Wednesday, December 18, 2013

18 Dec - Blogs I'm Following

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in AntalyaMustafa Kemal Atatürk in Antalya (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Atatürk at the library of Çankaya Köş...English: Atatürk at the library of Çankaya Köşkü Presidential Residence on July 16, 1929. His dog can be seen lying on the floor, under the table. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visits the reorganized I...Mustafa Kemal Atatürk visits the reorganized Istanbul University on December 15, 1930. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
He is in Bursa Public speechHe is in Bursa Public speech (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
2:01pm MST

HEROIN, HAIRLESS BOYS, 9 11 HIJACKERS, TURKISH HISTORY

Anon at aangirfan - 2 minutes ago
*Ataturk* Turkey is famous for heroin and hairless boys. Ataturk, the leader of Turkey from 1923-1938, is still the most popular man in Turkey. According to Patrick Balfour, Lord Kinross, *Ataturk had sexual "adventures with young boys*, if the opportunity offered and the mood, in this bisexual fin-de-siècle Ottoman age." According to Irfan and Margaret Orga, in *Atatürk*, Ataturk "was used to ... the craze for handsome young men, (and) fleeting contacts with prostitutes... His body burned for ... a boy." According to H.C. Armstrong, in *Mustafa Kemal, An Intimate Study*, Ataturk... more »

A Merry Banksy Christmas

Alison at Creekside - 37 minutes ago
Five years ago, BBC correspondent Aleem Maqbool walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem, retracing the route taken by Mary and Joseph by donkey as told in the Bible. For ten days he and his donkey successfully negotiated the queues, turnstiles and x-ray machines at some military checkpoints while being turned away at others despite his foreign passport and Israeli press credentials. On the morning of December 22 on his trek, he talked to a New Yorker who had emigrated to the Jewish settlement of Shilo built on Palestinian land in the middle of the West Bank. ... more »

Today’s Tests vs. “Better” Tests

Timothy D. Slekar at @ THE CHALK FACE - 58 minutes ago
I sent this letter to the editor (below) in response to Alan J. Borsuk’s article in the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinal. In the article Professor Borsuk laments low standardized test scores and over testing and then simply (with the help of Marc Tucker, CEO and president of the National Center on Education and the Economy) offers […]

Reddit: a major "share a random URL" server bans climate skeptics

I know the reddit.com server as one of the servers where you may "share an URL". Why someone would visit this server has always been completely incomprehensible to me – the pages on reddit.com look like a collection of trash – some random URLs – and the discussions attached to these URLs seem to be overwhelmed by trolls. I have been thankful to reddit.com as one of the sinks of the trolls' energy – a place where this foam of the Internet interacts with itself so that it has less time to annoy decent Internet users. Even Reddit's official logo seems to confirm that this is the mis... more »

Forgotten Audio Gems - Tim Binnall Interviews Scott Corrales

Inexplicata (IHU) at Inexplicata-The Journal of Hispanic Ufology - 1 hour ago
Forgotten audio gems: *Community Video* over at the *Internet Archives*(archives.org) has hosted an episode of *Tim Binnall*'s "Binnall of America" in which he interviews yours truly, Scott Corrales, on the Chupacabras and sundry matters. *https://archive.org/details/Season2Episode5ScottCorrales*. It was a lively and informative exchange. Inexplicata Podcasts covering items from UFO / paranormal history in Spain, Latin America and the Caribbean

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 hour ago
*More massive tar mats from BP oil spill discovered on Louisiana beaches ~Bob Marshall, The Lens*

Another heartwarming rescue by Eldad Hagar of Hope for Paws...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 hour ago
Please consider a donation to *Hope for Paws* this Christmas season.

The Fight Against School Reform Is a Fight for Children

John Thompson at Schools Matter - 2 hours ago
Why did commenters say that Diane Ravitch's, "What Happens to Kids Who Don't Graduate?" is her best post ever? Ravitch reviews the dramatic drop in Kentucky and New York pass rates after instituting Common Core assessments: *In New York, the “passing” rate on the Common Core tests was 30% statewide. Only 3% of English learners passed, and only 5% of students with disabilities. The pass rate for African American and Hispanic students was 15-18%. * If reformers "continue to insist upon a wildly unrealistic passing mark," Ravitch reminds, "the percentage of students who do not gradu... more »

Bone Doc

Southern Man at Southern Man - 2 hours ago
Southern Man got the call yesterday from the Bone Doc and saw him (or, rather, his PA) this morning. That fracture blister was swollen to epic proportions and the pic is sufficiently disburbing that Southern Man is going to make you click on the link to actually see it. Fracture Blister They usually wait for these to go down on their own but this one was so large that they lanced and drained it before applying the splint which means that Southern Man must remove the splint, remove the dressing, clean the wound, apply all manner of topical ointments and gels and such, re-dress the ... more »

Caching On Crutches

Southern Man at Southern Man - 2 hours ago
You don't think a minor setback like a fractured fibula is going to keep Southern Man from geocaching, did you? Dedicated cacher or just plain crazy? You be the judge.

Parents Opting Out of Tests: What is Your Goal?

Kris Nielsen at @ THE CHALK FACE - 2 hours ago
After doing a segment on the local Albuquerque news channel about refusing the state tests, I received a few responses. Most were questions or suggestions for the website, which were all very good. Then, I received a letter that was full of stuff I’ve heard over and over again, and to which I’ve responded too […]

There’s a 1,200-year-old Phone in the Smithsonian Collections

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 2 hours ago
From the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (Travis Rathbone) *There’s a 1,200-year-old Phone in the Smithsonian Collections* *One of the earliest examples of ingenuity in the Western Hemisphere is composed of gourds and twine* By Neil Baldwin Smithsonian magazine, December 2013, Subscribe As a nomadic cultural historian, my subjects have led me in wildly different directions. I spent every Friday for five years in a dim, dusty reading room in West Orange, New Jersey, formerly a laboratory on the second floor of Thomas Edison’s headquarters, deciphering the blunt-... more »

Who Remembers Romney's 47% Host, Marc Leder? Now He's Raising Money For Another Economic Reactionary, Ro Khanna

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 2 hours ago
Shady billionaire-backed Ro Khanna primarying Mike Honda Blue America has endorsed only 2 House incumbents facing reelection difficulty. And one, Mike Honda, represents Silicon Valley-- CA-17, a heavily Democratic area-- D+20 which Obama took with 72% last year. Honda even did better than that, beating his Republican opponent 74-26%, more than 100,000 votes separating them. The plutocratic interests in the district-- and across the country-- know they can't beat Honda, a lifelong staunch advocate for working families, with an outright Republican, so now they're trying to a stealth Re... more »

Heavenletter #4771 Oneness Will Sing Its Song and Do Its Dance, December 17, 2013

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 3 hours ago
Image courtesy: http://www.onenessblessingarkansas.com/ *This one jumped out at me. Heather was walking on the beach the other night doing some meditation and a dolphin jumped out of the water and landed in front of her. She got in the surf and pulled it back into the water "this will not do she told it..." as it would have died if it stayed on shore. We've been puzzling over the symbolism of it all since... and here comes this curious post.... -Bill* *Heavenletter #4771 Oneness Will Sing Its Song and Do Its Dance, December 17, 2013* God said: You are My seed that has sprouted. ... more »

The Realist Report - David North: Center for Immigration Studies

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 3 hours ago
On this edition of *The Realist Report*, we'll be joined by David North, a fellow at the *Center for Immigration Studies*. David and I will be talking about EB-5 visa programs and the "China City" project currently scheduled for development in Sullivan County, New York, along with other issues related to legal and illegal immigration policy in the United States. You can download the mp3 for this program *here*, or visit *The Realist Report* on BlogTalkRadio to subscribe via iTunes and view past programs. Below are relevant links for this program: - *China City: A perfect storm... more »

Pittsburgh School Board Reconsiders TFA Deal As Real Teachers File for Unemployment

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 4 hours ago
From the Post-Gazette: The board of Pittsburgh Public Schools heard from a dozen people Monday -- most of them teachers -- who oppose the district's plan to bring in Teach for America teachers to take hard-to-fill jobs at its most challenging schools. The outgoing school board voted 6-3 in November to approve a contract with Teach for America, despite a petition that asked them to defer the decision to the new board -- with four new members -- that took office early this month. During a presentation last week by a Teach for America representative, several board members challenged the... more »

Provocation

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 4 hours ago
The criterion to be applied in order to determine whether there is any provocation sufficient to reduce murder to manslaughter is a dual test, the classic formulation of which was pronounced in Wright, [1969] 3 C.C.C. 258 (S.C.C.).Fauteux J. (as he then was), after quoting s.203(2) [now s.232(2)], said (at 261 and 262): One must then first consider the effect, on an ordinary person, of the particular wrongful act or insult relied on. In the words of Lord Simonds, L.C., the purpose of this objective test is "...to invite the jury to consider the act of the accused by reference... more »

FIVE KEY POINTS AND ELEVEN SOLUTIONS: The New York Times and the PISA cult!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 4 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2013* *Interlude—Functional illiterates:* As many have noted, sometimes unwisely, anti-intellectualism can be a troubling strain in the American fabric. We liberals tend to focus on the anti-intellectualism associated with the red state South. We tend to look away from the anti-intellectualism which pervades our mainstream and liberal cultures. That powerful strain of anti-intellectualism may service the needs of our global elites. In a relentless series of columns, Paul Krugman has shown how our economic discourse is shaped by such elites, then enabled by t... more »

The snowboarding crow

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 4 hours ago
That crows are intelligent and use tools is understood but a crow snowboarding... Now that's an intelligent and fun loving bird!

It's Wednesday...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 5 hours ago
*what's going on.* Last Refuge: *Seriously ? – Pajama Boy Now Represents The Image of ObamaCare* American Thinker: *Left to Die in Benghazi* iOwnTheWorld: *Mr. T Gets Unfollowed in Droves on Twitter For Saying Something RADICAL* Angry White Dude: *QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF KRYSTAL’S IDEA? * Proof Positive: * President Selfie is 111th Most Influential Person in History * I'm a Man. I'm 41: * Apple Approves An App That Allows Homosexuals To Meet Up With Other “Gays” As Young As 12-Years-Old* Jammie Wearing Fool: *CBS/NYT Poll: Only 15% of Insured Say ObamaCar... more »

Two-Headed Dragon of Education Policy

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 5 hours ago
Two-Headed Dragon of Education Policy. via Two-Headed Dragon of Education Policy.

Low Level Attacks Characterize Violence In Iraq’s Ninewa November 2013

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 5 hours ago
According to the United Nations Iraq’s Ninewa has been the second deadliest province for most of 2013. That’s because the governorate capital Mosul is the major urban base for the insurgency. Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Baathist Naqshibandi and others have been able to assert control over wide swaths of the city and surrounding area. Unlike places like Baghdad where mass casualty bombings are the norm, in Ninewa violence consists mostly of low-level shootings and roadside bombs but with no less deadly results. November 2013 saw the most reported attacks in Ninewa since the beginning o... more »

Accountability without Autonomy Is Tyranny

P. L. Thomas at Schools Matter - 5 hours ago
At The Answer Sheet, Valerie Strauss confronts What’s wrong with this headline?: What’s wrong with this headline speaks to what’s wrong with a lot of the debate about school reform today. The problem is the indiscriminate and inaccurate use of the word “accountability.” While politicians and the media continue to pound at one nail—teacher quality—almost no one confronts the nearly universal lack of credibility or expertise among those politicians and much of the media—both of which remain, somehow, above the accountability they constantly call for impacting others, specifically tea... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 5 hours ago
*Hearing: Which court should hear coastal lawsuit? ~Janet McConnauhey* Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2013/12/18/3165351/hearing-which-court-should-hear.html#storylink=cpy *Study Shows Gulf Dolphins in Poor Health following Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill* *New Orleans musicians at risk of losing access health care ~WDSU*

2014 Educators’ Agenda

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 6 hours ago
Begin a movement to create and fund Deliver for America, temporary driver pool to replace full-time drivers at FedEx. (See FedEx Celebrating Holidays with TFA Donations.) Call for a nation-wide evaluation of political leaders based on value added methods measuring their positive impact on the people they represent; standardized tests administered for every elected official should include […]

Birnam Wood Is Moving

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 6 hours ago
The year end interview with CTV's Bob Fife is off. That's because there's nothing Stephen Harper wants to talk about. It's been that kind of year. It's been the kind of year that Eric Grenier believes may well have sunk the good ship Harper: The polls have gone from bad to worse for Harper, as his government plumbs the depths of its time in power. Never before has support for the Conservatives dropped so low for so long since they defeated Paul Martin in the 2006 election. Challenges by Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff, who both led Liberals into first place in the polls for ... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 6 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Alan Rudolph, 70. Travel day yesterday, so I hardly saw any good stuff, but there are these: 1. Andrew Sprung, as usual, listens to Obama better than most of us. 2. Keith Bentele and Erin O’Brien track black voting and restrictions on voting. 3. And really, no more (blogging) Dan Drezner?

What the Koran says - something for @sambarnet to read and listen to

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 6 hours ago
Earlier this year Robert Spencer was on the BBC Asian Network and at one point the host (Nihal) asked him to quote verses from the Koran or the Hadiths that he finds reprehensible. Robert Spencer quickly responded with several verses from the Koran and one from the Hadith. Note that the Imam (Dudwallah ?) to provide the proper ‘context’ for these verses, since he objected to them being out of context. Note that he was unable to do so and when put on the spot he claimed that this is Robert Spencer’s field, not his. I did enjoy Nihal responding incredulously "But you're an imam!" Also ... more »

Is The Senate Actually Starting To Function Again?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 6 hours ago
Monday there were two votes in the Senate on Presdient Obama's nomination of Jeh Johnson to be Secretary of Homeland Security. First came a cloture vote. There were 57 ayes and 37 nays, with 6 Republicans not voting. Under the bad old rules, that would have ended the chance to confirm the first African-American ever nominated to that position. The only Republicans who broke with McConnell and crossed the aisle to vote with the Democrats were Susan Collins (R-ME) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). That was at 5:59 pm. Because shutting down a filibuster on most nominations no longer requires... more »

A blogger using the pseudonym "teacherken" collects a number of quotes by Bill Moyers and uses them as context bearing on his own history-based sense of what We the (99% of American) People currently confront, i.e., living under an extractive plutocracy, and how this nightmare fits in our history.

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 7 hours ago
------------------------------ *teacherken* Daily Kos member Profile Diaries (list) Stream Original Here ------------------------------ SAT DEC 14, 2013 at 09:33 AM PST I am going to ask, no insist, that you read something by teacherken ------------------------------ Bill Moyers recently gave a speech at the Brennan Institute. If you go to his website, you can read an edited version of that speech, titled The Great American Class War: Plutocracy Versus Democracy. Simply put, Moyers provides context ... more »

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Supreme Court Justices Should Stay If They're Able To Work

Len Hart at The Existentialist Cowboy - 7 hours ago
*by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy* Some liberals have recently called on Ruth Bader Ginsburg to retire so that President Barack Obama can choose her replacement. At 80, she is the oldest justice on the court. Some fear that if she chooses to stay, a Republican succesor to Obama might nominate another A. Scalia. God help us! But Justice Ginsburg believes that Supreme Court justices should not be influenced by political assessments of a party's future prospects with respect to the court. One of Ginsburg's shining moments came with the dubious ascension of one George W. BUsh to... more »

Widespread Snow On Christmas Eve/Christmas For The UK & Ire 2013?

rss2009 at Global Cooling & New Ice Age UK - 7 hours ago
*Widespread Snow On Christmas Eve/Christmas For The UK & Ire 2013?* The latest weather models are indicating that a rather wet and windy picture will develop for the 2013 Christmas period across many parts of the UK & Ireland. A significant area of low pressure is set to feature across the country in or around the Christmas Eve period (24th). This will also bring a period of exceptionally windy conditions, with some severe gales developing in places. However, it is also set to turn noticeably cooler across many parts of the country from next week and as we head into the start of t... more »

Mild December? + What is really going on? + IMPORTANT rest of December & January update

rss2009 at Global Cooling & New Ice Age UK - 7 hours ago
*Mild December? + What is really going on? + IMPORTANT rest of December & January update* High pressure will be a dominating feature throughout the start to this week, resulting in relatively dry and more settled weather across a good bulk of the country. It will also feel rather mild for the time of the year, with the increased risk of some heavy rain and strong winds developing later in the week (especially in parts to the west). However, as with November, what is being projected by standard weather models in the upper atmosphere, may not necessarily be reflected upon in actual s... more »

Weather Wars Update & My Accuracy

rss2009 at Global Cooling & New Ice Age UK - 7 hours ago
*Weather Wars Update & My Accuracy* *Weather Wars: Met Office denies predicting three months of exceptionally cold weather amid reports of Britain's coldest winter ever!* *http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/weather-wars-met-office-denies-predicting-three-months-of-exceptionally-cold-weather-amid-reports-of-britains-coldest-winter-ever-8973755.html* So it's not acceptable when the Met Office are misquoted in articles or headlines are misinterpreted! For example the recent six inches of snow headline (please see link below). I did feature within the article, but I simply sta... more »

Trifecta: President Obama Says Income Inequality is the Defining Challenge...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 7 hours ago
*as he heads off for seventeen sun soaked days in Hawaii. *

Breaking News: Russian Scientists Call For A 10 Year Ban On GMO

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 8 hours ago
Breaking News: Russian scientists urge 10-year ban on genetically modified products. READ: http://rt.com/news/gmo-ban-russian-scientists-293/ *Source:* *GMO Free Canada*

Serbia Bans The Growing Of GMO Crops

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 8 hours ago
Serbia will not allow the cultivation of GMOs in its territory, Minister of Agriculture Dragan Glamocic stated, despite pressure to accept GMOs from the WTO. "We have to harmonize our legislations with the EU acquis, which does not mean tha...t we will allow the cultivation of GMOs," the minister told Radio and Television of Serbia, stressing that the citizens should know that 95 percent of meat, milk, eggs that are imported from other world countries are coming from animals which were fed by GMO soy products. A draft law, which is underway, will clearly label all imported produc... more »

Citibank pulling out of Philadelphia and shutting regional branches in Cherry Hill and Lawrenceville ( both in NJ ) , as well as branches on US 202 North of Wilmington , Del !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/inq-phillydeals/Citibank-shutting-Philadelphia-.html Citibank pulling out of Philadelphia Share Tweet Reddit Email 69 COMMENTS [image: (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan)] (AP Photo / Mark Lennihan) AP Travel Deals $615 & up -- 3-Nt. Vegas Trip w/Spa Discount & Extras from Philly See all travel deals » Weekly Circulars 50% Off Kids' Xersion(JCPenney) PetSmart Celebrate The Season 2013 Gift Guide(PetSmart USA) See More Circulars » Joseph N. DiStefanoPOSTED: TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013, 12:48 PM Citibank, the global Manhattan-based loan and investment company, is ... more »

AT&T patents tech that can block copyright pirates (and anything else) in real-time

        AMERICAN KABUKI at AMERICAN KABUKI - 8 hours ago
*Its not a small step to go from banning a video to banning a forbidden document or web page... they're analyzing content and scoring the results in a database... And then acting as judge and law enforcement, who needs Judge Dredd when you have AT&T? Now do you see why they consolidated the Internet Provider Services by subsidizing the Telecom giants with nice billion dollar wiretap contracts with the NSA and FBI? They can easily pressure the major telecom CEOs to comply but they could never do that without public exposure to the thousands of ISP providers that existed in the lat... more »

Gardasil: My Daughter’s Worst Nightmare by Donna Malone

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 8 hours ago
Allie Malone Gardasil: My daughter’s worst nightmare By Donna Malone Murfreesboro Tennessee Sane Vax, Ince, November 27, 2013 Cancer is a frightening word. Any parent in the world would do whatever was in their power to protect their child from this terrible disease. I had no idea adding Gardasil to our list of protective measures would turn our lives into a nightmare. Allie is my beautiful 12 year old daughter. She is the youngest of my three children. Having been born 12 years after her brother and sister, she was a little spoiled. Allie made every day a party. For several y... more »

If my favorite textbook hasn't simplified things enough for you...

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 8 hours ago
My friend and former student Miles Kimball takes a stab at explaining some basic macroeconomics through the vehicle of a child's storybook.

The #ChristmasMyths, #1: The Myth of the Miraculous Birth

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 8 hours ago
[image: image] Christians claim the miraculous Christmas story of the Nativity and all its trappings as unique to their own particular heresy, apparently as unaware of the story’s origins as they are of its paucity of even Biblical support—failing to notice that that there is nothing at all miraculous in Paul’s two quite minor references to Jesus’ birth (the earliest written reference), nothing at all in Mark (the earliest Gospel), two quite different and incompatible versions of the birth written later and attributed to Matthew and Luke (prompting many historians to contemplate ... more »

Gardasil : le pire cauchemar de ma fille par Donna Malone

Stranger in a Strange Land at Stranger in a Strange Land - 9 hours ago
*Gardasil *: le pire cauchemar de ma fille Par Donna Malone, Murfreesboro, 27 novembre 2013 (Sanevax) Le mot « Cancer » est effrayant. Tous les parents du monde feraient n’importe quoi pour protéger leurs enfants de cette terrible maladie. Quand j’ai ajouté le Gardasil à toutes les précautions que nous avions prises pour la santé, notre vie est devenue un véritable cauchemar. Allie est ma jolie jeune-fille de 12 ans. Elle est la plus jeune de mes trois enfants. Comme elle est née 12 ans après son frère et sa sœur, elle a été quelque peu gâtée. Pour Allie, chaque jour était un jour... more »

Thai Crisis: Alternative Thai News Round Up

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 9 hours ago
*December 18, 2013* (Tony Cartalucci) - With the ongoing counter-color revolution unfolding in Thailand against the Wall Street-backed regime of Thaksin Shinawatra, here are some stories published on Alternative Thai Newsthat weren't yet posted on Land Destroyer. Thailand: Inside the Mind of a Thaksin Regime Supporter Disturbing 2009 interview with pro-Thaksin demagogue reveals mentality of regime's supporters - utter ignorance regarding human rights, basic human freedom, and the very concept of democracy they claim to be defending. *December 16, 2013* (Forward by Tony Cartalucci) - ... more »

Watch this kitten...(video)

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 9 hours ago
*and learn something.* Seriously.

Can you hear the sound of teeth being gritted at the BBC?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 9 hours ago
This is the top of the BBC UK News home page If you think you can hear the sound of gritted teeth as the BBC report this news, you're probably right. Incidentally the BBC report about the UK jobless rate ends thus: Average weekly earnings growth including bonuses picked up by 0.9% in the three months to October compared with a year earlier, the ONS said, a slight improvement on the three months to September. Excluding bonuses, pay grew by 0.8%. But this is still well below the level of inflation - currently running at 2.1% - meaning that people's living standards are falling in r... more »

Fun with German compound words

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 10 hours ago
Even if you have no German language skills this video should still make perfect sense and amuse...

STRIP SEARCH LEADS TO USA-INDIA 'WAR'.

Anon at aangirfan - 12 hours ago
*Diplomat Devyani * Devyani Khobragade is India's deputy consul general in New York. On 12 December 2013, she was taken into custody just as she was dropping her daughter off at school. She was handcuffed in public. *She was strip-searched.* *She was put in a cell with drug addicts and subjected to DNA swabbing.* *Devyani* Devyani was arrested because her maid had complained she was being payed less than the minimum stipulated under US visa requirements. INSIDE-JOB: MUMBAI. / CIA'S DAVID HEADLEY PLOTTED MUMBAI MASSACRE *Now, remember that it was the CIA that reportedly carried ... more »

Math is the language of the true culture of modern times

Luboš Motl at The Reference Frame - 12 hours ago
*...and math skills are unavoidable side effects of skills that turned some humans into heroes of natural selection...* *Copenhagen:* I haven't been to theaters in Boston too many times ;-) but it was at least once when we went to see Copenhagen. You may watch Bohr and Heisenberg in a 90-minute BBC-4 movie now. Via Joseph S. Three days ago, Sabine Hossenfelder wrote a text about the role of mathematics in the society: Mathematics, the language of nature. What are you sinking about? Edward Measure's brief response proved that mathematics plays a much smaller role in the society of p... more »

Bane sings Elton John

Mike Philbin at PROGNOSIS II - 13 hours ago
In a casting choice that's as vile and puke-making as Matt Damon playing Liberace's toy boy, actor Tom Hardy has upcoming central roles in both Mad Max (Fury Road) and the Elton John biopic (Rocketman). There's probably a real news story hiding underneath this cheapshot stab at humour, but really it's just for laughs.

dream - dead cat returns - with kitten and an old work colleague

Mike Philbin at PROGNOSIS II - 13 hours ago
this was kinda weird, in that I didn't know this particular cat was a) dead or b) associated with an ex-work colleague whose funeral we all attended on September 11th 2001. I met the guy in the street, in passing. It was in London, as I was running to catch a train, he had a younger brother with him and a moustache. I can't remember if it was he or the younger brother who had the moustache, but then a cat appeared. And I nearly didn't recognise it as it had grown greyer than I remembered it. But the way it pushed its face at the back of my hand, and the thinness at the end of its t... more »

today is chelsea manning's fourth birthday behind bars

laura k at wmtc - 13 hours ago
Private Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning), who risked her freedom and her life so that people would see the truth about the US occupation of Iraq, is spending another birthday in prison. This is Manning's fourth birthday behind bars. She was held in solitary confinement (a recognized form of torture) for 10 months, and was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing the video now known as Collateral Murder and other information to Wikileaks. Not one person was harmed as a result of the information becoming public. On the other hand, the men who cooked up the highly profit... more »

open letter to james moore

laura k at wmtc - 13 hours ago
To the Honourable James Moore, Minister of Industry: In answer to your recent question, yes, it *is* your job to feed your neighbour's child. And it's my job, and it's my neighbours' jobs, too. It is all of our jobs to feed every hungry child, because we live in a society, and that's what society is for. It is appalling that anyone in government would ask such a question. Mr. Moore, you may have been cornered into an apology by public outcry, and of course you tried the old "I was quoted out of context" route, but we know the truth when we hear it. And that comment was the true fac... more »

rtod

laura k at wmtc - 13 hours ago
Revolutionary thought of the day: ...something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children's lives to settle its differences. Suzanne Collins, *Mockingjay*

Tutorial: FROZEN Anna Cloak

Debra Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 13 hours ago
I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. We are completely FROZEN obsessed in this house. About a generation ago, my family came to America from Norway, my mom's brother and cousins still live in Norway, and so when we heard that Disney's FROZEN has Norwegian influences we were thrilled. Being Norwegian has always been a big part of my identity, an identity my mom always took care to share with me, but I was unsure of how to share it with my daugh... more »

Updates On Syria [12.18]: West Says Assad Could Remain In Power In A Limited Capacity, Syria-Linked Extremists Target Alawites In Lebanon, Vatican Is Negotiating The Release of Kidnapped Nuns

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 14 hours ago
*1. An excerpt from, "West Tells Syria Rebels: Assad Must Stay" by Jason Ditz, AntiWar.Com, December 16:* Members of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) report that they have been told by Western officials that they believe President Bashar Assad must remain in power to prevent an al-Qaeda takeover of the country. “Some do not even seem to mind if he runs again next year,” noted one SNC member. That’s not sitting well with the SNC, but it may not matter. *Western diplomats confirmed the shift, saying that the rebels have been warned that any “transitional administration” would have ... more »

Alan Grayson-- The Essential Member of Congress

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Blue America doesn't do many live events. But on November 12, 2011 we were very excited to offer all of our Southern California members an opportunity to meet Orlando Congressman Alan Grayson at the Brave New Films studios in Culver City. John Amato, Digby and I had worked with Robert Greenwald to host the free event featuring Grayson. I blogged about it that day and again last July on the occasion of Britain granting one of World War II's greatest heroes, Alan Turing, a posthumous pardon for the crime of being gay. That day at the Brave New Films studios was a wonderful day for... more »

The Anglo American Establishment

Paul Coker at News Spike - 16 hours ago
"The Rhodes Scholarships, established by the terms of Cecil Rhodes's seventh will, are known to everyone. What is not so widely known is that Rhodes in five previous wills left his fortune to form a secret society, which was to devote itself to the preservation and expansion of the British Empire. And what does not seem to be known to anyone is that this secret society was created by Rhodes and his principal trustee, Lord Milner, and continues to exist to this day. To be sure, this secret society is not a childish thing like the Ku Klux Klan, and it does not have any secret robe... more »

Censored News Year in Photos 2013: Ten Indelible Images

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 16 hours ago
Censored News Photos of the Year 2013 Censored News most shared and viewed photos of 2013 An incredible year of women and youths in resistance Jan. 25, 2013: Police in St Louis today use compliance pressure on protesters, as Navajos demanded to talk with Peabody Coal http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2013/01/navajos-and-appalachians-protest.html Jan. 27, 2013: Debra White Plume, Lakota, "

One Third of NJ Urban Students in Unfit, Dilapidated Buildings

freetoteach at Schools Matter - 17 hours ago
As Chris Christie's hopes for a presidential run diminish day by day, his record on education in New Jersey is enough to disqualify him as presidential material and should actually get him impeached. Another four years of gridlock on the George Washington Bridge, no infrastructure improvements on the rails to NYC or the tunnels but lots of empty photo ops isn't going to cut it. His education policies have been devastating for public schools in the state as he touts higher standards, accountability for teachers, and vouchers. Christie refused to raise taxes on millionaires and billio... more »

A tenured sociologist gets a bit of the #teacherprep treatment, more like #teacherperp @scottjaschik

Shaun Johnson at @ THE CHALK FACE - 17 hours ago
In a nutshell, a tenured professor at UC-Boulder is leaving the university because the administration is no longer allowing her to implement a lecture on prostitution that includes a role-play, whereby teaching assistants for the course play dress up as various kinds of “whores” and get interviewed by the class. You know, you’re just going […]

Sandy Hook Exposed: The Realist Report Discusses The Latest On The Sandy Hook Fraud, And Updated Video By Sofia Smallstorm

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 17 hours ago
To this day, I am still shocked that people do NOT see the obvious... That is of course the fact that the "shooting" that occurred over one year ago at Sandy Hook "Elementary" School in Newtown Connecticut was a complete hoax. I have long said that it was a preplanned and well orchestrated simulated shooting operation that the criminals decided to go "live". I am also stating again that I am fully convinced more than ever that absolutely NOBODY died in this operation. I want to present the following important link to John Friend's "Realist Report" for today, December 17th, 2013... more »

"Surely a country that honors the devotion of family members to each other should want to make it at least a little easier for them to do their jobs" (E. J. Dionne Jr.)

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 18 hours ago
*"At a time when the political news is dominated by a debate between do-little conservatism and do-nothing conservatism -- which is to say, between a right-tilting Republican establishment and the radical tea party -- [Senator] Gillibrand's package includes building blocks for a broader counter-vision inspired by the idea of an Empowering Government."* -- *E. J. Dionne Jr., in his* Washington Post *column* "Family values hypocrisy" *by Ken* We talk a lot about families here -- but actual families and their actual hopes and needs, not the crap blithered about the phony-baloney avata... more »

Quote of the Day: On Women

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 18 hours ago
*“If women ran the world we'd still live in caves, but with **really fancy curtains.**”* - Kate at Small Dead Animals Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)

Syria and Afghanistan updates - December 15 , 2013 - Syria item of note....With FSA Supreme Military Commander Idris literally run out of Syria by the islamist / jihadist / Al Qaeda forces - looks like the US is preparing to get in bed with terrorists - these same fighters will without questions use any US weapons provided to them against either Israel and / or the US interests down the road... Regarding Afghanistan - we need to stay there because of Al Qaeda - that would be the same franchise islamist tyep fighters we are meeting with on Syria ? What is our foreign policy regarding aiding terrorists again ?

Catharsis Ours - 18 hours ago
Syria....... Print This | Share This The brief rebel-offensive against the Damascus suburb of Adra, and the Syrian military is once again in control. As usual, it was the civilians that bore the brunt of the clash, with reports of mass kidnappings and 80 civilians executed by the rebels before they were ousted. The rebels, identified as al-Qaeda’s Jabhat al-Nusra faction by locals, began targeting Druze, Alawite and Christian residents early on in the siege of the city, kidnapping them en masse. The military insisted that the rebels were using the kidnapped as human shields, but ... more »

Panda in Blizzard

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 19 hours ago

Stay of civil proceedings on Court's own motion to be granted rarely

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 19 hours ago
Yaiguaje v. Chevron Corporation, 2013 ONCA 758: [54] While s. 106 of the *CJA* entitles the court to grant a stay on its own motion, the circumstances under which it may appropriately do so are rare. As stated by Epstein J. in*Gruner v. McCormack* (2000), 45 C.P.C. (4th) 273 (Ont. S.C.J.), at para. 30, To justify a stay, the defendant must satisfy the court that a continuance of the action would work as injustice because it would be oppressive or vexatious or an abuse of the process of the court and that the stay would not cause an injustice to the plaintiff. [55] In my vie... more »

Lots of Ravens

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 19 hours ago

Useful rubes

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 19 hours ago
[Ed Stein cartoon]

George Zimmerman, rip off artist

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 19 hours ago
Apparently, when the hero of the gun crazy crowd isn't busy murdering unarmed teenagers for inciting his personal terror of Skittles, or threatening women, he's taken up more artistic pursuits. Zimmerman's first painting fetched a cool 100K when he put up for auction at EBay this week. And if that's not enough to gag you, he has fans: A well-wisher expressed love and support for Zimmerman in a question posted on the eBay auction, telling him there were many people on his side, and the artist replied. “Thank you so much for the words of kindness and support. I do know how many gr... more »

Libya Updates - December 17 , 2013 .....Security or the lack thereof items of interest , petrol shortage in Tripoli finally resolving , economic and political matters of note .......

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 19 hours ago
Police officer killed while securing Tripoli petrol station *By Houda Mzioudet.* *Tripoli 17 December 2013*: A police officer was shot and killed early on Monday morning while securing one of Tripoli’s petrol stations. The officer, Ahmed Hussein Ismail, he was shot at a petrol station near Bab Ben Ghashir as car owners clashed with police after drivers began trying to force their way into the petrol station. Mohamed Swesi, a official for Tripoli Security Directorate, told the *Libya Herald* that Ismail was rushed to Tripoli Central Hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after a... more »

Western Governors University's Path to Becoming a Teacher in NJ

freetoteach at Schools Matter - 19 hours ago
The Christmas gift that keeps on giving. Teaching jobs abound in New Jersey. Western Governors University is recruiting heavily for part time adjuncts in New Jersey to stay in their pajamas and conduct on line courses for NCATE approved "evaluations." If you are looking for a job as a data evaluator, with no benefits, no job security and no office, then this is for you. Now that they are dismantling teacher unions and public schools, it's a free for all. Just sign up, pay some money, take some on line courses and you are sure to be an "effective" teacher. Just follow the script. Y... more »

The reason for the season?

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 20 hours ago
It’s the Christmas season. Yuletide. The festive season. And the reason for the season is …. not what you think it is. Let’s start with a Christmas joke: Q: "What's the difference between God and Santa Claus?" A: "There is no God." Ha ha ha. The fact is, dear readers, at least Santa—well, Saint Nicholas at least—was a real figure, if not a real bloke, even if the other inspirations for the Santa Claus character were not. And the harsh fact is, I’m sorry to have to tell you, Christ himself was never even *in* Christmas --except in fiction and by order of the first Popes. [The ... more »

Will you print your next house.

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 20 hours ago
You can do it today, thanks to Wikihouse.

A Teacher’s 12 Days of Christmas

Angel Cintron Jr. at @ THE CHALK FACE - 20 hours ago
On the first day of Christmas my students gave to me: A Well Deserved Day Alone On the second day of Christmas my students gave to me: Two Misplaced Gloves and a Well Deserved Day Alone On the third day of Christmas my students gave to me: Three Broken Pens Two Misplaced Gloves and a […]

West's Support For Sunni Extremism In Syria Is Triggering Chaos In The Region

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 21 hours ago
An excerpt from, *"Extremist Syrian faction touts training camp for boys"*by Joby Warrick, Washington Post, December 16: At first glance, the training camp appears no different from the many others shown in propaganda videos posted by al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria. Hooded recruits in camouflage shoot at targets or march in formation under the black flag of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. But look closer and the “fighters” appear quite small. The tallest are barely chest-high to their instructors, and the shorter ones wear ill-fitting uniforms and appear to struggle under the wei... more »

Fukushima: The Sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan

Spike EP at News Spike - 21 hours ago
In 2011, the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan assisted with rescue operations after the Fukushima earthquake and nuclear disaster. At least 51 members of the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan have now developed radiation-related illnesses. It is thought that the ship's desalinization systems took in radioactive water which the crew drank, cooked with and bathed-in. Charles Bonner, attorney representing sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan said "They have testicular cancer, they have thyroid cancers, they have leukemias, they have rectal and gynecological bleeding, a host of problems ... more »

Doug Martin on Justin Oakley's Radio Show Wednesday, December 18

Doug Martin at Schools Matter - 21 hours ago
By Doug Martin I will be joining Justin Oakley on his Just Let Me Teach radio show on Wednesday, December 18 from around 9:15 to 10:00 pm. I will be launching the pre-order phrase of my book, *Hoosier School Heist*, which is scheduled to be released in February and details the Walton Family, Jeb Bush, New York hedge fund managers, the DeVos family of Amway fame, plagiarists, and Republican campaign donors who run charter schools in Indiana, just to name a few. People interested can pre-order the book on an ad on the Indiana Talks website pages (scroll down on the right hand side), ... more »

The Elephant in the Room

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 21 hours ago
*The Elephant in the Room* By American Kabuki December 17, 2013 We are in an amazing time of transition. Nothing is staying static, not you, your relationships, your interests. Even your very body is changing and in transition. The old ways of being, class, "knowing your place", acceptance of abuse as just part of life, is rapidly becoming clear as the mental programming that separated your mind from your heart. You were taught to distrust your heart. The awakening journey is a highly personal one. How it begins is different for all of us. So is the ending, its all tailored ... more »

FOX surrenders in the War on Christmas

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 21 hours ago
This is hilarious. Apparently FOX has defected to our side in the War on Christmas. Wonder if anyone has told Megyn or Bill O yet? [Media Matters screen capture via Oliver Willis]

Jack Monroe and the Sociology of Selling Out

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 22 hours ago
Selling out. Been there, done that. So has cookery blogger and *Graun*regular Jack Monroe, apparently. Not a household name by any means, but someone who was catapulted to Twitter fame after attracting the attention of *The Mail*'s Richard Littlejohn following a party political broadcast for Labour. You can read her reply here. Now, I'd be lying if I said I followed Jack's work. Food columns and cookery writing just ain't my thing. Food is something to nom on and that's it for me. It's fodder, not a petit bourgeois distraction from the class struggle on a plate. I also gathered fro... more »

Monsanto Marijuana Initiative Grows in Uruguay?

Breaking The Silence at Removing The Shackles - 22 hours ago
Well, well well...... THAT certainly explains a lot, doesn't it? Monsanto Marijuana Initiative Grows in Uruguay? By Staff Report - December 13, 2013 *Uruguay becomes first nation to legalise marijuana trade ... T* - See more at: http://www.thedailybell.com/news-analysis/34833/Monsanto-Marijuana-Initiative-Grows-in-Uruguay/#sthash.uz9pI0mj.dpuf *edited: 12/18/2013 10:19am: comment from Judge Dale:* Comment: The reason Monsanto does not want farmers to harvest seeds from one year to be used to grow next years crop is because NATURE eliminates the GMO modifications. So the following ye... more »

Bad Bear's Photos Longest Walk 4 Dec. 17, 2013

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 22 hours ago
. Thanks to Bad Bear (photo above) for the photos each day! Longest Walk 4 Return to Alcatraz taking those final steps toward Alcatraz, with arrival on Dec. 21. A Sovereignty Gathering will be held on Dec. 22 at Oakland Friendship House. Thanks to Carl Bad Bear Sampson, Western Shoshone long walker, for sharing his photos each day! From Corrina Gould Hello

When Facebook friends fall out

Jody Paterson at A Closer Look: Jody Paterson - 22 hours ago
I just did my first "unfriend" on Facebook. I never would have thought that anybody could get my back up enough to want to unfriend them, because I'm one laid-back person when it comes to allowing people their say. But it turns out that even I have limits. In my six years on Facebook I've accepted almost anyone as a friend as long as they seemed like a real person. I spent so many years as a "public figure" writing for the Times Colonist that Facebook just seems like an extension of that part of me rather than a fenced-in place that only my genuine friends can access. I'... more »

The Total Compliance Charter Model Has Come to Your Neighborhood

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 22 hours ago
From Alternet: KIPP Forces 5th Graders to 'Earn' Desks By Sitting On the Floor For a Week James Horn One hundred 10-year-olds spent the first week of school sitting on the floor. What was it they were supposed to have learned? *December 17, 2013 * | The Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) is the largest corporate charter school chain in the U. S, with 141 schools and 50,000 students in 20 states. KIPP was launched in 1994 by David Levin and Michael Feinberg, two former Ivy Leaguers and Teach for America (TFA) corps members assigned to teach in Houston, where the first KIPP school wa... more »

Is Economic Justice The Ticket For Democrats-- Or Should They Compete With The GOP For The Economic Inequality Vote?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 22 hours ago
The Republican civil war is pretty front and center and getting quite a lot of media attention. There is also something of a Democratic civil war brewing, a more ideological/less careerist based one. You may have seen sparks of it last week when the Wall Street owned ConservaDem group, Third Way, went on the attack against Elizabeth Warren and the progressive populism she espouses. Third Way, the Blue Dogs and the New Dems are the Republican wing of the Democratic Party. A virtual whore house of corruption and opportunism, it's the ugly side of the Democratic Party that has nothi... more »

Christy Clark`s Most Excellent Families First Drunken Adventure

Grant G at The Straight Goods - 22 hours ago
*Christy Clark`s Most Excellent Families First Drunken Adventure* *Written by Grant G* By now many of you have heard that Christy Clark thinks it is okay for parents to bring their children of all ages in to Alcohol only establishments, into bars, nightclubs and legions.. http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Happy+hour+coming/9296994/story.html My gawd, Christy proves once again that she missed the brain train at youth and rode the braindead one way ride to densecity.. First off, restaurants that serve liquor have always allowed children to come in and eat with or without pa... more »

High Stakes Standardized Tests Help Fuel Drug Company Profits

freetoteach at Schools Matter - 23 hours ago
Don't you just love how the entire education industrial complex is intertwined with corporations like pharmaceutical companies? Just think of all the stress, physical ailments and behavioral problems that will result from the continuous test and punish, value added, and merit pay for high test scores education deform can yield. Even the rich kids of the 1% find drugs can help them compete and perform better in high pressure environments. In a society that values competition over collaboration, privilege over justice and test scores over children's health and well being, what do you... more »

When Megyn Kelly was good!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 23 hours ago
*TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013* *Her interview with Bill Burton:* Is Santa Claus white? On occasion, he has been. At other times, plainly not. We were watching in real time when Megyn Kelly made her now-famous remarks on this controversial topic. We thought her remarks were odd at the time, though we’ll have to admit we hadn’t noticed that she was addressing herself to the “kids” when she made them. Last night, watching CNN, we saw Don Lemon insist, several times, that no one is “demonizing” Kelly. For the most part, we’ve been active fans of Lemon down through the years. At this ti... more »

Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination The FBI’s War on Rock Stars By Salvador Astucia - Chapter 2: The Motive

Paul Coker at News Spike - 23 hours ago
*DISCLAIMER: * *THE POSTING OF STORIES, COMMENTARIES, REPORTS, DOCUMENTS AND LINKS (EMBEDDED OR OTHERWISE) ON THIS SPIKE1138 DOES NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, NECESSARILY EXPRESS OR SUGGEST ENDORSEMENT OR SUPPORT OF ANY OF SUCH POSTED MATERIAL OR PARTS THEREIN.* *I do not endorse everything Astucia had to say about the Jewish experience under Nazism - but I do feel that the following is worth knowing and bearing in mind about Glenn Close and her family: * *http://spikethenews.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/mobutu-sese-seko-glenn-close-and-aids.html* *The role also ... more »

Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination The FBI’s War on Rock Stars By Salvador Astucia Chapter 1: The Crime Scene

Paul Coker at News Spike - 23 hours ago
*DISCLAIMER: * *THE POSTING OF STORIES, COMMENTARIES, REPORTS, DOCUMENTS AND LINKS (EMBEDDED OR OTHERWISE) ON THIS SPIKE1138 DOES NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE OR FORM, IMPLIED OR OTHERWISE, NECESSARILY EXPRESS OR SUGGEST ENDORSEMENT OR SUPPORT OF ANY OF SUCH POSTED MATERIAL OR PARTS THEREIN.* *Contents* *Lennon Home Page* *Main Home Page* *Rethinking John Lennon’s Assassination* *The FBI’s War on Rock Stars* By Salvador Astucia *PART I: LENNON’S MURDER* *Chapter 1: The Crime Scene* *The Dakota* John Lennon was shot and killed on December 8, 1980, at about 10:50 pm, as he and h... more »

Thailand: Mass Mobilization Sunday December 22, 2013

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 1 day ago
The Who, What, and Why's of Thailand's Ongoing Protests. *December 18, 2013* (Tony Cartalucci) - This coming Sunday (December 22, 2013) will be the third and potentially largest mass mobilization yet by the anti-regime movement in Thailand. The counter-color revolution against Wall Street-backed Thaksin Shinawatra and his regime's attempt to transform Thailand into yet another vassal of Western influence has gained immense traction - already forcing the proxy prime minister, dictator Thaksin Shianwatra's sister, Yingluck, to dissolve parliament and call for new elections. However, ... more »

“Australia’s Stonehenge,”: the basis of all knowledge

Breaking The Silence at Removing The Shackles - 1 day ago
My highlights in blue as usual. http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2013/12/14/australia-s-stonehenge-and-so-much-more/ “Australia’s Stonehenge,” and so much more! Posted by The Watcher on December 14, 2013 in categories Archeology, Featured stories What follows is the “Conclusion/Hypothesis” taken from our archaeological paper written on the Standing Stones found within 40 kilometers of Mullumbimby, Australia. During the brief period this site was first investigated before it was reluctantly destroyed, Frederic Slater (President of the Australian Archaeological and Educational ... more »

RUSSELL BRAND, WOOLWICH TRIAL, JOHN LENNON

Anon at aangirfan - 1 day ago
*Russell Brand * *According to Russell Brand:* *1.* Michael Adebolajo, the alleged killer of soldier Lee Rigby, "is severely mentally ill". *2.* Michael Adebolajo is like Mark Chapman, the alleged killer of John Lennon. *3.* Mark Chapman's mental condition was related to the book 'The Catcher In The Rye'. *Woolwich | Russell Brand - Huffington Post* *Mark Chapman and John Lennon* Reportedly, Mark Chapman was brainwashed by the CIA. Reportedly, the book *Catcher In The Rye* was part of the brainwashing of Chapman. *Catcher In The Rye* is used in the CIA’s MK-Ultra mind-con... more »

Tuesday Afternoon Linkage: A Dish Best Served Cold

Steve Saideman at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
I hope cold links are good as the temperature up in Ottawa is now just at 0F (known as the temperature where dogs whine and snot freezes in one’s nose). Anyhow, here are my last links of 2013: Lots of stuff out there on the Chinese Air Defense ID Zone, so here is one that Continue reading

What is This "War on Women" of Which You Speak, Stranger?

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 1 day ago
The National Socialist Party Republican Party of Michigan became thelatest stateto pass a rape insurance bill into law. And it doesn't even make exemptions for rape victims, one of the reasons why Gov. Rick Snyder vetoed a similar, earlier bill. And Republicans still laughably try to claim there's no war on women, which was sort of the rationale we used to kill two million Vietnamese in the 60's and 70's. "War? What war? We didn't *officially *declare war on Vietnam." The GOP has advanced women's rights about as much as Jack the Ripper. And even Jack had the sense to s... more »

New York Time, September 4th 2001: "U.S. Germ Warfare Research Pushes Treaty Limits" by Judith Miller

Paul Coker at News Spike - 1 day ago
Over the past several years, the United States has embarked on a program of secret research on biological weapons that, some officials say, tests the limits of the global treaty banning such weapons. The 1972 treaty forbids nations from developing or acquiring weapons that spread disease, but it allows work on vaccines and other protective measures. Government officials said the secret research, which mimicked the major steps a state or terrorist would take to create a biological arsenal, was aimed at better understanding the threat. The projects, which have not been previously d... more »

Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
December 16, 2013 *Glaxo Says It Will Stop Paying Doctors to Promote Drugs* http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/17/business/glaxo-says-it-will-stop-paying-doctors-to-promote-drugs.html By KATIE THOMAS The British drug maker GlaxoSmithKline will no longer pay doctors to promote its products and will stop tying compensation of sales representatives to the number of prescriptions doctors write, its chief executive said Monday, effectively ending two common industry practices that critics have long assailed as troublesome conflicts of interest. The announcement appears to be a first for a... more »

Russia commits to Ukraine bonds and slashes gas prices and more......

Penny at Penny for your thoughts - 1 day ago
*Definitely a beneficial agreement for the Ukrainian people* *Russia will invest $15 billion from one of its sovereign wealth funds in Ukrainian government securities and cut the price of natural gas it charges its neighbour by about a third, President Vladimir Putin said.* *Economic relief for Ukraine ... Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, left, react after signing an agreement in Moscow on Tuesday. * "Considering the problems of the Ukrainian economy linked to the world financial crisis, and to support the budget of the Ukra... more »

My December 2013 Michigan Board of Education Testimony

deutsch29 at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
In November 2013, I was asked if I would testify at the December 17, 2013, Michigan State Board of Education meeting. Michigan is considering emulating the New Orleans so-called model Recovery School District (RSD) (including the supposed “parental choice” afforded by open enrollment) as well as using letter grades for schools. Since I could not be in […]

Vitamins are a waste of money? Really?

Abraham Ben Judea at Abraham says - 1 day ago
Really, now. let us look at the study below. *FLAW # 1* The study and the university say that they studied *Healthy well nourished individuals.* *That is the major, major flaw in the study* If we are going to study a fix on something we don't do it on something that needs NO fixing, period. *FLAW # 2* The form of Vitamins taken: T*hey used defective vitamins in the form of uni-pills *such as the pink ones pictured below. Why does this author say they used defective vitamins? What are Uni-pills? Uni-pills are those pills that have all the multi-vitamins and minerals ALL packed into a ... more »

Playing the Dream

Steve at Thinking Aboot - 1 day ago
I do not consider myself a gambler when it comes to structured games. I have lost a few hundred at the Casino and a few more over a lifetime of poker games. I am rational enough to realize that such purists odds on will end in tears. If the morons want to gamble to pay the stupid tax so they can get a better meal than soylent green then that is that. There was a time in this fine line we live where getting ahead meant hard work saving and storing for tough times ahead. More or less the clever gentleman have ripped economic safety from what was considered the golden rule. How did thi... more »

The Realist Report - Kelley from Tulsa & Sofia Smallstorm

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 1 day ago
On this edition of *The Realist Report*, we'll be joined by Kelley from Tulsa and Sofia Smallstorm, two independent investigators of the alleged shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School last December. Kelley, Sofia, and I will be discussing their investigation and conclusions regarding the Sandy Hook "shooting," and the political and cultural agenda which has been and continues to be advanced in its aftermath. You can download the mp3 for this program *here*, or visit *The Realist Report* on BlogTalkRadio to subscribe via iTunes and view past programs. Below are relevant link... more »

Time for a panda

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

Stay of civil proceedings on Court's own motion to be granted rarely

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago
Yaiguaje v. Chevron Corporation, 2013 ONCA 758: [54] While s. 106 of the *CJA* entitles the court to grant a stay on its own motion, the circumstances under which it may appropriately do so are rare. As stated by Epstein J. in*Gruner v. McCormack* (2000), 45 C.P.C. (4th) 273 (Ont. S.C.J.), at para. 30, To justify a stay, the defendant must satisfy the court that a continuance of the action would work as injustice because it would be oppressive or vexatious or an abuse of the process of the court and that the stay would not cause an injustice to the plaintiff. [55] In my vie... more »

Kate Braun : Winter Solstice Falls on Saturn's Day

thorne dreyer at The Rag Blog - 1 day ago
Saturnalia by Ernesto Biondi, 1909. Io Saturnalia! Winter Solstice 2013 This seasonal celebration takes from many traditions, including the Roman Saturnalia, Druid customs, the German 'Yule,' and the birth of Jesus; and Queen Victoria popularized the lighted Christmas tree. By Kate Braun / The Rag Blog / December 17, 2013 Saturday, December 21, 2013, marks Yule, the Winter Solstice, also

Satan's Key Operative In The Vatican Loses A Major Post-- Bye Bye Burke?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
Pope sends GOP's fanatic, hate-filled cardinal, Ray Burke, a message If you're not from La Crosse or St. Louis, it's possible you first heard about the curia's most anti-Jesus cardinal, right-wing hack Ray Burke, here at DWT. As soon as it was clear that the new Pope was an actual follower of Jesus' message, we started urging him to get rid of Satan's man in the Vatican. Burke was a partisan extremist in America, a GOP operative in a cardinal's gown and he;s been a nightmare in Rome. Burke has worked hand-in-glove with right-wing Republicans in trying to defeat Democrats electorally.... more »

A Big Money Cabal of Bench-Slappers

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 1 day ago
Vindication is sweet today for fans of the Fourth Amendment. But let's be realistic. With billions and billions, even trillions, of dollars at stake, the NSA and the private contractors enriched by the fascistic Deep State will not be going gently into that good night. I imagine that the Obama administration is busily judge-shopping even as we speak, and will find some compliant fellow or lady to knock down the somewhat passive-aggressive (delayed, pending Obama judge-shopping) ruling yesterday against the mass collection of phone records of United States persons. Because, let's ... more »

Saturday Meanderings

Southern Man at Southern Man - 1 day ago
After a few hours in the office to get some grading done Southern Man went to the monthly geocachers luncheon-slash-Christmas party... Mr. Gator. The Gift Table. A Festive Gathering. Look what I won! Manly men thinking manly thoughts. After a few more hours at the office Southern Man cut by the mall for a little last-minute Christmas shopping. It looked like Black Friday! But there was an all-male choir and Southern Man listened to good Christmas music for a good long while. *God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay...* And then much to his surprise he stumble... more »

Dine' CARE urges federal probe of BHP Navajo Mine transaction

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
Federal Investigation Urged over BHP Navajo Mine Transaction to Navajo Nation By Dine' CARE Censored News DILKON, Arizona – On behalf of all Diné people, Diné Citizens Against Ruining our Environment (Diné C.A.R.E.) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Deputy Inspector General, Mary Kendall on December 12, 2013, requesting an investigation into the Bureau of Indian

Gildan, maquillas, model cities and simplistic responses to complex problems

paul at Paying attention - 1 day ago
It’s amazing how simple the problems of Honduras seem to some people a few thousand kilometres away. A handful of slogans, some recycled rhetoric and unsupported claims, and presto, a theory. A fine example has been the blind libertarian enthusiasm for a plan to create “model cities” in Honduras, effectively independent fiefdoms, run, at least initially, by the investors. Another was offered in a recent Internet opinion piece on Canadian textile company Gildan’s manufacturing centres in Honduras. The 20,000 employees, the piece said, “are basically slaves, and their status will likely... more »

1978: Milton Friedman on Socialized Medicine...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 1 day ago
*how was he able to predict the future?* Because it has to do with economics which is math. Math doesn't lie. Some things are very easy to predict for those of us that can add, subtract, and study history.

Breaking: Rachel has a bridge to sell you!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013* *Three teases, two full segments:* Remember when Camus wrote the following, if only in translation? “Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don’t know.” For some reason, we thought of that as we tried to summarize last evening’s Maddow program. Our reinvention would go like this: “Rachel did two teases and three segments tonight. Or three teases and two segments maybe, we don’t know.” We refer to the way Maddow devoted the second half of last night’s program to the Christie Bridgegate outrage and scandal. The teases started early, with the first one g... more »

Technical Announcement

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 1 day ago
(From the man behind the curtain to whom nobody, indeed, pays any attention.) The comment settings have been set back to where they were before so that now anyone can comment, which should make Constant Reader Comrade Rutherford happy. Hopefully, the spambots will have learned their lesson and have moved on to other pastures.

Resurgence Of Iraq’s Insurgency In Ninewa Province

MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 1 day ago
Iraq’s Ninewa province and its capital city of Mosul have returned as a central hub for the country’s insurgency. After the Surge in 2007 many militant groups fled north to places like Mosul where they were then reduced by American and Iraqi forces. Now insurgents are making a comeback. They are attempting to assert their will over the governorate’s population and economy, and targeting the local security forces. (*Wikimedia*) It now appears that insurgents have free reign in Mosul and southern areas of Ninewa. One provincial politician said militants controlled an areastretching... more »

Anti-Capitalist Santas deliver coal to Port of Metro Vancouver

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
Photos credit: MURRAY BUSH - FLUX PHOTO Flood the Port By Rising Tide Vancouver Censored News VANCOUVER, COAST SALISH TERRITORIES – This morning Port of Metro Vancouver staff and security responded with physical force when 6 Santa Clauses arrived at their offices to deliver sacks of coal to the offices of the Port of Metro Vancouver, along with thousands of peoples’ wishes

MIT Researchers: Higher Test Scores Do Not Translate into Higher Levels of Thinking

Robert D. Skeels * rdsathene at Schools Matter - 1 day ago
MIT Researchers: Higher Test Scores Do Not Translate into Higher Levels of Thinking http://t.co/edCbAClW1g — Diane Ravitch (@DianeRavitch) December 17, 2013 MIT Researchers: Higher Test Scores Do Not Translate into Higher Levels of Thinking via Professor Diane Ravitch

Algonquin land protectors force Quebec logging protection

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 1 day ago
Tuesday, December 17, 2013Algonquin’s land protection camps forces Quebec to Agree to a Process to Protect Sensitive Zones from Logging: Next Step Implementation of Landmark Co-Management/Revenue Sharing Agreements By Community members of Barriere Lake Censored NewsKitiganik, Algonquin Territory (Dec. 17, 2013) – After community members of the Barriere Lake First Nation established a land

AMY GOODMAN: "A bipartisan budget deal to avert another government shutdown comes before the Senate this week. The House approved the two-year budget agreement last week in a 332-to-94 vote. The bill eases across-the-board spending cuts, replacing them with new airline fees and cuts to federal pensions. In a concession by Democrats, it does not extend unemployment benefits for 1.3 million people, which is set to expire this month." DAVID CAY JOHNSTON: "Well, this deal is actually a big win for the Paul Ryan Republicans. They will avoid the embarrassment, shame, and political damage of shutting down the government, and they obtained this from the Democrats without touching at all the major issues. The corporate loopholes aren’t being closed. The tax-avoidance techniques of billionaires, who can legally live tax-free if they choose to, are not being shut down. The hedge fund and private equity managers will continue to be advantaged. And we’re going to kick 57,000 poor children out of Head Start, which means we’re going to narrow their economic futures and make all of us worse off in the future. We’re cutting a billion-and-a-half dollars from medical research to save lives. Why? Because the very richest people in America, those who have benefited most from being in this market, don’t want to pay for that kind of services. And the Pentagon is getting an extra $20 billion out of this deal. We already spend 42 percent of all the money in the world on our military." DAVID L GRISCOM: "If this is what the Democrats in Congress believe is a good deal, I'm going to join a party that believes its representatives should put the stuggling 99% above the filthy rich 1%."

David L Griscom at Cherchez la Verite - 1 day ago
------------------------------ *MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2013 .* "Makes Absolutely No Sense": David Cay Johnston on Budget Deal That Helps Billionaires, Not the Poor http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/16/makes_absolutely_no_sense_david_cay A bipartisan budget deal to avert another government shutdown comes before the Senate this week. The vast majority of House members from both parties approved the two-year budget agreement last week in a 332-to-94 vote. It is being hailed as a breakthrough c... more »

Blogging Awards Nomination Update

Jon Western at Duck of Minerva - 1 day ago
The nominations are trickling in, but there’s more work to be done. We had some major IR blogging events this year — Snowden, Egypt, Syria, Russia, etc…. and we’re looking for nominations for the best work out there in 2013. We’re still taking nominations through the end of the month. Sage is co-sponsoring the Awards Continue reading

FIVE KEY POINTS AND ELEVEN SOLUTIONS: Joe Nocera’s ride back in time!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 1 day ago
*TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2013* *Part 2—In the footsteps of Ravitch and Ripley:* Joe Nocera’s new column is highly instructive, in that it’s woefully clueless. Nocera writes about a topic he manifestly knows nothing about: what constitutes good teaching in an “inner-city school?” What constitutes good teaching in low-income schools? With respect to this very important question, Nocera has watched a documentary. He has also read, or read about, a new report by a national policy group. On the basis of these inputs, he ends up saying what follows. Within the *journalistic* context, the ... more »

Attacks On Iraqi Forces And Infrastructure Dominate Anbar Violence November 2013

Joel Wing at MUSINGS ON IRAQ - 1 day ago
The number of attacks remained high in Iraq’s Anbar for November 2013. As usual most of those were concentrated in the province’s cities especially Fallujah and Ramadi. Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), the power system and transportation were the main targets. Despite that the number of fatalities was dramatically lower than the previous two months. Levels of violence in Anbar remained the same in November, but the overall number of casualties was down. There were a total of 75 reported security incidents in the press. That was roughly in line with previous months such as October wh... more »

The manuscript of survival – part 380

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 1 day ago
*The manuscript of survival – part 380* *Aisha North* *December 16, 2013* As you have noticed, the frequencies that are buffeting you now are indeed a far cry from the ones you have been bathing in for quite a long time now, and rightly so, as these last few days a whole new set of energetic encodings have transformed the very atmosphere around you. And, as usual, with these new encodings comes a whole host of energetic reactions, both on the physical but also on the mental levels. And for many of you, these new currents have literally dislodged the very deepest residue that your ... more »

VAMboozled by Empty-Suit Leadership in SC

plthomasedd at @ THE CHALK FACE - 1 day ago
VAMboozled by Empty-Suit Leadership in SC. via VAMboozled by Empty-Suit Leadership in SC.

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 1 day ago
*Rush to oppose coastal reclamation suit exposes weakness of Jindal’s case ~Sandy Rosenthal, The Lens* *Oil and gas association challenges AG’s approval of contract for coastal lawsuit ~Jeff Adelson, New Orleans Advocate* *AGL, SOL still at odds? ~Heather Miller, The Daily Iberian* *Fasten Your Seat Belts ~Brian P. Moore* *Music Video: Beau Jocque, "Beau Jocque Boogie" ~David Stafford, WWOZ*

NO MONEY FOR WHAT?

Bruce K. Gagnon at Organizing Notes - 1 day ago

AVB on Dragons Den?

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 1 day ago
A vaguely amusing video from TalkSport

Tenure and Due Process at the University of Colorado

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 1 day ago
*UPDATE Dec 18*: It appears that CU officials have come to their senses and are wisely backing down, at least according to this new article in *The Daily Camera*. Kuods to Sarah Kuta for her reporting on this. *Original post follows . . .* The Boulder Daily Camera reports: University of Colorado officials acknowledged Monday that sociology professor Patti Adler's lecture on prostitution led them to suspend her from teaching her popular "Deviance in U.S. Society" course next spring -- but they denied firing her or forcing her into retirement. The issue here involves a skit that Pro... more »

Battered Woman Syndrome

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 1 day ago
Battered woman syndrome is a model that was developed by Dr. Lenore E. Walker to describe the mindset and emotional state of a battered woman. A battered woman is a woman who has experienced at least two complete battering cycles as described in dating and domestic violence. According to Walker's The Battered Woman Syndrome (pp. 95-97), there are four general characteristics of the syndrome (which have been further developed into a series of symptoms not included here): 1. The woman believes that the violence was or is her fault. 2. The woman has an inability to place responsi... more »

In A Dark Place

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 1 day ago
The Harper Party has changed its name three times. First it was the Reform Party. Then it was the Canadian Alliance. And, finally, it called itself the Conservative Party. The last label is entirely disingenuous. Both Rob Ford and Stephen Harper claim they are Conservatives. Those claims are as fatuous as the name which the present federal government proclaims. Andrew Coyne writes: So no, Ford is neither a product of conservatism, as such, nor a particularly sterling example of it; nor should Conservatives be tainted by association, except in so far as they associate themselves wi... more »

Do Cruz, Rubio, Paul And Senate Right-Wingers Have what It Takes To Crash The Budget Deal Today?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 1 day ago
The do-nothing House is on vacation already, again. But the Senate is still working. It still haven't approved the awful Paul Ryan-Patty Murray "compromise," in which the plutocrats compromise nothing (as usual) and all the compromise is on the backs of working people. Amazingly, though, it's Senate Republicans threatening to kill the whole thing. There are probably only 3 progressive Democrats in the Senate willing to vote no today. (32 voted no in the House last week.) NBC's Chuck Todd says the budget will pass with little fanfare, even though Reid has to cobble together a clotur... more »

Zions Bancorp issues stunner -Under the published Volcker rule, the Company would no longer have the ability to hold disallowed securities until the anticipated recovery of their amortized cost. Therefore, as of December 15, 2013, Zions anticipates that in the fourth quarter of 2013 it will reclassify all covered CDOs that currently are classified as “Held to Maturity” into “Available for Sale,” and that all covered CDOs, regardless of the accounting classification, will be adjusted to Fair Value through an Other Than Temporary Impairment non-cash charge to earnings. The net result would eliminate substantially all of the accumulated other comprehensive income adjustment to equity related to the covered securities. As First Volcker Rule Victim Emerges, Implications Could "Roil The Market"

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
As First Volcker Rule Victim Emerges, Implications Could "Roil The Market" [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/17/2013 08:13 -0500 - Barclays - Bond - CDO - Collateralized Debt Obligations - Federal Reserve - Mortgage Loans - NASDAQ - recovery inShare Yesterday afternoon, Zions Bancorp, Utah's biggest lender, stunned the financial community with a regulatory filing in which it announced that as a result of the final Volcker Rule implementation, it will need to make some very dramatic changes to its balance sheet, wh... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 1 day ago
Happy Birthday to Bob Ojeda, 56. Mainly because he always reminds me of Blue Sox hero Steve Olin, who would have been 48 now. Sad. Also, because in the 30+ years I've known her, my wife really cared about baseball for about a two week stretch: Mets vs. Astros, Mets vs. Red Sox. The good stuff: Jon Krasno and Gregory Robinson make the case for shifting the filibuster burden from the majority (needing 60) to the minority (needing 41). I'm okay with this, but I've never really believed that it would make much difference. Nor do I think it's a likely compromise position and more. So n... more »

Can My Employer Make Me Socialize With Co-Workers? Whether you say yes or no to office events, here are your legal rights

Donna Ballman at Screw You Guys, I'm Going Home - 1 day ago
It's holiday party time, so this question I received from a reader is timely: *I just read your article about social media passwords, and I have a question for you that my HR person cannot seem to answer for me. My boss told me that I am not relating to the other employees (I didn't realize that I wasn't) and wants me to go to lunch with them or go shopping with them on the weekend. They are mean and spiteful people who look for any way to manipulate people. She asked me about my personal life and made me feel like I had to answer so I did tell her some things. (I won't make that ... more »

Fukushima updates December 17 , 2013 - contamination from radioactive materials continues ( in fact the water contamination problems really picking up ) as Japan is slowly turning into a wasteland..... no wonder the secrecy law was passed posthaste , no wonder the change the subject antics with China and military bravado chest thumping !

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Energy News....... 05:39 PM EST on December 17th, 2013 | 11 comments Tokyo Press Conference: Cancer is clearly increasing in Fukushima children, many experts starting to get concerned — Tepco has committed a crime; We’re going to the police tomorrow (VIDEO) 01:54 PM EST on December 17th, 2013 | 35 comments AP: ‘Tritium rain’ to result from disposal of Fukushima contaminated water? Expert: You may be interested to know radioactive rainfall occurs around nuclear plants during normal operations (VIDEO) 10:18 AM EST on December 17th, 2013 | 63 comments Official: Fukushima fuel melted “on... more »

War watch December 17 , 2013 - Marginalization of FSA continues in Syria ........Afghan Military Cedes Checkpoints to Taliban in Helmand ........ Iran FM Complains to Kerry About Latest Sanctions EU Prepares to Ease Sanctions on Iran ...... Death dealing in Iraq continues unabated

Fred Walton at Catharsis Ours - 1 day ago
Syria...... West Tells Syria Rebels: Assad Must StaySNC Member: West Open to Assad Running for Reelection by Jason Ditz, December 17, 2013 Print This | Share This Members of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC) report that they have been told by Western officials that they believe President Bashar Assad must remain in power to prevent an al-Qaeda takeover of the country. “Some do not even seem to mind if he runs again next year,” noted one SNC member. That’s not sitting well with the SNC, but it may not matter. Western diplomats confirmed the shift, saying that the rebels have been w... more
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