19 Nov - RSS SnapShot !

Feeds Update from Opit's LinkFest! on My Opera

IPS - Inter Press Services

• Q&A: Impact of Crisis in Latin America Less Sever ...
  
  
  
  GUATEMALA CITY, Nov 19 (IPS) - Thanks to effective social policies and measures that have strengthened the economy, most of the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean have managed to weather the impact of the global recession, although poverty has risen slightly for the first time since 2 ...
  
  
  
  
  
• AFGHANISTAN: Black & Veatch's White Elephant in K ...
  
  
  
  KABUL, Nov 19 (IPS) - In a secluded valley a few miles from Kabul's international airport, Caterpillar turbines custom-built in Germany and giant transformers flown in from Mexico hum away at a brand-new power plant.
  
  
  
  
  
• SLOVAKIA: Velvet Touch Brings Communists Back
  
  
  
  BRATISLAVA, Nov 19 (IPS) - As Slovaks mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of communism this week, former dissidents have lashed out at top political figures, including the prime minister, who they say are trying to paint the totalitarian regime of old in a positive light.
  
  
  
  
  
• VIETNAM: Water, Water All Around—Plus All t ...
  
  
  
  HANOI, Nov 19 (IPS) - As Vietnam’s big cities are increasingly deluged by floods, the infrastructure cannot keep up.
  
  
  
  
  
• LABOR-INDONESIA: Future Looks Bleak for Laid-Off ...
  
  
  
  WEST JAVA, Indonesia , Nov 19 (IPS) - Ida Farida, 33, never imagined she would lose the job that she had held for 10 years.
  
  
  
  
  

Scoop - NZ

• 'Northern Taliban' threaten Central Asia
  
  
  
  In the eight years the United States-led coalition has been in action in Afghanistan, the northern provinces have remained largely calm - until recently, that is.Taliban attacks have generally focused on southern Afghanistan, and the overland routes by which coalition forces brought in fuel and ammu ...
  
  
  
  
  
• A government at war with its own Treasury
  
  
  
  In all the time I've been hopping around Parliament I've never heard a statement more extraordinary than this one: The numbers from Treasury are nonsense. Treasury can't tell us what the deficit is going to be in December let alone what's happening in 2030 or 2040.Now, I'll admit to having a go a ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Welcome home, war
  
  
  
  Don't be too surprised, when, in the midst of some future crisis, advanced surveillance methods and other techniques developed in our recent counter-insurgency wars migrate from Baghdad, Fallujah and Kandahar to your hometown or urban neighborhood. And don't ever claim that nobody told you this coul ...
  
  
  
  
  
• China: biggest risk to world economy ?
  
  
  
  "The inherent problems of the international economic system have not been fully addressed," said China's president Hu Jintao. Indeed not. China is still exporting overcapacity to the rest of us on a grand scale, with deflationary consequences.While some fret about liquidity-driven inflation, Justin ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Red flags raised on Merrill-BoA merger
  
  
  
  Investigators are poring over fresh evidence they say suggests Bank of America strong-armed Uncle Sam into ponying up billions in taxpayer support, using as leverage the threat of nixing its merger with Merrill Lynch.Government officials say the newly uncovered documents, which The Post reviewed, ar ...
  
  
  
  
  

Independent ( London )

• Meteor turns midnight into daylight sky - Video
  
  
  
  A streaking fireball briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions, surveillance footage shows.
  
  
  
  
  
• Meteor turns midnight into daylight sky
  
  
  
  A streaking fireball briefly illuminated parts of the Utah sky to daylight-level conditions, surveillance footage shows.
  
  
  
  
  
• 19 killed in Peshawar blast outside court
  
  
  
  A suicide bomber killed 19 people today outside a courthouse in northwestern Pakistan, the latest attack in an onslaught by Islamist militants fighting back against an army offensive in the nearby Afghan border region.
  
  
  
  
  
• Karzai promises to root out corruption
  
  
  
  Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai promised in his inauguration speech today that he will prosecute corrupt government officials.
  
  
  
  
  
• Remains found in hunt for missing journalist
  
  
  
  A forensics team searching for the body of a British journalist kidnapped by Palestinian militants more than 20 years ago recovered human remains in Lebanon, the Foreign Office said today.
  
  
  
  
  

CASMII - Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran

• Secrecy shrouds Iran's contingency centers
  
  
  
  Summary: WASHINGTON - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published new evidence on Monday that Iran had been building "contingency centers" in the event of a United States bombing attack as early as 2002, years before it began building the second enrichment facility at Qom. source: ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The View from China
  
  
  
  Summary: When Yiang Jiemian, president of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, gets together with his brother, Yang Jiechi, China's minister of foreign affairs, they don't talk strategy or politics. "We talk about our grandfather," he says, with a smile. source: The Nation read m ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Britain must de-Zionise Itself
  
  
  
  Summary: Sir Richard Dalton British politicians and media are caught in bed with too many Zionist wolfs. In order to reclaim sovereignty and dignity, Britain must de-Zionise itself immediately. It is indeed tragic to admit that the Jewish lobby is far more worrying than a criminal gang. It is th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Iran seeks regional approach to stabilise Afghanis ...
  
  
  
  Summary: NEW DELHI — Iran pushed Tuesday for a regional solution to the situation in Afghanistan as US President Barack Obama mulls sending thousands more US troops to bolster security in the country. source: AFP read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Iran wants to make nuclear fuel swap on its own so ...
  
  
  
  Summary: In the clearest statement to date of Tehran’s attitude to the U.S.-backed proposal for a nuclear fuel swap as a step towards building trust with Washington, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has said his government takes a positive view of the plan provided the exchange of e ...
  
  
  
  
  

The Daily Galaxy

• Is an Imminent "Little Ice Age" Possible? -Scienti ...
  
  
  
  Evidence has mounted that global warming began in the last century and that humans are, at least in part, responsible. The concern is that the warming of our climate will greatly affect its habitability for many species, including humans. Both...
  
  
  
  
  
• Unmasking Jupiter's Europa: The Search for an Alie ...
  
  
  
  "There's nothing saying there is life there now. But we do know there are the physical conditions to support it." Richard Greenberg, University of Arizona. world's leading expert on Europa. Based on what we know about the Jovian moon, parts...
  
  
  
  
  
• Do Cosmic Rays Affect Growth of Life on Earth?
  
  
  
  A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are. But in accordance with...
  
  
  
  
  
• NASA Answers "2012" Fears (VIDEO)
  
  
  
  2012 a disaster flick about the end of the world is currently assaulting movie goers across the country. The plot of the film, which grossed more than $65 million on its opening weekend, revolves around the ancient Mayan "prophecy" that...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Daily Flash -Eco, Space, Tech (11/19)
  
  
  
  The Google Phone Is Coming to Change the Game Google is for sure building its own-branded smartphone that it will sell directly through the usual retail channels. It was to have hit the stores before the holidays, but setbacks have...
  
  
  
  
  

Natural News

• Cancer industry desperately needs mammogram screen ...
  
  
  
  (NaturalNews) Any time you threaten to take away repeat customer from the businesses that make up the cancer industry, you're in for a political fight. After the United States Preventive Services Task Force released new recommendations advising against mammograms for women under 50 (and recommending ...
  
  
  
  
  
• FDA openly allows criminally-convicted doctors, re ...
  
  
  
  (NaturalNews) The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report indicting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for allowing health professionals convicted of crimes to perform research for the agency and to supervise patients' safety during clinical trials. The FDA is ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Swine Flu Deception and Disinformation Exposed
  
  
  
  (NaturalNews) There has been a flurry of contradictory swine flu events reported here and from Ukraine this early fall. These coincided with a CBS news program releasing information that very few reported swine cases actually tested positive for H1N1. CBS's state by state survey discovered that less ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Suzanne Somers speaks out against the conventional ...
  
  
  
  (NaturalNews) As the author of the New York Times bestseller, "Knockout: Interviews with doctors who are curing cancer," Suzanne Somers is making waves across the cancer industry. Her powerful, inspired message of informed hope is reaching millions of readers who are learning about the many safe, ef ...
  
  
  
  
  
• American Cancer Society admits mammograms and canc ...
  
  
  
  (NaturalNews) Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, recently participated in an interview with the New York Times concerning a Journal of the American Medical Association analysis of breast and prostate cancer screening. The study questioned the legitimacy of such s ...
  

  TheGallopingBeaver

  
  
  
  
• Be Careful What You Ask For . . . .
  
  
  
  It appears members of the GLBT community in Texas will be enjoying a bit of schadenfreude in the near future. You're gonna love this one, gang, via McClatchy today : Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marriages Dave Montgomery | Fort Worth Star-Telegram | November 18, 2009 AUSTIN — T ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Martian Landscapes
  
  
  
  THE BOSTON GLOBE has a picture section on their web site, and this week, it's about Martian landscapes. These are not the dreary rover pictures of rubble-strewn plains, but an exciting variety of views. The Boston.com has links to the respective science labs responsible.
  
  
  
  
  
• Random Associations...
  
  
  
  This video (Sen. Mike Duffy calling Peter Stoffer MP, a "faker" prior to dashing off an RCMP mess dinner), and this post at Dawg's , caused me to imagine a near future headline reading "Mike Duffy appointed RCMP Commissioner" . I hope I haven't ruined anyone's dinner.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Tea Party Party!
  
  
  
  "It’s time for real change," says Orlando lawyer Frederic O’Neal, the new Tea Party Party's chairman, promising to run candidates against Republicans and Democrats in state and national races. Yes, the Teabaggers are now an official "Tea Party" registered with the office of the Secretary of Stat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Time bomb . . .
  
  
  
  THE BORDER BETWEEN CONGO AND RWANDA has had a lot of nasty things happen over the years. Well, it seems God thinks this should continue into the future, too. You see, there's this lake, called Lake Kivu , part of the freshwater lake system bordering Rwanda and the Republic of Congo. Well this lake h ...
  
  
  
  
  

Media Matters for America

• Ignoring several prior Hardball guests, M ...
  
  
  
  Chris Matthews allowed Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) to repeatedly falsely claim that his amendment to the House health care reform bill is consistent with "current law" with regard to abortion coverage and simply extends the Hyde Amendment's prohibition on government money from being used to pay for mos ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Beck, Limbaugh, and Hannity link nonbinding mammog ...
  
  
  
  Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity have linked a task force's recommendation that fewer women younger than 50 receive regular mammograms to the widely debunked smear that Democratic health reform bills include "death panels." Right-wing media figures have repeatedly raised the specter of t ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Quick Fact: Beck falsely claims Holdren supported ...
  
  
  
  Glenn Beck again falsely claimed that White House science and technology adviser John Holdren proposed "steriliz[ing] the drinking water to stop overpopulation" and "forc[ing] abortions so we don't have too many kids." From the November 18 edition of Fox News' Glenn Beck : BECK: Does this s ...
  
  
  
  
  
• NBC and ABC cite conservative criticism of crimin ...
  
  
  
  Following Attorney General Eric Holder's decision to hold criminal trials for five Guantánamo detainees, nightly news broadcasts on NBC and ABC have reported on conservative criticism of the move but ignored the endorsement of numerous conservative scholars and officials, including Americans fo ...
  
  
  
  
  
• MSNBC graphic misleads on senators' support for ...
  
  
  
  MSNBC's Morning Meeting ran the misleading on-screen graphic "Holder Faces Senators Skeptical of 9/11 Trials" while showing Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) questioning Attorney General Eric Holder. In fact, Leahy and several other senators on the committee have voiced su ...
  
  
  
  
  

Global Research.ca

• Ukraine, WHO and the Geopolitics of Swine Flu Pani ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
  
  
  
  
• Arab teens need ‘protecting from Israeli justice ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
  
  
  
  
• Human Rights: Barack Obama's Double Standards. A ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
  
  
  
  
• Organized Labor in America: They Should Get a Unio ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
  
  
  
  
• Escalation of Afghanistan War: Canada Faces a Fate ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
  
  
  
  

TPM Cafe

• Realists
  
  
  
  I understand the desire of New York Times columnists to appear realist. Writers who advocate for US intervention to induce Israeli-Palestinian peace, in column after column, month after month, can get to look, well, idealist. Writers are assumed to be... New York Times - Israel - Israeli–Pale ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sympathy for the Devil? Oprah and the Palin Blitz.
  
  
  
  I like Oprah Winfrey. She gets people to buy--if not actually read--books like Carson McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter and Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. She oozes the right amount of sympathy for people who have been mauled by chimpanzees... Oprah Winfrey - Sarah Palin - Alaska - United Stat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Is Charlie Crist Anti-Business?
  
  
  
  By choosing to run for the U.S. Senate in the middle of his first term as Governor, Charlie Crist has opened himself up to the fair criticism that he's putting his political ambition ahead of his day job. Meanwhile, voters... Charlie Crist - United States Senate - United States - Florida - US S ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Rising China: Not Ready for Its Close-Up
  
  
  
  As President Obma urges China to be a "source of strength for the community of nations" -- i.e. help with the heavy lifting on international challenges such as global warming and nuclear proliferation -- Chinese leaders prefer to downplay expectations.... North Korea - People's Republic of Chin ...
  
  
  
  
  
• War and Taxes
  
  
  
  Two stories on the front page of the New York Times this morning reminded me of a historical precedent that may be useful to recall. The first story relates the increasing cost of deploying a single additional American soldier to... New York Times - United States - Warfare and Conflict - Afgha ...
  
  
  
  
  

TruthOut

• Holder: DOJ Report on Yoo, Bybee Torture Memos to ...
  
  
  
  A long-awaited Justice Department watchdog report that is said to be highly critical of the legal work on torture that three attorneys who worked at the agency's powerful Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) conducted for the Bush administration will be released at the end of the month, Attorney General Er ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Robert Reich | The Great Disconnect Between Stocks ...
  
  
  
  How can the stock market hit new highs at the same time unemployment is hitting new highs? Simple. The market is up because corporate earnings are up. Corporate earnings are up because companies are cutting costs. And the biggest single cost they’re cutting is their payrolls. So they let people go ...
  
  
  
  
  
• A Conversation About Nonviolence
  
  
  
  Despite the amazing string of victories that “people power” movements have chalked up over recent decades, it’s surprising how little-known many of these stories still are, even to folks who are politically aware in many other respects. read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Jobs, Jobs, Jobs -- Finally
  
  
  
  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gets it. No wonder she drives the wingnuts batty. read more
  
  
  
  
  
• America's New Wounded Warriors
  
  
  
  America's new wounded warriors - Why are their family caregivers overworked and undersupported? Next on NOW. read more
  
  
  
  
  

Planetsave

• MSNBC to Air 2 Hour Special on Animal Conservation ...
  
  
  
  Writing for GreenOptions I sometimes get contacted by PR firms wanting to promote projects. Sight unseen I usually shrug them off, I happen to only write about items that I have seen or used, and can feel good about endorsing. When MSNBC contacted me the other day with a preview of a new special o ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Green Holiday Gifts: CarbonFree Certified Coffee G ...
  
  
  
  If you’re looking for an easy gift idea that supports your ideals and is delicious while doing it, we recommend sending gift boxes from Grounds for Change to the coffee lovers on your list this year! Every single bean that they roast is Fair Trade Certified, Organic Certified, CarbonFree Certi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Western Lake Erie Waterkeeper
  
  
  
  One of the leading voices in the campaign to rescue Lake Erie from dying again is a persistent, thoughtful, dedicated water protector promoting awareness of the Lake’s benefits, supporting lighthouse restoration, fighting resurgent algae and proposed new pollution sources, and seeking funding to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Green Books Campaign: The Lazy Environmentalist on ...
  
  
  
  This review is part of the Green Books campaign . Today 100 bloggers are reviewing 100 great books printed in an environmentally friendly way. Our goal is to encourage publishers to get greener and readers to take the environment into consideration when purchasing books. This campaign is organized b ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Environmentalist, Conservationist, Or Neither?
  
  
  
  Darby Nelson, a member of a Minnesota state panel that advises the Legislature on fish, game and wildlife habitat spending, is a classic conservationist. Almost 40 years after the first Earth Day, the term environmentalist is in some disrepute. Once a badge of honor for public-spirited citizens se ...
  
  
  
  
  

Water Quality - WordPress

• Southern Africa: lack of clean groundwater a healt ...
  
  
  
  As the rainy season approaches, and sewage from pit latrines seep further into the Zimbabwe’s
  
  
  
  
  
• A Shameful Screw-Up
  
  
  
  It pays to pollute at Malibu's Paradise Cove The L.A. Regional Water Board issued a shocking ord
  
  
  
  
  
• Land Board Delays Otter Creek Coal Leases Decision
  
  
  
  by jhwygirl This is in follow-up to a previous post. Somewhat surprisingly if only for who made the
  
  
  
  
  
• The atlas of water (2nd ed.)
  
  
  
  Black, Maggie and King, Jannet (2009). The atlas of water. (2nd ed.). London, UK, Earthscan. 128 p.
  
  
  
  
  
• Concerned About the Quality of Your Drinking Water ...
  
  
  
  The Associated Press reported early October, 2009, that when Health Officials tested the quality of
  
  
  
  
  

Public Citizen in Texas

• EPA Should Use Clean Air Act to Address Climate Ch ...
  
  
  
  Statement of Tyson Slocum, Director, Public Citizen’s Energy Program *Note: Tyson Slocum is delivered this statement today at a public hearing held by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new and existing industrial facilities under the Clean Air Act ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Austin has a dirty secret Happy Hour Wednesday
  
  
  
  Wednesday afternoon from 5-7 pm, let’s get together to discuss how to make Austin’s Dirty Secret a secret no more! Join us at Spider House for our group’s first ever happy hour meet-up (complete with dirty drink specials!). We’ll discuss our plans for convincing City Council to phase out Fay ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Copenhagen Summit: The First Step to a Journey of ...
  
  
  
  Finally, Global warming is getting some international recognition. Since the Kyoto Protocol is about to expire in 2012, the UN, with help of the Danish government, is organizing an international summit about global warming. The summit will be held on December 7th through the 18th at the Bella Cente ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round Up
  
  
  
  The Texas Progressive Alliance is starting to feel an odd craving for can-shaped servings of cranberry sauce as it brings you this week’s highlights from the blogs. TXsharon continues to follow the abuses of Aruba Petroleum in a Barnett Shale backyard and Wednesday the Wise County Messenger picked ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Georgetown Council Snubs Students Over Nuclear Pow ...
  
  
  
  Original post can be found at the ReEnergize Texas Blog On Tuesday, students from Southwestern University’s Students for Environmental Activism and Knowledge (SEAK) had intended to speak before the Georgetown City Council regarding the 20 year energy plan for their city.  They had registered an ...
  
  
  
  
  

Press TV

• 'Futile' FAO summit ends in Rome
  
  
  
  World leaders have concluded a three-day summit on global food security without reaching an agreement on a $44 billion aid package to help the world's poorest farmers.
  
  
  
  
  
• UN team in second visit to Iran's Fordo plant
  
  
  
  UN inspectors are expected to visit Iran's Fordo enrichment facility on Thursday, the Iranian envoy to the IAEA has announced.
  
  
  
  
  
• Iran's Aqili shortlisted for AFC award
  
  
  
  Iran's Sepahan defender, Hadi Aqili, has been shortlisted for the 2009 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year award.
  
  
  
  
  
• Karzai sworn in as Afghan leader
  
  
  
  Hamid Karzai has been sworn in as Afghanistan's president for a second term, nearly three months after winning a controversial election.
  
  
  
  
  
• US presses Iran over nuclear deal
  
  
  
  The US says it is not ready to abandon negotiations with Iran just yet, after Tehran's announcement that it will not send its low-grade uranium abroad.
  
  
  
  
  

Axis of Logic

• Neoliberalism and the Dynamics of Capitalist Devel ...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Revelation
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Why U.S. occupation cannot transform Afghanistan o ...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The smell of misery and the sense of hope
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Rhetoric of Change in Japanese Politics
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

They Gave Us a Republic

• The Nightowl Newswrap
  
  
  
  We have been telling you all along that the Chimpy/Darth idjits couldn't organize a two-pony parade, and the evidence of same is the continues existence of the republic. But should you be a Doubting Thomas and need more, look no further than this morning's testimony by Attorney General Eric Holder t ...
  
  
  
  
  
• A Gentleman's Agreement"?: a march on a cold and r ...
  
  
  
  This is the thirty-first post in an ongoing series as we file Missouri Sunshine Law (RSMo 610) requests and investigate the non-renewal of the contract of University of Central Missouri President Aaron Podolefsky. Links to previous coverage are below the fold. BG and MB Students organized a march to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• You know what? Optics matter, and the optics suck.
  
  
  
  Someone didn't think through the implications of telling women over forty that the cost-benefit analysis doesn't break our way. There has been a great furor among women my age over the implication that one life isn't worth testing 1900 women, and there has been much effort to explain it to us in ter ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Lest we women of a certain age get all uppity and ...
  
  
  
  It took me a day to process the news that the guidelines for breast cancer screenings were being changed , nudged upward as we prepare to step into the era of health reform and cost controls. We are testing 1900 women unnecessarily in order to save one, the argument goes, and it just isn't worth it. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Gentleman's Agreement"?: the new president search ...
  
  
  
  This is the thirtieth post in an ongoing series as we file Missouri Sunshine Law (RSMo 610) requests and investigate the non-renewal of the contract of University of Central Missouri President Aaron Podolefsky. Links to previous coverage are below the fold. BG and MB We had previously asked for a co ...
  
  
  
  
  

Care 2

• US Electric Company Agrees to Help Protect The Wil ...
  
  
  
  Recently it was announced that the NWTF has formed a strategic partnership with American Electric Power, one of the countries largest suppliers of electric power. AEP is the newest member of the Energy for Wildlife program, which means they will work Submitted by Cher C. to Animals  |   Note-it!  | ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 100 Exciting Lectures on All Things Green
  
  
  
  Whether you want to explore ways to implement these ideas in your own future career or are interested in finding out about sustainability efforts across a variety of fields, these lectures will give you insight. Submitted by Katie Miller to Green Lifestyle  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
  
  
  
  
• Lemurs under threat from Madagascar's 'timber mafi ...
  
  
  
  Madagascar, which has been isolated from landmasses for more than 160m years, is the world's fourth largest island and a "conservation hotspot" with thousands of exotic species found only here. These include nearly 100 species of lemur, six ........ Submitted by Katie Miller to Animals  |   Note-it ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Appeal after badger sett destroyed
  
  
  
  POLICE are appealing for information and witnesses after a mature badger sett in Albury was destroyed. Officers believe the culprits dug around the entrances of the sett in Albury End Wood to cave them in, killing any animals inside. Submitted by Cher C. to Animals  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
  
  
  
  
• Deer rescue in Hadlow Down
  
  
  
  wildlife rescue charity is asking members of the public not to cut free wildlife, like deer, caught in fencing, netting or snares, but to report it to a rescue organisation instead. The call comes after volunteer rescuers from East Sussex Wildlife Submitted by Cher C. to Animals  |   Note-it!  |  ...
  
  
  
  
  

GreenBiz

• How a Soft Energy Path Could Put China on the Righ ...
  
  
  
  China is putting forward aggressive policies to reduce energy intensity while still maintaining rapid development. But transformative sustainable development in China needs to respect some unique conditions to be successful.
  
  
  
  
  
• When Behavioral Economics Meets Climate Change, Gu ...
  
  
  
  When a meat-based entrée is being served and people are offered a vegetarian alternative, about 5 to 10 percent will request it. But what if the choices were reversed?
  
  
  
  
  
• Perkins+Will Launches First Chemical Blacklist for ...
  
  
  
  Architectural firm Perkins+Will has unveiled its Precautionary List, which includes 25 chemicals commonly used in buildings, explains why they are a threat to humans and the environment, and lists safer alternatives.
  
  
  
  
  
• How Second Place (or Third) Can Mean a Win for Des ...
  
  
  
  The Cooper Hewitt People's Choice Award was the only category in the Smithsonian Institution's recent National Design Awards to be opened to public voting, and over 6,000 designers, consumers, and interested citizens spoke up. Some of the biggest design names in the country were nominated. But it wa ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Companies More Likely Than Ever to Invest in Effic ...
  
  
  
  Seventy-four percent of corporate real estate executives now say they would be willing to pay a premium to retrofit office space they own to achieve sustainability goals, according to results of a new survey by CoreNet Global and Jones Lang LaSalle.
  
  
  
  
  

Reuters Global

• Dream job or snake pit? UN appoints new spokesman
  
  
  
  It's not uncommon for journalists at some point in their careers to cross the barricades and become the people who dish out the news as spokespersons for an organization or firm, rather than being on the receiving end. It requires a different set of skills that can make the transition tough, and a s ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Does the EU need another president?
  
  
  
  The fact that European Union leaders have not yet reached a consensus on who should become president of the 27-nation bloc, with time running out before a summit on who should  be given the post, has compounded my belief that they should scrap the idea all together. During the horse-trading of the ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Can the West salvage Karzai’s reputation?
  
  
  
  The election was the sort of travesty that can’t be easily swept under a rug. A U.N.-backed probe concluded that nearly a third of votes cast for Karzai were fake.
  
  
  
  
  
• Obama bowing to convention
  
  
  
  U.S. President Barack Obama's bow -- and handshake -- with the Japanese Emperor has become a heated on-line topic, with sides arching into political camps as to whether the traditional greeting went too far -- literally -- or was appropriate based on customs and culture.
  
  
  
  
  
• New SPD leader has tough job: saving his party
  
  
  
  Germany's SPD elects new leader, Sigmar Gabriel. He's their 11th leader since 1990 and will have his job cut out for him trying to save the country's oldest party that has lost half of its supporters in the last 11 years.
  
  
  
  
  

Ezra Klein

• Primary sources on the Senate bill
  
  
  
  Read the 2,074 page bill here . The Hill got its hands on a short summary here , and then a white paper on the reforms that go into effect immediately here . What we really need to understand the legislation is a section-by-section summary, but there isn't one available yet. Oh for the plain languag ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Health-care reform will not be remembered for its ...
  
  
  
  The numbers came first. The Senate bill, we now know, costs a smidge under $850 billion during its first 10 years, cuts the deficit by $127 billion, and covers 31 million people. In the second decade, it cuts the deficit by an improbably large $650 billion. But we don't know anything else. We have ...
  
  
  
  
  
• More on Cash for Caulkers
  
  
  
  Commenter retr2327 gets at the appeal of the Cash for Caukers program more succinctly than I was able: Leonhardt mentions, in passing, the best part about the cash for caulkers program, but misses its significance: most people wouldn't get around to doing it without government subsidies. As such -- ...
  
  
  
  
  
• CBO: Senate bill cuts $127 billion from deficit in ...
  
  
  
  I haven't seen the full report yet, but the top line numbers are that the Senate bill costs $849 billion in the first 10 years, cuts the deficit by $127 billion, and covers 31 million people. In the second 10 years, it cuts $650 billion in the second decade. That's a good score for Harry Reid. But b ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Nice to see some honest advertisements
  
  
  
  In the 1960s, oil companies were advertising that they supplied the world with enough energy to melt glaciers!
  
  
  
  
  

Booman Tribune

• Casual Observation
  
  
  
  Okay, this is the stupidest damn decision. Luckily, no one will get killed as a result.
  
  
  
  
  
• Serious Questions
  
  
  
  If you are reading this, you are probably not a terrorist or a prospective terrorist. Most likely, there is nothing that would lead you to carry out an act of terrorism. But, ask yourself something. What might make you at least consider blowing up a truck-bomb or strapping on a suicide vest and w ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Conservative Cowards
  
  
  
  Have you ever met a genuine New Yorker? I don't mean the type that went to elite private schools and lives in a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side. I mean the kind of New Yorker who grew up in a tough neighborhood, went to public schools, has a heavy accent, and demonstrates a wiseness about ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hate Crimes Laws Harm Christians? Bull!
  
  
  
  There is a group which has seen a 25% rise in hate crimes against them in Florida, 17% which involve violent physical assaults. This might surprise some of my counterparts on the Right, but the group which is incurring these vicious attacks is not the one they would suspect. That's right, viol ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Casual Observation
  
  
  
  I miss Joe the Plumber.
  
  
  
  
  

European Tribune

• Oskar out?
  
  
  
  German Leftist Sidelined Powerful Party Leader Bows Out for Cancer Treatment BERLIN -- Germany's populist...
  
  
  
  
  
• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 19 ...
  
  
  
   A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1711 – Birth of...
  
  
  
  
  
• Today's Open Thread
  
  
  
  It is Today...
  
  
  
  
  
• God's workers repent?
  
  
  
  Goldman apologises for role in crisis Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman’s chief executive, told a corporate conference...
  
  
  
  
  
• LOL - Sarkozy's grand public national bond not to ...
  
  
  
  Sarkozy, who had run on a campaign to reduce government deficits and public debt is...
  
  
  
  
  

Futurismic

• The Surprising Range of Robots
  
  
  
  I’ve been invited to join a panel on robotics at the upcoming Orycon Science Fiction Convention, so I decided to write about them here, too.  I also have a story coming out soon in Analog, called “The Robots’ Girl,” which started when I read an article complaining about robots being develop ...
  
  
  
  
  
• BioBricked bacteria glow in the presence of landmi ...
  
  
  
  An alarmingly large amount of the world’s surface is strewn with landmines left behind after conflicts of one sort or another, leaving the locals at risk of death and mutilation long after the dispute that caused them to be laid down has ended (or moved elsewhere). Scouting for landmines is a risk ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Peak Uranium? Our nuclear future might be shorter ...
  
  
  
  We’ve all heard of Peak Oil (even if there’s some doubt about whether we’ve heard the truth over when it’s going to actually kick in), but there’s no need to worry – nuclear power will step in to fill the gap, right? [image courtesy Wikimedia Commons] Well, not for long, perhaps, at leas ...
  
  
  
  
  
• ‘Mirror of emotions’ to ‘rationalize’ onli ...
  
  
  
  “Curb your enthusiasm” seems to be the message of a new gadget from Philips Electronics and the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. They decided to collaborate on the “Rationalizer” bracelet system “after research confirmed that day traders sometimes act irrationally because their actions are affected by ...
  
  
  
  
  
• More thoughts on the LoveMachine
  
  
  
  Thanks to New World Notes, we get a little more detail about Philip Rosedale’s LoveMachine system, the reputation-based closed economy we mentioned yesterday. Cory Ondrejka was Linden Lab’s CTO until 2007, and he was instrumental in developing the LoveMachine system as it operated within the com ...
  
  
  
  
  

Therapy News

• NAMI Releases Survey Results for Mental Health Und ...
  
  
  
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline The National Alliance on Mental Illness has just released the results of a much-anticipated survey entitled, “Gaps and Guideposts” on its site. The survey involved scores of Americans in three distinct categories: those who did not know anybody affected by depress ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Minds May Perform Better when in a Bad Mood
  
  
  
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline There are hardly ever circumstances in which someone hopes to become sad or be overcome by a bad mood, but new research developed at the University of New South Wales may give some people pause when considering how their mood affects their performance. A group of rese ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Anxiety: Stages of Recovery
  
  
  
  By Evelyn Goodman, Psy.D, LMFT, Anxiety Topic Expert Contributor Click here to contact Evelyn and/or see her GoodTherapy.org Profile Recovery from an anxiety disorder (and/or depression) usually happens in stages. I mean complete recovery, not only the reduction of symptoms. The first stage is learn ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Graphic Novel on Mental Health Released
  
  
  
  A GoodTherapy.org News Summary Efforts to help people understand the nature of mental health difficulties and of the services available to assist them are crucial aspects of modern efforts within the professional community. Though increasing numbers of people are beginning to accept mental issues as ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Virtual Reality Software Shows Potential to Help B ...
  
  
  
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline There are many pressures and emotional difficulties associated with school, and the issue of bullying is certainly among them. Searching for ways to address this common problem with efficacy and meaningful attention, researchers at the University of Warwick have recen ...
  
  
  
  
  

Mountaintop Removal

• Mountaintop removal mining protests going national ...
  
  
  
  Chattarati (blog) Mountaintop removal mining protests going national The Associated Press "The end of mountaintop removal is almost here," declares the Rainforest Action Network on its Web site. "Political and financial decision-makers in New ... Mountaintop Removal Mining Protests Go National Comm ...
  
  
  
  
  
• It's Time For Mountaintop Removal To Stop - Huffin ...
  
  
  
  Common Dreams (press release) It's Time For Mountaintop Removal To Stop Huffington Post (blog) Aerial view of mountaintop removal coal mining in WV. Note the trucks on the right. They are massive in person. But dwarfed by the size of this particular ... Matt Wasson: Breaking: Mountaintop Removal Be ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Interior 'spinning its wheels' on mountaintop remo ...
  
  
  
  Interior 'spinning its wheels' on mountaintop removal Charleston Gazette In its legal filing, Interior said the Obama administration's interagency effort on mountaintop removal is: … Committed to engage in a process for ... Bush's Stream-Buffer Rule for Mining Will Remain Until 2011 New York Time ...
  
  
  
  
  
• New Surface Mining Chief Cracks Down on Mountainto ...
  
  
  
  Environment News Service New Surface Mining Chief Cracks Down on Mountaintop Removal , Valley Fills Environment News Service The agency will issue federal regulations to better protect streams affected by surface coal mining operations, such as mountaintop removal mining, ... and more »
  
  
  
  
  
• Conference offers advice on environmental reportin ...
  
  
  
  Conference offers advice on environmental reporting EKU The Eastern Progress Online (subscription) He said mountaintop removal is a serious subject and it is too important to not be covered by the media. "There is a war going on in Eastern Kentucky and it ...
  
  
  
  
  

Memeorandum

• The Breast Brouhaha - Everyone has been trying to ...
  
  
  
  Gail Collins / New York Times : The Breast Brouhaha   —  Everyone has been trying to come up with a good nickname for the 10 years we're concluding next month.  Terror Era really sounds like too much of a downer.  How about the Decade of Medical Backtracking?  —  Somewhere between the rep ...
  
  
  
  
  
• To Our Readers, An Update - This Dish will resume ...
  
  
  
  Andrew Sullivan / The Daily Dish : To Our Readers, An Update   —  This Dish will resume as normal tomorrow morning.  We apologize for the lacuna.  And I suppose some will say we've gotten this book and the issues it raises out of perspective.  But since the last campaign, we have raised many ...
  
  
  
  
  
• EXCLUSIVE: CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fa ...
  
  
  
  ABCNEWS : EXCLUSIVE: CIA Secret ‘Torture’ Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding Academy   —  ABC News Finds the Location of a “Black Site” for Alleged Terrorists in Lithuania  —  The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vilnius, L ...
  
  
  
  
  
• NPR Shocker: Attorney General Holder Stumped By Li ...
  
  
  
  Noel Sheppard / NewsBusters.org : NPR Shocker: Attorney General Holder Stumped By Lindsey Graham   —  During Wednesday's Justice Department oversight hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) stumped Attorney General Eric Holder on what should have been a fairly r ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare ...
  
  
  
  Mike Soraghan / The Hill : Jesse Jackson: 'You can't vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man'   —  The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats' signature healthcare bill.  —  “We even have blacks voting agai ...
  
  
  
  
  

Energy & Environment News

• Business of Green: Storm Over the Chamber
  
  
  
  Thomas Donohue, the United States Chamber of Commerce’s president, expressed hostility toward climate legislation, which led several businesses to resign in protest.
  
  
  
  
  
• California Imposes Rule for Efficiency on Some TVs
  
  
  
  The state recognized that giant new flat-panel televisions have become major power guzzlers.
  
  
  
  
  
• After Outcry, 2 Companies Shift Their Turbine Plan ...
  
  
  
  A-Power Energy of China and the U.S. Renewable Energy Group are planning a deal after a Texas wind farm became a topic of a debate on stimulus money.
  
  
  
  
  
• Paying More for Flights Eases Guilt, Not Emissions
  
  
  
  The sheer size of the airline industry’s emissions makes it hard to judge the effectiveness of carbon offset programs.
  
  
  
  
  
• Square Feet: Earning a Profit by Ending Energy Was ...
  
  
  
  A nonprofit lender’s new Green Financing Initiative offers mortgages or refinancing to developers who fix wasteful energy and water systems in apartment buildings.
  
  
  
  
  

5+ quakes - 7 days

• M 5.5, Carlsberg Ridge
  
  
  
  Saturday, November 14, 2009 22:02:45 UTC Sunday, November 15, 2009 02:02:45 AM at epicenter Depth : 10.20 km (6.34 mi)
  
  
  
  
  
• M 6.1, Jujuy, Argentina
  
  
  
  Saturday, November 14, 2009 19:44:30 UTC Saturday, November 14, 2009 04:44:30 PM at epicenter Depth : 220.70 km (137.14 mi)
  
  
  
  
  
• M 5.0, Santa Cruz Islands
  
  
  
  Saturday, November 14, 2009 10:19:46 UTC Saturday, November 14, 2009 09:19:46 PM at epicenter Depth : 24.30 km (15.10 mi)
  
  
  
  
  
• M 5.6, Santa Cruz Islands
  
  
  
  Saturday, November 14, 2009 09:50:45 UTC Saturday, November 14, 2009 08:50:45 PM at epicenter Depth : 20.60 km (12.80 mi)
  
  
  
  
  
• M 5.5, Lake Tanganyika region, Dem. Republic of th ...
  
  
  
  Saturday, November 14, 2009 04:50:17 UTC Saturday, November 14, 2009 06:50:17 AM at epicenter Depth : 10.00 km (6.21 mi)
  
  
  
  
  

China Dialogue

• Can the US match China’s efforts?
  
  
  
  Dialogue between the two countries has produced some positive examples of green collaboration, but Obama still needs to show leadership on climate. Hou Yanli explains how. US president Barack Obama’s first state visit to China and his joint announcement with Chinese president Hu Jintao have renewe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• China debates the downturn
  
  
  
  Discussions about the path to economic recovery expose a rift between the advocates of “rebalancing” and those who argue job creation should override green concerns. Leo Horn-Phathanothai reports. Dreadful as their consequences are, economic downturns are not always all bad news. For one, they t ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Obama’s China moment
  
  
  
  The US president can use his first China trip to find new ways for the two countries to jointly build a low-carbon economy, writes Joshua Wickerham, but only if he focuses on common opportunities. As US president Barack Obama visits China, he has the opportunity to appeal to both countries’ growin ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Crucial cooperation on climate
  
  
  
  As Obama visits Asia, John Podesta, Andrew Light, Julian L Wong and Orville Schell present their proposal for US-China collaboration on carbon capture and sequestration. The United Nations climate-change summit in Copenhagen is less than a month away. Nations will negotiate a framework for a success ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Copenhagen – what’s it worth?
  
  
  
  Simon Zadek argued on Wednesday that unilateral action is now our only hope to address climate change. Here, chinadialogue authors Martin Bunzl, Malini Mehra, Wang Tao and Gao Feng respond. The value of Copenhagen Simon Zadek (see “ Revising plan A ”) is ready to declare Copenhagen dead, alo ...
  
  
  
  
  

AlterNet Top Stories

• Modern Life Is Probably Screwed by Peak Oil, But I ...
  
  
  
  The challenge of feeding 7 or 8 billion people while oil supplies are falling is stupefying. It'll be even greater if governments keep pretending that it isn't going to happen.
  
  
  
  
  
• Do Yearly Mammograms Save Women's Lives?
  
  
  
  Controversial new recommendations on breast cancer prevention have caused a stir in the women's health community. But do yearly mammograms really change death rates?
  
  
  
  
  
• Rachel Maddow Interview with Former Evangelist Fra ...
  
  
  
  Schaeffer: "There is a crazy fringe [receiving] messages that have been pouring out of FOX News ... talking about doing away with Obama, asking God to kill him."
  
  
  
  
  
• How Limousine Liberals, Water Oligarchs and Even S ...
  
  
  
  A group of water oligarchs engineered a disastrous privatization scheme to make a fortune out of California's most precious natural resource.
  
  
  
  
  
• In Trying to Prevent Gay Marriage, Texas May Have ...
  
  
  
  It's rare a story about banning gay marriage actually has a silver lining.
  
  
  
  
  

Threat Level

• It’s Alive! Hollywood Claims Pirate Bay Tracker ...
  
  
  
  Did The Pirate Bay really shutter its tracker, as claimed on Tuesday? The Motion Picture Association doesn’t think so. Hollywood’s overseas lobbying organization claims OpenBitTorrent, billed as an independent “open tracker project,” was actually established by one of The Pirate Bay’s foun ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Palin Calls E-Mail Hack ‘Most Disruptive’ Camp ...
  
  
  
  Never mind the disastrous interview with Katie Couric or the blank stares in response to Charlie Gibson’s question about the Bush Doctrine. Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin calls the hacking of her Yahoo e-mail account “the most disruptive and discouraging” incident in last year ...
  
  
  
  
  
• DNA Testing Firm Goes Bankrupt; Who Gets the Data?
  
  
  
  An Icelandic firm that offers private DNA testing to customers has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., raising privacy concerns about the fate of customer DNA samples and records, according to the Times of London. DeCODE Genetics, a genetics research firm, began offering personalized DNA testing throu ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Swedish Retailer Lets Go of Pirate Bay Logo
  
  
  
  The Swedish online retailer that had trademarked a near replica of The Pirate Bay’s iconic logo has agreed to withdraw registration of what has become an enduring symbol of online piracy, Swedish media reported Wednesday. The move by Sandryds Handel came two days after Peter Sunde, one of The Pira ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Senate Panel: 80 Percent of Cyber Attacks Preventa ...
  
  
  
  If network administrators simply instituted proper configuration policies and conducted good network monitoring, about 80 percent of commonly known cyber attacks could be prevented, a Senate committee heard Tuesday. The remark was made by Richard Schaeffer, the NSA’s information assurance director ...
  
  
  
  
  

Reuters - Most Popular Articles

• What's in a name? More than you might think
  
  
  
  LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A London-based translation firm is offering parents-to-be the chance to check the meaning of prospective baby names in other languages to avoid inadvertently causing their offspring future embarrassment.
  
  
  
  
  
• Lost man drives nine hours to get newspaper
  
  
  
  CANBERRA (Reuters) - An elderly man who went out to fetch a morning newspaper ended up driving nearly 400 miles after getting lost and taking a wrong turn onto a major Australian highway, police said on Wednesday. The man, 81-year-old Eric Steward, eventually stopped and asked for directions after ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Johnny Depp earns second "sexiest man" title
  
  
  
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - Johnny Depp was named People magazine's "sexiest man alive" for a second time on Wednesday, joining an elite club of double honorees that includes George Clooney and Brad Pitt.
  
  
  
  
  
• The face that launched a thousand North Korean tir ...
  
  
  
  SEOUL (Reuters) - The one certainty in unpredictable North Korea is that if the state detonates a nuclear device or leader Kim Jong-il visits a duck farm, Ri Chun-hee will be on TV boasting about the amazing accomplishment.
  
  
  
  
  
• Reid unveils broad U.S. Senate healthcare plan
  
  
  
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid released a long-awaited healthcare reform plan on Wednesday that budget analysts said would extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and reduce the deficit over 10 years.
  
  
  
  
  

Pine River World News

• What is Norway Oiling in Zanzibar?
  
  
  
  The following commentary is reprinted with permission from the author. The article appears in the current edition of The African Executive , Nairobi. What is Norway Oiling in Zanzibar? ©  Chambi Chachage November 18, 2009 Zanzibar is back on the national and international agenda. Of course it has ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 'Afghan quagmire negates U.S.-Iran war'
  
  
  
  IntelTrends - The following article is from The Jerusalem Post. 'Afghan quagmire negates U.S.-Iran war' ©   The Jerusalem Post By Yaakov Lappin November 18, 2009 The U.S. is too bogged down in Afghanistan to engage Iran militarily over its nuclear program, an ex-CIA South Asia expert and current ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Iran Commander: Muslims' Massacre in Yemen Endange ...
  
  
  
  IntelTrends - The following article is from Fars News Agency (FNA), Tehran. Commander:  Muslims' Massacre in Yemen Endangering Islam, Region ©   Fars News Agency November 17, 2009 TEHRAN (FNA) - Iran's Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Hassan Firouzabadi stressed on Tuesday that the killi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Age of cyber warfare is 'dawning'
  
  
  
  IntelTrends - The following report is from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Age of cyber warfare is 'dawning' ©   BBC November 17, 2009 Cyber war has moved from fiction to fact, says a report. Compiled by security firm McAfee, it bases its conclusion on analysis of recent net-based at ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Advocacy Group says U.S. army suicides under-repor ...
  
  
  
  The following article is from Inter Press Service (IPS). Bold font appears in original article. U.S.:  Army Underreporting Suicides, Says GI Advocacy Group ©   IPS By Dahr Jamail November 16, 2009 ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Nov 16 (IPS) - According to a soldiers' advocacy group at Fort Hood, the U.S. base ...
  

  PDA AMERICA

  
  
  
  
• IOT: Healthcare for All November Call
  
  
  
  In this call Terry O' Neill from the National Organization of Women (NOW) joined us to talked about the Stupak amendment which was included in the heathcare bill in house. Also Mary Grace Farley joined ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Repeal the Hyde Amendment
  
  
  
  By Mary Grace Farley The “Repeal Hyde” Action Group supports adoption of Medicare for All with all abortions included and funded as the essential medical service it is. We work proactively, aggressively and creatively ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 2010: A progressive strategy to win
  
  
  
  By Brent Budowsky | The Hill Progressives throughout the nation should rally around a strategy that could bring a surprise victory in the 2010 elections with a clear electoral plan and a program that is patriotic, ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hackers Won’t Quit, Neither Will We
  
  
  
  Author’s Site Hacked Following News of Gaza Book Release Just as news of the early release of a book about Gaza was made public, hackers mobilized, taking down the personal website of the prominent Palestinian ...
  
  
  
  
  
• KSM and MSM
  
  
  
  By David Swanson | AfterDowningStreet.org Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and the corporate “mainstream” media make quite a pair. We’re hearing a very “balanced” debate over whether KSM should be tried in New York City, and whether ...
  
  
  
  
  

Marler Blog

• Barbecue Pit E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak and Nebraska ...
  
  
  
  The E. coli Outbreak at the Barbecue Pit The E. coli O157:H7 outbreak that is the subject of this claim is but one part of a big, multistate outbreak that seriously injured dozens of innocent victims. The source of the E. coli O157:H7 that infected all these victims was adulterated meat manufactured ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Pictures from last week's China Food Safety Confer ...
  
  
  
  For those avid blog readers who wondered what happened to me last week, I was doing more than hiking the Great Wall.
  
  
  
  
  
• WHO - a Global Approach to Food Safety
  
  
  
  WHO was a presence at the recent China Food Safety Conference.  Here is too hoping more governments - FDA and USDA - spend a bit more time thinking about food safety as a global issue.
  
  
  
  
  
• "Change?" Give me a $%&#ing Break - FDA backs off ...
  
  
  
  I'm still dealing with a bit of jet lag from my trip to China.  I woke up too early this morning (about 1 AM), and just woke up from a nap in my office chair to yet another move by the Obama administration that shows that "real change" in Washington is hard to come by - unless it is another cash re ...
  
  
  
  
  
• What will the USDA do about non-E. coli O157:H7 Sh ...
  
  
  
  Several weeks ago I filed with the USDA a Petition for an Interpretive Rule Declaring all enterohemorrhagic Shiga Toxin-producing Serotypes of Escherichia coli, Including Non-O157 Serotypes, to be Adulterants Within the Meaning of 21 U.S.C. § 601(m)(1). The Petition can be found here. I just receiv ...
  
  
  
  
  

AutoblogGreen

• John Surtees pilots electric Ginetta G50EV through ...
  
  
  
  Filed under: Coupe , Performance , Etc. , UK , Celebrities , Electric Ginetta G50EV and John Surtees at the Channel Tunnel - click above for high-res gallery Electric cars have been around for over 100 years, and Britain's Beaujolais Burlington Run has been going on for 37. The Channel Tunnel betw ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Five Axis offers up Aerius body kit for 2010 Toyot ...
  
  
  
  Filed under: Aftermarket , Hybrid , Hatchback , Toyota Five Axis Aerius Prius - Click above for high-res image gallery If you don't win the charity auction for the Aemulus-modified Prius, but want something flashy for your 2010 model, take a look at the Aerius Prius that made its debut at SEMA thi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• AutoblogGreen for 11.18.09
  
  
  
  A.U.T.O. lobbyist Veronica Moss visits, hates the new Times Square [w/VIDEO] Me-ow. Jay Leno does the electric Tango [w/VIDEO] He likes it, he really likes it. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Forget Zipcar - Smart reportedly readying car2go c ...
  
  
  
  Filed under: Etc. , Hatchback , Smart Steers and Smarts - Click above for a high-res image gallery Daimler announced in March it would bring the tiny Smart car to the big state of Texas through its car-sharing service car2go. At the time, the German automaker declared that entering the Austin mark ...
  
  
  
  
  
• AutoblogGreen for 11.17.09
  
  
  
  Fuel cell vehicles finish 707-mile demonstration run in Japan Vehicles get 73+ mpg over two days. 3-Euro-cent-per-km mileage tax might become law in the Netherlands Amount will rise to about ...
  
  
  
  
  

Rafe's Radar

• Going rate for acquisitions at Intuit: $170 millio ...
  
  
  
  When selling a company, it helps to know the buyer's sweet spot. We know Intuit's.
  
  
  
  
  
• Six Apart releases tiny blog tool, TypePad Micro
  
  
  
  New Chroma theme, designed for short posts, available for free under the new TypePad Micro brand. Originally posted at Webware
  
  
  
  
  
• Crowdsourcing cartography with PublicEarth and Ope ...
  
  
  
  Can a crowd of amateur mappers create better guidebooks and maps than professionals? Signs point to yes. Originally posted at Webware
  
  
  
  
  
• Reporters' Roundtable 10: Funny business
  
  
  
  Humor is serious business. This week, we have two entrepreneurs who prove it: Ben Huh , CEO of the Cheezburger Network, the company behind Failblog , ICanHazCheezburger , ThereIFixedIt , and other sites you've probably wasted your lunch hours on; and Ryan Dolan, previously in business development ...
  
  
  
  
  
• YouTube to get high-def 1080p player
  
  
  
  YouTube exec announces another bump-up in available YouTube resolution. The new resolution, as well as a new full-screen player, will roll out to all users within days. Originally posted at Webware
  
  
  
  
  

Camera Obscura

• Pathos and pathology: the cinema of Todd Haynes.
  
  
  
  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126935025/pathos-and-pathology-cinema.html September 1, 2004... Because infinity--for the eye--begins just a few meters away from the retina.... --Roger Caillois, "The Image" There are at least two shots in Todd Haynes's work that recur so frequ ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The incredible shrinking star: Todd Haynes and the ...
  
  
  
  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126935026/incredible-shrinking-star-todd.html September 1, 2004... Critics have consistently characterized the films of Todd Haynes within the terms of what B. Ruby Rich described in 1992 as the "new queer cinema"--films whose style displayed traces of ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Written on the screen: mediation and immersion in ...
  
  
  
  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126935031/written-screen-mediation-and.html September 1, 2004... Recently, while engaging in one of my favorite forms of procrastination--using my computer to search for mid-century modern bargains on eBay rather than using it to engage in more rigorous ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Traumatic postmodern histories: Velvet Goldmine's ...
  
  
  
  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126935030/traumatic-postmodern-histories-velvet.html September 1, 2004... If modernity was characterized by and imagined itself in terms of a particular awareness of time and history--the unfolding of social, political, and technological projects of pro ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Dangerous spaces: Safe.
  
  
  
  http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126935029/dangerous-spaces-safe.html September 1, 2004... For me, the problem is always in content; we want to define the perspective of a film solely through its content, and not through its form. --Todd Haynes No matter how much we desire, wit ...
  
  
  
  
  

Democracy Now!

• Hungering for a True Thanksgiving
  
  
  
  “In the next 60 seconds, 10 children will die of hunger,” says a United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) online video. It continues, “For the first time in humanity, over 1 billion people are chronically hungry.” The WFP launched the Billion for a Billion campaign this week, urging the 1 ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Lou Dobbs Resigns From CNN
  
  
  
  The controversial TV anchor has resigned from CNN amid a campaign to force him off the air due to his reporting on Latinos and immigrants. Past Democracy Now! Coverage of Lou Dobbs: Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez’s 2007 interview with Lou Dobbs Amy Goodman’s column ‘The Dubious Mr. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Man Who Put the Rainbow in 'The Wizard of Oz'
  
  
  
  Thanksgiving is around the corner, and families will be gathering to share a meal and, perhaps, enjoy another annual telecast of “The Wizard of Oz.” The 70-year-old film classic bears close watching this year, perhaps more than in any other, for the message woven into the lyrics, written during ...
  
  
  
  
  
• "First as Tragedy, Then As Farce": Philosopher and ...
  
  
  
  Dubbed by the National Review as “the most dangerous political philosopher in the West” and the New York Times as “the Elvis of cultural theory,” Slovenian philosopher and public intellectual Slavoj Žižek has written over fifty books on philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, history and po ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Tortured Logic Continues
  
  
  
  “Extraordinary rendition” is White House-speak for kidnapping. Just ask Maher Arar. He’s a Canadian citizen who was “rendered” by the U.S. to Syria, where he was tortured for almost a year. Just this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, in New York City, dismissed Arar ...
  
  
  
  
  

Farming Pathogens

• A Visitation of the Influenza
  
  
  
  In seeping through the world’s every nook and cranny, pandemics have a way of forcing themselves into our lives as a lurking presence. Even the most insular of functionaries, who typically makes his living solving problems by ignoring them, straightens up and takes notice.    As an epidemic ...
  
  
  
  
  
• I Do Like Green Eggs and Ham
  
  
  
  Much of what we’ve addressed on this blog has focused on the epidemiological failures of industrial farming. But what of the alternatives? Can we farm in another way? Is another world possible?    It’s only since I’ve moved to the Midwest that I’ve learned that not only is that world p ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Heart of Modeling
  
  
  
  Greed is often mistaken for humanity’s heart of darkness. Look instead to the rationalization that transforms the most rapacious pillaging into an act of benevolence. A one-ton bomb dropped on a peasant wedding party is dissembled into regret without responsibility or, baser yet, a tough love offe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Bird Flu’s Industrial Revolution
  
  
  
  Public talks can be private affairs. In sharing our work we bare the triumphs and limits of a thinking born in long hours alone or with a few fellow conspirators sworn to secrecy. But in breaking our oaths we are able to take the next step.   In talking bird flu twice this past month I learned [... ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Agro-Industrial Roots of Swine Flu H1N1
  
  
  
  Mexico appears ground zero for an outbreak of deadly human-specific H1N1.   Of the over 1400 people that have been reportedly infected there so far, 86 have died. Short chains of transmission of the virus have also been reported in California, Texas, Kansas, Ohio, New York City, Canada and New Zeal ...
  
  
  
  
  

Digg Green

• 2 piranha found in Florida pond. Solution? Kill al ...
  
  
  
  State wildlife biologists Tuesday will apply a poison to a pond near West Palm Beach where two piranhas were found last month.
  
  
  
  
  
• Screwed
  
  
  
  "I saw a group of red ants attacking a poor black ant. I think we all know what is going to happen. I just did not stay long enough to see it." Photo and caption by Luke Chua
  
  
  
  
  
• Scientists Create Bacteria that Lights Up Around L ...
  
  
  
  Tens of thousands of people are killed or injured by landmines every year. But an unexpected solution may be on the way--scientists have developed a special kind of bacteria that actually begins to glow in the presence of landmines.
  
  
  
  
  
• REPORT: IEA Hiding the Truth on Shrinking Oil Rese ...
  
  
  
  A whistleblower says that the IEA has been "deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying." The unnamed "senior official" told the Guardian that the U.S. was a driving force behind clouding the situation.
  
  
  
  
  
• Are Algae Mass Murderers?
  
  
  
  A new theory suggests that algae might be to blame for the Earth's greatest mass extinctions.
  
  
  
  
  

Invisible Opportunity

• Video – The Job
  
  
  
  The Job, was created by Screaming Frog Productions. Written & Directed by Jonathan Browning and acted & crewed by some of the most amazing people on the planet! The Job has played at over 135 film festivals around the world and has been honored with 28 international awards. Please support independen ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Jesse Ventura: Democrats & Republicans Should Wear ...
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Where “Global Warming” and “Peak ...
  
  
  
  By Not Sylvia Night – November 11, 2009 Where “Global Warming” and “Peak Oil” meet That place, of course, is the world´s financial market. “Human Caused Climate Change” is a financial scam, so is the “Peak Oil” paradigm of catastrophic energy shortages in the near future. Oil a ...
  
  
  
  
  
• World getting cooler, not warmer, insists Bellamy
  
  
  
  RONAN McGREEVY WORLD-RENOWNED botanist and broadcaster Prof David Bellamy has predicted the world will get cooler over the next 30 years rather than warmer, as many climate scientists have predicted. He said a period of global cooling had already begun, citing evidence that the Alps had more snow la ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The giant iceberg that went walkabout… towar ...
  
  
  
  Australia is known for sunny beaches, surfers, and blistering Outback heat. So scientists were a bit taken aback when they spotted this giant iceberg floating near an island Down Under. Australian Antarctic Division researchers were working on Macquarie Island when they first saw the iceberg last Th ...
  
  
  
  
  

• 
  
  
  

  Care2 Picks

  
  
  
  
• Obama Nominates Monsanto Rep For Agricultural Trad ...
  
  
  
  Nominated Islam Siddiqui Chief Agricultural Negotiator in Office of US Trade Representative Currently VP at CropLife America, a corporate trade group that represents Monsanto, Dow Chemical, DuPont, Syngenta : less truth-in-labeling + hormone treated meat Submitted by John Farnham to Science & Tech ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Evil Empire
  
  
  
  He promised change, but has delivered none. His health care bill is held hostage by the private insurance companies seeking greater profits. The most likely outcome will be cuts in Medicare and Medicaid in order to help fund wars that enrich the military Submitted by Pete M. to US Politics & Gov't ...
  
  
  
  
  
• RN reports increased adverse reaction to flu jabs ...
  
  
  
  Bell's Palsy,severe burning sensation in their hands and feet, headache, and nausea/vomiting,2 seasonal flu victims were healthy with no medical conditions, took no daily prescribed medicines, were elderly but fit and died with 2-3 days of vaccination Submitted by John Farnham to Health & Wellness ...
  
  
  
  
  
• ROGUE PROSECUTOR DECLARES WAR ON VETS
  
  
  
  Sharon McCaslin, prosecuting attorney for the United States Department of Justice, officially declared war on America’s Veterans when she defiantly pronounced in federal court that it is “desecration” and a “crime” for a Veteran to hang the American... Submitted by Just Carole to US Politics & ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The ABCs (and Ks) of Vitamin Deficiency
  
  
  
  In the sixth grade, we spent a large portion of health class talking about nutrition. We learned about the food pyramid, cholesterol, and the mechanics of the digestive system. We also spent an inordinate amount of time discussing nutrition-related diseas Submitted by Daphna Yanez to Health & Wellne ...
  
  
  
  
  

Insurgency Watch - Newswire

• Obama, us leaders should contemplate future of Afg ...
  
  
  
  BBC News Obama, us leaders should contemplate future of Afghan women Chicago Tribune Would nuclear-armed Pakistan become even more vulnerable to its own Taliban insurgency ? Will a defeat embolden America's enemies? That line of thinking must ... Vietnam syndrome has begun in Afghanistan Sri Lanka ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Officials: Campus blasts perplexing - United Press ...
  
  
  
  Officials: Campus blasts perplexing United Press International ISLAMABAD, Pakistan , Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The International Islamic University, where bomb blasts killed at least six people, is a unique Pakistani institution ... and more »
  
  
  
  
  
• Schools closed in Pakistan after bombing - GMA new ...
  
  
  
  Schools closed in Pakistan after bombing GMA news.tv An Associated Press reporter met three Taliban fighters Tuesday traveling in a car with darkened windows at Shaktoi, a town close to the border between ... and more »
  
  
  
  
  
• An Evolving Afghan Policy - American Chronicle
  
  
  
  An Evolving Afghan Policy American Chronicle ... triumph for the forces of Islamic extremism, al-Qaeda would once again gain a foothold, and the return of the Taliban would likely destabilize Pakistan . ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Schools close in Pakistan following university bom ...
  
  
  
  Schools close in Pakistan following university bombings Emirates Business 24/7 ... in Pakistan after suspected militants bombed a university close to the capital, sowing fear across the country as the army presses a major anti- Taliban ... and more »
  
  
  
  
  

AlterNet - Rights and Liberties

• Rachel Maddow Interview with Former Evangelist Fra ...
  
  
  
  Schaeffer: "There is a crazy fringe [receiving] messages that have been pouring out of FOX News ... talking about doing away with Obama, asking God to kill him."
  
  
  
  
  
• Is House Health Care Bill a Threat to Our Constitu ...
  
  
  
  The House health-care bill isn't just a threat to women's rights; with the Stupak amendment, it's a breach of the Constitution.
  
  
  
  
  
• U.S. Christian Right Activists Pushing Death Penal ...
  
  
  
  Some believe a slew of new, homophobic laws are an attempt to preserve Uganda's shaky patriarchy.
  
  
  
  
  
• Anti-Abortion Group to Protest Palin
  
  
  
  To liberals, she epitomizes the anti-choice far right of the GOP. But to American Right to Life, Sarah Palin is not pure enough.
  
  
  
  
  
• Still No Justice for Priests in Notorious El Salva ...
  
  
  
  In 1989, six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter, were brutally murdered in El Salvador. Two decades later, the extent of U.S. complicity remains largely unspoken.
  
  
  
  
  

Sideways News

• Meditate your way to heart health
  
  
  
  Transcendental Meditation , once the mainstay of tie-dyed hippies and new age "healers", has been hailed by US researchers as a preventative measure for heart attacks.
  
  
  
  
  
• Ancient Egyptians 'had heart disease'
  
  
  
  Evidence of heart disease has been found in ancient Egyptians, proving that the condition is not a modern phenomenon. The discovery was made after a team of US and Egyptian scientists carried out X-rays on 20 mummies from Cairo's Museum of Antiquities .
  
  
  
  
  
• Christmas-ing abroad
  
  
  
  Choosing responsible holidays is important at any time of year and if Christmas is the season of goodwill, you can make a positive impact in your choice of holiday as tourism can bring in much-needed income. From husky safaris to sunny breaks, be inspired by these destinations and initiatives that c ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Brain size isn't everything
  
  
  
  Having a smaller brain may not mean that an organism is less intelligent than a bigger animal - in fact having a brain the size of a pinhead could still make an insect as bright as a larger being, researchers claim. Computer simulations by scientists from Cambridge University and Queen Mary, Univers ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sweet success of weight-loss chocolate?
  
  
  
  Concerns over the impact of chocolate treats on people's waistlines could soon become a thing of the past thanks to a new product. Lola Chocs has been created by Spanish firm Covcoa BIO and is produced from ingredients sourced from Peru and Santo Domingo.
  
  
  
  
  

Fabius Maximus

• FM newswire for 19 November – news you can u ...
  
  
  
  Today’s broadsheet from the FM website pressroom.  Links to interesting news and analysis Quote of the Day – seeing America more clearly from a distance Plus, an Afterword (I)  Links to interesting news and analysis (a)  After 8 years of war, somebody asks about the bills:  “H ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Another look in the mirror at America
  
  
  
  Today’s reading explains the origins of American’s dysfunctional public policy, from Lewis Lapham’s Lights, Camera, Democracy! (2001), a book I strongly recommend every American read.  He paints portraits of us.  Insightful, although they’re seldom pretty.   Let’ ...
  
  
  
  
  
• FM newswire for 18 November – news you can u ...
  
  
  
  Today’s broadsheet from the FM website pressroom.  There are 5 sections, all with hot news. Links to 5  interesting articles of news and analysis Quote of the Day — about the natural enemy of civilization Featured articles – Good news for the Democratic Party! Plus, an Afterword ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Admiral Mullen sets a high bar for continued US co ...
  
  
  
  Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, has set a high bar for continued US combat in Afghanistan — at least if we intend to win (whatever that means in this context).   He also has some interesting (and encouraging) things to say in this interview about our military forc ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The FM newswire for 17 November – news you c ...
  
  
  
  Today’s broadsheet from the FM website pressroom.  There are 5 sections, all with hot news. Links to interesting news and analysis Any Randian Quote of the Day Featured articles about today’s followers of Ayn Rand’ Plus, an Afterword (I)  Links to interesting news and analysis (a ...
  
  
  
  
  

sibeledmonds - tweets

• sibeledmonds: Boiling Frogs Asking: The Mighty Age ...
  
  
  
  sibeledmonds: Boiling Frogs Asking: The Mighty Agency, CIA, on its Knees in a Legal Battle. Hiding Narco-trafficking role? http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
  
  
  
  
• sibeledmonds: From Boiling Frogs: CIA to Dish out ...
  
  
  
  sibeledmonds: From Boiling Frogs: CIA to Dish out $3 Million to buy silence in Another Narco Scandal! NarcTrafficking Agency? http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
  
  
  
  
• sibeledmonds: FROM FLATBUSH TO THE STREETS OF KAND ...
  
  
  
  sibeledmonds: FROM FLATBUSH TO THE STREETS OF KANDAHAR - http://shar.es/azhKF
  
  
  
  
  
• sibeledmonds: Boiling Frogs Post Investigative Sto ...
  
  
  
  sibeledmonds: Boiling Frogs Post Investigative Story:FROM FLATBUSH TO THE STREETS OF KANDAHAR by Reporter & Author Joe Lauria http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
  
  
  
  
• sibeledmonds: - http://shar.es/az3Uw
  
  
  
  sibeledmonds: - http://shar.es/az3Uw
  
  
  
  
  

WIRED Magazine | Science

• ID Error Leaves Fish at Edge of Extinction
  
  
  
  In an extinction scenario that might have been concocted by Douglas Adams or a taxonomically minded Kafka, a classification error has allowed fishermen to drive a species of skate to near oblivion. If it vanishes, the flapper skate will be the first fish officially exterminated by commercial pressu ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Plants Have a Social Life Too
  
  
  
  After decades of seeing plants as passive recipients of fate, scientists have found them capable of behaviors once thought unique to animals. Some plants even appear to be social, favoring family while pushing strangers from the neighborhood. Research into plant sociality is still young, with many ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Mummy Scans Show Heart Disease Was Rampant
  
  
  
  ORLANDO, Florida — The curse of the mummy may truly be fatal. An examination of mummified bodies has revealed that ancient Egyptians suffered from hardening of the arteries in surprising frequency, suggesting that blame for heart disease extends beyond the modern culprits of smoking, fast food an ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Russian Cosmonaut’s Blog Much Funnier Than NASA
  
  
  
  It’s not just NASA that’s hip to the social media game anymore. Now, the Russian space agency Roscosmos has one of its own blogging from the International Space Station. The blog, as translated by Russia Today, includes pictures from the ISS — and covers a much different array of topics th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hubble Detects Galactic X-File
  
  
  
  This photo from the Hubble Space Telescope reveals a strange, faint “X” shape extending from the center of the spiral galaxy NGC 4710. Spiral galaxies are named for the arms curling outward from a central core of stars and gas. All of them have some sort of bulge at the center, but some, perhap ...
  
  
  
  
  

The Progressive Realist

• Europe's President Selected, Not Elected
  
  
  
  Tomorrow night, the European Union will have its first-ever president. Time's Leo Cendrowicz reports that few Europeans much care, perhaps because they have no voice in the selection. This should be a momentous occasion for Europe: this week, the European Union will select its first-ever Presid ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The U.S. and Chinese Economies Are 'Superfused'
  
  
  
  "This is not a detachable relationship," Zachary Karabell said, referring to the U.S.-China relationship, at the EastWest Institute yesterday. The visit by the author of "Superfusion: How China and America Became One Economy and Why the World's Prosperity Depends On It" could not have been better ti ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Choosing the Right Broker
  
  
  
  Consider me a critic of the talk that France might play the role of mediator in a renewed round of Syrian-Israeli peace negotiations. Coming on the heels of supportive comments to this effect from Netanyahu, who stated on Sunday his interest in French -- rather than Turkish -- mediation, and a succe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Spending Trends in Afghanistan
  
  
  
  Something that I think gets underplayed in coverage of the Afghanistan debate is the extent to which our commitment to Afghanistan has already escalated substantially in the recent past. In his recent report for the Carnegie Endowment, Gilles Dorronsoro cites this data from Amy Belasco’s classic S ...
  
  
  
  
  
• On Obama's Asian Diplomacy: Discussing Nuclear Wea ...
  
  
  
  Last week some of Barack Obama's critics were upset that he ducked a question in Japan about whether he approved of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I cannot begin to say how stupid that criticism is. When I lived in Japan for several years in the 1980s, I learned about the various real ...
  
  
  
  
  

TAPPED - The American Prospect

• Lightning Round: I Guess this Means the Terrorists ...
  
  
  
  Of course there are political advantages to calling a "stimulus bill" a "jobs bill." But rhetoric only takes you so far if your jobs bill fails to actually produce jobs. The ARRA, while imperfect, saved a not-insignificant number of jobs, and created some demand where there otherwise would not have ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Leave Your Baby, or Go to Jail.
  
  
  
  In a story that's provoked justified outrage, the Army has threatened single military mom Spc. Alexis Hutchinson with a military court marshal for refusing leave her 10-month-old and ship off to Afghanistan when none of her family members could care for the child. In a compassionate display of flexi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• FDR Would Not Accept a 'Jobless Recovery.'
  
  
  
  With the unemployment rate the highest it's been in 25 years, The Roosevelt Institute asked historians, economists and other public thinkers to reflect on the lessons of the New Deal and explore new, big ideas for how to get America back to work. TAPPED will be cross-posting the 10-part series with ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Bank of America Undermining Anti-Foreclosure Progr ...
  
  
  
  Bank of America has been one of the least cooperative banks participating in Treasury's slow-going program to modify mortgages and prevent foreclosure, but last week I received a lending report from BofA with a fishy paragraph: Over the past 21 months, we’ve helped modify mortgage loans for 445,0 ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Benedict Tells Leaders Food Insecurity is a Moral ...
  
  
  
  At the U.N.'s big World Food Summit in Rome this week, Pope Benedict gave voice to a way of thinking about food that is both seemingly obvious and undervalued in development circles. You hear about the mismatch between the world's sustenance needs and the amount of readily available food attacke ...
  
  
  
  
  

Andy Worthington

• The Logic of the 9/11 Trials, The Madness of the M ...
  
  
  
  With just over two months to go until President Obama’s deadline for the closure of Guantanamo, the administration has finally woken up to the necessity of actually doing something to facilitate the prison’s closure by announcing on Friday that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other prisoners acc ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Guantánamo Comes To The United States: Andy Worth ...
  
  
  
  When I last visited the United States (in March 2008, on my first ever visit), I recall that, although there was fine spring weather, and life appeared to be proceeding as usual, those outside the Republican party — and I met many in New York and Washington D.C. — were struggling to cope with a ...
  
  
  
  
  
• An Evening with Andy Worthington, Discussing Guant ...
  
  
  
  As part of my US tour to promote my new documentary about Guantánamo, “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo” (co-directed with filmmaker Polly Nash), I traveled on Sunday (after events in New York, discussed here) to Fairfax, Virginia, for a screening of the film at an event organized by t ...
  
  
  
  
  
• On Democracy Now! Andy Worthington Discusses the F ...
  
  
  
  I was delighted to be invited to discuss Guantánamo on Democracy Now! this morning, just an hour after the story first broke that the Obama administration is preparing to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other prisoners to the US mainland to face trials in federal court for their alleged invol ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo – ...
  
  
  
  Following the successful launch of the new documentary film “Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamoâ€� at the Cochrane Theatre, London, on October 21, 2009 – and the current mini-US tour of the film (with Andy Worthington showing it at the New America Foundation in Washington D.C. ...
  
  
  
  
  

Buzzflash

• There is indeed such a thing as "a stupid question ...
  
  
  
  Body I was about mid-sip last night when MSNBC's Ed Schultz induced the coffee-spraying moment: "What's the holdup ?" he abruptly asked a dumbfounded Sherrod Brown about health-care legislation in the Senate. Why aren't all Democrats on board with this yet? he continued, apparently back ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Michael Winship: In a Chilly London November, War ...
  
  
  
  BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY by Michael Winship In Great Britain, Remembrance Sunday falls on the second Sunday of November, the one closest to November 11, the anniversary of the end of the First World War in 1918.  Once, the world called November 11 Armistice Day. Now, here in the States at least, i ...
  
  
  
  
  
• MSNBC News Junkies Beware: Comcast's Likely Acquis ...
  
  
  
  BUZZFLASH NEWS ANALYSIS by Meg White Business sections across the country are all abuzz this week over the expected announcement that Comcast Corp. will acquire a controlling share of NBC Universal. But should MSNBC viewers be particularly concerned about the nation's largest cable provider and seco ...
  
  
  
  
  
• When the President Speaks, Reason Listens. Fox, O ...
  
  
  
  BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT by Jeffrey Joseph In another victory for journalistic integrity and reason, Fox News lost yet another couple of viewers thanks to a simple dialogue between a thoughtful reader, her daughter, and her formerly Fox-viewing parents.  When Fox News ignores a speech from the president ...
  
  
  
  
  
• BuzzFlash Mailbag for November 16, 2009
  
  
  
  BUZZFLASH MAILBAG Want to join the conversation? Share your thoughts with other Mailbag readers by clicking here . You also may comment below; post articles yourself at BuzzFlash.net ; or send urls for BuzzFlash to post to: www.buzzflash.com/contact/newstip.html . Subject: McCain Has No Clue About R ...
  
  
  
  
  

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

• The Weekly Standard's smears indict only itself
  
  
  
  Even for The Weekly Standard, this bitter, juvenile McCarthyite attack on the ACLU by Thomas Joscelyn sputters with so much fact-free, impotent, and self-defeating rage that it's hard to believe it was printed.  Right in the headline, it oh-so-cleverly smears the ACLU as "Al Qaeda's Civil Liberties ...
  
  
  
  
  
• CNN on our new "huge, huge bomb" to use against Ir ...
  
  
  
  Here is Wolf Blitzer and Barbara Starr talking last night on CNN  about the Iranians and what the U.S. might to do them; it's really pitch-perfect: BLITZER: Regarding Iran, a new report raises some disturbing possibilities about its nuclear program, and that's prompting fears from the United Sta ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Ex-Islamic radicals on what motivates -- and imped ...
  
  
  
  (updated below) The British journalist Johann Hari has written an absolutely vital article for The Independent , examining a growing movement of former hardened Islamic militants who are now devoted to teaching a more moderate and less fundamentalist Islam.  Hari focuses on understanding wh ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Right's textbook "surrender to terrorists"
  
  
  
  Understanding and Combatting Terrorism , USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989 : Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear. As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon, terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it."  Terrorism utilizes ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The new WH counsel and "Scooter Libby justice"
  
  
  
  Barack Obama, November 3, 2007, announcing presidential bid : Here's the good news - for the first time in a long time, the name George Bush will not appear on the ballot. The name Dick Cheney will not appear on the ballot. The era of Scooter Libby justice . . . will be over. The Atlantic 's ...
  
  
  
  
  

The BiPartisan Report

• Those holier than thou Conservatives
• Dennis Kucinich: Enemy of the good, pursuer of the ...
• Betsy’s Bullshit, Round 2
• The difference between politics and governing
• The GOP and Dems win, conservatives lose

Sciencebase

• Latest science headlines
  
  
  
  Time to bring you up to date on the latest science headlines I’ve put together for other sites this last couple of weeks, so here’s a quick round-up: On the SpectroscopyNOW site, this issue, I covered natural chemicals that can help sunflowers soak up toxic cadmium from the soil (another example ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Genetically engineered heavy metal fans
  
  
  
  The wastewater released from industry often contains high levels of toxic heavy metals, which can kill organisms, damage ecosystems, and accumulate in the foodchain. Electroplating, lead smelting, mining, and countless other processes produce enormous volumes of such wastewater. In a perfect world, ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Juggling cancer nano news
  
  
  
  Latest news reports from yours truly on Spectroscopynow.com Juggling matters on the brain – UK scientists have used magnetic resonance imaging to reveal that learning a complex task like juggling can causes changes in the white matter in the brain. The findings could have implications for developi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Berlin Wall falls in Australia
  
  
  
  Twenty years ago today, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I lay on a bed in a cramped backpackers’ hostel in the Katherine Gorge National Park (now Nitmiluk), in Australia’s Northern Territory, watching news of the fall of the Berlin Wall (now rubble). Outside insects were buzzing ferociously, the ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Alchemical Anomalies
  
  
  
  In the current issue of The Alchemist we learn how to stick methane molecules to metals without breaking carbon-hydrogen bonds and how to make impossible carbene catalysts without the usual prerequisite of an attendant metal centre. Another seeming impossibility comes to light: a new microscopy tech ...
  
  
  
  
  

change: org.

• Does the New Senate Health Care Bill Get the Job D ...
  
  
  
  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled a press conference for this Thursday to formally unveil the long, long, LONG -anticipated full Senate bill. Which of course means it all leaked semi-intentionally Wednesday night . (Man, I’m glad the Senate isn’t in charge of keeping state secrets… ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Is the Nature Conservancy Killing Animals?
  
  
  
  The nonprofit Friends of Animals has just started a petition here at Change.org that I recommend interested animal advocates customize (i.e., personalize with their own language, perspectives, and concerns) and sign their names to. "Once again," the group explains, "the Nature Conservancy is using l ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Gay Adoption Matters in the Florida Governor's ...
  
  
  
  Florida is one of two states that have instituted bans on adoption for LGBT families, sharing the dubious honor with Arkansas. Thankfully, there's movement in Florida to overturn this out-dated law that not only fosters homophobia, but punishes children by keeping them away from healthy families. F ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?
  
  
  
  Everybody, including sex offenders, needs a place to live. If proposed legislation in Massachusetts passes, registered sex offenders would be barred from staying in homeless shelters, begging the question: where are they supposed to go? There are few questions that get people as riled up as those re ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Newsweek's "Sexist" Cover Photo Stirs Up False Con ...
  
  
  
  The internet has been growling a lot today. And most of the disgruntled tweets and blog posts are over Newsweek's cover , featuring none other than former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin. To coincide with the release of Palin's book, Going Rogue , Newsweek's editors decided to print two essays abou ...
  
  
  
  
  

Common Dreams-Progressive Newswire

• Amnesty International Calls on President Karzai to ...
  
  
  
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2009 Amnesty International - USA Amnesty International urges Afghanistan’s newly re-elected President Hamid Karzai to prioritize human rights and the rule of law in his second term in order to strengthen the country’s stability and security. “Afghans from a ...
  
  
  
  
  
• New report: One-Third of Young Adults Lack Health ...
  
  
  
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2009 US PIRG The future of the country lies in the hands of its young people. Yet today more than 1/3 of America's youth - aged 19-29 - lacks health care. Often dismissed as the "young invincibles" who don't worry about health care, a new study from the U.S. Pub ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Poverty and Unemployment Fuel the Conflict Accordi ...
  
  
  
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2009 Oxfam International Seventy per cent of Afghans surveyed see poverty and unemployment as the major cause of the conflict in their country, according to new research by international aid agency Oxfam and a group of Afghan organisations. Ordinary Afghans blame g ...
  
  
  
  
  
• WaPo's New Rule of Journalism? On Healthcare: Don' ...
  
  
  
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2009 FAIR The Washington Post 's Shailagh Murray ( 11/17/09 ) wrote a profile of Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D.-Ark.) as one of the Democratic senators most likely to break with the rest of the party on healthcare reform. The article seemed to invert the advice Deep Thro ...
  
  
  
  
  
• ACLU At Guantánamo Monitoring Unconstitutional Mi ...
  
  
  
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2009 ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union is at Guantánamo this week to monitor the military commission hearing of Afghan national Mohammed Kamin. The ACLU has been present as an independent observer at nearly every military commission hearing since 2004 and co ...
  
  
  
  
  

Common Dreams-Views

• Tiny Tims and Our Nation's Healthcare Scrooges
  
  
  
  by Donna Smith Some Americans will schlep into a local theater to check out Disney's latest 3-D version of "A Christmas Carol." They'll gather up the kids and worry about whether or not it's appropriate viewing or a little too scary for the wee ones. Other Americans are planning holiday travel and ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Split Up The Banks! Restore Glass-Steagall
  
  
  
  by Dave Zweifel Ten years ago, the Republican-controlled Congress - egged on by that champion deregulator, former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm - passed legislation that arguably did more to plunge the United States into our crippling great recession than anything else: It repealed the Great Depression era' ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Nobody Is Beyond Redemption
  
  
  
  by Deena Guzder At the age of 13, Ishmael and his friends began sniffing "brown-brown"-a mix of cocaine and gunpowder-and wielding AK-47s. By the age of 16, Ishmael had killed "too many people to count" by his own admission.  "All I knew was how to fight and loot," recalled Ishmael. read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Hell Comes Home
  
  
  
  by Robert C. Koehler There's no armor, it turns out, for conscience. So our men and women are coming home from the killing fields wounded in their heads, used up, greeted only by the military's own meat grinder of inadequate health care and intolerance for "weakness." read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Nuclear Power’s Megafraud
  
  
  
  by Pierre Tristam Energy independence is the new creationism; nuclear power its deity. As the head glow for nuclear's new dawn, you can't do better than Aris Candris. He's president and CEO of Westinghouse Electric, the company aiming to build 14 of 25 new nuclear reactors planned in the United Stat ...
  
  
  
  
  

Karl Burkart

• OMG ... another Kindle killer
  
  
  
  Barnes & Noble announces the Nook, an e-Reader that matches the Kindle in price but includes full color.
  
  
  
  
  
• US & China announce climate cooperation plan
  
  
  
  Obama and Jintao announce sweeping clean energy 'cooperation plan' that could significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.
  
  
  
  
  
• Climate solution: earth disco ball
  
  
  
  U.S. House Committee on Science & Technology holds hearing on geo-engineering space oddities that could alleviate the symptoms of climate change.
  
  
  
  
  
• Ringtones: A real 'tweet'
  
  
  
  Audubon Society partners with Sprint to release 28 ringtones recorded from real bird calls.
  
  
  
  
  
• Carbon cubes and floating spheres
  
  
  
  Two art projects attempt to put a shape (and color) to that invisible foe -- carbon dioxide.
  
  
  
  
  

Water Privatization

• Background Note: Suriname (Scoop.co.nz)
  
  
  
  Geography Area: 163,194 sq. km. (63,037 sq. mi.); slightly larger than Georgia. Cities: Capital --Paramaribo (pop. 242,946). Other cities --Nieuw Nickerie, Moengo, Brownsweg, Albina. Terrain: Rain forest, savanna, coastal swamps, hills. Climate: ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Italy Water Privatization Hinges on Parliament Con ...
  
  
  
  Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will face a confidence vote in parliament today over a bill allowing private investors such as Suez SA to take stakes in public water distribution companies as a rift in his party deepens and threatens his hold on power.
  
  
  
  
  
• Berlusconi Survives Confidence Vote Over Water Pri ...
  
  
  
  Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi survived a confidence vote called to accelerate the passage of a law allowing private investors such as Suez SA to buy stakes in public water distribution companies.
  
  
  
  
  
• Italy Water Privatization Hinges on Parliament Con ...
  
  
  
  Nov. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will face a confidence vote in parliament today over a bill allowing private investors such as Suez SA to take stakes in public water distribution companies as a rift in his party deepens and threatens his hold on power.
  
  
  
  
  
• Universal Single-Payer Healthcare Coverage: An Eco ...
  
  
  
  The Institute for Health & Socio-Economic Policy (IHSP) is "non-profit policy and research group and is the exclusive research arm of the California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, (focusing on) current political/economic policy analysis in health care and other Industries.. ...
  
  
  
  
  

Guardian

• Karzai unveils five-year plan for troop withdrawal
  
  
  
  President calls for Afghan forces to take control of security within five years, and vows to tackle corruption Hamid Karzai called for Afghan forces to assume responsibility for unstable areas in three years and to take complete control of security within five, in an inauguration speech closely moni ...
  
  
  
  
  
• UK budget deficit soars to £11.4bn
  
  
  
  National debt soars to 59.2% of GDP, the highest since records began in the 1970s Britain's budget deficit blew out to the worst ever October reading for an October last month, suffering a much bigger than expected shortfall of £11.4bn, official data showed today. The Office for National Statistics ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tories: Queen's speech 'unravelling'
  
  
  
  Confusion over whether or not Sir Christopher Kelly's recommendations on allowances need to be enacted through new legislation David Cameron today claimed that the Queen's speech was "unravelling" after Downing Street appeared to change its stance on passing further laws to clean up MPs' expenses. T ...
  
  
  
  
  
• JP Morgan buys Cazenove for £1bn
  
  
  
  City sources insist company's culture – secrecy, discretion and sage advice handed out to chief executives – can still survive A £1bn buyout of blue-blooded City firm Cazenove was confirmed this morning in a move that will unleash multimillion-pound payouts for its former partners, including ch ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hand of Henry provokes Irish outrage
  
  
  
  • Thierry Henry 'blatantly' offside as well, claims Dermot Ahern • Kevin Kilbane says France captain admitted handball to him The Irish Justice Minister demanded a rematch today after a blatant handball put France into the World Cup finals. Dermot Ahern lashed out at the governing body Fifa afte ...
  
  
  
  
  

Diigo | Green Community

• U.N. Talks in Spain Seek to Salvage Climate Deal
  
  
  
  Climate negotiators from 175 nations meet in Spain next week for a final session to try to break deadlock between rich and poor and salvage a U.N. deal due in Copenhagen in December. Comments: Climate negotiators from 175 nations meet in Spain next week for a final session to try to break deadlock b ...
  
  
  
  
  
• EU Agrees Final Stance For Copenhagen Climate Talk ...
  
  
  
  European Union leaders agreed an offer Friday to put on the table at global climate talks in Copenhagen in December after healing a rift over how to split the bill. Comments: European Union leaders agreed an offer Friday to put on the table at global climate talks in Copenhagen in December after hea ...
  
  
  
  
  
• French Firm Pushes Carbon Capture Solution at us C ...
  
  
  
  Eyeing lucrative markets in China, India and beyond, French firm Alstom on Friday unveiled the world's largest carbon capture facility at a coal plant -- a technology backers hope will fuel a new multi-billion dollar industry and keep the coal industry alive. Comments: Eyeing lucrative markets in Ch ...
  
  
  
  
  
• S.Africa's Tutu criticizes world leaders on climat ...
  
  
  
  Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu criticized European Union leaders on Friday for standing in the way of a global deal to combat climate change. Comments: Nobel peace laureate Desmond Tutu criticized European Union leaders on Friday for standing in the way of a global deal to combat climate change. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Will U.S. go empty-handed to world climate talks?
  
  
  
  Without a new law requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. could end up going empty-handed to the international climate talks in December. Comments: Without a new law requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. could end up going empty-handed to the international climate talks i ...
  
  
  
  
  

Electronic Intifada

• Sounds and struggle: Solidarity through music
  
  
  
  On Wednesday, 11 November, more than 200 persons packed into La Sala Rossa, a slightly operatic Montreal venue, as part of the ongoing concert series "Artists Against Apartheid," which is held in soli ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The "green zone" called Jordan
  
  
  
  MUWAQQAR, Jordan (IPS) - In the bleak and seemingly endless desert expanse that unfolds east of Jordan's capital city, Amman, lies a crucial cog in the ambitious regional designs of the US and its all ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Olive oil and yoghurt, yoghurt and olive oil
  
  
  
  An old expression goes that a man once asked his wife to prepare lunch. When the wife asked what he wanted, the husband answered " laban ou zeit ," which means yoghurt with olive oil. You mean " zeit ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Israeli judge rules Arabs need "protection" from j ...
  
  
  
  An Israeli judge made an historic ruling last week when he decided that an Arab teenager needed "protection" from the justice system and ordered that he not be convicted despite being found gui ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Gaza braces for bitter winter
  
  
  
  EZBT ABBED RABBO, occupied Gaza Strip (IPS) - Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza living in tents and damaged homes face a wet, cold and miserable winter as Israel's blockade of the coastal terr ...
  
  
  
  
  

CS Monitor - News

• October 16, 2009
  
  
  
  The UN Human Rights Council votes to adopt the Goldstone Report on Israel's military incursion into Gaza.
  
  
  
  
  
• October 19, 2009
  
  
  
  Saudi Arabia is wary of terrorists, especially from neighboring states.
  
  
  
  
  
• October 20, 2009
  
  
  
  How some TV insiders view parents and children on reality television.
  
  
  
  
  
• October 21, 2009
  
  
  
  How African Anglicans might respond to the Vatican's offer.
  
  
  
  
  
• October 23, 2009
  
  
  
  US-China economic relations, Microsoft and Wall Street, and September home sales.
  
  
  
  
  

The Wonk Room

• The Details Of The New Merged Senate Bill
  
  
  
  Moments ago, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) released the merged Senate health care bill. According to preliminary CBO analysis, the Senate bill costs $849 billion over 10 years and reduces the deficit by $127 billion over 10 years. The legislation could further reduce the deficit by up to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sheriff Arpaio Asks Deputy To Defy Judge’s O ...
  
  
  
  Last month, surveillance footage emerged showing Maricopa County Officer Adam Stoddard pulling a document out of a public defender’s file while she had her back turned and asking a fellow officer to take the document and leave the courtroom with it. Stoddard testified that his eyes “glazed over ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Goldman Sachs Apologizes, Pledges ‘Equivalen ...
  
  
  
  cknowledging that maybe he isn’t always “doing God’s work,” Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein yesterday took some responsibility for his company’s role in the economic crisis. “We participated in things that were clearly wrong and have reason to regret,â€� he said. “We apologi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Can Lawmakers Build A Sustainable Long-Term Care I ...
  
  
  
  “The problem with long-term care is that it suffers from a lack of interest,” Howard Gleckman, a resident fellow at the Urban Institute and author of “Caring For Our Parents,” told me in an interview. “When I talk to members of Congress about this issue, they just don’t care. It’s not ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Bank Of America Failing To Comply With Treasury&#8 ...
  
  
  
  This post was co-written by Andrew Jakabovics, Associate Director for for Housing and Economics at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, and Pat Garofalo. Seemingly deliberate noncompliance with the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) may explain why Bank of America has consistently ...
  
  
  
  
  

thwap's schoolyard

• Removed "Canada-Afghanistan Blog" from blog-roll.
  
  
  
  I should have listend to myself . I'm glad I didn't waste my time reading right-wing blogs, or Canadian government websites , touting all the fantastic accomplishments we've made in Afghanistan.I'm busy enough as it is, so I tend to focus on the people who've almost always been right (and when wrong ...
  
  
  
  
  
• thwap is inspired ...
  
  
  
  stone d and dru-u-u-unk is more like it. anyway, he doesn't want to trash the rotten socialism that has made capitalism look bad (same way Stalinism made capitalism look good!) any more than he has to, but the reaction to this video: to whit: I used to listen to this band via short-receiver rad ...
  
  
  
  
  
• More on Contrasting 1929 With Today
  
  
  
  Earlier , I brought up some differences between 1929 (the year the Great Depression began) and today. Among those differences there is the more timely use of counter-cyclical fiscal policy, the continued easing of monetary policy, a larger public sector and, even if I didn't mention it last time I' ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Economists as Priests
  
  
  
  It's not an original idea, but here's some of my thoughts: Priests deliver an unrealistic code of ethics and say that divergence from this code will bring disaster and adherence to the code will bring happiness and success n' life. There's enough commonsense in this ethical code ("do not kill," "d ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Meet General Karl W. Eikenberry
  
  
  
  From Patrick Cockbourn at CounterPunch.Org, we get a blistering criticism of the Afghan government, including my first hearing of retired general Karl W. Eikenberry: In a leaked cable to Washington sent last week, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, Gen Karl W. Eikenberry, argues that it would be a mi ...
  
  
  
  
  

Financial Sense Editorials

• Market Observation: The Gold Trifecta?
  
  
  
  by Chris Puplava. "Since the July lows we have witnessed gold rocket northward first through the $1,000 per ounce mark and then the $1,100 per ounce mark, hitting an all-time high of $1,152.85 today. The move in gold off the July lows led to a more than 25% gain in the yellow metal with silver putti ...
  
  
  
  
  
• More than 130 banks will have failed by the end of ...
  
  
  
  by Elliott Wave Int. "Please understand that this article is about more than safeguarding your money; it's about saving you headache and heartache. It's about giving you peace of mind. Before I explain, please allow me to ask a few questions"
  
  
  
  
  
• COP15 Failure and Peak Oil Success
  
  
  
  by Andrew McKillop. "Since late summer, several OECD country leaders in the G20 group have stridently backed their proposals for radical cuts in global CO2 emissions, by waving the spectre of 'catastrophic climate change' if we do not achieve rapid, massive cuts in CO2 on a worldwide and uniform bas ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Country at a Crossroads
  
  
  
  by John Browne. "The U.S. economy is in uncertain times. Analysts are split between those seeing recovery and those fearing a second downturn. This confusion is being echoed in the highest levels of government as President Obama simultaneously speaks about the need for more federal spending and warn ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Zinc Dimes, Tungsten Gold & Lost Interest
  
  
  
  by Jim Willie. "In 1964 the USGovt introduced the zinc dimes clad with silver. They at least admitted the debauchery publicly. Now pre-1964 silver coins are all considered different, and valued differently too, higher. Rome committed the same coinage fraud 1900 years ago."
  
  
  
  
  

on Government Oversight

• Will the House Stand Up for Greater Bailout Transp ...
  
  
  
  Amid the whirlwind of debate about how to improve the financial regulatory system, the House Financial Services Committee is considering several measures this week that could have a huge impact on the transparency of the government’s bailout programs under the...
  
  
  
  
  
• Moneyed Mentors at the Pentagon
  
  
  
  As you can see from today's Morning Smoke, USA Today's Tom Vanden Brook, Ken Dilanian and Ray Locker put out a great story on retired military officers consulting for the Pentagon as mentors to "help run war games and offer advice." The Pentagon wouldn't release a full list of the mentors, but USA T ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Taxpayer Shouldn't be Burned Again in LANL's I ...
  
  
  
  As usual, last week there was an interesting article in the Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor. In “Pu Work Curtailed Because Of Fire Sprinkler Issues,” the Monitor’s Todd Jacobson reported that “Los Alamos National Laboratory [LANL] curtailed programmatic work in the lab’s Plutonium Faci ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Morning Smoke: Retired Military Officers Find Lucr ...
  
  
  
  Morning Smoke: Retired Military Officers Find Lucrative Stints as Mentors, Advisors
  
  
  
  
  
• Is DCAA Adopting a More Confrontational Stance Wit ...
  
  
  
  Not according to a recent survey of government contractors conducted by Deltek Inc. Washington Technology reports that Deltek (a company that offers clients advice on how their companies can "survive" a pass/fail system in which "failure carries a death sentence")...
  

  Blacklisted News

  
  
  
  
• CIA Unveils New Recruitment Commercials
  
  
  
  You may not know this, but the CIA has been recruiting in Dearborn for seven years, and the agency has been very successful, so far. But right now, they are looking to recruit more Arab and Muslim-Americans to help keep our country safe from harm.
  
  
  
  
  
• Court: Army Corps Liable For Katrina Flooding
  
  
  
  A judge ruled the Army Corps of Engineers was negligent in maintaining New Orleans' levees.
  
  
  
  
  
• Former Monsanto Lawyer Hired by FDA as Key Advisor
  
  
  
  A former lobbyist and Monsanto employee who is credited with playing an instrumental role in introducing genetically modified milk and known carcinogens into the U.S. Food supply has been hired as a key advisor for the FDA
  
  
  
  
  
• 'Hobbits' are a new human species -- according to ...
  
  
  
  Researchers from Stony Brook University Medical Center in New York have confirmed that Homo floresiensis is a genuine ancient human species and not a descendant of healthy humans dwarfed by disease. Using statistical analysis on skeletal remains of a well-preserved female specimen, researchers deter ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Swine flu: One killer virus, three key questions: ...
  
  
  
  A deadly line-up of viruses is locked up in the computer-controlled safes at the Jean Mérieux/INSERM biosecurity level four (BSL-4) facility in Lyon, France, including Ebola, Nipah, Lassa, Hendra and Marburg. And in the next few weeks, scientists working there are planning to manufacture a new resid ...
  
  
  
  
  

The Intelligence Daily

• Panama: Students Protest “US Bases”
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
  
  
  
  
• The most recent economic downturn is a peak oil re ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
  
  
  
  
• "Recession" forcing Americans to grow old on the j ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
  
  
  
  
• How To Solve The Housing Glut: Ship Poor People In ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
  
  
  
  
• The worst is yet to come: Unemployed Americans sho ...
  
  
  
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
  
  
  
  

My AntiWar

• Wednesday: 4 Iraqis Killed, 6 Wounded
• January Gitmo Closure Won’t Happen, Obama Fi ...
• Obama Suggests 9/11 Suspect Will Get Death Penalty
• US Criticism of Building Plans Angers Gilo Residen ...
• US Urges 30-70 Years for Sears Tower Plotters
  
  
  

  Rogue Government.com

  
  
  
  
• NATO Chief: Quick Exit From Afghanistan Would Unl ...
  
  
  
  Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued his warning just a day after Gordon Brown gave his clearest signal yet that he wants to begin the process of ending Britain’s Afghan mission within months.
  
  
  
  
  
• Big Pharma Developing Vaccines For Almost Anythin ...
  
  
  
  Malaria. Tuberculosis. Alzheimer's disease. AIDS. Pandemic flu. Genital herpes. Urinary tract infections. Grass allergies. Traveler's diarrhea. You name it, the pharmaceutical industry is working on a vaccine to prevent it.
  
  
  
  
  
• Coincidence Or Business As Usual?
  
  
  
  In September 2009, Interpol ran a tabletop exercise designed to test and formulate the response to a bio-terror attack where plague had just been unleashed on their countries by unknown evildoers.Alone, this would appear to be merely preparedness in an attempt to cover all possible scenarios of an ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Taliban Blame Blackwater For Pakistan Bombings
  
  
  
  On Monday, Al Jazeera reported that a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban said the group accepted responsibility for only some of the recent suicide bombings in Pakistan, laying the blame for others, including a deadly attack on a market last month that killed more than 100 civilians,
  
  
  
  
  
• NSA Is Giving Microsoft Some Help On Windows 7 Se ...
  
  
  
  The National Security Agency has been working with Microsoft Corp. to help improve security measures for its new Windows 7 operating system, a senior NSA official said on Tuesday.
  
  
  
  
  

Innovation Canada

• Building better bridges
  
  
  
  (Reprinted with permission from ResearchLife, Summer 2009 issue, University of Manitoba, umanitoba.ca/research) It was 1952 when Aftab Mufti, a 12-year-old boy living in Karachi, Pakistan, began building bridges. His mother planted a vegetable garden that summer and to help her water it Aftab and hi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Viral control
  
  
  
  Depending on whom you ask, the H1N1 flu virus that is making its way around the globe could be anything from a particularly virulent form of influenza to the next worldwide pandemic. As virologists scramble to understand the virus and develop vaccines against it, a Halifax facility is already on the ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Fear factor
  
  
  
  Let’s say you’re wandering through a deserted alley late one foggy October night. You turn a corner, and lo and behold, you’re surrounded by a crowd of brain-thirsty zombies. Your pulse quickens, your amygdala fires, your respiration is off the charts. You try to run, but you trip and fall. As ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Fuels of the future?
  
  
  
  A recession-related dip in flight demand might actually be considered a green blessing. Just a small one, mind you. The David Suzuki Foundation estimates that aviation is responsible for up to nine percent of the total global climate-change  impact of human activity, so it would take a huge drop to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• i2eye with Bif Naked
  
  
  
  The last few years have been a roller-coaster ride for Bif Naked. After two years of touring, TV work and datelessness following her 2005 album Superbeautifulmonster, the Vancouver-based alt-rock singer-songwriter — whose real name is Beth Walker — met and married her husband, sportswriter Ian W ...
  
  
  
  
  

Signs of the times

• Violent dissent in Greece: cui bono?
  
  
  
  It's time for the left to interrogate the systemic origins of the terrorism that has greeted the new Greek government In a few weeks, Greece will commemorate the "December events", which began last year when a police officer killed a young boy in Exarhia, an area that's been described as a semi-ghe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Violent dissent in Greece: cui bono?
  
  
  
  It's time for the left to interrogate the systemic origins of the terrorism that has greeted the new Greek government In a few weeks, Greece will commemorate the "December events", which began last year when a police officer killed a young boy in Exarhia, an area that's been described as a semi-ghe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Militant groups recruiting active soldiers, traini ...
  
  
  
  Acosta: Obama 'inherited' civil liberties problems from Bush A quickly-growing right-wing group that recruits serving soldiers and police officers and encourages members not to obey presidential orders has some watchdogs worried. The Oath Keepers, founded earlier this year by a former staffer for ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The real agenda comes to the fore: Italy's Foreign ...
  
  
  
  Italy is to push for the creation of a European Army after the "new Europe" takes shape at this week's crucial EU summit following the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty. Franco Frattini, the Italian Foreign Minister, said that the Lisbon Treaty had established "that if some countries want to enter into ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Favourite to be EU president backs European nation ...
  
  
  
  The new front-runner to be the first EU President is committed to a European national anthem and the replacement of a range of nationalistic symbols. Herman Van Rompuy, 62, the Prime Minister of Belgium for 11 months, is expected to be installed as President of the European Council at a dinner in ...
  
  
  
  
  

Threat Level

• It’s Alive! Hollywood Claims Pirate Bay Tracker ...
  
  
  
  Did The Pirate Bay really shutter its tracker, as claimed on Tuesday? The Motion Picture Association doesn’t think so. Hollywood’s overseas lobbying organization claims OpenBitTorrent, billed as an independent “open tracker project,” was actually established by one of The Pirate Bay’s foun ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Palin Calls E-Mail Hack ‘Most Disruptive’ Camp ...
  
  
  
  Never mind the disastrous interview with Katie Couric or the blank stares in response to Charlie Gibson’s question about the Bush Doctrine. Former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin calls the hacking of her Yahoo e-mail account “the most disruptive and discouraging” incident in last year ...
  
  
  
  
  
• DNA Testing Firm Goes Bankrupt; Who Gets the Data?
  
  
  
  An Icelandic firm that offers private DNA testing to customers has filed for bankruptcy in the U.S., raising privacy concerns about the fate of customer DNA samples and records, according to the Times of London. DeCODE Genetics, a genetics research firm, began offering personalized DNA testing throu ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Swedish Retailer Lets Go of Pirate Bay Logo
  
  
  
  The Swedish online retailer that had trademarked a near replica of The Pirate Bay’s iconic logo has agreed to withdraw registration of what has become an enduring symbol of online piracy, Swedish media reported Wednesday. The move by Sandryds Handel came two days after Peter Sunde, one of The Pira ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Senate Panel: 80 Percent of Cyber Attacks Preventa ...
  
  
  
  If network administrators simply instituted proper configuration policies and conducted good network monitoring, about 80 percent of commonly known cyber attacks could be prevented, a Senate committee heard Tuesday. The remark was made by Richard Schaeffer, the NSA’s information assurance director ...
  
  
  
  
  

PERRspectives : Blog

• Joan of Palin Leads the Republican War on Science
  
  
  
  Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center published survey findings which revealed that only 6% of American scientists identify themselves as Republicans. There can be little doubt as to why conservatives are now an endangered species within the scientific community....
  
  
  
  
  
• Red State Reality: Unhealthiest Residents, Worst H ...
  
  
  
  Throughout their all-out campaign to stop health care reform, Republican leaders have relied on questionable forecasts from the Lewin Group, a subsidiary of insurer UnitedHealth Group. Now, another study funded by UnitedHealth has some unwelcome news for the GOP braintrust:...
  
  
  
  
  
• Palin Fights Huckabee for the Hand of God
  
  
  
  Neither Mike Huckabee nor Sarah Palin believes in the theory of evolution. But with the posturing for the 2012 Republican presidential primaries already underway, each will soon learn about the principle of impenetrability. That is, when it comes to the...
  
  
  
  
  
• GOP Embraces Medicare Official Bush Tried to Fire
  
  
  
  Politics, especially Republican politics, makes for strange bedfellows. With the AARP by their side, President Bush and his GOP allies in 2003 pushed for their unfunded and deeply flawed Medicare prescription drug plan. Now in their scorched earth campaign to...
  
  
  
  
  
• Born Again Deficit Virgins
  
  
  
  Everything you need to know about the descent of the conservative movement into a hypocritical caricature is illustrated by two of its proudest constituencies: Republican deficit hawks and so-called "born again virgins." Having already violated the moral strictures they claim...
  
  
  
  
  

Blackspot News Feed

• How Limousine Liberals, Water Oligarchs and Even S ...
  
  
  
  A group of water oligarchs engineered a disastrous privatization scheme to make a fortune out of California's most precious natural resource.
  
  
  
  
  
• Rachel Maddow Interview with Former Evangelist Fra ...
  
  
  
  Schaeffer: "There is a crazy fringe [receiving] messages that have been pouring out of FOX News ... talking about doing away with Obama, asking God to kill him."
  
  
  
  
  
• Do Yearly Mammograms Save Women's Lives?
  
  
  
  Controversial new recommendations on breast cancer prevention have caused a stir in the women's health community. But do yearly mammograms really change death rates?
  
  
  
  
  
• Modern Life Is Probably Screwed by Peak Oil, But I ...
  
  
  
  The challenge of feeding 7 or 8 billion people while oil supplies are falling is stupefying. It'll be even greater if governments keep pretending that it isn't going to happen.
  
  
  
  
  
• In Trying to Prevent Gay Marriage, Texas May Have ...
  
  
  
  It's rare a story about banning gay marriage actually has a silver lining.
  
  
  
  
  

Consortium News

• The Ugly Truth about Jobs
  
  
  
  Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hints at how U.S. companies are learning to avoid hiring American workers, reports Robert Parry. November 17, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
• History's Bitter Guerrilla War Lessons
  
  
  
  Even if President Obama sends more troops to Afghanistan, chances for success may not be good, writes Ivan Eland. November 17, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
• Facts Behind 'Men Who Stare at Goats'
  
  
  
  As crazy as "The Men Who Stare at Goats" may seem, there's a real story behind the psychic experimentation, says Lisa Pease. November 16, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
• Will the Gun Carnage Ever Stop?
  
  
  
  America's love affair with firearms continues to exact a gruesome toll in death and shattered lives, writes Sherwood Ross. November 16, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
• Is Israel Addicted to the Occupation?
  
  
  
  Israeli columnist Gideon Levy says only the United States can help Israel beat its destructive addiction, reports TheRealNews. November 16, 2009
  
  
  
  
  

CounterPunch

• Uri Avnery : A Religious Scoundrel
• John Ross : Hot Oil!
• Conn Hallinan : Strategic Towns: Why Gen. McChryst ...
• Mike Whitney : Obama's China Junket
• Ray McGovern : The Bogus Success of the Surge

Institute for Middle East Understanding

• Mets' Citi Field to host pro-settlements Hebron Fu ...
  
  
  
  On November 21, hundreds of supporters will pay $300 a plate to attend the Hebron Fund's annual dinner at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. Sitting in the Caesar's Club above the field, the attendees wi ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Settlers and the Olive Harvest 2009 (B'Tselem)
• Gilo expansion sabotages peace talks (Omar Karmi, ...
  
  
  
  Palestinian officials yesterday condemned Israeli plans to build 900 housing units in the settlement of Gilo in East Jerusalem as a "direct challenge" to the international community. Barack Obama, the US pre ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Obama warns Israel on settlements (BBC News)
  
  
  
  US President Barack Obama has said Israel's approval of 900 extra housing units at a settlement in East Jerusalem could lead to a "dangerous" situation. Mr Obama told Fox News that additional settlement cons ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Erekat: Gilo construction shows why Israel not par ...
  
  
  
  Saeb Erekat welcomed the international criticism of Israel's plan to build hundreds of housing units in Jerusalem's southeastern Gilo colony. He said the Gilo project "provides 900 more reasons why hopes for ...
  
  
  
  
  

Water - AlterNet

• How Limousine Liberals, Water Oligarchs and Even S ...
  
  
  
  A group of water oligarchs engineered a disastrous privatization scheme to make a fortune out of California's most precious natural resource.
  
  
  
  
  
• Mystery of World's Worst Mass Arsenic Poisoning Fi ...
  
  
  
  The culprit are tens of thousands of man-made ponds excavated to provide soil for flood protection.
  
  
  
  
  
• Is California's New Water Legislation Better Than ...
  
  
  
  Despite the happy face being put on by some of the bill's supporters, including Governor Schwarzenegger, I doubt anyone is truly happy with the end result.
  
  
  
  
  
• A Very Good Week for Rivers in California, Austral ...
  
  
  
  Thanks to grassroots advocacy and new legislation, important ecosystems across the globe will be guarded from harmful damming projects.
  
  
  
  
  
• California's Water Crisis Is Just the Beginning fo ...
  
  
  
  The thirst for water in California, and across the country, has only just begun.
  
  
  
  
  

TruthHugger

• Barbara Ann Radnofsky Announcment Tour
  
  
  
  It is certain that Barbara Ann Radnofsky will be on the ballot for the Democrats in 2010; we don’t know who will be on the ballot for the Republicans. Radnofsky will formally announce her candidacy for Texas Attorney General and her December 3 filling for the primary election in a five-city tour. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance Round Up Nov 16, 2009
  
  
  
  The Texas Progressive Alliance is starting to feel an odd craving for can-shaped servings of cranberry sauce as it brings you this week’s highlights from the blogs. TXsharon continues to follow the abuses of Aruba Petroleum in a Barnett Shale backyard and Wednesday the Wise County Messenger picked ...
  
  
  
  
  
• To Dave Cashin Re: Proselytizing
  
  
  
  To Dave Cashin Re: General Order Number One, Forbid Proselytizing Before I answer all of Dave’s points, I will say that Humanitarian Missionary work has achieved wonderful results by helping people through hunger, poverty, education and displacement.  Whether they are victims of war or natural di ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance November 9, 2009
  
  
  
  The Texas Progressive Alliance hopes everyone had a happy Election Day last week, and is already looking forward to the next one. Here are this week’s highlights. TXsharon continues to report from a backyard in the Barnett Shale. Despite all the local and national press on drilling related toxins ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Health Care and The Brick Wall
  
  
  
  So, the wellness party is short lived.  The Senate is drunk with its own power … regardless of the fact there are millions  in health care distress.  Senators are so busy posturing in front of cameras, to get elected.  They continue to sabotage the current administration, ignoring mill ...
  
  
  
  
  

Dandelion Salad - Featured Writers' Posts

• Obama: We are now running out of time with respect ...
  
  
  
  Propaganda Alert compiled by Cem Ertür Featured Writer Dandelion Salad 15 November 2009 Obama: We ar
  
  
  
  
  
• Palinoscopy - Hitler in heels with a smiley face b ...
  
  
  
  by Steven Jonas, MD, MPH Featured Writer Dandelion Salad crossposted on Buzzflash.com Nov. 18, 2009
  
  
  
  
  
• The BNP and bridging the gulf of disbelief By Will ...
  
  
  
  By William Bowles Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Creative-i 18 November 2009 By now it must surely
  
  
  
  
  
• CIA to Dish out $3 Million to buy silence in Anoth ...
  
  
  
  by Sibel Edmonds Featured Writer Dandelion Salad originally published by Boiling Frogs Post 18 Novem
  
  
  
  
  
• The Logic of the 9/11 Trials, The Madness of the M ...
  
  
  
  by Andy Worthington Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.andyworthington.co.uk 18 November 2009 With
  
  
  
  
  

Unexplained Mysteries

• New type of flying reptile discovered
  
  
  
  A controversial type of evolution has been evidenced in the discovery of a new type of flying reptile that fills a gap in the fossil record sepera...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tiny insect brains can solve big problems
  
  
  
  Studies have shown that despite having tiny brains the size of a pinhead insects possess several impressive mental capabilities from the ability t...
  
  
  
  
  
• Is doomsday coming ?
  
  
  
  With the release of Roland Emmerich's "2012" the topic of doomsday or the end of the world is on many people's minds. How likely is it that the wo...
  
  
  
  
  
• Human evolution: the shrinking brain
  
  
  
  It is a common minsconception that humans have stopped evolving in recent times, one example of this is the fact that our brains have actually bee...
  
  
  
  
  
• Global warming poll reveals skepticism
  
  
  
  A poll held by British newspaper The Times has revealed that less than half the population believe that humans are contributing to global warming ...
  
  
  
  
  

Grassroots

• Why Food Sovereignty Is the New Food Security
  
  
  
  IMG_2759.JPG   read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Resource Rights and the Right to Food at the World ...
  
  
  
  wfs-pic09.jpg In 1996 the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) organized the first World Food Summit in Rome to, in their own words, “renew global commitment to the fight against hunger. The FAO called the Summit in respons ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Grassroots Signs Call for U.S. Leadership at the W ...
  
  
  
  unitedstates200604-015.jpg As a founding member and part of the ad hoc steering committee, Grassroots International proudly announces the following Call from the US Working Group on the Food Crisis. The statement coincides with the World Food ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Climate change and violence in Mexico
  
  
  
  mexico200601-003.JPG Cab drivers are often a good source of news information, or at least a good barometer of public opinion. Such was the case when I finally arrived in Mexico City this afternoon for visits with Grassroots International’s p ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Climate change in Mexico
  
  
  
  mexico200601-003.JPG Cab drivers are often a good source of news information, or at least a good barometer of public opinion. Such was the case when I finally arrived in Mexico City this afternoon for visits with Grassroots International’s p ...
  
  
  
  
  

Climate

• November 18, 2009
  
  
  
  Senate to Put Off Climate Bill Until Spring (Wall Street Journal) Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid says the Senate will delay debate on a climate bill until “some time in the spring”. The EPA, meanwhile, is moving ahead with its greenhouse gas endangerment finding. Ministers Making Progres ...
  
  
  
  
  
• November 17, 2009
  
  
  
  Obama: Copenhagen Deal Should Have 'Immediate Effect' (Reuters) President Obama said today that climate talks in Copenhagen next month should fix a new deal which has "immediate operational effect", even if an original goal of a legally binding pact is out of reach. Senate Climate Bill Faces Na ...
  
  
  
  
  
• November 16, 2009
  
  
  
  US, China Cuts Now Key to Climate Pact (Washington Post) The scaled-back climate strategy endorsed by President Obama and other leaders could put pressure on the U.S. and China to resolve the biggest stumbling block to an agreement — how much they will cut emissions in the next decade. Obama ...
  
  
  
  
  
• November 15, 2009
  
  
  
  APEC Leaders Reject Possibility of December Climate Deal (CNN) Big promises, no climate deal and consensus that pulling the plug too quickly on stimulus spending could undermine the global economic recovery — those are the results (or lack thereof) from the APEC summit. Copenhagen Hopes in ...
  
  
  
  
  
• November 13, 2009
  
  
  
  US Weighs Backing Interim Global Climate Deal (Washington Post) Backing an interim agreement based on “political commitments” to cut greenhouse gas emissions rather than legally binding ones would be an attempt to keep the talks from being viewed a failure. UN Official: Climate Deal Needs ...
  
  
  
  
  

TomDispatch

• Tomgram: Pratap Chatterjee, Afghanistan as a Patr ...
  
  
  
  It's now a commonplace of the Afghan War. Western leaders in London , Berlin, Amsterdam , and Washington , as well as on flying visits to Kabul or even Kandahar , excoriate Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the "corruption" of his government. In return for their ongoing support, they repeatedly ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tomgram: Max Blumenthal, How Palin Became a Rogue
  
  
  
  It can't get better than this, can it? A first printing of 1.5 million copies sent out into an otherwise dead book market. Possibly as much as $7 million dollars going to the author, who already has interviews lined up with Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters. A bus tour of the "real America" tha ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tomgram: Alfred McCoy, Surveillance State, U.S.A.
  
  
  
  Wars come home in strange, unnerving ways -- as Americans have just discovered at Fort Hood. Even before Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on his killing spree, that base, a major military embarkation point for our war zones, was already experiencing the after-effects of eight years of war and repeate ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tomgram: Droning On
  
  
  
  [ Note for TomDispatch Readers : A number of you have recently written in for clarification on contributing to this site through your purchases at Amazon.com. Here's my best shot at a useful explanation: If you click on any book image at this site -- like the book-cover image of The End of Vict ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Tomgram: Jamail and Lazare, Who Will Be Sent to A ...
  
  
  
  In a grim November 3rd Wall Street Journal piece (buried inside the paper), Yochi Dreazen reported record suicide rates for a stressed-out U.S. Army. Sixteen soldiers killed themselves in October alone, 134 so far this year, essentially ensuring that last year's "record" of 140 suicides will be b ...
  
  
  
  
  

Smirking Chimp

• Imagine if the Today's Right-Wing Were Around for ...
  
  
  
  I was talking to Frank Mankiewicz recently (he was the press secretary for Bobby Kennedy and campaign manager for George McGovern) and I asked him what's the difference between the right-wing in this country back in the 60s and 70s and right now. Certainly there were crazed conservatives back then, ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Taking Right-Wing Economic Populism Seriously
  
  
  
  It's easy to write-off batshit crazy narcissists like Dick Armey and Sarah Palin as what they are: Batshit crazy narcissists. But as Wellstone Action's Jeff Blodgett reminds us in this blog post , Armey/Palin-ism does represent something real and potentially powerful, even if it is insane. Blodgett ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Who Are You and What Have You Done With the Commun ...
  
  
  
  — from Truthdig What's up with Barack Obama? The candidate for change once promised to take on the powerful banking interests but is now doing their bidding. Finally, a leading Democrat, in this case Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, has a good idea for monitoring the Wall Street fat cat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 2010: A progressive strategy to win
  
  
  
  Progressives throughout the nation should rally around a strategy that could bring a surprise victory in the 2010 elections with a clear electoral plan and a program that is patriotic, populist and progressive. The plan is simple: Progressive Democrats have a golden opportunity to win Republican Sen ...
  
  
  
  
  
• They Should Get a Union
  
  
  
  "If a majority of workers want a union, they should get a union. It's that simple. We need to stand up to the business lobby and pass the Employee Free Choice Act. That's why I've been fighting for it in the Senate and that's why I'll make it the law of the land when I'm president of the United S ...
  
  
  
  
  

Ten Percent

• Cost
  
  
  
  In other words, there are conditions under which we can be more altruistic, more generous, and more aware. But those conditions are killed by the act of purchase, of engaging with the world and its problems as if those problems were commodities, rather than political challenges that will be solved n ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Dispatches: Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby
  
  
  
  Can be seen on YouTube here. PS. Guardian on it (& Lorna Fitzsimons from a while back).
  
  
  
  
  
• Imperial Hope
  
  
  
  Via Otto @ IKN, Council on Hemispheric Affairs:- Unsettling Revelations Regarding U.S. Lease of Colombian Military Bases It emphasizes the “opportunity for conducting full spectrum operations throughout South America� against threats not only from drug trafficking and guerrilla movement ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Authentic Journalism
  
  
  
  Congratulations to The Unapologetic Mexican (scroll down to donate to his scholarship fund) for his selection to the Narco News School of Authentic Journalism, just looking at the roster of recipients shows a magnificent challenge to the dominant white-male-corporate-media. They work or hail from 24 ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Afghanistan Timetable?
  
  
  
  Maybe the massive opposition to the Afghan occupation is getting through- Gordon Brown tonight raised the prospect of agreeing a timetable for international withdrawal from Afghanistan, in a speech in which he claimed that almost half of al-Qaida’s leadership had now been killed. Brown said he hop ...
  
  
  
  
  

Paul Krugman

• The AIG report
  
  
  
  By itself, the AIG story would be damaging enough. But it's part of a pattern -- and that pattern has ended up undermining the economy's prospects, big time.
  
  
  
  
  
• The madness of the inflation hawks
  
  
  
  Monetary tightening shouldn't be on the agenda for a long, long time.
  
  
  
  
  
• Proposed extensions of Godwin's Law
  
  
  
  Comparisons that mean you've lost the argument.
  
  
  
  
  
• Talk at Riksbank, 11/16/09
  
  
  
  Slides for today's presentation.
  
  
  
  
  
• It's the stupidity economy
  
  
  
  Bad ideas are acting as serious constraints on policy.
  
  
  
  
  

No Quarter

• Totus Interruptus
  
  
  
  Obama’s Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner And this is a late night open post … This hilarity was created by The Onion, and posted at ThePolitico.com.
  
  
  
  
  
• Fifth Grader Refuses To Say Pledge Of Allegiance - ...
  
  
  
  I admit, when I first saw the headline about the child refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance, I just assumed it was about the whole “under God” thing in there. Well you know what they say when one “assumes,” and nowhere was that more the case than here, as this article makes clear, [...]
  
  
  
  
  
• New Recommendations: Let Health Care Rationing Beg ...
  
  
  
  The Republican charges of “Death Panels” in the first House health care bill (a jumbled mess for the most part) was over-the-top dramatic. But as any reader could easily discern, the tide had shifted from “get a team OK before letting them go” towards “get a team to assess keeping them g ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Would An Abacus Help To Accurately Count Jobs “R ...
  
  
  
  Recently, Vice President Biden reported that the Stimulus Program had created a huge number of jobs. If you have 41 minutes to spend to watch him - what the hell is the matter with you?? Oh, no wait - sorry. Ahem. I meant to say, if you have the time, you [...]
  
  
  
  
  
• Are We Having a Blowoff?
  
  
  
  “If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs…” Retail sales rebounded strongly this month posing a 1.4% gain. Good news, right? In an attempt to provide a degree of sanity to what has become an extremely volatile report, let’s break this report down a little bit further. R ...
  
  
  
  
  

Environmental Graffiti

• Life After Death: Taxidermy’s Most Macabre Creat ...
• When Small Animals Go Supersize
• Heretics and Holy Warriors: The Persecution of the ...
• Look Closer. The Devil is in the Details
• Horse Surfing FTW!!! [PICS]

Foreign Policy in Focus

• Review: 'Daybreak: Undoing The Imperial Presidency ...
  
  
  
  David Swanson exposes the crimes of the Bush-Cheney regime and calls for a more perfect union.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Conventional Arms Control Challenge
  
  
  
  Nuclear disarmament requires movement forward on controlling conventional weapons, argues columnist Frida Berrigan. And the best hope for conventional arms control might be linking it to nuclear abolition.
  
  
  
  
  
• Europe's Wild East
  
  
  
  FPIF's weekly update.
  
  
  
  
  
• Morocco: Endangered 'Model'?
  
  
  
  Morocco might have a better record on domestic reforms than its neighbors, but that's no excuse to ignore its recent retreat on human rights.
  
  
  
  
  
• Postcard from...Tirana
  
  
  
  George W. Bush has a cafe and a street named for him in Tirana. Is a statue next?
  
  
  
  
  

Global Elite

• Fear, Intimidation & Media Disinformation: U.K Gov ...
  
  
  
  Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, August 20, 2009 An official UK government report –quoted extensively in Britain’s tabloid media– is warning the British public that there wil ...
  
  
  
  
  
• President European Commission Advocated World Gove ...
  
  
  
  Jurriaan Maessen. Infowars. July 24th, 2009 On September 7, 1992, two term President of the European Commission Jacques Delors gave a speech to the Royal Institute of International Affa ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Billions of People Expected to Die Under Current C ...
  
  
  
  Barbara Minton, Natural News, July 21st, 2009 Your right to eat healthy food and use supplements of your choice is rapidly vanishing, but every effort has been made to keep you in the d ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Bioweapons, Dangerous Vaccines, and Threats of a G ...
  
  
  
  Stephen Lendman, Global Research, July 7th, 2009 Although international law prohibits the use of chemical and bacteriological weapons, America has had an active biological warfare progr ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Today we’re all prisoners in the USA
  
  
  
  Papers, Please! June 2, 2009 As of today, June 1, 2009, even U.S. citizens are officially prisoners in the USA, or exiles barred from entering our own country without the government’s ...
  
  
  
  
  

Al Jazeera

• Karzai sworn in as Afghan president
  
  
  
  Security tight in Kabul as leader is inaugurated for second five-year term.
  
  
  
  
  
• Deadly blast near Peshawar court
  
  
  
  Suicide bomber blamed for attack during rush hour, which leaves at least 17 people dead.
  
  
  
  
  
• Dhaka upholds coup death sentences
  
  
  
  Move allows for hanging of men convicted of killing Bangladesh independence leader.
  
  
  
  
  
• Leaders meet to elect EU president
  
  
  
  Belgian prime minister favourite for post of bloc's first full-time head.
  
  
  
  
  
• Obama urges North Korea to disarm
  
  
  
  US president and South Korean counterpart tell call for end to pattern of provocation.
  
  
  
  
  

Green Inc. - NYT

• The Copenhagen Attendance Question
  
  
  
  To go or not to go? That is the question that some businesses, and even President Obama, are still asking now that a climate treaty is less likely than ever to result from next month's meetings.
  
  
  
  
  
• California Approves TV Efficiency Rules
  
  
  
  California regulators voted on Wednesday to impose the nation's first energy efficiency rules on televisions, requiring that their electricity consumption be cut nearly in half by 2013.
  
  
  
  
  
• No Free (CO2) Lunch for Frequent Fliers?
  
  
  
  Plenty of companies still offer carbon offsets to air travelers, amid the growing debate over whether there's a legitimate way to fly without feeling guilty about greenhouse gas emissions.
  
  
  
  
  
• Prospects for Large Houston Solar Plant Dim
  
  
  
  A $40 million solar power plant that would have been the largest in Texas now looks doomed.
  
  
  
  
  
• On Our Radar...
  
  
  
  The economics of ecosystems and other energy and environment news from around the Web.
  
  
  
  
  

Dot Earth News

• A Dim View of U.S.-China Electric Car Plan
  
  
  
  A specialist in energy and transportation says China needs efficient cities more than efficient cars.
  
  
  
  
  
• Innovative Countries, Energized Campuses
  
  
  
  Reports examine countries and campuses for innovations focused on building a better world.
  
  
  
  
  
• No Free (CO2) Lunch for Frequent Fliers?
  
  
  
  A company promoting responsible travel cancels sales of "carbon offsets" to compensate for greenhouse gases from flying.
  
  
  
  
  
• Details on U.S.-China Climate and Energy Plans
  
  
  
  A senior Obama admnistration official in China explains the new partnership on energy and climate.
  
  
  
  
  
• Energy Plan From the Greenhouse Giants
  
  
  
  The United States and China unveil a suite of projects aimed at expanding energy choices while limiting emissions.
  
  
  
  
  

Doug Feith : Hong Pong

• Robert Erickson punks Tea Party The Full Story HD
  
  
  
  Have a lol. My buddy Robert & I put a lil sequence together :) Please repost!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rry_SlPW7oU and http://blip.tv/file/2859263 TC Indymedia gives a new look at the infamous Robert Erickson Tea Party punk with crowd reactions and the assault on a counter-protester in HD. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Murs and Slug: Felt 3 is recommended immediately!
  
  
  
  It's time to listen - embedded flash player- Felt 3 is here. There was one track on the Current earlier tonight. Don't miss this. Felt 3: A Tribute to Rosie Perez drops soon... http://www.myspace.com/mursandslug Protagonists: Murs: "So fly should have been in Starfleet". This is it!
  
  
  
  
  
• The Vortex or authoritarian Singularity
  
  
  
  Sorry there have been some tech glitches precluding me from posting more lately. But also a lot of neat things in the works :-) In response to The Agonist thread on 8 Thoughts on 2040 : Among the Kurzweil set there is a lot of happy talk about a Singularity describing a point where the rate of ch ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Collapse, conspiracy, concern trolling, commidifie ...
  
  
  
  "I have heard much of the nefarious, and dangerous plan, and doctrines of the Illuminati, but never saw the Book until you were pleased to send it to me." "It was not my intention to doubt that, the Doctrines of the Illuminati, and principles of Jacobinism had not spread in the United States. On t ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The new Boiling Frogs Post/Sibel Edmonds site; Joh ...
  
  
  
  Sibel Edmonds & co have set up a new website called Boiling Frogs Post and they're going to be looking at a lot of shady stuff. The podcasts that have been going for a while have been really good & detailed material from whistleblowers and journalists about what's going on. [BTW here is a good recen ...
  
  
  
  
  

Daily Censored

• US Corporate Media: Key Dialogue Missing
  
  
  
  For anyone imbibing US corporate news media, the outcome is certain: they will be treated to a zero-calorie infotainment diet served on traditional feeding intervals at the networks, or for the insatiable junk food news consumer, round the clock cable news menus heavy on advertiser appetizers and ta ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The destruction of Iraq was for Israel, not oil:A- ...
  
  
  
  A-Jazeera reports documentary evidence linking the Iraq war to Israel The Western media ignore the story Not Sylvia Night November 16, 2009 When the US invasion of Iraq started in 2003 how often did we hear the slogan “No Blood for Oil” proclaimed loudly by the anti-war movement? How often did w ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Charter Management Organizations Take Aim at Los A ...
  
  
  
  The Green Dot Public Schools are backed by the West Coast's most famous venture philanthropists, Microsoft's Bill Gates and KB Homes/SunAmerica founder Eli Broad. Eli may be most famous for being the only man to start two Fortune 500 companies, but, more recently, Mr. Broad has come under fire for ...
  
  
  
  
  
• GOOD NEWS FOR CHARTER SCHOOL CHAINS IN CALIFORNIA: ...
  
  
  
  The real problem is the elephant in the room within which we all live: capitalism. According to Elena Aguilar, a writer for Edutopia: All the failing schools in Los Angeles are in low-income neighborhoods. We don't want to acknowledge that we live in highly segregated cities and that especially in C ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Republican Party, Fox News, and the Importance ...
  
  
  
  Republican Party and Fox News Challenges Department of Justice Decision To Begin Guantanamo Bay Trials in the United States District Court  for the  Southern Judicial District of New York (Criminal) The poster child of Muslim terrorism,  Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the Am ...
  
  
  
  
  

AlterNet's Breaking News

• Economy rebounds but at heavy cost: OECD
• Exhibit of China's terracotta warriors in US capit ...
• Americans run off the recession in record numbers
• Nothing funny as James hurt, NBA Cavs lose
• MLS Cup contenders Galaxy cancel German tour

Institute for Policy Studies

• A Unified Security Budget for the United States, F ...
  
  
  
  Obama needs to shift away from his predecessor and usher in a new era of U.S. security policy.
  
  
  
  
  
• Forum: 'U.S. Conflict Resolution Policy Towards Af ...
  
  
  
  An analysis of U.S. involvement in conflict resolution in Africa, and what corrective measures need to be taken by the president to be more effective.
  
  
  
  
  
• Can Talks with Iran Lead to Obama's 'World without ...
  
  
  
  Obama can make important steps toward denuclearization if he continues engaging with Iran.
  
  
  
  
  
• UN Note: The Missing U.S. Ambassador
  
  
  
  The UN voted on the Goldstone Report last week. But where was U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice?
  
  
  
  
  
• North Korea: Journalists vs. Diplomats
  
  
  
  Effective engagement doesn't always translate into a good news story.
  
  
  
  
  

Godspace

• Walking with God – Why Is It So Hard?
  
  
  
  Several months ago I wrote a post in which I commented on the fact that in order for people to move from communities of poverty to the middle class they need to be willing to give up relationships for accomplishment and efficiency.  I have thought about this a lot over the last few months – [. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Coming Of the Lord is Near – Advent Medi ...
  
  
  
  Here is my Advent meditation video for 2009.  I have really enjoyed putting this one together as I have been meditating on What Am I Waiting for this Advent? A high quality version for use in large groups and churches can be purchased and downloaded here.  You can see my videos from the last [.. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Waiting for Advent – A Prayer from the litur ...
  
  
  
  Tomorrow I am hoping to upload my Advent 2009 meditation video.  It has taken me a little longer this year because I moved to using a Mac a few months ago and have been on a steep learning curve as I have grappled with Imovie.  At first i thought of giving this year a miss [...]
  
  
  
  
  
• Pee To Help Your Garden Grow
  
  
  
  Ever wondered what the missing ingredient in your compost pile was?  Here is an article I just could not resist sharing.  I thought that all my male gardening friends in particular would be interested.   Evidently peeing on the garden is a great way to contribute to the compost pile and saves wat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• A Week To Remember
  
  
  
  This has been a busy but wonderful week. Wednesday evening we held a conversation on Turbulent Times Ready or Not, what we believe will be the first of many conversations focusing on future trends.  A group of 25 people crammed into our living room at the Mustard Seed House to hear Phil Bauntrager, ...
  
  
  
  
  

Equality Trust

• Archbishop of Canterbury: higher taxes "good for s ...
  
  
  
  A divine intervention from Dr Rowan Williams reported in today's Daily Telegraph .
  
  
  
  
  
• Thinking Allowed: Is an unequal society bad for yo ...
  
  
  
  Thinking Allowed on BBC Radio 4, broadcast Wednesday 16th July and available to Listen Again for 7 days . Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works. Research has shown that health and social problems become more acute in an unequal society, where the gap between the ri ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Beware the liberal drift. Equality, always
  
  
  
  Read Labour MP John Cruddas' comment piece in the Guardian. Which way forward for the left? We must tackle society's glaring wealth and income inequalities.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Spirit Level - recommended holiday reading
  
  
  
  The Spirit Level has been picked by the Guardian as one of their best summer reads . The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett (Allen Lane, £20) For anyone whose morale has been sapped by all the recent revelations of greed and di ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Richard Wilkinson among social experts analysing C ...
  
  
  
  David Cameron's speech on poverty, the state and the mass engagement of a new generation of community activists on Tuesday set the direction of travel under a Conservative government. In the Guardian today a panel of social experts analyse the Tory leader's key points. Prof Richard Wilkinson, Direc ...
  
  
  
  
  

IntelNews

• FBI kept tabs on Pulitzer-winning author Studs Ter ...
  
  
  
  The FBI, which acted as America’s political police during the Cold War, spent several decades watching Pulitzer Prize-winning author Studs Terkel, who died earlier this year at age 96.
  
  
  
  
  
• News you may have missed #0189
  
  
  
  Somali youths from Canada may have joined Al-Shabab militant group. New website examines intelligence contractors. MI6 chiefs to testify about Iraq War fiasco.
  
  
  
  
  
• A terrible week for German spy agencies
  
  
  
  Germany’s largest intelligence agencies are in for a challenging few days, as two unrelated scandals are making headlines in the country’s media.
  
  
  
  
  
• CIA-DNI turf war enters new phase
  
  
  
  The CIA may have won a lengthy turf battle against the office of the US Director of National Intelligence (DNI), but the war between the two agencies continues.
  
  
  
  
  
• News you may have missed #0188
  
  
  
  India arrests Pakistani 'spy' carrying documents at airport. Hezbollah claims infiltration of Israel. Spy arrest causes major Peru-Chile diplomatic row.
  
  
  
  
  

After Downing Street.org

• California Democratic Party to Obama: End the Occ ...
  
  
  
  California Democratic Party to Obama: End the Occupation & Air War in Afghanistan | Press Release At the California Democratic Party Executive Board meeting in San Diego last weekend, Party leaders passed a resolution co-authored by Marcy Winograd, 36th Congressional District candidate, calling on ...
  
  
  
  
  
• President Obama Interviewed on FOX
  
  
  
  Part 1: President discusses economy; wants health care reform 'done as soon as possible'; explains difficulty of closing Gitmo Watch the latest business video at FOXBusiness.com Part 2: Obama on importance of U.S. relationship with South Korea - Click "Read more." read more
  
  
  
  
  
• Foreign Policy in Focus Posts Good Review of "Dayb ...
  
  
  
  Read it here .
  
  
  
  
  
• CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseba ...
  
  
  
  EXCLUSIVE: CIA Secret 'Torture' Prison Found at Fancy Horseback Riding Academy ABC News Finds the Location of a "Black Site" for Alleged Terrorists in Lithuania By Brian Ross and Matthew Cole | ABC News The CIA built one of its secret European prisons inside an exclusive riding academy outside Vil ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Can't We Do to DC What We Did to Seattle?
  
  
  
  By David Swanson I've been reading a brand new book called "The Battle of the Story of the Battle of Seattle," which is in large part an analysis of what worked in the protesting of the World Trade Organization 10 years ago. Why is it, I wonder, that activists were able to shut down the center of t ...
  
  
  
  
  

Grist - News

• Europe places outcome of Copenhagen squarely on Ob ...
  
  
  
  by Brendan DeMelle The chief negotiator for the European Commission announced this afternoon in Barcelona that the failure of the U.S. Congress to pass legislation before December has doomed the chances for success in Copenhagen . A climate protest at the Barcelona talks: World leaders with \'big ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Cash for Clunkers brought us ... more clunkers!
  
  
  
  by Jonathan Hiskes So how did Cash for Clunkers work out from an environmental standpoint? You don’t want to know. The $3 billion federal program was kinda sorta supposed to send inefficient, high-polluting, belchy vehicles to an early grave. Instead it put a lot of new large, inefficient vehicle ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Senate Democrats push climate bill through committ ...
  
  
  
  by Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON -- Senate Democrats on Thursday pushed through a sweeping climate change bill, maneuvering an end-run around opposition Republicans who continued their boycott of deliberations. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approved the Kerry-Boxer bill by a v ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why developing countries cannot afford failure in ...
  
  
  
  by Brendan DeMelle The African delegation insisted today in Barcelona that its decision to walk out on negotiations Tuesday was necessary in order to jolt the intransigent European Union and other developed nations to move forward with serious discussions, rather than obstruct progress by bringing ...
  
  
  
  
  
• U.S. puts onus on China for climate deal
  
  
  
  by Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON - The United States will not agree to targets cutting greenhouse-gas emissions unless developing countries, particularly China, make similar moves, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern warned Wednesday. "No country holds the fate of the Earth in its hands more than China ...
  
  
  
  
  

Popular Bookmarks on Del.icio.us

• "Streams of Content, Limited Attention: The Flow o ...
• 10 Definitive Tips for Writing Captivating Emails
• Cloud Computing Ecosystem Map - Appirio
• The Best Photoshop Tutorials of 2009 | Web Design ...
• The 100 Best Books of the Decade - Times Online

Technorati - What's Hot in Blogs

• Enraged Twilight Fans Take To Twitter About Kriste ...
  
  
  
  The modern celebrity beast requires regular feedings to remain relevant and popular, but Kristen Stewart seems content to let it die of starvation.
  
  
  
  
  
• Popular IM Client Trillian Comes to iPhone
  
  
  
  Trillian for iPhone, a native application for your iPhone and iPod Touch! With push notification and many features.
  
  
  
  
  
• South Africa Overcoming Its Aids Delusion
  
  
  
  The Health Minister finally acknowledged the rising death rate and how it relates to HIV.
  
  
  
  
  
• Amazon Kindle Now Available in Canada
  
  
  
  The Amazon Kindle extends its reach northward to Canada
  
  
  
  
  
• Olga Kurylenko To Hold A Live Q&A On Facebook
  
  
  
  Olga Kurylenko,James Bond Girl fame actress and model will do a live Question and Answer with fans on Facebook hosted by ClickCast
  
  
  
  
  

Time - Top Stories

• Obama's Asia Trip: Too Focused on Common Ground?
  
  
  
  In foreign policy, does making nice lead to making progress?
  
  
  
  
  
• Is There a Sound Defense Against the Somali Pirate ...
  
  
  
  A vaunted acoustic weapon against pirates doesn't seem to have done thetrick. But where that failed, bullets kept the intruders from the MaerskAlabama
  
  
  
  
  
• As Washington Decides on Troop Levels, British Sup ...
  
  
  
  As President Obama mulls additional U.S. troop deployments inAfghanistan, the British public increasingly doubt their military should be there. Politicians are looking for the exit
  
  
  
  
  
• Guerrilla Tourism Helps El Salvador Heal
  
  
  
  Former insurgents leading parties of local and foreign tourists around their old battlegrounds help a nation confront its dark past
  
  
  
  
  
• Are the Earth's Oceans Hitting Their Carbon Cap?
  
  
  
  A new study finds that the oceans' ability to absorb man-made carbon emissions may be dwindling, at the same time the world's emissions rates show no sign of slowing
  
  
  
  
  

Washington Independent

• Holder Struggles to Defend 911 Trial Decisions
  
  
  
  "This is war," said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). "I think the decision you’ve made to try these cases in federal court represents a policy and political decision."
  
  
  
  
  
• Holder Promises to Produce Evidence Requested on U ...
  
  
  
  Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing this morning, Attorney General Eric Holder promised to produce the evidence, withheld by the Department of Justice, that some Democratic Senators believe is necessary for an informed debate on the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act. As I reported yester ...
  
  
  
  
  
• CBO: Senate Health Bill Costs $849 Billion, Covers ...
  
  
  
  After weeks of number crunching, the Congressional Budget Office announced this afternoon that the Senate’s health reform bill will cost $849 billion over 10 years, cover 94 percent of the country’s population, and reduce the deficit by $127 billion, Fox News reports: Senate Majority Leader H ...
  
  
  
  
  
• GOP Blocks Dodd Bill to Freeze Credit Card Rates
  
  
  
  Moments ago, Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic proposal to freeze credit card rates on existing balances through the holiday season. The bill, sponsored by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), would prevent credit card companies from hiking rates and fees on existing balance ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Rejects Vienna Urani ...
  
  
  
  It’s still not a definitive rejection of the deal reached in Vienna to reprocess Iran’s uranium abroad into a matter unsuitable for a nuclear weapon, but it’s not nothing, either: Iran’s foreign minister said in remarks reported Wednesday that he opposes sending the country’s enriche ...
  
  
  
  
  

CowBoss' Brain Food

• ND food pantries reach halfway goal of 700 deer
  
  
  
  A North Dakota program that distributes venison to the needy is halfway to its goal of collecting 700 deer carcasses despite a hunting season that barely got off with a bang. "I was a little worried about the hunting season," said Ann Pollert, Submitted by cowboss at wscc to Society & Culture  |  ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Watch your Christmas dinner fatten up on 'Turkey C ...
  
  
  
  The days of the traditional visit to the village farm to pick out a tasty prize turkey a few weeks before Christmas dinner and then watch it fatten up through the autumn have become a distant rural memory for the vast majority. Submitted by cowboss at wscc to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!  |   Ad ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Consumer campaigns don't save endangered fish: rep ...
  
  
  
  Consumer campaigns to protect threatened fish species have failed, researchers warned Tuesday in a report underscoring the need for alternative ways to save threatened marine species. Submitted by cowboss at wscc to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
  
  
  
  
• The Frankenfood that improves you
  
  
  
  In one mood room tests are being done on what flower on a restaurant table, or a which food packet is most likely to put you in a happy or hungry frame of mind. The results were a secret. But, from what I saw, gladioli or sunflowers could be the answer. Submitted by cowboss at wscc to Society & Cult ...
  
  
  
  
  
• We're expanding, while economy shrinks
  
  
  
  Americans now have another excuse for hitting the fast food establishments and getting farther out of shape by adding unwanted weight, and it's allegedly not their fault. The latest health discovery is called "recession pounds," and some researchers Submitted by cowboss at wscc to Society & Culture ...
  
  
  
  
  

Suzie-Q

• The Ongoing Saga of Afghanistan
  
  
  
  November 14, 2009 at 23:35:59 For OpEdNews: Sandy Shanks – Writer Due to recent reports, for those still clinging to the forlorn hope that America’s military involvement in Afghanistan would end reasonably soon, such hope has turned to despair. Perhaps some Americans, those interested in litera ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Obama’s Blackberry: How Tweet it is…
  
  
  
  Chinese censors block Obama’s call to free the Web By ALEXA OLESEN, Nov 16, 4:36 pm ET Associated Press BEIJING – President Barack Obama prodded China about Internet censorship and free speech, but the message was not widely heard in China where his words were blocked online and shown on onl ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Biggest State Party to Obama: Stop making war in A ...
  
  
  
  By Norman Solomon, ZNet, Nov. 17, 2009 There’s a significant new straw in the political wind for President Obama to consider. The California Democratic Party has just sent him a formal and clear message: Stop making war in Afghanistan. Overwhelmingly approved on Nov. 15 by the California Democrat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Joya: End the occupation of my country Afghanistan
  
  
  
  By Malalai Joya, CommonDreams.org, Nov 12, 2009 As an Afghan woman who was elected to Parliament, I am in the United States to ask President Barack Obama to immediately end the occupation of my country. Eight years ago, women’s rights were used as one of the excuses to start this war. But today, ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Seymour Hersh: Obama puts his foot down
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Solari

• Changing The World With Wireless Brodband
  
  
  
  The Wireless Communications Association International (WCAI) exists to advance economic opportunity for the wireless broadband industry worldwide. WCAI is a technology-neutral trade association that seeks to establish a governmental environment favorable to the wireless broadband industry. WCAI als ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Letter to the Editors of The Wall Street Journal
  
  
  
  November 14, 2009 Ladies and Gentlemen: Your editorial “The FHA’s Bailout Warning” states that the deterioration in The Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) financial position “is the result of the agency’s plunge into high risk loans over the last two years.” The current problems in ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Insiders & Outsiders: Financial Class Society
  
  
  
  By Vivien Lou Chen and Sandrine Rastello Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said the central bank could curtail the risk of future liquidity crises by providing a “backstop” to solvent firms with sufficient collateral. “The central bank could commit to being the lender ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Authoring Legislation
  
  
  
  “We were approached by the lobbyist, who asked if we would be willing to enter a statement in the Congressional Record. I asked him for a draft. I tweaked a couple of words. There’s not much reason to reinvent the wheel on a Congressional Record entry.” ~ Stanley V. White Stanley V. White i ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Who’s Your Sheriff?
  
  
  
  Related articles: Sheriff Mack.com Mack v. United States (Ninth Circuit) Continue reading County Sheriff’s Have the Ultimate Authority to Stop The New World Order
  
  
  
  
  

Global Insights

• Less Than a Week Away
  
  
  
  We encourage you to register for Awake and Aware. George Green will be a featured speaker. September 19th & 20th • Burbank, CA Click here for Tickets & Reservations  
  
  
  
  
  
• The Georgia Guidestones
  
  
  
  On one of the highest hilltops in Elbert County, Georgia stands a huge granite monument. Engraved in eight different languages on the four giant stones that support the common capstone are 10 Guides, or commandments. That monument is alternately referred to as The Georgia Guidestones, or the Ame ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Creation
  
  
  
  THE CREATION (A recent message given to George Green from the "guys upstairs") We are pleased to bring understanding and clarification on what is the Creation. This is a challenge because your language of communication has not the words for describing this conception of Creation. So as not to put an ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catas ...
  
  
  
  In his previous books, James Kunstler focused on the shortsighted vision of suburban planning; now he expands that view to the country's urban growth challenges and the need to drastically change our current course of auto and oil dependency. The Long Emergency is filled with history plus eye-openin ...
  
  
  
  
  
• About George Green
  
  
  
  Dear Friends, Thank you for your interest in our catalog of unusual and informative materials. The knowledge gained will give you choices in the days ahead and lessons of discernment as the chaos increases. It is necessary for those of you who are now in the "know" so to speak, to begin to focus ...
  
  
  
  
  

Insurgency Watch - Posts

• InsurgencyWatch moving to True/Slant
  
  
  
  In the coming days, InsurgencyWatch will be moving to True/Slant, “an original content news network tailored to both the ‘Entrepreneurial Journalist’ and marketers who want a more effective way to engage with digital audiences.” (That’s what the official about page says.) It’s not a deci ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Kerry-Lugar’s First Victim
  
  
  
  If true, this is total bullshit: After strong criticism on the Kerry-Lugar bill in Pakistan, the government has decided to replace Pakistan’s ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani and the announcement in this respect is expected within the next two days. There’s nothing in the bill reasonable Pa ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Pakistan’s Civil War Heating Up
  
  
  
  In the aftermath of this weekend’s assault on the Pakistani General Headquarters in Rawalpindi, the Taliban hit again in Alpuri, in the Shangla district east of Mingora in Swat. According to military sources who asked to remain anonymous because they weren’t authorized to talk to the press, a 1 ...
  
  
  
  
  
• At Home with a Swat Lashkar
  
  
  
  I just finished up a few days in Swat and while I’m working on a story about it, I thought you might like to see a few pictures I took while there. Enjoy. Share/Save
  
  
  
  
  
• FACTBOX: Uzbek militant leader killed in Pakistan ...
  
  
  
  Washington PostFACTBOX: Uzbek militant leader killed in PakistanReutersBy this time he is thought to have fled the region for the safe haven of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. * Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader ...Pakistan to Target Taliba...
  
  
  
  
  

AlterNet - DrugReporter

• When It’s Crunch Time at Colleg ...
  
  
  
  Can ADHD stimulants like Adderall be the answer for college students looking to increase academic performance? They think so.
  
  
  
  
  
• Did LSD Make a Baseball Pitcher's No-Hitter Possib ...
  
  
  
  Perhaps the greatest athletic achievement while a psychedelic journey, No Mas and artist James Blagden proudly present the animated tale of Dock Ellis' legendary LSD no-hitter.
  
  
  
  
  
• In Historic Shift, the American Medical Associatio ...
  
  
  
  The country's largest physician group, the AMA, has reversed its long-held position that marijuana has no medical worth.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Relentless War on Drug Users Is Escalating Vio ...
  
  
  
  Hundreds gather in Albuquerque to celebrate a new dawn of wider acceptance of drug reform, while still feeling a little nervous about the path ahead.
  
  
  
  
  
• Drug Policy Alliance Conference Comes at a Crucial ...
  
  
  
  More people than ever grasp the need to shift from criminalization to a public health model -- the Drug Policy Alliance's conference leads the way on this discussion.
  
  
  
  
  

Twilight Earth

• What Could be Finer than to be a Tweed Rider? DC T ...
  
  
  
  The first annual "tweed ride" took place in Washington DC on Sunday. Whats a Tweed Ride? It's a trend that's catching on in Europe and the U.S. Related posts: Cycling Clothing: No Shorts, Jerseys or Jackets – Just Pasties Busted! Coal Lobby Fakes Letters to Congress EPA Names Top 20 Green Power ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hot Tip for a Cooler Planet
  
  
  
  Cooler Planet is a company created and run by passionate environmentalists to help consumers and small business owners reduce their carbon footprint. Related posts: Planet Green Announces New Green Materials Guide New Jersey to Double its Solar Power Generation – Second Only to California Introd ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Chrysler Electric Car Programs Dumped… Despite B ...
  
  
  
  Remember how much money Chrysler received from the federal government in bailout money? $12.5 billion, according to USA Today's DriveOn blog. Related posts: Chrysler’s Pea-Pod Electric Car for the Golf Cart Elite Electric Cars Run on Coal, But are They Cleaner than Gas? GM to Build Two More Elec ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Photo Sunday – Journey Through the Arctic Ice
  
  
  
  Like the canary in the coal mine, the climate changes already evident in the Arctic are a call to action. Susan Collins Related posts: NASA Arctic Satellite About to Die? Here Comes Operation Ice Bridge Photo Sunday – When its Raining on Sunday Morning Photo Sunday – Sunday Morning Coming Dow ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Twilight Earth Debuts TwilighTV – Sustainable Li ...
  
  
  
  Twilight Earth is excited to be debuting a new feature called TwilighTV. TwilighTV will bring you a great mix of content from Current TV and Elephant Journal. Related posts: Green Living Ideas and Twilight Earth Form New Major Environmental Network, Simple Earth Media Twilight Earth News Twilight ...
  
  
  
  
  

Inhabitat

• Wood Clad Science Academy Showcases Sustainable De ...
  
  
  
  The recently unveiled Langley Academy in the Berkshires, UK, is yet another exemplary model of sustainable education facilities. Designed by Inhabitat favorite Foster + Partners, the gorgeous wood clad academy focuses its curriculum around sciences and the environment. With dedicated science laborat ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Kor Unveils Limited Edition Water Vessels that Giv ...
  
  
  
  With all the controversy and outrage surrounding the presence of BPA in plastic water bottles, KOR has stood by its commitment to encourage individuals to stop buying disposable bottled water with its smoothly styled BPA-free water vessels. This past week they announced a limited-edition series of â ...
  
  
  
  
  
• TreeHugger Reports From Greenbuild 2009
  
  
  
  Just last week Treehugger joined thousands of designers, builders and architects in Arizona to check out all the latest advances in sustainable building at Greenbuild 2009. By the time we got to Phoenix, we were 28,000 strong, all standing up and cheering for Al Gore’s speech, a new and different ...
  
  
  
  
  
• LAST CHANCE to Win a NYC Skyline Mirror Made from ...
  
  
  
  COMPETITION ENDS TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT! We’re ramping up our coverage of eco-conscious NYC restaurants, book stores, boutiques and parks here on Inhabitat and we’re turning to YOU, our knowledgeable readers, to let us know which NYC green locales are most worth checking out. To offer you a little ...
  
  
  
  
  
• World’s Fastest Computer is Working on Solving C ...
  
  
  
  This past Monday, the insanely powerful Jaguar XT5 supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee was named the fastest supercomputer in the world. With a speed of 1.759 petaflops (quadrillions of calculations per second), this incredibly swift machine is currently being used by the for ...
  
  
  
  
  

Pogue's Posts

• Crowdsourcing Comedy on Amazon Reviews
  
  
  
  Some unexpected humor can be found in the reviews of the world's largest online retailer.
  
  
  
  
  
• It's Q&A with DP!
  
  
  
  Why I use URL shorteners-even when not on Twitter.
  
  
  
  
  
• Verizon: How Much Do You Charge Now?
  
  
  
  Verizon's cellphones are designed in such a way that you can almost never avoid getting $1.99 charge on the bill for its mobile Web services, even if you immediately cancel the action.
  
  
  
  
  
• Fun With Google's Auto-Suggestion Feature
  
  
  
  Start a phrase in a Google and who knows how the search engine will complete it?
  
  
  
  
  
• Cleaning Up the Clutter Online
  
  
  
  A new Web tool strips away all the flashing and the blinking and leaves you with clean, readable prose.
  
  
  
  
  

Open Your Eyes News

• Boosting the amount of energy obtained from water
  
  
  
  PhysOrg – The energy generated in places where fresh water and salt water meet is known as blue energy. This is a relatively new but highly promising renewable energy source. Piotr D?ugo??cki of the University of Twente and the Wetsus centre of excellence for sustainable water technology has furth ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Franco-German deal on European president causes an ...
  
  
  
  The Guardian – Germany and France are to strike a deal on who they want for the coveted post of first permanent European council president, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced today, sparking anger in other European capitals over a feared Franco-German stitch-up. With 27 EU leaders going into a spe ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Reef Conservation Strategy Backfires
  
  
  
  NPR – Aid organizations concerned about overfishing on tropical reefs often try to encourage fishermen out of their boats by offering them better-paying jobs on shore. But this strategy actually may make matters worse. Take, for example, the story of Kiribati, an island nation in the central Pacif ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Social networking sites: why no abuse report butto ...
  
  
  
  New Scientist -  Facebook and MySpace are failing to protect children from paedophiles and bullies, a former senior police officer says. The social networking sites have refused to embed a “report button” that would allow users to report abuse. The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Cen ...
  
  
  
  
  
• MI5 and MI6 given go ahead for secret hearings int ...
  
  
  
  Daily Telegraph – MI5 and MI6 have been given permission to hold hearings behind closed doors into their alleged complicity in the treatment of seven former detainees in Guantanamo Bay. A High Court judge ruled there was no reason in law why closed hearings should not be used in the damages case, ...
  
  
  
  
  

Monkey Smashes Heaven

• Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist Movement – Se ...
  
  
  
  RAIM-Seattle forms (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com) A new RAIM cell has formed in Seattle. MSH sends a red salute to RAIM-S. From the RAIM-S website: “- What does RAIM-Seattle want? A utopian society. We want a world free from oppression of groups by groups and people by people. A world withou ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Third World children starve, suffer stunted growth ...
  
  
  
  Third World children starve, suffer stunted growth, First World children suffer obesity (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com) According to a new UNICEF report, 200 million children under 5 in poor countries have stunted growth due to insufficient nutrition. Of the 200 million, almost 90 percent live ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Frankly, we support our troops
  
  
  
  Posted in ..Monkey and the Troublemakers, Communism, Iraq, Maoism, Maoism Third Worldism, Maoisme, Maoismo, Middle East
  
  
  
  
  
• First Worldism underneath the Beyonce controversy
  
  
  
  First Worldism underneath the Beyonce controversy (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com) Pop diva Beyonce’s “I Am..” tour has so far made 53 million dollars, and generated controversy to boot. In giant posters that pepper the streets, Beyonce sports a revealing, flame covered outfit  in th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Fragging statement: MSH and Anwar al Awlaki
  
  
  
  Fragging statement: MSH and Anwar al Awlaki (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com) All the facts about the Fort Hood shootings are not in yet. The facts may never be fully known. After all, the bourgeois media, the accused’s handlers, and others, will try to craft their own narratives around the eve ...
  
  
  
  
  

PakAlert

• The European BioWar Outbreak
  
  
  
  Update 18 Nov 09 There are fears that H1N1 has now mutated and resembles the Spanish flu virus that killed more than 50 million people at the beginning of the 20th century. Ukrainian doctors say the victims lungs are as black as charcoal. This prompts fresh concern that the swine flu virus has taken ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Warning: We’re in the false-flag red zone for 91 ...
  
  
  
  Greetings, We are in the red zone right now for another potential 9/11 style false-flag event. Here’s why. Israel and its allegedly American cheerleaders are desperate to attack Iran ASAP, while Pentagon hawks are yearning to escalate the war in Afghanistan. In other words, the folks who brought ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Life Threat: A New Weapon To Silence US Critics In ...
  
  
  
  A small group of Pakistani journalists are protesting because one Pakistani newspaper has accused Mathew Rosenberg, an India-based American correspondent for the Wall Street Journal of being a spy.  The editor of Wall Street Journal is ‘disgusted’.  Under new directions from Mrs. Clinton, ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Global Warfare USA: The World is the Pentagon’s ...
  
  
  
  US military operations in all major regions of the World by Rick Rozoff “Not only does one country account for the overwhelming plurality of world military expenditures, but that nation also has troops and bases on all six habitable continents (as well as a 54-year military mission in Antar ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Major Hasan Of Fort Hood: A Patsy In A Drill Gone ...
  
  
  
  Webster G. Tarpley In the wake of the massacre at Fort Hood Texas , two principal theories have emerged to explain the conduct of the accused shooter, identified by the U.S. Army as Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist of Jordanian-Palestinian ancestry. One of these theories is embraced by ...
  
  
  
  
  

ecogeek

• Fastest Computer in the World Focused on Climate C ...
  
  
  
  The Jaguar XT5 computer, housed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville, Tenn. and owned by the Department of Energy was just named the fastest computer in the world by the TOP500 list .  It has a performance speed of 1.759 petaflops or quadrillions of calculations per second and that po ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Action on Climate Change Delayed: Copenhagen Won' ...
  
  
  
  As reports have indicated for the past several weeks, a binding agreement won't be reached in Copenhagen this December.  Leaders attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation this past weekend met and decided that the Copenhagen conference would be used to come up with an interim "politically" b ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 203 MW Wind Farm Completed in Utah
  
  
  
  It's great to see some of the large wind farm projects that were just ideas a couple of years ago become reality. First Wind's Milford Wind Corridor project has just seen the completion of its first phase - 203.5 MW in Millard and Beaver Counties in Utah, the largest renewable energy facility in th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Solar Spacecraft to Launch in 2010
  
  
  
  The Planetary Society is planning to launch a solar-propelled space craft in 2010 after its first attempt landed in the ocean four years ago. The LightSail-1 would run on the pressure of light hitting its four triangular-shaped Mylar sails.  The society sees the project as a way to achieve long sp ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Wind Turbines to Power Cell Phone Towers
  
  
  
  Small-scale wind turbines can't produce the large amounts of power that their giant brothers can, but there's still room for them in the renewable energy landscape.  As an example, cell phone company Core Communications will begin using small vertical-axis wind turbines to power their cell phone t ...
  
  
  
  
  

Times Online - Science

• Swine flu could cause shortage of children’s ...
  
  
  
  Britain could suffer a shortage of intensive care beds for children with swine flu if there is a surge of cases this winter, researchers have warned.
  
  
  
  
  
• Brain-eating tribe enriches understanding of mad c ...
  
  
  
  A cannibalistic ritual in which the brains of dead tribespeople were eaten by their relatives has triggered one of the most striking examples of rapid human evolution on record, scientists have discovered.
  
  
  
  
  
• New drug, L-DOPS, could treat Down’s syndrom ...
  
  
  
  Learning difficulties in children with Down’s syndrome could be treated with a drug that improves the brain’s ability to form short-term memories, according to scientists.
  
  
  
  
  
• Conservation of Charles Darwin’s Floreana mo ...
  
  
  
  Efforts to protect the endangered bird that inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, and to carry out a reintroduction to its native island, have been advanced by a new genetic study.
  
  
  
  
  
• Former world champion John Surtees tests electric ...
  
  
  
  There are few things more tempting to a petrolhead than 31 miles (50 km) of clear track, and no corners.
  
  
  
  
  

Environment _ National Geographic

• Crime-Fighting Leech Fingers Perp
  
  
  
  Police in Australia say a blood-engorged leech, through DNA testing, led them to a man responsible for the robbery eight years ago of a 71-year-old woman. Video
  
  
  
  
  
• Alligators Sing to Set Up Singles Clubs? (With Vid ...
  
  
  
  Only an alligator could truly understand the allure of this thunderous "chorus." But a new study says the song may be an invitation to reptilian romantic networking.
  
  
  
  
  
• Presented By:
• Leaves "Magnetized" by Air Pollution, Study Finds
  
  
  
  Although they wouldn't be physically attracted to a magnet, "magnetic" tree leaves along heavy traffic routes may offer a quick, cheap way to test for air pollution, a new study says.
  
  
  
  
  
• PICTURES: Best Mountain Photos of 2009 Announced
  
  
  
  A steam-shrouded bison, a bikini-clad diver, a seven-year-old shepherd, and other wild wonders stalk our selection of winning pictures from the latest Banff Mountain Photography Competition.
  
  
  
  
  

drinking liberally in new milford ( with beersphere feeds )

• T-9 and Holding:
  
  
  
  About 8 minutes before the shuttle blasts off : At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Atlantis and crew are nearing liftoff at Launch Pad 39A, prepared to begin the STS-129 cargo-delivery mission to the International Space Station. The countdown clock is holding at T-9 minutes. ...
  
  
  
  
  
• The more things change, the more they stay the sam ...
  
  
  
  I woke up today to the news that it has been a whole year that gay and lesbian couples have been allowed to share the same rights as everyone else in our State. The right to settle down, get married and live as a family has changed a lot of people's lives in Connecticut . I did a quick inventory o ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Windsock Joe
  
  
  
  We really want to know which way the wind blows, Joe? The other day you were dead set against the Public Option, much to the chagrin of Connecticut voters. And now? Sen. Joe Lieberman has reached a private understanding with Majority Leader Harry Reid that he will not block a final vote on healthca ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Blue Dog Mike Ross Real Estate Scandal?
  
  
  
  Via TomP at dKos, Rep. Mike Ross is getting his first taste of promised push-back for going against what the majority of Americans want : ProPublica is reporting that Blue Dog Congressman Mike Ross (DINO-AR) "sold a piece of commercial property in 2007 for substantially more than a county assessment ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Boehner at CPAC calling all of Obama's Policies So ...
  
  
  
  Flushing out Boehner's lie on Meet the Press and a David Gregory that doesn't follow politics well enough to be able to call him out on the obvious: Boehner is no different then any other Bircher whackjob.
  
  
  
  
  

SPL Center

• From a Law-Enforcement Veteran, Common Sense About ...
  
  
  
  Why is it a bad idea for local law enforcement agencies to act as immigration cops? Because it undermines public safety. William J. Bratton, chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, explains why in this op-ed essay that ran last week in the Los Angeles Times. He also explains his decision not to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Ex-Skinhead Leader Gets 3-1/2-Year Sentence for Ra ...
  
  
  
  The former leader of a violent racist skinhead group will serve nearly 3½ years in federal prison on a racketeering charge. Jeremy Robinson, 37, was sentenced on Oct. 15 after pleading guilty to a felony charge of interstate transportation in aid of a racketeering enterprise, according to court doc ...
  
  
  
  
  
• SPLC to O’Reilly: You Lose Dobbs Bet
  
  
  
  To: Bill O’Reilly The O’Reilly Factor Fox News Network Dear Bill, You lost the bet. Time to pay up! When I appeared on your show in July, you were so certain that the Southern Poverty Law Center’s call for CNN to fire Lou Dobbs was a waste of time that you bet $10,000 (with the proceeds going ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sympathy from the Far Right for Limbaugh on His NF ...
  
  
  
  Reading news accounts of the past week, you may have thought conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh was merely rebuked for his history of controversial racial comments when he joined a group making a bid to buy the St. Louis Rams. Actually it was something far more serious, according to right- ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Oath Keepers Say They’re on Patrol in Iraq
  
  
  
  Oath Keepers, the militia/“Patriot” extremist group made up of law enforcement officers, military personnel and veterans, has posted a photo on its site showing (it says) “an active duty Oath Keeper in Mosul, Iraq” wearing two Velcro-attached “tabs” or patches, one saying “Oath Keeperâ ...
  
  
  
  
  

Rio Times

• Rio Gangs Look to Restaurant Robbery
  
  
  
  By Doug Gray, Senior Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO – It is simply an unfortunate facet of life in Rio that after a few months of living here you are certain to know someone who has been on the wrong end of a street robbery. While any major city has its crime problems, Rio’s tend - rightly [...]
  
  
  
  
  
• Coca Cola Invests Big in Brazil
  
  
  
  By Jaylan Boyle, Senior Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO - Representatives of the Coca Cola corporation said recently that the company intends to significantly increase it’s expenditure and investment in Brazil over the five years to 2014, to coincide with the FIFA football world cup of that year and the O ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Portela and the Majesty Of Carnival
  
  
  
  By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO - February may still be three months off, but the majority of those involved with Carnival have already been hard at work, the weekly rehearsals are underway, and Portela Samba School, founded on Rua Portela in the Madureira neighbourhood of Zona No ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Help Saga Continues
  
  
  
  By Doug Gray, Senior Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO - Despite reports to the contrary over the last few weeks, months, indeed years, Help Discoteca in Copacabana is still open, and seemingly doing better than ever. It is testament to the global reputation of the huge club on Avenida Atlantica that so many ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Culinary Tourism in Santa Teresa
  
  
  
  By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter RIO DE JANEIRO - Though sometimes written off by the national press, businesses can undoubtedly flourish in Santa Teresa, the historical and truly bohemian neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro largely because it consistently captures visitors’ imaginations. Certainly ...
  
  
  
  
  

change: org.

• Does the New Senate Health Care Bill Get the Job D ...
  
  
  
  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid scheduled a press conference for this Thursday to formally unveil the long, long, LONG -anticipated full Senate bill. Which of course means it all leaked semi-intentionally Wednesday night . (Man, I’m glad the Senate isn’t in charge of keeping state secrets… ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Is the Nature Conservancy Killing Animals?
  
  
  
  The nonprofit Friends of Animals has just started a petition here at Change.org that I recommend interested animal advocates customize (i.e., personalize with their own language, perspectives, and concerns) and sign their names to. "Once again," the group explains, "the Nature Conservancy is using l ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Why Gay Adoption Matters in the Florida Governor's ...
  
  
  
  Florida is one of two states that have instituted bans on adoption for LGBT families, sharing the dubious honor with Arkansas. Thankfully, there's movement in Florida to overturn this out-dated law that not only fosters homophobia, but punishes children by keeping them away from healthy families. F ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Should Shelters Ban Sex Offenders?
  
  
  
  Everybody, including sex offenders, needs a place to live. If proposed legislation in Massachusetts passes, registered sex offenders would be barred from staying in homeless shelters, begging the question: where are they supposed to go? There are few questions that get people as riled up as those re ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Newsweek's "Sexist" Cover Photo Stirs Up False Con ...
  
  
  
  The internet has been growling a lot today. And most of the disgruntled tweets and blog posts are over Newsweek's cover , featuring none other than former Alaska governor, Sarah Palin. To coincide with the release of Palin's book, Going Rogue , Newsweek's editors decided to print two essays abou ...
  
  
  
  
  

Common Dreams -News

• Great Barrier Reef 'Will Die' Unless Carbon Emissi ...
  
  
  
  by Bonnie Malkin in Sydney Professor Terry Hughes and representatives of the Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies told a meeting at the Canberra parliament that the future of the reef, and a large chunk of Australia's tourist industry, was under grave threat from rising se ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Remembering Andrea Lewis
  
  
  
  by Max Pringle of KPFA Andrea Lewis, long-time broadcast and print journalist, co-anchor of the KPFA Evening News and host of Pacifica's Sunday Sedition, died last weekend of an apparent heart attack. She was 52. Many thousands of radio listeners awoke to the voice of Andrea Lewis as co-host of the ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Biotech Crops Cause Big Jump in Pesticide Use: Rep ...
  
  
  
  by Carey Gillam KANSAS CITY - The rapid adoption by U.S. farmers of genetically engineered corn, soybeans and cotton has promoted increased use of pesticides, an epidemic of herbicide-resistant weeds and more chemical residues in foods, according to a report issued Tuesday by health and environmenta ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Senate Liberals Press Reid on Public Option
  
  
  
  by Carrie Budoff Brown As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) aims this week to secure the votes of moderate Democrats on health care reform, a group of liberal senators Monday warned him not to abandon the public insurance option. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who requested the meeting with R ...
  
  
  
  
  
• America's Economic Pain Brings Hunger Pangs
  
  
  
  by Amy Goldstein The nation's economic crisis has catapulted the number of Americans who lack enough food to the highest level since the government has been keeping track, according to a new federal report, which shows that nearly 50 million people -- including almost one child in four -- struggled ...
  
  
  
  
  

Lifehacker

• Lower Your H1N1 Risks at the Airport During Busy ...
  
  
  
  Sure H1N1 is the trendy flu virus to have this year, but the idea of being sick through the holiday season isn't all that appealing. If you're flying the friendly skies over the holidays, try taking a few precautionary measures. Photo by Michal Osmenda Before you bust out the hazmat suit while wait ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Scan Tailor Cleans Up Scanned Pages [Downloads]
  
  
  
  Windows/Linux: Tired of fiddling with scanned pages to remove borders, correct alignment, and otherwise prettify them before storing or emailing them? Then Scan Tailor could be right up your alley. This free app splits two-page scans into single documents, converts text to black and white without di ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Office 2010 Professional Beta Available for Downl ...
  
  
  
  Windows: Wanna give Office 2010's online document syncing, Windows 7 taskbar integration, and killer quick steps a go? Microsoft has thrown open the doors on a free beta of Office 2010 Professional—for those who can wait out the download. As with the Windows 7 beta and most Microsoft offerings, th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Do Quick Calculations with Mental Shortcuts [Math ...
  
  
  
  Even in an age where everyone has a calculator application on their cellphone, it's a handy trick to be able to calculate in your head. Use these calculation shortcuts to crunch numbers with ease. Photo by jekert qwapo . Over at the Wired How-To Wiki they've started a list of shortcuts and tricks fo ...
  
  
  
  
  
• How to Manage a Group Project in Google Wave [Goo ...
  
  
  
  The mere promise of Google Wave inspired a rainbow of potential use cases , but Wave's best real-world use boils down to this: it helps a group get things done together. Here's how to manage a group project in Wave. Note: If you haven't gotten your Wave invite yet, check out our invitation donation ...
  
  
  
  
  

Newshoggers - AfPak

• Waiting For Obama To Solve The Gordian Knot
  
  
  
  An Afghan policeman auditions for the role of Estragon By Steve Hynd Even those of us who oppose any kind of McChrystal Plan for troop escalation in Afghanistan are getting a bit antsy waiting for Godot Obama to make his mind up. I realise that its a complex set of issues - a real Gordian Knot, in f ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hump Day Hoglets of FAIL
  
  
  
  By Dave Anderson: Just a few quick hits on institutional and governmental capture and failure. I would write more, but I have to change diapers and get to a play-date in a few minutes (I have my priorities.) Brad Delong on institutional failure and a Depression: In my estimation the chances of anoth ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Surging To A Broken Army?
  
  
  
  By Steve Hynd Yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen told reporters that the Army isn't at a "tipping point" yet, even though the stress of repeated combat deployments has driven Army and Marine Corps suicides up to a record rate alongside cases of post-traumatic stress. Today, Spenc ...
  
  
  
  
  
• One term or two - LBJ or ?
  
  
  
  Commentary By Ron Beasley Obama has to make a decision of Afghanistan - is he going to make an LBJ decision and be a one term president or.....? Harvey Wasserman explains the wrong decision will make him a one term president. As the world awaits Barack Obama's decision on Afghanistan, a lethal myth ...
  
  
  
  
  
• India's Eastern Focus
  
  
  
  By Dave Anderson: Pakistan supports the Quetta Shura Taliban and other anti-government insurgent groups/networks in Afghanistan because Pakistan wants strategic depth against India. The warlords of the Northern Alliance and the Karzai government have a long history of having good working ties with I ...
  
  
  
  
  

Water Wars

• Tarrant lawsuit to buy Oklahoma water is partly di ...
  
  
  
  The Tarrant Regional Water District and Oklahoma are arguing over precisely what the federal judge's order means.
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas v. Oklahoma water lawsuit dismissed (The Okl ...
  
  
  
  A federal judge today dismissed a lawsuit which aimed to send Oklahoma water to Texas.The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma today granted a motion by Oklahoma Attorney General Drew Edmondson to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Tarrant Regional Water District.The Texas water di ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Georgia gets new water war attorney (WFXL Southwes ...
  
  
  
  Georgia has a new attorney handling its appeal of a devastating water decision that could limit Atlanta's access to its main water supply.
  
  
  
  
  
• Troubled Waters: Texas rice farmer takes on water ...
  
  
  
  (Part 2) The movers and shakers of a piece of legislation that would divert water from the Colorado River to the San Antonio Water System achieved a mutually beneficial resolution to a water supply and demand problem. The plan, however, became less mutually beneficial as time passed.
  
  
  
  
  
• Water Wars: Regional cooperation drying out (News ...
  
  
  
  (Part 1) In 1997, the Texas Legislature developed a water development plan that divided the state into 16 regions. The bill was supported by the idea that water-rich regions would help water-poor regions; however the spirit of that idea does not always withstand the demand for an increasingly vital ...
  
  
  
  
  

WordPress | Economics

• Rust belt goes to pot with Marijuana U
  
  
  
  Here’s an excerpt from a surprising Washington Post story by Andrea Billups on an educational
  
  
  
  
  
• Hayekian Macro
  
  
  
  Paul De Grauwe: …Hayek argued that no individual is capable of understanding the full complexi
  
  
  
  
  
• Socialized Medicine - Milton Friedman, Ronald Reag ...
  
  
  
  Milton Friedman – Socialized Medicine Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine Thi
  
  
  
  
  
• Sleek freaks and links to critiques
  
  
  
  flickr user: Rusty Sheriff I’ve been watching the Superfreakonomics saga unfold with interest.
  
  
  
  
  
• The Recession and Reverse Remittances
  
  
  
  I’ve discussed the negative effects of the current economic recession on human rights several
  
  
  
  
  

McClatchey

• Obama says U.S. envoy will visit North Korea next ...
  
  
  
  OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea &mash; U.S. special envoy Stephen Bosworth will travel to North Korea on Dec. 8 for talks aimed at getting the totalitarian regime to give up its nuclear weapons program, President Barack Obama said Thursday during a visit to South Korea on the final day of his weeklong As ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sanford actions may have broken law, ethics panel ...
  
  
  
  COLUMBIA, S.C. — A state ethics panel has found evidence Gov. Mark Sanford may have broken state law, charging him with "several" undisclosed violations after an investigation into his travel and campaign spending.
  
  
  
  
  
• Reid: Finish line on health care overhaul 'is fina ...
  
  
  
  WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday unveiled a sweeping $849 billion plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, a proposal likely to trigger an epic Senate battle over how consumers will buy and maintain coverage.
  
  
  
  
  
• Reid: Finish line on health care overhaul 'is fina ...
  
  
  
  WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders Wednesday unveiled a sweeping $849 billion plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, a proposal likely to trigger an epic Senate battle over how consumers will buy and maintain coverage.
  
  
  
  
  
• Texas' gay marriage ban may have banned all marria ...
  
  
  
  AUSTIN — Texans: Are you really married?
  
  
  
  
  

BBC - Richard Black's Earth Watch

• Climate: A defining issue
  
  
  
  A couple of weeks ago, the cat came well and truly out of the bag: there would not be a legally binding treaty at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen next month. Or will there? During his meeting on Tuesday with China's President Hu Jintao, President Obama appeared to indicate that some sort of co ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Copenhagen Countdown: 24 days
  
  
  
  Here in London, we've reached that time of year when the Sun rises after you do and sets comfortably before you leave the office. And the hours in between are filled with grey, malevolent drizzle. Have the week's diplomatic moves shed more light than the Sun is currently doing here on the likelihoo ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Copenhagen Countdown: 31 Days
  
  
  
  Most of those concerned with climate have had their eyes on Barcelona this week, where delegates from 192 countries plus hundreds of observers, campaigners, lobbyists - and journalists - convened for the final session of preparatory talks before the UN climate summit in Copenhagen . As I've reporte ...
  
  
  
  
  
• All's fair in the climate blame game
  
  
  
  At the UN climate negotiations in Barcelona. It's a story that's been coming for the last few months; now that it's being written , the first cards of the blame game are being played. Remember the UN climate conference in Bali two years ago , and the road that stretched from there to Copenhagen? ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Climate talks: To the wire and beyond
  
  
  
  At the UN climate negotiations in Barcelona. It looks like the UN climate summit in Copenhagen is shaping up to be another final-night, early-hours, last few seconds kind of affair. On the surface, what we're witnessing here at the final preparatory session in Barcelona is a stand-off between a pa ...
  
  
  
  
  

Afghanistan Sun

• Karzai minister accused of accepting Chinese bribe
  
  
  
  There have been reports from Afghanistan that the Minister of Mines has been accused of accepting a bribe of at least $20 million.
  
  
  
  
  
• Karzai promises to end cronyism and graft era in A ...
  
  
  
  Kabul, Nov.19 : Promising Thursday to prosecute corrupt government officials and end a culture of impunity during his second term, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said that his administration would move beyond the cronyism and graft of the past five years.
  
  
  
  
  
• 2 US service members killed in Afghan explosion
  
  
  
  KABUL — NATO says two U.S. service members have been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan. Lt. Col. Todd Vician says the two were killed by a bomb explosion in Zabul province late...
  
  
  
  
  
• Afghanistan at a glance
  
  
  
  Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 3:46 a.m. Some basic facts and figures about Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai was inaugurated Thursday to a second five-year term: GEOGRAPHY: Mountainou...
  
  
  
  
  
• Hill's surprise Afghan visit
  
  
  
  KABUL, Afghanistan -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to Afghanistan yesterday to attend the swearing in of President Hamid Karzai and meet the US commander. Clinton left B...
  
  
  
  
  

Futurismic

• The Surprising Range of Robots
  
  
  
  I’ve been invited to join a panel on robotics at the upcoming Orycon Science Fiction Convention, so I decided to write about them here, too.  I also have a story coming out soon in Analog, called “The Robots’ Girl,” which started when I read an article complaining about robots being develop ...
  
  
  
  
  
• BioBricked bacteria glow in the presence of landmi ...
  
  
  
  An alarmingly large amount of the world’s surface is strewn with landmines left behind after conflicts of one sort or another, leaving the locals at risk of death and mutilation long after the dispute that caused them to be laid down has ended (or moved elsewhere). Scouting for landmines is a risk ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Peak Uranium? Our nuclear future might be shorter ...
  
  
  
  We’ve all heard of Peak Oil (even if there’s some doubt about whether we’ve heard the truth over when it’s going to actually kick in), but there’s no need to worry – nuclear power will step in to fill the gap, right? [image courtesy Wikimedia Commons] Well, not for long, perhaps, at leas ...
  
  
  
  
  
• ‘Mirror of emotions’ to ‘rationalize’ onli ...
  
  
  
  “Curb your enthusiasm” seems to be the message of a new gadget from Philips Electronics and the Dutch bank ABN AMRO. They decided to collaborate on the “Rationalizer” bracelet system “after research confirmed that day traders sometimes act irrationally because their actions are affected by ...
  
  
  
  
  
• More thoughts on the LoveMachine
  
  
  
  Thanks to New World Notes, we get a little more detail about Philip Rosedale’s LoveMachine system, the reputation-based closed economy we mentioned yesterday. Cory Ondrejka was Linden Lab’s CTO until 2007, and he was instrumental in developing the LoveMachine system as it operated within the com ...
  
  
  
  
  

geopolitics | geoeconomics

• Putin and the Geopolitics of the New Cold War: Or ...
• The Fake Oil Crisis of 1973
• Fossiles Erdöl
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Confessions of an “ex” Peak Oil Believer
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Oil & First World War
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Whistleblowers Protection Blog

• International Whistleblower News (November 16, 200 ...
  
  
  
  [UK] Develin, Kate, “NHS whistleblower ‘sacked for revealing dumped x-ray scans’,” Telegraph.co.uk, November 14, 2009. Dr Otto Chan, a consultant radiologist, believes that he was labelled a troublemaker after the revelations about the Royal London. He claims that hospital bosses decided to ...
  
  
  
  
  
• CIA to pay $3 million so Horn will not oppose vaca ...
  
  
  
  The CIA has decided to pay Richard Horn $3 million for a unique settlement of a fifteen (15) year-old spying case. The government not only wants Horn to dismiss the case and release the CIA and State Department officials who spied on him, but the government also wants Horn to promise that he will no ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Bad Apples in a Rotten Barrel
  
  
  
    In the United Kingdom, a former investigator of the Royal Military Police (RMP), speaking anonymously, alleges that Senior British army commanders in Iraq refused to investigate Iraqi civilian abuse claims. According to BBC News on October 11 th , the whistleblower claims that while he has seen d ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Whistleblower Film Festival Features Silkwood, spo ...
  
  
  
  Tomorrow, October 15th , The DC Labor Film Festival’s Whistleblower Film Series continues with a screening of Silkwood . The film is sponsored by the National Whistleblowers Center and recounts the true story of Karen Silkwood, the gutsy plutonium factory worker who took on her supervisor’s unet ...
  
  
  
  
  
• 2009 National Conference and AGM of Whistleblowers ...
  
  
  
  Whistleblowers Australia (WBA), an association of whistleblowers in Australia, will host 2009 National Conference and annual general meeting at Aquinas College of the University of Adelaide from December 5-6, 2009. The conference theme is “blowing the whistle in the workplace.” Shelley Pezy, con ...
  
  
  
  
  

Defense and the National Interest

• DNI to close
  
  
  
  Probably on Monday, November 23, depending on how my travels work out. Please go ahead and download any thing you’d like to keep — I’d particularly recommend Boyd’s briefings and the 4GW manuals. I have great faith in the growing number of bloggers and commentators who cover many of the s ...
  
  
  
  
  
• On War #322: What Is “Political Correctness?”
  
  
  
  William S. Lind 18 November 2009 In response to the killing of 13 American soldiers at Ft. Hood by an Islamic U. S. Army major, a number of senior officials have expressed their fear, not of Islam, but of a possible threat to “diversity.” “Diversity” is one of the many false gods of “Poli ...
  
  
  
  
  
• What should we do with terrorists?
  
  
  
  Security guru Bruce Schneier has the right idea: We should treat terrorists like common criminals and give them all the benefits of true and open justice — not merely because it demonstrates our indomitability, but because it makes us all safer. Once a society starts circumventing its own laws, th ...
  
  
  
  
  
• Sun Tzu’s Art of War
  
  
  
  A Modern Application For When Things Don’t Go Our Way James Gimian and Barry Boyce Presented by the Georgetown University, Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service, Center for Peace and Security Studies (CPASS). November 18, 2009 Reed Alumni House 3601 O Street NW (Brick House with White Pillars) Wa ...
  
  
  
  
  
• On War #317: Keeping Our Infantry Alive
  
  
  
  William S. Lind 29 September 2009 The headline of the September 23 Washington Post read, “Less Peril for Civilians, but More for Troops.” The theme of the article was that restrictions General Stanley McChrystal has imposed on the use of supporting arms in Afghanistan, with the objective of red ...
  
  
  
  
  
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  Companies Call Government Incentives the Key to Green
  

  New York Times
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 13 hours ago
  

  Together, though, renewables other than hydropower account for only 3 percent of electricity. China has also been ramping up its renewable energy, ...
  

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  EDP Renewables to put $4 bln into U.S. wind market
  

  Reuters
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 13 hours ago
  

  LOS ANGELES, Nov 18 (Reuters) - EPD Renewables (EDPR.LS) will invest $4 billion into the US wind market over the next three years, the company said on ...
  

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  After Outcry, 2 Companies Shift Their Turbine Plans
  

  New York Times
  

  - Nov 17, 2009
  

  - Nov 17, 2009
  

  The US Renewable Energy Group, an investment firm, and A-Power Energy Generation Systems, a Chinese turbine maker, said in a statement on Tuesday that they ...
  

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  Transformer maker to open first US site in Colo.
  

  The Associated Press
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 10 hours ago
  

  A company that makes transformers that convert electricity from renewable energy sources to the grid plans to open its first US plant in Wheat Ridge in ...
  

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  Human Habitat

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  Director of Ecology
  

  PlanningResource (subscription)
  

  - Nov 19, 2009
  

  - 1 hour ago
  

  JFA Ltd are well-established ecology and landscape consultancy practice with a blue chip client base. We are looking to appoint a senior manager, ...
  

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  Air potato taking the wind out of local ecology
  

  Tampa Tribune
  

  - Nov 17, 2009
  

  - Nov 17, 2009
  

  Air potatoes get their name from potato like roots that allow them to come back year after year. By INDYA MARTIN SEBRING - The air potato, ...
  

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  The New Information Ecology
  

  The Pew Internet and American Life Project
  

  - Nov 16, 2009
  

  - Nov 16, 2009
  

  by Lee Rainie In "The new information ecology," he summarizes recent trends in Internet use, cell phone use and how information seekers come in different ...
  

  clipped from Google - 11/2009
  

  Texas' Turfgrass Ecology & Management Short Course Now Registering for 2010
  

  Lawn & Landscape
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 21 hours ago
  

  The 6th annual Turfgrass Ecology & Management Short Course is scheduled for Feb. 1-5, 2010 in College Station, Texas. The program, sponsored by Texas ...
  

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  Water Power

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  Water on the Moon!
  

  Wall Street Journal
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  Sensors have detected 24 gallons of water from the 60-foot crater created by the LCROSS experiment. On the moon, ice is worth more than gold. ...
  

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  Henderson council OKs water, sewer rate increases
  

  San Jose Mercury News
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 20 hours ago
  

  The Henderson City Council has approved water and sewer rate increases for the city's 85000 utility customers. The increases approved Tuesday will take ...
  

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  Clean Water Wins War, Now It May Be Time to Pay
  

  The Ledger
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 13 hours ago
  

  "The Clean Water Act is strong medicine," said David Guest, lawyer for Earthjustice, one of the groups that filed the suit. "The EPA can now get on with the ...
  

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  DWP report: Aging iron pipes caused water main breaks
  

  89.3 KPCC
  

  - Nov 18, 2009
  

  - 13 hours ago
  

  The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power released a report Tuesday discussing the rash of water main breaks that took place in September and October. ...
  

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