Tuesday, March 19, 2013

19 March - Blogs I'm Following

English: Copy of a letter written by MajGen Ja...
English: Copy of a letter written by MajGen James Mattis and distributed to every member of the 1st Marine Division a day before the beginning of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Category:United States Marine Corps images (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Iraq
Iraq (Photo credit: slagheap)
Vigil - 5th anniversary of the 2003 invasion o...
Vigil - 5th anniversary of the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Photo credit: Lisa Norwood)
English: US Marines Corps (USMC) Marines from ...
English: US Marines Corps (USMC) Marines from the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7), Charlie Company, Twentynine Palms, California (CA), cover each other with 5.56 mm M16A2 assault rifles as they prepare to enter one of Saddam Husseins palaces in as they takeover the complex during Operation Iraqi Freedom. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Fird...
Statue of Saddam Hussein being toppled in Firdos Square after the US invasion of Iraq. Found on the US military website. CAPTION:The statue of topples in Baghdad's Firdos Square on April 9, 2003. Three years later, Iraqi forces increasingly are taking the lead in securing their country. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Colin Powell's UN presentation slide ...
English: Colin Powell's UN presentation slide showing an alleged Iraqi-ordered Aluminum Tube for Uranium Enrichment. (Subequently shown to be an incorrect allegation.) Speech entitled: Remarks to the United Nations Security Council, Secretary Colin L. Powell, February 5, 2003 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
President George W. Bush addresses sailors dur...
President George W. Bush addresses sailors during the "Mission Accomplished" speech, May 1, 2003. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
ExPrime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony B...
ExPrime Minister of the United Kingdom, Tony Blair shaking hands with President of the United States, George W. Bush, after they conclude a joint news conference at the Camp David (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: At the UN, Colin Powell holds a model...
English: At the UN, Colin Powell holds a model vial of anthrax, while arguing that Iraq is likely to possess WMDs. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)




The myth of ‘shock and awe’: why the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a disaster

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 10 minutes ago
[image: Britain's 2 Company Irish Guards check a man dressed in civilian clothes in Basra on 6 April 2003. Photo: Getty Images] [Desdemona can think of another reason why the invasion and occupation were disastrous: If the U.S. had instead poured trillions of dollars into upgrading its energy-production infrastructure to renewables, we wouldn’t need to invade oil-producing nations ever again.] By Richard Sanders 19 March 2013 (Daily Telegraph) – The lead unit of the US Marine Corps arrived at the gates of Baghdad on the late afternoon of Sunday, April 6, 2003, less than three wee... more »

Ten Years Later...

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 23 minutes ago
...and, as round numbers such as 10 oblige us to write the usual autopsies of abortions like Iraq, we have to read and listen to everyone give their spin on Iraq on this, the tenth anniversary of the day George W. Bush gave the order to take back the oil fields that were rightfully ours. The daily readership of Pottersville these days and the inexplicable turning away in droves of what used to be a readership of close to 1000 a day made me desist from my original intention of writing a larger, more comprehensive post. I have better things to do with my life than metaphori... more »

There are many ways to get conned on TV!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 27 minutes ago
*TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013* *Best friends of Lawrence and Rachel:* Last evening, on the Last Word, David Corn recalled the way this country went to war with Iraq. Corn mentioned one famous name, chose not to mention another: CORN (3/18/13): *Colin Powell, that speech he gave February 5, 2003, everyone remembers that, you know—* O’DONNELL: *That swayed a lot of people.* CORN: *It swayed a lot of people. And the coverage was like over the top. It was like writing about a rock star.* But then if you turned inside and you kept on reading 20 inches in, you would find people saying, “Wai... more »

Reinventing America? Is It Possible Or Has Its Time Passed? (Times Haven't Stopped Changing)

News of later developments (much later?) in our civilization from our friend at the Archdruid Report: A great many people are wondering these days when the resulting bubble in US paper wealth—for that’s what it is, of course—is going to pop. That might still happen, especially as a side effect of a sufficiently sharp political or military crisis, but it’s also possible that the trillions of

Climate-driven disasters cost Victorians $4 billion over the last decade

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 32 minutes ago
[image: A view of the Grampians bushfire on Thursday, 21 February 2013 taken from Wartook. Photo: Geoffrey Lea]By Tom Arup, Environment editor, The Age 20 March 2013 (The Age) – Climate-driven disasters such as bushfires and floods have cost Victorian taxpayers more than $4 billion over the last decade, it has emerged, as the Napthine Government released its plan for Victoria to prepare for the future impacts of climate change [pdf]. The plan – released on Tuesday in state parliament – aims to manage risks to Victoria of increase bushfires, heatwaves, droughts, and floods as cl... more »

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” -- Thomas Jefferson

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 51 minutes ago
------------------------------ http://youtu.be/R2kpyYWd0eo *Oliver Stone Tears Apart Obama's Empire * breakingtheset *Published on Dec 24, 2012* Abby Martin sits down with Academy Award Winning Director, Oliver Stone, and Historian Peter Kuznick, to talk about US foreign policy and the Obama administration's disregard for the rule of law. LIKE Breaking the Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin *Blogger's Note:* This video was called to my attention by *Brasscheck TV*via their free e-mail distribution of videos of interest that might... more »

Bill Burr - Advice: Effed Up World

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 51 minutes ago
http://billburr.com/ and http://www.allthingscomedy.com/ Bill Burr - Advice: Effed Up World. Source: YouTube Channel PaperBagBandits.

Tuesday Morning Linkage Club

PM at Duck of Minerva - 56 minutes ago
The Globe and Mail investigates why Japan is falling in love with robots (by the way, I know we’re supposed to love longform journalism now because it’s long, but you can read either half of this piece and you won’t miss the other half) [The Globe and Mail] U.S. Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols Continue reading

The other Honduras: Garifuna culture on the coast

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 1 hour ago
Mirna Ruiz cooks a yucca torta. It’s crazy-hot in the little *casita *where the Garifuna woman is cooking. It’s even hotter over by the wood cooking stove, where she’s grilling ground yucca into the giant wafer-like *tortas *that are a mainstay of the Garifuna diet. Mirna Ruiz is chief cook and president of the Binadu Uwenedu women’s cooperative in Ciriboya, Colon. The little co-op produces 2,000 of the crisp wafers every month, most to be packaged for sale in the cities of Honduras to Garifuna people far away from their home communities on the Caribbean coast. In Honduras, Garifuna... more »

ALEC / RNC Using Legislators to Destruct Democracy

2old2care at Because I Can - 1 hour ago
ALEC state legislators using your state legislature to rig elections in favor of Republicans ALEC state legislators using ALEC legislation to limit democratic participation *LIE CHEAT STEAL to win elections* * * *That’s the Republican way* First we had to put up with the proliferation of ALEC Voter ID legislation Verified by this ALEC state legislator - stating to the world that ALEC legislators were willing to do anything legislatively necessary to ensure that Republicans win At the same time that Voter ID was happening - ALEC and ALEC state legislators were interfering in red... more »

Once Again Iraq’s Premier Maliki Goes After Former Finance Minister Issawi

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 1 hour ago
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has increasingly used arrest warrants to intimidate and get rid of his political enemies. The latest example occurred in March 2013 when a court ordered former Finance Minister Rafi Issawi to be detained on terrorism charges. Issawi is from the Iraqi National Movement, which is one of the main rivals to the prime minister’s State of Law, and he has often criticized the prime minister’s rule. In December 2012, some of his bodyguards were arrested, and allegedly confessed to carrying out attacks. That led to the current protests in western, east... more »

KLEIN ON THE LAWN: Pretending to speak, analyze and explain!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013* *Part 2—Without a thing to say:* To what extent is youth being served at the new improved Washington Post? Again, consider the remarkable way one young Postman describes himself at his eponymous blog. “About Me,” this young scribe’s headline says. By conventional standards, the following profile borders on the insane: *About Me * Evan Soltas is the writer of Wonkbook, the morning email newsletter of Ezra Klein's Wonkblog at The Washington Post, and for Bloomberg View's "The Ticker" blog. A student at Princeton University, where he intends to major in ec... more »

Days of promise fade for North America ethanol production as drought causes widespread crop failure

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: Corn storage at the ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri, which stopped operating in January. Officials have vowed to reopen it, and it is undergoing renovations. Photo: Daniel Acker / The New York Times] By John Eligon and Matthew L. Wald 16 March 2013 MACON, Missouri (The New York Times) – Five years ago, rural America was giddy for ethanol. Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business to small towns, providing farmers with a new market for their crops and generating billio... more »

Man-made desert lake in UAE: Ecological paradise or disaster?

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: Lake Zakher is in a remote corner of the United Arab Emirates, a blue lake shimmering amid the sand dunes. The lake is an industrial byproduct of the desalination system used to meet the UAE's water needs. With few sources of fresh water in the region, the country has relied on desalinating seawater for domestic use. Photo: CNN] By Leone Lakhani 14 March 2013 Lake Zakher, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – In a remote corner of the United Arab Emirates, a blue lake shimmers amid the sand dunes. It's not a mirage, but a man-made oasis -- an unintended byproduct of the UAE's wate... more »

By Masses of Complicated Fact

Douglas Storm at Schools Matter - 2 hours ago
The whole field of education is affected -- There is no end of detail that is without significance. Education would begin by placing in the mind of the student the nature of knowledge -- in the dead state and the nature of the force which may energize it. This would clarify his field at once -- He would then see the use of data. But at present knowledge is placed before a man as if it were a stair at the top of which a DEGREE is obtained which is superlative. nothing could be more ridiculous. To data there is no end. There is proficiency in dissection and a knowledge of parts but... more »

Inuits worried as they confront new realities of rapidly melting Arctic – ‘The rapidity of the changes has taken us by surprise. We have been underestimating the changes.’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: In this September 2006 file photo, ice chunks float in the Arctic Ocean as the sun sets near Barrow, Alaska. Photo: AP] By Meena Menon 17 March 2013 OSLO (The Hindu) – The rapid melting of the Arctic sea ice has rejuvenated interests in the region, ranging from oil and gas and mineral exploration to the possibility of shorter sea routes and increased tourism. But all this poses fresh challenges to the survival of the Inuit and other indigenous people who live there. While some speakers at The Arctic Summit held by *The Economist* on March 12 seemed to favour the line tha... more »

Pope Francis

John Carroll at Dying in Haiti - 2 hours ago
Clearly defining his vision of his own role, he quoted from scriptural texts to say that as Bishop of Rome, he was endowed with “a certain power.” But he went on: “Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.” “He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poore... more »

Graham Hancock - TED Talk - The War on Consciousness

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 2 hours ago
thanks to dognamedblue for reminding Free Planet that this TED Talk by "self-confessed ex-cannabis addict" Graham Hancock presentation "The War on Consciousness" was banned from the TED Talk website for the way he is supposed to have misrepresented Science (big S) but it was probably his comments about "the single-minded pursuit of PROFIT". Oh, yeah, that'll get you banned. *Over the matter of the censorship on Youtube of my "War on Consciousness" presentation and Rupert Sheldrake's "Science Delusion" presentation, TED is closed minded, operates with an extremely limited view of wha...more »

Radical teaching philosophy of Denis Rancourt -- interview with The Times of India

Denis Rancourt at Activist Teacher - 2 hours ago
 "A man against grading" -- interview with Poonam Jain, The Times of India,  Expert Eye, March 19, 2013

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 3 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Brent Scowcroft, 87. Good stuff: 1. Sarah Binder is tracking the CR. Which is easier said than done. 2. Interesting David Karpf item about technology and politics. 3. And the amazing history of GOP minority outreach: it didn't start in 2013.

Shouldn't Florida Democrats Have Someone In The Race For Governor Instead Of Just Two Republicans?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
Charlie Crist epitomizes inauthenticy in American politics. And opportunism. You couldn't find a better match for self-proclaimed Florida Democratic Boss Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Crist has no values and no beliefs that will ever get in the way of his business (politics)-- and neither does Wasserman Schultz. She's been busy threatening-- existentially threatening-- every Democrat even *thinking* about running for governor against supremely unpopular Republican Rick Scott to keep the field clear for Charlie, a former conservative Republican governor, tossed out of the party as it g... more »

Copycat Chili's Queso Dip

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 3 hours ago
We have an obsession with Chili's Queso in this house. When I say obsession, I mean it. We talk each other into ordering queso from Chili's probably about once a week, and while we usually just pick it up curbside to go, we needed something we could make at home to satisfy our frequent cravings. This recipe is super easy to throw together and makes a great dip for a party. We served it at our Superbowl party and were scraping the bowl clean. You will need: 1 can of chili, If you want a more authentic Chili's taste, buy the "No Bean" kind. We decided we didn't mind the beans. 1 15 ... more »

THE OIL IS KILLING US

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance is a coalition fighting the expansion and construction of Tar Sands infrastructure in the Great Plains. We are in solidarity with people indigenous to this continent, communities near the point of extraction, and communities living in proximity to these toxic, cancer-causing refineries.

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*Climate change could mean seven times as many Katrinas ~Tim McDonald, Grist * ~Batten down the hatches, East Coasters: A new study argues that for every 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F) of global warming, the U.S. Atlantic seaboard could see up to seven times as many Katrina-sized hurricanes. That’s the conclusion of Aslak Grinsted, a climatologist at Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, who led an effort to match East Coast storm surge records from the last 90 years with global temperatures. His results, published today in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*, suggest that ...more »

NATO's mercs use chemical materials in North Syria

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 4 hours ago
*IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW * * CTV* Syria's state media say rebels have fired a chemical weapon in the north of the country, killing 15 people. The report by the official SANA news agency marks *the first time *the government has accused fighters seeking to topple President Bashar Assad of using chemical weapons. It says "terrorists" fired a rocket "containing chemical materials" into the Khan al-Assal area in the northern province of Aleppo on Tuesday.* The regime regularly uses the term terrorists* to refer to rebels fighting Assad's forces. SANA says around 15 people, most of them... more »

No Progressive

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 4 hours ago
The Harperites -- not surprisingly -- accused Thomas Mulcair of traitorous behaviour when, during his recent Washinton gambit, he did not give his full throated support to the Keystone XL pipeline. He was, they said, damaging Canada's international reputation. But four of Canada's former prime ministers have recently suggested that Stephen Harper is doing a superb job of trashing our international reputation without any help from Mulcair. Consider Jean Chretien's terse comment: "I'm travelling the world. The image of Canada today is not what it was," Chrétien told *Global News* ... more »

Twain Speaks to Corp-Edu Reformers

P. L. Thomas at Schools Matter - 4 hours ago
A message from Mark Twain for Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan: "All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure."

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*‘Wave Robber’ wins Entrepreneur Week’s water challenge* *Film industry expresses concerns about Jindal tax proposal* *La. black bears active early* * Pols on parade ~Library Chronicles* *Archbishop gives brief history behind St. Joseph's altar tradition* *2013 Tennessee Williams Festival March 20-24*

UKIP and Labour

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 4 hours ago
Trailing his article in this month's *Total Politics*, Mark Ferguson asksif Labour should be worried about UKIP? On first glance, no. C4's analysis of the Eastleigh by-election shows just seven per cent of UKIP voters previously supported Labour. This is broadly supported by YouGov's recent research. UKIP have an order of magnitude greater pull with Tories than Labour voters. Indeed they have more of an attractor among former LibDem voters too, probably because the yellow party has left the 'none of the above' situation vacant. So should we sit back and grab the popcorn as they duke... more »

Socialized Healthcare 13: On Inequality and Inclusive Business in HC

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 5 hours ago
Two weeks ago, I attended this forum at the AIM. Mr. Markus Dietrich is with a private consulting firm doing work for ADB and he discussed the result of their ADB-funded study. Dr. Moser showed several slides how inequitable the Philippines' healthcare system is. The Under 5 years old mortality rate (U5MR) is high in the lowest quintile of the population, and skilled birth attendance is highest in Metro Manila and other Luzon regions and provinces, and lowest in Mindanao regions. For the total healthcare expenditure (THE), more than half came from out of pocket or personal and hou... more »

“Former US Treasury Official: Fed Desperate To Avoid Collapse”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“Former US Treasury Official: * *Fed Desperate To Avoid Collapse”* by KWN “A former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury warned King World News, “This type of situation is extremely dangerous. The world has never seen it before.” Former Assistant of the US Treasury, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, also told King World News that JP Morgan now threatens the stability of the entire global financial system. And if the Fed loses control and we collapse, “Nothing and no one would be safe anywhere.” Here is what Dr. Roberts had to say in this extraordinary interview: “I can point o... more »

“Too Big to Jail”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“Too Big to Jail”* by Dan Dewalt “Corporate America just received the confirmation that they’ve been waiting for. The attorney general of the United States has now admitted that the biggest American financial corporations have created such a labyrinth of their structures and practices that the Justice Department has given up trying to police them in matters of corruption or criminal malfeasance, saying that bringing down any of these mega-banks or businesses could cause crash the economy. In 2008, the Justice Department announced a shift in policy, deciding to be cooperati... more »

Government still selling ECFA as Ag boon

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 5 hours ago
*Future exports under ECFA?* The government is still pushing the *ECFA = Agricultural Export Increases!*line, still trying to sell ECFA as a big boost to Taiwanese agriculture (a 2011 review of that drive) and change some minds in southern Taiwan. Though, I also wonder if they are trying to lay the groundwork for opening up to agricultural exports from China, which would likely be devastating: "See how competitive we are? It's safe to flood the island with melaminemelons and stuff from China!" The latest round in this effort was out on the intertubes via Taiwan Today.... noting that... more »

“The Young Are Going to Get Screwed by Debt”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“The Young Are Going to Get Screwed by Debt”* By Bill Bonner “Thomas Jefferson was opposed to a 'national debt'. He thought it was immoral that one generation should spend on credit, forcing the next generation to pay the bill. Jefferson knew what a burden debt could be - especially when it is debt for spending he didn't enjoy himself. He had inherited debts from his father-in-law. You've heard of 'something for nothing'? On the flip side is a second condition as disagreeable as the first is pleasant: nothing for something. 'Nothing for something' describes the financial s... more »

Advance Notice - The end of this blog

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
I have been reading reports on the Royal Charter on Press Regulation and I fear they sound the death knell for this blog and many like it. Despite claims that blogs are not included in this Charter, this extract seems to say that they are: b) “relevant publisher” means a person (other than a broadcaster) who publishes in the United Kingdom: i.) a newspaper or magazine containing news-related material, or ii.) a website containing news-related material (whether or not related to a newspaper or magazine); This blogger is currently based in the UK, where it is published is a moot poin... more »

BBC Panorama - The Spies Who Fooled The World - Iraq no WMDs.

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 8 hours ago
*"Saddam has developed anthrax and nerve gas and nukular weapons,"* thus spake Lord Bush Junior, Head of America Corporation to drag the UK and the USA into what was always the lucrative 'Iraq Invasion'. And with fifty more people killed (and hundreds injured) in Iraq from more bombings in Baghdad this morning, did this Liberation of Iraq (or Libya) from the Hussein (or Ghadafi) Regime actually do anything other than put oil revenues in other banks' hands? What a *CURVEBALL*... THE SPIES WHO FOOLED THE WORLD click that link to be taken to the iPlayer page for this edition of Panor... more »

DEATH OF THE UK PRESS?

Anon at aangirfan - 8 hours ago
On 18 March 2013, the deputy editor of the Telegraph, tweeted: "We can never again lecture a Mugabe or a Putin on freedom of expression." The UK parliament (some of whom are allegedly "a bunch of child abusers and fascists") has agreed to the setting up of a powerful new *press regulator*designed to prevent the public from learning that some of our leaders may be "a bunch of child abusers and fascists." scienceblogs.com The independent regulator (expected to be run by the CIA and its friends) will have powers to impose fines and demand prominent corrections, and courts will be a... more »

Nuclear Plant Referendum and Power Stuff

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 8 hours ago
*Taking pictures in front of the Hakka Museum in Dongshih.* The Executive Yuan came out in favor of absentee ballots for the referendum, provided the system is only done domestically. “The Executive Yuan recommends the adoption of transfer voting in Taiwan. For example, people who live in Pingtung County could vote in Taipei by-elections,” Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee. The interesting thing will be how they prevent people from voting more than once..... the absentee ballot issue was a sensitive issue si... more »

Facebook used to demolish prejudice claim on 11(b) application

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
R v Nowak 2013 ONCJ 52 shows a creative Crown using Facebook to demolish a claim of prejudice arising from trial delay. The Court notes: Of note, Mr. Nowak stated that he received "top marks" in one course. Further, the cross-examination by the prosecutor, aided by numerous photos from Facebook suggests that Mr. Nowak was able to socialize quite well with fellow students, notwithstanding his stress and anxiety, and that he did consume alcohol.

Cyprus Haircut

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
Well no. The lesson is a little more simpler than that. If you do not respect credit given then you will feel pain when it is withdrawn. Worse, your voters will now feel it directly. In short, easy credit is not a license to steal and operate corruptly with apparent impunity. You cannot protect the benefits of a civil society by such behavior. The lenders never get to actually spend the money provided. It escapes me why anyone thinks they are in charge. What they are in charge of is the decision to continue at all. The fundamental problem happens to be the quality of t... more »

Confronting Drone Swarms

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
No one appears to have publicly connected the dots yet but drones are the future of all aircraft except for hobby horses. If a pilot is along at all it will be as an emergency responder and even that may become nonviable. Our cars will move us and our aircraft will also end up with the pilots somewhere else. We just have to get used to it. Jet fighters are about to become drones just to eliminate the constraints of a human pilot. Can you imagine confronting a flight of fighters able to do thirty G turns and to convert closing speed to Mach 5 while locked in weapons indepe... more »

Aussi Oil Giant Discovered

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
This is a lot short on technical details, but it is a shale based discovery that will need to be proved out. It is certainly huge and appears likely to be highly productive. We already pretty well knew this but thanks to fracking, deliverable oil at anything over $50 a barrel is becoming a global glut. It will first prove so by the USA going into a surplus position and no longer needing to import anything from off shore. China and India are the two great export markets and the rush is on in order to supply them. Yet even they are able to produce a lot of their own needs... more »

Antiquity of Peruvian Maize

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
As I have inferred in the past, the Atlantean sea peoples emerged around 5000 years ago and that naturally inferred significant crop sharing as needed. Bio-char emerged in the Amazon and it also demanded a maize culture. For those reasons the antiquity of Maize in Peru really had to be approximately 5000 years. This is now confirmed. Let me explain again just why this is important. It provided natural long term storage for food which allowed taxes to be paid in something other that labor. That it also provided food security for large urban populations is also a given but ... more »

Anti-Depressants Don’t Work for Mild or Moderate Depression by Paul Fassa

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 hours ago
Anti-Depressants Don’t Work for Mild or Moderate Depression by Paul Fassa Natural Society. 18 March 2013 A *Harvard Medical School *lecturer, psychologist and Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard, Irving Kirsch, was recently featured in a *CBS* *60 Minutes *new program with a claim that put a chink into the pharmaceutical industry’s armor. Professor Kirsh provided a documented conclusion that pharmaceutical anti-depressants don’t work for mild to moderately depressed patients. What’s more, a placebo is almost always nearly as effective – without the side... more »

Obama As Satan Is A Provocative Statement

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 9 hours ago
Will Hollywood cast this actor for a future Obama biopic? A lot has been made about the character of Satan in History Channel's miniseries *'The Bible'* looking a lot like President Barack Obama. Twitter was ablaze yesterday about this. But the creators of the hit show are saying that any suggestion that Obama looks like Satan is *"utter nonsense." * They're obviously not good liars. One look at the photo above and the first thing that crosses your mind is, "that's Barack Obama." Were the creators of 'The Bible' making a statement by casting an Obama look-alike as Satan? How ca... more »

It's good that the GOP has admitted to lying about the fiscal crisis. However, the question remains: Will Obama now back off his plan to cut Social Security and Medicare?

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 10 hours ago
------------------------------ MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013 05:15 AM MST *GOP: We’ve been lying all along* *Boehner's admission that we don't really have a debt crisis reveals his party's ulterior, program-cutting motives* *BY DAVID SIROTA* John Boehner (Credit: AP/Susan Walsh) I never thought I’d write these words, but here goes: Thank you, John Boehner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for finally admitting on national television that all the fiscal cliffs, sequestrations and budget battles you’ve created are, indeed, artificially fabricated by ideologues and self-interes... more »

EU Chooses Bank Runs Over Fighting Tax Haven Cyprus

Kenneth Thomas at Middle Class Political Economist - 10 hours ago
NPR's "Marketplace" reported Monday that the European Union planned to impose a tax on bank deposits in Cyprus of up to 10% to bail out the country's banks. This unprecedented action threatens to undermine confidence in banks throughout the eurozone periphery, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. As Louise Cooper told Marketplace, “(This move) says that your savings are not necessarily safe in a bank. What this risks is bank runs." Indeed, we could be literally hours from seeing bank runs in one or more of them. What's the motivation for introducing such a risky policy? Cypr... more »

Iraq 10 Years Later (2): What was the Neocon Theory behind the War?

Robert Kelly at Duck of Minerva - 11 hours ago
My first thoughts on the war’s ten year anniversary are here. There I asked if there was any defensible theory behind the war, anything that might explain why we launched it, because weapons of mass destruction were not really the reason. Paul Wolfowitz notoriously admitted they were just a pretext to rally the country behind Continue reading

Sauce for the Gander

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 11 hours ago
It appears that fetus fetishists are getting a dose of sauce for the gander. A U.S. company that provides software solutions to nonprofit organizations has refused service to the Canadian pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition, accusing it of supporting “hate, prejudice and bigotry." Campaign Lie hired a consultant to find a 'databank solutions company', who recommended The Databank in Minneapolis. But [CLC's] Fonseca says that after filling out a form on the company’s website to view a free online demo on behalf of CLC, the consultant received an email reply from Bridget Kelly, T... more »

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 11 hours ago
Rhapsody in blue. Very rare blue poppies (Meconopsis 'Lingholm') at Longwood Gardens.

The Realist Report with John Friend

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 11 hours ago
On this edition of *The* *Realist Report*, we'll be joined by *Stew Webb*, a federal whistleblower and political activist. Stew and I will be discussing his background and past experiences, his views on the problems facing our nation, governmental corruption and financial crimes, and potential solutions to some of America's most pressing problems. Calls will be taken through the conversation. You can download the entire program *here*, or subscribe to Truth Militia Radio via iTunes *here*. Thanks for listening everyone!

India, Pakistan, Mali, Maine... You Know... Everywhere

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 12 hours ago
When I got to India the first time, having driven my VW van across Asia, I was just getting out of my teens. I entered in the Punjab, drove to Delphi, Bombay, Goa, through Kerala, took the ferry across to Ceylon for a few months, then drove to Pondicherry, Madras, north through Andhra Pradessh and Orissa (where Tom Wolf, probably the next governor of Pennsylvania was serving in the Peace Corps at the time), on to Calcutta, Benares and up into Nepal for a couple months, Oh, and what fun it was! I'll spare you the unsavory details of what the Kabul Runs entails, but I can still reme... more »

Christy Clark, Bill Bennett, Sean Leslie, CKNW, Promoters of Fake Stories, A Straight Goods Raw Ex`pose

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 12 hours ago
Time to put an end to the preposterous claims being made by Bill(slime for hire)Bennett, it`s also time for BC Liberal sycophant Sean Leslie and the enabling radio station CKNW to grow a pair of testicles and stop spinning, stop promoting the insane ramblings of Bill Bennett as truth, or valid.. It is also time for Christy Clark`s ex-husband, the loud, limp and prolific twitterer Mark Marissen to put up or shut up... British Columbia, especially parts of the lower mainland, there are areas of the GVRD where ethnic people far outnumber English speaking born and raised Canadians..And... more »

Know Your Rights!

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 12 hours ago
A National Lawyers Guild attorney prepared a Know Your Rights document for us recently that is derived from experiences during more urban actions, but includes material for us to learn well. This document is primarily for Pennsylvania and may be referenced for actions in New Jersey as well, although specific laws may be different. Please consult an attorney if you have more specific questions. *We hope that Kinder Morgan security and law enforcement officers viewing this blog will become as familiar with our rights as we are.* Click To View Printable Version * **Know Your Rights FA... more »

An allergy to reading

skrashen at Schools Matter - 13 hours ago
Ten people contributed opinions on vocabulary development in Larry Ferlazzo’s recent blog on “Many Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary” (Ed Week, March 17; http://tinyurl.com/ctesagq). There is massive research from many different kinds of research showing that reading is a powerful source of vocabulary knowledge, most likely the most powerful source. Also a number writers in the professional literature present evidence showing that direct instruction of vocabulary can have only a limited effect. Nevertheless, only one contributor to Ferlazzo’s blog mentioned reading... more »

Death to those who say ‘death to patent trolls’

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 14 hours ago
David Farrar says “Death to Patent trolls.” David Farrar is an idiot. Thomas Edison was a “patent troll.” So was Nikola Tesla. So was almost every great inventor in the last 200 years*. So is any inventor who licenses their invention rather than produce it themselves. Unlike the ignoramuses who attack them, these people aren’t trolls. They’re benefactors: Adam Smith wrote that the division of labour is a critical way of increasing a nation’s wealth. Only if inventors can be paid for inventing, can they specialize in their profession. The only way inventors can be paid just fo... more »

Concerned Residents Win Concession For Free Speech in Protest Injunction

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 14 hours ago
MILFORD, Pa. - Pike County President Judge Joseph Kameen granted a special injunction Monday requested by Tennessee Pipeline Co. against civil disobedience while including special protections for concerned residents' free speech. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, sought relief against residents' attempts to speak in favor of and enact civil disobedience blocking controversial pipeline construction. Judge Kameen's special injunction raises the consequence of defendants' trespassing on the pipeline right of way and blocking access roads in Pike County to incl... more »

Musical Interlude: 2002, “River of Stars”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 14 hours ago
2002, “River of Stars” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg9Wl4b3gOo

If Senator Rob will do just one more thing, I'll be happy to upgrade him from a "no-guts" t ao "low-guts" nonentity

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
* Looking at this picture, can you tell which of these guys is gay and which is straight? Me either. But I bet you can tell that they look like a pair of yutzes. (Don't you have to credit Senator Rob with guts in allowing his office to circulate this photo?)* *by Ken* For once Jay Leno, who does politics worse than just about anything, seems to have gotten it right, quipping Friday that Ohio Sen. Rob Portman"doesn't care who his son marries -- as long as it's not a Democrat." If everyone promises not to tell the senator, I will admit that my opinion of him has already been upgraded... more »

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
"What caused this outburst of V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this had never been seen before- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Click image for larger size. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. In a light... more »

Paulo Coelho, “The Stone”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
*“The Stone”* by Paulo Coelho "A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valua... more »

The Poet: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., "The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
*"The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith"* by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. "God made mud. God got lonesome. So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!" "See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars." And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done. Nice going, God. Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have. I feel very unimportant compared to You. The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even g... more »

Kate Braun : Vernal Equinox Combines Customs from Many Cultures

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 15 hours ago
"Eoster" was an Anglo-Saxon maiden goddess of the dawn. Image from Vita Marie Lovett. Vernal Equinox: A renewal of the land's fertility By Kate Braun / The Rag Blog / March 18, 2013 “Green, green, it’s green they say, on the far side of the hill...” Wednesday, March 20, 2013 is the Vernal or Spring Equinox, which may also be called Ostara or Lady Day. Lady Moon is in her 2nd quarter in

14 Imágenes bonitas de casas grandes

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 15 hours ago
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Declaration of Equality

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 16 hours ago
Sign this petition, the Declaration of Equality, to send a message to the Racist Party’s constitutional review: PS: Send another message to them, by submitting to tell them what a constitution is for. Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. Thanks for stopping by.

"Answering the Call: Taking Responsibility for Your Destiny"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
*"Answering the Call:* *Taking Responsibility for Your Destiny"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "Each and every day you have the opportunity to answer your own call and take action toward creating the life you want. There are those of us who believe that our lives are predestined and that we should resign ourselves to our lots in life. Yet the truth is that it is up to each one of us to decide what that destiny will be. While each of us is born with a life purpose, it is up to us whether or not we will say yes to fulfilling it. And just like when we choose what to eat, who to ... more »

"Our Destiny..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
"Our destiny can be examined, but it cannot be justified or totally explained. We are simply here." - Iris Murdoch

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago

EFN Asia 16: Participation in Jeju Forum for Peace 2013

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 16 hours ago
The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia will be participating in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2013 Conference this coming May 29-31, 2013, to be held at Haevichi Hotel and Resort Jeju, S. Korea. I think this will be the first time that the network will join this big international conference held yearly in the southern island of Jeju. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) Korea Office is working with the EFN Asia Secretariat in Bangkok in the network's participation. This forum was invented in 2001 meant for a regional dialogue to promote peace and prosperity... more »

“Marches of Folly: When Will We Ever Learn?”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*“Marches of Folly: When Will We Ever Learn?”* by Paul Krugman “Ten years ago, America invaded Iraq. Some voices warned that we were making a terrible mistake, and those warnings were, of course, right. So did our political elite and our news media learn from this experience? It sure doesn’t look like it. The really striking thing during the run-up to the war was the illusion of consensus. To this day, pundits who got it wrong excuse themselves on the grounds that “everyone” thought that there was a solid case for war. Of course, they acknowledge, there were war opponents — ... more »

"None Dare Call It Theft"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*"None Dare Call It Theft"* by Jeffrey Tucker "The euro elites don’t call it theft or robbery or even a tax, much less an outright default by the banks of Cyprus. They are calling it a “stability levy,” a plan that could lead not to stability, but a domino-style collapse of the banking system in Europe. True to the nature of government propaganda, the Cypriot head of state, Nicos Anastasiades, says this “stability levy” is necessary to forestall “a complete collapse of the banking sector.” It’s the same kind of language we heard in the fall of 2008 — an intimidation tactic use... more »

The Banksters have gone well and truly crazy

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 17 hours ago
This bank bailout in Cypress is insane. You can get the wonky details here, which include Russian mobsters, but the shorter is: The major bank in Cypress is nationalized. The bank fucked up. They intend to bail out the bank by taking between almost 7% to 10% of the depositor's money. Unsurprisingly this has already led to a run on the ATM machines that ran them dry. Suspect they haven't refilled them. Meanwhile, the bank holiday that was supposed end tomorrow has been extended to Thursday to give the Banksters time to legalize the thievery. I'll be surprised if this doesn't backfi... more »

The GOP autopsy

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 18 hours ago
That's not my term. It's what the media is calling the new 100 page report delivered by the RNC that resulted from months of study on the causes of their trouncing in 2012. I'm told this a good summary of the RNC's post-mortem. Didn't read it myself. I'm not that interested in Republican navel gazing. Besides, I can tell the GOP what its problem is in a few sentences. They can't win without the crackpot con base vote but they can't win by supporting the crackpot agenda either. The wedge issues near and dear to the activist base are now causing internal rifts within the party and ... more »

Your Money Isn't Safe Anymore

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 18 hours ago
*[image: _Jeffrey Tucker]Guest post by Jeffrey Tucker * The euro elites don't call it theft or robbery or even a tax, much less an outright default by the banks of Cyprus. They are calling it a "stability levy," a plan that could lead not to stability, but a domino-style collapse of the banking system in Europe. True to the nature of government propaganda, the Cypriot head of state, Nicos Anastasiades, says this "stability levy" is necessary to forestall "a complete collapse of the banking sector." It's the same kind of language we heard in the fall of 2008 -- an intimidation tac... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 18 hours ago
*Other People's Property: A Blighted New Orleans ~Geoff Gauchet*

Calling Out Brad Wall's Phony Contrived Outrage At Mulcair

leftdog at Buckdog - 18 hours ago
*Pipelines have already carried share of hot air*By Bruce Johnstone - Regina Leader-Post *Aside from oil and gas, pipelines seem to be useful conduits for transporting another commodity we seem to have a surplus of - hot air.**No sooner had Premier Brad Wall returned from his trip to Washington, D.C., last week, where he spoke to politicians and business leaders about the importance of approving the Keystone XL pipeline, he was blasting federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair for failing to defend Canada's interests in the U.S., namely promoting the Keystone XL pipeline.* *Wall accused Mulc... more »

The Economy: "A Crisis They Can’t Avoid"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*"A Crisis They Can’t Avoid"* By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com "Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says there is another financial calamity coming to the U.S. Dr. Roberts says, “It is a crisis they can’t avoid. One way or another it’s going to bite very hard, whether it comes through the dollar or the bonds.” Dr. Roberts says all the ongoing financial problems we face today are a result of little or no regulation. Dr. Roberts makes his case in a book titled “The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West.” Dr. Roberts conten... more »

Ohio Republican Steve LaTourette Admits The GOP Is Losing The War Against Women

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 19 hours ago
*Fox News Sunday* hosted former Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette yesterday. He's a mainstream conservative who never appreciated the extremism of the Tea Party or the Southern racists who have managed to take over the GOP in recent decades. He warned his brethren, many of whom had just seen Republicans arguing at CPAC whether or not slavery had been a good thing (for the slaves) that "If we ever want to be a national party, then we have to look like America. Today we look like a bunch of white guys below the Mason-Dixon line." The Republican he singled out for infamy, thoug... more »

Game Night and Shopping and Movies, Oh My!

Southern Man at Southern Man - 19 hours ago
After a morning of - OK, basically nothing - out at The Land Southern Man headed to the Ancestral Manor to pick up Teen Daughter The Younger for an evening of fun and games. Southern Mother working puzzles in the Library. Another library shot with TDY. Southern Father hard at work. That's the pecan orchard in the background. The kickoff event was Vintage Game Night at the church. The Game Of Life TDY makes her move. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots! Battleship Couples Therapy. Then Southern Man and TDY headed to the mall to shop... TDY cashed in on three months back allowance and spen... more »

100 years of coming and going

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, a classic of architecture, transport engineering and cinema—and the busiest train station in the States—is 100 years old. Over the years, the terminal has appeared in many books and a host of movies: It might look like the Paris Opera House from outside, but the inside was said to be the model for the Taggart Terminal in Ayn Rand’s *Atlas Shrugged* *. * Every day more than 750,000 people come through its doors, where its main hall provides the perfect model of spontaneous order: no cops, no ropes, no centralized direction, just order through in... more »

The Not-So-Imminent Iranian Nuke: A Year Away for a Decade

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 19 hours ago
According to official estimates, the Islamic Republic of Iran is now roughly a year away from acquiring a nuclear bomb.  Well, that is, if it were actually building a nuclear bomb.  Which it's not.  "Right now, we think it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don’t want to cut it too close," President Barack Obama told an Israeli

Everything changes for same sex marriage

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 19 hours ago
Everything changes. Always. In the case of equal marriage rights for same gender couples, support for gay marriage has grown almost miraculously quickly. Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed. That number has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority fo... more »

RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : An Interview with Novelist and Immigrant Rights Activist David McCabe

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 19 hours ago
Novelist and immigrant rights activist David McCabe at the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, March 8, 2013. Photo by Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog. Rag Radio Podcast: Novelist and immigrant rights activist  David McCabe, author of 'Without Sin' "When love for family is stronger than fear / when the desperation sets in / A man will cross any line that is drawn, / and who's to say it's a sin

Strikes near Lebanon border: Syria? Israel? The US?

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 19 hours ago
*You decide:* *Syria? * *Syrian jets bomb Lebanon border area* Warplanes from Syria are reported to have bombed targets *on the border it*shares with Lebanon There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strikes, which reportedly targeted Syrian rebel positions in eastern Lebanon, specifically a remote area near the town of Arsal, according to security sources cited by news agencies and Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. "Syrian planes bombed the border between Lebanon and Syria but I cannot yet say if they hit Lebanese territory or only Syrian territory," a ... more »

Bowling Night

Southern Man at Southern Man - 19 hours ago
It's that time of the month again! The Girls P Gives A Lesson Clowning Around Feasting On Mexican Food!

Honduras: 42 Mutilated Sheep in Comayagua

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 19 hours ago
*Source: Vision OVNI Photo Source: http://eng.laprensa.hn Date: 03/15/2013* *Honduras: 42 Mutilated Sheep found in Comayagua* *“Chupacabras” blamed for 42 deaths; residents are astonished.* Reports on dead animals showing incisions on their necks are emerging from Comayagua in central Honduras. SENASA authorities look into animal killings on a property belonging to congressman Valentin Suárez. Rumors about the Chupacabras have gained strength as a result of the death of a large number of sheep on a property belonging to a political representative of that province. Yesterday, at 5:0... more »

Maarten Horst Interviews Brian Kelly & Deva Peters March 11, 2013 about the OPPT & First Contact

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 20 hours ago
Brian Kelly & Deva Peters are interviewed on ET First Contact Radio by Maarten Horst on March 11, 2013

Primary and Caucuses Shuffle

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 20 hours ago
The other big procedural reform discussed in the RNC party assessment document today is to shift the party convention back from August to July or June, and compress the primaries and caucuses further to make that work. In order to do that, they suggest that the party "should strongly consider a regional primary system or some other form of a major reorganization." We should divide this into two parts. The date of the convention is fully within the control of the RNC, and if they want to move it, they can. As Josh Putnam has been tweeting today, however, the dates of the primaries an... more »

Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial; the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 20 hours ago
Keewatin v. Ontario (Natural Resources), 2013 ONCA 158 holds that Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial, and that the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867 and the division of jurisdiction set out therein: [139] The promise made in the harvesting clause is that of the Crown, not Canada. The two levels of government are "separately invested by the Crown with its rights and responsibilities as treaty maker and as owner respectively": Annuities Case, at p. 645. As Prime Minister Robert Borden sta... more »

All in the family

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 21 hours ago
The family business is a time honored tradition in the United States, but when that business is politics, the grift is built in: Thirty-two members of Congress dispensed more than $2 million in campaign funds to pay relatives' salaries during the 2012 election cycle, a USA TODAY analysis of the most recent campaign records shows. Lawmakers have hired their children, spouses, aunts, parents and in-laws as consultants, accountants and record keepers, the examination shows. In some cases, multiple members of the family joined the payroll. It's entirely possible that some of these fam... more »

Mircea Eliade On The Eleusinian Mysteries

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Below is an excerpt from Mircea Eliade's 1958 book, *"Rites And Symbols of Initiation: The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth."* Harper & Row, Publishers: New York. Pg. 112-15. For the purpose of our investigation, one thing is particularly of interest---that these experiences are brought on by rites which, both in the Greco-Oriental and the primitive worlds, are initiatory, that is, pursue the novice's spiritual transmutation. At Eleusis, as in the Orphic-Dionysiac ceremonies, as in the Greco-Oriental mysteries of the Hellenistic period, the mystes submits himself to initiation in ... more »

US shells out big money for small pox vaccine? Bed bugs/small pox link.

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 21 hours ago
*Can this all be a coincidence? Perhaps? Perhaps not?* *Summary:* -Bed bug populations have been on the rise all over North America. Actually all over the World -Also the latest incarnation of bed bugs happen to be resistant to pesticides, making their population difficult to control. -Even more curious is that no other insects have mutated to have this resistance....isn’t that odd? -Oh and last but not least bed bugs have historically been connected to the spread of small pox. -And the US is spending 200 dollars per dosage for small pox vaccinations Bed Bug bites Bed bugs infes... more »

Spent Fuel Pool Problems at Daiichi Responsible for Recent Emissions?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 21 hours ago
Maybe the spent fuel problem is responsible for the heavy emissions visible with the webcams: Enenews reports from NHK: Another fuel pool loses cooling system at Fukushima Daiichi — CBC: May take days to repair http://enenews.com/nhk-another-fuel-pool-loses-cooling-system-at-fukushima-plant-cbc-solution-may-take-days/comment-page-1#comment-338269 *Links provided by Enenews:* Blackout halts cooling system at Fukushima plant NHK* *March 18 2013 http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130319_01.html [Excerpted] TEPCO officials say a power blackout has suspended a cooling system for use... more »

Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013

Americani Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 21 hours ago
* **This was posted 30 days ago shortly after it was discovered the Akashic records had been damaged by "controllers" of this planet, and the records of Creation were brought down to restore them. They didn't know there were back up copies that are untouchable. -AK* * * http://treeofthegoldenlight.com/email_ad_wuc02-18-13.htm *Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013* Posted by Nancy Tate I am here today to tell you all of something that is taking place in the universe. I am Hatonn, and I greet you on the most momentous of days. It is a matter of circumventing the universe and all of i... more »

Ever-Closing Windows and Biden Time on Iran at AIPAC

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 21 hours ago
(Susan Walsh/AP) After a brief respite from incessant warmongering nonsense following the reelection of Barack Obama in November 2012, it appears old rhetorical devices have reemerged. With a vengeance. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing his minions at AIPAC via video chat on March 4, spent a bunch of his time saying supposedly scary things about "Iran's pursuit of nuclear

God Save Me From A Normal Life — Part Two

What Is Sustainable at What Is Sustainable - 21 hours ago
My father was born 100 years ago. One hundred years from now, the seven-point-something billion people alive today will be gone. There will be no cars, TVs, computers, phones, and so on. The vision of a technological wonderland will be forgotten and extinct, replaced by many new low-tech survival-oriented pursuits. If humans continue to exist, they will not be very fond of our generation, and the messes we left for them. Every civilization eventually exhausts essential resources and collapses. As predictable as the sun, civilizations rise, peak, and then set. In the wake of ... more »

Jonah Raskin : Lay Monk Tolbert McCarroll on the Pope, the Church, and the Crisis in Catholicism

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 22 hours ago
Brother Toby at Starcross Community. Interview with Brother Toby: Author, heretic, and spiritual  pilgrim at Starcross Community “The Catholic Church today is an absolute monarchy and an absolute patriarchy that puts you right back in the Medieval Ages.” -- Tolbert McCarroll By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / March 18, 2013 Tolbert McCarroll -- better known to friends and family members as

In Memoriam Francois Duprat - 26.10.41 to 18.3.78

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 22 hours ago
Today marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the murder of Francois Duprat. Francois Duprat was a truth-seeker. He helped to uncover the great lies pushed by the Cult of Holocaustrianity, and for this act of blasphemy against the faith of the Establishment, he was murdered in a car bombing; one which had all the hallmarks of a State operation. The bomb blast crippled his wife, who only narrowly escaped with her life. Responsibility for the terrorist murder of Francois Duprat was claimed by a self-styled 'Jewish Remembrance Group', but was far from the work of amateurs; it had to... more »

execution

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 22 hours ago
The execution of Ruth Snyder Tom Howard - January 12, 1928

EPA Accused of Violating Clean Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 22 hours ago
EPA Accused of Violating Clean Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup By Farron Cousins, DeSmogBlog 9 March 13 http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/16389-epa-accused-of-violating-clean-water-act-in-bp-gulf-oil-cleanup[excerpted] *O*il Spill Eater International (OSEI), through the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference group, issued a press release this week saying that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively blocked or otherwise delayed scientific advancement in the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster by refusing to acknowledge the toxicity of t...more »

Repetition concerning those kids today!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 22 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013* *Where does false belief come from:* False belief tends to be rooted in constant repetition. We thought of that fact when we read this letter in Saturday’s Washington Post: LETTER TO THE WASHINGTON POST (3/16/13): *The Common Core regimentation of kindergarten can only sadden those of us who were fortunate enough to have gone to school before World War II,* when kindergarten was devoted entirely to socializing children. The only specific thing we ever learned was nursery rhymes. We spent our time playing games or listening to our teacher read to us. Now s...more »

testimony

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 22 hours ago

Mohawk Nation News 'The Jesuits'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
THE JESUITS Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin Reply MNN. Mar. 18, 2013. The Jesuits have always been the storm troopers of the Catholic Church. They came to the Western Hemisphere to “spread the lie of male hierarchy”. The real reason is to use bio-weapons and all means of mass murder. The Western Hemisphere is to be the Zion of the

Apache receive support from Superior City Council opposing land exchange

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler Superior City Council opposes HR 687, Southeastern Land Exchange Bill   By Sandra Rambler, San Carlos Apache Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler SUPERIOR, Ariz. – During an emergency Special Council meeting on March 13, the Superior Council voted to oppose the proposed Arizona Southeastern Land Exchange (HR 687)

A (very reluctant) case for Airport Security

Patrick Porter at Duck of Minerva - 22 hours ago
For students of international affairs and security, especially from either side of the Atlantic, its that time of year again when we congregate at the ISA Conference to muse on the globalisation of everything in a borderless world…after enduring an increasingly unpleasant border regime at the Airport. I’m not sure about our readers, but the Continue reading

Mohawk Nation News 'UN Serpents'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
Posted on March 16, 2013 by admin MNN. MAR. 16, 2013. There once was an evil man whose head was full of serpents like Medusa, called “Atotarho”. Each serpent wreaked havoc, domination, disorder, control or death. To bring peace Dekanawida and Ayonwatha combed out the serpents. As his roots were in Great Turtle Island, he became clean-minded and was appointed the chairman of the Five Nations

Which Way Will The GOP Turn-- And Who Decides? Rience Preibus' GOP Autopsy Report

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Boehner bombed on ABC's *This Week* Sunday. First he admitted that the debt crisis is *not* an immediate threat. Then he reiterated that we need to gut the two most popular social safety programs in American history: Social Security and Medicare: We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming. And we have-- one looming-- because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They’re gonna go bankrupt. Washington has responsibility-- to our seniors and our near seniors-- that we firm up these programs so that they’re... more »

Could Postponing Debates Matter?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 23 hours ago
I'm going to look at the GOP presidential nomination process suggested reforms out today, starting with the debates. The RNC wants to chop in half the number of primary-season debates next time around, starting later (not until September 2015) and ending earlier ("after the first several primaries"). It is worth noting this would mean that the first debate wouldn't be until after the Ames Straw Poll...and whatever one thinks of Ames, it's now become a regular pattern that one or more candidate is knocked out before the suggested date of the first debate. If Republicans really were ... more »

Open Thread: Irony Deficient edition

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 1 day ago
I'm preparing a massive post tomorrow about the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq for the one or two people who care what I write about, anymore. If there's anything you want me to include, now's the time to ask while I'm going on a .jpeg and news source safari.

1500 kilometres by foot through the arctic winter: the journey of the nishiyuu nears ottawa

laura k at wmtc - 1 day ago
On January 16, 2013, six young Cree men and an experienced guide left their community on Hudson's Bay, in the far north, on foot. Their destination: Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Along their route, other aboriginal youth joined them, and together, now almost 200 strong, they are still walking. This is the Journey of Nishiyuu, or, the Quest For Unity. The walkers will reach Ottawa on March 25, having walked more than 1500 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures. These impressive young people stand in solidarity with Idle No More, and seek to protect their land and their heritage, and to bui... more »

High Tech Brain

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 1 day ago
This is all early days but we can all see where this is headed. We are certainly mastering our brain in the process. An interesting question. We think that we forget but do we? We certainly set stuff aside and move on. Yet how well do we return to the knowledge area? Are the channels open and reinforced during a revisit? We have examples of long term photographic memory that gives us a very robust picture instead. Thus an unused pathway will open up to respond eventually to a freshly asked question. So just how does our brain order its search? That is really important.... more »

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Why The Saints Need Better Offense ~ The Ad Infinitum Philosophy ~Saints Tailgate*

Human Rights Treaties Are Like Virginity Pledges

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
In the category of “pop-culture-not-talked-about-by-normal-Ducks,” People magazine’s cover story last week was on ABC’s The Bachelor, Sean Lowe, and his pledge to remain a virgin re-virgin until his wedding night. As someone who graduated high school in town of less than 1500 in Kansas, I think this type of pledge is pretty typical: many teens Continue reading

Campaign to rename Earth to "Free Planet".

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 1 day ago
this is our chance to make a real difference to how we view ourselves, our planet. Campaign to rename Earth to Free Planet. and it'll work in whatever language you wanna adopt for your chosen Diversity. As somebody replying to some thread on some forum* put it, "Why is a planet that's 70% water called Earth?" and, no, I don't think we should rename it to *something based on the Greek Gods like all the other Solar System planets*. In fact, we already know what it's not, a Free Planet. This is more than abundantly evident from the continued slavery of *You The People* to the work ... more »

Campus Crusade for Austerity

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 1 day ago
It's bad enough that college students are getting crushed with debt before they even graduate to a lifetime of wage slavery. But now, insult is being added to injury. On campuses throughout America, kids are getting inundated by a flood of class war proselytizers. The missionaries, unfortunately, are not the remnants of the Occupy movement or the labor movement. They're the One Percent Meritocracy, spreading the addictive dogma of austerity to their peers. The message: Wall Street is not robbing you blind. Grandma and Grandpa are. Stop them, starve them now, before it's too late! An... more »

Stiglitz on Singapore

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
Nobel laureate economist, Joe Stiglitz, has an op-ed piece in today's *New York Times *in which he looks at how Singapore's efforts to redress inequality has reaped huge benefits for the country. *Democracy, we now recognize, involves more than periodic voting. Societies with a high level of economic inequality inevitably wind up with a high level of political inequality: the elites run the political system for their own interests, pursuing what economists call rent-seeking behavior, rather than the general public interest. The result is a most imperfect democracy. The Nordic democr... more »

VFP TAKES OVER SOUTH BOSTON

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
Yesterday MB and I drove to Portland early in the morning and jumped on the bus to Boston. We were going to join the Veterans for Peace (VFP) alternative St. Patrick's day parade through the streets of South Boston. The traditional parade (with its military, fire and police focus) has refused for years to allow peace or gay rights groups to be in the event. These organizations have taken the case to high courts and lost. Three years ago VFP decided to just start a second parade that would follow in the steps of the traditional one. Each year it has gotten bigger and yesterday ... more »

10:19 am MDST


The myth of ‘shock and awe’: why the U.S. invasion of Iraq was a disaster

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 10 minutes ago
[image: Britain's 2 Company Irish Guards check a man dressed in civilian clothes in Basra on 6 April 2003. Photo: Getty Images] [Desdemona can think of another reason why the invasion and occupation were disastrous: If the U.S. had instead poured trillions of dollars into upgrading its energy-production infrastructure to renewables, we wouldn’t need to invade oil-producing nations ever again.] By Richard Sanders 19 March 2013 (Daily Telegraph) – The lead unit of the US Marine Corps arrived at the gates of Baghdad on the late afternoon of Sunday, April 6, 2003, less than three wee... more »

Ten Years Later...

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 23 minutes ago
...and, as round numbers such as 10 oblige us to write the usual autopsies of abortions like Iraq, we have to read and listen to everyone give their spin on Iraq on this, the tenth anniversary of the day George W. Bush gave the order to take back the oil fields that were rightfully ours. The daily readership of Pottersville these days and the inexplicable turning away in droves of what used to be a readership of close to 1000 a day made me desist from my original intention of writing a larger, more comprehensive post. I have better things to do with my life than metaphori... more »

There are many ways to get conned on TV!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 27 minutes ago
*TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013* *Best friends of Lawrence and Rachel:* Last evening, on the Last Word, David Corn recalled the way this country went to war with Iraq. Corn mentioned one famous name, chose not to mention another: CORN (3/18/13): *Colin Powell, that speech he gave February 5, 2003, everyone remembers that, you know—* O’DONNELL: *That swayed a lot of people.* CORN: *It swayed a lot of people. And the coverage was like over the top. It was like writing about a rock star.* But then if you turned inside and you kept on reading 20 inches in, you would find people saying, “Wai... more »

Reinventing America? Is It Possible Or Has Its Time Passed? (Times Haven't Stopped Changing)

News of later developments (much later?) in our civilization from our friend at the Archdruid Report: A great many people are wondering these days when the resulting bubble in US paper wealth—for that’s what it is, of course—is going to pop. That might still happen, especially as a side effect of a sufficiently sharp political or military crisis, but it’s also possible that the trillions of

Climate-driven disasters cost Victorians $4 billion over the last decade

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 32 minutes ago
[image: A view of the Grampians bushfire on Thursday, 21 February 2013 taken from Wartook. Photo: Geoffrey Lea]By Tom Arup, Environment editor, The Age 20 March 2013 (The Age) – Climate-driven disasters such as bushfires and floods have cost Victorian taxpayers more than $4 billion over the last decade, it has emerged, as the Napthine Government released its plan for Victoria to prepare for the future impacts of climate change [pdf]. The plan – released on Tuesday in state parliament – aims to manage risks to Victoria of increase bushfires, heatwaves, droughts, and floods as cl... more »

“Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.” -- Thomas Jefferson

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 51 minutes ago
------------------------------ http://youtu.be/R2kpyYWd0eo *Oliver Stone Tears Apart Obama's Empire * breakingtheset *Published on Dec 24, 2012* Abby Martin sits down with Academy Award Winning Director, Oliver Stone, and Historian Peter Kuznick, to talk about US foreign policy and the Obama administration's disregard for the rule of law. LIKE Breaking the Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin *Blogger's Note:* This video was called to my attention by *Brasscheck TV*via their free e-mail distribution of videos of interest that might... more »

Bill Burr - Advice: Effed Up World

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 51 minutes ago
http://billburr.com/ and http://www.allthingscomedy.com/ Bill Burr - Advice: Effed Up World. Source: YouTube Channel PaperBagBandits.

Tuesday Morning Linkage Club

PM at Duck of Minerva - 56 minutes ago
The Globe and Mail investigates why Japan is falling in love with robots (by the way, I know we’re supposed to love longform journalism now because it’s long, but you can read either half of this piece and you won’t miss the other half) [The Globe and Mail] U.S. Naval War College Professor Tom Nichols Continue reading

The other Honduras: Garifuna culture on the coast

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 1 hour ago
Mirna Ruiz cooks a yucca torta. It’s crazy-hot in the little *casita *where the Garifuna woman is cooking. It’s even hotter over by the wood cooking stove, where she’s grilling ground yucca into the giant wafer-like *tortas *that are a mainstay of the Garifuna diet. Mirna Ruiz is chief cook and president of the Binadu Uwenedu women’s cooperative in Ciriboya, Colon. The little co-op produces 2,000 of the crisp wafers every month, most to be packaged for sale in the cities of Honduras to Garifuna people far away from their home communities on the Caribbean coast. In Honduras, Garifuna... more »

ALEC / RNC Using Legislators to Destruct Democracy

2old2care at Because I Can - 1 hour ago
ALEC state legislators using your state legislature to rig elections in favor of Republicans ALEC state legislators using ALEC legislation to limit democratic participation *LIE CHEAT STEAL to win elections* * * *That’s the Republican way* First we had to put up with the proliferation of ALEC Voter ID legislation Verified by this ALEC state legislator - stating to the world that ALEC legislators were willing to do anything legislatively necessary to ensure that Republicans win At the same time that Voter ID was happening - ALEC and ALEC state legislators were interfering in red... more »

Once Again Iraq’s Premier Maliki Goes After Former Finance Minister Issawi

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 1 hour ago
Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has increasingly used arrest warrants to intimidate and get rid of his political enemies. The latest example occurred in March 2013 when a court ordered former Finance Minister Rafi Issawi to be detained on terrorism charges. Issawi is from the Iraqi National Movement, which is one of the main rivals to the prime minister’s State of Law, and he has often criticized the prime minister’s rule. In December 2012, some of his bodyguards were arrested, and allegedly confessed to carrying out attacks. That led to the current protests in western, east... more »

KLEIN ON THE LAWN: Pretending to speak, analyze and explain!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 2 hours ago
*TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2013* *Part 2—Without a thing to say:* To what extent is youth being served at the new improved Washington Post? Again, consider the remarkable way one young Postman describes himself at his eponymous blog. “About Me,” this young scribe’s headline says. By conventional standards, the following profile borders on the insane: *About Me * Evan Soltas is the writer of Wonkbook, the morning email newsletter of Ezra Klein's Wonkblog at The Washington Post, and for Bloomberg View's "The Ticker" blog. A student at Princeton University, where he intends to major in ec... more »

Days of promise fade for North America ethanol production as drought causes widespread crop failure

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: Corn storage at the ethanol plant in Macon, Missouri, which stopped operating in January. Officials have vowed to reopen it, and it is undergoing renovations. Photo: Daniel Acker / The New York Times] By John Eligon and Matthew L. Wald 16 March 2013 MACON, Missouri (The New York Times) – Five years ago, rural America was giddy for ethanol. Backed by government subsidies and mandates, hundreds of ethanol plants rose among the golden fields of the Corn Belt, bringing jobs and business to small towns, providing farmers with a new market for their crops and generating billio... more »

Man-made desert lake in UAE: Ecological paradise or disaster?

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: Lake Zakher is in a remote corner of the United Arab Emirates, a blue lake shimmering amid the sand dunes. The lake is an industrial byproduct of the desalination system used to meet the UAE's water needs. With few sources of fresh water in the region, the country has relied on desalinating seawater for domestic use. Photo: CNN] By Leone Lakhani 14 March 2013 Lake Zakher, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – In a remote corner of the United Arab Emirates, a blue lake shimmers amid the sand dunes. It's not a mirage, but a man-made oasis -- an unintended byproduct of the UAE's wate... more »

By Masses of Complicated Fact

Douglas Storm at Schools Matter - 2 hours ago
The whole field of education is affected -- There is no end of detail that is without significance. Education would begin by placing in the mind of the student the nature of knowledge -- in the dead state and the nature of the force which may energize it. This would clarify his field at once -- He would then see the use of data. But at present knowledge is placed before a man as if it were a stair at the top of which a DEGREE is obtained which is superlative. nothing could be more ridiculous. To data there is no end. There is proficiency in dissection and a knowledge of parts but... more »

Inuits worried as they confront new realities of rapidly melting Arctic – ‘The rapidity of the changes has taken us by surprise. We have been underestimating the changes.’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: In this September 2006 file photo, ice chunks float in the Arctic Ocean as the sun sets near Barrow, Alaska. Photo: AP] By Meena Menon 17 March 2013 OSLO (The Hindu) – The rapid melting of the Arctic sea ice has rejuvenated interests in the region, ranging from oil and gas and mineral exploration to the possibility of shorter sea routes and increased tourism. But all this poses fresh challenges to the survival of the Inuit and other indigenous people who live there. While some speakers at The Arctic Summit held by *The Economist* on March 12 seemed to favour the line tha... more »

Pope Francis

John Carroll at Dying in Haiti - 2 hours ago
Clearly defining his vision of his own role, he quoted from scriptural texts to say that as Bishop of Rome, he was endowed with “a certain power.” But he went on: “Let us never forget that authentic power is service and that the pope too, when exercising power, must enter ever more fully into that service which has its radiant culmination on the Cross.” “He must be inspired by the lowly, concrete and faithful service which marked St. Joseph and, like him, he must open his arms to protect all of God’s people and embrace with tender affection the whole of humanity, especially the poore... more »

Graham Hancock - TED Talk - The War on Consciousness

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 2 hours ago
thanks to dognamedblue for reminding Free Planet that this TED Talk by "self-confessed ex-cannabis addict" Graham Hancock presentation "The War on Consciousness" was banned from the TED Talk website for the way he is supposed to have misrepresented Science (big S) but it was probably his comments about "the single-minded pursuit of PROFIT". Oh, yeah, that'll get you banned. *Over the matter of the censorship on Youtube of my "War on Consciousness" presentation and Rupert Sheldrake's "Science Delusion" presentation, TED is closed minded, operates with an extremely limited view of wha...more »

Radical teaching philosophy of Denis Rancourt -- interview with The Times of India

Denis Rancourt at Activist Teacher - 2 hours ago
 "A man against grading" -- interview with Poonam Jain, The Times of India,  Expert Eye, March 19, 2013

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 3 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Brent Scowcroft, 87. Good stuff: 1. Sarah Binder is tracking the CR. Which is easier said than done. 2. Interesting David Karpf item about technology and politics. 3. And the amazing history of GOP minority outreach: it didn't start in 2013.

Shouldn't Florida Democrats Have Someone In The Race For Governor Instead Of Just Two Republicans?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
Charlie Crist epitomizes inauthenticy in American politics. And opportunism. You couldn't find a better match for self-proclaimed Florida Democratic Boss Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Crist has no values and no beliefs that will ever get in the way of his business (politics)-- and neither does Wasserman Schultz. She's been busy threatening-- existentially threatening-- every Democrat even *thinking* about running for governor against supremely unpopular Republican Rick Scott to keep the field clear for Charlie, a former conservative Republican governor, tossed out of the party as it g... more »

Copycat Chili's Queso Dip

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 3 hours ago
We have an obsession with Chili's Queso in this house. When I say obsession, I mean it. We talk each other into ordering queso from Chili's probably about once a week, and while we usually just pick it up curbside to go, we needed something we could make at home to satisfy our frequent cravings. This recipe is super easy to throw together and makes a great dip for a party. We served it at our Superbowl party and were scraping the bowl clean. You will need: 1 can of chili, If you want a more authentic Chili's taste, buy the "No Bean" kind. We decided we didn't mind the beans. 1 15 ... more »

THE OIL IS KILLING US

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
Great Plains Tar Sands Resistance is a coalition fighting the expansion and construction of Tar Sands infrastructure in the Great Plains. We are in solidarity with people indigenous to this continent, communities near the point of extraction, and communities living in proximity to these toxic, cancer-causing refineries.

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*Climate change could mean seven times as many Katrinas ~Tim McDonald, Grist * ~Batten down the hatches, East Coasters: A new study argues that for every 1 degree C (1.8 degrees F) of global warming, the U.S. Atlantic seaboard could see up to seven times as many Katrina-sized hurricanes. That’s the conclusion of Aslak Grinsted, a climatologist at Copenhagen’s Niels Bohr Institute, who led an effort to match East Coast storm surge records from the last 90 years with global temperatures. His results, published today in the *Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences*, suggest that ...more »

NATO's mercs use chemical materials in North Syria

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 4 hours ago
*IMPORTANT UPDATE BELOW * * CTV* Syria's state media say rebels have fired a chemical weapon in the north of the country, killing 15 people. The report by the official SANA news agency marks *the first time *the government has accused fighters seeking to topple President Bashar Assad of using chemical weapons. It says "terrorists" fired a rocket "containing chemical materials" into the Khan al-Assal area in the northern province of Aleppo on Tuesday.* The regime regularly uses the term terrorists* to refer to rebels fighting Assad's forces. SANA says around 15 people, most of them... more »

No Progressive

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 4 hours ago
The Harperites -- not surprisingly -- accused Thomas Mulcair of traitorous behaviour when, during his recent Washinton gambit, he did not give his full throated support to the Keystone XL pipeline. He was, they said, damaging Canada's international reputation. But four of Canada's former prime ministers have recently suggested that Stephen Harper is doing a superb job of trashing our international reputation without any help from Mulcair. Consider Jean Chretien's terse comment: "I'm travelling the world. The image of Canada today is not what it was," Chrétien told *Global News* ... more »

Twain Speaks to Corp-Edu Reformers

P. L. Thomas at Schools Matter - 4 hours ago
A message from Mark Twain for Bill Gates, Michelle Rhee, Arne Duncan: "All you need is ignorance and confidence and the success is sure."

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New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 4 hours ago
*‘Wave Robber’ wins Entrepreneur Week’s water challenge* *Film industry expresses concerns about Jindal tax proposal* *La. black bears active early* * Pols on parade ~Library Chronicles* *Archbishop gives brief history behind St. Joseph's altar tradition* *2013 Tennessee Williams Festival March 20-24*

UKIP and Labour

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 4 hours ago
Trailing his article in this month's *Total Politics*, Mark Ferguson asksif Labour should be worried about UKIP? On first glance, no. C4's analysis of the Eastleigh by-election shows just seven per cent of UKIP voters previously supported Labour. This is broadly supported by YouGov's recent research. UKIP have an order of magnitude greater pull with Tories than Labour voters. Indeed they have more of an attractor among former LibDem voters too, probably because the yellow party has left the 'none of the above' situation vacant. So should we sit back and grab the popcorn as they duke... more »

Socialized Healthcare 13: On Inequality and Inclusive Business in HC

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 5 hours ago
Two weeks ago, I attended this forum at the AIM. Mr. Markus Dietrich is with a private consulting firm doing work for ADB and he discussed the result of their ADB-funded study. Dr. Moser showed several slides how inequitable the Philippines' healthcare system is. The Under 5 years old mortality rate (U5MR) is high in the lowest quintile of the population, and skilled birth attendance is highest in Metro Manila and other Luzon regions and provinces, and lowest in Mindanao regions. For the total healthcare expenditure (THE), more than half came from out of pocket or personal and hou... more »

“Former US Treasury Official: Fed Desperate To Avoid Collapse”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“Former US Treasury Official: * *Fed Desperate To Avoid Collapse”* by KWN “A former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury warned King World News, “This type of situation is extremely dangerous. The world has never seen it before.” Former Assistant of the US Treasury, Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, also told King World News that JP Morgan now threatens the stability of the entire global financial system. And if the Fed loses control and we collapse, “Nothing and no one would be safe anywhere.” Here is what Dr. Roberts had to say in this extraordinary interview: “I can point o... more »

“Too Big to Jail”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“Too Big to Jail”* by Dan Dewalt “Corporate America just received the confirmation that they’ve been waiting for. The attorney general of the United States has now admitted that the biggest American financial corporations have created such a labyrinth of their structures and practices that the Justice Department has given up trying to police them in matters of corruption or criminal malfeasance, saying that bringing down any of these mega-banks or businesses could cause crash the economy. In 2008, the Justice Department announced a shift in policy, deciding to be cooperati... more »

Government still selling ECFA as Ag boon

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 5 hours ago
*Future exports under ECFA?* The government is still pushing the *ECFA = Agricultural Export Increases!*line, still trying to sell ECFA as a big boost to Taiwanese agriculture (a 2011 review of that drive) and change some minds in southern Taiwan. Though, I also wonder if they are trying to lay the groundwork for opening up to agricultural exports from China, which would likely be devastating: "See how competitive we are? It's safe to flood the island with melaminemelons and stuff from China!" The latest round in this effort was out on the intertubes via Taiwan Today.... noting that... more »

“The Young Are Going to Get Screwed by Debt”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 5 hours ago
*“The Young Are Going to Get Screwed by Debt”* By Bill Bonner “Thomas Jefferson was opposed to a 'national debt'. He thought it was immoral that one generation should spend on credit, forcing the next generation to pay the bill. Jefferson knew what a burden debt could be - especially when it is debt for spending he didn't enjoy himself. He had inherited debts from his father-in-law. You've heard of 'something for nothing'? On the flip side is a second condition as disagreeable as the first is pleasant: nothing for something. 'Nothing for something' describes the financial s... more »

Advance Notice - The end of this blog

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
I have been reading reports on the Royal Charter on Press Regulation and I fear they sound the death knell for this blog and many like it. Despite claims that blogs are not included in this Charter, this extract seems to say that they are: b) “relevant publisher” means a person (other than a broadcaster) who publishes in the United Kingdom: i.) a newspaper or magazine containing news-related material, or ii.) a website containing news-related material (whether or not related to a newspaper or magazine); This blogger is currently based in the UK, where it is published is a moot poin... more »

BBC Panorama - The Spies Who Fooled The World - Iraq no WMDs.

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 8 hours ago
*"Saddam has developed anthrax and nerve gas and nukular weapons,"* thus spake Lord Bush Junior, Head of America Corporation to drag the UK and the USA into what was always the lucrative 'Iraq Invasion'. And with fifty more people killed (and hundreds injured) in Iraq from more bombings in Baghdad this morning, did this Liberation of Iraq (or Libya) from the Hussein (or Ghadafi) Regime actually do anything other than put oil revenues in other banks' hands? What a *CURVEBALL*... THE SPIES WHO FOOLED THE WORLD click that link to be taken to the iPlayer page for this edition of Panor... more »

DEATH OF THE UK PRESS?

Anon at aangirfan - 8 hours ago
On 18 March 2013, the deputy editor of the Telegraph, tweeted: "We can never again lecture a Mugabe or a Putin on freedom of expression." The UK parliament (some of whom are allegedly "a bunch of child abusers and fascists") has agreed to the setting up of a powerful new *press regulator*designed to prevent the public from learning that some of our leaders may be "a bunch of child abusers and fascists." scienceblogs.com The independent regulator (expected to be run by the CIA and its friends) will have powers to impose fines and demand prominent corrections, and courts will be a... more »

Nuclear Plant Referendum and Power Stuff

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 8 hours ago
*Taking pictures in front of the Hakka Museum in Dongshih.* The Executive Yuan came out in favor of absentee ballots for the referendum, provided the system is only done domestically. “The Executive Yuan recommends the adoption of transfer voting in Taiwan. For example, people who live in Pingtung County could vote in Taipei by-elections,” Executive Yuan Secretary-General Chen Wei-zen (陳威仁) told the legislature’s Internal Administration Committee. The interesting thing will be how they prevent people from voting more than once..... the absentee ballot issue was a sensitive issue si... more »

Facebook used to demolish prejudice claim on 11(b) application

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
R v Nowak 2013 ONCJ 52 shows a creative Crown using Facebook to demolish a claim of prejudice arising from trial delay. The Court notes: Of note, Mr. Nowak stated that he received "top marks" in one course. Further, the cross-examination by the prosecutor, aided by numerous photos from Facebook suggests that Mr. Nowak was able to socialize quite well with fellow students, notwithstanding his stress and anxiety, and that he did consume alcohol.

Cyprus Haircut

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
Well no. The lesson is a little more simpler than that. If you do not respect credit given then you will feel pain when it is withdrawn. Worse, your voters will now feel it directly. In short, easy credit is not a license to steal and operate corruptly with apparent impunity. You cannot protect the benefits of a civil society by such behavior. The lenders never get to actually spend the money provided. It escapes me why anyone thinks they are in charge. What they are in charge of is the decision to continue at all. The fundamental problem happens to be the quality of t... more »

Confronting Drone Swarms

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
No one appears to have publicly connected the dots yet but drones are the future of all aircraft except for hobby horses. If a pilot is along at all it will be as an emergency responder and even that may become nonviable. Our cars will move us and our aircraft will also end up with the pilots somewhere else. We just have to get used to it. Jet fighters are about to become drones just to eliminate the constraints of a human pilot. Can you imagine confronting a flight of fighters able to do thirty G turns and to convert closing speed to Mach 5 while locked in weapons indepe... more »

Aussi Oil Giant Discovered

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
This is a lot short on technical details, but it is a shale based discovery that will need to be proved out. It is certainly huge and appears likely to be highly productive. We already pretty well knew this but thanks to fracking, deliverable oil at anything over $50 a barrel is becoming a global glut. It will first prove so by the USA going into a surplus position and no longer needing to import anything from off shore. China and India are the two great export markets and the rush is on in order to supply them. Yet even they are able to produce a lot of their own needs... more »

Antiquity of Peruvian Maize

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 9 hours ago
As I have inferred in the past, the Atlantean sea peoples emerged around 5000 years ago and that naturally inferred significant crop sharing as needed. Bio-char emerged in the Amazon and it also demanded a maize culture. For those reasons the antiquity of Maize in Peru really had to be approximately 5000 years. This is now confirmed. Let me explain again just why this is important. It provided natural long term storage for food which allowed taxes to be paid in something other that labor. That it also provided food security for large urban populations is also a given but ... more »

Anti-Depressants Don’t Work for Mild or Moderate Depression by Paul Fassa

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 hours ago
Anti-Depressants Don’t Work for Mild or Moderate Depression by Paul Fassa Natural Society. 18 March 2013 A *Harvard Medical School *lecturer, psychologist and Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at Harvard, Irving Kirsch, was recently featured in a *CBS* *60 Minutes *new program with a claim that put a chink into the pharmaceutical industry’s armor. Professor Kirsh provided a documented conclusion that pharmaceutical anti-depressants don’t work for mild to moderately depressed patients. What’s more, a placebo is almost always nearly as effective – without the side... more »

Obama As Satan Is A Provocative Statement

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 9 hours ago
Will Hollywood cast this actor for a future Obama biopic? A lot has been made about the character of Satan in History Channel's miniseries *'The Bible'* looking a lot like President Barack Obama. Twitter was ablaze yesterday about this. But the creators of the hit show are saying that any suggestion that Obama looks like Satan is *"utter nonsense." * They're obviously not good liars. One look at the photo above and the first thing that crosses your mind is, "that's Barack Obama." Were the creators of 'The Bible' making a statement by casting an Obama look-alike as Satan? How ca... more »

It's good that the GOP has admitted to lying about the fiscal crisis. However, the question remains: Will Obama now back off his plan to cut Social Security and Medicare?

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 10 hours ago
------------------------------ MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013 05:15 AM MST *GOP: We’ve been lying all along* *Boehner's admission that we don't really have a debt crisis reveals his party's ulterior, program-cutting motives* *BY DAVID SIROTA* John Boehner (Credit: AP/Susan Walsh) I never thought I’d write these words, but here goes: Thank you, John Boehner. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for finally admitting on national television that all the fiscal cliffs, sequestrations and budget battles you’ve created are, indeed, artificially fabricated by ideologues and self-interes... more »

EU Chooses Bank Runs Over Fighting Tax Haven Cyprus

Kenneth Thomas at Middle Class Political Economist - 10 hours ago
NPR's "Marketplace" reported Monday that the European Union planned to impose a tax on bank deposits in Cyprus of up to 10% to bail out the country's banks. This unprecedented action threatens to undermine confidence in banks throughout the eurozone periphery, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Ireland. As Louise Cooper told Marketplace, “(This move) says that your savings are not necessarily safe in a bank. What this risks is bank runs." Indeed, we could be literally hours from seeing bank runs in one or more of them. What's the motivation for introducing such a risky policy? Cypr... more »

Iraq 10 Years Later (2): What was the Neocon Theory behind the War?

Robert Kelly at Duck of Minerva - 11 hours ago
My first thoughts on the war’s ten year anniversary are here. There I asked if there was any defensible theory behind the war, anything that might explain why we launched it, because weapons of mass destruction were not really the reason. Paul Wolfowitz notoriously admitted they were just a pretext to rally the country behind Continue reading

Sauce for the Gander

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 11 hours ago
It appears that fetus fetishists are getting a dose of sauce for the gander. A U.S. company that provides software solutions to nonprofit organizations has refused service to the Canadian pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition, accusing it of supporting “hate, prejudice and bigotry." Campaign Lie hired a consultant to find a 'databank solutions company', who recommended The Databank in Minneapolis. But [CLC's] Fonseca says that after filling out a form on the company’s website to view a free online demo on behalf of CLC, the consultant received an email reply from Bridget Kelly, T... more »

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 11 hours ago
Rhapsody in blue. Very rare blue poppies (Meconopsis 'Lingholm') at Longwood Gardens.

The Realist Report with John Friend

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 11 hours ago
On this edition of *The* *Realist Report*, we'll be joined by *Stew Webb*, a federal whistleblower and political activist. Stew and I will be discussing his background and past experiences, his views on the problems facing our nation, governmental corruption and financial crimes, and potential solutions to some of America's most pressing problems. Calls will be taken through the conversation. You can download the entire program *here*, or subscribe to Truth Militia Radio via iTunes *here*. Thanks for listening everyone!

India, Pakistan, Mali, Maine... You Know... Everywhere

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 12 hours ago
When I got to India the first time, having driven my VW van across Asia, I was just getting out of my teens. I entered in the Punjab, drove to Delphi, Bombay, Goa, through Kerala, took the ferry across to Ceylon for a few months, then drove to Pondicherry, Madras, north through Andhra Pradessh and Orissa (where Tom Wolf, probably the next governor of Pennsylvania was serving in the Peace Corps at the time), on to Calcutta, Benares and up into Nepal for a couple months, Oh, and what fun it was! I'll spare you the unsavory details of what the Kabul Runs entails, but I can still reme... more »

Christy Clark, Bill Bennett, Sean Leslie, CKNW, Promoters of Fake Stories, A Straight Goods Raw Ex`pose

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 12 hours ago
Time to put an end to the preposterous claims being made by Bill(slime for hire)Bennett, it`s also time for BC Liberal sycophant Sean Leslie and the enabling radio station CKNW to grow a pair of testicles and stop spinning, stop promoting the insane ramblings of Bill Bennett as truth, or valid.. It is also time for Christy Clark`s ex-husband, the loud, limp and prolific twitterer Mark Marissen to put up or shut up... British Columbia, especially parts of the lower mainland, there are areas of the GVRD where ethnic people far outnumber English speaking born and raised Canadians..And... more »

Know Your Rights!

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 12 hours ago
A National Lawyers Guild attorney prepared a Know Your Rights document for us recently that is derived from experiences during more urban actions, but includes material for us to learn well. This document is primarily for Pennsylvania and may be referenced for actions in New Jersey as well, although specific laws may be different. Please consult an attorney if you have more specific questions. *We hope that Kinder Morgan security and law enforcement officers viewing this blog will become as familiar with our rights as we are.* Click To View Printable Version * **Know Your Rights FA... more »

An allergy to reading

skrashen at Schools Matter - 13 hours ago
Ten people contributed opinions on vocabulary development in Larry Ferlazzo’s recent blog on “Many Ways To Help Students Develop Academic Vocabulary” (Ed Week, March 17; http://tinyurl.com/ctesagq). There is massive research from many different kinds of research showing that reading is a powerful source of vocabulary knowledge, most likely the most powerful source. Also a number writers in the professional literature present evidence showing that direct instruction of vocabulary can have only a limited effect. Nevertheless, only one contributor to Ferlazzo’s blog mentioned reading... more »

Death to those who say ‘death to patent trolls’

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 14 hours ago
David Farrar says “Death to Patent trolls.” David Farrar is an idiot. Thomas Edison was a “patent troll.” So was Nikola Tesla. So was almost every great inventor in the last 200 years*. So is any inventor who licenses their invention rather than produce it themselves. Unlike the ignoramuses who attack them, these people aren’t trolls. They’re benefactors: Adam Smith wrote that the division of labour is a critical way of increasing a nation’s wealth. Only if inventors can be paid for inventing, can they specialize in their profession. The only way inventors can be paid just fo... more »

Concerned Residents Win Concession For Free Speech in Protest Injunction

Alex Lotorto at Stop The Tennessee Pipeline! - 14 hours ago
MILFORD, Pa. - Pike County President Judge Joseph Kameen granted a special injunction Monday requested by Tennessee Pipeline Co. against civil disobedience while including special protections for concerned residents' free speech. Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, sought relief against residents' attempts to speak in favor of and enact civil disobedience blocking controversial pipeline construction. Judge Kameen's special injunction raises the consequence of defendants' trespassing on the pipeline right of way and blocking access roads in Pike County to incl... more »

Musical Interlude: 2002, “River of Stars”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 14 hours ago
2002, “River of Stars” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dg9Wl4b3gOo

If Senator Rob will do just one more thing, I'll be happy to upgrade him from a "no-guts" t ao "low-guts" nonentity

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
* Looking at this picture, can you tell which of these guys is gay and which is straight? Me either. But I bet you can tell that they look like a pair of yutzes. (Don't you have to credit Senator Rob with guts in allowing his office to circulate this photo?)* *by Ken* For once Jay Leno, who does politics worse than just about anything, seems to have gotten it right, quipping Friday that Ohio Sen. Rob Portman"doesn't care who his son marries -- as long as it's not a Democrat." If everyone promises not to tell the senator, I will admit that my opinion of him has already been upgraded... more »

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
"What caused this outburst of V838 Mon? For reasons unknown, star V838 Mon's outer surface suddenly greatly expanded with the result that it became the brightest star in the entire Milky Way Galaxy in January 2002. Then, just as suddenly, it faded. A stellar flash like this had never been seen before- supernovas and novas expel matter out into space. Click image for larger size. Although the V838 Mon flash appears to expel material into space, what is seen in the above image from the Hubble Space Telescope is actually an outwardly moving light echo of the bright flash. In a light... more »

Paulo Coelho, “The Stone”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
*“The Stone”* by Paulo Coelho "A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But, a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman. “I’ve been thinking,” he said. “I know how valua... more »

The Poet: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., "The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 15 hours ago
*"The Last Rites of the Bokononist Faith"* by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. "God made mud. God got lonesome. So God said to some of the mud, "Sit up!" "See all I've made," said God, "the hills, the sea, the sky, the stars." And I was some of the mud that got to sit up and look around. Lucky me, lucky mud. I, mud, sat up and saw what a nice job God had done. Nice going, God. Nobody but you could have done it, God! I certainly couldn't have. I feel very unimportant compared to You. The only way I can feel the least bit important is to think of all the mud that didn't even g... more »

Kate Braun : Vernal Equinox Combines Customs from Many Cultures

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 15 hours ago
"Eoster" was an Anglo-Saxon maiden goddess of the dawn. Image from Vita Marie Lovett. Vernal Equinox: A renewal of the land's fertility By Kate Braun / The Rag Blog / March 18, 2013 “Green, green, it’s green they say, on the far side of the hill...” Wednesday, March 20, 2013 is the Vernal or Spring Equinox, which may also be called Ostara or Lady Day. Lady Moon is in her 2nd quarter in

14 Imágenes bonitas de casas grandes

José Luis Ávila Herrera at FotoFrontera - 15 hours ago
Por favor visite nuestra página oficial: www.fotofrontera.com

Declaration of Equality

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 16 hours ago
Sign this petition, the Declaration of Equality, to send a message to the Racist Party’s constitutional review: PS: Send another message to them, by submitting to tell them what a constitution is for. Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
Blacktown, New South Wales, Australia. Thanks for stopping by.

"Answering the Call: Taking Responsibility for Your Destiny"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
*"Answering the Call:* *Taking Responsibility for Your Destiny"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "Each and every day you have the opportunity to answer your own call and take action toward creating the life you want. There are those of us who believe that our lives are predestined and that we should resign ourselves to our lots in life. Yet the truth is that it is up to each one of us to decide what that destiny will be. While each of us is born with a life purpose, it is up to us whether or not we will say yes to fulfilling it. And just like when we choose what to eat, who to ... more »

"Our Destiny..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago
"Our destiny can be examined, but it cannot be justified or totally explained. We are simply here." - Iris Murdoch

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 16 hours ago

EFN Asia 16: Participation in Jeju Forum for Peace 2013

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 16 hours ago
The Economic Freedom Network (EFN) Asia will be participating in the Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2013 Conference this coming May 29-31, 2013, to be held at Haevichi Hotel and Resort Jeju, S. Korea. I think this will be the first time that the network will join this big international conference held yearly in the southern island of Jeju. The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty (FNF) Korea Office is working with the EFN Asia Secretariat in Bangkok in the network's participation. This forum was invented in 2001 meant for a regional dialogue to promote peace and prosperity... more »

“Marches of Folly: When Will We Ever Learn?”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*“Marches of Folly: When Will We Ever Learn?”* by Paul Krugman “Ten years ago, America invaded Iraq. Some voices warned that we were making a terrible mistake, and those warnings were, of course, right. So did our political elite and our news media learn from this experience? It sure doesn’t look like it. The really striking thing during the run-up to the war was the illusion of consensus. To this day, pundits who got it wrong excuse themselves on the grounds that “everyone” thought that there was a solid case for war. Of course, they acknowledge, there were war opponents — ... more »

"None Dare Call It Theft"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 17 hours ago
*"None Dare Call It Theft"* by Jeffrey Tucker "The euro elites don’t call it theft or robbery or even a tax, much less an outright default by the banks of Cyprus. They are calling it a “stability levy,” a plan that could lead not to stability, but a domino-style collapse of the banking system in Europe. True to the nature of government propaganda, the Cypriot head of state, Nicos Anastasiades, says this “stability levy” is necessary to forestall “a complete collapse of the banking sector.” It’s the same kind of language we heard in the fall of 2008 — an intimidation tactic use... more »

The Banksters have gone well and truly crazy

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 17 hours ago
This bank bailout in Cypress is insane. You can get the wonky details here, which include Russian mobsters, but the shorter is: The major bank in Cypress is nationalized. The bank fucked up. They intend to bail out the bank by taking between almost 7% to 10% of the depositor's money. Unsurprisingly this has already led to a run on the ATM machines that ran them dry. Suspect they haven't refilled them. Meanwhile, the bank holiday that was supposed end tomorrow has been extended to Thursday to give the Banksters time to legalize the thievery. I'll be surprised if this doesn't backfi... more »

The GOP autopsy

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 18 hours ago
That's not my term. It's what the media is calling the new 100 page report delivered by the RNC that resulted from months of study on the causes of their trouncing in 2012. I'm told this a good summary of the RNC's post-mortem. Didn't read it myself. I'm not that interested in Republican navel gazing. Besides, I can tell the GOP what its problem is in a few sentences. They can't win without the crackpot con base vote but they can't win by supporting the crackpot agenda either. The wedge issues near and dear to the activist base are now causing internal rifts within the party and ... more »

Your Money Isn't Safe Anymore

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 18 hours ago
*[image: _Jeffrey Tucker]Guest post by Jeffrey Tucker * The euro elites don't call it theft or robbery or even a tax, much less an outright default by the banks of Cyprus. They are calling it a "stability levy," a plan that could lead not to stability, but a domino-style collapse of the banking system in Europe. True to the nature of government propaganda, the Cypriot head of state, Nicos Anastasiades, says this "stability levy" is necessary to forestall "a complete collapse of the banking sector." It's the same kind of language we heard in the fall of 2008 -- an intimidation tac... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 18 hours ago
*Other People's Property: A Blighted New Orleans ~Geoff Gauchet*

Calling Out Brad Wall's Phony Contrived Outrage At Mulcair

leftdog at Buckdog - 18 hours ago
*Pipelines have already carried share of hot air*By Bruce Johnstone - Regina Leader-Post *Aside from oil and gas, pipelines seem to be useful conduits for transporting another commodity we seem to have a surplus of - hot air.**No sooner had Premier Brad Wall returned from his trip to Washington, D.C., last week, where he spoke to politicians and business leaders about the importance of approving the Keystone XL pipeline, he was blasting federal NDP leader Tom Mulcair for failing to defend Canada's interests in the U.S., namely promoting the Keystone XL pipeline.* *Wall accused Mulc... more »

The Economy: "A Crisis They Can’t Avoid"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 19 hours ago
*"A Crisis They Can’t Avoid"* By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com "Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts says there is another financial calamity coming to the U.S. Dr. Roberts says, “It is a crisis they can’t avoid. One way or another it’s going to bite very hard, whether it comes through the dollar or the bonds.” Dr. Roberts says all the ongoing financial problems we face today are a result of little or no regulation. Dr. Roberts makes his case in a book titled “The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West.” Dr. Roberts conten... more »

Ohio Republican Steve LaTourette Admits The GOP Is Losing The War Against Women

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 19 hours ago
*Fox News Sunday* hosted former Republican Congressman Steve LaTourette yesterday. He's a mainstream conservative who never appreciated the extremism of the Tea Party or the Southern racists who have managed to take over the GOP in recent decades. He warned his brethren, many of whom had just seen Republicans arguing at CPAC whether or not slavery had been a good thing (for the slaves) that "If we ever want to be a national party, then we have to look like America. Today we look like a bunch of white guys below the Mason-Dixon line." The Republican he singled out for infamy, thoug... more »

Game Night and Shopping and Movies, Oh My!

Southern Man at Southern Man - 19 hours ago
After a morning of - OK, basically nothing - out at The Land Southern Man headed to the Ancestral Manor to pick up Teen Daughter The Younger for an evening of fun and games. Southern Mother working puzzles in the Library. Another library shot with TDY. Southern Father hard at work. That's the pecan orchard in the background. The kickoff event was Vintage Game Night at the church. The Game Of Life TDY makes her move. Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots! Battleship Couples Therapy. Then Southern Man and TDY headed to the mall to shop... TDY cashed in on three months back allowance and spen... more »

100 years of coming and going

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 19 hours ago
Manhattan’s Grand Central Station, a classic of architecture, transport engineering and cinema—and the busiest train station in the States—is 100 years old. Over the years, the terminal has appeared in many books and a host of movies: It might look like the Paris Opera House from outside, but the inside was said to be the model for the Taggart Terminal in Ayn Rand’s *Atlas Shrugged* *. * Every day more than 750,000 people come through its doors, where its main hall provides the perfect model of spontaneous order: no cops, no ropes, no centralized direction, just order through in... more »

The Not-So-Imminent Iranian Nuke: A Year Away for a Decade

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 19 hours ago
According to official estimates, the Islamic Republic of Iran is now roughly a year away from acquiring a nuclear bomb.  Well, that is, if it were actually building a nuclear bomb.  Which it's not.  "Right now, we think it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don’t want to cut it too close," President Barack Obama told an Israeli

Everything changes for same sex marriage

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 19 hours ago
Everything changes. Always. In the case of equal marriage rights for same gender couples, support for gay marriage has grown almost miraculously quickly. Support for gay marriage reached a new high in the latest ABC News/Washington Post poll, marking a dramatic change in public attitudes on the subject across the past decade. Fifty-eight percent of Americans now say it should be legal for gay and lesbian couples to wed. That number has grown sharply in ABC News/Washington Post polls, from a low of 32 percent in a 2004 survey of registered voters, advancing to a narrow majority fo... more »

RAG RADIO / Thorne Dreyer : An Interview with Novelist and Immigrant Rights Activist David McCabe

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 19 hours ago
Novelist and immigrant rights activist David McCabe at the studios of KOOP-FM in Austin, Texas, March 8, 2013. Photo by Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog. Rag Radio Podcast: Novelist and immigrant rights activist  David McCabe, author of 'Without Sin' "When love for family is stronger than fear / when the desperation sets in / A man will cross any line that is drawn, / and who's to say it's a sin

Strikes near Lebanon border: Syria? Israel? The US?

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 19 hours ago
*You decide:* *Syria? * *Syrian jets bomb Lebanon border area* Warplanes from Syria are reported to have bombed targets *on the border it*shares with Lebanon There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air strikes, which reportedly targeted Syrian rebel positions in eastern Lebanon, specifically a remote area near the town of Arsal, according to security sources cited by news agencies and Lebanon's state-run National News Agency. "Syrian planes bombed the border between Lebanon and Syria but I cannot yet say if they hit Lebanese territory or only Syrian territory," a ... more »

Bowling Night

Southern Man at Southern Man - 19 hours ago
It's that time of the month again! The Girls P Gives A Lesson Clowning Around Feasting On Mexican Food!

Honduras: 42 Mutilated Sheep in Comayagua

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 19 hours ago
*Source: Vision OVNI Photo Source: http://eng.laprensa.hn Date: 03/15/2013* *Honduras: 42 Mutilated Sheep found in Comayagua* *“Chupacabras” blamed for 42 deaths; residents are astonished.* Reports on dead animals showing incisions on their necks are emerging from Comayagua in central Honduras. SENASA authorities look into animal killings on a property belonging to congressman Valentin Suárez. Rumors about the Chupacabras have gained strength as a result of the death of a large number of sheep on a property belonging to a political representative of that province. Yesterday, at 5:0... more »

Maarten Horst Interviews Brian Kelly & Deva Peters March 11, 2013 about the OPPT & First Contact

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 20 hours ago
Brian Kelly & Deva Peters are interviewed on ET First Contact Radio by Maarten Horst on March 11, 2013

Primary and Caucuses Shuffle

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 20 hours ago
The other big procedural reform discussed in the RNC party assessment document today is to shift the party convention back from August to July or June, and compress the primaries and caucuses further to make that work. In order to do that, they suggest that the party "should strongly consider a regional primary system or some other form of a major reorganization." We should divide this into two parts. The date of the convention is fully within the control of the RNC, and if they want to move it, they can. As Josh Putnam has been tweeting today, however, the dates of the primaries an... more »

Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial; the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 20 hours ago
Keewatin v. Ontario (Natural Resources), 2013 ONCA 158 holds that Treaty obligations bind the Crown as a whole, both Federal and Provincial, and that the respective Crown to deal with specific matters is determined by the Constitution Act, 1867 and the division of jurisdiction set out therein: [139] The promise made in the harvesting clause is that of the Crown, not Canada. The two levels of government are "separately invested by the Crown with its rights and responsibilities as treaty maker and as owner respectively": Annuities Case, at p. 645. As Prime Minister Robert Borden sta... more »

All in the family

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 21 hours ago
The family business is a time honored tradition in the United States, but when that business is politics, the grift is built in: Thirty-two members of Congress dispensed more than $2 million in campaign funds to pay relatives' salaries during the 2012 election cycle, a USA TODAY analysis of the most recent campaign records shows. Lawmakers have hired their children, spouses, aunts, parents and in-laws as consultants, accountants and record keepers, the examination shows. In some cases, multiple members of the family joined the payroll. It's entirely possible that some of these fam... more »

Mircea Eliade On The Eleusinian Mysteries

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
Below is an excerpt from Mircea Eliade's 1958 book, *"Rites And Symbols of Initiation: The Mysteries of Birth and Rebirth."* Harper & Row, Publishers: New York. Pg. 112-15. For the purpose of our investigation, one thing is particularly of interest---that these experiences are brought on by rites which, both in the Greco-Oriental and the primitive worlds, are initiatory, that is, pursue the novice's spiritual transmutation. At Eleusis, as in the Orphic-Dionysiac ceremonies, as in the Greco-Oriental mysteries of the Hellenistic period, the mystes submits himself to initiation in ... more »

US shells out big money for small pox vaccine? Bed bugs/small pox link.

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 21 hours ago
*Can this all be a coincidence? Perhaps? Perhaps not?* *Summary:* -Bed bug populations have been on the rise all over North America. Actually all over the World -Also the latest incarnation of bed bugs happen to be resistant to pesticides, making their population difficult to control. -Even more curious is that no other insects have mutated to have this resistance....isn’t that odd? -Oh and last but not least bed bugs have historically been connected to the spread of small pox. -And the US is spending 200 dollars per dosage for small pox vaccinations Bed Bug bites Bed bugs infes... more »

Spent Fuel Pool Problems at Daiichi Responsible for Recent Emissions?

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 21 hours ago
Maybe the spent fuel problem is responsible for the heavy emissions visible with the webcams: Enenews reports from NHK: Another fuel pool loses cooling system at Fukushima Daiichi — CBC: May take days to repair http://enenews.com/nhk-another-fuel-pool-loses-cooling-system-at-fukushima-plant-cbc-solution-may-take-days/comment-page-1#comment-338269 *Links provided by Enenews:* Blackout halts cooling system at Fukushima plant NHK* *March 18 2013 http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130319_01.html [Excerpted] TEPCO officials say a power blackout has suspended a cooling system for use... more »

Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013

Americani Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 21 hours ago
* **This was posted 30 days ago shortly after it was discovered the Akashic records had been damaged by "controllers" of this planet, and the records of Creation were brought down to restore them. They didn't know there were back up copies that are untouchable. -AK* * * http://treeofthegoldenlight.com/email_ad_wuc02-18-13.htm *Wake up Call: Hatonn, Feb 18, 2013* Posted by Nancy Tate I am here today to tell you all of something that is taking place in the universe. I am Hatonn, and I greet you on the most momentous of days. It is a matter of circumventing the universe and all of i... more »

Ever-Closing Windows and Biden Time on Iran at AIPAC

Nima Shirazi at Wide Asleep in America - 21 hours ago
(Susan Walsh/AP) After a brief respite from incessant warmongering nonsense following the reelection of Barack Obama in November 2012, it appears old rhetorical devices have reemerged. With a vengeance. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing his minions at AIPAC via video chat on March 4, spent a bunch of his time saying supposedly scary things about "Iran's pursuit of nuclear

God Save Me From A Normal Life — Part Two

What Is Sustainable at What Is Sustainable - 21 hours ago
My father was born 100 years ago. One hundred years from now, the seven-point-something billion people alive today will be gone. There will be no cars, TVs, computers, phones, and so on. The vision of a technological wonderland will be forgotten and extinct, replaced by many new low-tech survival-oriented pursuits. If humans continue to exist, they will not be very fond of our generation, and the messes we left for them. Every civilization eventually exhausts essential resources and collapses. As predictable as the sun, civilizations rise, peak, and then set. In the wake of ... more »

Jonah Raskin : Lay Monk Tolbert McCarroll on the Pope, the Church, and the Crisis in Catholicism

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 22 hours ago
Brother Toby at Starcross Community. Interview with Brother Toby: Author, heretic, and spiritual  pilgrim at Starcross Community “The Catholic Church today is an absolute monarchy and an absolute patriarchy that puts you right back in the Medieval Ages.” -- Tolbert McCarroll By Jonah Raskin / The Rag Blog / March 18, 2013 Tolbert McCarroll -- better known to friends and family members as

In Memoriam Francois Duprat - 26.10.41 to 18.3.78

Rufus News From Atlantis at News From Atlantis. - 22 hours ago
Today marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of the murder of Francois Duprat. Francois Duprat was a truth-seeker. He helped to uncover the great lies pushed by the Cult of Holocaustrianity, and for this act of blasphemy against the faith of the Establishment, he was murdered in a car bombing; one which had all the hallmarks of a State operation. The bomb blast crippled his wife, who only narrowly escaped with her life. Responsibility for the terrorist murder of Francois Duprat was claimed by a self-styled 'Jewish Remembrance Group', but was far from the work of amateurs; it had to... more »

execution

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 22 hours ago
The execution of Ruth Snyder Tom Howard - January 12, 1928

EPA Accused of Violating Clean Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 22 hours ago
EPA Accused of Violating Clean Water Act in BP Gulf Oil Cleanup By Farron Cousins, DeSmogBlog 9 March 13 http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/16389-epa-accused-of-violating-clean-water-act-in-bp-gulf-oil-cleanup[excerpted] *O*il Spill Eater International (OSEI), through the Gulf Oil Spill Remediation Conference group, issued a press release this week saying that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) effectively blocked or otherwise delayed scientific advancement in the cleanup of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil disaster by refusing to acknowledge the toxicity of t...more »

Repetition concerning those kids today!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 22 hours ago
*MONDAY, MARCH 18, 2013* *Where does false belief come from:* False belief tends to be rooted in constant repetition. We thought of that fact when we read this letter in Saturday’s Washington Post: LETTER TO THE WASHINGTON POST (3/16/13): *The Common Core regimentation of kindergarten can only sadden those of us who were fortunate enough to have gone to school before World War II,* when kindergarten was devoted entirely to socializing children. The only specific thing we ever learned was nursery rhymes. We spent our time playing games or listening to our teacher read to us. Now s...more »

testimony

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 22 hours ago

Mohawk Nation News 'The Jesuits'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
THE JESUITS Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin Reply MNN. Mar. 18, 2013. The Jesuits have always been the storm troopers of the Catholic Church. They came to the Western Hemisphere to “spread the lie of male hierarchy”. The real reason is to use bio-weapons and all means of mass murder. The Western Hemisphere is to be the Zion of the

Apache receive support from Superior City Council opposing land exchange

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler Superior City Council opposes HR 687, Southeastern Land Exchange Bill   By Sandra Rambler, San Carlos Apache Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com Photo courtesy Sandra Rambler SUPERIOR, Ariz. – During an emergency Special Council meeting on March 13, the Superior Council voted to oppose the proposed Arizona Southeastern Land Exchange (HR 687)

A (very reluctant) case for Airport Security

Patrick Porter at Duck of Minerva - 22 hours ago
For students of international affairs and security, especially from either side of the Atlantic, its that time of year again when we congregate at the ISA Conference to muse on the globalisation of everything in a borderless world…after enduring an increasingly unpleasant border regime at the Airport. I’m not sure about our readers, but the Continue reading

Mohawk Nation News 'UN Serpents'

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
Posted on March 16, 2013 by admin MNN. MAR. 16, 2013. There once was an evil man whose head was full of serpents like Medusa, called “Atotarho”. Each serpent wreaked havoc, domination, disorder, control or death. To bring peace Dekanawida and Ayonwatha combed out the serpents. As his roots were in Great Turtle Island, he became clean-minded and was appointed the chairman of the Five Nations

Which Way Will The GOP Turn-- And Who Decides? Rience Preibus' GOP Autopsy Report

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 23 hours ago
Boehner bombed on ABC's *This Week* Sunday. First he admitted that the debt crisis is *not* an immediate threat. Then he reiterated that we need to gut the two most popular social safety programs in American history: Social Security and Medicare: We do not have an immediate debt crisis. But we all know that we have one looming. And we have-- one looming-- because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They’re gonna go bankrupt. Washington has responsibility-- to our seniors and our near seniors-- that we firm up these programs so that they’re... more »

Could Postponing Debates Matter?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 23 hours ago
I'm going to look at the GOP presidential nomination process suggested reforms out today, starting with the debates. The RNC wants to chop in half the number of primary-season debates next time around, starting later (not until September 2015) and ending earlier ("after the first several primaries"). It is worth noting this would mean that the first debate wouldn't be until after the Ames Straw Poll...and whatever one thinks of Ames, it's now become a regular pattern that one or more candidate is knocked out before the suggested date of the first debate. If Republicans really were ... more »

Open Thread: Irony Deficient edition

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 1 day ago
I'm preparing a massive post tomorrow about the tenth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq for the one or two people who care what I write about, anymore. If there's anything you want me to include, now's the time to ask while I'm going on a .jpeg and news source safari.

1500 kilometres by foot through the arctic winter: the journey of the nishiyuu nears ottawa

laura k at wmtc - 1 day ago
On January 16, 2013, six young Cree men and an experienced guide left their community on Hudson's Bay, in the far north, on foot. Their destination: Parliament Hill, Ottawa. Along their route, other aboriginal youth joined them, and together, now almost 200 strong, they are still walking. This is the Journey of Nishiyuu, or, the Quest For Unity. The walkers will reach Ottawa on March 25, having walked more than 1500 kilometres in sub-zero temperatures. These impressive young people stand in solidarity with Idle No More, and seek to protect their land and their heritage, and to bui... more »

High Tech Brain

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 1 day ago
This is all early days but we can all see where this is headed. We are certainly mastering our brain in the process. An interesting question. We think that we forget but do we? We certainly set stuff aside and move on. Yet how well do we return to the knowledge area? Are the channels open and reinforced during a revisit? We have examples of long term photographic memory that gives us a very robust picture instead. Thus an unused pathway will open up to respond eventually to a freshly asked question. So just how does our brain order its search? That is really important.... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Why The Saints Need Better Offense ~ The Ad Infinitum Philosophy ~Saints Tailgate*

Human Rights Treaties Are Like Virginity Pledges

amurdie at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
In the category of “pop-culture-not-talked-about-by-normal-Ducks,” People magazine’s cover story last week was on ABC’s The Bachelor, Sean Lowe, and his pledge to remain a virgin re-virgin until his wedding night. As someone who graduated high school in town of less than 1500 in Kansas, I think this type of pledge is pretty typical: many teens Continue reading

Campaign to rename Earth to "Free Planet".

Mike Philbin at FREE PLANET - 1 day ago
this is our chance to make a real difference to how we view ourselves, our planet. Campaign to rename Earth to Free Planet. and it'll work in whatever language you wanna adopt for your chosen Diversity. As somebody replying to some thread on some forum* put it, "Why is a planet that's 70% water called Earth?" and, no, I don't think we should rename it to *something based on the Greek Gods like all the other Solar System planets*. In fact, we already know what it's not, a Free Planet. This is more than abundantly evident from the continued slavery of *You The People* to the work ... more »

Campus Crusade for Austerity

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 1 day ago
It's bad enough that college students are getting crushed with debt before they even graduate to a lifetime of wage slavery. But now, insult is being added to injury. On campuses throughout America, kids are getting inundated by a flood of class war proselytizers. The missionaries, unfortunately, are not the remnants of the Occupy movement or the labor movement. They're the One Percent Meritocracy, spreading the addictive dogma of austerity to their peers. The message: Wall Street is not robbing you blind. Grandma and Grandpa are. Stop them, starve them now, before it's too late! An... more »

Stiglitz on Singapore

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
Nobel laureate economist, Joe Stiglitz, has an op-ed piece in today's *New York Times *in which he looks at how Singapore's efforts to redress inequality has reaped huge benefits for the country. *Democracy, we now recognize, involves more than periodic voting. Societies with a high level of economic inequality inevitably wind up with a high level of political inequality: the elites run the political system for their own interests, pursuing what economists call rent-seeking behavior, rather than the general public interest. The result is a most imperfect democracy. The Nordic democr... more »

VFP TAKES OVER SOUTH BOSTON

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
Yesterday MB and I drove to Portland early in the morning and jumped on the bus to Boston. We were going to join the Veterans for Peace (VFP) alternative St. Patrick's day parade through the streets of South Boston. The traditional parade (with its military, fire and police focus) has refused for years to allow peace or gay rights groups to be in the event. These organizations have taken the case to high courts and lost. Three years ago VFP decided to just start a second parade that would follow in the steps of the traditional one. Each year it has gotten bigger and yesterday ... more 

Yellowcake Follies: An Interview with Carlo Bonini

Fair Game - Exclusive: Joe and Valerie Plame Wilson Interview ...
 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hlLhDoMr9o
Nov 4, 2010 - Uploaded by movieweb
We had an opportunity to sit down with the film's real-life subjects, former-CIA ... Fair Game - Exclusive ...

Seed Shortage News - The Real Winner in Iraq is Monsanto
 

seedshortagenews.com/index.php?...real-winner-in-iraq...monsanto...
The Real Winner in Iraq is Monsanto. During the United States-led invasion of Iraq, in March, 2003, the looting of Iraq's national archeological museum received ...http://www.thepanelist.net/

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