Saturday, May 18, 2013

18 May - Blogs I'm Following II

10:15pm MDST

Wild Bill: How to wreck the military...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 hour ago
*the libtards are doing a great job.*

O.A.S. Drug Review a "Game Changer"

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 hour ago
The Organization of American States has issued a report on global drugs policy that, some believe, could lead to the end of blanket prohibition. *Publication of the Organisation of American States (OAS) review, commissioned at last year's Cartagena Summit of the Americas attended by Barack Obama, reflects growing dissatisfaction among Latin American countries with the current global policy on illicit drugs. It spells out the effects of the policy on many countries and examines what the global drugs trade will look like if the status quo continues. It notes how rapidly countries' uni... more »

random notes from ronda

laura k at wmtc - 1 hour ago
We have seen many happy, well-cared-for dogs on this trip, dogs of all shapes and sizes, all obviously loved. We have seen no street dogs. There are some feral cats living in the Alhambra. That is always sad to see. But the street dogs that have broken our hearts in Mexico and Peru and elsewhere do not seem to be in Spain, at least not where we have been. * * * * On the drive from Barcelona to Granada, I realized that we brought no music with us. We never even thought of it. I blipped through radio stations, even though I knew it would be useless. Radio sounds exactly the same, reg... more »

grenada to ronda / ronda

laura k at wmtc - 1 hour ago
We changed our plans, then changed them again. Originally, we had pencilled in a drive to the very southern tip of Spain, where on a clear day you can see Morocco, and where there is a supposedly wonderfully intact set of Roman ruins, Baelo Claudio. From the start, I was skeptical that we could do this and still do everything else on our wish-list. I think Allan had forgotten how everything takes longer than you think it's going to, and how sleeping in a different town every night can mean not seeing anything very well. In Granada, it was time to firm up the flexible spots in our it... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
The Roman poet Juvenal asked, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” (“Who will guard the guards themselves?”) Still a good question... - CP

“Wal-Mart Warns Of Economic Disaster… Are You Prepared?”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
* “Wal-Mart Warns Of Economic Disaster… Are You Prepared?”* by Phoenix Capital Research “If you want to get a sense of what’s happening in the world, your best bet is to ignore Government data and focus on corporate revenues. Why revenues? Because earnings can be massaged any number of ways (depreciation methods, laying off staff to cut costs, depletion of loan loss reserves for banks, etc.). But you cannot fake actual money coming in the door. With that in mind, I want to draw your attention to the recent drop in corporate revenues at a number of corporations including Procto... more »

SETTING THE STAGE FOR ENDLESS WAR

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 2 hours ago
A Pentagon official predicted Thursday the war against al-Qaeda and its affiliates could last up to 20 more years. The comment came during a Senate hearing revisiting the Authorization for Use of Military Force, or AUMF, enacted by Congress days after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. At the hearing, Pentagon officials claimed the AUMF gives the president power to wage endless war anywhere in the world, including in Syria, Yemen and the Congo. "This is the most astounding and most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I’ve been to since I’ve been here," said Independent Sen. Angus Kin... more »

"Life's Tough..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago
“Life’s tough… it’s even tougher if you’re stupid.” - John Wayne

CHANGING THE WAY WE THINK ABOUT WAR

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 3 hours ago
*This drum belonged to long-time Maine VFP founding member Tom Sturtevant who passed away in 2012. Our chapter is now named after Tom. When ever we gather we always hold Tom close to our heart. In this photo his son-in-law presents the drum to our chapter.* - I attended the Maine Veterans for Peace war trauma symposium held today in Portland. Dr. Paula Caplan was the keynote speaker. She is a clinical and research psychologist currently serving as an Associate at Harvard University's DuBois Institute. She has been working to change the language we use to descri... more »

TV Watch: "Maron" revisited, following an absolutely terrific Episode 3

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
*Off-the-Marc: Episode 3* (view clip at link) *Look who shows up at Marc's door!* *Says Marc: "The character in the show is not exactly my father. My dad's name is Barry; the character in the show is Larry. My father is more frightening than Judd Hirsch." However, Marc assures us in "Off-the-Marc: Episode 3" (here's the link again) that all the stories attributed here to "Larry" Maron, such as the incident when he ran over Marc's ankle with his car, can be properly credited to Barry M.* *by Ken* I've made the point often enough: I'm suspicious when shows are said to come together ... more »

Rudolf Steiner On Cultivating The Higher Organs

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 3 hours ago
Below is an excerpt from Rudolf Steiner's book, *"Theosophy: An Introduction to the Spiritual Processes in Human Life and in the Cosmos."*1994. Anthroposophic Press: Hudson, New York. Pg. 96-99. "Within our body, our eyes and ears develop as organs of perception, as senses for bodily processes. Similarly, we can develop soul and spiritual organs of perception that will open up soul and spirit worlds to us. For anyone who does not have such higher senses, these worlds are dark and silent, just as the physical world is dark and silent to a being without eyes and ears. However, we r... more »

Egyptian Music Video About The Betrayal of the Muslim Brotherhood

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 4 hours ago
An excerpt from the article, *"Brotherhood loses the middle class,"* by Azmi Ashour, published in Al-Ahram on December 5, 2012: Anyone who watched the million-man marches in Tahrir and other Egyptian cities on 23, 27 and 30 November (which is to say three huge mass protest demonstrations in a single week) can easily observe the change in the composition of the revolutionary crowds. The middle class, which is generally more moderate and less activist than the revolutionary youth, added their numbers to Tahrir and other major squares in the country. Their anxieties as to where the Mus... more »

#Blended Learning is cheap learning, isn’t it? #edtech

Chalk Face, PhD at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 4 hours ago
This isn’t a reaction to anything in particular, but when I do happen to glance at something about “Blended learning,” I always feel like advocates want to get the same learning for half the price. Technology in this instance means to replace certain more expensive teaching functions with videos and other nonsense. When the private […]

Sanity Break: Photos of Taiwan from before the Boom

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 5 hours ago
For those of you wanting a sanity break from the Phils/Taiwan stupidity, BusinessInsider.com has a great collection of photos taken in 1980. _______________________ [Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Oil Companies Prove they are Stupid - No Business Acumen

2old2care at Because I Can - 5 hours ago
One month ago Gas prices in Minneapolis were $3.42 a gallon Today Minnesota gas prices are the highest in the United States $4.39 a gallon *Gas went up* *97 cents a gallon* *in one month* Earlier this week Sen. Amy Klobuchar called on the Department of Energy to take action. “This spike in gas prices is hurting families, businesses and farmers across Minnesota and disrupting commerce,” Klobuchar had said. “Scheduled maintenance at refineries should not be allowed to cause such major disruptions in supply. That was a nice gesture. Absolute waste of time - the oil companies don'... more »

'The Protocols' by Douglas Reed

NO ONE TO VOTE FOR at NO ONE TO VOTE FOR - 5 hours ago
*Extract from Reed's "The Controversy of Zion"* * * *Chapter 27* The “Protocols” While Zionism thus took shape in the Eastern ghettoes during the last century and at the start of this one emerged as a new force in international affairs (when the British Government offered it Uganda), the world-revolution, in those same Talmudic areas, prepared its third “eruption.” The two forces moved forward together in synchronization (for Zionism, as has been shown, used the threat of Communism in Europe to gain the ear of European rulers for its territorial demand outsideEurope). It was as i... more »

Saturday Stand Up--Pete Holmes

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 6 hours ago
Last month old Petey Pants was down under and he did a set for Australian TV.

Gaia Portal: High Energies Encompass the Planet at this Moment

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 6 hours ago
High Energies Encompass the Planet at this Moment by ÉirePort High energies encompass the planet at this moment. High Energies of guided movement, both within and without, proceed with all who are imbued with Gaia service. Striking movements occur within short time periods, but with ease. Such is the nature of Gaia-guided and Gaia-coordinated motion. Solar and Cosmic influxes harmonize with the current Gaia High Energies, causing many, who have not experienced such, to resonate with clarity of purpose. Resonance is key to next steps. Following Inner Resonance brings Inner Peace... more »

Friedrich Hölderlin - To Hope

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 6 hours ago
Related: *Friedrich Hölderlin - Love*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Gods*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Time of Socrates*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - To the Sun-God*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Ganymede*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Vulcan*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Blind Singer*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Sung Beneath the Alps*. Source: *Selected Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin. Translated by Maxine Chernoff and Paul Hoover.* 2008. Omnidawn Publishing: Richmond, California. Pg*. *165. Hope! Sweet industrious one Who doesn't scorn the house of grief, Serves happily, noble on... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 6 hours ago
*Deborah "Big Red" Cotton: an appreciation ~Kevin Allman, Gambit * *Second-lining’s silver lining: mainstream embrace of our cultural exotica ~C.W.Cannon, The Lens*

I'll take self-serving traffic baiting for $1000 Alex

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 6 hours ago
I love Alex Pareene. I wouldn't have thought him capable of writing such a mean-spirited tirade against Media Matters for trying to break through the knee jerk defense of AP going on among the big name stars of the media insiders and inject some much needed perspective. Let's review the facts one more time. The AP didn't break the second coming of The Pentagon Papers with their story. They exposed an important counter-terrorism operation based solely on leaked information which ultimately led to to the outing of a CIA asset who had infiltrated an active terrorist group. Jack Shafer... more »

On Stock Investing

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 7 hours ago
Click here to read my column in Sunday's *NY Times*.

How Buck McKeon's Mormonism Played Right Into The Military Rape Epidemic Coverup

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
Last summer the cover-up of the epidemic of military rapes at Lackland-- engineered by House Armed Services Committee chairman Buck McKeon-- began to unravel, due, primarily, to the tireless efforts by Protect Our Defenders. POD battled McKeon's determination to cover up the scandal and keep it out of the public view. At all times, he insisted on closed briefings rather than the public hearings this kind of scandal demanded. And who was McKeon's point person on the Committee, with his own peculiar take on rape? Todd Akin, of course. It was two of Congress' most backward, patriarc... more »

For no raisin

Roobin at THROUGH THE SCARY DOOR - 7 hours ago
While we try to block the triumph of meat-headed provincial fascism in Britain you never know we might not win and may have to flee for our lives. Here are some names you could use for your fake passport, you never know, they might work: Dr Jordan Edilstein Professor Baxter Krispy Kreme McDonalds Kevin Bacon Horse Renoir Predator Chilly Cousin Phil Parker Peters Laura Vanderbooben Luke Fondleberg Scotch Bingington Sholanda Dykes Mr Mustachos Warren Beanstalk Ricky Spanish

Conservatives on Crack

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 8 hours ago
You know, I've said elsewhere that given the fact that US-American right-wingers have embraced draft-dodging, adopted daughter banging, brood of abandoned children spawning, intellectual and moral degenerate Ted Nugent as one of their own, simply for his gun-loving, vegetarian-loving, chickenhawk ways, ... it seems entirely plausible that Canadian "conservatives" would stand by their boy Rob Ford even if the alleged crack smoking video was released and played for them on a giant IMAX screen. But just for the record (not like it matters given their hypocrisy and stubborn loyalty to ... more »

The value of gold is being supressed by at lease 14 colluding traders of paper gold. Paul Craig Roberts: "This was an attack ordered by the Federal Reserve, which is why there is no investigation of the illegality." "[This] tells us that the Federal Reserve sees no way out of printing money in order to support the federal deficit and the insolvent banks. If the dollar came under attack and the Federal Reserve had to stop printing dollars, interest rates would rise. The bond and stock markets would collapse. The dollar would be abandoned as reserve currency. Washington would no longer be able to pay its bills and would lose its hegemony." "The dollar’s demise awaits the world’s decision how to get out of it. The Federal Reserve can print dollars with which to keep the bond and stock markets high, but the Federal Reserve cannot print foreign currencies with which to keep the dollar afloat."

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 9 hours ago
------------------------------ *Washington Signals Dollar Deep Concerns — Paul Craig Roberts* ------------------------------ May 18, 2013 | Original Here Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter Over the past month there has been a statistically improbable concurrence of events that can only be explained as a conspiracy to protect the dollar from the Federal Reserve’s policy of Quantitative Easing (QE). Quantitative Easing is the term given to the Federal Reserve’s policy of printing 1,000 billion new dollars ... more »

What Mattered This Week?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 9 hours ago
Barack Obama's Gallup approval rating is back to 51% today, which is back up to the upper part of the range it's been in for the last couple of months. I'm ready to say that the feeding frenzy of this week didn't matter. There's some sign that the AP warrants may turn out to really matter in policy. I'm going to go ahead and guess it will, so I'll say that that one matters. Disagree? Have something else? What do you think mattered this week?

Athabasca Bitumen and the Koch Bros' Gift to Windsor, Ontario

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 9 hours ago
This might be why Alberta isn't too crazy about refining Athabasca bitumen on site and why British Columbia should reject the proposal to refine it in Kitimat. "This" is a 3-storey high, city block sized pile of bitumen coke steadily growing ever larger across the Detroit River from Windsor's waterfront Assumption Park. The stuff belongs to Koch Carbon, one of David and Charlie's operations of course. In terms of emissions, even Alberta won't touch it. That's why Koch Carbon looks to peddle the stuff overseas. How does all this garbage get from Athabasca to Detroit? You guess... more »

UPDATE: NY 3rd Graders Under Investigation

Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 10 hours ago
According the local paper in Albany, New York, the teacher of the students has been put on administrative leave and the investigation continues. http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/School-s-exams-under-scrutiny-4527051.php If the Test Security Unit decide that cheating took place, the teacher could be charged with a misdemeanor. Let me repeat that: a misdemeanor. I want to know more. The state […]

Rebuilding the New Jersey coastline, but at what cost? – ‘Do you really want to throw good money after bad?’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 10 hours ago
[image: An aerial view of beachfront homes in Mantoloking, New Jersey. Photo: Richard Perry / The New York Times] By JENNY ANDERSON 18 May 2013 (The New York Times) – When a handful of retired homeowners from Osborn Island in New Jersey gathered last month to discuss post-Hurricane Sandy rebuilding and environmental protection, L. Stanton Hales Jr., a conservationist, could not have been clearer about the risks they faced. “I said, look people, you built on a marsh island, it’s oxidizing under your feet — it’s shrinking — and that exacerbates the sea level rise,” said Dr. Hales... more »

Satire: “Obama Denies Role In Government”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago
* “Obama Denies Role In Government”* by Andy Borowitz WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)— “President Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to reassure the American people that he has “played no role whatsoever” in the U.S. government over the past four years. “Right now, many of you are angry at the government, and no one is angrier than I am,” he said. “Quite frankly, I am glad that I have had no involvement in such an organization.” The President’s outrage only increased, he said, when he “recently became aware of a part of that government called the Department of Just... more »

It's just your dirty mind...

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 11 hours ago
You should be ashamed of yourself! *Thanks to * VixxyLix / Victoria for the image.

Republicans Led By John Kline (R-MN) Voted Down Elizabeth Warren's Plan To Lower Student Interest Rates

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 11 hours ago
After watching him as a freshman senator, I never believed Obama would be a vehicle for Hope and Change. I voted for him in 2008 anyway. I couldn't force myself to do it again last November. Elizabeth Warren, on the other hand, is someone who I have actually bought into right from the start. I donated to her campaign and helped promote her cause. This week, her first proposed legislation has made me-- and thousands of others across the country who backed her-- proud. The Bank on Students Loan Fairness Actwould lower student loan interest rates for one year from 3.4% to 0.75% -- th... more »

Graph of the Day: Insured catastrophe losses, 1970-2012

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 11 hours ago
[image: Insured catastrophe losses, 1970-2012. Nine disasters triggered insured losses of USD 1 billion or more in 2012. For the first time since 2008, a hurricane – Sandy – was the costliest event with insured losses of USD 35 billion. Graphic: Swiss Re] ZURICH, 27 March 2013 (Swiss Re) – Natural catastrophes and man-made disasters cost society about USD 186 billion in 2012. Most of the losses were due to Hurricane Sandy, which devastated the northeastern coast of the US. The storm also affected the Caribbean and Canada, making it the largest North Atlantic hurricane on record i... more »

During the 2011 Federal Election Senator Wallin Defended Her Conservative Party Campaign Fundraising Activities. Here's What She Said ...

leftdog at Buckdog - 11 hours ago
[image: Progressive Bloggers] *The following email was sent by Senator Pam Wallin to Postmedia News on April 15, 2011:* *I am in Saskatchewan supporting our MP’s who are seeking re-election. The NDP opposes the existence of the Senate so any comments or criticism they might have must be looked at in that light. They would not likely support or agree with anything we do as they deny our constitutional role as an integral party of our parliamentary system. * *Pamela* *Pure Conservative snark. When questioned (gently) by the MSM, she used the usual Conservative tactic and attacked ... more »

Blame it on the inane

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 11 hours ago
As if there weren't enough pseudoscandals to go around, our very useful media eagerly embraced the most inane fauxtroversy since flag pins with Umbrellapalooza. This loser was initially pitched by Griftzilla of the Great White North, Sarah Palin who spewed out some word salad on Facebook. No, I didn't read it, but here's the quote making the rounds: Mr. President, when it rains it pours, but most Americans hold their own umbrellas. You mean like this, Princess Dimwit? [via] Meanwhile, I saw WaPo's Karen Tumulty saying this was a very important story, because bad optics! Swear ... more »

A black 3-story pile of Canada oil waste is rising over Detroit – ‘The dirtiest residue from the dirtiest oil on earth’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 11 hours ago
[image: image] By IAN AUSTEN 17 May 2013 WINDSOR, Ontario (The New York Times) – Assumption Park gives residents of this city lovely views of the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit skyline. Lately they’ve been treated to another sight: a three-story pile of petroleum coke covering an entire city block on the other side of the Detroit River. Detroit’s ever-growing black mountain is the unloved, unwanted and long overlooked byproduct of Canada’s oil sands boom. And no one knows quite what to do about it, except Koch Carbon, which owns it. The company is controlled by Charles a... more »

Ignosce mihi, listener, quia peccavi

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 11 hours ago
*Biased BBC**'*s David Preiser has been patiently and painstakingly laying out the latest scandals to self-inflict the Obama White House for many months now. His readers tend to be forewarned about most major U.S. stories which don't initially seem to interest American-based BBC reporters (for whatever reason). His readers are also rarely surprised when these stories finally break and take the world by storm. Those scandals - which may also have been registering on the BBC's radar for quite some time, though the BBC seems not to have noticed them out of the corner of their (biase... more »

what a lucky man

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 12 hours ago

money is your god

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 12 hours ago

Canada government increases advertising spend on tar sands from $9 million to $16.5 million

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 12 hours ago
[image: Aerial view of Athabasca tar sands upgrader in winter. Photo: Garth Lenz] By Suzanne Goldenberg 16 May 2013 (The Guardian) – The Canadian government has nearly doubled its advertising spending to promote the Alberta tar sands in an aggressive new lobbying push ahead of Thursday's visit to New York by the prime minister, Stephen Harper. The Harper government has increased its advertising spending on the Alberta tar sands to $16.5m from $9m a year ago. The Canadian Press news agency, which first reported on the increase in advertising spending by the Department of Natural... more »

Decline of Arctic foxes linked to mercury exposure

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 12 hours ago
[image: Sampling localities and health condition of Mednyi Island arctic foxes. aLocalities from which samples were derived are shown by black dots in panel A. The number of samples taken at each Mednyi Island location site vary by dot size as indicated. A refers to the Commander Island and B Iceland which are then shown relative to their circumpolar location. Panel B shows an image representing two Mednyi Island foxes demonstrating different health status. The fox on the left (red ear tag) is underweight with poor coat condition and the fox on the right (blue ear tag) presents go... more »

Mayor Stupid, the Star, and another question | #TOpoli

Orwell's Bastard at Orwell's Bastard - 12 hours ago
Mr. Ford, your accusation of a vendetta is, to use your word, ridiculous. Toronto is entitled to straight answers to straight questions, and here are a few being asked in your city right now over this holiday weekend: - Do you understand why this damning videotape requires a proper and thoughtful explanation? - Have you ever smoked crack cocaine? - How well do you know the men in the photograph that appeared on Friday’s front page? Did you know the man who was subsequently shot dead? - Did you refer to Justin Trudeau by a homosexual slur? - Did you refer to you... more »

A Balanced Approach to Sadism

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 12 hours ago
Now that studies show that government austerity policies are actually killing people, and that record poverty is immiserating one in five American families, most of whom qualify for government nutrition assistance, what do you think Congressional Democrats will do about it? For starters, they'll likely cut more than $20 billion from the food stamp program (SNAP, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.) This is on top of the $4 billion cut already approved by the Senate. And wow, did Democrats save the day or what, since Tea Party sweetheart Rand Paul had wanted to just scrap t... more »

Study finds use of dispersants can increase oil penetration into sandy marine sediments

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 12 hours ago
[image: Aerial spraying of chemical dispersants in the Gulf. Photo: seanetters.wordpress.com] By Keith Bromery 16 May 2013 (FSU) – A Florida State University researcher working as part of the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) investigated the effects of dispersants on the movement of crude oil through water-saturated marine sand and found that dispersants potentially facilitate penetration of oil components into the seabed, where oxygen concentrations may affect the degradation of the oil. Experiments using sand-filled columns ranging from 10 to 50 centimeters in lengt... more »

Exporting Liquified Natural Gas

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 12 hours ago
Mufson, S. (May 17, 2013) Energy Department approves expanded LNG exports. The Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/energy-department-approves-expanded-lng-exports/2013/05/17/3bd3ff04-bf21-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines [Excerpted] Producers of natural gas and supporters of free trade have urged the Obama administration to approve LNG export facilities. But environmentalists fear that it will provide incentives for a new wave of drilling in places such as Pennsylvania. [end] Majia here: The fracking frenzy which is depleting and conta... more »

Art Searches

Joe Kozlowski at GlobaLove Think Tank - 13 hours ago
allegory art

Agriculture under assault as climate heats up – ‘We are in the midst of dramatic assault on the security of the food supply’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 13 hours ago
[image: A soggy, rain-soaked cornfield sits unplanted in Farmingdale, Illinois, 13 May 2013, after weeks of constant rain kept central Illinois farmers from seeding their ground. After a drought, now rain is the problem, and the soggy fields means Midwest farmers have little time to decide what to plant this year. Photo: Seth Perlman / AP] By Bill Briggs 16 May 2013 (NBC News) – American eaters, let’s talk about the birds and the bees: The U.S. food supply – from chickens injected with arsenic to dying bee colonies– is under unprecedented siege from a blitz of man-made hazards, mea... more »

Is the Senate Independent Auditor Independent?

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 13 hours ago
The giant accounting firm, Deloitte, was retained to conduct a forensic audit of the expenses claimed by specific senators. In three cases there were questions of whether the individuals were in fact entitled to the extra housing allowance the senate provides to members not from Ottawa and environs. And then, because her travel expenses seemed out of line, they also looked into the spending/reiumbursement of senator Pam Wallin of Wadena, Saskatchewan. Something happened yesterday that raises new questions - this time concerning the auditor, Deloitte, in its audit of Pam Wallin.... more »

Bringing Out the Long Knives

theozarker at The Conflicted Doomer - 13 hours ago
May 18, 2013 Trying to keep up with the plethora of “scandals” and “investigations” carried out in Congress this week, I wondered if this had been what life was like in the Roman Empire as, passing its peak, overreach … Continue reading →

Dateline Europe

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 13 hours ago
*Dateline London *continues down its familiar path, unfortunately. Today's discussion opened with the question of Britain's membership of the EU and the Conservatives. As Gavin Esler framed the question in his introductory remarks: Britain in or out of Europe? Is the Euro-debate helping or hurting the Conservatives? When the panel was introduced I doubt I would have been alone in expecting to see someone of a Eurosceptic, right-wing persuasion as one of the programme's guests. Alas, it wasn't to be. Alongside the American liberal Michael Goldfarb, Mina al Oraibi of the Saudi-bac... more »

Michelle Rhee Is … Tiger Woods!

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 13 hours ago
Who’d a guessed it? Michelle Rhee is not Tiger Mom. She’s TIGER WOODS!: “My answer: I keep my eye on the ball.” —- Handy-dandy take-home quiz to share! High-Stakes, “No Excuses” Quiz of the Day Complete the following: Michelle Rhee is Tiger (a) Mom (b) Milk (c) Lily (d) Woods ANSWER KEY Filed under: PAUL THOMAS: […]

granada

laura k at wmtc - 14 hours ago
The previous night, when we finally found the hotel, I asked about tickets to the Alhambra. We had read in the guidebook that only a certain number of tickets are issued for every entrance time, and going up there without tickets is not advised. As it turns out, every hotel in town has a certain number of tickets they can sell to guests. The hotel's computer showed how many tickets were available for each hour. We purposely booked late in the day, both to avoid massive crowds and to give ourselves a break. Our friend at the desk also gave us detailed instructions on how to collect ou... more »

BULLROAR OVER BENGHAZI: Still going!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 14 hours ago
*SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2013* *And looking ahead to next week:* Below, we’ll offer three major takeaways from this past week of bullroar concerning Benghazi. At the risk of repetition, our first takeaway will be this: *Your press corps simply cannt reed reel gudd:* Eight days ago, ABC News released twelve versions of the now-famous “talking points” concerning Benghazi. To read that report, just click here. Among the discoveries: In its first proposed version of this white paper, the CIA had included this paragraph: “Initial press reporting linked the attack to Ansar al-Sharia. The group... more »

Avoidable risk in West, Texas

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 14 hours ago
Every facility is perfectly safe until something goes bang. That unfortunate day is a simple function of probability and time. My real point is that you can truly measure the risk and you can license containment for starters. Better yet you can charge a surcharge on critical chemicals based on its containment history and include imports to impose our standards overseas. Everything in the Texas blast was safe provided a proper blast berm was in place. You can not stop accidents, but you can certainly mitigate their effects rather well. We have been doing this with gun powd... more »

Increasing Average Human Intelligence

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 14 hours ago
This is a powerful thesis. It is also a powerful endorsement of our core agenda for this blog. That this agenda is as critical as I could imagine comes as a surprise. What we are reaching for is a universal human lifeway that produces healthy fully nurtured human beings. That this also resolves long standing mental dysfunctions is now obvious. It adds to the wow factor. The bottom line is that we can create a completely healthy civilization using my approach to terraforming Terra that is weighted to increasing human intelligence and capability. *Consciousness an... more »

Fabled Lost City Discovered in Honduras

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 14 hours ago
Another major city has been found and it is noteworthy that the real scope of these civilizations is becoming progressively accepted. I have put out a conjecture that the plausible population of precontact Americas approached 100 million. This item shows us that the amazon could be 20 millions. Now I also do not think that it actually reached 100 million but do think that the lower bound is also much higher than 20 million. The only thing capable of decimating this population long before serious contact would be a disease like the bird flu. We have generally blamed human ... more »

Interstellar Hydrogen Clouds Confirmed

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 14 hours ago
I have expected to find many additional proto galaxies that just have not fully coalesced as yet. It appears we are now developing the ability to find them. Other explanations are been suggested, but the process of coalescence is sufficient to produce plenty of new galaxies on a continuing basis. It also confirms that intergalactic matter is conforming to the idea of an homogenous initial state if this all holds up. At least we now know that massive amounts of hydrogen is out there in interstellar space. *Mysterious hydrogen clouds detected in space, puzzling scient... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 14 hours ago
*Four remain hospitalized following Mother's Day shooting ~WVUE* *New Orleans parade shooting: Arrests show city's reworked approach to policing ~Patrik Jonsson, Christian Science Monitor* *Arrests in New Orleans parade shootings cheered ~Kevin McGill* *N.O. Council OKs demolition at Iberville housing project ~Danny Monteverde* *Millions of taxpayer dollars spent to move homes that are now decaying ~WWL * *River watch continues along Atchafalaya, Mississippi* *The Louisiana Coast: Last Call — The Master Plan ~Bob Marshall*

Corruption Endemic

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 14 hours ago
Norris, F. (2013, May 17) A Troubling Survey on Corruption. The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/18/business/economy/a-troubling-survey-on-global-corruption.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130518&_r=0 [Excerpted] A new survey of corporate officials and employees in 36 countries — in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, as well as India — indicates that there is plenty of corruption that needs investigating. Over all, 20 percent of the respondents said they knew of incidents at their own companies within the previous year that could be construed as cooking the bo... more »

War on Terror - Sibel Edmonds reveals US ties to Al Qaeda Chiefs , spiked articles , oficial cover ups / treason , Al Qaeda - Enemy or Asset ( in light of Libya and Syria , this is probably a rhetorical question now.. ) Gladio B - and a vast conspiracy of criminal activities ? In light of Sibel Edmonds revelations , when does the premise behind the forever War on Terror get questioned ?

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 14 hours ago
http://www.infowars.com/why-was-a-sunday-times-report-on-us-government-ties-to-al-qaeda-chief-spiked/ Why was a Sunday Times report on US government ties to al-Qaeda chief spiked? - [image: The Alex Jones Channel][image: Alex Jones Show podcast][image: Prison Planet TV][image: Infowars.com Twitter][image: Alex Jones' Facebook][image: Infowars store] *Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed* Cease Fire May 18, 2013 A whistleblower has revealed extraordinary information on the U.S. government’s support for international terrorist networks and organised crime. The government has denied the al... more »

TBS Cam of Daiichi Still Obscured, Tepco Cam Screen Shot Below

Majia's Blog - 15 hours ago
I will be away from my computer all day today and will not be able to check cams <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAASQAAADQCAIAAAAh74sAAAAgAElEQVR4nIy7aZMcR5IliC8rszI73UUAeWfG4bd7ePhhl6qamUcmiIsgLoIkABIEifsGEifBs1A8ClVsVvd0i8xMdUm1yEjLrozs/oHtIvIA+AN2ftR+MI/IBMDuHhMVICLSw0979p4+1djxP//n//cv//L/Pnv209ras/X19Y2N9WfPnm1ubqyvr6+vr62trz179tPGxvrz55tra8/W1p6tr6+5txsb62tra3/5y7+sr69vbrZ/3dhYf/Hiufv6i59fbD7f3Hy+uba+9mzt2cbmRvtiY319fW1t7dnm5sZPP/1lfX1t8/nmixcv1jc21tbX1tbX1zc2nr947mJjc+PZs5/W1tc2Njc2NjfWN9Y3n2+++PmF+9PG5ub6xrr73O30p59+2tzcXFtb29jY2NzcWF9f29zcWN9Yf/bsp8... more »

US Bond market in focus as the Debt Ceiling returns ( drop dead date September 2 ) , rising bond yields putting the lie to the quaint notion that the deficit isn't rising at its usual and customary rate ? Goldman says no tapering by the Fed just yet ....

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 15 hours ago
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?blog=Market-Ticker&page=2 To The Media: Stop Sucking Obama On The Debt This is completely out of hand. The media continues to cite the so-called "expectation" that Treasury will run "only" a $600-odd billion deficit this year, and they cite this as source: This shows ~$488 billion in operational deficits from October 1st to April 30th. There's a problem with this number however -- *it does not reflect reality*. *In other words it is a bald and intentional lie.* This reflects the truth: What is that? It's simply a reproduction of the Debt To The... more »

I'm So Tired...........

antiqueteacher60 at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 15 hours ago
Reblogged from An Antique Teacher: I'm not just tired..........I AM EXHAUSTED! It's observation time for me and that means aligning a lesson to the Common BORE Standards, completing all the required paperwork, preparing the lesson, and using a prep period for my Pre-Observation Conference. Let me make this very clear: I am NOT opposed to […]

Arizona Republican Jim Kolbe Is Getting Gay-Married Today

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Kolbe and Foley Former eleven-term Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) has been "living in sin" with his Panamanian lover, Hector Alfonso, for eight years. Today they will legally wed at the Cosmos Club in DC. (It's still illegal for same sex couples to marry in Arizona, although recent polling shows 55% of Arizonans support marriage equality.) Kolbe is the first gay congressman who voted for DOMA in 1996 to get married. Back then, Kolbe was a closeted mainstream conservative-- one of many in the House Republican caucus who, for one reason or another-- felt they had to vote against the inte... more »

Your moment of Zen

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 15 hours ago
Pink Columbine. [source unknown]

A Culture Of Entitlement

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 15 hours ago
Following the news that Pamela Wallin has resigned from the Conservative caucus, Andrew Coyne takes a hard look at the Mike Duffy fiasco: So Duffy’s behaviour is not the issue. The issue is the culture that enabled it. The Tories may find it expedient to disown him now, but it wasn’t five minutes ago they were cheering him to the rafters, inviting him to campaign in their ridings and defending him in public, long after his misconduct was known. Expelling him from caucus at this late date changes nothing. The time to discipline him was when when he was first caught out, not after e... more »

Ed Steer's Gold and Silver Morning Report - May 15 , 2013

Catharsis Ours - 15 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-15/producer-prices-plunge-empire-fed-slides-first-negative-print-january ( Deflation signs anyone ? PM selloff could worsen off this report.... ) Producer Prices Plunge, Empire Fed Slides To First Negative Print Since January [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/15/2013 08:48 -0400 - BLS - Bureau of Labor Statistics - E-Trade - Empire State Manufacturing One of these days we might just get a positive economic print, of the kind that the meandering Tepper was saying is visible everywhere now. Just ... more »

Ways to discover matrix string theory

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 16 hours ago
*...more precisely screwing string theory...* The 5,250+ TRF blog entries discuss various topics, mostly scientific ones, including minor advances. However, there isn't any text on this website that would talk about matrix string theory (inpendently found 2 months laterby a herald who inaugurated the new Dutch king and an ex-co-author of mine along with two twins). If you search for the closest topic, you will find one article about Matrix theory published a year ago and a supplement about membranes in Matrix theory that was added a week later. But now we want to talk about m... more »

DEMI AND NIRVANA; CHILD ABUSE RING

Anon at aangirfan - 16 hours ago
* * *Demi* * *The world-centre of child sexual abuse would appear to be Holland. Countries such as Thailand have often copied Holland. *The following is from:* *Mr. Ben van den Brink*: *According to Ben van den Brink:* *1.* In 2009, Ben discovers that his two daughters, Demi and Nirvana, are being abused by Ype Minkema, his wife's father. Ben's wife is Leonie Minkema. The girls, Demi and Nirvana, are also being abused by members of the child abuse ring to which Ype belongs. Leonie tells Ben that she has been abused by her father, Ype, and others. *Schoorl - alleged site of child... more »

Testing Support for TFA and KIPP: Whose Children Matter?

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE knows SCHOOLS MATTER - 17 hours ago
Testing Support for TFA and KIPP: Whose Children Matter? During the first years of the Obama administration, Secretary Arne Duncan has risen to the forefront of public debates about education reform, paralleling the growing public nature of that debate that includes the entrepreneur reformers such as Bill Gates and Geoffrey Canada along with a harbinger […]

President is right to veto Martin Putna's professorship

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 17 hours ago
What is the most intensely discussed event in the Czech news these days? Czech president Miloš Zeman decided to reject the recommendation of an academic council at the Charles University and not to name Dr Martin C. Putna as a full professor. The title "professor" is supposed to be somewhat more special in Czechia because the people with this proper title are named by the president of the country personally. In some sense, they're more analogous to the holders of the National Medal of Science. Like the amnesty, pardons, and members of the constitutional courts, the ability to influe... more »

Today

Craig at Is the BBC biased? - 17 hours ago
Some initial impressions of this morning's *Today *programme, with John Humphrys and Justin Webb... I'm listening to* Today *all the way through this morning. They are leading with the harsh criticism of Michael Gove by a "moderate" teaching union (the word used by BBC reporter Luke Walton), just as the BBC News website is leading with the story. Is this evidence of bias? Let's just check the ITV News website. No, it's their second story, so they think it's a big deal too. That said, the Sky News website is paying no attention to the story and the *Daily Mail *doesn't think it's ... more »

May 17, 1973

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 21 hours ago
Sorry, I ducked out and took a little break after all the craziness of March and April. But back to it now. What's been happening? In early May, the "Kissinger taps" were back -- it turned out that Daniel Ellsberg had in fact been recorded, despite all previous denials. That was, finally, the last straw for Judge Byrne: he dismissed all charges against Ellsberg. Vernon Walters, it turns out, wrote a series of memos about the White House approach to the CIA in the early days of the cover-up; now the prosecutors are preparing to interview him. The White House has the memos, which c... more »

Some Light Reading For Saturday [Plus Breakdown on The Situation In Syria]

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
* * *Breakdown on The Situation In Syria:* The Obama administration is supplying weapons and money to Al-Qaeda terrorists in Syria in order to create chaos, destroy its economy, disrupt the regional peace, keep the central state occupied with security problems for years to come, and, finally, to be able to present invented excuses to the world to justify the invasion of another Middle Eastern nation. Assad is no butcher. He is simply defending his country from an empire gone mad and thousands of Jihadist terrorists who can't tell their head from their ass. If you're looking fo... more »

It’s official: thanks to Stephen Hawking’s Israel boycott, anti-Semitism is no more – Howard Jacobson | Engage - the anti-racist campaign against antisemitism

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 21 hours ago
' Why is Israel alone of all offending countries to be boycotted? Perhaps because it's that offending country which also just happens to be Jewish?' More here http://engageonline.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/its-official-thanks-to-stephen-hawkings-israel-boycott-anti-semitism-is-no-more-howard-jacobson/

Friday Baseball Post

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 22 hours ago
It wasn't enough to do a whole cranky blogging thing about, but the NYT Sunday Review thing of people doing a column hooked to their new book -- which has made for quite a few very useless Sunday Review items -- seems to have leaked over onto the sports pages. In this case, this past Sunday, Tom Clavin, who has a book coming out on the DiMaggio brothers, was given the opportunity to argue for Dom DiMaggio as a HOFer. It's full of the cherry picking you expect from this sort of thing: During his 10 full seasons, he totaled 1,679 base hits, more than any other major leaguer in that ti... more »

Did We Think … We Canadians?

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 22 hours ago
Did We Think … We Canadians? *Written by Robin Mathews* Did we think, Canadians, we’d be permitted Canada without fighting for it day by day, hour by hour – as if we were unlike people all over the rest of the world? Did we think we could live in, possess, own, develop, and share the country fairly ... more »

Senate's Internal Economy Board Removed Damning Findings From Sen. Duffy’s Audit Report Before It Was Tabled In The Senate

leftdog at Buckdog - 23 hours ago
** *The Conservative Senate Crisis continues unabated ....* * * *"The Senate’s internal economy committee sanitized the original audit of Sen. Mike Duffy’s expenses to remove damning findings, documents obtained by CTV News show.* *** A confidential report obtained by CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife shows the original version of Duffy’s audit found that the senator broke the Senate’s “very clear” and “unambiguous” residency rules."* *CTV News*

Sunday Classics (double) preview: Enter the bird-catcher; exit Sir Colin Davis

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
*Colin Davis (1927-2013) at home* *by Ken* As I must have mentioned, one of my core LPs in the early getting-to-know-music stage was a budget Seraphim issue of a disc of Mozart overtures conducted by Colin Davis early in his career. There were fine performances of all these indispensable pieces, and my recollection is that I played that LP *a lot*. The subject of my complicated feelings about Sir Colin, who died on April 15 at 85, as a conductor has come up occasionally in these posts, and I'm afraid I'm going to need to rehash it in order to memorialize him properly, though I'm ... more »

Mayor Ford will survive the crack scandal

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago
The most recent scandal to touch Toronto's mayor, Rob Ford, involves allegations he smokes crack cocaine. Now, the allegations come second hand in the Toronto Star, and while the Star is a very legitimate newspaper it is also famously feuding with Mayor Ford. Some Toronto Star reporters saw a video tape and based on what they saw concluded Mayor Ford was smoking crack. Maybe they misunderstood, were intentionally misled or were just mistaken in what they saw. It is possible the allegations against Mayor Ford are false or perhaps dated (none of the apparent current references suppos... more »

This Shows That There Is Hope Yet For Our Future: 15 Year Old California Student Gets High Mark For Report On Very Controversial Subject!

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 day ago
I have long been troubled by the total ignorance of the general public today to the real truths about our past, and the dangers that our world faces today. It is so alarming that few people are aware of the frauds of our history, and the dangers we face today by the Jewish criminal elite that is out for total world domination and our enslavement. It comes down to this... There are fewer and fewer critical thinkers around today. The youth of today are being indoctrinated through the public education system into being nothing more than robotic zombies for the evil Jewish controlle... more »

European wrap - 500 billion NPL bombastic situation..... Hollande asks ECB to go all in japanese style ..... How long before the French see billboards along roadsides featuring Sarkozy saying " Miss me yet ? "

fredw at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-17/europes-eur-500-billion-ticking-npltime-bomb * Home Europe's EUR 500 Billion Ticking NPLTime Bomb [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 05/17/2013 20:14 -0400 - European Central Bank - Germany - Greece - Ireland - Italy - Monetary Policy - non-performing loans - Portugal - Unemployment Europe's non-performing loan problem is such an issue that there is increasing bluster that the ECB may take this garbage on to its balance sheet since policymakers realize that bad debts and non-pe... more »

House of Snakes: US Natural Resources Committee targets Indian lands

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
Ola Cassadore Davis By Brenda Norrell Photo: Ola Cassadore Davis spent her life defending Apache sacred lands. Photo by Sandra Rambler. Censored News The US House's Natural Resources Committee plans extensive seizures of lands and resources to benefit private corporations and the US military. First on the list of this US House of Snakes is a land exchange opposed by San Carlos Apaches,

Wallin Walks Cap'n Harper's Plank

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 1 day ago
Earlier today, Harper-appointed senator Pam Wallin purported to "recuse" herself from the Conservative caucus pending the outcome of a forensic audit into her expenses. Nice try, Pam. According to *CTV, *Pam actually did the "PMO Perp Walk." She didn't so much leave as she was shown the door after Harper's big guns got a gander at the preliminary audit report. Nice of the "independent" auditors to give Harper the heads up, no? "*...a source told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife that the audit has already raised serious questions about Wallin’s spending, which involves hun... more »

Next step in computers

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 1 day ago
I want rwo, Yo quiero dos Seed Newsvine

Justice Stevens's grandkids may not care, but he has some things to get off his chest

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
*by Ken* Admittedly, as subject categories go, the category "Most Charming Utterance Uttered by the Late New York Yankees Owner George Steinbrenner" doesn't promise to be especially broad or arresting. That said, the most charming utterance I'm aware of The Boss uttering was in a respone to a question about the cartoonish version of himself incorporated as a *Seinfeld*recurring caricature during the period when, improbably and often disastrously, George Costanza worked for the Yankees. The caricature was actually surprisingly gentle, but still, George had ample reason to be resent... more »

Friedrich Hölderlin - Sung Beneath the Alps

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 1 day ago
Related: *Friedrich Hölderlin - Love*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Gods*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Time of Socrates*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - To the Sun-God*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Ganymede*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Vulcan*. *Friedrich Hölderlin - The Blind Singer*. Source: *Selected Poems of Friedrich Hölderlin. Translated by Maxine Chernoff and Paul Hoover.* 2008. Omnidawn Publishing: Richmond, California. Pg*. *141-43. *Friedrich Hölderlin - Sung Beneath the Alps* Holy innocence, that men and gods Love the most! either inside the house Or out of doors, you sit at th... more »

Friday Nerd Blogging: Ultimate Mashup

Steve Saideman at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
This weekend marks the debut of the next Star Trek movie: So Dark, Oh So Dark 2. To mark the occasion: Two years to go!

Grasping at strawmen - Updated

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 1 day ago
There's no doubt the IRS was ham-handed in its handling of the tax-exempt applications after Citizen United. I've yet to see that they did anything against the law. Which is a problem to be sure. It suggests maybe we should be agitating to change the damn laws. Not that that's going to happen. Instead we have everyone looking to grind their own axe against the sharp edge of this pseudoscandal. That of course includes the "Obama has failed me" crowd of the left. Garance jumps in with this damning bit of evidence. On noes, there was no surge in applications in 2010. Quick fire more pe... more »

Mining 20: Miscellaneous Comments on Mining

Nonoy Oplas at Government and Taxes - 1 day ago
Below are several comments I got in my various exchanges in facebook on the subject, made last week. ------------- *Froi Vincenton*: IMHO, irresponsible mining exists in the Philippines because of several institutional factors. When I say 'institutional factors' I'm referring to government regulations and restrictions. The following are some institutional factors that encourage irresponsible mining: 1. The institutional/constitutional prohibition on ownership of mining lands. History has it that private property ownership promotes responsible business and proprietorial activities. ... more »

Lilacs in Niagara Region

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Who does the Mississippi really belong to? ~Bob Marshall*

Everything Is Rigged, Everything Corrupted (Thank You, Matt!)

Since we know how little the U.S. agencies do now to protect the U.S. consumer interest (being administered by those who benefit from the opposite), I thought it might be enlightening to research what other countries are doing. And it is. I read Matt Taibbi. Religiously. Thank Matt every day. By the way, the comments to Taibbi's essay are worth the admission price alone! Everything Is

Elsewhere: Campaign Finance, Leaks, More

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 day ago
I don't think I've done one of these all week...I was waiting for some columns to go live, but I guess I'll go ahead now with at least one of them up. So: at TAP today, I make the case for floors, not ceilings, and strong disclosure. I used to think it had the added virtue of being a good compromise between the Democratic and Republican positions, but that's before Republicans flipped on disclosure (they're now mostly against). Not that it was ever all that likely to ever happen anyway. The best thing I wrote all week, I think, is one at PP on the topic of leaks -- saying that pres... more »

“The IRS Is Seeing Everything You Do Online”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 day ago
* * *“The IRS Is Seeing Everything You Do Online”* By Michael Kling “The IRS may be watching your online activities — including what you post on social media sites, what you sell online, even what you write in emails and text messages. Some tax experts and civil liberties groups are disturbed by what they call the agency's secretive practices. Taxpayers know little about how it uses big data and "robo-audits." "It's well-known in the tax community, but not many people outside of it are aware of this big expansion of data and computer use," Edward Zelinsky, a tax expert at Cardozo... more »

HELD FOR ELEVEN YEARS WITHOUT BEING CHARGED

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago
May 16 marks a dark milestone in the history of the world's most maligned prison - 100 days of a mass hunger strike at Guantanamo Bay. Out of 166 inmates - 130 are on strike according to prisoners, while the military only admits to 102. At least a third of them are being force fed - a procedure recognized by various medical organizations as painful enough to constitute torture. And by all accounts - there's no end in sight to the protest. The last few minutes of the video feature Lt. Col. Barry Wingard (Judge Advocate General US Air Force) who comes down hard on Obama for continuin... more »

"How It Really Is"

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

For no raisin

Roobin at THROUGH THE SCARY DOOR - 1 day ago
A non-definitive list of Roger the Alien’s alter-egos: *Dr. Jordan Edilstein * *Professor Baxter* *Krispy Kreme McDonald's * *Kevin Bacon * *Horse Renoir* *Predator * *Chilly* *Cousin Phil* *Parker Peters* *Laura Vanderbooben * *Luke Fondleberg * *Scotch Bingington* *Sholanda Dykes * *Sidney Huffman* *Mr. Mustachos * *Warren Beanstalk*
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