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| English: Detail of a New York Times Advertisement - 1895 Deutsch: Detail einer New York Times Werbung - 1895 (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Obama Doctrine: Has it Reached the Time to Grow a Pair..?
As Air Force One prepared to touch down in the Holy Land last year, I
looked out my window and was once again struck by the fact that Israel’s
security can be measured in a matter of minutes and miles. I’ve seen what
security means to those who live near the Blue Line, to children in Sderot
who just want to grow up without fear, to families who’ve lost their homes
and everything they have to Hezbollah’s and Hamas’s rockets.
And as a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain endured by the parents of
Naftali Fraenkel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach, who were tragically
kidnapped and m... more »
FEEDING CARS & CATTLE
In 1990 while working for the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice we sued
NASA and the federal government trying to stop the launch of the space
probe Ulysses with deadly plutonium-238 onboard.
The man in this video, Andrew Kimbrell, was our lawyer in that case. We
lost and the rocket was successfully launched but the court action brought
tremendous global media coverage to our campaign to stop nuclear power in
space.
James McEnteer : The age of compromises and the compromises of age
Chastened by her exhausting persecution as First Lady, HRC apparently
decided as a member of Congress to go along to get along. By James McEnteer
| The Rag Blog | July 10, 2014 Once upon a time, Hillary Rodham, the …
finish reading James McEnteer :
The age of compromises and the compromises
of age
Supplemental: Chasing Chelsea Clinton!
*THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014*
*The Times gets into the act:* Finally, the New York Times found a way to
get into the act.
In the past month, the Washington Post has staged a jihad about Hillary
Clinton’s deeply troubling speaking fees. As we’ve noted, the New York
Times had almost completely ignored the topic.
This morning, that changed. The Times has found its way into the chase—and
her name is Chelsea Clinton.
Chelsea Clinton gets speaking fees too! Headline included, this is the way
the news report by Amy Chozick started. Please note the highlighted point:
CHOZICK (7/10/14): *Follo... more »
UPDATE: OUR SACRED MAIZ IS OUR MOTHER...
My book will be out in early October as opposed to Nov. This means it can
be ordered for fall/winter sessions...and spring... If you need more info
re teaching from the book, write me back: XColumn@gmail.com or follow link
on how to order books, etc.:
http://www.uapress.arizona.edu/Books/bid2497.htm
My publisher also sent me this message re exam copies for instructors:
If your colleagues would like to pre-order an exam copy of the book, they
can get in touch with me directly to send me a check, cash, or credit card
number (with expiration date, csc code, and billing address, name... more »
Are Books Merely a Form of Physical Decoration?
Some will say we are party poopers and that we should applaud and
celebration the British Museum’s novel use of the book to create art, but
is the ‘wheel of books’ just a cheap gimmick or we should we be mindful of
what could be easily copied?
The British Museum’s newly refurbished bookshop got Lumsden Design, who are
based in East London, to create their space and engage customers. At is
centre is a two metre ‘wheel of books’ which sits proud in the shop’s
window. It has caught people’s imagination and has engaged, but is it about
promoting books for reading, or promoting them a... more »
My Struggle
*"I bought Mein Kampf when I was 17, I've got it on a shelf in the front
room back home."*
*- Tony Benn *
*Should Germans Read ‘Mein Kampf’?*
*By PETER ROSS RANGE*
*JULY 7, 2014*
WASHINGTON — GERMANY is once again passing through the wringer of its past.
At issue this time are not the deeds but the words of Adolf Hitler and the
planned republication of his infamous manifesto-as-autobiography, “*Mein*
*Kampf*,” a book that has been officially suppressed in the country since
the end of World War II.
*But while the prospect of the Führer’s words circulating freely on the
German ma... more »
How Can 2004 Data Prove that Reports in 2007 to 2012 on the Damage Done by NCLB Would Be Wrong?
“Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work
Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al., uses NCES
polling data from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 to 2003-04 to 2007-08. It begins by
reviewing and challenging “anecdotal” evidence from great journalists and
education writers. As I explained previously, I believe the […]
Go Wild
*Go Wild* was written by Dr. John Ratey and Richard Manning. I’m a Manning
fan, and I was hoping for a book with rhythms similar to the writing of Tom
Brown, Richard Nelson, or Jay Griffiths — work rooted in a spiritual
connection to the family of life. Our current path is a dead end. If Big
Mama Nature decides to let two-legged animals have a future, the key to
survival is returning to a path of reverence, respect, and balance, like
our ancient African ancestors lived.
Be aware that *Go Wild* does not take you on a fascinating tour of wild
cultures. The authors did not live wi... more »
The Genocide Of The People Of Gaza: POS American "News Network" Tells Viewers Outright Lies That Scenes Of Destruction Are From Israel And Not Gaza!
I have been following the outright genocide taking place right now in Gaza
with such disgust over the last few days.... This assault was carefully
planned for years, and all it needed was the outright LIE of three
"innocent Israelis murdered by Palestinians" to get it launched... The
Israelis are definitely now going for broke, and I do strongly believe that
we may indeed be seeing the outright slaughter of thousands of innocent
people living in that open air concentration camp...
What I found especially revolting was the response or actually the LACK of
response coming from the Jew... more »
Turnabout: WE Have Conscience Issues Too
This is good.
An Edmonton teenager and her mother have successfully filed a complaint
with the Alberta Human Rights Commission, alleging the Edmonton Public
School District’s use of a Christian fundamentalist abstinence education
program infringed upon their rights as non-Christians.
And it should start a trend.
@fernhilldammit @Auragasmic @01CindyLee @blueskies366 "...infringed upon
their rights as non-Christians." WHY HAVEN'T MORE PEOPLE SAID THIS?
— MsBlack (@InternetPerson6) July 10, 2014
A similar objection to sex-ed taught by religious nutbars, who, by the way,
run fake a... more »
CMS "sees" \(650\GeV\) leptoquarks
It seems pretty obvious to me by now that the LHC experiments were
publishing lots of papers where things look "clear" and nothing new is
observed and they were increasingly scrutinizing and postponing the
searches and surveys that are potentially "seeing something new". Just to
be sure, one may feel uncomfortable about this bias because the message
extracted from the papers published before a moment \(t\) is skewed. On the
other hand, this bias is understandable because extraordinary claims
deserve extraordinary care (and require extraordinary evidence).
So one should arguably ac... more »
A New York State Senate Race With National Implications
Bronx Sen. Jeffrey Klein-- New York's top GOP enabler
Blue America's normal job is to vet candidates in House races-- and
occasionally in Senate races-- and endorse the progressive cream of the
crop. We'll occasionally stray from that mission when we find an especially
important state legislative race. That's why we've joined other
progressives backing Oliver Koppell in the Bronx this year.
A key test of the power of political blackmail is taking shape in his state
Senate race. The New York State Senate had been under Republican control
for decades until 2008, when a majority of Demo... more »
Bill Whittle: WHERE DO YOU LIVE, MARK ZUCKERBERG?...
The psychopaths on the left, which would be most of them, are trying to
argue from moral superiority when it comes to the situation on our border.
Really?
The most immoral amoral people - people who champion the killing of infants
in the womb, who think two men having sexual contact is about "love", who
bleat like the sheep they are about a "war on women", are now calling the
invasion on our border a "moral" issue?
Don't let anyone do this to you. Someone who attacks from a position of
moral superiority, usually in front of other people, must be stopped
immediately. They do this... more »
A word about my troll...w/Update
*who displays all the signs of a true sociopath. *
Because, who but a sociopath would go to the trouble to acquire a VPN
(virtual private network) just so they can come here anonymously and leave
silly comments?
Does this person think calling me a c*nt, or any of the other colorful
slurs, however unimaginative, is harming me?
You can almost hear the giggling with each new comment. "Wow, this will
piss her off, hee hee."
Well, no - it's not pissing me off. I find it hilarious that you're
spending your entire day leaving juvenile comments on my blog. I also find
it amusing that y... more »
WEEK OF GLOBAL ACTIONS
This short video was made by Dave Webb in Leeds, England. He does the web
site for the Global Network and is our board convener. He also chairs CND
in Great Britain.
This year Keep Space for Peace week begins with a global day of actions
against drones on October 4. It should be a great week of local events all
over the world.
Be sure to let us know if you organize anything in your community.
The art work on the poster at the end of the video was done by Will Park in
Florida. You can order posters at the GN web site. See more *here*
Reply to LALI
At first I thought that I'd ignore it. (Which seemed to be LALI's request
anyway.) I thought I'd write about something else. But it all seemed so
pointless to have a blog with a comments section and to not .... oh well.
In the comments section of the last post there's some back and forth
between me and the commentator I call "LALI." You can read the rest if you
want, but suffice to say that after a detailed comment from LALI I wrote:
*There's too much for me to go at in that comment. I'll limit myself to two
points:1. Yes, Afghanistan is over for us. But for the ELEVEN YEARS... more »
Common Ground on Climate
The warring tribes in the climate wars appear to have found something they
can agree on. Unfortunately, that agreement is that the Kaya Identity is
stupid.
At WattsUpWithThat they take issue with a new UN report (here in PDF) which
utilizes the Kaya Identity:
[T]heir goofy equation is known as the “Kaya Identity“. Apparently, the
number of innumerate people on the planet is larger than I had feared.
And of course recently Paul Krugman also took issue with the Kaya Identity
while putting words into my mouth:
This is actually kind of wonderful, in a bang-your-head-on-the-table sort ... more »
IN THE YEAR 2525: Krystal Ball and the talking-points!
*THURSDAY, JULY 10, 2014*
*Part 3—Fruit of the RNC:* Over the weekend, anthropologists of the future
came to us in a dream.
Can this unusual dream be trusted? We can’t answer that! But what follows
is derived from the various things the anthropologists said:
In the year 2525, Krystal Ball’s June 17 commentary will be regarded an
iconic text. Anthropologists will say it contained all the features of the
priestly “pundit speak” which took down the American nation.
In yesterday’s post, we focused on the absurdity of one of Ball’s central
statements. Today, we’ll run through her broadc... more »
Long Island, NY
SBC 525 Dirty Water from Sustainable Dave on Vimeo.
Final project from SBC 325 Stony Brook University's Media and The
Environment class, Spring 2014. Co-taught by Prof Heidi Hutner and Dave
Chameides.
Hollow Towers, Dead Souls
*Understanding The Silhouetted Images Of The Twin Towers.* *WTC 1*
Below on the left is WTC 1 at sunrise. The view is not looking down the
hallways, we look nearly along the long axis of the towers core. The
vertical line of light in the lower segment is created by sunlight
reflecting off the inner core walls then shining out the core hallway.
This was the north tower hallway layout, more or less, upper floors were
different. The hallway scheme below went up to the 43rd floor for maximum
strength.
Below, the North Tower had a core oriented east and west. This image is
looking ea... more »
"It is difficult to imagine a country as wrong as the US, where government serves not the people but a tiny handful of the one percent, a government incapable of delivering any kind of justice, a government that if it uttered truth would destroy itself." -- Paul Craig Roberts
------------------------------
*Washington’s Arrogance Will Destroy Its Empire — Paul Craig Roberts*
------------------------------
July 9, 2014 | Original Here Go
here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter
*Washington’s Arrogance Will Destroy Its Empire*
*Washington reeks of the stench of evil*
Paul Craig Roberts
Alone among the governments in the world, Washington requires sovereign
governments to follow Washington’s laws even when Washington’s laws
contradict the laws of sovereign countries.
The examples are endless. ... more »
The death of Plasma TV
I still look in awe at the 42 inch plasma I saw in 1996. It cost $20,000.
It was a case for the future, a confirmation that we were in for some
consumer excellence. Now its dead for good reasons, unlike the stupid man
dictated death of betamax.
It has been the stupid choice for years, did you energy pig.
The Universe
“A great trick to getting what you want, fast, though one requiring a deep
level of understanding, is "insistence." Not the kind, however, that
expects "life" to behave a certain way, but the kind that expects you to
behave a certain way. After all, you are your life's only variable.”
“Yours truly,”
The Universe
“Thoughts become things... choose the good ones!”
- www.tut.com
Thank heaven there are U.S. journalists who don't want to be part of the despicable "mainstream media" which pass off as the truth only what our lying goverment alleges to be the truth. Unfortunately, however, the White House is the Matrix's Liar-in-Chief.
------------------------------
Washington
Journalists Accuse White House of Politically-Driven Suppression of News*Point
to public information office controls of interviews, access *
7/08/2014 12:43:00 PM Eastern
------------------------------
*by: John Eggerton*
Over three dozen journalist organizations including the Radio Television
Digital News Association, National Press Foundation, and the Society of
Professional Journalists, have asked the President to drop the "excessive
controls" on public information by federal agencies, branding it
"politically driven suppression of ne... more »
VIDEO:More SU-25s Arrive In Iraq
This video of Russian SU-25 attack jets was widely seen in Iraq and on the
internet. It purposed to show the newly arrived planes being flown over
Iraq. It turns out these aircraft were actually from Iran and operated by
the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Saddam Hussein sent the jets to
Iran in 1991 in an attempt to preserve his air force during the Gulf War.
They were never returned and integrated into Tehran’s armed forces.
Israel and the Palestinians - so true
http://youtu.be/Cbdnu_R9G40
Ed Miliband on strikes and strikers
These Strikes are Wrong - Ed Milliband: http://youtu.be/wCem9EZb-YA
Weingarten Riding High on Teacher Union Dues
Mercedes Schneider has another solid piece on the secret society
memberships and sordid political machinations of Rhonda (aka Randi)
Weingarten, the corporate manufactured president of the AFT. Seems that
Randi recently plunked down 30K to join and another 100K promised every
year to wine and dine with ostensibly liberal billionaires. Your union
dues at work!
Not that Rhonda couldn't afford to pay it, herself, if she was of a mind
to. Even though she is lying about her salary all over Twitter.
Thanks to Hemlock on the Rocks for posting this chart. Just the facts,
ma'am.
Who Lives in a House Like This...?
*Who lives in a house like this...?*
*And who've they got tied up in the cupboard...?*
You Still Don't Read Much About Lesbians In American Politics, Right?
So wrong... in so many ways-- Gingrich, Molinari, Paxon
Chekov's last play, *The Cherry Orchard*, was performed for the first time
in 1904. There's a production of it in New York next week-- free no less--
starring Ellen Burstyn and one of my friends snagged some tickets. I'm a
Chekov fan; he's a Burstyn fan. I don't know much about her except that she
was in *The Exorcist* and *Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore* back in the
'70s. I knew even less about *Karen* Burstein who I mixed her up with.
But Karen Burstein wasn't getting Academy Award nominations in the '70s and
Ellen is the onl... more »
TYPHON HITS JEJU
Sung-Hee Choi reports from Gangjeong village on Jeju Island, South Korea:
*Samsung C & T caisson, 10,000 ton per a piece, broken away even by medium
typhoon*
If you remember the seven destroyed caissons (a caisson is a huge concrete
structure for building breakwater) by the big typhoons in 2012, you will
also remember how unreliable the caisson construction has been; how wrong
the base location is as the village is located on the very way of typhoon;
how dumbfounding is waste of people’s tax for war base; and how the sea has
been polluted by the navy who has illegally destroyed th... more »
Iraq Updates ( July 10 , 2014 ) Connecting dots regarding ISIS - Is ISIS a creation of the United States government ? State of play politically and keep your eyes on Kurdisatan , which is the key to Iraq remaining whole and not defacto or de jure partioned !
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2014/07/the-isis-conspiracy-theories.html
The ISIS Is A U.S. Tool "Conspiracy Theories"
Is ISIS a creation of the United States government ?
I do not have enough data to judge on that question. My gut instinct on
this trends towards "no." But there is some data that points into the "yes"
directions and it seems that many people have judged "yes" on that basis.
In 1957 the CIA and MI6 conspired for regime change in Syria:
The plan called for funding of a "Free Syria Committee", and the arming of
"political factions with paramilitary or other actionist ca... more »
Untitled
*I will send my children private if I can't get them into a grammar*
The latest row to embroil the Education Secretary, Michael Gove - whether
he did or didn’t want Of Mice and Men taken off the GCSE syllabus - took me
juddering back to my schooldays.
That slender volume was a standard text at my comprehensive. I’d always had
the suspicion that, being a novella, it was chosen because it was easier to
read than, say, a weighty Dickens tome. And far easier to teach, too, when
it was common for staff to spend up to two-thirds of a 50-minute lesson
performing crowd control.
But readin... more »
No Good Answer
For eternity we have been messaged about the better days ahead, especially
about how death will be better than life.
No one knows if those afterlife promises ring true, but what we know for
sure is that the days of promising a better future on earth are more and
more suspect.
If humanity could ramp up its resources like the invasion of D day we might
defeat the enemy, which is ourselves.
So hard to take down oneself when there is always a bigger mountain to
climb.
This planet is in crisis, and our leaders are worried about the voters not
understanding what needs to be said. No pers... more »
This is just wrong (today)
And Then I will suck the blood from your babes penis.
I think all religious are just made up out of whole cloth for various
reasons. Thousands of years ago it may have made some sense. Get all the
idiots going in the same direction. Today Islamic idiots are making life
hell for the whole world.
In reality the Jude o Christians are just as nutty but not as life
threatening.
Sucking the blood from the circumcision wound on a baby's penis is
something hard to defend in a sound bite. I am sure in most cases there is
no sexual element to this. But there are hundreds of cases in NYC alon... more »
IDF's Gaza assault is to control Palestinians Gas. And so much more
*One reason for Israel's assault on Gaza. Straight up resources theft! *
*There are others- read on*
IDF's Gaza assault is to control Palestinian gas, avert Israeli energy
crisisYesterday, Israeli defence minister and former Israeli Defence Force
(IDF) chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon announced that Operation Protective Edge
marks the beginning of a protracted assault on Hamas. The operation "won't
end in just a few days," he said, adding that "we are preparing to expand
the operation by all means standing at our disposal so as to continue
striking Hamas."
Blah, blah 'strike Hamas'. ... more »
Is He An Automaton?
http://www.citynews.ca/
Tommy Douglas' grandson -- Kiefer Sutherland -- has his own television
show, *24*. Stephen Harper also has his own show, *24/7*. Jeffrey Simpson
writes:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper stars in every episode, although other
cabinet ministers occasionally make cameo appearances, as do Canadians with
something positive, even glowing, to say about the performance of Mr.
Harper and his government.
A team of half a dozen people put together this weekly thriller, at a cost
we do not kno... more »
Saddam's Uranium: The Sequel
*"The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought
significant quantities of uranium from Africa."*
*-President George W. Bush*
The latest escalation of the propaganda war against people desiring a
return to some semblance of normalcy as existed prior to September 11, 2001
– the day when everything changed – is the claim that the bad-ass Islamic
bogeymen ISIS has taken control of 88 pounds of Uranium in Iraq. The dirty
bomb card has now been dealt and will be hyped by the corrupt
state-corporate media as one more reason to ratchet down civil liberties,
subject... more »
“The Emperor's New Clothes: The Naked Truth About the American Police State”
*“The Emperor's New Clothes: *
*The Naked Truth About the American Police State”*
By John Whitehead
"The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think
things out for himself. Almost inevitably, he comes to the conclusion that
the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, and intolerable."- H.L.
Mencken, American journalist
It's vogue, trendy and appropriate to look to dystopian literature as a
harbinger of what we're experiencing at the hands of the government.
Certainly, George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" have much to say about
government tyran... more »
Makerspaces: More Than a Fad
*July 10, 2013* (LocalOrg) - Make Magazine describes a makerspace as a "gym
where you get a membership to use the equipment." That equipment ranges
from everything including basic hand and power tools, to machining
equipment and 3D printers. Some makerspaces even serve as springboards for
DIYbio labs that give the public access to the tools and techniques
required to measure, detect, and alter the environment around us on a
molecular level.
*Image: Mackerspaces from top left and going clockwise in Germany, Canada,
and Singapore. A makerspace starts with basically a table and a group... more »
Stopping Job Piracy in Dayton, Denver,... and maybe even Kansas City
As I have reported before, job piracy is a big problem in metropolitan
areas like New York City and Kansas City. Giving subsidies to relocate
existing facilities is a net loss for the country and for the region as
well. The flip side is that the existence of job piracy makes it possible
for companies to threaten to leave their current location unless they get a
subsidy, as Sears has done twice in Illinois. I showed in my book *Competing
for Capital* that several multi-state agreements to end job piracy have
been total failures.
A new study by Good Jobs First, "Ending Job Piracy, Bui... more »
A brief note on the Hobby Lobby thing.
Well, not really, because it's a more general point that has been made
before, and I want to point it out again. In reading a lot of the reaction
to the US Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, in which they decide
something something about Hobby Lobby not having to pay to provide a form
for something something IUD (I currently can't be bothered to parse the
complexity of US health insurance), I find that a lot of people still ask
the question: if the religious far-right hates abortion, why would it
strive so assiduously for contra-contraception? I find increasingly that
the answer ... more »
Austal contract for two 72m High Speed Support Vessels is for the Royal Navy of Oman
[image: Austal HSSV 72]Austal announced earlier this year that it has been
awarded a contract from a naval customer in the Middle East for the design,
construction and integrated logistics support of two new 72 metre High
Speed Support Vessels (HSSVs) based on the U.S. Navy's Joint High Speed
Vessels design.
It now appears that this customer is the Royal Navy of Oman.
The value of the contract is approximately US$124.9 million.
Read more
Cobham Weapons Launcher Positioner Supports Successful HELLFIRE and DAGR Missile Tests
Cobham's WLP-1000 weapons launcher positioner successfully supported
Lockheed Martin's successful test firings of HELLFIRE and DAGR missiles
from its Long Range Surveillance and Attack Vehicle (LRSAV) during recent
ground-to-ground tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
The WLP-1000 is a compact, lightweight, military ruggedized launcher
positioner that is weapons and platform agnostic. The positioner is easily
configured to support existing M299; M310, M260, M261, and LAU-10
launchers.
This modular 2-axis positioning system is optimized for size, weight, and
power (SWaP), and i... more »
Azerbaijan buys anti-aircraft missiles systems from France
[image: SAMP/T complex]France intends to sell anti-aircraft missiles of
medium range to Azerbaijan.
Oxu.Az reports citing ANSPRESS, information is published in the French
Bulletin «Intelligence Online».
According to the report, French President Francois Hollande lobbied the
sale of SAMP / T complexes during his visit to Azerbaijan in May this year.
Read more
US donates two Cessna Caravan aircraft to Mauritania
[image: AC-208B Combat Caravan]The US government has donated two new Cessna
208 Caravan aircraft to the Mauritania Islamic Air Force (FAIM) to boost
its capacity to conduct patrols to counter maritime crimes and regional
terrorist groups.
The aircraft, as well as a supply of spare parts and components, was
officially handed over to the Mauritanian defence minister Ahmedou Ould
Idey Ould Mohamed Radhi and Army Chief of Staff General Mohamed Ould Cheikh
Mohamed Ahmed by US Africa Command Chief of Staff Major General Michael
Kingsley in the capital Nouakchott on June 25.
According to ... more »
Musical Interlude: Leonard Bernstein, “West Side Story- America”
Leonard Bernstein, “West Side Story- America”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhSKk-cvblc
Canada's Military Wants New Drones, Fighter Jets, and the Arctic
[image: Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships (AOPS)]The Canadian military has
released details on its new $100 billion wish list for new gear, and it's a
revealing look at how the service views the future of war.
The laundry list of hardware was released as part of Ottawa’s new
procurement strategy, which was hastily installed following the
government’s bungling of the F-35 acquisition process. It’s also a signal
for the defence industry, one designed to give contractors a heads-up as to
what Canada will be shopping for over the next two decades.
The guide, which is basically a rough draft ... more »
German Defense Minister: Europe Needs Drones
[image: EuroHawk UAV]Europe should work together to develop its own armed
drones, and in the meantime the German Army should rent them. So said
German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, according to an article
published by Süddeutsche Zeitung on July 1.
“I am convinced that we should develop a European armed drone,” she told
the newspaper the day before a question and answer session on the subject
in the German parliament, July 2. “We’re looking for partners for the
project, which will take at least a decade.”
Germany currently uses reconnaissance drones in Afghanistan but lacks... more »
Israel receives first 2 Lavi trainers
[image: M-346 training jet]Alenia Aermacchi on 9 July delivered the first
two of 30 M-346 training jets to the Israeli Air Force.
The M-346 – renamed the “Lavi” by Israel – will replace Douglas TA-4s and
eliminate the need to bridge with the Lockheed Martin F-16A/B for Israeli
fighter pilots.
Israel selected the M-346 in 2012 as part of a government-to-government
agreement with Italy, which included the sale of Israel Aerospace
Industries (IAI)/Gulfstream G550 conformal airborne early warning and
control aircraft to the Italian air force.
Read more
Report Reveals Chinese Military Developing New Scramjet-Powered Hypersonic Missile
China’s military is working on a jet-powered hypersonic cruise missile in
addition to an advanced high-speed glide warhead that was tested earlier
this year.
A Chinese technical journal disclosed new details of research on what
China’s defense researchers are calling a hypersonic cruise vehicle.
A line drawing of the scramjet-powered vehicle shows that the concept being
studied for eventual construction is nearly identical to an experimental
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scramjet vehicle
called the X-43.
Read more
Britain's new F35 jet fighter to miss international debut
[image: F-35B Lightning II]The F35B Lightning II joint strike fighter, the
cornerstone of Britain’s new aircraft carrier fleet, looks set to suffer an
embarrassment by failing to appear on its planned debut international.
Concerns about the reliability and safety of Britian’s next generation jet
fighter, which will give Britain new aircraft carrier fleet its strike
power, mean it will almost certainly not arrive at the Royal International
Air Tattoo (RIAT) at RAF Fairford.
The entire F35 fleet was grounded following an engine fire during takeoff
in a development aircraft in the US l... more »
The littoral combat ship might not be living up to the Navy's promises
[image: LCS-1 & LCS-2]The Navy positioned the littoral combat ship,
manufactured by both Lockheed Martin Corp. and Austal USA, as a low-cost
alternative to other ships in the surface fleet. Six years after the first
one was commissioned, it appears the LCS might not be living up to that
promise.
Here’s why: Available data, much of it collected during the first-time
deployment of Lockheed Martin's USS Freedom to Singapore, indicates that
per year, per ship life-cycle costs are nearing or may exceed those of
other surface ships, including multi-mission ships with greater size and
lar... more »
Will France's Mistral Assault Warships Make Russia a Naval Threat?
[image: RFS Vladivostok]With the first of two French-built Mistral class
amphibious assault carriers set to be delivered to the Russian Navy in
October, France is handing Russia the keys to one of the world's most
advanced warships at a time when many in the West are questioning Moscow's
expansionist ambitions.
In the wake of Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, the U.S. and several
of its NATO allies have lobbied to convince the French government to
withhold the ships, but Paris has held firm in its commitment to the deal.
The problem, in NATO's eyes, is not that France is selli... more »
PN shopping for 2 anti-submarine choppers
[image: AW109]The Philippines Navy is shopping around for two
anti-submarine helicopters it intends to purchase before 2020.
The Department of National Defense released the detailed technical
specifications for the P5.4-billion Anti-Submarine Helicopter Acquisition
Project, part of the Medium Term Development Capability Plan 2013-2017 of
the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The acquisition of the missile and torpedo armed helicopters has become a
priority after China recently deployed three Type 094 nuclear-powered
ballistic missile submarines to Hainan Island, its main military bas... more »
The Health Benefits Of Strawberry Leaf Tea
*Source:*
*Occupy Food Facebook *
*Note:* Make sure they are organic or if wild strawberries, make sure you
pick the leaves in a clean place free of spraying, away from highways or
roads where there is car , bus or truck traffic or where people walk their
dogs. Another important point is to pick the leaves early before the fruit
forms. The fruit takes much of the plants power later in their growing
season.
I have picked wild raspberrry and blackberry leaves and used them for tea
also. They are high in vitamin C plus other good qualities and taste good
as tea.
I pick the lea... more »
Paint Stick Union Jack Wall Hanging
Hello again! I'm Lorene, and I'm back to share another fun British-y
project with you. In addition to feeding Debra's Doctor Who obsession (a
bandwagon that I have very lovingly also jumped on!) I also love feeding
her British mania. And you can't get much more British than the flag, the
lovely Union Jack!
Add the crazy appeal of the flag with the fact that I love inexpensive
projects and materials like paint stir sticks, and you have today's
project: a paint stick union jack wall hanging. Free as long as you paint
on hand and don't mind picking up a few paint stir sticks on every ... more »
According to Palestinian sources...
When you hear the BBC or any other anti Israel media outlet quoting
Palestinian sources, remember this video.
http://youtu.be/t_B1H-1opys
Pallywood exposed
Iraqi PM Al-Maliki: Saudi Arabia and Qatar Declared War of Terrorism against Iraq (March 2014) + President of Kurdistan Barazani: It Is Time to Reorganize The Region (April 2014)
*"No man can have two masters."*
An excerpt from, *"Iraq PM calls Kurd city 'base for terrorism'"* Al
Jazeera, July 9, 2014:
Nouri al-Maliki said on Wednesday: "We will never be silent about Erbil
becoming a base for the operations of the Islamic State and Baathists and
al-Qaeda and the terrorists.
His comments come days after the Kurdish president, Massoud Barzani, asked
his parliament to plan a referendum on independence from the rest of Iraq.
Kurdish forces have also taken over the city of Kirkuk when it was attacked
by Sunni rebels.
Al Jazeera's Imran Khan, reporting from Bag... more »
"A Look to the Heavens"
“What did the first galaxies look like? To help answer this question, the
Hubble Space Telescope has just finished taking the eXtreme Deep Field
(XDF), the deepest image of the universe ever taken in visible light.
Pictured below, the XDF shows a sampling of some of the oldest galaxies
ever seen, galaxies that formed just after the dark ages, 13 billion years
ago, when the universe was only a few percent of its present age.
*Click image for larger size.*
The Hubble Space Telescope's ACS camera and the infrared channel of the
WFPC3 camera took the image. Combining efforts spread over ... more »
Genetics: "Mankind Nearly Extinct 70,000 Years Ago"
* "Mankind Nearly Extinct 70,000 Years Ago"*
by Freddie Cook
"The late stone age, around 70,000 years ago, saw mankind almost became
extinct. The total population dwindled to as little as 2000 humans beings.
All mankind still lived in Africa at this time and it is believed that they
were split into two separate groups by a severe climatological shift that
kept the two species apart, one in East Africa– one in South Africa, for
nearly half our entire history as a species. The two groups came together
again around 40,000 years ago and the population began a miraculous
recovery before... more »
"Twixt Night And Morn..."
“Between two worlds life hovers like a star,
twixt night and morn, upon the horizon's verge.”
- Lord Byron
Mathematica 10 released
Stephen Wolfram and colleagues have released a new version of Wolfram
Mathematica, Mathematica 10:
Launching Mathematica 10— with 700+ New Functions and a Crazy Amount of R&D
(Wolfram Blog)
It's said to be the greatest jump in the functionality ever.
The new functions include, interestingly for me (who just jumped from 3.76
to 3.78 in the contest), machine learning.
But there's also geometric computation, geographic computation. You may
calculate the photograph of the Yorkshire Terrier ;-), quickly draw the map
of France on a parabola, or solve differential equations with 100,... more »
Shepherd Bliss and Scott Hess : Black oak down
I never imagined that I could outlive this hundreds-of-years-old
grandfather oak. It felt like the loss of a family member from another
generation. Climbing the fallen oak at Kokopelli Farm is Lukas Hess. Click
on image or go here to … finish reading Shepherd Bliss and Scott Hess :
Black oak down
"So Great..."
"So great has been the endurance, so incredible the achievement,
that, as long as the sun keeps a set course in heaven,
it would be foolish to despair of the human race."
- Ernest L. Woodward
Chet Raymo, “The Universe Becomes Conscious of Itself”
*“The Universe Becomes Conscious of Itself” *
by Chet Raymo
"By now most of us will have seen this spectacular photograph of a dusty
star-birthing region of the Carina Nebula, celebrating the 20th anniversary
of the Hubble Space Telescope. I offer a slightly different cropping from
what you may have seen in the media or on APOD. Please click the image to
see it it all of its glory.
Let me add some context. The image shows an area of the sky that you could
cover with the intersection of two crossed sewing pins held at arms length.
Think about that for a minute. Hold two imaginary cr... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
Hunter S. Thompson, "Security"
*"Security"*
by Hunter S. Thompson
"Security... what does this word mean in relation to life as we know it
today? For the most part, it means safety and freedom from worry. It is
said to be the end that all men strive for; but is security a utopian goal
or is it another word for rut?
Let us visualize the secure man; and by this term, I mean a man who has
settled for financial and personal security for his goal in life. In
general, he is a man who has pushed ambition and initiative aside and
settled down, so to speak, in a boring, but safe and comfortable rut for
the rest of his li... more »
“Once When We Were Free”
*“Once When We Were Free”*
By Jon Rappoport
"We’re so much more sensible now. We don’t live our lives as much as we
arrange them and organize them. B follows A. D follows C. We take our
medicine and our shots because the doctor says so. We’re careful, because
accidents happen.
We don’t say what’s on our minds a lot of the time, because other people
might pass that on, and who knows? We might get into trouble.
But once upon a time, when we were young, we were free. We didn’t take any
shots and when we got sick we recovered. We were stronger than kids are
now. We didn’t ask for much... more »
"What Suits Our Purpose..."
"No experience is a cause of success or failure.
We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences,
so-called trauma- but we make out of them just what suits our purposes."
- Alfred Adler
Justice, Peace and Finger-Pointing
This is a guest post by Ari Kohen, Associate Professor of Political Science
at University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He blogs at Running Chicken and tweets
@kohenari. As I write this, Twitter and Facebook inform me that air raid
sirens are going off in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, as well as several cities
and towns closer to
Continue reading
Can Women Compete?
You probably missed the article in the *Daily Mail*, a bottom tier London
tabloid, about how rich boys are more competitive than girls. In a
Norwegian study of 15 year olds shows that "boys really are more
competitive than girls... but only if they come from rich families…[A]mong
the well-off participants boys were much more aggressive… A similar
American study from 2007 found 73 per cent of the men were competitive,
against just 35 per cent of the women."
The Professor conducting the Norwegian study was quoted saying that a lack
of competitiveness may be a reason why women do no... more »
Vegan Recipe - Soy Chorizo Chili with Rosemary Polenta
*Please welcome Andrea, owner of The Green Queen of Moderation. I first met
Andrea via our Meet & Greet series. Her blog is full of great content!
Posts are organized into four categories: The “Re” Words, The Green Garden,
Green Choices, and Simple Gifts. I headed straight for the garden section
and was rewarded with posts about wildflowers, pollinators, and an
interesting article about plants going to seed. Each post includes stunning
photos.The Simple Gifts section has terrific ideas for meaningful,
earth-friendly gifts. And the "Re" Words section offers tips for recycling,
... more »
FDIs, Hong Kong Democracy and China Communism
This 2013 data does not include foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows,
only inflows and thus, the net inflow is not shown. Still a useful data.
For European economies in this list, including the fiscally-unstable ones
like Spain and Italy -- and note, France is not in the top 20 -- most of
those FDI inflows I think are from EU members also. I am interested to see
the net or balance (inflows minus outflows). In the ASEAN for instance,
Malaysia has high FDI inflows but FDI outflows are also high, so net inflow
is negative for 2012 and 2013. I don't remember where I saw the data.
... more »
Christopher Clark Lecture - The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War In 1914
*"The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War In 1914"* by Christopher Clark
(2013).
Christopher Clark - The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War In 1914.
Source: Fritt Ord. Date Published: November 24, 2013. Description:
'How Europe went to War in 1914' - lecture by Christopher Clark, held at
the House of Literature (Litteraturhuset), Oslo, Saturday 23 November 2013.
Part of 'The War to End War' - public lectures and debates on the Outbreak,
Development, and Aftermath of the First World War.
More deep tweets
Slowly emerging from my hiatus, I see Obama was in Texas today. Governor
Good Hair doesn't look like he's enjoying the meeting. But hey, photo op.
This shot is going to make a great image for his presidential campaign.
No, War and Peace is not a book about a guy named Warren Peas. Oh, man,
this guy. pic.twitter.com/zPXDfT9vIs
— netw3rk (@netw3rk) July 10, 2014
Deep tweets - updated
No idea what's happening here but pretty sure crushing a car with a fleeing
suspect in it never happened when I was a young lass. Not even in the
movies.
#Breaking Swat has multiple trucks on scene of police stand off after
chase. Car being crushed suspect still inside pic.twitter.com/bEnaHlD5Tk
— MyFoxHouston (@MyFoxHouston) July 10, 2014
Update: It appears the suspect in question is a crazed mass murderer.
Still, crushing him in his car without due process feels a bit barbaric.
Hard to believe it's legal.
#KHOU source confirms a 6th victim of the mass shooting has died.
http://... more »
World Cup fallout: Does the prospect of pancakes (or even waffles) justify the scourge of soccer? And what about the scourge of Twitter?
*Can the World Cup really be unreservedly evil if it leads to the
possibility of pancakes (or even, hypothetically, waffles)?*
*by Ken*
Let's dispose of the obvious questions about Matthew Barzun first.
(1) He's currently the U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom -- or in
fancier lingo, ambassador to the Court of St. James. So you can tell he
must have raised a lot of money for President Obama's presidential
campaign(s). Ding-ding-ding-ding! In the first Obama presidential campaign,
according to Wikipedia:
Barzun’s small-dollar fundraisers were supporter-driven via online event
... more »
The New Blitzkrieg, Part II
As I wrote a few days ago, a new pattern of warfare is emerging in the
Middle East and Africa. This “new blitzkrieg” isn’t really new, but it is
asymmetric warfare at its best, pitting swarms of fast-moving, lightly
armed fighters operating as a network against hidebound hierarchies of
Western-trained and equipped “professional soldiers”. These
Continue reading
SEE HOW THEY LIE
ABC News’ Diane Sawyer misidentifies scenes of the aftermath of Israeli
missile strikes in Gaza as destruction caused by Palestinian rocket fire.
Sawyer’s bald misreporting reflects either a deliberate lie by ABC News or
willful ignorance so severe that Palestinian death and misery is invisible
even when it’s staring ABC producers right in the face.
I posted the story on FaceBook and got this comment from Fred Morris:
Incredible, but not surprising. ABC-News has long been a platform for the
State Department's agenda. This reporting is total lies.
Back in 1984, when I was local pr... more »
BOYCOTT SODASTREAM
I rode my scooter to Brunswick today for a 5:00 pm protest at WalMart in
support of the boycott of SodaStream carbonation devices or other products
made by this company.
SodaStream manufactures these machines within an Israeli settlement in
occupied Palestinian territory. These settlements are illegal under
international law and are obstacles to peace.
We began in front of the doors into WalMart and after a few moments their
staff told us to leave. We just ignored them and they called the police.
It took another 20 minutes for the cops to arrive and during that time we
keep a m... more »
Dahmer
Serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer (1960-1994) graduated from Revere
High School in Bath, Ohio in 1978. On page 145 of the school's Minuteman
yearbook, the following text appears on the right side: "JEFF DAHMER: Band
1; Lantern 3; Tennis Intramurals 2, 3, 4; Ohio State Univ. (Business)..."
In The Jeffrey Dahmer Story author Don Davis depicts Dahmer as a prankish
drunk at Revere who was shy around girls. So well-known were the future
murderer's gags that classmates referred to generally outrageous behavior as*
"Doing a Dahmer."** During the senior class trip to Washington, D... more »
The State Board of Ed, the Uneducated Educated, and the Unelected
By Doug Martin
Despite letter after letter and a strong physical presence in support of
our democratically elected supt. of public instruction, the Pence/state
board/CECI trio today set the ball in motion to steal more power from
Glenda Ritz to carry on the billionaires' corporate-theocratic agenda I
detail in my book *Hoosier School Heist*.
The whole attack against Glenda Ritz is, in essence, an attack against
women who make up the majority of the teaching workforce. It is the same "Father-Knows
Best" mentality that was at play with Mitch Daniels, which I wrote about a
few yea... more »
Amazon Seriously Needs to Go Fuck Itself, Posthaste
To those of you who've been paying attention, you know that Hachette,
the nation's fourth biggest publisher, is engaged in a battle of wills with
Amazon.com over the pricing of ebooks. In fact, I'd written about it last
month (not that anyone gave a shit because I'm supposed to be completely
ignored as a political pundit, not as a publishing pundit, which I am.).
Well, the reason why I'm again writing about this two giant tug-o-war
with authors and readers in the middle is because of Amazon's newest
brilliant proposal: Let's let all Hachette authors keep 100% of the revenue... more »
Obama makes statement about the border situation...
*allow me to sum it up for you.*
It's someone else's fault.
Give me a few billions dollars and I'll fix everything.
It's Congress's fault.
Make Congress give me money.
It's for the children.
Republicans need to compromise and negotiate.
Ramble
Uh
Ah
Ramble
Ramble
Uh
Ah
Ramble
Good grief. This man sure likes the sound of his voice.
He appears to have been imbibing in the new legal weed he got in Colorado.
We now have a new name for "give me a bunch of money" - supplemental.
Ooops. Taking a swipe at Bohner.
It's for the children.
No, it's really for the children.
Bur... more »
Meeting Gods
"My specific take on Superman’s physicality was inspired by the “shamanic”
meeting my *JLA* editor Dan Raspler and I had in the wee hours of the
morning outside the San Diego comic book convention in whenever it was, ‘98
or ‘99.
I’ve told this story in more detail elsewhere but basically, we were trying
to figure out how to “reboot” Superman without splitting up his marriage to
Lois, which seemed like a cop–out. It was the beginning of the
conversations which ultimately led to *Superman Now*, with Dan and I
restlessly pacing around trying to figure out a new way into the character... more »
"An Incomplete Understanding: Feeling Lonely"
*"An Incomplete Understanding: Feeling Lonely"*
by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM
"If you are lonely when you're alone, you are in bad company."
- Jean-Paul Sartre
"When we are feeling lonely, we have lost the idea that we are all one and
none of us are separate from the whole. We all have days when we feel
lonely, but the very idea of loneliness comes from the false notion that we
are separate and isolated parts in a world filled with other separate,
isolated parts. In truth, we can no more be separate from our world than a
fish can be separate from the water in which it swims. When w... more »
“This Is Disgusting- And the Food Sounds Gross Too”
*“This Is Disgusting- And the Food Sounds Gross Too”*
by John Rubino
“It is by now generally understood, at least in the sound money community,
that inflation is much higher than the government admits and that the true
extent of the problem is being hidden in various ways. But the specifics
keep getting more and more disturbing. Here’s a recent Phoenix Capital note
(via Zero Hedge) on the adulteration of our “food.”
Last week we noted that inflation has already entered the economy. It isn’t
showing up in nominal price hikes because it never does at first… As we
noted last week… Let... more »
An (Unofficial) DCPS Feeder Patterns & School ESEA Classification
Originally posted on EdCentrist:
?
Greenwald Story: NSA and FBI Targeting American Muslims
I must admit that I am more than a little bit underwhelmed by the latest
Glenn Greenwald story based on the NSA documents from former government
contractor and patriotic whistleblower Edward Snowden. The big story, the
one that Greenwald and the new Pierre Omidyar media venture *The Intercept* had
pulled hours prior to publication last week at the behest of the government
is that the NSA is targeting Muslims as if that is any surprise given the
broiling hatred that has existed in this country since September 11, 2001 -
the day that changed everything. The story was published on *Th... more »
Nearing the End of the World Cup Linkage
This might be might last football related post, what with the World Cup
coming to a close and host country Brazil departing ignominiously from the
competition by a margin of 7 to 1 in the semifinal against Germany. I’ve
got a few football/Brazil related links for this week. I’m sitting on a
goodly number of climate change and
Continue reading
Oh, Glennie! And We Waited Soooo Long for Your Well-Advertised (Funded by Ukrainian Revolution Co-Funder Pierre Omidyar) Stunning Announcement! (And We Thought We Knew You So Well . . . .) And Not-To-Be-Overexpected Richie Riches Screw Up Again (Rental Scams Equity Market Gambit)
So, now we know. And my heart's breaking. I had such liberal/progressive
hopes. Still. However, it has been revealed at its source (by its source -
you) that only Reagan-loving Republicans need apply to your (Glenn
Greenwald's) much-kept-secret-but-now-revealed list of those whose personal
data were accessed and used inappropriately by the much-superior to
everyone else in recorded
“Why Do You Still Argue From A False Premise?”
*“Why Do You Still Argue From A False Premise?”*
by Karl Denninger
“At some point you're forced to step back from whatever you do when it
becomes apparent that you're simply preaching to the choir, or worse,
preaching at a group that has plugs in its ears and is trying to find a way
to rob you irrespective of the fact that they know that they're doing
something wrong.
I'll give you a recent example; someone I know and who is hard-left on the
liberal side of the aisle was recently pontificating about how "America,
love it or leave it" is an invalid expression. He in fact put forward... more »
Ramadan Kareem
By Capt. Fogg
"I didn't want to wish you Ramadan Kareem on the air. . ." said Jake Tapper
just now on CNN, thinking his mike was off. He had just interviewed some
lawyers irate at being under surveillance without any reason save for their
being Muslim.
His mike was on and I wonder -- just why was he unwilling? Is there a *war
on Ramadan*?
Omnipresent Pang
And this made me laugh too:
*Chris Patten to take up media adviser role to Pope Francis*
Former Conservative MP takes up new role only two months after dramatically
quitting as chairman of BBC Trust due to heart problems
How on earth does Chris Patten end up in every single job on earth. Is he
actually a lizard person?
— Ed West (@edwest) July 9, 2014
Why people hate the number 745
On a lighter note (and, boy, don't we need it!), *The Infinite Monkey Cage *returned
for its tenth series this week.
It talked maths, and was funny and fascinating.
I could transcribe some of the most interesting bits - the mathematical
bits - but I won't. Instead, I'll just transcribe a couple of the
audience's answers at the end of the programme, both based on the question,
"What is your least favourite number, and why?":
*Answer 1*: "3.141592653589793238462643383279...because it reminds me of
food, and I am on a diet."
*Answer 2*: "7.45. Thought for the Day".
That last one... more »
Arkansas Senate Race-- Who Believes In God, And Talking Snakes, More?
We haven't really been covering the Arkansas elections this cycle.
Basically, all the contests are classic lesser or two evils situations--
Democrats rated D or F and Republicans rated F-minus. Is there anything
less than an F these days? All the grotesque DCCC recruits will lose
spectacularly, wasting immense amounts of money that could have been used
to win actual seats for actual progressives in actual swing districts--
like MI-06 (Upton vs Clements) and WA-08 (Reichert vs Ritchie)-- or could
have been put to work on 2 cycle plans to take back relatively easy seats
the DCCC is... more »
Untitled
*High quality NOAA Data Show U.S. in Decade-Long Cooling*
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s most accurate,
up-to-date temperature data confirm the United States has been cooling for
at least the past decade. The NOAA temperature data are driving a stake
through the heart of alarmists claiming accelerating global warming.
Responding to widespread criticism that its temperature station readings
were corrupted by poor siting issues and suspect adjustments, NOAA
established a network of 114 pristinely sited temperature stations spread
out fairly uniformly throughout ... more »
Untitled
*New Orleans is famous the world over for its property values ~Library
Chronicles *
*Why New Orleans’ Katrina Evacuation Debacle Will Never Happen Again ~Katy
Reckdahl, Next City*
*David Waggonner: Pensacola’s flood solutions will be tough ~Rob Johnson *
*Overnight Reputation Announces Reputation Management Service Expansion to
Include New Orleans ~Digital Journal*
The Economy: “Zombie Attack!”
*“Zombie Attack!”*
by Bill Bonner
“Dear Reader, we write with a Zombie Update. As you know, annual GDP growth
rates in the US have been trending lower since the end of World War II.
Frequently touching on 10% in the 1950s and 1960s... we're now lucky to get
2%. And to get that we have to pump in trillions of dollars in new
liquidity into the financial system... take on staggering amounts of new
debt... and bludgeon the statistics, too.
After the disastrous first quarter, which saw an annualized drop in output
of 2.9%, it will be hard to get back to decent figures for this year. JP... more »
Pre-Assassination Moments : Dr. Khalid Abdul Muhammad, 1994
*You Don't Take One Out Unless You Can Put One In.You Don't Take One Out
Unless You Can Put One In."Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House
of Representatives (1) condemns the speech given by Kahlid Abdul
Muhammad as outrageous hatemongering of the most vicious and vile
kind; ""It is the sense of the Senate that the speech made by Mr. Khalid
Abdul Mohammad at Kean College on November 29, 1993, was false,
anti-Semitic, racist, divisive, repugnant and a disservice to all Americans
and is therefore condemned."Congressional Black Caucus Backs Away Fro... more »
Defending the Local Government Panel
There are ripples disturbing the surface of the tiny Stoke-on-Trent
politics bubble, ripples conveying the fall-out of recent local government
selection interviews in which three party members were turned down. As
ever, I won't be commenting on those decisions directly, especially as they
might be subject to the appeals process. In this spirit, I will not be
accepting any comments about those cases. But what is worthwhile commenting
on is the way the Labour Party here in Stoke *and everywhere else* selects
its local council candidates. Yes, it's hardly up there with intersectionalit... more »
Israel
*"Israel" *means* "Struggles with God"*
And people wonder why they're unrighteous...
" The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants,
and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them
and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob
was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip
socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then
he said, *“Let me go, for the day has broken.*” But ... more »
The Robot who loved me
By Capt. Fogg
It's about 2 O'Clock in the afternoon as I write. That's a bit late for
Carmen's first call of the day. But I know she's faithful and that she will
always call. After all I provide her a phone number to call at any time
without asking. Once she called at 2:30 AM.
Carmen from Cardholder Services calls me on average twice a day, seven
days a week. Sometimes it's once sometimes three times, but she has rarely
missed a day in these last two years. It's no secret I'm avoiding her but
as a robot she never seems to catch on, to tire, to take the hint. She's a
robot aft... more »
Supplemental: What Clinton said in 1986!
*WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014*
*This is gaffe culture on acid:* It’s hard to get one’s arms around the
dumbness of our post-journalistic culture.
For the latest example, we submit the latest thrilling case—the case of
what Hillary Clinton said in 1986 about something she did in 1975.
Tapes of the 28-year-old conversation in question surfaced last month. For
some reason, MSNBC has created a second round of conversations about this
matter, first on yesterday’s Morning Joe, then on last night’s Hardball.
Can we go over the facts once again? We’re talking about what Clinton said *28
years a... more »
Jews urge Obama, Congress to 'welcome the stranger'
In yet another act of blatant, unacceptable hypocrisy coming from the
organized Jewish community, Jewish groups in America - all of whom
vehemently support the Jewish state of Israel and demand that it remain the
"homeland of the Jewish people" - are demanding President Obama and
Congress welcome the thousands - perhaps millions - of illegal aliens
criminally entering the United States. The *Jewish Telegraph Agency*
reports:
Twenty Jewish organizations urged President Obama and Congress to deal
humanely with the unaccompanied children and refugees from Central America
who are cross... more »
THE GENERAL'S SON
Abby Martin interviews peace activist and author, Miko Peled on the latest
violence gripping Gaza, following the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers
and the militarized response by Israel's defense forces.
Israeli ground operation "unintended escalation" with Syria & Hezbollah?
Israeli ground operation in Gaza increasingly likely, risking unintended
escalation involving Syria and Hizbullah
Hamas is seeking to draw Israel into a ground invasion of Gaza, as the
group's military wing seeks to re-establish itself as the key
decision-maker, and to return the movement to its origins as a resistance
organisation.
Hamas is drawing Israel into a ground invasion? Nonsense. Israel wants a
ground invasion!
The Hamas-Israel conflict is unlikely to end in the coming week or two, and
a ground invasion in which Israeli troops will be vulnerable to ambush and
anti-t... more »
my religion
"My religion
is very simple.
My religion is kindness."
H. H. the 14th Dalai Lama
Steve Israel's DCCC Has Thrown Away The Advantage Democrats Had With Gun Safety
In 2006, Blue America backed Kirsten Gillibrand for Congress when she ran
against corrupt, drunken wife-beater John Sweeney. We helped her raise
consciousness about what a crook Sweeney was and we helped her raise money
and we even got the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Rickie Lee Jones to do a song
for her campaign which got a ton of airplay on the local radio stations.
So, of course, we were very disappointed when she joined the Blue Dogs
after being elected-- pretending to be a progressive-- and we were
mortified when she showed herself to be a total shill for the NRA. She
seemed to... more »
World Cup Netherlands vs Argentina
I think it was Dennis Bergkamp who scored this goal in 1998. If there is
goal half as good tonight we should consider ourselves lucky.
Witness President Ribbon Cutter as he laughs it up in a Denver bar when offered a hit of pot...
*but he doesn't have time to visit the border when he was in Texas?*
He is by far one of the most repulsive individuals I've ever seen. And the
people who voted for him are equally repulsive.
Watch how cute he thinks he looks as he tosses his head and laughs like a
little girl.
from YouTube:
President Barack Obama visited Denver, Colorado Tuesday evening and while
he was there, some strange stuff happened. For one, this guy asked him,
"Want a hit, man?" and posted the video of the president laughing in
response on Instagram
Obama’s New Landmine Policy: Change I Can Believe In, Tentatively
This is a guest post by Matthew Bolton, Assistant professor of political
science at Pace University and author of Foreign Aid and Landmine
Clearance. He blogs at Political Minefields. Imagine never knowing whether
your next step will be your last, whether your children are safe in the
fields around your house, whether objects they find in
Continue reading
TRANSFORM THE WAR ECONOMY
The latest edition of *This Issue* features Miriam Pemberton from the
Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC. She was recently in Maine
to speak at a public forum in Bath about conversion/diversification of the
military production network across the nation. She particularly emphasizes
the need for peace groups to work with unions, church groups, environmental
groups and other interested parties to push for diversification planning
councils to be established at the state levels.
TAKE BACK OUR SOUL
This happened to me
growing up behind
barbed wire fences
Air Force bases
my mind was
hollowed out
and inside was poured
nationalism
and militarism
I still see the old man
in Wiesbaden
with his fingers
wrapped around the
base fence
staring right at me
as we played
American baseball
in the middle of
his city
his eyes said
go home
The Lakota
whose land was taken
to eventually build
Ellsworth AFB
I learned to love
their drums
and the smells
of sage
I too enlisted
and marched
and saluted
but found the truth
and learned outrage
inside the barracks
as GI's
helped me take back
my own mind
and... more »
Iraq’s Southern Front Babil Province Where The Islamic State Has Free Reign
Most of the attention on Iraq has been focused upon the deteriorating
security situation in Anbar in the west, and Ninewa and Salahaddin in the
north. In the south however in Babil province the insurgency has been
growing in strength since late-2013. The government has launched six
security operations in the northwest section of the governorate this year,
deployed militias there, and claimed success every time, but the sheer
number of offensives points to the failures of the Iraqi Security Forces
(ISF). More importantly the Islamic State (IS) has been able to use its
bases in nor... more »
NATO's Syrian "opposition" annoints Hadi al Bahra- boo hiss boo hiss
*I mentioned this impending selection the other day.*
Syrian NATO backed 'oppositon" to "select new leader"
*A choice that is always limited to Western intelligence linked stooge #1
or Western stooge #2, # 3 or perhaps # 4?*
*The top candidate for the job is senior coalition members are Hadi Bahra *
Of course it was Hadi al Bahra that was selected. Not by the Syrian people.
The NATO backed 'opposition' simply picked one of their own. NATO can't
lose when the game is rigged.
*Of course he is Saudi backed. Which means he is US/UK and Israeli backed *
Syria's Western-backed opposi... more »
ETHNIC CLEANSING
Israel's massive attack on Gaza is really intended to make life impossible
for the Palestinian people. It is ethnic cleansing - genocide. The people
of the world must react now.
The US sends Israel $3 billion each year to build the wall that puts
Palestinian people into virtual prisons and for military hardware. I'm
always reading about Pentagon advisers working with the Israeli military on
installing and testing various new high-tech space technology weapons
systems. The US military industrial complex makes huge profit from the
Israeli program of endless war.
This same $3 bi... more »
Bored scientists now just sticking random things into LHC
What are the LHC physicists doing when they're not on vacations, guest
blogging, or insulting members of the TRF community? ;-)
Bored Scientists Now Just Sticking Random Things Into Large Hadron Collider
It's posted here so that you may see it before you learn it from the BBC,
MSNBC, the Wall Street Journal, or another mainstream source.
I wouldn't be quite shocked if this were turned into a real news story with
many journalists! The video above is a joke, if you didn't get it, but some
people's anti-scientific sentiments are pretty much exactly and seriously
equivalent to what ... more »
A Rogue By Any Other Name
Barack Obama apparently is one embarrassed, pissed-off dude. So the *New
York Times* is again obligingly acting as the White House farm tool which
spreads the manure of blame on anybody and everybody who is not Barack
Obama:
*When President Obama placed a call to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany
last Thursday, he had a busy agenda: to consult with a close ally and to
mobilize wavering Europeans to put more pressure on Russia to end its
covert incursions in Ukraine. *
*What Mr. Obama did not know was that a day earlier, a young German
intelligence operative had been arrested and ... more »
Short shorts for Wednesday
*Parking as close as possible to the door. After all, no one else exists.*
With the elections due in 4 months, the news is slowly trickling in and the
KMT appears to be in fear... The KMT's candidate in Keelung, long a KMT
fiefdom, was yanked from the election this week as corruption allegations
swirl about him. Rather strange since Keelung has a long history of
electing corrupt KMT candidates, but in this case he was also taking a
beating in the polls.
More serious, in what has now become a kind of traditional prelude to any
election season, the special investigations division (SI... more »
Ignoring the Job Market (and How We Do Our Jobs) When Studying Teachers’ Job Satisfaction
“Estimating the Effects of No Child Left Behind on Teachers and Their Work
Environments and Job Attitudes,” by Jason Grissom et. al., uses NCES
polling data from 1993-94 to 1999-2000 to 2003-04 to 2007-08. It begins by
reviewing and challenging “anecdotal” evidence from great journalists and
education writers. As I explained previously, I believe the […]
The Collapse of the Status Quo in Israel.
Just over a week ago – two days before the discovery of the bodies of the
three abducted Israeli teenagers and four days before the abduction and
revenge killing of Muhammed Abu Khdeir — I sat in the family quarters of a
young Palestinian shop owner in Jersusalem’s Old City sipping mint tea with
two colleagues.
Continue reading
Untitled
* ACLU, ADF Call "Foul" Over University's Treatment Of The First Amendment*
Idaho's Boise State University ("BSU") is world-famous for its telegenic
"blue turf" football field and a roster of impressive bowl game
appearances. But if current trends continue, the school might be on its way
to fame of a different sort: on the same weekend that Americans celebrate
their nation's founding and their liberties, BSU is simultaneously under
fire from three separate legal defense groups all of which are alleging
violations of students' free speech rights.The concerns have emerged from two ... more »
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