Friday, February 22, 2013

22 February - Blogs I'm Following

Justin meets Liberal supporters in Chilliwack....
Justin meets Liberal supporters in Chilliwack. Justin rencontre des sympathisants à Chilliwack. Nov 22, 2012. (Photo: Gregory J Brown) (Photo credit: Justin Trudeau)
David Suzuki at a rally for the Global Day of ...
David Suzuki at a rally for the Global Day of Action on Climate Change, Vancouver, BC (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
1:10 pm MST

Caballos corriendo en la arena de la playa

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 minute ago
[image: Caballos corriendo en la arena de la playa] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de caballos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Principia Scientific Intl - Atmospheric CO2 Not Linked to Humans says Global and Planetary Journal

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 24 minutes ago
'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

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 1 hour ago
"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

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 1 hour ago
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

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 hour ago
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

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 1 hour ago
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 Trageting In 2014

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 hour ago
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

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at Schools Matter - 1 hour ago
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!

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 1 hour ago
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

Capt. Fogg at The Impolitic - 2 hours ago
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

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 2 hours ago
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...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 2 hours ago
*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

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 2 hours ago
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

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 2 hours ago
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 - 2 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"?

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 2 hours ago
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...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 2 hours ago
*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

Roberto Rodriguez at Dr Cintli - 2 hours ago
* * 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

Storm at Schools Matter - 3 hours ago
**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

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 3 hours ago
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

Sophia at AMERICAN KABUKI - 3 hours ago
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

brinni for humanity at GlobaLove Think Tank - 3 hours ago
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

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 3 hours ago
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?

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 3 hours ago
*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...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 3 hours ago
*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

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
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?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 4 hours ago
*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...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 4 hours ago
really. “If We Can’t Cut This, Then We’re In Big, Big Trouble…”

Southern Man Plays In The Mud

Southern Man at Southern Man - 4 hours ago
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

Jon Western at Duck of Minerva - 4 hours ago
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.......

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 4 hours ago
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’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 4 hours ago
[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

Southern Man at Southern Man - 4 hours ago
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’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 5 hours ago
[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

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 5 hours ago
[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

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 5 hours ago
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

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 5 hours ago
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.’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 5 hours ago
[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

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 5 hours ago
- 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

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 5 hours ago
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

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 5 hours ago
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

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 6 hours ago
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

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 6 hours ago
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

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 6 hours ago
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

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 6 hours ago
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!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 6 hours ago
*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!

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 6 hours ago
*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

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
Shining a light on these scum can work. http://palwatch.org/main.aspx?fi=157&doc_id=8592

Greed And Secrecy

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 6 hours ago
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 »

Snowy day

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

Standing for Justices of the Peace

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

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

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 7 hours ago
*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

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 7 hours ago
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 »

Legislative Building Iqaluit

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

Huge Car Bomb in Syria & US support of Terrorism

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 8 hours ago
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?

Martyn Daniels at Brave New World - 8 hours ago
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

Anon at aangirfan - 8 hours ago
*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

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 9 hours ago
*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

Casey at The Adventures of Limited Eating - 9 hours ago
*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

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 9 hours ago
*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

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 9 hours ago
'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

Anon at aangirfan - 9 hours ago
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

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 10 hours ago
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?

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 11 hours ago
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

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 12 hours ago
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

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 12 hours ago
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

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 12 hours ago
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

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 12 hours ago
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

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 12 hours ago
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

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 12 hours ago
'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 Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 12 hours ago
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

Anon at aangirfan - 13 hours ago
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

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 13 hours ago
* 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 »

the tsar bomba

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 13 hours ago

BIRMINGHAM BOMBERS

Anon at aangirfan - 14 hours ago
*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

Ancient Clown at GlobaLove Think Tank - 14 hours ago
*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?

David Climenhaga at Alberta Diary - 14 hours ago
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

leftdog at Buckdog - 15 hours ago
*(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

Small Footprints at Reduce Footprints - 15 hours ago
*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

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
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”

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 15 hours ago
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

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 15 hours ago
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!

a deer at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 16 hours ago
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

2old2care at Because I Can - 16 hours ago
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

"An Imaginary Look To the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
“How would you change the course of an Earth-threatening asteroid? One possibility - a massive spacecraft that uses gravity as a towline - is illustrated in this artist's vision of a gravitational tractor in action. In the hypothetical scenario worked out in 2005 by Edward Lu and Stanley Love at NASA's Johnson Space Center, a 20 ton nuclear-electric spacecraft tows a 200 meter diameter asteroid by simply hovering near the asteroid. The spacecraft's ion drive thrusters are canted away from the surface. Their slight but steady thrust would gradually and predictably alter the course o... more »

Paulo Coelho, “Closing Cycles”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
*“Closing Cycles”* by Paulo Coelho [Several times I've received via Internet some texts attributed to me, which I did not write, as the text below. I made several changes and decided to post it here. - Paulo Coelho] "One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished. Did you lose your job? ... more »

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
Mikado, Michigan, USA. Thanks for stopping by.

NRANJ's - Support the Troops or Shoot the Troops

2old2care at Because I Can - 16 hours ago
Just Google guns against government And you will see a lot of strange things. Here are some snips: "It is for our protection -- and the founders' quotes make that very very clear -- including against a government that would run amuck," Gohmert said, The Second Amendment was meant to guarantee individuals the right to protect themselves against government as much as against private bad guys and gangs. … Gun control is part and parcel of the ongoing collectivist effort to eviscerate individual sovereignty and replace it with dependence upon and allegiance to the state. Guns are ... more »

Taiwanese Posing as Scouts to Spy on....Korean Baseball team

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 16 hours ago
Haha. Winning is everything... From Deadspin: You might not realize it from the USA's roster, but many countries think the World Baseball Classic is important. One of those is Taiwan, which is expecting big things. After failing to get out of a group of death in the 2009 tournament, they enter this year's WBC ranked fifth in the world—just a spot behind 2009 runners-up South Korea. Taiwan is hosting its regional, beginning a week from Saturday, and one thing stands in its way—poolmates South Korea. (NESN) The Chinese Professional Baseball League — the governing body of Taiwan’s ba... more »

Put a 75% Tax on Guns

2old2care at Because I Can - 17 hours ago
Been waiting for this topic to come up for almost a month now. Haven’t been able to understand why it hasn’t been on the table - before this. Why not tax the hell out of guns???? Was glad to see this – but I think the tax is too low. Tax should be 50% - 100%. But this is a start of the dialogue. *Dem lawmakers: Tax guns to buy guns* By Pete Kasperowicz - 02/21/13 01:19 PM ET Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) and 18 other House Democrats have proposed legislation that would impose a 10 percent tax on concealable firearms and use this revenue to fund federal grants for gun buyback progr... more »

Observations from Borneo

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 17 hours ago
*A river ferryboat pulls into the pier in Sibu, Sarawak.* I just spent 16 days biking and traveling through Malaysian Borneo, in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. [image: Broneo_2013_1064] *Niah Cave National Park, near Batu Niah, Sarawak.* I was totally excited to go deep into Sarawak, since my whole life I've wanted to go to Borneo. We had originally planned to go all the way from Kota Kinabalu in Sabah to Kuching in Sarawak, 1300 kms, by bicycle, but as fate would have it, we lost a few days when we blew all our spare tubes just as the shops closed for Chinese New Year. [image:... more »

Coffee in crisis

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 17 hours ago
This fungus-stricken plant has at least some ripe cherries. A Honduras coffee finca is usually a beautiful sight at this time of year. The leaves are a rich and shiny dark green year-round, so a hillside finca is always attractive. But this is the season when the harvest is finishing up and the plants are even prettier, covered in new growth and small white flowers that herald the coming year’s crop. Sadly, that’s not how it is out there right now. A recent tour I did of several small fincas around Sesesmil, Copan demonstrated just how hard the fungus known as *la roya *has hit the Ho... more »

Napoleon On Public Opinion

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 18 hours ago
*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*. *Napoleon On Public Debts*. 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. 120-121. [Conversation, 1815] Public opinion is an invisible power, mysterious and irresistible. Nothing is more mobile, nothing vaguer, nothing stronger. No matter how capricious, i... more »

Two videos: one (Kindle Paperwhite) sane and happy, the other (the modern-day wedding non-invite) plain crazy

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 18 hours ago
*Husbands* *by Ken* Okay, I don't suppose there's really any connection between these videos, except in my head, which doesn't really count. But I had the first one, the Kindle Paperwhite one, passed on to me yesterday, and am still utterly delighted by it, and even momentarily inspired to think that there just may be hope for this old world after all. By contrast, the one about this new "trend" in wedding invitations -- the non-invitation that basically says, "Eff you, asswipe, just stay the hell away from our wedding if you know what's good for you" -- rather tends to reconfirm o... more »

Frank Hsieh Trolls Beijing

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 18 hours ago
TeaLeafNation has the call: Within twenty-four hours of registration, Sina Weibo (China’s equivalent of Twitter) deleted the microblog account of Frank Hsieh, former premier of Taiwan’s pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Ironically, Hsieh’s last tweet before he lost the power to post on Weibo was: “Whether or not there is freedom of speech does not depend on how freely you speak when you criticize high officials or people in power, but whether you lose your freedom after you speak.” What followed was a wave of Chinese netizen attack: they criticized the Chinese go... more »

February 21, 1973

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 18 hours ago
Very little today; Haldeman's diary says that he spoke to the president only once but Nixon "covered an amazing array and range of subjects. His first concern was the meeting he had with Rex Scott [?] about the colors in the [new White House] bowling alley..." About Watergate, nothing exciting, but this seems worth including: -- Haldeman: Ervin's come up with a slick move on his general -- on his Chief Counsel for his committee. He's trying to get [former Republican Senator] Ken Keating, which, weighing the alternatives, may be the best bet for us, because he is -- -- the next cho... more »

Buying an ALEC Legislator - The $$$'s

2old2care at Because I Can - 19 hours ago
Here are the real numbers and the guesstimates for the ALEC Annual Meeting to be held in Chicago August 7 - 9. It is their 40th Birthday!!! How much are corporations willing to pay to meet with (BUY) your legislator BEHIND CLOSED DOORS OUT OF THE EYE OF THE PUBLIC To write, discuss and vote on ALEC "model Legislation" THAT DESTROYS YOUR LIFE!!!!! To write, discuss and vote on ALEC "model Legislation" THAT DESTROYS OUR DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, REPRESENTATION OF/BY/FOR THE PEOPLE!!! How much does it cost for corporations to have private, secretive, unregulated meetings with YOUR Americ... more »

"5 Signs Extreme Wealth Deadens the "Empathy" and "Honesty" Parts of the Brain"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*"5 Signs Extreme Wealth Deadens the * *"Empathy" and "Honesty" Parts of the Brain"* By Paul Buchheit "The wealthy give plenty of excuses for our outrageously unjust society. They just go to show that extreme wealth can destroy your brain. As we try to grasp the reasoning behind cuts to life-saving programs while billion-dollar incomes and trillion-dollar profits are being made, we must understand that extreme wealth deadens parts of the brain. Empathy and honesty go first. Then rationality, as evidenced by some of the outlandish excuses given by the very rich for their abuses. ... more »

** FLASH MOB OPPORTUNITY** Sentencing for Patrick C. Morgan to Take Place Monday in Houston, Texas for Crimes He Did NOT Commit

Brian Kelly at AMERICAN KABUKI - 19 hours ago
The Full Details of the Kidnapping of Patrick C. Morgan See the original story here: http://removingtheshackles.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-full-details-of-kidnapping-of.html THURSDAY, 21 FEBRUARY 2013 *** FLASH MOB OPPORTUNITY** Sentencing for Patrick C. Morgan to Take Place Monday in Houston, Texas for Crimes He Did NOT Commit* *Cody thanks ALL of you from the bottom of his heart and is blown away that you would take time to acknowledge his situation. He has filed the Courtesy Notice with the court, sending his own UCC filings again, along with it. His sentencing is Monday, ... more »

President’s memo cites executive reshuffle at Athabasca University

David Climenhaga at Alberta Diary - 19 hours ago
Athabasca University – safe for the moment, AU President Frits Pannekoek says. Below: Dr. Pannekoek. Major executive changes have been made at Athabasca University, with the departure of several senior executives widely rumoured among university staff today. In an email to faculty sent early this afternoon, Athabasca University President Frits Pannekoek tried to reassure employees about the ... more »

Junius - A Reflection On Fire

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 20 hours ago

Egyptian Poet Abd Al-Rahman Al-Abnoudi: Egypt Is Becoming Another Afghanistan

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Afghanistan used to be a modern, progressive, growing, enlightened, and vibrant country. Now it's the butt of jokes. It was the governments of the United States, Pakistan, England, and Saudi Arabia that fucked Afghanistan up and funded the Taliban extremists, turning them into a powerful force in the country. This Egyptian guy in the video below didn't mention that little piece of history, but his larger point is still valid. Islamic extremism is an evil that must be gotten rid of through education and enlightened leadership. But, more importantly, the CIA, Mossad, MI6, Qatar, and S... more »

Is this our future?...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 21 hours ago
*may well be.*

Faddish interventions v. preschool for all!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 21 hours ago
*THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013* *Kevin Drum’s reactions:* After reading our post about those (forbidden) rising NAEP scores, Kevin Drum says he had a similar reaction when, if we might borrow from Keats, first he star’d at NAEP scores. As Drum described his reaction, he made a distinction which rang a few more bells for us: DRUM (2/21/13): *Like Bob, I was also surprised the first time I really started to dig into test score data: it showed pretty clearly that we've made consistent progress over the past three decades,* especially at the elementary school level. It turns out that Am... more »

How Fast Does Energy Access Occur?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 21 hours ago
The figure above was shown by Morgan Bazilian, Deputy Director of the Joint Institute for Strategic Energy Analysis, in his talk at our Center today (details plus a webcast of the talk here). It comes from Chapter 19 of the 2012 Global Energy Assessment by IIASA (here in PDF). The graph shows for 10 countries the historical growth in energy access. In 1920, only 35% of Americans had energy access (here shown as "electricity access" defined as "household electrification"). This total reached 100% by the mid-1950s. In contrast, Mexico was at about 35% access in 1930, and has yet to ... more »

Forensic Audit Reveals Sask Party Gov't Carbon Sequestration Project Flawed And Potentially Fraudulent

leftdog at Buckdog - 21 hours ago
*A report on the Sask. Party’s IPAC-CO2 project has revealed a conflict of interest scandal that appears to have cost taxpayers millions of dollars -- despite the Sask. Party’s false claims that money was well spent. Here is CBC Saskatchewan's Report:* *A forensic investigation into a high-profile Saskatchewan scientific venture has raised concerns about conflict of interest, millions paid without contracts and a dispute over who owns assets paid for with tax dollars. * ***CBC News has obtained a copy of the report written by the accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny that says rul... more »

State-owned companies in the REAL world

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 21 hours ago
Via Dim Post: Solid Energy is at a crisis point, with a Government bailout almost inevitable, mine closures possible and further job cuts likely in another restructure to try to salvage the debt-ridden coal mining company. The state-owned enterprise yesterday revealed it was in talks with its banks and the Government over its future after its debt rose to $389 million and a further “significant loss” would be in its half-year result. The company posted a $40 million loss last year… Solid Energy’s financial condition has deteriorated over the past two years, a slump i... more »

Time to fly - Free

Sophia at AMERICAN KABUKI - 22 hours ago
Welcome to the Quest! In truth, although we talk about it for just one week each month, it is ongoing. Life is the Ultimate Quest. There is so much to look at that I am not sure where to focus. Personally and globally we are being asked to declare what we know and who we are. There is only Truth. It rests in two words. *I am.* Embracing truth is another thing altogether. Whether you are aware of it consciously or not, you are, with each decision, choosing. We’ve heard about this next dimension. With our own set of beliefs and expectations, we each began this transfor... more »

The Rebuild(TM): Tell us your story [updated]

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 22 hours ago
[image: DSC_0061] It’s now exactly two years since the big earthquake that tore Christchurch apart, two-and-a-half years since the first large shake, and despite lots of talk about The RebuildTM, there’s been precious little rebuilding and lots and lots of hindrances and prohibitions on any building at all. Perhaps because all the talk has been about The Rebuild—a phrase revealing the top-down thinking of central planners, who move with glacial pace their wonders to under-achieve--rather than about *rebuilding*—a word describing a process in which people just get on with it. Whic... more »

How Toxic Is The NRA's Political Embrace Now?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 22 hours ago
Right now there's a contest in the House. Which Democrat has voted most frequently with Boehner and Cantor against progressive ideas in crucial roll call votes? When you just count the current session, Arizona ConservaDem Ann Kirkpatrick-- who has cast aside her 100% pro-Boehner voting record-- and is now tied exactly tied with Rick Crawford (R-AR), Aaron Schock (R-IL), and Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), 14.29%-- is the worst of the worst. 13 Republicans score higher than Kirkpatrick before you get to the next most horrible Democrat, freshman Gloria Negrete McLeod, who clocks in at a ... more »

Total Information Awareness, is here to stay

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 22 hours ago
*Total Information Awareness is alive and well.* *The initials T.I.A, means AUNT in Spanish.* *Microsoft and the Facist state of New York City have agreed to implement a total information awareness network available to NYPD for all 911 calls. the NYPD says that the information is to be used only for and when dealing with Terorrist situations. The problem is that ALL 911 calls are routed through TIA first. What does a 911 responder know about you when you call them?* *Well in the TIA room the main screen Shows, the number of the caller followed by the adreess associated with the numbe... more »

Jimmy Who?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 23 hours ago
I see on twitter that Jimmy Carter will go on Piers Morgan tonight to whine about how Barack Obama isn't nice enough to him. This naturally got me thinking about what sitcom character most resembles Carter...no, resembles isn't exactly it. Captures the idea of Jimmy Carter? Helps explain Carter? It's somewhere in there. My first thought, perhaps because I've been watching quite a bit of 30 Rock, was Jenna Maroney, who nicely captures Carter's constant emphasis on himself. Jenna, too, was ambitious beyond her talents (although she is talented, right?), and could be quite vicious on b... more »

Who is Winning the War in Syria?

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 23 hours ago
*By the time you are finished reading this post I hope you understand why I no longer want to blog about the Boston Globe. * "*The resumption of fighting, which had lapsed for the past few weeks, as part of a renewed effort by rebels to seize control of central Damascus, the Syrian capital, although that depiction seemed highly exaggerated. Witness accounts said many people were going about their business, while others noted that previous rebel claims of territorial gains in Damascus had almost always turned out to be embellished or unfounded*."* * * **Oh, like war propaganda regardi... more »

The seeds of our destruction...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 23 hours ago
*were sown long ago.* If you have not read: *Matt Bracken - Democide... * please take the time to read it. Feel free to re-post Matt's article. It needs to be read. It's way more important than anything S. E. Cupp is doing. * And then head over to American Thinker and read the three part serious series by* *Daren Jonescu. As always, I recommend you read the comments. * ***Part One: * *Total Destruction of the U.S.: An Interview with Larry Grathwohl * *Part Two:* *American Education: Rotting the Country from the Inside * *Part Three: The Endgame for the Destructi... more »

Kiilliniq (Victoria Island) has the same land area as the British Isles

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 23 hours ago
The Western Arctic is a big place

MY VISION WAS CLOUDY

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 23 hours ago
Renowned American peace activist and former US Army colonel and State Department official Ann Wright spoke at a public meetings in the Teachers' Club, Parnell Sq, Dublin on Thursday, February 14, and at Richardson's Bar in Galway on Monday February 18th. The Dublin meeting was jointly organised by the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (PANA) and the Irish anti-War Movement (IAWM) and the Galway meeting by Galway Alliance Against War (GAAW). Earlier on Thursday Ann Wright will met TDs and Senators who are opposed to the US and British wars and the use of Shannon as a military airport. O... more »

“Body of Hue-manity” Formation Nears Completion

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
* * * * *“Body of Hue-manity” Formation Nears Completion* by ÉirePort "Body of Hue-manity" formation nears completion. "Awakened to Higher Purpose" Hue-Beings have listened to the Higher instructions and acted in concert as a Rainbow Collective. Smaller Hue-Groups have come together, and these are also assembled into wider collectives, a Rainbow Craft. These are what some call "Ships". These Ships follow Inner Guides, and are Intra- and Inter-Galactic. As Hue-manity awakens to Intra- and Inter-Galactic Higher identity, Intra- and Inter-Galactic travel occurs readily. Those desiri... more »

“The Overview Effect”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“The Overview Effect”* by Planetary Collective "On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect. The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a pro... more »

“The Overview Effect”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*“The Overview Effect”* by Planetary Collective "On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect. The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a p... more »

Office of Religious Freedom

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 1 day ago
deBeauxOs added a link to this splendid new creation by Stephen Lautens to a recent post, but it really needs to seen in all its glory. (It continues to perplex me how link-averse many people are.) More wonderful Demotivational Conservative Posters here.

China's Water Woes

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
China does not seem able to come to grips with the pollution that is inexorably poisoning the country. While Beijing talks about green energy, including 5th generation reactor technology, it brings online a new coal-fired power plant almost daily. The country imports truly massive quantities of coal from the Pacific Rim, especially from Australia, with Canada getting its share also. And China is eager to receive regular shipments of Athabasca bitumen to process through its own refineries. Just how bad is it? Last year it was reported that some 40% of the country's productive fa... more »

Gatitos jugando muy contentos

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Gatitos jugando muy contentos] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de gatitos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Ricas bebidas naturales y muy saludables

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Ricas bebidas naturales y muy saludables] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de bebidas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Moda para damas y caballeros

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Moda para damas y caballeros] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de moda* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Paisaje natural para una tarde inolvidable

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Paisaje natural para una tarde inolvidable] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de paisajes* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Cryptome webpage Encore

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 1 day ago
THIS IS NOT the official Cryptome for the Official Site click here Donate for the Cryptome Archive DVDs of 74,000 files (17GB) from June 1996 to December 2012. *Search Cryptome* ------------------------------ *2013-0148.htm PRC Scraping Cryptome February 21, 2013* *2013-0147.htm Jesse and Sandra Jackson, Jr.'s Money Pot February 20, 2013**2013-0146.htm APT BISCUIT February 20, 2013**2013-0145.htm PRC Unit 61398 February 20, 2013**2013-0144... more »

PROF. McMURTRY; 9 11; NAZIS

Anon at aangirfan - 1 day ago
Renowned philosopher Prof. John McMurtry has written *"The Decoding of 9-11: Beyond the U.S. Criminal State, The Grand Plan for a New World Order"* * *Professor McMurtry argues: *1.* "A Bay Street broker... was frank: "'You can call it what you want, but America needs a war to pull the people together and expand into new resource rich areas. "'That what it has always done from Mexico on.' * "And all the deaths?* "'It had to be done - far less than it could have been'..." Rockefeller. aangirfan: ROCKEFELLER *2.* *The US leadership, since 1945, has been Nazi.* * *"A supranation... more »

Pareja de jaguares descansando bajo los árboles

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Pareja de jaguares descansando bajo los árboles] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de jaguares* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

No shit Sherlock of the year, decade...

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
Fatah official: "We have not abandoned armed struggle" http://t.co/zr5V6lQugY -- CiF Watch (@CiFWatch)

1.5C Enough to Unleash the Permafrost Greenhouse Gases

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
A team of researchers, led by Oxford University scientists, has concluded that global warming of just 1.5 degrees Celsius will trigger the melting of the world's permafrost and, with it, the release of the CO2 and methane greenhouse gases it now holds safely trapped. The circumpolar permafrost belt that makes up 24% of the landmass of the northern hemisphere is believed to hold hundreds of gigatonnes of greenhouse gases that, if released, would cause "a massive warming effect." *However, any such melting would be likely to take many decades, so the initial release of greenhouse gas ... more »

Gaviota pescando en el mar su deliciosa cena

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Gaviota pescando en el mar su deliciosa cena] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de gaviotas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Hermosa cascada entre las montañas

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Hermosa cascada entre las montañas] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de cascadas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

BC Navigable Waters Protections Gutted at Pipeline Operators' Request

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association used its clout with the sleazy government of Sideshow Steve Harper to modify the Navigable Waters Protection Act. Greenpeace used the Freedom of Information Act to uncover the truth. *The Canadian Energy Pipeline Association met with senior government officials in the fall of 2011, urging them not just to streamline environmental assessments, but also to bring in "new regulations under (the) Navigable Waters Protection Act," a CEPA slide presentation shows.* *A copy of the Oct. 27 presentation made to then-deputy minister of trade Louis Le... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago

Exóticas orquídeas coloridas y perfumadas

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Exóticas orquideas coloridas y perfumadas] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de orquideas* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Ciudad en las montañas junto al arrecife

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Ciudad en las montañas junto al arrecife] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de arrecifes* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Castillo de arena lleno de luces en la playa

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 1 day ago
[image: Castillo de arena lleno de luces en la playa] *Nota:* Click aquí para ver más *imágenes de castillos* Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Free Download: Andrew M. Lobaczewski, "Political Ponerology"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
*"Political Ponerology: A Science on the Nature of Evil Adjusted for Political Purposes"* by Andrew M. Lobaczewski "Imagine - if you can - not having a conscience, none at all, no feelings of guilt or remorse no matter what you do, no limiting sense of concern for the well-being of strangers, friends, or even family members. Imagine no struggles with shame, not a single one in your whole life, no matter what kind of selfish, lazy, harmful, or immoral action you had taken. And pretend that the concept of responsibility is unknown to you, except as a burden others seem to accept wi... more »
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