:
Incidentally, the angle may have been, let's say appropriated, from Lucha
Libre USA.
Zapatistas Marcos Them and US VII 'The Smallest of Them All'
Them
and Us VII: The Smallest of Them All
THEM AND US.
VII.- The Smallest of them All.
Espanol: Enlace Zapatista
Introduction.
February 2013.
For several years now, while in the politics of above they fought over
the booty of a shattered nation, while the media was either silent or
lied about what was happening, while the original peoples of this land
went out of fashion and returned
MORE ON PALESTINIAN OSCAR FLAP
Palestinian director Emad Burnat arrived at Los Angeles International
Airport on Tuesday and was unexpectedly held for questioning for nearly an
hour and a half by US immigration officials. According to Burnat, the
immigration agents threatened to deport him and his family if he couldn't
provide adequate proof that he was nominated for an Academy Award. The news
broke after documentary filmmaker Michael Moore tweeted the news and now
the director of "5 Broken Cameras" joins us to give a first-hand account of
what happened.
Feds cut funding, but the tests will survive
Sent to the Washington Post, Feb. 22, 2013
“U.S. schools brace for federal funding cuts,” Feb. 21, did not mention
that despite anticipated cuts of $1.3 billion in federal funding of
education, there are no plans to cut back on the common core standards,
accurately described by Susan Ohanian as “a radical untried curriculum
overhaul and … nonstop national testing.”
The common core requires that all students be connected to the internet in
order to take the tests that enforce the standards. This represents an
investment of billions. New York City and the State of Florida have
budget... more »
ALEC-er Would Give Corps the Right to Vote
From Think Progress
This ALEC legislator was part of “once upon a time” ALEC Public Safety and
Elections Task Force (Voter ID bill). This must be a piece of ALEC “model
legislation” they keep hidden in the ALEC vault.
A bill introduced by Montana state Rep. Steve Lavin would give corporations
the right to vote in municipal elections:
Provision for vote by corporate property owner. (1) Subject to
subsection (2), if a firm, partnership, company, or corporation owns real
property within the municipality, the president, vice president, secretary,
or other designee of the entity i... more »
Flor rosa luciendo su hermosura
[image: Flor rosa luciendo su hermosura]
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Mujer hada en la isla bajo el cielo púrpura
[image: Mujer hada en la isla bajo el cielo púrpura]
*Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de mujeres*
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Honoring the Life of Russell Means, Pine Ridge Feb. 27, 2013
2nd
Honoring - The Life of Russell Means, “Oyate Wacinyapi” (Oglala Lakota)
Censored News
PORCUPINE, S.D. -- The family of Russell Means invites you to join us in
the “2nd Honoring - The Life of Russell Means”. The honoring will
highlight his life, leadership and the eternal fire that he re-ignited
throughout Indian Country. This Honoring is being held in conjunction
with the 40th
BELGIAN MP TELLS TRUTH ABOUT AFRICA POLICY
Laurent Louis, Minister of the Belgian Parliament, delivers the truth about
the French "total re-conquest" of Mali and the reasons that underlie this
latest neo-colonial war in Africa. The 32-year old MP is one of the most
vilified political figures in Europe and after viewing his speech it's easy
to understand why he's being targeted.
You can read the full speech *here*
Casa en el campo con árboles enormes
[image: Casa en el campo con árboles enormes]
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Hermoso paisaje con cabañas junto a las montañas nevadas
[image: Hermoso paisaje con cabañas junto a las montañas nevadas]
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Can't live without a living wage
Happy to see Nancy Pelosi throw down a challenge to the GOP on an issue
that really matters to the little people. She told the media Democrats
would be pushing a minimum wage raise and if GOPers didn't get on board
they could explain it to the voters in 2014.
The strategy is straightforward:
“Just keep it simple. We want to raise the minimum wage, and you don’t. Why
not?”
She understands the politics perfectly:
“There’s an even greater awareness now than there was six years ago about
the disparity of income in our country — and that this disparity is not a
healthy thing for a fa... more »
Mohawk Nation News 'Dirty Tricks'
MNN:
DIRTY TRICKS
Posted on February 22, 2013
Mohawk Nation News
MNN. Feb. 22, 2013. The Infinite Elder “Red-X” found the Secret
Instruction Manual on “Stealing Indigenous Resources”. Here are some of
the colonial strategies.
A Red-X disguise.
Colonial Dirty Trick #1: Call it “democracy”, 51%, and you will keep
control. Organize fancy cocktail parties with open bars, colonial
Edificios a orillas del mar azul
[image: Edificios a orillas del mar azul]
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Mohawk Nation News 'Another Invasion of Canada Coming'
ANOTHER
US INVASION OF CANADA COMING
Posted on February 21, 2013
Mohawk Nation News
MNN. Feb. 19, 2013. In June 2006, US Border Patrol and ATF [Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms] were caught monitoring the Six Nations standoff at
Caledonia. There was no outcry. Our men were charged with interfering
with these foreign agents. Was this part of the groundwork for the
future US invasion of Canada
Campo de flores iluminado por un cielo rojo
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Democracy and culture
I have just been given a copy of The Beatles Esher Demo. It was a very
kind
and thoughtful gift. The Esher Demo was made in spring of 1968 after The
Beatles returned home from India. The songs were recorded in George
Harrison’s home, many of which ended up on the White Album, recorded and
released later that year. The recordings had been passed around as a
bootlegfor a long time and were so almost-official parts of the tape
were
eventually released on the final part of the Anthology.
The interesting thing was as soon as I mentioned I had a copy I was
asked
whether I downloaded it. T... more »
Safe Seats Do Not Mean Gerrymandering
I guess we're not explaining this well enough.
Dave Weigel:
I enjoy the new, #slatepitchy argument that gerrymandering is overrated as
an issue, and that it doesn't influence whether members moderate their
votes or not, but sequestration's putting that to a test.
Kevin Drum:
Hold on a second. Who's saying that? The argument I've heard making the
rounds lately is that gerrymandering is probably responsible for a fairly
modest change in the number of House seats Republicans won last year...But
who's been saying that gerrymandering has no effect on whether members feel
any need to mo... more »
Perros en la nieve junto a los árboles secos
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Gatito felíz tocando piano
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Ciudad de las torres con luces y juegos pirotecnicos
[image: Ciudad de las torres con luces y juegos pirotecnicos]
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Caballos corriendo en la arena de la playa
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Principia Scientific Intl - Atmospheric CO2 Not Linked to Humans says Global and Planetary Journal
'The professor affirmed that the results were nonetheless conclusive:
"changes in CO2 always lagging changes in temperature."
...
Changes in atmospheric CO2 are not tracking changes in human emissions.'
More here -
http://principia-scientific.org/supportnews/latest-news/135-atmospheric-co2-not-linked-to-humans-says-global-and-planetary-journal.html
I
await the BBC's coverage of this news...
with silent lifting mind
"High Flight"
Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of — wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace.
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.
And, while with silent, lifting mind I've ... more »
What a real space Alien looks like
Lo que un real extraterrestre se parece.
*ما هو الفضاء الحقيقي الغريبة يبدو*
مخلوقات غريبة تشبه اليرقات تحت الماء مصغرة
• قد نجا يجري المغلي في 150 درجة وبرود في -200
• اسم يأتي من مخالب صغيرة في نهاية أرجلهم
• تخيل أنك تعيش لأكثر من 200 سنة، رحلات إلى الفضاء على قيد الحياة والبقاء
أملس بسبب الظروف الأكثر تطرفا على هذا الكوكب.
• وجود المستحيل بالنسبة لك أو لي، ولكن لا يصدق كل يوم لمجرد صغيرة الحيوانات التي
تعيش في الماء، والمعروفة باسم tardigrades، أكثر جرأة المخلوقات على وجه الأرض كنت
قد سمعت أبدا من.
• يشبه اليسروع تحت الماء مصغرة، tardigrades تتباهى مخالب صغير في نهاية
أرجله... more »
Not Green, For Now
I had to resign my membership in the Green Party to do it, but now I'm a
Liberal Supporter. I didn't join the Liberal Party and I won't unless
something radical happens but I registered as a Liberal Supporter in order
to vote for Joyce Murray as party leader.
Murray is the only candidate who is remotely progressive. She's the only
one who isn't a bitumen booster. She's the only candidate who has garnered
the support of two people I truly respect - Lloyd Axworthy and David
Suzuki. She's a fellow British Columbian.
That said, I expect Trudeau will win and carry on the Liberals' m... more »
Note to Bahrain: Release Prisoners and Provide More Social Services
Thanks to a very awesome grad student of mine, I just realized that last
week marked the second anniversary of the start of the Bahrain uprising.
Fueled by protests in Tunisia and Egypt, citizens of this small and very
beautiful island state took to the streets to demand political changes.
For two years, the protests
Continue reading
Steve Israel Lets His Slip Show On Which Republican Banditos He'll Be Targeting In 2014
Last cycle, Israel and his incompetent DCCC stumbled and fumbled their way
through the election with disastrous, narrow targeting, wasting Democratic
resources on red districts with unelectable Blue Dogs and leaving at least
a dozen winnable seats on the table because the conservative and
self-serving Israel, a "former" member of the Blue Dog reactionaries
himself, hates progressives. He adamantly refused to go after any senior
Republican policy-makers or committee chairs in charge of the Republican
policy agenda. But not only did he not commit ritual seppuku after his
failure, h... more »
Common Core State Standards Primer
Disclaimer: The publishers of this document, Truth in American Education,
have some very disconcerting right-wing membership and advisors. I mean
really right wing, like Heritage, Koret, the Teabaggers, and other assorted
birthers and Birchers. However, this Common Core State Standards Primer
document appears on the Hoosiers Against Common Core site that Professor
Ravitch mentions in her recent Two Determined Moms in Indiana Take On
Common Core post. Like the old adage: "even a broken clock is right twice a
day," this flyer provides factual information on the Corporate, er... I
mean... more »
Know Your Rights Everyone!
Know Your Rights FAQ – Guide to Peaceful Demonstrations and Protests in
Pennsylvania
All persons have rights under the United States Constitution to freedom of
speech, to peacefully assemble, and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances. This guide addresses some common questions that
arise with respect to demonstrations and protests. It is not comprehensive
and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not intended as
legal advice and should not be so construed.
Do we need a permit to demonstrate?
You need a permit if you are demonstrating in a public par... more »
Shame, Shame
By Capt. Fogg
Remember when anyone like the Dixie Chicks, for instance, or you and I
expressed any sense of shame for any actions our country may have taken or
not taken: any shame for having elected Caligula Jr. the Warpresident?
Well certainly the great weight of Limbaugh and the fire-farting far right
came down on such unfortunates back in the day when expressing pessimism
about the Stock Market was evidence of being an "America Hater." Even
peripheral actions like perhaps wanting to publish the names of soldiers
killed in the early days of our Shokinaw war in Iraq was disgrace... more »
Maternity Leave, Iran, and American Exceptionalism
Source:
“Children’s Chances: How Countries Can Move From Surviving to
Thriving”
by Jody Heymann With Kristen McNeill
On February 17, 2013, The New York Times published a fascinating and,
quite frankly, damning map depicting the United States’ retrograde
attitude toward paid maternity leave in comparison to the rest of the
world.In simple terms, the United States is a global outlier: the only
Hitting it out of the park...
*by Bob Belvedere, at Camp of the Saints - and we thank him!*
*Masterminds, Libertines, And Thugs *
The Square, Egypt's Revolution Doc with Sundance Winner Dir. Jehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaim directed the 2004 documentary *"Control Room."* Her new
documentary is about the Egyptian revolution called, *"The Square."* It won
the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Bring Your Own Doc : The Square, Egypt's Revolution Doc with Sundance
Winner Dir. Jehane Noujaim. Source: TheLipTV.
"The Square," Filming The Egyptian Revolution
Dangers of Filming in Egypt's Revolution: THE SQUARE
The Social Science of Climate Change
What does social science have to do with climate change? Quite a bit,
actually. Climate change denialism has given social scientists rich
pickings to scrutinize, pick apart and analyze.
One finding they've reached is that the ranks of climate change denialists
are heavily populated with conspiracy theorists. It's a hoax, a
conspiracy, you see, the whole theory of anthropogenic global warming.
And research that shows denialists = conspiracists, well that's a
conspiracy too.
*The strongest finding in the survey was that ideological belief in an
unregulated free market tended... more »
Formation flying: skydivers with airplanes...
address-withheld@my.opera.com.invalid (Dr. John v. Kampen) at - 11 hours ago
Link: http://youtu.be/fNSQCWPyGVA
I am still waiting for the wingsuit skydivers to land on their feet without
parachutes. I am sure some new, innovative gadget will enable this!
Enjoy a cool weekend!
John
Always Wanted to Visit "The Big Easy"?
Many of us have at one time or another wanted to visit New Orleans, *The
Big Easy*. If you still want to go, you might want to go sooner rather
than later.
Louisiana, you see, is experiencing a major problem with sea-level rise,
far more than state officials expected.
*Stunning new data not yet publicly released shows Louisiana losing its
battle with rising seas much more quickly than even the most pessimistic
studies have predicted to date.*
*While state officials continue to argue over restoration projects to save
the state’s sinking, crumbling coast, top researchers at the Na... more »
Some Friday Boogie Woogie...
*done right.*
Famous Boogie Woogie piano player Silvan Zingg and award winning dancers William
Mauvais and Maéva Truntzer.
*For more fabulous Boogie Woogie check out:*
*Dona Oxford shows the piano no mercy in this boogie woogie masterpiece. *
Bless Me Ultima: The Movie
*
*
By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
First a confession: I was not a Chicano Studies major when I attended UCLA
back in the day… Probably for that reason, I have never read *Bless Me
Ultima, *cover to cover… That’s probably an unpardonable sin, akin to me
never having donned a Zoot Suit, etc.
But let’s talk about the movie, set during World War II in northern New
Mexico.
Yet, for me, the context is always Arizona.
Just an FYI*: Bless Me Ultima* is one of the books that was at the core of Tucson’s
Raza Studies curriculum. It had been previously banned around the country,
but th... more »
Voucher Gospels in Indiana Government
**Guest Post by Doug Martin
*SCHOOL VOUCHER BULLYING, PURE POLITICS, AND THE INDIANA OFFICE OF
MANAGEMENTAND BUDGET*
When it comes to the corporate-religious-political bullying for the
Amway/Walmart/ALEC/Overstock.com/Koch Brothers assault on Indiana school
children, the Republicans will stop short of nothing. House Bill 1342 was
a perfect example. Having moved out of committee but finally killed off
yesterday by GOP House Speaker Brian Bosma, this bill sought to strip
Indiana superintendent of public instruction Glenda Ritz and the Department
of Education of all power to monito... more »
Catch of the Day
The Catch goes to Jane Mayer, who turns up a nice example of Ted Cruz going
all McCarthy on the Harvard Law School faculty from, she says, a speech two
and a half years ago:
He then went on to assert that Obama, who attended Harvard Law School four
years ahead of him, “would have made a perfect president of Harvard Law
School.” The reason, said Cruz, was that, “There were fewer declared
Republicans in the faculty when we were there than Communists! There was
one Republican. But there were twelve who would say they were Marxists who
believed in the Communists overthrowing the United ... more »
The results are in
We are on our journey, discovering what it is to love. It is not what
you’ve been told. Words like sacrifice, selfless and obey have managed to
crawl into the same sentence with love, honor and cherish. They are
interlopers, planted there to infuse the field with doubt, debt, fear and
worth. Love is a field of wildflowers. It self generates and spreads with
random abandon, knowing no boundaries, borders or requirements. Love
simply is. Love is what you are.
You came here to be part of a grand experiment. In it, you’ve been
surrounded, since birth, with falsehoods ... more »
The Perspective of Loss
There is something to say
At times like these
Something like “I’m so sorry
For your loss”
But “I’m so sorry”
Never seems to sum it up
Doesn’t touch the size
Of the pain
Or the scope
Of the void
The focus, you see,
At times like these,
Is on the sorrow
Of the Ones
Left Behind.
As it very well should be.
Those Ones Left Behind
Will never hear
Or see, or touch,
Or smell him again.
They don’t get to say
“I love you”
Or, “You make me so mad!”
Or anything, anymore.
And so we are sorry
For the loss,
For the pain,
For the void.
For his family,
His mother,
His Ones Left Behind.
. . .
What ... more »
The Butcher's Price of the War on Drugs
Mexico's drug wars have been brutal. Upwards of 70,000 have been killed,
often brutally, usually near the U.S. border.
Now it's emerging that another 27,000 have simply disappeared.
*Combined with the 70,000 dead acknowledged recently by the new
administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto, who succeeded Calderon on
Dec. 1, the number of the disappeared makes the Calderon tenure the
bloodiest period in Mexican history since the Mexican Revolution of the
early 20th century.*
*On Thursday, human rights campaigners said the numbers place Mexico far
above some of the better-kno... more »
When does detention commence?
*R. v. MacMillan*, 2013 ONCA 109 has a useful passage on the meaning of
detention and when detention commences:
As is made clear in *R. v. Suberu*, 2009 SCC 33, [2009] 2 S.C.R. 460, at
para. 23, even where a person is under investigation for criminal activity
and is asked questions, the person is not necessarily detained. In the
absence of a legal obligation to comply, detention arises where a
reasonable person would conclude by reason of the state conduct that he or
she had no choice but to comply.
Unarmed citizens: A criminal speaks...
*listen up here.*
Street thugs, gang members, and the like are armed to the teeth. Take a
look at the murder rate in Chicago. But our government wants *you, *Mr.
and Mrs. law-abiding citizen*, *to turn in *your* guns.
Not happening...
If the soy latte drinking libtards don't want to have guns, well - just
don't have them. Isn't that what they say about abortion? And while
you're at it, how about posting a prominent sign in your front yard
announcing to your friendly gang members that you hate guns and would
never, ever have one in your house.
THIS IS REALLY SICK
On Sept. 11, 2001, Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Couch’s friend died co-piloting
the second plane to hit the World Trade Center. Soon after, Couch became
one of the first military prosecutors assigned to the U.S. military base at
Guantánamo Bay to prosecute men alleged to have carried out the terrorist
plot. He ultimately would refuse to prosecute one detainee: Mohamedou Ould
Slahi. “It became clear that what had been done to Slahi amounted to
torture,” Couch says. “Specifically, he had been subjected to a mock
execution. He had sensory deprivation. He had environmental manipulation,
tha... more »
What are the Japanese Hiding at Fukushima?
*High radiation bars decommissioning of Fukushima plant *February 21, 2013 By
HISASHI HATTORI/
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302210064
[Excerpted] on March 14, U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos asked the prime
minister’s office to allow NRC experts to be permanently stationed at the
office to cooperate with the Japanese government in handling the crisis.
But his request was politely declined.
That, along with the Japanese government’s reluctance toward information
disclosure, provoked the criticism within the U.S. government that Japan
was hiding so... more »
This really ticks me off...
really.
“If We Can’t Cut This, Then We’re In Big, Big Trouble…”
Southern Man Plays In The Mud
The greatest fear Southern Man has about living out at The Land is not the
isolation or lack of water or plumbing or heat in The Trailer or
nonexistent cell or phone service - it's that the unimproved "driveway" -
native red clay and shale - that runs back to The Barn gets slicker than
snot when it rains and he worries about getting in and out. So far so good
- there have been a few slippery mornings but he's always made it up to the
gravel road OK. And having lived out there for several months now the
driveway has gotten pretty packed. But every time Southern Man wakes in the
middl... more »
Friday Morning Linkage
Here’s the round-up: The United Nations refuses to pay compensation to
victims of the cholera it brought to Haiti. Not really a surprise. Read
Jonathon Katz’s The Big Truck That Went By. Joshua Landis’ survey of the
debate over counting casualties in Syria. There is a strong sense that the
numbers are under-reported. Megan Price
Continue reading
ONLY THING I HAVE LEFT IS HOPE.......
Occupy Asheville, North Carolina and VFP are alive and well in 2013.
Smog causes surge in heart deaths: study – ‘We found that for every 10 microgrammes per cubic meter in PM2.5, there was a 20-percent increase in the death rate’
[image: An aerial view of buildings amid the haze of pollution engulfing
Wuhan, in central China's Hubei province. Photo: AFP / Getty Images]
PARIS, 20 February 2013 (AFP) – Exposure to higher levels of fine
particulates -- the airborne pollution that is an emerging problem in many
Asian cities -- causes a sharp rise in deaths from heart attacks, a study
published on Wednesday said.
Research published in the *European Heart Journal* pointed the finger at
so-called PM2.5 pollution, which comprises tiny particles measuring 2.5
micrometres across or less.
They are mainly generated... more »
Southern Man Enjoys The Decline
Frustrated economist Aaron Clarey has a new book - *Enjoy The Decline* -
and has been posting photos of readers with the book on his blog, Captain
Capitalism. So Southern Man took his newly-arrived copy and the new camera
to Dave and Busters a few weeks ago and conned one of the guys into taking
a couple of posed photos (and a good sport he was about it, too,
considering that his girlfriend is in the pic) and sent one in to see if
Clarey would post it.
He did!
NASA satellites find alarming freshwater losses in Middle East, totaling 144 cubic kilometers in 7 years – ‘If it’s not replenished, eventually it will be gone’
[image: Variations in total water storage from normal, in millimeters, in
the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, as measured by NASA's Gravity
Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, from January 2003
through December 2009. Graphic: NASA / UC Irvine/ NCAR]
Pasadena, California, 15 February 2013 (JPL) –
A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites
finds that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater
reserves rapidly during the past decade.
Scientists at the University of California, Irvine; NASA's Goddard Space
Flight Cent... more »
Keystone XL pipeline will have no ‘impact on climate change’, TransCanada boss says
[image: Syncrude Canada Ltd's tar sand production facility in Alberta.
TransCanada, the company that wants to build a controversial oil pipeline
from western Canada to Texas claimed on 19 February 2013 that shutting down
the oil sands at its source would have no measurable effect on global
warming. Photo: Veronique de Viguerie / Getty Images]
20 February 2013 (AP) – The company that wants to build a controversial oil
pipeline from western Canada to Texas said on Tuesday said that shutting
down the oil sands at its source would have no measurable effect on global
warming.
"You cou... more »
Challenge for ORF: Protect Tibetan Buddhism
DAMMIT JANET! has a project for the new Office of Religious PanderingFreedom
.
Speak up about assaults on Tibetans from guerrilla Xian missionaries.
Tibet is the K2 of the evangelical Christian world – missionaries see it as
a formidable yet crucial undertaking, a last spiritual frontier. Of the 400
foreigners living in Xining, most are missionaries, estimates Chris
[pseudonym for missionary interviewed].
Proselytising has been illegal in China since 1949, when Mao Zedong
declared western missionaries "spiritual aggressors" and deported them en
masse, so today's evangelists work u... more »
A Vision of Hope Revisited - A Dream of Tomorrow Enfolding Today
A Vision of Hope - Revisited
*Now, I will share a personal insight with all who will listen. One day at
a time of down heartedness, I thought of our current world situation and
what would become of me and also what would become of Humankind in the
years ahead.*
I saw myself in my minds eye as one of many extended both long back into
time and long forward into the future. It all began with a dream of
freedom countless centuries ago. After the dream had begun, each added to
the strength of the dream by adding their contributions and energy to human
community thus keeping the dr... more »
Don’t believe in climate change? Talk to a clam digger. ‘Pray that the winds change soon.’
[image: A worker shucks a fresh oyster at the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. in June
2007 in Point Reyes Station, California. Photo: Justin Sullivan / Getty
Images]
By Maria Dolan
18 February 2013
(Slate) – Behind the counter at Seattle’s Taylor Shellfish Market, a brawny
guy with a goatee pries open kumamoto, virginica, and shigoku oysters as
easily as other men pop beer cans. David Leck is a national oyster shucking
champion who opened and plated a dozen of them in just over a minute (time
is added for broken shells or mangled meat) at the 2012 Boston
International Oyster Shucking Compe... more »
IN HARMONY AND UNITY
- I love this photo and the caption that came with it described a scene
in Africa where some white person put a basket of fruit under a tree and
then tried to get the kids to have a race to see who would win the fruit.
The children objected saying they could not imagine having one person "win"
the fruit while all the others went without. So the kids sat down in a
circle and shared the fruit with one another. Tell me - is it really our
nature to cut each others throat or are we cooperative beings? Is
capitalism's dog-eat-dog culture the appropriate answe... more »
Today! 5PM Vigil in Milford at the Light
Tonight at 5PM there will be a Vigil to Mourn Our Losses at the
intersection of Broad and Harford in Milford PA. Please feel free to bring
a poem, prayer, song, story, or thoughts. Candle donations are much
appreciated. The location is outside the former Yale Forestry School
started by Gifford Pinchot, father of the American Conservation Movement,
who made his homestead in Milford.
One week after tree clearing started scarring its way across the land, we
must pause to hear the stories of the impacted residents and remember our
rich history of respect for the land that sustains us. ... more »
Read Stuff, You Should
Happy Birthday to Jonathan Demme, 69. I don't understand why Paul Le Mat
didn't become a star, but I guess that's for another day.
So let's get to the good stuff:
1. Ross Douthat on Republican reformers and the states.
2. Good Conor Friedersdorf piece on the GOP-aligned partisan press.
3. They send letters, don't they? Official ones. Dave Weigel on a 19th
century custom that works for the 21st century.
4. And I'm very proud of my brother's obsession with politicians at work.
Distressed Photo Jewelry Tray
A little while ago, I decided I needed a tray on my dresser where I could
place my jewelry, such as my wedding ring, when I took them off for the
night. I am a sucker for anything with my little girl's face on it, so I
made this distressed tray with her picture using Mod Podge Photo Transfer.
I expected this project to be hard, but the hardest part ended up being
waiting for it to dry! It was worth the wait. I loved the results.
For this project you will need:
A wooden tray
A picture printed on regular paper from an inkjet printer
Mod Podge Photo Transfer
Paint
Sandpaper
With ... more »
California's Racist Republican Congressmen Have Gotten A Wake-Up Call
Usually when you think of blatantly offensive racists in politics, you'd
think-- and with good cause-- of Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina,
Arkansas... the unreconstructed Confederate states covered by Title 5 of
the Civil Rights Act. [See discussion above, featuring Ari Berman.] But if
you live in California, you're probably aware that the Republicans have
fought a vicious battle against equality for Hispanics for many years and
you've seen how it's contributed to the party's shriveled status throughout
the state.
In recent years, due in great part to the wonders of gerryman... more »
The Stupidest Staff in Congress
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Lawrence O'Donnell pretty much covered this well with his usual
cheerful nastiness. To recap, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's
staff sent a letter to the DoD asking for clarification on a story they'd
supposedly read about GI Bill benefits being given to detainees at Gitmo.
The story was just that: a piece of satire on the well-known Duffel Blog,
"the military version of the Onion."
After making merry with it for about 6 or 7 minutes, O'Donnell then
gets serious and makes a good point: The l... more »
Support Mississippi Parents For Vaccine Rights
Source of Poster:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Living-with-Common-Sense/154468647938561
*About:*
*MS parents do not have the legal right to select, delay, or opt-out of
vaccines unless they homeschool. There are 48 states that DO allow that
right. We want to be the 49th.*
We are a group of loving parents who are pushing for the right to make
vaccine decisions for our own children without losing their right to an
education.
We are not "anti-vaccine"; we are "pro informed consent" and "pro parental
rights" to choose what medical procedures our children undergo and when.
Some o... more »
We're off on a mission of national import!
*FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2013*
*Heading toward the north on Amtrak:* As you may already have heard, we're
off on a mission of national import, heading toward the north on Amtrak.
We expect to post tomorrow. We recommend Paul Krugman's column, in which he
knocks down the usual experts.
On this national holiday weekend, did we note a few sly Hollywood
references? Hooray for Hollywood! Even if by-the-Potomac!
*Coming:* We accept the Hornaday Challenge!
Untitled
*La. coast facing grim reality ~Bob Marshall*
*‘Fiscal Hawks’ fly to Jindal’s right, denounce governor’s budgeting ~Tyler
Bridges, The Lens*
*Oil Industry Meeting In New Orleans Urged To Increase Safety, Coastal
Restoration Efforts*
*The Goodnight Show with John Calhoun ~Sharon Litwin, NolaVie*
*Rock 'n' Roll Marathon brings music and runners to the streets*
*This week @ Zeitgeist - Two power films about social justice and
incarceration*
*Second Fry-Day: Our Lady of the Rosary*
*Sunday: CTC Steppers annual second line parade ~Big Red Cotton, Gambit *
PA TV removes terrorists' pictures from a video following PMW's exposure - PMW Bulletins
Shining a light on these scum can work.
http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8592
Greed And Secrecy
The Neo Conservative revolution has spawned an alliance between government
and corporations. What that means in practice is that we now have an
alliance between Greed and Secrecy: Michael Harris writes:
The sad fact is that secrecy and information control are the twin plagues
of our age. Elites get to run their own shows and, for the most part, write
their own report cards. It’s how Montreal got to be a giant Mob restaurant.
It’s how the Catholic Church preached morality and concealed sexual abuse
in its parish shadows for decades. It’s how the cod were wiped out. It’s
how Stephe... more »
Standing for Justices of the Peace
In Nova Scotia Presiding Justices of the Peace Association v. Nova Scotia
(Attorney General), 2013 NSSC 40 the Nova Scotia Justice of the Peace
association sued the Provincial Crown for various relief. The Crown (quite
contrary to the weight of Canadian case law - some of which I have argued)
said the Association had no standing.
The Court disagreed:
[52] The justices can sue the government. One, or a group of them, could
have brought this proceeding. However, taking the issue to court through
their association is more effective. That way, the justices speak with a
single v... more »
Basis for leave for second appeal in summary conviction matters
R. v. Bresnark, 2013 ONCA 110 holds:
[5] A second appeal in summary conviction proceedings is the
exception, not the rule. *R. v. R.(R.)* (2008), 90 O.R. (3d) 641. First,
the matter in issue must raise a question of law alone. Even if the
proposed appeal involves a question of law alone, there are only two types
of cases in which leave to appeal may be granted. One is when the matter
raised has significance to the administration of justice beyond the
particular case and the grounds of appeal are at least arguable. The other
is where the merits appear to be very strong –... more »
Obama needs a Plan B for Syria: Drawing In Lebanon?
*Could
the car bomb in Damascus be "Plan B" in practice??*
*Washington Post*
*The first element* of such a strategy should be to recognize that, if
any
prospect remains to change the calculations of Assad and his gang, it
will
be because of bold leadership from Washington, not Moscow —
specifically,*the use of limited military force, such as airstrikes, to
neutralize
Assad’s airpower,* protect civilians in liberated areas and *underscore
that the Syrian leader’s cause is hopeless.*
Just as a diplomatic settlement was impossible in Bosnia until NATO
airstrikes pushed Slobodan Milosev... more »
India’s Rice Revolution: India’s Poorest State Grows World Record Amounts of Rice – with no GM, no Herbicide by John Vidal
Sumant Kumar photographed in Darveshpura, Bihar, India. Photograph: Chiara
Goia for Observer Food Monthly
India’s Rice Revolution: India’s Poorest State Grows World Record Amounts
of Rice – with no GM, no Herbicide
by John Vidal for the Guardian, UK
Health Impact News Daily, 22 February 2013
*Excerpts:*
Sumant Kumar was overjoyed when he harvested his rice last year. There had
been good rains in his village of Darveshpura in north-east India and he
knew he could improve on the four or five tonnes per hectare that he
usually managed. But every stalk he cut on his paddy field near... more »
Huge Car Bomb in Syria & US support of Terrorism
21 February 2013Last updated at 06:13 ET
A huge car bomb in the Syrian capital Damascus has sent smoke billowing
across the capital's skyline.
Syrian media and pan-Arab satellite station al-Jazeera have spoken of
deaths and injuries resulting from the blast, which state media have blamed
on "terrorists".
*Earlier, Russia and Arab League leaders offered to broker direct talks
between the Syrian government and its opponents. *
*Russia and the Arab League (not the GCC) offered to broker talks.*
*What party/ies are not interested in a political settlement ?*
*
*Unsurprisingly, the *US ... more »
Should We Condemn DRM to Room 101?
The latest lawsuit to surface in the US has been raised by three
independent US book stores and is against Amazon and the major trade
publishers. It is done in the name of all independent bookstore and
although it would appear little more than a great PR stunt.
At the core of their claim they assert that Amazon has acted with
publishers to effectively create a monopoly in the marketplace and control
prices through the use of their proprietary DRM (digital rights
management). The logic begs the question as to whether the stores
understand the marketplace, technology and also what... more »
HYDERABAD BOMBING - INSIDE JOB
*Feroze Mithiborwala*
*Hyderabad bombing: Looks like another false flag*
By* Feroze Mithiborwala*
"The strategic and political target of the terror attack, is the historic
2-day Strike of the Working classes, where more than 12 crore or 120
million workers both from the organized & unorganized sectors participated
and brought India to a halt.
"This working class strike surmounted all calculations due to the scale at
which the enraged working classes participated.
[image: Mumbai's Falkland Road: a stall]
*"This strike has shaken up the corporate-political elite and that is why
... more »
Senkakus Stuff + Revolting Video =UPDATED=
*East coast rift valley of Taiwan.*
A rare light moment from the Senkaku mess this week as Taiwan-based
"activists" seek to sue the Japanese government for "emotional distress"
caused by Japanese resistance to their illegal and provocative incursion
into the Senkakus last month. Gee, d'ya suppose someday all 1.3 billion
Chinese might sue the world for emotional distress?
Maybe I shouldn't give them any ideas....
From the realm of propaganda: Stephen Harner in Forbes with a transparently
awful piece on how China really owns the Senkakus. It follows the standard
Chinese propaganda l... more »
Cauliflower and Carrot Soup
*Cauliflower and Carrot Soup*
My new vegetable and fruit boxes are great. I order them with my groceries
and always get a fun assortment of fruits and vegetables. This week I got
some cauliflower and a lot of carrots. So it became soup time. This soup is
loaded with flavors and nutrients (remember to use the cauliflower leaves
if you can, very nutritious). Super easy and warming!
Serves 7
- 50g butter substitute or butter
- 1 red onion, roughly sliced
- 8 medium carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 cauliflower head (with leaves if available), chopped into large chunks
- ... more »
Italian Comedian, Beppe Grillo Shakes Up Italian Politics
*I've been following this guy for a number of years. His blog is hilarious.
He looks a bit like the late American comedian John Belushi. To put Beppe
Grillo in perspective he's formed a political party called the 5 Star
Movement (M5S) protesting corruption in Italian politics. It'd be like
Steven Colbert running for office in the USA. He popped on Bloomberg TV
early this morning, Silvio Berlusconi called him a "mytho-maniac"
[conspiracy theorist], showing that he's clearly panicking at the impact
Beppe is having on politics in Italy. I didn't know Beppe was running a
politi... more »
Bright pupils 'falling two years behind peers in Far East' - Telegraph
'Bright schoolchildren from England are falling two years behind their
peers in other countries by the end of secondary school, according to
research.
Figures show that the cleverest pupils often match the best performers in
leading Far Eastern nations by the age of 10 in mathematics but then start
to lose ground.
By the time they reach 16, children are the equivalent of two years behind
those in counties such as Hong Kong and Taiwan, it emerged.'
Per
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9885577/Bright-pupils-falling-two-years-behind-peers-in-Far-East.html
The du... more »
CHILD ABUSE - PHILIPPINES
The USA and UK are not much different from the Philippines when its comes
to child sexual abuse and political corruption.
"Recently, prosecutors in Olongapo City dismissed trafficking-of-persons
charges against two US citizens, who had held two girls captive as sex
partners for four years since they were ten years old.
"The prosecutors also failed to instigate charges of child sexual abuse...
"The suspects went free...
"Politicians and accused suspects give journalists brown envelopes stuffed
with money to suppress the truth."
Sex, corruption in the Philippines -Jul 29, 2010
*
... more »
BILL BROCKBRADER SENTENCING ON FEB 25 CALL FOR SUPPORT
I received the following from Scott Molloy, Bill Brockbader's sentencing is
coming up on February 25th (this coming Monday). Bill needs your prayers,
meditations, encouragemnet and energy at this time. Perhaps we can focus
on the judge and others involved and bring this charade to a positive
conclusion and Eva can have her husband back. -AK
BILL BROCKBRADER SENTENCING ON FEB 25 CALL FOR SUPPORT
Hi friends,
I just did this interview with Eva on what is going on with her and Bill of
late. You may have seen the blog by AK recently explaining some of this.
Eva asked me to get th... more »
Corporate War - Question of the Day - did the Hybridist kill the Electric Car?
what at first seems like a stupid question might not necessarily be...
"Did the Hybridist kill the Electric Car?"
Why am I asking this? Well, remember the eighties? I do. In the eighties,
in fact as early as the late seventies, electric vehicles (or at least
research into such) started to arrive in driving magazines, like a promise
of the future. We got all the tech specs about battery types, illustrated
cutaways, etc. Drag coefficients were prominent, as I remember, suggesting
that 'the way a car cuts through the air' might be more important than how
many people can sit across a co... more »
Big Sky Locavores
In the past, demand for local food was undeveloped and farmers found
themselves competing with truckers happy to often dump in order to not have
to haul it home. The farmers advantage was that their product was fresh and
gave the retailer days more to sell the product.
That demand is now developing and it does not take too much to make
serious inroads in the local market share. Also the cost of local
processing is now very competitive also. Just what does it take for a local
farmer to can a field of tomatoes himself? Add in various other crops and
local partners with thei... more »
China Rent a Boyfriend
What is most delightful about the Chinese experience is that it can be
compared to our experience since 1960. Recall that our society was also
profoundly organized along traditional lines up to then. It was never
satisfactory but it was how it was. The same is also true elsewhere around
the world.
Most of it has to do with birth control actually freeing women from
biological necessity for the decade of their twenties. This is a huge
global sociological experiment that is sometimes disturbing, but also
sometimes surprising and mostly welcome.
Thus in a pressing sexi... more »
Dogs Understand Human Perspective
Dogs of course do make a study of the family that they have become part
of, or at least the smart ones do. In fact the whole subject of dog
cleverness needs to be properly investigated. The best are not automatons
simply channeled.
We had an excellent farm dog who simply chose to not eat what we would not
eat ourselves or directly give him. He still hunted out the pests, but then
brought them to us for disposal. And he always acted in an intelligent
manner.
Knowing this, the following item is unsurprising and is actually a nice
exercise in experimental design to ferret... more »
Knights of Malta Confronts 900 Years
This is a delightful echo of history but also a sound idea that needs to
be honored and seriously considered. It is obvious in the modern world that
an invitation to actually join this order or any such like order is an
invitation to conduct philanthropy. Yet it is also true that philanthropy
is almost a recently popular idea amount the newly enriched of the present
world.
Engaging the state in providing honors for this clearly beneficial
behavior is extremely attractive and should be encouraged and policed.
Medieval honors are out of time and place but in a cash poor sy... more »
Your Nightly Dose of Reality
This
is the first "Your Nightly Dose of Reality."
In the video below, Hillary Mann Leverett, former senior member of the
National Security Council and co-author of, *"Going to Tehran: Why the
United States Must Come to Terms with the Islamic Republic of
Iran,"*speaks to Al Jazeera about upcoming talks between Iran and the
P5+1 in
Kazakhstan.
Also, for more analysis, read the latest article by Flynt Leverett and
Hillary Mann Leverett, *"U.S. Hostility Towards the Islamic Republic of
Iran Only Courts Strategic Disaster—for America."*
Hagel Declined to Sign Schumer Letter in 2007 Asking Arab Allies to Recognize Israel
'Former Sen. Chuck Hagel declined to sign a letter circulated by Sen. Chuck
Schumer (D-NY) in 2007 calling upon then-Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice to press Arab allies of the U.S. to recognize Israel's right to exist
"and not use such recognition as a bargaining chip for future Israeli
concessions." '
Also '... he failed to join 96 Senators in a critical pro-Israel letter to
President Bill Clinton in 2000.'
Anybody in an doubt as to why Barack Hussein Obama chose Chuck Hagel as his
Secretary for Defense?
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/02/21/Hagel-Declined-to-Sign-... more »
This Could Be a Smear, It Could Be a Conspiracy, or It Could Be a Clerical Tsunami - Gay Blackmail in the Vatican?
The Pope and the gay clergy scandal?
The Rome daily *La Repubblica* reports that Pope Benny's hasty departure
from the Holy See could be linked to a network of gay prelates in the
Vatican, some of whom were being blackmailed by outsiders.
*The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was
going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals
delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair.*
*Last May Pope Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and charged
with having stolen and leaked papal correspondence that depicted t... more »
ROTHSCHILDS SPLIT
The Rothschilds would appear to be split.
David de Rothschild, the head of the French branch of the family, took
control of NM Rothschild and the bank’s holding company when former
chairman Sir Evelyn de Rothschild retired a decade ago.
It was during Sir Evelyn’s era that a high-profile split occurred in the
family.
Evelyn fell out with his cousin Jacob (now Lord Rothschild).
Jacob went off to found his own financial house, Rothschild Investment
Trust (RIT).
It's a dynasty drama at Rothschild plc ...
*Jacob Rothschild's son Nat Rothschild has just lost his battle to regain
contro... more »
Healthcare Competition 11: Postscript to the Filipino Horror Story
* This is my guest post today in antipinoy.com
-------------
Tuesday this week, an article from the Inquirer, Filipino horror story,
was circulated and shared in facebook and other social media. It was
written by Dr. Korina Ada D. Tanyu, 27, a pediatrics resident at the
Philippine General Hospital (PGH).
It was indeed a heart breaking story about a five years old boy named
Jamjam from a poor family in Cavite, who has been coughing for two months
already, later losing weight and has recurring fever. The mother brought
him to the health center, the boy was given carbocisteine, the ... more »
BIRMINGHAM BOMBERS
*Irfan Naseer, Irfan Khalid and Ashik Ali.*
"An Al Qaeda bomber sent to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner was actually a
double agent ... liaising with the CIA." - www.dailymail.co.uk/
On 21 February 2013, a London jury convicted three young British men of
being ringleaders of an al-Qaida-inspired plot.
The idea was to explode knapsack bombs in crowded parts of Birmingham,
England's second-largest city.
The men had pleaded not guilty, but were recorded discussing plans for
attacks that one said would be "another 9/11."
Another 9/11: Birmingham Trio Irfan Nasser, Irfan Khalid and Ashik... more »
Think About It
*Blessings Everyone:*
*I edited together a collection of videos, thoughts and ideas hoping to
inspire thinking, instead of knowing. Seeing instead of just looking.
listening instead of just hearing.*
*Then we can make this a better world one SMILE at a time.*
*UNTIL we 'STOP' being a part of the problem, we'll NEVER be a part of the
solution...
As SOON as we 'STOP' being a part of the problem, we immediately become the
solution.*
*DARE TO DREAM and BE 'NOT AFRAID'.*
*your humble servant, *
*ancient clown
a.k.a. Pope Vincent*
Alberta queue-jumping inquiry update: Who pays $10,000 a year for yoga and diet advice?
Members of the public line up at Forzani and MacPhail Colon Cancer
Screening Centre. While it is true there are no actual well-heeled clients
of the Helios Wellness Clinic in this lineup, actual lines of Calgarians
awaiting medical tests may nevertheless not be exactly as illustrated.
Below. Retired justice John Z. Vertes (Radio Canada). Can ... more »
Premier Brad Wall's Government Seems To Be Repeating The Same Scandals That Plagued Premier Grant Devine In the '80's
*(Brad Wall served as a Ministerial Assistant in the Grant Devine
Conservative Administration)*
*Grant Devine's Giga Text Scandal - 1989*
In 1989 the Saskatchewan government was required to have certain provincial
laws printed in French and English, which promised to be an enormous
undertaking. The Devine Conservative government contracted with Guy
Montpetit, a business associate of Michael Cogger, who was a close friend
and campaign chairman for, Brian Mulroney. (Cogger would later be appointed
to the senate).
Cogger sought the services of Ken Waschuk, a Conservative party pollste... more »
Once Upon A Time ... Hidden in Hair
*HIDDEN IN HAIR*
*The Plot*
A tale of good vs. evil ... of mystery and intrigue. A story of dedication
... and triumph. Based on actual events, this story will amaze you!!
*The Cast of Characters*
The Innocent Victim ... played by The Earth
The Damsel in Distress ... played by Isabelle
The Bad Guy ... played by Flea
The Accomplice ... played by Feral Cat
Our Hero ... played by Art
Art's Flea Sword ... played by Flea Comb
Our Heroine ... played by Small
*The Tale*
Once upon a time, in a magical land called Asheville, there lived a very
green family. T... more »
It's The Republican Ideology That's Killing The Republican Party... And Hurting American Families
The Republicans have a future?
Right-wing propagandist Ross Douthat seems mistrustful of the GOP's rising
stars, Rubio, Jindal, Cruz and Cantor. "[P]oliticians, he writes, referring
to the quartet of Tea Party darlings, "who talk up 'libertarian populism'
or 'opportunity conservatism' or the 'Rawlsian lens' and then end by
calling for a Balanced Budget Amendment, hard money and a flat tax aren’t
actually reforming the Republican Party; they’re just wrapping losing ideas
in slightly smarter rhetoric than poor Mitt Romney was ever able to come up
with." Democrats, he continues, harshly... more »
“It is the Grating Habit of Partisans on the Winning Side to Tell the Losers How They Might Have Done Better”
And thus Bret Stephens lambasts Democrats for daring to tell the GOP to
moderate its foreign policy. Stephens’ recipe for “Getting the GOP’s Groove
Back“? Obama foreign policy, but with an assist from the Resolve Fairy on
Iran. I’m not kidding. If you have a Foreign Affairs subscription, you can
check it out for yourself. The sad thing
Continue reading
Thursday's Banner Drop From Milford Bridge That Connects NJ and PA
This banner drop happened from the Milford Bridge over the Delaware River
Thursday morning. The bridge connects PA and NJ where we're both fighting
the Tennessee Pipeline Northeast Upgrade.
Donations Needed! Sponsor Gifford and The Crew!
Friends and supporters of the brave blockaders and tree sitter - here is
another way to help! We have compiled a list of items we will need to
sustain these blockades throughout the upcoming cold late-winter days here
in the forests of Pennsylvania. If you are able to offer monetary
donations, please do by following our WePay link!
Items currently needed include:
- Spinal collar and other such medical supplies
- Binoculars
- Tools
- Food
- Solar phone chargers
- Rope
- Climbing gear
- Warm clothing
Remember, donate HERE if you can!!
Refrigerator art a... more »
ALEC Legislators - Outsourcing Their Work to ALEC Corporations
An older piece of video on ALEC that is still very worth the ten minute investment of your time. If there is anyone that you are trying to "educate" on ultraconservative, extremist, right-wing American Legislative Exchange Council - this would be a good clip to forward to them (and Moyers' expose on ALEC) Thom Hartmann: The Secrets of ALEC Exposed
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