26 Dec - RSS SnapShot!

Feeds Update From Opit's LinkFest!* at My Opera Community
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IPS - Inter Press Services

• POLITICS: China Seen as Flaunting Growing Clout i ...
  BEIJING, Dec 25 (IPS) - If Asia, already unsettled by China’s economic rise, needed a reminder that economic power would be followed by more political assertiveness, then none was more compelling than Beijing’s unconcealed sway on Cambodia to expel 20 Uyghur asylum seekers over the weekend.
  
• BRAZIL: Hunger-Free Christmas Still Out of Reach
  RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec 24 (IPS) - The traditional campaign for a Christmas without Hunger in Brazil is in its 17th year. But in spite of ongoing programmes, food insecurity still affects 15 million people in South America's giant, according to official figures.
  
• MIDEAST: Israel Declares War on Peace NGOs
  JERUSALEM, Dec 24 (IPS) - One year after the devastating attack on Hamas in Gaza a new wave of reports castigating Israel for war crimes has emerged.
  
• Q&A: ‘Children Need to Adjust to the Econo ...
  BANGKOK, Dec 24 (IPS) - During the Asian financial crisis in 1997, Yaowapa Donsay was laid off from the Thai garments factory she was working in. Subsequently, she organised a group of jobless women workers – and that marked her transformation into a labour activist. As coordinator of the Wo ...
  
• GUATEMALA: Lynching, Another Face of Impunity
  GUATEMALA CITY, Dec 23 (IPS) - After a bus driver was shot to death in Sololá, a city in southwestern Guatemala, an angry mob captured two men and one woman suspected of committing the crime, beat them and burnt them alive in the central plaza.
  

Scoop - NZ

• Copenhagen - Historic failure that will live in in ...
  The most progressive US president in a generation comes to the most important international meeting since the Second World War and delivers a speech so devoid of substance that he might as well have made it on speaker-phone from a beach in Hawaii. His aides argue in private that he had no choice, su ...
  
• Artists and politicians gather to save Canterburya ...
  Canterbury's water management needs a serious overhaul, according to artists and activists who gathered for an art exhibition at Christchurch's COCA on Saturday.  »  PLIGG_Visual_RSS_OriginalNews
  
• The smoking gun at Copenhagen
  This is big news. A confidential UN analysis obtained by the Guardian reveals that the emissions cuts offered so far at the Copenhagen climate change summit will lead to global temperatures rising by an average of 3C.  »  PLIGG_Visual_RSS_OriginalNews
  
• Planet A +
  "If you will it, it is no dream" So said climate scientist and Jim Salinger to the 2,000 people gathered in Wellington's Civic Square, ready to march to Parliament in support of climate action. Meanwhile a crowd nearly twice that size had assembled in Auckland's Albert Park for a march up Queen Stre ...
  
• A few emails vs global scientific consensus: guess ...
  Like a bad smell, the theft of emails from the Climate Research Unit (CRU) hangs around the Copenhagen conference and threatens to distract people from what really needs to be discussed. Suddenly, everyone seems to be a scientific expert ready to denounce a global conspiracy but you don't have to di ...
  

Independent ( London )

• Man held over US plane bomb bid
  A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody today after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a US passenger plane as it approached Detroit.
  
• Israel kills six Palestinians in West Bank and Gaz ...
  Israeli soldiers shot and killed six Palestinians in two separate incidents on Saturday in the occupied West and the Gaza Strip, in one of the most deadly outbreaks of violence in months.
  
• 'London student' held over US plane bomb bid
  An al Qaida-linked suspect who allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic plane is studying at a UK university, it has been reported.
  
• Officials say explosion on US plane was terror att ...
  US authorities believe an incident involving a small explosion aboard a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Friday was an attempted act of terrorism, a White House official said.
  
• Officials say explosion on US plane was terrorism ...
  US authorities believe an incident involving a small explosion aboard a Delta-Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit on Friday was an attempted act of terrorism, a White House official said.
  

CASMII - Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran

• Mainstreaming the Mad Iran Bombers
  Summary: Why spend so much time on a mediocre, unoriginal op-ed? The better question is why the NYT published it. Advocates of such a military strike have been agitating tirelessly for years to mainstream and normalize an idea once seen as mad, using precisely these arguments so often that th ...
  
• Iran Willing to Perform Nuclear Exchange in Turkey ...
  Summary: Iran had previously suggested keeping the uranium on Kish Island, still on Iranian soil but where it was clearly out Iran’s stockpile. Suggestions of a neutral country acting as an intermediary have been floated before, but whether the West will accept the offer remains to be seen. But ...
  
• Iran’s Turkish Path
  Summary: It would be a great disappointment if the West responds with ifs and buts to Tehran’s offer. It’s time to look beyond the minute mechanisms of agreement and rather concentrate on the big picture. Cultivating a harmonious relationship with Iran should be the core objective of the West. G ...
  
• NYTimes Floats the Case for Attacking
  Summary: There are so many substantive reasons why Thursday’s op-ed in the New York Timesby Alan Kuperman was just awful that one hardly knows where to begin. Fortunately,Marc Lynch and Helena Cobban, among others, have covered most of the ground (except, for example, the environmental and healt ...
  
• Send Senator Kerry to Iran With The Right Message
  Summary: John Kerry Jay Solomon reports that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry is considering what would be the highest-level American visit to Tehran in thirty years. The White House has endorsed such a trip. This is a good idea – and an opportunity to stem the slide toward ...
  

The Daily Galaxy

• Holiday Greetings
  We're posting several of our most popular pieces from the past few months for your enjoyment this Holiday Season. In a couple of week's we hope to go live as a new iPhone app. We'll announce to all once we're...
  
• Antimatter Lightning Discovered (On Earth!)
  Antimatter Lightning! We're going to do our best, but nothing we could possibly write will be as awesome as the fact that's real and on Earth. In fact, nothing you ever read for the rest of your life will be...
  
• Is a Dark, Parallel Universe Pulling the Milky Way ...
  Astronomers have known for years that something unknown apears to be "pulling" our Milky Way and tens of thousands of other galaxies toward itself at a breakneck 22 million kilometers (14 million miles) per hour. But they couldn’t pinpoint exactly...
  
• Prehistoric Lakes of Antarctica Discovered with Ne ...
  Like a modern, micro version of The Thing, Antarctica's icy lakes have been discovered to house a surprisingly diverse community of viruses, including some that were previously unidentified. The finding could shed light on whether microbial life evolved independently in...
  
• Massive Mystery Planets Baffle Astronomers
  The universe is so much better than anything we could come up with: every time we look, we find new marvels and mysteries. The latest observations include two massive brown dwarfs in orbit around an aging star, whose very existence...
  

Natural News

• The season for sharing: Christmas brings gifts to ...
  (NaturalNews) Christmas was in full swing in Vilcabamba, Ecuador this year, where numerous foreigners participated in widespread gift-giving. I took part in a half-day gift distribution effort where two local business men from Vilcabamba joined with two foreigners (myself and my friend Jim) to purch ...
  
• Just 16 Ships Expel as Much Pollution as All the C ...
  (NaturalNews) Large shipping vessels have become commonplace in today's global marketplace as goods are imported and exported across the world. While the high levels of pollution they create are something that most people don't think too much about, some scientists are beginning to evaluate their en ...
  
• Brain Fitness should be Alongside All Fitness Prot ...
  (NaturalNews) We all share worries about brain decline, especially among the aging population. Scientists have long concluded that mental processing does slow with age. According to most studies, the human brain stops growing in its early 20s, after which it starts to contract. But studies show as w ...
  
• Merry Christmas from NaturalNews and the Health Ra ...
  (NaturalNews) Here's a Merry Christmas to all the NaturalNews readers from the Health Ranger. And yes, I do specifically mean Merry Christmas. I don't mean just "Happy Holidays" or "happy winter break" or even "happy end-of-year time off." What I mean is Merry Christmas. That's the holiday name I gr ...
  
• Meditation Reduces Heart Disease Deaths
  (NaturalNews) The Medical College of Wisconsin in conjunction with Maharishi University in Iowa funded a study about the effects of transcendental meditation on health. Researchers discovered that over the course of nine years, the group assigned to meditate saw a 47 percent reduction in strokes, he ...
  

TheGallopingBeaver

• Christmas 2011
  THE LA TIMES has a cheerful report: according to Steven Zeitchik, come Christmas 2011, Marvin the Martian will try to destroy things here on Earth. The Looney Tunes character is getting his own movie -- and now that movie has a director and writers, and could soon even have a star to lend Marvin hi ...
  
• What it's all about, really...
  Merry Christmas !
  
• Santa Visits Stevie . . .
• then they came for the hyperbolic and paranoid...
  The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Highway to Health - Last Tea Party Protest of the Year www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Health Care Crisis For those who can't see the clip, it's from the Daily Show on Dec. 16. It's a bit of video from the last Teaba ...
  
• Merry Christmas to all!

Media Matters for America

• Conservative media revive "death panels" yet agai ...
  The conservative media are now labeling the Independent Medicare Advisory Board created by the Senate health care reform bill a "death panel," even though the board is explicitly prohibited from "modify[ing] eligibility," "restrict[ing] benefits," or "ration[ing] health care" and its recommenda ...
  
• Beck's Dec. '09 Fusion magazine: A rehash ...
  Glenn Beck's Fusion magazine claims to provide its subscribers with "the latest perspective on what is happening in our world, coupled with [Beck's] personal thoughts as 'work in progress' as well as cutting edge comedy and satire." But the December 2009 issue of Fusion simply rehashed many of the ...
  
• O Tannen-Mao? The right-wing's White House Christ ...
  Taking a cue from Andrew Breitbart's BigGovernment.com, several conservative media outlets have reported on three ornaments on the White House Christmas tree depicting President Obama's face superimposed on Mount Rushmore, Mao Zedong, and Hedda Lettuce. Despite the suggestion that those three C ...
  
• Morris falsely asserted Medicare Advisory Board i ...
  On Fox & Friends , Dick Morris falsely claimed that the "Medicare Advisory Board" in the revised Senate health care bill will "be saying no, you can't give this person a hip replacement, they are too old, and no, you can't treat this person with colon cancer with the best drug available." In fac ...
  
• Quick Fact: Fox News advances falsehood that healt ...
  On Fox News' America's Newsroom , anchor Patti Ann Browne allowed Citizens Against Government Waste's David Williams to falsely claim that the Senate health care bill is "going to bankrupt this country in a matter of years." Browne at no point noted that the Congressional Budget Office [CBO] report ...
  

Global Research.ca

• The Economic Crisis Ends; the Political Crisis Beg ...
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
• Does Economics Deserve a Nobel Prize?
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
• Honduras: The Coup That Never Happened
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
• Curacao Is U.S. Spy Base Against Venezuela
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  
• Torture: The Transfers of Afgan Prisoners
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article.
  

TPM Cafe

• Building Single Payer Systems in the States with t ...
  One reason I'm less negative on the Senate bill than some is that I know states will continue to build on its framework with improvements -- and most of those states need just majority vote in normally apportioned chambers, so... United States Senate - Health - Health Policy - Majoritarianism ...
  
• Save Israel From Its Rightwing Destroyers
  The far right really is intimidated by J Street. Check out this limp hit by Lenny Ben David, the West Bank settler who has been tasked with smearing J Street by investigating its donors. Lenny, who was sent packing by... J Street - American Israel Public Affairs Committee - United States - Midd ...
  
• Israel and Gilad Shalit: Compassion On The Cheap
  The year ends with Israel obsessively focusing on the captured soldier, Gilad Shalit. He has been held by Hamas for over three years and, with the help of Israel's sensationalist media, the entire country seems to be in a fury... Hamas - Israel - Gilad Shalit - Gaza - Israeli government
  
• Iran Nuclear Negotiations -- Same Imperialism, Dif ...
  Part of the fun of blogging, for me any way, is the opportunity for dialogue between a moderate progressive like myself and the netroots. Many comments on my Iran blogging have been variations on the theme that my approach is... Middle East - Iran - Nuclear - Warfare and Conflict - Weapons
  
• Why the Health Care Bill Will Destroy the Conserva ...
  Yeah, the filibuster and the Senate structure sucks-- but some of us knew that and had low expectations. Ignoring what we didn't get, expanding coverage to thirty million folks, including 15 million more in Medicaid, plus restrictions on insurance companies... Medicaid - Health care - United St ...
  

TruthOut

• Top Army Commander Rescinds Controversial Order Cr ...
  A controversial policy implemented last month by the Army general commanding soldiers in Northern Iraq that criminalized pregnancy was rescinded following an outcry from women’s groups and fierce criticism by four Democratic lawmakers. read more
  
• In Romania, Ceausescu's Death Haunts Christmas
  Cluj-Napoca, Romania - Twenty years ago, as Romanians were celebrating their first free holiday in decades, they rejoiced at the news that dictator Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife Elena had been shot dead on Christmas day. It was the ultimate proof that the communist regime had crumbled irrevocably a ...
  
• GOP's McConnell Vows to Keep Battling Health Care ...
  Washington - Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to keep fighting efforts to pass a massive health care overall even as Democratic leaders declared victory following an early morning Christmas Eve vote on the Senate version of the legislation. "There is widespread opposition to this mons ...
  
• In Cuba, Christmas Make Cautious Return
  Havana, Cuba - It’s been more than a decade since Christmas was restored to national holiday status on this communist-run island, but don’t confuse the kindly old man with the bushy white beard on government billboards for the jolly fellow in the flying sleigh. That’s Karl Marx up there, not Kris ...
  
• Anniversary of TVA Coal Ash Spill as Forgotten as ...
  On the third day before Christmas in 2008, the people living along the Emory River in East Tennessee were listening to songs about a "white Christmas" like everybody else in the country, trying to look forward and not back. A new president was in the White House who promised "hope" after eight years ...
  

Planetsave

• Michigan Offshore Wind Proposal Stirs Waves
  A map prepared for Michigan’s Great  Lakes Offshore Wind Council shows areas of high wind power production potential in the state’s offshore waters. One of the first proposals for a major offshore wind project in America’s freshwater has surprised Michigan regulators and begun to stir oppositi ...
  
• Friendship between LION, TIGER and BEAR
  This post contains additional media. Click here to view the full post . . If we could all just get along like these three unusual friends, we would live in a much different world. In human society, people often do not like others simply because they are different. Humans kill over this matter. In ...
  
• Coalition Says MN Climate Solution Includes Nukes
  The Prairie Island nuclear plant at Red Wing, Minnesota, on the Mississippi River.  Nuclear power advocates want to repeal the state’s 15-year-old ban on new nuclear plants. The state that enacted one of the nation’s most farsighted clean energy laws in 2007 may be a battleground over nuclear p ...
  
• Curbside Vs. Deposit and GHG Reduction
  The beverage container industry continues to fight state and national container legislation despite evidence that such laws could contribute significantly to greenhouse gas reduction while providing energy, recycling and litter control benefits. The industry says community recycling programs, which ...
  
• Gender-Bending Chemicals in Minnesota Waters
  The discovery of malformed frogs in the Minnesota River watershed in the 1990s touched off field and lab research on endocrine disrupters that is continuing to yield findings. Minnesota, the state that made national headlines with the discovery of malformed frogs in the 1990s, has found endocrine ...
  

Water Quality - WordPress

• Cow Power Could Generate Electricity For Millions
  [Source: ScienceDaily.com] In the face of reports about the ills livestock generate for the climate,
  
• Las Vegas has Third Worst Tap Water Quality in U.S ...
  A new study just out this weekend shows how unsafe our Las Vegas tap water can be.  The Environmenta
  
• Compliance and Enforcement Annual Results 2009 Fis ...
  US EPA http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/reports/endofyear/eoy2009/index.html [From press rele
  
• SRBC working with East Resources
  http://srbc.net/whatsnew/Newsletters/article_32.asp Here is a link to an update from the SRBC (on th
  
• Stormwater Housekeeping - Pollution Prevention Fai ...
  A recent routine stormwater inspection on a shopping center site in Northern Virginia revealed how N
  

Public Citizen in Texas

• $18.2 Billion! Amores Nucleares: San Antonio Nucle ...
  The San Antonio Nuclear Expansion Soap Opera plot thickens.  Today’s update brings the shocking news that South Texas Project Reactors 3 & 4 could actually cost, not $13 Billion, not even $17 Billion… but $18.2 Billion! With all the trouble CPS has gotten into recently regarding transparency (a gen ...
  
• Green-up Your Life! Make change happen
  By Kirsten Bokenkamp During his campaign, President Obama said “change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” As individuals, we need to internalize this, and act on it. This is the last blog in ...
  
• 60 Seconds to Save the Earth
  Sixty seconds doesn’t seem like a lot of time; however, there are lots of things that can be done in sixty seconds or less.  For instance, an average adult can type 38 to 40 words and blink between ten and 30 times every sixty seconds (sometimes simultaneously).  Furthermore, an elite distance runne ...
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round Up
  The Texas Progressive Alliance brings you the highlights from the blogs. As the deadline to file for a place on the 2010 March primary ballot drew near, there was lots of activity on the Democratic side: Kinky Friedman followed Hank Gilbert over to the race for agriculture commissioner, Linda Chave ...
  
• Green-up Your Life! Holiday Edition
  By Kirsten Bokenkamp Happy Holidays! Just saying those words is enough to evoke joyful images of families gathered in the kitchen preparing a succulent holiday meal to be enjoyed together, or excited and wide-eyed children opening gifts next to a beautifully decorated Christmas tree. When I close ...
  

Press TV

• Obama beefs up air security over Delta Air episode
  US President Barack Obama has ordered tough measures for the reinforcement of flight security after an air security breach in which a man was caught with explosives.
  
• In Turkey, 23 charged over links with PKK
  Twenty-three officials, including eight mayors, have been charged by a Turkish court over having ties with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
  
• US family pleads to Taliban for captive GI release
  The family of a captured American soldier in Afghanistan has pleaded for his life following the publication of a video showing the trooper calling for and to the war.
  
• Pakistan air strikes kill 10 in Orakzai Agency
  Pakistani military planes have bombed suspected militant hide-outs in the Orakzai tribal area, south-west of Peshawar, killing at least 10 people.
  
• Japan unveils record $1 trillion budget
  Japan has unveiled a record 92.29 trillion yen ($1 trillion) annual budget designed to revive its recession-hit economy.
  

Axis of Logic

• Kenneth Mosley now scheduled for execution on Janu ...
  
  
• From Us to You
  
  
• Everywoman - Iraqi Women
  
  
• The Truth of What Happened at the Summit
  
  
• Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on How to Tackle ...
  
  

They Gave Us a Republic

• Why the Filibuster Isn't Going Anywhere
  There is a great deal of frustration with the filibuster at the moment, but it tends to be unpopular across the political spectrum - and we're probably stuck with it for the foreseeable future. For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears . No Associated Press content was harmed in ...
  
• Boxing Day is for Giving
  Not more superflous presents to friends and family, but gifts that will make all the difference to those in need. The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such ...
  
• Goldman Sachs... Lower Than Slime Mold
  From a C&L link:   AIG doesn't have the bastard monopoly on Wall Street. WASHINGTON - In 2006 and 2007, Goldman Sachs Group peddled more than $40 billion in securities backed by at least 200,000 risky home mortgages, but never told the buyers it was secretly betting that a sharp drop in U.S. housing ...
  
• Merry Christmas
  It has been a while since I have left a post here. So, without further todo: Merry Christmas! to all my friends here at "They gave us a republic."
  
• The Nightowl Newswrap
  Please do keep wasting your time and whatever credibility you have left on this, Mitch. "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell vowed to keep fighting efforts to pass a massive health care overall even as Democratic leaders declared victory following an early morning Christmas Eve vote on the Senate ...
  

Care 2

• More than a million 'alien' crayfish caught in loc ...
  A project to capture American signal crayfish on a Scottish loch has caught more than a million of the creatures. Submitted by Cal Mendelsohn to Animals  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
• Christmas Tree of Recycled Bottles
  The staff of Pearl International Hotel have every reason to be proud of the hotel's 3.5m-high Christmas tree. Long before christmas, they had got busy tearing the pages of expired magazines and salvaging mineral water bottles from guests rooms to make Submitted by Naoko I. to Green Lifestyle  |   N ...
  
• Lawsuit to Protect Wild Horses Continues Despite D ...
  Wild horse advocates today celebrated a partial victory as U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Friedman ordered a lawsuit challenging a Bureau of Land Management roundup of thousands of wild horses in Nevada forward, but denied a preliminary injunction to s Submitted by Cal Mendelsohn to Animals  |  ...
  
• Journey into the Heart of Whiteness
  Interview: Richard Benjamin on being the lone black guy at a white separatist retreat, and other adventures in America's whitest places. Submitted by Cal Mendelsohn to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
• James Gurley, Guitarist in Big Brother, Dies at 69
  James Gurley, who played guitar in Big Brother and the Holding Company, the psychedelic rock band that brought Janis Joplin to fame, died on Sunday at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 69. Submitted by Kat Y. to Offbeat  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  

GreenBiz

• The Advent of a New 'Oil War' after Copenhagen
  Critics of George Bush say he has led us into a quagmire in Iraq during the last decade from which we will never emerge. They say his way of doing business led to all the disagreements visible in the Copenhagen climate talks. They're wrong.
  
• Ford To Roll Out Plug-Ins, Battery Electric Vehicl ...
  From now until 2012, Ford will introduce a range of electric vehicles, from continuing its work with hybrids to releasing plug-in and battery electric vehicles.
  
• Coca-Coca, Carbon Reduction, Copenhagen -- and Pol ...
  That's Muhtar Kent, the CEO of Coca-Cola, on the right. On the left is a polar bear. I caught up with Muhtar Kent at COP15, where he was one of a few Fortune 500 CEOs to show up in an effort to influence the climate talks.
  
• Three Solutions for the Supply Side of the Energy ...
  While serious discussion has taken place at the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen, the lack of any concrete policy so far shouldn't stop us from making real progress when it comes to providing cleaner, smarter, more efficient energy options.
  
• Coca-Cola's Path to Copenhagen
  Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent, one of a scant number of Fortune 500 chief execs to make it to COP15, tells GreenBiz.com Senior Writer Marc Gunther what compelled the company to have a strong presence at the climate conference.
  

Reuters Global

• Lessons for coup makers?
  African coup makers may be better off holding quick elections than leaving confusion about what their plans are, but should the international community support any of them?
  
• Meeting the Banda Aceh “tsunami family&#8221 ...
  Reuters Television producer Masako Iijima, one of the many journalists who covered the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami, went back to Banda Aceh in Indonesia to reconnect with a family she had met five years ago
  
• “Earth to Ban Ki-moon” or how a deal w ...
  Sweden complained that the recent Copenhagen climate change summit was a "disaster." British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described it as "at best flawed and at worst chaotic." Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem, dubbed the outcome confirmation of a "climate apartheid." For South Afric ...
  
• Pakistan: Through the eye of a needle
  A court ruling overturning a 2007 amnesty has given Pakistan an opportunity to remodel its civilian democracy based on the rule of law. But the way forward is narrow and fraught with difficulties
  
• Parallel worlds at U.N. climate talks
  Parallel universe at UN climate talks
  

Ezra Klein

• Vacation's all I ever wanted
  Or at least a long weekend. Barring unexpected events, I'll be back Monday. In the meantime, though, I'll be using the Twitter machine , which I encourage you to follow. I'm funnier there anyway.
  
• Winning ugly, but winning
  On Dec. 24, in an early morning vote, the United States Senate passed health-care reform. It was the first time the body had been in session on Christmas Eve since 1963. That's fitting, as it's arguably the most important piece of legislation the body has passed since 1963. H.R. 3590, the Patien ...
  
• Obama: Republican filibustering "unheard of"
  And the concerns over the filibuster march on. In the last few weeks, we've heard from Andy Stern , Paul Krugman , Sen. Jeff Merkley , and Sen. Tom Harkin on the difficulty the Senate has functioning now that it's subject to a 60-vote supermajority requirement. Next up? One Barack Obama . "[A]s s ...
  
• Tab dump
  1) Chris Hayes goes to China . 2) Things you should know about a person you should know about . 3) A summary of Copenhagen . 4) Berkshire's repellent shareholders . 5) Fallows on the filibuster . Recipe of the day : How to make 2 Amy's deviled eggs . I'll be on Olbermann tonight at the beginni ...
  
• Conference vs. Ping-Pong
  Barring any last-minute surprises, health-care reform will pass the Senate early tomorrow morning. But as much as this feels like the end of the road, it isn't. The House and the Senate still need to settle the substantial differences between their bills and pass a common piece of legislation. They ...
  

Booman Tribune

• The Anti-Corporatist Movement
  I want to talk about a losing ideological battle that is being waged on the left in this country by a group of people that I will call (non-pejoratively) "anti-corporatists." They are hypercritical of the TARP program, wanted to nationalize the banks, want to audit the Fed, and fought fervently for ...
  
• Figure This Out
  Centrists rule our world. Landrieu said she would not support the final legislation if negotiators tinkered with the Senate proposal for taxing high-cost insurance plans. “I can only support a bill if the Cadillac plans are taxed at the level they are in the Senate [bill,]” said Landrieu. “I ...
  
• Yeah, That Plan Won't Work
  I like Cenk Uygur a lot but he is desperately confused. He's kind of on the right track in the beginning of his analysis but he makes a common mistake. He correctly identifies Obama's move to the center when he got to Washington but he attributes it to some kind of character trait rather than simp ...
  
• A Little Nat King Cole
  For Christmas Eve:
  
• Quote of the Day
  David Broder got paid to write this: Obama has not intervened with a heavy hand as the bill has moved through the House and Senate, but now it is time for him to act. It would help a lot if he reached out personally to those few Republicans who might still want to improve the bill rather than ...
  

European Tribune

• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 26 ...
   A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1791 – Birth of...
  
• Christmas Day Open Thread
  So what kind of goodiness can you tell us about today?...
  
• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 25 ...
   A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1878 – Louis Chevrolet,...
  
• Christmas Eve Open Thread
  Merry Christmas, Fröhliche Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad, Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale and... ?!!!...
  
• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch - 24 ...
   A Daily Review Of International Online Media Europeans on this date in history:1810 – Birth of...
  

Futurismic

• Happy Holidays
  Does Not Equal is a webcomic by Sarah Ennals – check out the pre-Futurismic archives, and the strips that have been published here previously. [ Be sure to check out the Does Not Equal Cafepress store for webcomic merchandise featuring Canadians with geometrically-shaped heads! ] Project Wonderful ...
  
• Festive downtime
  Hi folks; just a quick note to apologise for the radio silence here over the last week! I’ve been off doing that family thing for the festive season alongside finishing up all the fiddly details of my recent house move (an experience I’m glad to have seen the end of), and there simply hasn’t been [. ...
  
• The legislation of fabrication – should 3D printin ...
  Here’s another sf-nal thought experiment to keep your brain occupied. We frequently mention 3D printing and fabbing here at Futurismic, but usually in the context of its positive disruptive potential – a potential sea-change in capitalist economic systems, for example. But here’s a negative response ...
  
• Potential outcomes of pervasive surveillance
  Sometimes it really feels like science-fictional thinking is becoming a much more mainstream thing to do. Following on from yesterday’s mention of CCTV control software that can learn to recognise suspicious behaviour (as defined by operator feedback, natch), out-bound BoingBoing guest blogger Paul ...
  
• Mercurial cartography
  With the cold weather really digging in for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, you may well be thinking of taking a holiday somewhere hot. Courtesy the US Geological Survey, you can now scout out the lay of the land on the hottest destination in the entire solar system, as their near-global map ...
  

Therapy News

• Therapy, Psychiatric Clients Facing Sudden Insurer ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Summary Health insurance is something that can cause significant financial burdens for some policy holders, but most are able to justify the costs of monthly pay-outs by feeling secure in the knowledge that if they need medical help, they’ll be able to acquire and afford it. S ...
  
• Reports from Fort Hood: Holidays Cast in Blue Desp ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline The massacre at the United States Army base in Fort Hood this November has been responsible for a great deal of disappointment and sadness, though efforts to provide personnel and their families with qualified therapists and counselors have been considerable. As many ...
  
• Nation’s Unemployed Experiencing Grip of Depressio ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Summary Many people, even those who may not particularly enjoy their jobs, are nevertheless able to feel a sense of self-worth and meaning from the process of producing a good or service that is of use to other people. In fact, several studies have suggested that returning to ...
  
• Mental Health Courts Worker Notes: “Miracle” Portr ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline For most people, Miracle on 42nd Street is a film typically watched around the holidays, perhaps with a mug of cocoa and plenty of good cheer. Those in the mental health professions, however, including therapists and counselors as well as lawyers and court clerks who ...
  
• Issues of Unscrupulous Mental Health Charities Ris ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline Opportunities to give to charities and various good causes seem especially ample around the holiday season, and while many organizations and efforts with truly good intentions exist, others may operate with less than admirable ethics. The threat to personal well-being ...
  

Mountaintop Removal

• A brief holiday respite, then health care reform d ...
  A brief holiday respite, then health care reform debate begins final act Louisville Courier-Journal ... grandstanding and outrage as a strategy” to protect mountaintop removal mining, a practice that he said “has a diminishing constituency in Washington. ... and more »
  
• Religion Briefs: Christ Church Cathedral plans Jan ...
  Religion Briefs: Christ Church Cathedral plans January events The Tennessean Mountaintop Removal Road Show, a multimedia show with traditional Appalachian music and culture, opens with dinner at 5:30 pm followed by the program at ... and more »
  
• Readers' Voice: Dec. 26, 2009 - Charleston Gazette
  Readers' Voice: Dec. 26, 2009 Charleston Gazette You people doing mountaintop removal are not West Virginians -- you don't deserve to be. I was at the Robert Byrd Memorial Clinic on the 17th where I saw a ... and more »
  
• Editorial: Extremes won't carry the day in coal fi ...
  Editorial: Extremes won't carry the day in coal fight Huntington Herald Dispatch The war of words, protests and counter-protests over mountaintop removal mining has grown more intense in recent months to the point that many fear it will ...
  
• Fear of violence grows in mountaintop mining fight ...
  Fear of violence grows in mountaintop mining fight Appalachian News-Express ... strode past West Virginia state troopers and into a stream of marchers protesting mountaintop removal mining to deliver an audible smack. ...
  

Memeorandum

• Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device ...
  New York Times : Terror Attempt Seen as Man Tries to Ignite Device on Jet   —  A Nigerian man tried to ignite an explosive device aboard a transatlantic Northwest Airlines flight as the plane prepared to land in Detroit on Friday, in an incident the United States believes was “an attempted act of ...
  
• Debate Shows Obama Plays by Washington's Rules (Ad ...
  Adam Nagourney / New York Times : Debate Shows Obama Plays by Washington's Rules   —  WASHINGTON — Howard Dean ran for president in 2004 as the outsider ready to battle an entrenched establishment in Washington.  And so, four years later, did Barack Obama.  —  Now, one year into Mr. Obama's preside ...
  
• White House: Failed plane attack an attempted act ...
  Scott Butterworth / Washington Post : White House: Failed plane attack an attempted act of terrorism   —  A Nigerian national, claiming to be acting on behalf of al-Qaeda, is in custody in Detroit after allegedly attempting to light an incendiary device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight after it l ...
  
• Midair Bomb Attempt Fails (Wall Street Journal)
  Wall Street Journal : Midair Bomb Attempt Fails   —  Man on Flight to Detroit Claims Al Qaeda Ties; Obama Tightens Security  —  This picture provided by J.P. Karas shows Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on the runway after arriving at Detroit Metropolitan Airport from Amsterdam on Friday.
  
• Officials: Possible terror attack on Northwest jet ...
  msnbc.com : Officials: Possible terror attack on Northwest jet   —  Nigerian man tries to light powdery substance on Detroit flight, officials say  —  A 23-year-old Nigerian man tried to light a powdery substance aboard a Northwest Airlines flight before landing in Detroit on Friday, a senior U.S. ...
  

Energy & Environment News

• New Group Seeks to Bring Greener Power to Marin
  With holiday lights glowing around Marin County, Calif., a debate is heating up from Belvedere to Novato about who should procure the electricity that keeps them lighted.
  
• In the Region | Westchester: Towns Tackle ‘ ...
  Several Westchester municipalities that have in recent years struggled with the intricacies of laws on green construction.
  
• Earth-Friendly Elements, Mined Destructively
  Some renewable energy technologies rely on a group of elements called rare earths, but they mainly come from environmentally damaging mines in China.
  
• U.N. Climate Talks ‘Take Note’ of Ac ...
  The agreement left open the question of whether the accord would gain the full support of the countries involved in the talks on limiting the risks of climate change.
  
• Jury Awards BP Workers $100 Million in Toxic Subst ...
  A federal jury on Friday awarded more than $100 million to 10 workers who claimed they were injured in 2007 when a toxic substance was released at BP’s Texas City plant.
  

5+ quakes - 7 days

• M 6.0, Banda Sea
  Saturday, December 26, 2009 08:57:24 UTC Saturday, December 26, 2009 05:57:24 PM at epicenter Depth : 57.00 km (35.42 mi)
  
• M 5.0, Mindanao, Philippines
  Saturday, December 26, 2009 06:59:15 UTC Saturday, December 26, 2009 02:59:15 PM at epicenter Depth : 55.20 km (34.30 mi)
  
• M 5.1, Kepulauan Tanimbar, Indonesia
  Wednesday, December 23, 2009 16:28:33 UTC Thursday, December 24, 2009 01:28:33 AM at epicenter Depth : 29.70 km (18.45 mi)
  
• M 5.0, Molucca Sea
  Sunday, December 20, 2009 13:25:49 UTC Sunday, December 20, 2009 10:25:49 PM at epicenter Depth : 74.00 km (45.98 mi)
  
• M 5.3, Mindanao, Philippines
  Saturday, December 26, 2009 05:09:27 UTC Saturday, December 26, 2009 01:09:27 PM at epicenter Depth : 55.30 km (34.36 mi)
  

China Dialogue

• Briefing: the Copenhagen Accord
  What happened at the COP15 climate talks? Tan Copsey explains the new agreement. After two chaotic weeks, 188 countries reached a limited agreement in Copenhagen to continue global efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in order to address climate change.  The talks were quite unlike the ...
  
• Slideshow: eye on Mozambique (1)
  In the first section of a two-part slideshow about environmental concerns in the southeast African nation, Daniel Ribeiro introduces deforestation, water and energy issues. NEXT: Sorting the rubbish in Mozambique
  
• Solving the incinerator uproar
  China faces difficult decisions over waste disposal, as local residents vent their opposition to garbage-burning plants. Ma Jun suggests a way forward. China has seen fierce debate over the building of garbage incinerators in recent months. City authorities believe increasing quantities of urban was ...
  
• Down to the wire
  chinadialogue follows the climate talks as they reach their conclusion. Read the full text of the Chinese premier’s speech, breaking news, blogs and analysis. chinadialogue is blogging the climate talks from Copenhagen on "the daily planet". Click here to read the full text of the Chinese premier’s ...
  
• To seal a deal, we need justice
  An agreement seems beyond reach at Copenhagen. Ma Jun blames an inability to balance the need for efficiency with the principle of equity. Climate change is one of the most complex challenges that faces the world today. The fact that international society has come together to negotiate a plan to red ...
  

AlterNet Top Stories

• Will Our 'Green Jobs' Dollars Help a Ritzy Car Com ...
  Tesla makes a sleek electric roadster at $110,000. A new model's generating buzz, but one possible manufacturing site's haunted by ghosts of the old economy.
  
• New Year's Resolutions To Help Make Corporate Fat ...
  I was working on my list of New Year's resolutions when it occurred to me that some of the people running our country could benefit from my suggestions.
  
• A Very Wingnutty Christmas from Chuck Norris
  When Chuck Norris wishes you a happy holiday ...
  
• Have Americans Traded Freedom For Security?
  According to polls, Americans support torture and don't mind that their government spies on them without obtaining warrants from a court.
  
• Can We Rescue the Republic Before the Dark Politic ...
  Books by Chris Hedges, Thom Hartmann and Cass Sunstein suggest that we've nearly lost our sense of self-government. None show the way to get it back.
  

Threat Level

• Former Morgan Stanley Coder Gets 2 Years in Prison ...
  The two great friends talked every day and shared information about all of their exploits — sexual, narcotic and hacking — according to prosecutors. Now another thing they’ll have to share information about is their experience in federal prison. While accused TJX hacker kingpin Albert Gonzalez await ...
  
• Obama Appoints Former Microsoft Security Chief New ...
  It took seven months but President Obama has finally found someone to take the cybersecurity czar job no one wanted. Howard Schmidt,  a former Microsoft security executive and a one-time cybersecurity adviser to President George W. Bush, has been appointed to the position of cybersecurity coordinat ...
  
• 7-Eleven Hack From Russia Led to ATM Looting in Ne ...
  Flashback, early 2008. Citibank officials are witnessing a huge spike in fraudulent withdrawals from New York area ATMs — $180,000 is stolen from cash machines on the Upper East Side in just three days.  After a stakeout, police arrest one man walking out of a bank with thousands of dollars in cas ...
  
• Albert Gonzalez Enters Plea Agreement in Heartland ...
  Albert Gonzalez, who has admitted hacking into TJX and other companies, has filed a plea agreement in charges that he breached Heartland Payment Systems, Hannaford, 7-Eleven and two other companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Gonzalez, a former Secret Service informant, will plead guilty to ...
  
• TJX Hacker ‘Will Never Commit Any Crime Again’
  Confessed hacker Albert Gonzalez’s turn as a Secret Service informant led him down a dark path of obsession, culminating in the largest identity-theft spree in history. Frances Gonzalez Lago, Gonzalez’s sister wrote his sentencing judge that her brother’s work as an informant between 2003 and and 2 ...
  

Reuters - Most Popular Articles

• WRAPUP 2-US says al Qaeda-linked man tries to blow ...
  DETROIT, Dec 26 (Reuters) - A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody on Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit, U.S. officials said.
  
• U.S. says al Qaeda-linked man tries to blow up pla ...
  DETROIT (Reuters) - A Nigerian man believed to be linked to al Qaeda militants was in custody on Saturday after he tried to ignite an explosive device on a U.S. passenger plane as it approached Detroit, U.S. officials said.
  
• Russia to work on new nuclear missiles: Medvedev
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will work on a new generation of nuclear missiles to ensure its nuclear deterrent remains effective, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.
  
• Clashes erupt in Iran on Shi'ite holy day
  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian riot police fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse opposition supporters in Tehran who used a Shi'ite religious festival on Saturday to stage new anti-government protests, a reformist website said.
  
• Europe tightens security after foiled U.S. attack
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Airports and airlines across Europe moved rapidly to tighten security on U.S.-bound flights on Saturday after a man tried to set off explosives on a plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit.
  

Pine River World News

• America's New Crusade: Imperial U.S. vs Political ...
  The following commentary is reprinted with permission from Global Research. America's New Crusade:  Imperial U.S. vs Political Islam ©   Global Research By Rodrigue Tremblay December 25, 2009 "I am as intolerant of imperialistic designs on the part of other nations as I was of such designs on the ...
  
• The Economic Crisis Ends; the Political Crisis Beg ...
  The following commentary is reprinted with permission from Global Research. The Economic Crisis Ends;  the Political Crisis Begins ©   Global Research By Shamus Cooke December 24, 2009 First Iceland, then Ireland, now Greece. Much of Europe is mired in inescapable debt and bankrupt nations, the re ...
  
• The Nevada gambler, al-Qaida, the CIA and the moth ...
  The following article is from The Guardian, UK. The Nevada gambler, al-Qaida, the CIA and the mother of all cons ©   The Guardian By Chris McGreal December 23, 2009 Washington The intelligence reports fitted the suspicions of the time: al-Qaida sleeper agents were scattered across the U.S. awaiti ...
  
• Paul Craig Roberts: Americans Are Hell-Bent on Tyr ...
  The following column is reprinted with permission from Paul Craig Roberts. Americans Are Hell-Bent on Tyranny ©  Paul Craig Roberts December 22, 2009 Obama's dwindling band of true believers has taken heart that their man has finally delivered on one of his many promises - the closing of the Guant ...
  
• U.S. Drones Hacked in Iraq Deliberately: Pentagon ...
  The following commentary is reprinted with permission from Pravda, Moscow. U.S. Drones Hacked in Iraq Deliberately: Pentagon Needs More Cash ©   Pravda.ru By Sergey Balmasov December 21, 2009 Iraqi gunmen have learned to intercept secret data from U.S. intelligence and use them in their purposes. ...
  

  PDA AMERICA

• Christmas and Copenhagen
  By Ted Glick | From Future Hope column, December 21, 2009 The huge—and hugely disappointing, as far as the official results—Copenhagen world climate conference has just concluded. Since the worldwide celebrations of the birth of Jesus ...
  
• Tiny Tim and health care reform in U.S.
  By Breck England | The Salt Lake Tribune The views expressed in this article not necessarily the views of Progressive Democrats of America. The most popular movie this holiday season is about health care reform. “A Christmas Carol” ...
  
• The Health Care Bill Sucks–and What to Do About It
  Cross-posted from Fire Dog Lake The public option was always a fig leaf. Thus, its demise will not really change the fundamental nature of the health care bill, in my opinion. It merely pushes the bill ...
  
• Payoffs for states get Reid to 60
  From the Politico.com Ben Nelson’s “Cornhusker Kickback,” as the GOP is calling it, got all the attention Saturday, but other senators lined up for deals as Majority Leader Harry Reid corralled the last few votes for ...
  
• PDA South & East Regional Call
  PDA members, long term and new, shared news about actions and campaigns in their states. Strategies for actions around Healthcare NOT Warfare—especially the upcoming Brown Bag Lunch Vigils—dominated the discussion, as well as possibilities for ...
  

Marler Blog

• UPDATED - People in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michig ...
  How many of you had a streak in a restaurant since September of this year? Did anyone who ate that steak know that the steak came from National Steak and Poultry? Did anyone see that on the box the steak came in that it was labeled ““ EST. 6010T ?” Did anyone realize that the steak might have bee ...
  
• People in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South ...
  How many of you had a streak in a restaurant since September of this year? Did anyone who ate that steak know that the steak came from National Steak and Poultry? Did anyone see that on the box the steak came in that it was labeled ““ EST. 6010T ?” Did anyone realize that the steak might have bee ...
  
• There is a long, too long, history of E. coli O157 ...
  The Christmas Eve Recall of E. coli-tainted steaks by National Steak and Poultry, that have sickened people in several states in yet as unnamed restaurants, made me think a bit more about the problems the meat industry and the FSIS has had over the last sixteen years (post JITB) in dealing with E. c ...
  
• Check Your Grocery List Twice for Listeria Ham if ...
  Associated Grocers of Maine, importing firm, a Gardiner, Maine, establishment, is recalling approximately 312 pounds of ham products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The following pro ...
  
• "Twas the Night Before Christmas," when no one is ...
  According to an FSIS Press Release, National Steak and Poultry, an Owasso, Okla., establishment, is recalling approximately 248,000 pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. ...
  

AutoblogGreen

• AutoblogGreen for 12.24.09
  Forget the Tata Nano, Oklahomans can get a new electric car for $865! Who wants one? No new U.S. coal plants in 2009; does this mean a cleaner future for electric cars? Good news, maybe. ...
  
• AutoblogGreen for 12.23.09
  Considering the crazy: will $30 barrels of oil come back? At least one person writing on the Internet thinks so. Can Ford beat the Chevy Volt two years later with a cheaper PHEV? A little bit ...
  
• AutoblogGreen for 12.22.09
  Better Place's Renault Fluence EV to sell for under $20,000 Could be quite the bargain. Free Electric Car! Read the fine print. ...
  
• AutoblogGreen for 12.21.09
  Zombie meme alert: electric cars cause cancer Or so they say. Coda shares low-life battery plan You have 15 miles left on your charge. This is how your car will react. ...
  
• AutoblogGreen for 12.18.09
  Video: Watch the Volt battery go shake-shake-shake Rumble, rumble. Ford sends 10 Focus fuel cell vehicles to Iceland for continued testing These cars are getting a work out. ...
  

Rafe's Radar

• Valley VC learns to embrace government
  Famous venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson avoided politics--as long as he could. Now dealing with the feds is a job skill.
  
• Reporters' Roundtable Podcast: Biggest tech storie ...
  This week on the Roundtable: The biggest tech stories of 2009! With my boss, CNET Editor in Chief Scott Ard , and Buzz Out Loud host (and my co-conspirator on Real Deal ) Tom Merritt . Listen now: Download today's podcast Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subsc ...
  
• Dear newspapers: I will pay for your content, once
  Asking subscribers to pay for the same content twice will not work.
  
• Blippy launches the Twitter of personal finance
  There's more to this service that sharing spending data with friends, thank goodness.
  
• Reporters' Roundtable Podcast: Google Chrome OS
  What's behind the Google Chrome OS, technologically and from a business perspective? This week on the Roundtable, I discuss the pending operating system with CNET writers Stephen Shankland ( Deep Tech ) and Gordon Haff ( Pervasive Data Center ). Listen now: Download today's podcast Subs ...
  

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!

• Climate Discord: From Hopenhagen to Nopenhagen
  Barack Obama said, minutes before racing out of the U.N. climate summit, “We will not be legally bound by anything that took place here today.” These were among his remarks made to his own small White House press corps, excluding the 3,500 credentialed journalists covering the talks. It was late on ...
  
• NOAM CHOMSKY: "The Unipolar Moment and the Culture ...
  Noam Chomsky delivers the 5th Annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture: The Unipolar Moment and the Culture of Imperialism at Columbia University School for International Affairs.
  
• Copenhagen Climate Summit: The Empire’s New ...
  Denmark is the home of renowned children’s author Hans Christian Andersen. Copenhagen is dotted with historical spots where Andersen lived and wrote. “The Little Mermaid” was one of his most famous tales, published in 1837, along with “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” As the United Nations’ climate sum ...
  
• Aminatou Haidar Under House Arrest: "They Are Sile ...
  Watch Democracy Now!’s coverage of the story of the Western Saharan human rights activist Aminatou Haidar here . She has been on a hunger strike for four weeks since being deported against her will by Moroccan authorities occupying her homeland. Haidar, known as the “Sahrawi Gandhi,” spent the mon ...
  
• Take Me to Your Climate Leader
  COPENHAGEN—“Politicians talk, leaders act” read the sign outside the Bella Center in Copenhagen on the opening day of the United Nations climate summit. Inside the convention center, the official delegations from 192 countries, hundreds of NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)—an estimated 15,000 pe ...
  

Farming Pathogens

• We Are All Astronauts Now
  Five years ago I gave copies of this essay to a few friends and family as a year-end holiday gift. As a first stab I think it’s aged well, despite its ignorance of the work of Berger, Harvey, Reichenbach, among others. I offer it now to everyone else in a similar spirit–all in good fun, [...]
  
• Pigs Do Fly! Implications for Influenza
  The influenza genome is segmented. Eight pieces of single-stranded RNA encode for 11 proteins: PB2, PB1, PB1-F2, PA, HA, NP, NA, M1, M2, NS1, and NS2. The segmentation allows influenza of different subtypes infecting the same host to trade segments like card players on a Friday night. Most of the re ...
  
• Breeding Influenza: The Political Virology of Offs ...
  What better way to medicate against a holiday’s genocidal origins and the hunger now swelling worldwide in the wake of a related banker-brought recession than with a bellyful of turkey, stuffing, yams, and pumpkin pie? Despite its rotten ambiguities Thanksgiving remains my favorite American holiday. ...
  
• 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 wave a ...
  
• 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 possible, it’ ...
  

Digg Green

• Lasers, acid used in whaling clashes
  Japanese whalers and activists have clashed in the Antarctic Ocean over two days, with weapons including water cannon, blinding lasers and bottles of rancid acid. .The activists tried to blind the Japanese crew with lasers and "fired ball-like projectiles with a projectile-launching device" during a ...
  
• Sean Hannity's Bogus Russian Climate Scandal
  Fox's Sean Hannity recently reported a "bombshell" revelation that "a major Russian climate change organization" had its data tampered with by leading British climate scientists. But this "climate change organization" is actually an economic think tank with ties to US oil companies and no climate da ...
  
• Proposed 'Smart Grid' project may Prevent Blackout ...
  A smart grid -- a digital network enabling utilities, consumers and alternative sources of renewable energy to "talk" to one another instantaneously -- could steer electricity to where it is needed most, eliminate blackouts and power failures, and also to create jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions ...
  
• Forty-year-old air sample found in old dude's Scub ...
  The old air means that ice-core data can be cross-checked. It also feeds into better predictions of future atmospheric compositions. Pretty f****** interesting.
  
• How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I ...
  As recriminations fly post-Copenhagen, climate change expert Mark Lynas offers a fly-on-the-wall account of how talks failed, everyone blames Obama and the West but China wrecked the deal.
  

Invisible Opportunity

• Merry Christmas from NaturalNews and the Health Ra ...
  By Mike Adams Here’s a Merry Christmas to all the NaturalNews readers from the Health Ranger. And yes, I do specifically mean Merry Christmas. I don’t mean just “Happy Holidays” or “happy winter break” or even “happy end-of-year time off.” What I mean is Merry Christmas. That’s the holiday name I ...
  
• Lawrence Solomon: Wikipedia’s climate doctor
  By Lawrence Solomon The Climategate Emails describe how a small band of climatologists cooked the books to make the last century seem dangerously warm. The emails also describe how the band plotted to rewrite history as well as science, particularly by eliminating the Medieval Warm Period, a 400 yea ...
  
• Climate change ‘ forcing polar bears to become can ...
  A male polar bear dragged the grisly remains of a cub that it caught and killed in the Hudson Bay area, Canada, after separating it from its mother — one of a growing number of instances of cannibalism on record, according to climate change campaigners. The bears may be forced into eating their own ...
  
• Prescription narcotics cause more deaths than both ...
  By Mike Adams On the heels of the sudden death of celebrity actress Brittany Murphy (http://www.naturalnews.com/027781_B…), people are once again raising the question of just how dangerous prescription drugs might really be. Some are arguing, however, that street drugs are the real danger, not presc ...
  
• Small Community Cancer Cure Crushed by Big Pharma, ...
  By Paul Fassa A small Canadian community’s success with curing cancer naturally was recently crushed, forcing its provider into exile in Europe. Rick Thompson had discovered a cure for himself and then had shared it at no cost with others in the small rural town of Maccan, Nova Scotia. Rick offered ...
  

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 decision I’ve ma ...
  
• 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 Pakist ...
  
• 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 13- or ...
  
• 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

• We Can't Let Politics Keep Trumping Science on Dru ...
  If Obama wants to promote public health -- over politics -- on substance abuse, there are many more bold steps his administration should take.
  
• Touchdowns and Lockdowns: Transcending Racial Poli ...
  I spent a decade organizing sports leagues amongst those who failed in their struggle against violence and oppression: in prison.
  
• Mexico Brags About Killing a Drug Kingpin, But It ...
  The Mexican government is still confused over the difference between "drugs" and the violence in the battle to gain control of the unregulated drug market.
  
• Congress Gets Its Act Together: Repeals Ban on Syr ...
  Washington, D.C. finally seems to be getting the message that the war on drugs has failed.
  
• Former Police Chief Norm Stamper: 'Let's Not Stop ...
  A new poll shows that most Americans are ready to legalize marijuana, but not drugs like cocaine or heroin. A 34-year police vet says it's time to legalize them all.
  

Twilight Earth

• New Years Message from Pope Benedict XVI – Protect ...
  Pope Benedict XVI has chosen an Environmental Message this year, to share will the people of the world. Related posts: Pope Says – Environmental Degradation Ends by Living Ethically Have People of Religion Forgotten the Lessons of “Creation?” TreeHugger Celebrates 5 Years. Congratulations!
  
• Full Copenhagen Speech Transcripts of 5 World Lead ...
  Speeches are just words, unless the people hold those that make them, responsible. Read the words. Understand the promises. Hold them accountable. Related posts: The World According to Monsanto – Full Documentary That was Then / This is Now – 30 Yr Old Energy Speech Eerily Relevant Social Media + ...
  
• 22 Year Old Katie Spotz to Row Across the Atlantic ...
  22 year old Katie Spotz raising awareness of the global problem of lack of access to clean drinking water, by rowing across the Atlantic Ocean. Related posts: EPA Finds Hydraulic Fracturing Contaminates Drinking Water Wells U.S. EPA Invokes Clean Water Act to Evaluate Ocean Acidification EPA OK’s ...
  
• Twilight Earths Top 10 Articles of 2009
  What were the 10 hottest and most read articles of 2009? Twilight Earth counts them down. Related posts: Top 10 Green Articles on Twilight Earth for 2008 NOAA Sued Over Lack of Ribbon Seal Protection Strategic Threat to the Earths Water System – Deforestation
  
• Photo Sunday: Winter Wonderland – East Coast Blizz ...
  In what will be forever known as the "East Coast Blizzard of 09", the northern east coast got over 20 inches of snow in 24 hours. Related posts: Photo Sunday – Haystack Rock, Oregon Coast Photo Sunday – Sunday Morning Coming Down. A Tribute to Everytown USA Photo Sunday-The Appalachian Trails 100 ...
  

Inhabitat

• Happy Holidays From Inhabitat!
  HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM TEAM INHABITAT From the East Coast to the West Coast to the world at large, Team Inhabitat is sending you warm holiday wishes from every corner of the globe! Our writers and editors are warming up the wintry weather with a healthy dose of holiday cheer, so read on for our season’ ...
  
• ‘Twas the Night Before (a Green) Christmas…
  ‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the prefab home “We’re not ready yet!” the whole family groaned; They’d been too busy working and studying and living Seems like only a second had passed since Thanksgiving! But they knew they still wanted a green holiday So they prepared to celebra ...
  
• Recycled Christmas Tree Made of Bike Wheels!
  Talk about re-cycling! This simple and elegant alternative Christmas tree in Bermondsey Square, London is made out of 35 wheels from old bikes, and has been delighting passers-by with its unconventional looks. Designed by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects, the tree is a very fitting symbol of sustainabi ...
  
• 7 Last Minute Green Gifts
  Today is Christmas Eve! And if you’re reading this right now, chances are that you procrastinated until the very last moment to pick up presents for your loved ones and are in desperate need of some guidance. Well, you’ve definitely come to the right place because we’ve got 7 spectacular ideas for g ...
  
• Enter Our Holiday Caption Contest and Win a $50 iT ...
  In the spirit of the holidays, we’re giving away a $50 iTunes gift card to the person who comes up with the best caption for this rather inspiring pic of a Christmas tree made out of 1,000 beer bottles. Just head over to Lifescoop and comment with the wittiest caption you can think of to [...]
  

Pogue's Posts

• Verizon's New Motto: Why Not Be Evil?
  Verizon Wireless continues in its efforts to be the least-liked mobile carrier in America.
  
• Verizon Responds to Consumer Complaints
  The wireless carrier addresses two issues raised by consumers and this blog.
  
• Should e-Books Be Copy Protected?
  The issues involved with copy protection haven't changed. They're the same on e-books as they are with everything else.
  
• Free Speech (Recognition)
  This week, I tried out Dragon Dictation, a new, free, very real app for the iPhone from Nuance.
  
• What I Bought This Year
  People seem to be interested in what the consumer-tech columnist would buy for himself and his own family, so it seemed like a slam-dunk.
  

Open Your Eyes News

• Does Inflammation Trigger Insulin Resistance and D ...
  Scientific American – It’s not just obesity–more evidence links inflammation with type 2 diabetes: People who acquire [type 2 diabetes] it are typically obese, suffer from chronic inflammation and are resistant to insulin, the hormone that removes sugar from the blood and stores it as energy. For ye ...
  
• Pakistani air strike kills 10 in tribal area
  Press TV – Pakistani fighter jets have targeted suspected militant hideouts in the Orakzai tribal agency, south-west of Peshawar, killing at least 10 people. Officials say the dead were militants, but eyewitnesses told the BBC the bombs destroyed the home of a tribal chief, killing three women and ...
  
• Palestinians protest Egyptian steel barrier
  Press TV – Palestinians have held a mass demonstration against Egypt’s construction of an underground wall along the border with the Gaza Strip which claimed its first victim on Friday. According to Palestinian security sources, a Palestinian man was killed after a tunnel collapsed over him due to t ...
  
• Rosa Luxemburg murder case reopened
  Daily Telegraph – German prosecutors are re-examining the 1919 murder of the communist leader Rosa Luxemburg, amid claims investigators at the time replaced her corpse with that of another woman. Read Article
  
• Mimicking Red Blood Cells to Improve Drug Delivery
  Scientific American – Biomedical breakthroughs rarely outdo nature itself—despite our ever-increasing knowledge of new materials and processes. So that’s why one group working on drug dispersal is looking, not to novel delivery systems, but rather to replicate the natural dynamics of blood cells. ...
  

Monkey Smashes Heaven

• Stalin, Mao, and Lin Biao born in December
  Stalin, Mao, and Lin Biao born in December (monkeysmashesheaven.wordpress.com) Three great revolutionaries were born in December. Stalin was born on December 21st, 1887. Stalin is remembered for his great accomplishment of leading the Soviet Union through socialist construction. He is also remember ...
  
• “Merry Christmas”, Published in New Ma ...
  “Merry Christmas”, Published in New Masses (Dec. 1930) by Langston Hughes From the gun-boats in the river, Ten-inch shells for Christmas gifts, And peace on earth forever. Merry Christmas, India, To Gandhi in his cell, From righteous Christian England, Ring out, bright Christmas bell! Ring Merry Ch ...
  
• RAIM-Seattle on the recent WTO 10 year anniversary
  RAIM-Seattle on the recent WTO 10 year anniversary (raims.wordpress.com) The imperialist media hype around the recent slayings of police (the enforcers of empire) in the Seattle and Lakewood, and the predictable show of support for the kkkops by the general cracker population, overlaps the ten year ...
  
• RAIM: In India, Forests Grow with Naxalite People’ ...
  In India, Forests Grow with Naxalite People’s War (raimd.wordpress.com) A new report has stunned and embarrassed imperialism and Indian compradors: forests are growing in tribal areas controlled by Naxalites, India’s Maoist-inspired revolutionaries. Some of the districts in which the Naxalites are ...
  
• Zionist Ghouls harvest the bodies of their Arab vi ...
  Zionist Ghouls harvest the bodies of their Arab victims. (monkeysmashesheaven.wordporess.com) Even the most hardened anti-imperialists can be shocked once in a while by the brutality of the Zionist regime. Israel has now admitted to harvesting organs from Palestinians without the permission of thei ...
  

PakAlert

• Timeline of US-NATO Israel Middle East War 2000-20 ...
  by Eric Walberg 2000 – Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak resigns, marking the end of the Oslo peace process; 2nd Intifada sparked by Ariel Sharon visiting Temple Mount with armed escort; Mohammed Al-Dura killed by Israeli sniper; Bashir Al-Assad inherits the Syrian presidency on the death of hi ...
  
• America’s New Crusade: Imperial U.S. vs Political ...
  In the political movie “Charlie Wilson’s War” about the Soviet-Afghanistan war, the hero states “America does not fight religious wars.” Is this possibly wrong, dead wrong? by Rodrigue Tremblay “I am as intolerant of imperialistic designs on the part of other nations as I was of ...
  
• Pervez Musharraf: Answering Your Top 3 Questions
  By Pervez Musharraf http://www.facebook.com/pervezmusharraf 1) Was there a way post 9/11 for Pakistan to handle the Americans and the Taliban that would have avoided the current situation where we seem to be stuck with a deteriorating law and order situation? I think we dealt with both in the b ...
  
• Alert: “Prepare For Rebellion”, Obama Orders US-Ca ...
  EU Times Kremlin position papers presented to Prime Minister Putin today on his upcoming meeting with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen state that the European-US military alliance has authorized an ‘emergency request’ from President Obama to utilize American and Canadian NATO troops to ...
  
• Panic in Detroit: Unemployment Stands at 50%
  AOL’s job site reports the following: Nearly one out of two workers in Detroit are unemployed, according to a report by The Detroit News. It’s a figure far higher than the government’s official figure, which is still close to a staggering 30 percent. But the newspaper says that rate doesn’t take eve ...
  

ecogeek

• 10 Most Popular Stories of 2009
  2010 is quickly approaching and we can only hope that it holds even more innovations that will benefit the world we live in.  As we move forward, here's a look back at the stories you clicked on most during the past year.  From gadgets to urine fuel, these are the top ten. 10.  Power-Generating Sho ...
  
• Map of Countries' Emissions, Pledges
  The AP Climate Pool kept us well informed over the course of the COP15 negotiations.  Part of that great coverage is contained in this interactive map of the participating nations' current emissions and the reductions they've pledged to make. You can find plenty of articles analyzing what was accom ...
  
• NASA Unveils Amazing GHG Models
  NASA's Aqua spacecraft has been taking daily CO2 measurements with its Atmospheric Infrared Sounder instrument (AIRS) for the past seven years and now all that information gathering has led to beautiful and frightening maps and models of the concentration and movement of greenhouse gases in ou ...
  
• OK Residents Can Buy an Electric Car for Less than ...
  If you live in Oklahoma, you have until December 31, 2009 to buy an electric car for about $900.  Through a combination of federal and state tax credits, the Kandi Coco drops from its retail price of $10,600 to a cool $865.  The federal tax credit amounts to $4,435 while the state is offering a 50 ...
  
• EcoGeek Q&A: Graciela Chichilnisky
  Graciela Chichilnisky was extensively involved in the creation of the Kyoto Protocol, designing the global carbon market that became international law in 2005.  She has been a lead author of the IPCC and is a professor of economics and mathematical statistics at Columbia University. She's written a ...
  

Times Online - Science

• US introduces hand luggage restrictions after alle ...
  The United States authorities have introduce restrictions on hand luggage in the light of the incident on Northwest Airlines flight 253 between Amsterdam and Detroit on Christmas Day, in which a passenger was detained.
  
• Go now
  - Get a gang of friends together for a ski holiday in France. Snowline (0844 5573118, snowline.co.uk) has discounts on luxury chalets such as Le Château, sleeping 15, in Alpe d’Huez, with indoor hot tub, sauna and vast living area — great for après ski. Seven nights from January 3 are from £ ...
  
• Book now
  - The small booking window for the legendary chef Ferran Adrià’s restaurant El Bulli (elbulli.com) on the Costa Brava opens on Friday (by e-mail until mid- January) for lunches and dinners from June to December. If you are lucky and get a table, expect to pay about €200 a head — it will be wor ...
  
• Voyager
  Seasons greetings
  
• Travel doctor: the most common problems of 2009 an ...
  What a year. Suffering four nights in a hotel room with no windows, paying a premium for airline seats that were next to the loos, and having to clean up after a joyriding parking attendant were some of the more unusual complaints to Travel Doctor. But there were several kinds of gripes that cam ...
  

Environment _ National Geographic

• PICTURES: "Natural Treasure" Threatened by Industr ...
  Mountain lions, grizzly bears, and cutthroat trout are among the Rocky Mountain animals snapped during a recent photography expedition to the Flathead region, which conservationists say is threatened by mining, logging, and drilling.
  
• Rare Gorillas Spied Feasting on Figs
  See what could be the first professional footage of elusive Cross River gorillas, the most endangered subspecies of gorilla, filmed recently in Cameroon. Video.
  
• Czech Zoo Sends Four Rare White Rhinos to Kenya
  Four of the world's eight remaining northern white rhinoceroses have been flown to Kenya in a last-ditch effort to save the critically endangered subspecies.
  
• Presented By:
• Winter Solstice 2009: Facts on Shortest Day of the ...
  Today is the 2009 winter solstice, the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year. Find out why and how the year's darkest day has been celebrated for centuries.
  

drinking liberally in new milford ( with beersphere feeds )

• Do they know it's Christmas time?
  We grabbed a card off of one of those Christmas "Wish Trees" for a local homeless shelter when I took the boys out to get their hair cuts the other day. It was from a 10 year old girl living in the shelter. What was she asking for? "Home Essentials" Ya know: Tooth brush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo ...
  
• Who the heck is Barry Cafero?
  Via ctblogger : I know it's early to be making this call but I'm almost certain no one topping this comment today: It's ok that Larry Cafero doesn't know my name. Over the course of the next year, he'll quickly realize that Connecticut voters don't know his, either. -Connecticut Democratic Party C ...
  
• Monday Morning Peak
  Image Taken From National Geographic Forget about Wednesday being hump day this week. The peak was already hit this morning, if you are among today's sleepy heads that stayed up to watch the Gemenids meteor showers : Coming fast on the heels of its more famous cousin the Leonid meteor shower —which ...
  
• Jon Stewart on Healthcare
  The Daily Show's Jon Stewart takes a look at the healthcare successes of the Democrats: The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Democratic Super Majority www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview (h/t GottaLaff :)
  
• Score One For The Working Families Party in NYC
  Score two, actually... Via The Gotham Gazette, The Working Families Party , a political party that has made significant contributions to Connecticut's political landscape, has taken over New York city : Both Liu and de Blasio had the endorsement of the Working Families Party , yesterday and in th ...
  

SPL Center

• Lew Rockwell’s Website Warns of Coming U.S. Civil ...
  You thought President Obama had his hands full sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan? That’s small potatoes compared to the other big military plan on his agenda: returning 200,000 troops from other countries to the U. S. Northern Command in preparation for an imminent civil war at home. At leas ...
  
• Judge Denies Scott Roeder’s “Necessity ...
  A Wichita, Kan., judge has denied Scott Roeder’s bid to use a “necessity defense” when he is tried for the murder of late-term abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller. Sedgwick County Judge Warren Wilbert pointed out Tuesday that the Kansas Supreme Court ruled in a previous case regarding blocking an e ...
  
• Pacifica Forum Speaker Celebrates National Sociali ...
  The speaker blamed “Jewish lies” for the Iraq War, praised the swastika as a symbol of white people, showed a neo-Nazi propaganda video, and led several audience members in an enthusiastic Nazi salute. No, this wasn’t an assembly of America’s largest neo-Nazi organization, the National Socialist Mov ...
  
• Potential Jurors Being Interviewed for the Bill Wh ...
  ROANOKE, VA. — After sitting through his own threat trial in Brooklyn, hate blogger Hal Turner may find himself back in a federal courtroom sooner than expected — this time as a witness in a similar case. Turner was on the list of dozens of potential witnesses that a government prosecutor read durin ...
  
• Uganda’s Harsh Anti-Gay Legislation Has Amer ...
  While activists around the world criticize pending legislation in Uganda they call the “kill the gays” bill, some Americans are being outed for their connections to those involved in the proposed statute. The latest is Richard Cohen, who claims he has successfully counseled thousands of gays to beco ...
  

change: org.

• 5 Sustainable Food Trends to Watch in 2010: #1 Mai ...
  As I wrote yesterday, 2009 was a great year for sustainable food, but we are only just gearing up for greater things ahead. Over the next five days I will bring you my take on the top five trends to watch in the field of sustainable food as we turn the corner into 2010. There are many more notable t ...
  
• Top 5 Coolest People in Healthcare 2009: Coolest P ...
  Part 2 in Top 5 Coolest People in Healthcare 2009 Series What the heck is participatory medicine? Think of it as patient-physician engagement, where both are equal participating parties. It’s the belief that doctors should want to communicate routinely, collaboratively, and yes, even via technology ...
  
• 'Steer Into the Skid' to Maintain Momentum on Clim ...
  Climate negotiations don't need to be restarted, or rebooted. And we don't need to rip up progress made and start again. Instead, we can maintain momentum, and "steer into the skid." In a wide-ranging paper ( PDF ) Alex Evans and David Steven, both fellows at the Center on International Cooperation ...
  
• Domestic Violence Survivor Wins Asylum After 14-Ye ...
  Rody Alvarado suffered ten years of extreme violence at the hands of her abusive husband. He beat her in front of her two children, pistol-whipped her, raped her, kicked her in an effort to induce abortion, and repeatedly threatened to kill her. In several attempts to escape from her husband, Alvara ...
  
• Take Action: Fix the Census Prisoner Miscounts
  When the census-takers come a-knocking, they need to make sure that they count prisoners as residents of the area they call home, not of the jails where they temporarily find themselves. As so many issues do, the matter boils down to a question of who has the power and where the cash is going . The ...
  

Common Dreams -News

• Greenpeace Will Keep Up Pressure on Global Warming ...
  JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Greenpeace will keep up the pressure on leaders it believes let the world down on global warming, the head of the international environmental group said Thursday. Kumi Naidoo, Greenpeace's executive director, spoke in an Associated Press interview in Johannesburg on a visit to h ...
  
• US Promises Unlimited Financial Assistance to Fann ...
  by Zachary A. Goldfarb The Obama administration pledged Thursday to provide unlimited financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an eleventh-hour move that allows the government to exceed the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid without seeking permission from a bailout ...
  
• Celebrities Oppose US Government Plan to Move 25,0 ...
  by Tom Leonard Federal officials claim mustang numbers are growing so rapidly that there could be mass starvation due to a shortage of forage in the drought-plagued region. Having rejected a mass cull, Ken Salazar, the US Interior Secretary, favours a plan to move thousands of wild horses and burros ...
  
• Lee, Woolsey Push for Public Option
  by Patrick O'Connor On the eve of a historic health care vote in the Senate, liberal Democrats in the House have launched a full-throated defense of the public option — a sign of battles to come when party leaders try to meld the two bills. read more
  
• Declaring War on Yemen? Assassinations, Air Strike ...
  by Sudarsan Raghavan SANAA, YEMEN -- Yemeni forces killed at least 30 suspected militants in an air strike early Thursday morning on an alleged al-Qaeda hide-out in southeastern Yemen, the second such assault in the past week, according to Yemeni security and government sources. The strike appeare ...
  

Lifehacker

• Best Wallpaper Site? [Hive Five Call For Contende ...
  Nobody ever died from a lack of funky-fresh desktop wallpaper, but if you're going to stare at a box all day, it might as well be a personalized box. Photo by Mauren Veras . This week we want to hear all about your favorite site for finding great desktop wallpaper, including what makes it your go-to ...
  
• Make a Swanky Bookcase from Old Drawers [DIY]
  The next time you're getting ready to kick a beat-up clothes dresser to the curb, take a minute to remove the drawers. With a little paint and decorative paper, you'll have yourself a brand-new modular bookcase. Home crafting blog Crafty Nest came up with a smart way to repurpose a group of drawers, ...
  
• A Bit Better RTM Enhances Remember The Milk for G ...
  Google Chrome extension A Bit Better RTM is one of our favorite ways to tweak the popular Remember the Milk online to-do list web app, and now it's been ported as a native Google Chrome extension. We've mentioned the A Bit Better RTM Greasemonkey script twice before as one of our favorite user scrip ...
  
• Hang a Two-Hook Picture with Wax Paper [Weekend P ...
  Trying to hang a heavy picture with two anchors and make sure it's level is enough to drive a person mad. Instead of peppering your walls with 3,000 holes trying to get it right, whip out the wax paper. Photo by justinbaeder . How-to-do-everything web site eHow has a pretty slick trick for getting p ...
  
• Evernote for iPhone Update Adds Offline Notebooks ...
  iPhone/iPod touch only: Evernote's iPhone App just got beefed up with some new features that will make Evernote lovers swoon, including features like offline access to notebooks and the ability to search notes during a sync. A new feature available to everyone is the ability to create notes on your ...
  

Newshoggers - AfPak

• Yet Another Picture of the Week Plus A Rant
  Commentary By Ron Beasley Blue Monday - Click on Picture for larger image. My partner here at Hoggers, John Ballard, sent me this link to a piece by Robert Parry: Why Obama Is Failing. Faced with a dire financial crisis and two foreign wars – not to mention a host of long-festering problems like hea ...
  
• Clinton II
  Commentary By Ron Beasley With apologies to Pastor Niemöller: First they came for the banksters, and showered them with money and put them in the Administration in a way that was not change we could believe in. Then they came for the military industrial complex, and sent more and more of our childre ...
  
• Contemplation of Drone Strikes in Quetta Belies Ob ...
  By Derrick Crowe Once again, the United States is rattling a saber about killing people in Quetta, despite all the inevitable civilian death and mass outrage. Such a move would show the shallowness of the "just war" talk in President Obama's disgraceful Nobel paean to Mars. Quetta is a city of 850,0 ...
  
• "Flooding The Zone" - How McChrystal Bulldozed Oba ...
  By Steve Hynd The best piece you're likley to read on how the Obama administration came to the decision to surge 40,000 extra US and allied troops in Afghanistan is by Mark Perry, writing for the Asia Times (h/t Russ Wellen). Unlike the stenographed versions in the Washington Post or New York Times, ...
  
• Great Losers
  By Dave Anderson: The Security Crank points out claims that a significant portion of the entire Chechan population is supposedly in Warizistan: At some point, this kind of thing moves beyond parody. According to the reports Haji Akbar Ali Mehsud, a 55-year-old resident of Zinda village in District S ...
  

Water Wars

• Ga. urged to embrace 'no regret' water standards ( ...
  Georgia must embrace a series of "no regret" water conservation standards regardless of the outcome of a looming 2012 deadline that could leave Atlanta with a drastically reduced water supply, a key state water panel concluded Tuesday.
  
• Ga. urged to embrace 'no regret' water standards ( ...
  Georgia must embrace a series of "no regret" water conservation standards regardless of the outcome of a looming 2012 deadline that could leave Atlanta with a drastically reduced water supply, a key state water panel concluded Tuesday. The final report from... Georgia - Water supply - Atlanta - Wate ...
  
• Ga. urged to embrace 'no regret' water standards ( ...
  Georgia must embrace a series of "no regret" water conservation standards regardless of the outcome of a looming 2012 deadline that could leave Atlanta with a drastically reduced water supply, a key state water panel...
  
• Ga. urged to embrace 'no regret' water standards ( ...
  ATLANTA — Georgia must embrace a series of "no regret" water conservation standards regardless...
  
• Ga. urged to embrace 'no regret' water standards ( ...
  Georgia water task force urges state to embrace 'no regret' water conservation measures
  

WordPress | Economics

• An Anatomy Lesson
  If  you are around my age you remember the commercial where an narrator would hold up an egg and say
  
• Targeting Indonesia
  Michael Crichton was one of the foremost writers of the twentieth century. His novels usually dealt
  
• The customer is NEVER right
  If you think that the customer is always right, those days are over in our brave new world! We, the
  
• Xie Hui Xue Buffett cover their shares of stocks r ...
  three Xie Hui Xue Buffett cover their shares of stocks return 30% for three years blogbuffett reprod
  
• Religiosity and Income
  Using factor analysis to derive a measure of religiosity, Martin Paldam (Aarhus University) and Eric
  

Electronic Intifada

• Villages challenge occupation on human rights day
  As tortuous as the occupation is for the people of al-Tuwani, on 10 December -- International Human Rights Day -- they decided to offer support to other Palestinians by highlighting the discrimination ...
  
• US campaign for academic boycott gaining strength
  The United States Campaign for an Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel was formed in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, bringing together educators of conscience who were unable ...
  
• Labor for Palestine comes under attack
  Labor for Palestine's 14 December Open Letter from US Trade Unionists to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka: Boycott Apartheid Israel has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response. Howeve ...
  
• US government's hard line on Hizballah clashes wit ...
  WASHINGTON (IPS) - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman visited Washington last week, for his first visit with President Barack Obama. The meeting was a quick one, tucked in amongst the myriad of domest ...
  
• Gaza march puts spotlight on ongoing siege
  UNITED NATIONS (IPS) - More than 50,000 people are expected to take to the streets of Gaza on 31 December for a mass march designed to send a message to the United States, a key supporter of Israel's ...
  

CS Monitor - News

• podcast091204
  Fewer US jobs lost in November and impact on economy.
  
• 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.
  

The Wonk Room

• Another Bad Argument For Iran Strike: ‘The W ...
  Today, Iran’s leading daily newspaper featured an op-ed by a conservative Iranian university professor insisting that there is only one way to deter the American war on Iran that all serious Iranian analysts believe is coming: A massive wave of guerrilla attacks on American military facilities. Thi ...
  
• Senate Passes Health Care Reform 60-39, Reid Promi ...
  Moments ago, the Senate passed a comprehensive health care reform bill by a vote of 60-39, ending more than four weeks of contentious floor debate. “This morning is not the end of the process,” Reid reminded his colleagues and progressives dissatisfied with the Senate bill. “It’s only the beginning. ...
  
• Republicans Lead A Revolt Against 10 Percent Tax O ...
  Sen. Harry Reid’s (D-NV) decision to replace the so-called Botox-tax in the Senate health care bill with a 10 percent levy on indoor tanning salons has sparked quite the outrage. Republican lawmakers, appalled at the idea of using spray tans to maintain those artificial orange glows for the C-SPAN c ...
  
• The Mullahs Versus ‘The Mullahs’
  Here’s an easy way to tell where someone stands on the Iran question: If they constantly refer to “the mullahs” (religious leaders) who rule Iran, then you’re most likely dealing with someone who is disdainful of U.S.-Iran engagement, who thinks that the only problem with the Bush administration’s ...
  
• Reporter Discloses List Of 186 Secret Immigrant De ...
  According to a report published by Jacqueline Stevens in this week’s The Nation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is confining an unknown number of people in 186 secret, unmarked, and unlisted subfield offices. Since the subfield offices are designed to hold detainees in transit, they ...
  

thwap's schoolyard

• Democracy vs. Climate Change
  I'm not sure why anyone is so afraid of the economics of responding to the threat of global warming. 1. Create (in Canada) tens of thousands of jobs retro-fitting older homes with better windows, doors, insulation, alternative power sources. Build constantly improved public transit infrastructure ...
  
• If Parliament Can't Do It, WE WILL
  This prisoner torture in Afghanistan isn't the most important issue before us as a nation. It's damned serious, but I'd say Canada's ancient policy of cultural genocide against the First Nations is the biggest issue. But on this issue the harpercons have clearly crossed the line and violated inter ...
  
• Afghanistan, Patriotism and the Olympics
  I came in to Toronto on the daily turnip-truck from Hamilton a couple of days ago and I noticed all the subway station posters (sponsored at least in part by Coca-Cola) celebrating the Olympic torch and Canadian patriotism about same. The images are pretty inane, with a torch-bearer surrounded on e ...
  
• Rick Hillier and Second-Hand Information ...
  Private Mann:"General Hillier, 'Amnesty International' has a scathing report about Afghan prison conditions." Hillier: "Those detestable peacenicks and bleeding-hearts! Why should I care about such second-hand information!!" Private Mann: "The PMO just called. Prime Minister Harper wants us conf ...
  
• Canadian Self-Satisfaction
  Generations of Canadians have sewn little Canadian flags onto their backpacks when travelling abroad, in order to avoid being taken for US-Americans. At its most vapid, this tradition is probably inspired by nothing more than a vague, self-satisfied notion that Canadians are great and US-Americans a ...
  

Financial Sense Editorials

• Market Observation: Trading, Investing and Specula ...
  by Tony Allison. "Today’s culture seems to have a very short-term perspective on the just about everything. Wall Street focuses on this quarter’s results; Washington’s vision extends only to the next election cycle. The average Joe looks to the coming weekend, or perhaps his next paycheck. As the na ...
  
• Th*nk*ng (Presentations)
  by Fred Cederholm. "I’ve been thinking about presentation. Actually I’ve been thinking about 2009, Obama, the economy, jobs, bailouts, Bernanke, and St. Johns Lutheran Church. The year 2009 will always hold a special place in my memory."
  
• Silent Night, Silent Market
  by Paul Nolte. "Two very quiet weeks now confront investors, as the Christmas and New Year’s holidays cut the trading for the week to but a whisper. Amid the quiet and solitude however are some rumblings from last year’s financial earthquake."
  
• Caught In A Lie
  by Captain Hook. "It’s no secret governments and our ruling elite (the bureaucracy) lie for their own benefit, and this has been increasingly prevalent for years now. Perhaps the most well known statistics in this respect center on the Employment Report"
  
• Coppertunities
  by Ray Long. "Today let's discuss copper opportunities, from the other side of the coin. In past weeks I've touted the advantage gained by those first to explore a new investment niche. Specifically copper. Copper pennies, to be even more precise. "
  

on Government Oversight

• LANL Researchers Blow Up Building with Civil War-l ...
  Nope, that's not a headline from The Onion. POGO has just learned that researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory accidentally blew a building apart a few weeks ago with a massive gun that acts like a Civil War cannon....
  
• A Video Message from Danielle
  As Danielle says, it's been one heck of a year over here at POGO. We covered a lot of ground and are proud of our accomplishments, but we wouldn't have been able to make it without you. Thank you for...
  
• Morning Smoke: Obama Signs Defense Appropriations ...
  Spending Bill Becomes Law [Air Force Magazine] Classified Bomber Under Consideration [Aviation Week] Oshkosh FMTV Bid 'Unbelievable [DoD Buzz] New Executive Order Awaits Presidential Decision [Secrecy News] Washington to Reduce Funding for U.S. Contractors in Pakistan [ProPublica] Doctors' Spat Expo ...
  
• Morning Smoke: More Tales of Moneyed Military Ment ...
  Military mentors hired, fired in discreet fashion [Federal Times] Defense Bill Earmarks Total $4 Billion [The Wall Street Journal] Inadequate Oversight Cited in Weatherization Program [The New York Times] White House seeks input on federal research info sharing program [Federal...
  
• California Courts to Whistleblower: 'You're Out of ...
  Accountable California, a project of SEIU Local 721's Center for Public Accountability, has posted a story about Michael Paul, an employee of the California Administrative Office of the Courts. Paul thought he saw misconduct occurring on multimillion dollar contracts and...
  

Science Express

• Chronic infection now clearly tied to immune-syste ...
  A new study finds the cross-talk between 'killer T-cells' and 'helper T-cells' can only happen in the presence of interleukin-21, a powerful immune-system protein. UAB researchers say if interleukin-21 is missing, the immune system's anti-viral efforts fail. The study mice were treated for lymphocyt ...
  
• German 'science train': next stop Shanghai 2010?
  How will we feed nine billion people in the future? Can we ever have a disease-free world? Can robots play football?
  
• New mechanisms of action found for drugs used to t ...
  (PhysOrg.com) -- In the course of his or her life, every seventh German will develop an anxiety disorder that will require treatment. Standard anti-anxiety medications (anxiolytics) are based on the benzodiazepine class of drugs. These calm the patient and quickly diminish feelings of anxiety.
  
• Milky Way's super-efficient particle accelerators ...
  Thanks to a unique "ballistic study" that combines data from ESO's Very Large Telescope and NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, astronomers have now solved a long-standing mystery of the Milky Way's particle accelerators. They show in a paper published today on Science Express that cosmic rays from ou ...
  
• Physical reality of string theory demonstrated
  String theory has come under fire in recent years. Promises have been made that have not been lived up to. Leiden (The Netherlands) theoretical physicists have now for the first time used string theory to describe a physical phenomenon. Their discovery has been reported in Science Express.
  

TechDirt

• Former Musician Now Lawyer Comes To Terms With Wha ...
  G Thompson sends in this absolutely wonderful read by law professor Ben Challis, a former punk musician, explaining the mental back-and-forth he went through after discovering that some of his band's old music is available online -- specifically discovering that some sites are selling unauthorized c ...
  
• Why Are Publications Trying To Bite The Google Han ...
  Someone anonymously submitted a decent writeup by John A. Byrne, the former editor-in-chief at Business Week who recently left (amid the shakeup due to Bloomberg buying the magazine) to start a new media effort called C-Change Media. In this blog post, Byrne argues that the media complaining about ...
  
• Elementary My Dear Watson....It's Called The Publi ...
  Fletch writes "Here's an interesting little article on why Sherlock Holmes remains so popular . Of course it happens to come right before the new movie opens and I am just sure it is pure journalism even though CNN and Warner are owned by the same company. Though I do find it rather odd that they do ...
  
• Are New Music Tiers Segregating Fans?
  Chris O'Donnell alerts us to a post from someone who originally thought things like Trent Reznor's massively successful Ghosts I-IV business model experiment was a good thing, but who is now worried about the eventual consequences of somehow segregating fans. The argument is that only a small group ...
  
• Chile Rejects Attempt To Force ISPs To Filter And ...
  While some other countries have caved to pressure from the entertainment industry and US diplomats to implement ridiculously draconian copyright laws, it's always nice to hear of some pushing back. Nicolas A. Barriga points us to the news that despite several attempts by Chile's president to pass e ...
  

VacTruth

• EXPLOSIVE CONFLICT OF INTEREST: WHO PROFITS FROM T ...
  . . Source: www.insolutions.info S. By Jon Rappoport www.insolutions.info www.nomorefakenews.com DECEMBER 25, 2009. I have to begin by saying you need to know about Walter Burien.  http://CAFR1.com Walter curls people’s hair.  For many years, he has been investigating the investments made by gover ...
  
• Investigative Journalist Implicates Partnership fo ...
  Investigative journalist, Sherri Kane, implicates the Partnership for New York City, David Rockefeller, Rupert Murdoch, Goldman Sachs, Merck behind flu scam.
  
• Advisers on Vaccines Often Have Conflicts, Report ...
  GARDINER HARRIS New York Times December 18, 2009 WASHINGTON — A new report finds that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did a poor job of screening medical experts for financial conflicts when it hired them to advise the agency on vaccine safety, officials said Thursday. Most of the ex ...
  
• How Pharma Creates A New Disease to Sell its Drug
  . . . Meryl Nass http://anthraxvaccine.blogspot.com 12/23/2009 How Merck Created a New Disease (Osteopenia) to Sell its New Drug, FOSAMAX/ NPR MUST_READ from NPR (thanks to Marc Crispin Miller) … armed with the firm conviction that he was about to do good in the world, and coincidentally sell a ton ...
  
• 91 Percent Autopsied Had Underlying Condition Prio ...
  . . . National Institutes of Health News December 7th, 2009 New York Autopsies Show 2009 H1N1 Influenza Virus Damages Entire Airway In fatal cases of 2009 H1N1 influenza, the virus can damage cells throughout the respiratory airway, much like the viruses that caused the 1918 and 1957 influenza pand ...
  

BroadSnark

• Times Are Tough
  
  
• Some Things You Might Have Missed
  Everyone wants to think that they are a good person.  But the truth is that all of us are capable of doing horrible things.  As a Nadder! points out in Milgram, Rape & Silence, “It is much safer to acknowledge your violent potential since then you’re better placed to watch out for signs things a ...
  
• Snowball War Update
  The agro cop that pulled out his gun at the snowball fight might actually be in a tiny bit of trouble here. Yesterday, when I wrote about this, there were only a few articles around.  Now there are so many that I can’t even begin to give you all the links.  It’s being covered everywhere from [...]
  
• Bad Cops, Lying Media, and Anarchist Scapegoats
  I’m having a really hard time deciding who are worse – police or media. As you may have already heard.  There was a giant snowball fight at the corner of U and 14th in Washington, DC.  I was there from about 2:30 to 3:00 and it was fun as hell.  Maybe 100 or 150 people were [...]
  
• Anarchy as Responsibility
  Conservatives like to talk about personal responsibility.  By that they mean taking responsibility for your own well being and perhaps that of your family and community.  But if you are not within the circle, what that comes down to is “fend for yourself.” Liberals talk about taking responsibility ...
  

Executive Intelligence Review

• Why Do We Call Susan Rice a Racist?
  By Lawrence K. Freeman Reprinted from Executive Intelligence Review, December 25, 2009, Vol. 36, No. 50
  
• The Failed System Has Become Unmanageable
  By John Hoefle Reprinted from Executive Intelligence Review, December 25, 2009, Vol. 36, No. 50
  
• The Copenhagen Summit: Lies Have Short Legs, or, t ...
  By Helga Zepp-LaRouche Reprinted from Executive Intelligence Review, December 25, 2009, Vol. 36, No. 50
  
• Bernanke Exits Now!: National Banking
  By Lyndon H. LaRouche, Jr. Reprinted from Executive Intelligence Review, December 25, 2009, Vol. 36, No. 50
  
• Intensify Obama Security Screen, Says LaRouche
  EIR News Service press release.
  

Armies of Liberation

• US Sanctions Iran Based al Qaeda, Zawahiri Promise ...
  The US Treasury Department placed financial sanctions on Saad bin Laden, thought to be in Pakistan, and three alleged al Qaeda operatives in Iran including a Yemeni. The terrorist designation Friday froze their assets within US jurisdictions and prohibits Americans from financial dealings with the ...
  
• Arabian Peninsula al Qaeda groups merge
  In the face of Saudi Arabia’s success against the al Qaeda organization, many Saudi operatives have fled to the more hospitable climate in Yemen, joining others who recently arrived from Iraq, Somalia, and Pakistan. Al Qaeda in Yemen announced its merger with Saudi Arabia’s al Qaeda organization to ...
  
• Yemen strikes multi-faceted deals with al Qaeda
  Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh recently struck a deal with Ayman Zawahiri, and Yemen is in the process of emptying its jails of known jihadists. The Yemeni government is recruiting these established jihadists to attack its domestic enemies as it refrains from serious counter-terror measures aga ...
  
• Yemen’s Multi Faceted Deals with Al Qaeda (A ...
  اليمن تعقد صفقات متعددة الوجوه مع القاعدة كتبت: جين نوفاك – فبراير/ 2009 عبدالله عبدالوهاب ناجي- ترجمة خاصة بالمستقلة عقد الرئيس اليمني علي عبدا لله صالح مؤخرا صفقة مع ...
  
• Yemen’s three terror fronts
  By Jane Novak March 28, 2009 3:18 PM Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula took credit in an internet statement Friday for a pair of suicide attacks that targeted South Koreans in Yemen. A teen-aged suicide bomber killed four South Korean tourists in Shibam, Hadramout on March 15. A second terror att ...
  

Dark Politricks

• Twitter Updates for 2009-12-26
  Merry Xmas all u #atheists and non believers. Even if u know #God is a crock of shit there is no reason 2 not celebrate a cultural event. # Best xmas present ever, funniest autobiography I have ever started reading Frankie Boyle's "My Shit Life so Far" not 4 the easy offended! # On this day ...
  
• Health Care Passes Senate. Fight Not Over.
  By Matt Hawes Although Harry Reid’s health care bill passed early this morning on a 60-39 party line vote, the fight to prevent government from taking over even more of our health care decisions is far from finished. The reconciliation process comes next, which means we need to not only keep ...
  
• The Christmas Truce
  Merry Christmas to all Campaign for Liberty supporters out there.  In case you've never seen this, it's worth watching: Paul McCartney plays a dual role in this music video that recalls the famous Christmas truce during World War I.
  
• Princeton Economist and Computer Scientists Show t ...
  As I have previously noted, credit default swaps are destabilizing for the economy. See this. And the models used to evaluate financial instruments – such as the Gaussian copula formula for CDOs – are inherently flawed. Now, Princeton University economists and computer scientists have demonstr ...
  
• Liberals and Conservatives Question Constitutional ...
  Both progressives and conservatives question the constitutionality of the healthcare bill. Specifically, people from across the aisle say that the government cannot force people to buy private health insurance. On the left, progressives such as law school professor Sheldon Laskin, anti-war activis ...
  

food and water watch

• Day 1 in Rome
  Hello from Roma, viva Roma. I am Dave Andrews, Senior Representative for Food & Water Watch. I am in Rome for the World Food Summit which is taking up the issue of one billion hungry people in the world, most of them farmers and most of them women. The solution of the US is high [...]
  
• Day 4 in Rome
  The official FAO meeting began on the 16th of November with the Pope followed by Libya’s Gaddafi, an interesting pairing! The Kings and Presidents (but not Obama) had the roads of Rome closed off for them, getting near the FAO was a big challenge so I waited until things calmed down later in the day ...
  
• Pangasius Pandemonium
  Last week, the state of Alabama instituted a stop sale order on imported catfish and pangasius, a catfish-like fish (pangasius is frequently mislabeled as catfish) after discovering that high numbers of the samples that had been inspected were contaminated with illegal antibiotics called flouroquino ...
  
• Day 3 in Rome
  Today, a group of us from Agribusiness Action Initiative and other NGOs went to the Civil Society Forum early in the morning and visited the farmers market that was set up there. We visited other NGO representatives from Via Campesina, International Federation of Agriculture Producers, Greenpeace, P ...
  
• Day 2 in Rome
  Today, we began the official Civil Society Forum on the Peoples’ Food Sovereignty. The morning started with an opening by the Mayor of Rome and by Jacques Diouf, the Secretary General of FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organization).  He encouraged us to insist on our rights and told of how he has wo ...
  

treehugger

• Ideologie's Trendy Spin on the Organic Cotton T-Sh ...
  Credit: Ideologie Organic While green fashion has expanded far beyond the organic cotton t-shirt we still get excited when we find cool variations of the sustainable clothing staple. Enter Ideologie Organic . Their limited edition t-shirts are made with cotton grown on USDA-certified organic farm ...
  
• Fantastic Voyage: Across Europe With Solar Power
  Stockholm, the beginning of the trans-European trek. Photo by darkpatator via Flickr. Road trip! Next spring, solar-powered boats and land vehicles will hit European waterways and highways to travel north to south across the continent, from Stockholm, Sweden, to Barcelona, Spain, on a journey tha ...
  
• Unhealthy Food System Makes 1/3 of Eligible Recrui ...
  photo: J. Novak It is becoming more and more evident that the American food system is beginning to weigh us down. No pun intended. But a new study done by the non-profit Mission: Readiness found on Civil Eats , that 1/3 of young people are unfit to serve because of weight. Frightening statistics i ...
  
• 1000 Awesome Things to Celebrate
  Image from 1000 Awesome Things In the midst of the holiday celebrations it's nice to remind yourself of the pleasures to be had from small things. 1000 Awesome Things to Celebrate is just a pause for a moment , a time to smile when you recognise some of life's little joys again. Things like sle ...
  
• American Apparel's New Nail Polish is Eco-Chic (an ...
  Image courtesy of americanapparel.net . Guest blogger Cara Smusiak is a journalist and regular contributor to NaturallySavvy.com 's Naturally Green section. American Apparel is known for sex-charged ads and made-in-America product , but aside from their locally-made goods, their green side is a ...
  

Biosingularity

• Nervy Repair Job
  In a lab at the University of Pennsylvania, a plastic dish holds two rows of tiny black dots, pairs of them connected by dozens of thin, hairlike filaments. Each dot is a cluster of thousands of neurons, explains Douglas Smith, who is a professor of neurosurgery and the director of Penns Center for ...
  
• Technology Review: Making Drugs Survive Longer in ...
  Taking a hint from natural antibiotics, a startup spun out of Stanford University is developing a way to chemically alter existing drugs to dramatically improve their half-life By sequestering the drugs within cells, the researchers hope to protect them from the bodys efforts to destroy them. So far ...
  
• Artificial Red Blood Cells for Drug Delivery
  Since the 1950s, researchers have been trying to mimic the abilities of red blood cells. These flexible discs carry oxygen throughout the body, squeezing through the smallest capillaries to do so. But the physical characteristics of red blood cells, including their doubly concave shape, have made th ...
  
• Coffee, Tea May Stall Diabetes
  Every cup of coffee a person drinks per day may lower the risk of diabetes by 7%. A new review of research on the link between lifestyle factors, like coffee and tea consumption, and diabetes risk suggests that drinking regular or decaffeinated coffee and tea all lower the risk of type 2 diabetes. v ...
  
• New evidence links sirtuins and life extension
  Ever since he first discovered the lifespan-extending effects of proteins called sirtuins 15 years ago, MIT Professor Leonard Guarente has been accumulating evidence to demonstrate a link between sirtuins and the effects of calorie restriction on lifespan. For decades, it has been known that cutting ...
  

CFACT

• D.C. drinking water controversy sinks lead scare
• Suburbs ain’t no place for a Street Fightin& ...
• Something fishy about mercury hype
• No end to end of oil fears
• Dr. Roy Spencer on Day After Tomorrow

  Blacklisted News

• Market moves and the lunatic fringe
  IMPLODING equities, exploding credit default swaps, soaring gold and slumping oil — if, at any time over the past 18 months, it seemed that markets were in the grip of lunacy, it may be because investors are, technically, lunatics .
  
• Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi had sec ...
  The Lockerbie bomber had £1.8m in a Swiss bank account when he was convicted eight years ago, it has been revealed.
  
• Mounting Political Tensions as the US, Russia and ...
• Swine Flu Vaccine Administered to 60 Million in U. ...
• EU/IMF Revolt: Greece, Iceland, Latvia May Lead th ...
  Total financial collapse, once a problem only for developing countries, has now come to Europe .
  

The Intelligence Daily

• What Happened This Decade: United States, Latin Am ...
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
• China Secures Gas Supply From Turkmenistan: Who’s ...
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
• Is Obama Going to Move Guantanamo to Illinois?
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
• Obama Has Betrayed US
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  
• Peak oil and the psychology of work
  For more details, please click on the link to read the article
  

My AntiWar

• Mainstreaming the Mad Iran Bombers
  Summary: Why spend so much time on a mediocre, unoriginal op-ed? The better question is why the NYT published it. Advocates of such a military strike have been agitating tirelessly for years to mainstream and normalize an idea once seen as mad, using precisely these arguments so often that their de ...
  
• Iran Willing to Perform Nuclear Exchange in Turkey ...
  Summary: Iran had previously suggested keeping the uranium on Kish Island, still on Iranian soil but where it was clearly out Iran?s stockpile. Suggestions of a neutral country acting as an intermediary have been floated before, but whether the West will accept the offer remains to be seen. But it ...
  
• StoryCorps: National Social History Project Record ...
  We hear the voices of people, citizen and non-citizen, old and young telling their stories to each other. A grandmother tells her grandson about her own childhood. A young man proposes to his girlfriend. A soldier talks about his experience in war. A father remembers a loved one who passed away?.All ...
  
• NATO: Video Not Proof That Captured US Soldier Is ...
• Can Khalid Shaikh Mohammed Get a Fair Trial in New ...

  Rogue Government.com

• Congress raises debt ceiling to $12.4 trillion
  
  
• Goldman's Attempt To Ambush Dollar Aborted, Tacti ...
  Fear not Goldman, there is only three months at most before Bernanke announces that he will be forced to buy all MBS from the end of QE 1 into perpetuity.
  
• FBI files show terrorist attack feared after Jack ...
  Police concerns that media-hungry terrorists would attack Michael Jackson's trial as a "soft target" led to a request for federal help, according to FBI files kept on the late pop star.
  
• Unemployment Calls Overwhelm Server
  
  
• China to require Internet domain name registratio ...
  China has issued new Internet regulations, including what appears to be an effort to create a "whitelist" of approved websites that could potentially place much of the Internet off-limits to Chinese readers.
  

Innovation Canada

• i2eye with James Hesser
  Two years ago, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 2009 the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, people around the globe have been marking the 400th anniversary of the first use of an astronomical telescope by Galileo Galilei. Laypeople, especially children ...
  
• Model scientists
  When hurricane season officially blew to a close in the Atlantic basin at the end of November, two Quebec researchers did not exhale in relief. That’s because René Laprise and Louis-philippe Caron were still looking for hurricane data from the past to help create a tool to predict future storm patte ...
  
• i2eye with Andrew Weaver
  As a child growing up in Victoria, if Andrew Weaver had to choose between watching a hockey game or a Jacques Cousteau program, the ocean explorer won out every time. Now a professor and Canada Research Chair in Climate Modelling and Analysis at the University of Victoria, Weaver has joined a crew o ...
  
• Extreme exposure
  It’s about 5°C in the chamber, and Geoff Hartley, wearing a burlap tunic and sandals, is trying with numb fingers to put small pegs in small holes. It’s just another day of chillin’ out at the Brock University lab of Stephen Cheung, a world-renowned scientist who studies the impacts of extreme tempe ...
  
• Green Growers
  Deborah Henderson likes to think about the Cuban capital of Havana when she goes in to work. Not the music or the beaches, per se, but the vegetables and the gardens. “Over 75 percent or more of the vegetables consumed in Havana are produced within the city,” claims Henderson. As the director of the ...
  

Signs of the times

• North Magnetic Pole Moving East Due to Core Flux
  Earth's north magnetic pole is racing toward Russia at almost 40 miles (64 kilometers) a year due to magnetic changes in the planet's core, new research says. The core is too deep for scientists to directly detect its magnetic field. But researchers can infer the field's movements by tracking how ...
  
• Gaza Continues To Fall Victim By The IOF's Use Of ...
  Whenever I try to break away from talking about the deeply disturbing use of American and Israeli WMD's both during the Lebanon conflict in 2006 and in Gaza during Cast Lead in 2008/9 I find myself being haunted by more gut-wrenching stories coming out of the strip. Christmas for the people in the ...
  
• Barclays investment bankers in line for 150% pay r ...
  Bankers at Barclays are being given massive pay rises to compensate for the 50 per cent bonus tax. Up to 23,000 investment bankers have been awarded rises of as much as 150 per cent - apparently planned before the bonus tax was announced in Alastair Darling's Pre-Budget report. Barclays president, ...
  
• Bone Control of Glucose Levels
  Bone cells known as osteoblasts were recently shown to have a role in controlling the biochemical reactions that generate energy via secretion of the molecule osteocalcin. A team of researchers, led by Stavroula Kousteni, at Columbia University, New York, has now determined that the protein FoxO1 re ...
  
• Signaling Decreases Blood Pressure, Study Finds
  Blood pressure is controlled in part by changes in the radius of blood vessels; when the smooth muscle cells in the wall of a blood vessel contract, the radius of the blood vessel decreases and blood pressure increases. A team of researchers at CSIC-University of Salamanca, Spain, has now identifie ...
  

Threat Level

• Former Morgan Stanley Coder Gets 2 Years in Prison ...
  The two great friends talked every day and shared information about all of their exploits — sexual, narcotic and hacking — according to prosecutors. Now another thing they’ll have to share information about is their experience in federal prison. While accused TJX hacker kingpin Albert Gonzalez await ...
  
• Obama Appoints Former Microsoft Security Chief New ...
  It took seven months but President Obama has finally found someone to take the cybersecurity czar job no one wanted. Howard Schmidt,  a former Microsoft security executive and a one-time cybersecurity adviser to President George W. Bush, has been appointed to the position of cybersecurity coordinat ...
  
• 7-Eleven Hack From Russia Led to ATM Looting in Ne ...
  Flashback, early 2008. Citibank officials are witnessing a huge spike in fraudulent withdrawals from New York area ATMs — $180,000 is stolen from cash machines on the Upper East Side in just three days.  After a stakeout, police arrest one man walking out of a bank with thousands of dollars in cas ...
  
• Albert Gonzalez Enters Plea Agreement in Heartland ...
  Albert Gonzalez, who has admitted hacking into TJX and other companies, has filed a plea agreement in charges that he breached Heartland Payment Systems, Hannaford, 7-Eleven and two other companies. Under the terms of the agreement, Gonzalez, a former Secret Service informant, will plead guilty to ...
  
• TJX Hacker ‘Will Never Commit Any Crime Again’
  Confessed hacker Albert Gonzalez’s turn as a Secret Service informant led him down a dark path of obsession, culminating in the largest identity-theft spree in history. Frances Gonzalez Lago, Gonzalez’s sister wrote his sentencing judge that her brother’s work as an informant between 2003 and and 2 ...
  

PERRspectives : Blog

• Lumps of Coal for Time and the New York Times
  Judging by two articles which appeared in their publications this holiday week, Time and the New York Times won't be getting a visit from Santa. Time's Amy Sullivan predictably stirred up right-wing rage with her just-in-time for the holidays, "No...
  
• Will John Kerry Take Reagan's Cake and Bible to Ir ...
  Word that Senator John Kerry has suggested to the White House that he undertake a mission to Iran predictably has the conservative commentariat apoplectic. But while many worry that such a high-level U.S. visit could undermine the opposition at a...
  
• Remembering Kennedy - and the Republican Goal - on ...
  Senate passage of the health care bill this morning naturally brought fond remembrances of reform's long time champion, Ted Kennedy. While his successor Paul Kirk announced, "He's having a merry Christmas in heaven," Kennedy's long-time Massachusetts colleague John Kerry concurred,...
  
• IRS Audits Finally Reversing GOP Bias for Wealthy
  Score one for working Americans. After enduring both the worst economic downtown and steepest income inequality since the Great Depression, new data from the Internal Revenue Service revealed that lower and middle class taxpayers are being audited at lower rates...
  
• Bipartisanship's Willing Executioners
  Republicans win, even when they lose. That appears to be the conventional wisdom after the Democrats' crucial victory in the Senate health care vote this weekend. In its wake, media outlets gave credence to John McCain's assertion that thanks to...
  

Blackspot News Feed

• Thanks to Dems' Pussyfooting, Health Industry Stoc ...
  The bump does not appear to be indicative of broader economic improvement.
  
• How to Trap a President in a Losing War: Petraeus, ...
  Excuse the gloom in the holiday season, but I feel like we’re all locked inside a malign version of the movie Groundhog Day.  You remember, the one in which the characters are forced to relive the same 24 hours endlessly.  Put more personally, TomDispatch started in November 2001 as an email to frie ...
  
• Reid Schedules Final Vote on Health Care Bill for ...
  The Hill reported this afternoon that a final vote on the Senate health care bill will take place at 8 am Christmas Eve, about 11 hours earlier than originally expected. read more
  
• House Blue Dog Switches Party, Stiffing Democrats ...
  Rep. Parker Griffith enjoyed campaign support of $1 million from the Democratic Party. But that was a year ago, and this is now.
  
• Touchdowns and Lockdowns: Transcending Racial Poli ...
  I spent a decade organizing sports leagues amongst those who failed in their struggle against violence and oppression: in prison.
  

Consortium News

• A Christmas Eve Battle for Freedom
  In the early 19th Century, runaway African slaves and Seminoles fought for their freedom, recalls William Loren Katz. December 24, 2009
  
• Reader: A Christmas Story for Truth
  Reader Judith C. Berry regrets teaching the Christmas story of Jesus's birth as real when it actually was a pleasing myth. December 24, 2009
  
• Legal Challenge to US Health Reform
  The Senate's health bill raises a constitutional issue about forcing citizens to buy a profit-making product, says David Swanson. December 24, 2009
  
• Break the CIA in Two
  Forty-six years ago, ex-President Truman warned that CIA analysis must be protected against influence, Ray McGovern notes. December 22, 2009
  
• 'Gott Mit Uns': Christians Excusing War
  A contradiction of the Christmas season is how a religion founded by a pacifist could so embrace war, says Gary G. Kohls. December 22, 2009
  

CounterPunch

• Alexander Cockburn : Disappointments in Samarra
• Mark Rudd : What It Takes to Build a Movement
• Ralph Nader : Read, Then Act: the Year's Best Book ...
• Nicola Nasser : Palestinians on the Brink of Explo ...
• John Ross : Where the Holidays are a Cruel Hoax

Institute for Middle East Understanding

• How Gaza became a rich canvas for Palestinian art ...
  The prematurely ageing apartment block on the edge of Jabalya overlooks a forbidding stretch of wasteland. There is a lift shaft but no lift. But if this is no surprise in a Gaza starved of building material ...
  
• Israeli policy leaves family stranded (Al Jazeera ...
• Bethlehem celebrates Christmas (Al Jazeera)
  Thousands of people have crowded into the Palestinian town of Bethlehem to take part in Christmas celebrations. Pilgrims and Palestinians gathered on Thursday outside the Church of the Nativity, built at the ...
  
• "Footnotes in Gaza" (Patrick Cockburn, The New Yo ...
  Joe Sacco's gripping, important book about two long-forgotten mass killings of Palestinians in Gaza stands out as one of the few contemporary works on the Israeli-Palestinian struggle likely to outlive the e ...
  
• Egypt blamed for Gaza convoy delay (Al Jazeera)
  British politician George Galloway has criticised Egypt for denying a humanitarian aid convoy permission to enter the Gaza Strip. The Viva Palestina convoy, containing some 210 vehicles and 500 people, is cu ...
  

Water - AlterNet

• NASA Report Highlights Need to Retire Drainage Imp ...
  The retirement of drainage impaired land on the San Joaquin's west side should be a priority if we want to preserve California's limited water supply and fisheries.
  
• Stealing Water from the Future: California's Massi ...
  California is heading for a catastrophe of huge proportions if the overdraft of groundwater continues at the same rate as the last few years.
  
• Underused Drilling Practices Could Avoid Pollution
  The energy industry has developed innovative ways to make it easier to exploit the nation's natural gas reserves without polluting air and drinking water.
  
• Canadian Cities Leading the Charge Against Bottled ...
  Seventy-two municipalities from 8 provinces and 2 territories have implemented restrictions on bottled water.
  
• The Latest in the Bottled Water Mania: Water From ...
  Now you can down a beverage originating in one of the most guarded and protected areas on earth. So, what?
  

TruthHugger

• Try To Remember America
  Well, few public schools, and few private schools, will fill in the gaps between America the fantasy and America the reality.  The name of America has been invoked with reverence when describing its history of righteous endeavors.  What is seldom included in these filtered history lessons, is some o ...
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round Up Dec 14, ...
  TXsharon at Bluedaze: DRILLING REFORM FOR TEXAS helps you follow the money to see why Governor Perry and others want Texans to keep breathing toxic air. BossKitty at TruthHugger is proud to give a Hat Tip to Houston – Annise Parker inherits a City of Progress. The Stonewall Democrats of Denton Coun ...
  
• Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Coney Islands of the Mind: ...
  Christ Climbed Down Lawrence Ferlinghetti Lawrence Ferlinghetti, famous for running the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, wrote this poem in the 1950s and published it in his book: A Coney Island of the Mind, Poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, A New Directions Book, Copyright 1958 by Lawrence Fer ...
  
• Hat Tip to Houston – Annise Parker inherits a City ...
  Houston, Texas has become an island of hope in a sea of doom and gloom.  Progress is measured with attention paid to the real issues facing any population, as opposed to a narrowly defined image of “normalcy”.  In a state where normal is defined vigorously as anything outside the envelope, as long ...
  
• Texas Progressive Alliance Weekly Round Up Dec 7, ...
  Once again it’s time for the Texas Progressive Alliance to bring you the highlights from the blogs. Power to the People! Head over to Texas Vox to learn more about the Fair Elections Now Act. Xanthippas at Three Wise Men airs out some thoughts on the escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and some pa ...
  

Dandelion Salad - Featured Writers' Posts

• Bomb, Bomb Iran: Lessons From Iraq Unlearned by Je ...
  by Jeremy R. Hammond Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Foreign Policy Journal 26 December 2009 In a Ne
  
• Christmas in Gaza: LET THEM IN! by Eileen Coles + ...
  by Eileen Coles Featured Writer Dandelion Salad crossposted at www.docudharma.com/diary Dec. 25, 200
  
• At Christmas, Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Is Reunited W ...
  by Andy Worthington Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.andyworthington.co.uk 25 December 2009 On De
  
• "Accountability for War Crimes is Imperative" An i ...
  By Mike Whitney ICH with Cindy Sheehan Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog
  
• Chris Hedges: The tragedy of Gaza, the West Bank a ...
  with Chris Hedges Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Dec. 24, 2009 SuppressedNews December 24, 2009 In
  

Unexplained Mysteries

• Ancient Mayans mastered water pressure
  The ancient Mayans may have been a lot more advanced in the area of running water than previously thought, scientists believe the Mayans may have ...
  
• Dead boy has "miraculous powers"
  The parents of a 17-year-old boy who died in a car accident 3 years ago say that a mysterious oil that is weeping from the walls of his bedroom ha...
  
• Fluffy mystery at Solar System edge solved
  The two Voyager spacecraft have been careering out of the Solar System for 30 years having shed light on many of the mysteries of the outer planet...
  
• Santa Claus: the man behind the myth
  The Santa Claus we know and love has been a staple of the Christmas festivities for generations but who was the real man behind Father Christmas a...
  
• Armed Santa robs bank
  In a bizarre robbery this week a man dressed up as Santa was anything but generous when he entered a bank in the US wearing dark sunglasses and de...
  

Grassroots

• Money’s Coming to Cool the Planet
  Subheadline:  What’s the Winning Spending Plan? Outside Author:  Daniel Moss Previous publication:  Foreign Policy in Focus ...
  
• Cooling the Earth with Food Sovereignty
  Outside Author:  Loie Hayes Previous publication:  Insights, Vol. 23 #2 (Fall 2009) brazil200907-332.jpg   read mor ...
  
• We can’t change the climate, but we can change the ...
  logoforblog.png   read more
  
• The Story of Cap and Trade
  As the Climate Summit in Copenhagen plods onward, various so-called solutions to global warming are being tossed around: Alternative energy, Cap and Trade, adaptation and mitigation, and many more. It can be hard to make sense of them, and even more difficult to unpack the myths from the realities. ...
  
• Why We Left Our Farms to Come to Copenhagen
  Henry_Saragih-un-org.jpg As dignitaries and politicians meet in Copenhagen to discuss ways to curtail climate change, some of the people most affected by the crisis are also present, including the Via Campesina. One of Grassroots International ...
  

Climate

• December 25, 2009
  Mexico Calls for Binding Climate Accord at 2010 Summit (AP) Mexico, host of next year’s COP16, seeks to accomplish what the Copenhagen conference failed to do: Secure an agreement between developed and poorer nations to cut emissions 50 percent by 2050. It would use 2000 as the base point. Ch ...
  
• December 24, 2009
  France to Reboost Climate Momentum (COP15) President Nicolas Sarkozy intends to invite countries that signed the Copenhagen Accord to a meeting next spring. One purpose will be to reinstall the goal to halve global emissions by 2050. How China Wrecked the Copenhagen Deal (Guardian) As rec ...
  
• December 23, 2009
  Copenhagen Green Lights Plan to Streamline CDM (Business Green) Reforms agreed to at the Copenhagen summit should make it easier for emission reduction projects in developing countries to qualify for the UN's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) carbon offset scheme, despite ongoing concerns. Re ...
  
• December 22, 2009
  China Considers Compulsory Green Energy Purchases by Grid Operators (Xinhua) China's top legislature today discussed a legal amendment that would require electricity grid companies to buy all the power produced by renewable energy generators. Some Climate Experts Seek Alternative to UN Proces ...
  
• December 21, 2009
  Miliband: China Tried to Hijack Copenhagen Climate Talks (Guardian) The UK’s climate secretary, Ed Miliband, accused China, Sudan and leftwing Latin American countries of trying to hijack the UN climate summit and "hold the world to ransom" to prevent a global warming agreement from being reach ...
  

TomDispatch

• Tomgram: 'This Administration Ended, Rather Than ...
  [ Note for TomDispatch Readers: On Friday evening, TomDispatch will be switching to an updated version of this site. It's possible that you might not be able to reach TD for some hours. If so, we expect to be back up on Saturday morning. Tom ] The Afghan Speech Obama Should Give (But Won't) ...
  
• 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 ...
  

Smirking Chimp

• How Progressives Can Move Obama to the Left
  There are many debates among progressives now on the true nature of Barack Obama. Did he mean anything he said on the campaign trail? Is he really a progressive? Did he ever mean to challenge the status quo or was he using the word "change" as a campaign gimmick? Is he just a corporatist like most o ...
  
• The Lady and the Snake
  I've been thinking a lot lately about the old story of the Lady and the Snake. One day, so the story goes, a lady was walking down the road when she came across an injured snake. The lady picked up the snake, brought it home, and nursed it back to health. Over time, the lady and the snake became ...
  
• Plastic people: We're all experimental chemists no ...
  Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Benjamin: Yes, sir. Mr. McGuire: Are you listening? Benjamin: Yes, I am. Mr. McGuire: Plastics. — The Graduate, 1967 Human beings, whether consciously aware of it or not, have conducted a 150-year chemistry experiment on the earth with the burning of f ...
  
• The Killers Among Us (And Other Weak Arguments for ...
  Have you heard?  Progressives who oppose the Senate health bill are the moral equivalent of mass murderers.  That argument is actually being made - along with the charge, ironically enough, that they're being too emotional .  Other pro-Senate-bill arguments are pretty thin, too, but let's start with ...
  
• On Health Care Promises, I Agree With Obama: "We A ...
  There's a lot of righteous - and rightful - outrage that President Obama is now blatantly lying about his campaign promise to give every American a choice of a public plan for health care. But that's only the beginning of the broken health care promises if you watch this 48-second video: So here you ...
  

Ten Percent

• Friday! Sergei Prokofiev- Troika from Lt. Kije
  And there’s always The Waitresses
  
• Happy Holydays
  
  
• Viva Palestina Allowed, Freedom March?
  gazafreedommarch.org twitter.com/gazafreedom gazafreedommarch.wordpress.com Contact the Egyptian government for the Gaza Freedom March Find your local consulate here and appeal to them on behalf of the Gaza Freedom Marchers Gaza Freedom March congratulates the Government of Egypt on its change of po ...
  
• Will Santa Be Bringing Death From Above This Year?
  Three separate and independent parties have mentioned the NORAD Santa tracker to me with glowing silliness. They scowl at me like I just fist fucked Tiny Tim to death when I point out this is a PR exercise by the US military who otherwise are massacring people across the Earth with drones. They even ...
  
• I Am Being Haunted By Hair Product
  Oh this got ranty… Done the last bit of shopping nursing my poorly car along, dealt with the mysterious central heating problem at my sisters (while they are off in Disney-friggin’-land) my mum thinks she caused, made and cooked her dinner, hoovered (Dysoned?!?!) round her house (as she is not quit ...
  

Paul Krugman

• Numerical notes on health care reform
  Do the math.
  
• Talking about a Revolution
  A day to honor New Jersey. You got a problem with that?
  
• Job prospects
  We're not out of this, by a long shot.
  
• Noo Yawk Roolz!
  A pretty good morning.
  
• The glums of August
  Reform hasn't failed the way it was supposed to.
  

No Quarter

• A Very Merry Christmas And Happy New Year
  * Bumped up * To the Health Care Industry, Big Pharma, and a few select states. Yes, in the wee hours of the morning (okay, 7:00 a.m.), the Senate voted to pass the Health-Care-less-what-the-people-and-physicians-say Bill. Oh, yes – what a banner day. The Senate rammed through a bill so fraught w ...
  
• TSA’s Illusion of Security
  News broke this afternoon of an alleged attempt by a Nigerian to light “firecrackers” on board a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Federal officials and police are interviewing a Nigerian man, who allegedly tried to “explode” a powdery substance aboard a Northwest flight from Am ...
  
• All I Want For Christmas…
  Is a Merry Christmas for everyone who celebrates Christmas, and for a lovely day for those who do not. It’s a magical time of year no matter one’s religious beliefs, I think (and even atheism is a belief). Maybe it’s the shorter days and the lights on the tree, recreating ancient memories.. Certain ...
  
• Hillary’s List For Santa
  In a lighter moment, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton engaged in some secret diplomacy with an “important international figure” at the North Pole. During that visit Clinton asked that her hopes for the New Year be fulfilled. The complete list of 12 is as foll ...
  
• Bear Ever
  Speaking Alan Murray, WSJ, Saturday 26 re the last ten years, the decade of two lurid bear markets and grotesque misbehavior by the rich and the insufferable, and it is especially useful to note that this was the worst decade of stocks ever.
  

Environmental Graffiti

• Snowmobiles Are For Sissies
• Thinking Outside the Box: Mark Langan’s Incredible ...
• Heterochromia in Animals
• Brazil’s Valley of the Moon
• Ethiopia’s Cross-Shaped Church Carved out of Unbro ...

Foreign Policy in Focus

• Obama's Surge and Pakistan
  U.S. military strategy in Afghanistan is built on two coups, one in Kabul and the other in Islamabad.
  
• Honduran Elections a Parody of Democracy
  The recent elections are the latest act in the Honduran theater of the absurd, reports columnist Laura Carlsen.
  
• Crapshoot in Copenhagen
  FPIF's weekly update.
  
• The AfPak Train Wreck
  The president's goals in escalating the war in Afghanistan are deeply flawed. Just ask the Russians.
  
• Africa and the Economic Crisis
  While the world focuses on Afghanistan, Africa is addressing the global economic crisis in new ways.
  

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 will be c ...
  
• 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 p ...
  

Al Jazeera

• Clashes reported in central Tehran
  Opposition activists face police crackdown in latest confrontation, opposition website says.
  
• Asia marks tsunami anniversary
  Memorial services held for the more than 200,000 victims of 2004 natural disaster.
  
• Israeli troops kill Palestinians
  Six deaths reported in two separate incidents, three in Gaza, the other in the West Bank.
  
• Kenyan witch-hunt targets elders
  Superstitious mobs go after villagers accused of witchcraft in the country's west.
  
• 'Explosion attempt' on US flight
  White House calls incident "an attempted act of terrorism" as officials question Nigerian suspect.
  

Green Inc. - NYT

• Generating Solar Power After Dark
  Two solar farms planned in the West would use technology that allow utilities to generate electricity after the sun goes down.
  
• Solar Companies Draw Rock Climbers, Too
  Installing solar panels on pitched roofs often requires rope skills, which is a big reason why some solar companies -- like wind turbine repair companies -- are hiring climbers.
  
• A Job at the End of a Rope
  Some rock climbers are figuring out how to earn a living at their hobby -- by scaling wind turbines that need repair.
  
• New Uranium Mill May Be Coming Soon
  The first new uranium mill in the United States in a quarter-century draws closer to final approval.
  
• Harnessing Science to Fight Upstate Drilling
  Citing scientific research, New York City asks the state to ban hydraulic drilling in its upstate watershed.
  

Dot Earth News

• From the Files: Christmas in Deadhorse and Beyond
  A holiday thank-you note to Dot Earth visitors and comment contributors.
  
• Views on China's Role in the Greenhouse
  China's dominance in climate talks reverberates.
  
• My Second Half
  Andy Revkin describes his shift to academia and focus on making the Web a tool fostering "one-planet living."
  
• Climate Talks Make Way for a Design Show
  In the wake of talks over a new climate treaty, an empty hall and enduring questions.
  
• Scenes from a Climate Floor Fight
  Minutes describe the tumultuous eruption of protests over a proposed climate accord.
  

Doug Feith : Hong Pong

• The Monckton climate battle rap; I want to specula ...
  What could possibly go wrong?! Analysis: Climate summit showcases new world order - thestar.com Tripod operations block coal train - tripods are super funny: Copenhagen failure sparks coal terminal blockade | Rising Tide Australia . Earlier: Indymedia Danmark - If you're in, you're in, if you're ...
  
• Gotta get Guinea goodies: Aluminum pursuit sparks ...
  A strange NBC series called E-Ring, which produced 22 episodes that aired in 2005, exalted narratives of American military adventurism and featured Dennis Hopper. I only saw episode #5, "Weekend Pass," in which as Wikipedia says, "Two US Marines are accused of raping a young local woman in Suriname ...
  
• UN crime chief Costa says it again: banks bailed o ...
  There was a quip about this a while ago, now it is more established. Posted in full cause it's a big deal.... via Agonist . These people are criminals! Drug money saved banks in global crisis, claims UN advisor Drugs and crime chief says $352bn in criminal proceeds was effectively laundered by f ...
  
• The Great Climate Clusterf**k: Good times in Copen ...
  All you ever wanted to know about Copenhagen but didn't care to ask! The only good news so far is that the Yes Men pranked Coke for their voracious consumption of limited water around the world. Soon all of us can live in a utopia of robotic flying machines and carbon-free giant underground fac ...
  
• Mike Connell's mysterious plane crash via 'jackals ...
  Damn straight - those are the chips they are gonna track you with. CHIPS CARRIED BY BIG FRICKIN ANTS. Via the too-speculative ATS thread RFID Microchips In The Swine Flu Vaccine? It's time to push out some links and see if they lead somewhere....This weekend I've been building up a sweet new InfoSp ...
  

Daily Censored

• Cuts to KPFA’s Flashpoints Spark Outrage
  Cuts to KPFA’s Flashpoints Spark Outrage By HENRY NORR In the face of mounting deficits, KPFA this month began laying off staff. The cuts come as no surprise; in fact, they’re overdue, considering that the station has been running in the red for several years, in defiance of Local Station Board and ...
  
• Trusting your medical information to invisible bra ...
  If you think you can trust your medical information being in one database, don’t. If you think that same company can charge only $5 per year to store your information and keep it absolutely private, think again. Yet, this is the claim made by Docvia, the makes of the invisible bracelet. Invisibleb ...
  
• Michele Bachmann: Welfare Queen
  By Yasha Levine Michele Bachmann has become well known for her anti-government tea-bagger antics, protesting health care reform and every other government “handout” as socialism. What her followers probably don’t know is that Rep. Bachmann is, to use that anti-government slur, something of a welfare ...
  
• Health Care Reform: The Ideal vs. the Real—Do We R ...
  Health Care Reform: The Ideal vs. the Real—Do We Reject? By Will Shonbrun Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the Act Falls the Shadow [...]
  
• How we killed health care, and how we can bring it ...
  We've killed health care. This is how we can bring it back to life, like a zombie, but less scary.
  

AlterNet's Breaking News

• Al-Qaeda-linked man tries to blow up US airliner
• Chargers clinch NFL playoff bye with rout of Titan ...
• Actor Sheen arrested for alleged attack on wife
• US plane incident was 'attempted act of terrorism'
• 29% of Americans say religion ‘ ...

Institute for Policy Studies

• Lessons from Sweden for the Immigration Debate
• The Kurdish Closing
• Review: 'Stripping Bare the Body: Politics, Violen ...
• Stephen King Meets the Estate Tax
• The Struggle of Electrical Workers in Mexico Goes ...

Godspace

• Christmas Eve Prayer
  Rejoice this night with all the hosts of heaven For Christ our Saviour is born. He has come to foreigners travelling from afar, He has come to shepherds outcast in the fields, He has come bringing joy to the world. He has come, Heralding God’s eternal world of peace and justice. May we make ourselv ...
  
• Still Waiting – An Advent Reflection by Chri ...
  This is the last in the series What Are We Waiting for This Advent Season. This post comes from Christina Whitehouse-Suggs.  She describes herself as a chameleon who struggles with finding a color of my own. I’m a performer who often loses my voice only to find it in silence. I’m a Baptimergent min ...
  
• Scripture Readings for Christmas and Epiphany Seas ...
  The Christmas season is almost upon us and most of us are giving a sigh of relief.  By the end of the week the festivities will be over, the shops will have stripped their Christmas decorations, disposed of their Christmas stock with huge sales and looking for the next secular celebration.  How wond ...
  
• Christ Has Come – Christmas Prayer
  It is already Christmas Eve in Australia and New Zealand so I hope you will forgive me for mixing Advent reflections and Christmas prayers today.  I should probably put the Advent reflection up first this morning but as I am still an Australian I thought that I would start the day with a Christmas p ...
  
• Awaiting the Morning – An Advent Reflection ...
  Today’s Advent reflection comes from Brad Culver.  Brad is a mentor, teacher, pioneer, along with Mary his wife of 37 years, until recently gave leadership to the Refuge a missional faith community founded in 1994. They presently reside in Innerkip Ontario Canada as they prepare to embark on a new ...
  

Equality Trust

• Call for fundamental rethink of the value of work
  Hospital cleaners are worth more to society than city bankers, according to a new method of calculating the value of different jobs published today. The new economics foundation (nef) called for a "fundamental rethink" of how the value of work was recognised and rewarded. The think tank said its s ...
  
• The Spirit Level - New Statesman book of the decad ...
  Wilkinson and Pickett's study gave scientific weight to a long-held claim of the left: that people are happier and healthier when they live in societies where wealth is distributed more equally. But the book's influence stretches across party lines and its findings are likely to shape political deba ...
  
• Levelling the bankers' bonuses
  Read a letter by Malcolm Clark, Director of the One Society Campaign in today's Guardian, about the positives for bankers of losing their bonuses. Peter Preston (The rewards of banking, 7 December) has a point: bankers are human too. Most of them want exactly the same as us: a decent quality of life ...
  
• Dr Lynne Friedli on the impact of inequality on me ...
  Dr Lynne Friedli talks about the impact of inequality on mental health, in a discussion with John Humphrys on the Today Programme - scroll down to 07.33 Listen to the discussion
  
• Plans to force banks to reveal millionaire staff
  Banks will be forced to reveal how many of their staff earn more than one million pounds a year, under recommended reforms of the financial sector to be released today. Read more
  

IntelNews

• Missing Polish intel officer probably defected to ...
  We have been keeping an eye on the mysterious case of Stefan Zielonka, a senior signals intelligence officer with Poland’s Military Intelligence Services (SWW), who disappeared without trace in early May. The seriousness of Zielonka’s disappearance stems from his extensive knowledge of Polish underc ...
  
• News you may have missed #0232
  Ahmadinejad says US fabricated nuclear documents. US to recognize Honduran elections despite low turnout. Interviewing Kim Philby and drinking with the KGB.
  
• We have spies, but not troops in Pakistan, says US
  American spies, but not combat troops, are active on Pakistani soil, according to Washington’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
  
• News you may have missed #0231
  Chinese honey trap methods net another victim. NSA's $1.9 billion cyber spy center a power grab. Connecticut police spying on Democratic Party activists?
  
• Venezuelan-Dutch spat over Caribbean islands spyin ...
  A diplomatic rift between Venezuela and Holland that began three years ago has flared up again, after Caracas accused the Dutch government of helping the US spy on Venezuela.
  

After Downing Street.org

• Glass Walls
  CAUTION: GRAPHIC CONTENT Find out more at Meat.org .
  
• No Gain, Plenty of Pain, On Day One
  No gain, plenty of pain, on Day One By Dick Morris | North County Times Obama's health care bill, the poisoned Kool-Aid making its way through the Senate, will not confer any of its supposed benefits on Americans until 2013. But they will find themselves chafing at its restrictions and paying its t ...
  
• Senate Health Care Bill: Your Worst Nightmare
  read more
  
• Why Progressives Never Get the Big Wins
  Why Progressives Never Get the Big Wins By Seth Cohen | FireDogLake The recent post on Daily Kos by Jed Lewison, criticizing Jane Hamsher, is a great example of how progressives shoot themselves in the foot and help ensure that our side loses the big battles. Jane is doing something extremely bril ...
  
• Commentary: It's Time To Give Peace A Chance
  Commentary: It's time to give peace a chance By Lewis Diuguid | The Kansas City Star | McClatchy In this season of peace, disappointment fills the peace movement because of President Obama. People thought he'd be different from the cowboy who had occupied the White House. From the candidate of hop ...
  

Grist - News

• On the move: Species face race against climate cha ...
  by Agence France-Presse PARIS -- Land ecosystems will have to move hundreds of meters each year in order to cope with global warming, according to a letter published on Thursday in Nature, the British-based science journal. On average, ecosystems will need to shift 420 meters (about a quarter of a ...
  
• Global warming hike may be steeper
  by Agence France-Presse PARIS -- Global temperatures could rise substantially more because of increases in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than previously thought, according to a new study by U.S. and Chinese scientists released Sunday. The researchers used a long-term model for assessing climate ...
  
• Brown blames China for ‘farcical’ clim ...
  by Agence France-Presse LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday accused countries of holding the U.N. climate summit to ransom as bitter recriminations swirled over the outcome of the negotiations. British Prime Minister Gordan Brown. While China's Premier Wen Jiabao insisted his go ...
  
• Copenhagen outcome: a real climate catastrophe
  by David Roberts President Barack Obama negotiating with, from left, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, at the Copenhagen climate conference.Photo: White House/Pete Souza This piece appeared first in The Daily Beast .Sa ...
  
• Climate scientists underwhelmed by Copenhagen Acco ...
  by Agence France-Presse COPENHAGEN -- Top climate scientists said Saturday that the 11th-hour political deal hammered out at U.N. talks in Copenhagen falls perilously short of what is needed to stave off catastrophic global warming. What many had hoped would be a planet-saving treaty locking major ...
  

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Technorati - What's Hot in Blogs

• Connecting Olympic Athletes And Supporters Through ...
  "One Winter, Five Dreams" focuses on lesser-known athletes who constitute the true soul of Olympic competition.
  
• Social Media Changing the Tourism Landscape
  Consumers are relying more and more on word-of-mouth when it comes to traveling.
  
• Don't Wait for the "Right Time" to Start Your Home ...
  As the end of another year approaches, countless individuals are considering a future online business.
  
• Identifying Your Target Market
  Before you can set out to launch your marketing campaign, you need to identify the market your business can best serve.
  
• Shatter Your Glass Ceiling With an Internet Busine ...
  Here is an irrefutable fact of life: if you are an employee, there is a glass ceiling looming severely over everything you do.
  

Time - Top Stories

• In Sri Lanka, Tsunami Anniversary Inspires Mixed R ...
  The approaching five year anniversary of tsunami in Sri Lanka, where the waves left over 35,000 dead and displaced over a million people in December 2004, inspired mixed reactions among the survivors along the coast
  
• Protecting the Pope: Keeping Him Safe But Open
  Unlike other world leaders and celebrities, the Pope wants people to have access to him. That poses a quandary in troubling times.
  
• What Smoking Ban? The French Are Lighting Up in Pu ...
  Just three years after France outlawed smoking in offices, restaurants andcafÉs, the French are starting to openly flout the rules -- because theycan get away with it
  
• Memories of Aceh: Indonesia Five Years After the T ...
  A TIME reporter recalls ground-zero of a cataclysm and the global outpouring of relief that helped Banda Aceh recover
  
• Is Running Bad for Your Knees? Maybe Not.
  New research over the past several years suggests that running and other vigorous physical activity are not bad for your joints after all
  

Washington Independent

• 4. An ACORN in Every Bill
  ACORN, the advocacy group for low-income people, has long been a favorite bogeyman of the right, and this year conservatives tried to convince America that ACORN was not only stealing votes and corrupting the census, but also receiving massive kickbacks from the Democratic Party. Conservatives succe ...
  
• 3. Sotomayor Is a Racist Who Favors ‘Wise La ...
  Within moments of Obama’s nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, it was all over the airwaves: Obama’s pick had claimed that Latina women made better judges than white men. Sotomayor had said, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more o ...
  
• 2. Birtherism
  Too far-fetched for even the likes of Rush Limbaugh to discuss as anything but the punchline to a joke, “birtherism” has gained 9/11 truther-like staying power this year, triumphing over widespread ridicule from liberals and conservatives alike. Despite the fact that Barack Obama long ago produced h ...
  
• 1. Death Panels
  It was a scenario that tapped into Americans’ deepest fears about increased government involvement with health care: President Obama was planning to a create a panel of bureaucrats charged with deciding which patients should live and which would have to die. The claim was first voiced by misinformer ...
  
• A Year That Abounded With Fears Unfounded
  From the hordes of Tea Partiers to the prophets of Fox News, cries of scandal rocked the country this year. Only these five had no basis in reality.
  

CowBoss' Brain Food

• Tax those carbon gluttons
  LEMME TELL YOU about a carbon tax you’re gonna love. Two such taxes, actually. I tell you, kid, Stephane Dion had the right idea, but the wrong sales pitch. The fun starts with the government giving you maybe $2,000 as a carbon dividend. Submitted by cowboss Left CareII to Society & Culture  |  ...
  
• Why do we hate? Academics seek answer in new field
  Hate is everywhere, but the fundamental question of why one person can hate another has never been adequately studied, contends Jim Mohr of Gonzaga University, who is developing a new academic field of hate studies. Submitted by cowboss Left CareII to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comm ...
  
• 'Fat for cosmetics' murder suspects arrested in Pe ...
  Four people have been arrested in Peru on suspicion of killing dozens of people in order to sell their fat and tissue for cosmetic uses in Europe. Submitted by cowboss Left CareII to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!  |   Add a Comment
  
• 6 Ways Agriculture Impacts Global Warming
  Sure, agriculture provides us with the food we all eat every day. But do you know how those agricultural practices impact global warming? Turns out there's some pretty big impacts, on both the sustainable and industrial sides of the equation; employing su Submitted by cowboss Left CareII to Society ...
  
• We love Butchers
  Former chef Josh Applestone and his wife, Jessica Applestone, are typical of the new butcher breed. He was a vegan, she was a one-time vegetarian when they founded Fleisher’s Grass-fed and Organic Meats in Kingston, N.Y., in 2004 Submitted by cowboss Left CareII to Society & Culture  |   Note-it!   ...
  

Suzie-Q

• Senate Passes Health Care Overhaul Bill
  ROBERT PEAR | NYT | December 24, 2009 WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to reinvent the nation’s health care system, passing a bill to guarantee access to health insurance for tens of millions of Americans and to rein in health costs as proposed by President Obama. The 60-to-39 party-line vote, ...
  
• Marjorie Cohn: Obama’s Af-Pak War is Illegal
  by Marjorie Cohn, CommonDreams.org, Dec 21, 2009 President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize nine days after he announced he would send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. His escalation of that war is not what the Nobel committee envisioned when it sought to encourage him to make peace, not war. ...
  
• Falk: Gaza, Afghanistan and International Law
  Interview with Richard Falk Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and author of “Crimes of War: Iraq” and “The Costs of War: International Law, the UN, and World Order after Iraq” recorded October 17, 2009 in Seattle Information Clearing House, posted D ...
  
• Ex-US diplomat predicts Afghan troop surge failure
  BBC | 22 December, 2009 A senior US diplomat who resigned over the war in Afghanistan has told the BBC that the troop surge there “will not make a difference”. Matthew Hoh stepped down from his position in the US state department in October 2009. The former marine, who served in Iraq, had previousl ...
  
• British govt. grovelling at the feet of war crimin ...
  John Haylett, Morning Star Online, Dec 18, 2009 The British government’s grovelling apology to Israel after an arrest warrant was issued against former foreign minister Tzipi Livni was compounded by its promise to change the law to allow war criminals to roam freely. Livni was up to her neck in t ...
  

Solari

• Happy Holidays!
  See Catherine’s meditations at Christmas, 2003, “Angels Watching Over Us.”
  
• In Hoc Anno Domini
  Vermont Royster’s Christmas message of 1949 has been republished by the Wall Street Journal every Christmas since. As I can not think of a more beautiful way to celebrate the birth and life of Christ, it is reprinted here in its entirety, as it was in 2007. When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journ ...
  
• Gifting to the Children We Love - Part IX
  Read the full article here. Unlike income taxes, the federal gift tax applies to donors of gifts, not the recipients. Because of the interrelationships among the gift tax, generation-skipping tax, and estate-tax, the assistance of a knowledgeable estate-planning expert is important, particularly fo ...
  
• Precious Metals - Week of 12.20.09
  Russia Transfers $1 Bln Worth Gold To Central Bank Yahoo Finance(21 Dec 09) Royal Canadian Mint Reveals How It Lost Gold Ottawa Citizen (21 Dec 09)
  
• Mortgage Markets - Week of 12.20.09
  Looking a Little Deeper at Bernanke’s Floating Rate Mortgage The Wall Street Journal (18 Dec 09)
  

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 - 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

• Have Americans Traded Freedom For Security?
  According to polls, Americans support torture and don't mind that their government spies on them without obtaining warrants from a court.
  
• The Torture of Two Innocent Men Who Just Left Guan ...
  The release of Mohammed Sulaymon Barre and Ismail Mahmoud Muhammad is another example of the hysterical and false claims that Guantanamo is full of hardcore terrorists.
  
• Obama's Af-Pak War is Not Just Deadly and Counterp ...
  Some 30 percent of all U.S. deaths in Afghanistan have occurred during Obama's presidency. His escalation of that war is not what the Nobel committee envisioned.
  
• Touchdowns and Lockdowns: Transcending Racial Poli ...
  I spent a decade organizing sports leagues amongst those who failed in their struggle against violence and oppression: in prison.
  
• Guantanamo Was "Hell On Earth": Former G ...
  "Some of my colleagues in the prison lost their sight, some lost their limbs and others ended up mentally disturbed," recalls Mohamed Saleban Bare. "I'm OK compared to them."
  

Sideways News

• Winner of the week: Carmen Herrera
  We live longer, these days: society is ageing. And alongside all of the needs and wants that this brings, we should never lose sight of the fact that this provides a great benefit to us as well - the great thinkers and doers of our age can carry on thinking and doing for longer than ever before.
  
• The future's bright, the future's oranges
  Stem cell scientists have discovered that vitamin C could help solve the ethical dilemma surrounding the revolutionary but controversial technique by enabling adult cells to be "reprogrammed", rather than harvesting cells from early stage embryos.
  
• Ataque de Pánico: Panic Attack!
  An unknown Uruguayan film-maker has been offered a $30m Hollywood contract for his first feature length film after his low-budget, sci-fi short, Ataque de Pánico (Panic Attack!), became a YouTube sensation. Made on a budget of $300 and just under five minutes long, the short film is about an apocal ...
  
• Curling on ice wiith the Eden Project
  ITV's The West Country Tonight has a go on at ice curling at the Eden Project in Cornwall, as part of the project's Winter Wonderland. Described as a "sort of bowls on ice", it is a simplified version of curling that originates from Austria and requires no skates or brooms - just warm clothes and d ...
  
• Secret Santa gives out $10,000
  A kind-hearted Secret Santa delighted Christmas shoppers this week when he gave over 100 lucky people $100 (£62) each. The anonymous man, who was dressed as Father Christmas, surprised shoppers at the Goodwill store in Maine, US.
  

Fabius Maximus

• Quote of the day
  From John Cole, Informed Comment, 17 December 2009: “Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says that it is up to President Obama to sell his troop surge to Democrats in Congress. Then she called for a bowl and washed her hands.” Based on remarks by Pelosi to reporters: “The president is going to have t ...
  
• FM newswire for 26 December, hot articles for your ...
  Today’s links to interesting news and analysis. Today’s links to interesting articles Best summary yet of the Copenhagen follies Afterword Excerpts and details (1)  Excerpts “Some notes on Teddy Roosevelt“, The Edge of the American West, 22 December 2009 “Rising Tide“, Mark Steyn, National Revi ...
  
• More Chirstmas Eve war advocacy – bombing wh ...
  The holiday spirit of America expresses itself in the desire to bomb other nations.  Merry Christmas, World! surging into Afghanistan, bombing Pakistan bombing Yeman, General Hake’s ode to technological war (“High-tech, low-risk wars“), and yodeling for war with Iran. The last of these is es ...
  
• Another example of war advocates working their ric ...
  Summary:  The Washington Times gives us some Christmas Eve war advocacy.  Very suitable for 21st century America — all war, all the time, for every problem. Hat tip for this to Winslow T. Wheeler, Director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information:  “High-tech, l ...
  
• Think-tanks bribe journalists to promote our wars
  Slowly folks begin to realize that most of our geopolitical experts advocate war because its their job to do so.  They’re just working their rice bowls.  For today’s lesson see this excerpt from “Danger Room What’s Next in National Security Think-Tanks and the Reporters Who Heart Them“, Nathan H ...
  

sibeledmonds - tweets

• sibeledmonds: Happy Holidays From The Boiling Frog ...
  sibeledmonds: Happy Holidays From The Boiling Frogs Post Team:-) http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
• sibeledmonds: Charlie Wilson’s War: the chil ...
  sibeledmonds: Charlie Wilson’s War: the child-like fantasy that has been resurrected over & over again. By Gould & Fitzgerald http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
• sibeledmonds: Charlie Wilson’s War:The Rally ...
  sibeledmonds: Charlie Wilson’s War:The Rallying Cry for an Arms Buildup & to End Public Debate about American Foreign Policy http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
• sibeledmonds: From Boiling Frogs- Fitzgerald & Gou ...
  sibeledmonds: From Boiling Frogs- Fitzgerald & Gould on Charlie Wilson’s War: A Fantasy & the Rallying Cry for Arms Buildup! http://boilingfrogspost.com
  
• sibeledmonds: Jamiol Presents at Boiling Frogs Pos ...
  sibeledmonds: Jamiol Presents at Boiling Frogs Post: Editorial Cartoon http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2009/12/22/jamiol-presents-10/
  

WIRED Magazine | Science

• Warming Already Speeding Up Insect Breeding
  Summertime and the insect breeding is easy. That old song rings especially true for 44 species of moths and butterflies in Central Europe, according to an analysis by ecologist Florian Altermatt of the University of California, Davis. As the region has warmed since the 1980s, some of these species ...
  
• Tidal Forces Trigger Tremors on San Andreas Fault
  The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests. The same forces of attraction that cause ocean tides also cause tides in Earth’s rocks, says Amanda Thomas, a s ...
  
• Saturn’s Moons Are Cuter Than Sugarplum Fair ...
  We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Saturn’s moons in action into this sequence, bringing another corner of the solar system to life for ...
  
• Tidal Forces Trigger Tremors on San Andreas Fault
  The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests. The same forces of attraction that cause ocean tides also cause tides in Earth’s rocks, says Amanda Thomas, a s ...
  
• Saturn’s Moons Are Cuter Than Sugar Plum Fairies
  We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Saturn’s moons in action into this sequence, bringing another corner of the solar system to life for ...
  

The Progressive Realist

• China’s Looming Demographic Problem Moves Steadily ...
  As Israeli blogger “Nobody” points out for us ,the Economist has been giving increasing coverage to global demographic issues of late, and this week it is China’s problem that has caught their eye. As the Economist point out , the impact of so many years of one child per family policy is going to b ...
  
• Alternatives for Dealing with Iran: Pushing Back o ...
  As we noted on this blog yesterday , the New York Times published an op-ed yesterday by Alan J. Kuperman calling for war against Iran. Marc Lynch , blogging at Foreign Policy , has an excellent and important response . He notes that The New York Times [publishing a piece advocating for war] is ...
  
• Re-Tooling Public Diplomacy
  In a sign of a changing public relations strategy, General Mike Mullen did an extended interview last week on Al Jazeera about the newly-announced American strategy in Afghanistan. The interview, which I have just been watching, represents a good step towards better presenting the "American pers ...
  
• Another Bad Argument For Iran Strike: ‘The Worst M ...
  Today, Iran’s leading daily newspaper featured an op-ed by a conservative Iranian university professor insisting that there is only one way to deter the American war on Iran that all serious Iranian analysts believe is coming: A massive wave of guerrilla attacks on American military facilities. Thi ...
  
• A New War of Attrition
  Andrew Bacevich has this recent op-ed in the NY Daily News . It's worth reading, as much of his writing is. In reality, the chief rationale for pouring more troops into Afghanistan derives from a determination to restore the credibility of American arms, badly tarnished in Iraq. Thanks to Petra ...
  

TAPPED - The American Prospect

• The Year In: Health Care.
  Barack Obama entered office wanting to fix our long-ignored and mostly broken health-care system. Now, after countless compromises and roadblocks, the Senate has passed its health-care reform bill. Here are our top articles explaining the stakes: Health-care reform was never really about tacking ye ...
  
• Until the New Year.
  The TAP team will be taking time off for the holidays. There may be some intermittent posting next week, but we won't be back in full swing until Monday, Jan. 4. Thanks, all, for reading us, and see you all in the new year! -- The Editors
  
• Obama Year One.
  Paul Starr on Obama 's first year: As Barack Obama ends his first year in office, there is much talk about disillusionment with the president among progressives. The litany of complaints is obvious: unemployment still at 10 percent, economic policies unduly favorable to Wall Street, the surge in Af ...
  
• For Some Of Us, It Was Never Just About The Public ...
  Shooting fire at Reason , Glenn Greenwald eviscerates libertarian double-speak on the Congressional Budget Office's accuracy (when the CBO reports were bad for Dems, they were the tablets handed to Moses on Sinai; when they were good for Dems, they became "highly speculative"). But in his coda, he h ...
  
• As the World Turns.
  Matthew Yglesias on Obama 's foreign policy: As Barack Obama's first year in office comes to a close, grumbling about his alleged shortcomings has become a favorite pastime among liberals. The reality, however, is that a president's room to move on most policy areas is severely constrained by the r ...
  

Andy Worthington

• At Christmas, Ex-Guantánamo Prisoner Is Reunited W ...
  On December 21, the following article, written by Kevin Cullen, was published by the Boston Globe. It brings up to date the story of Oybek Jabbarov, an innocent man from Uzbekistan, held in Guantánamo for nearly eight years, who was finally freed in September and given a new home in Ireland. As I re ...
  
• Who Are The Four Afghans Released From Guantánamo?
  Over the weekend, 12 prisoners were released from Guantánamo, as the Justice Department announced in a press release on December 20. I have previously reported the stories of the two Somalis who were released — emphasizing how nothing about their cases demonstrated that they were “the worst of th ...
  
• “Hell on Earth”: Released Somali Speaks about Guan ...
  AFP secured an interview on Monday with Mohamed Saleban Bare (known to the Pentagon as Mohammed Sulaymon Barre), the Somali refugee, released from Guantánamo at the weekend with eleven other men (including another Somali, Ismail Mahmoud Muhammad), who ran a money transfer operation for the Somali di ...
  
• Serious Problems With Obama’s Plan To Move Guantán ...
  Last Tuesday, in a letter to Illinois governor Pat Quinn, five senior Obama administration officials — Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Attorney General Eric Holder, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair, and Secretary of the Department of Homeland Securit ...
  
• The Stories Of The Two Somalis Freed From Guantána ...
  Carol Rosenberg at the Miami Herald broke the news on Saturday that 12 prisoners have been released from Guantánamo. The news followed hints in the Washington Post on Friday that six Yemenis and four Afghans were set to leave, but Rosenberg — and the East African media — reported that the men had a ...
  

Buzzflash

• Michael Winship: Where Are the Snows -- and Shovel ...
  BUZZFLASH GUEST COMMENTARY by Michael Winship We had our first snowstorm of the winter in Manhattan this past weekend and it served to remind me that I have not actually shoveled snow in decades -- the result of living in a city where other people are hired to do it for you. It once was said that th ...
  
• Winning Hearts Not Just Votes
  by Steven C. Day Regrets, I’ve had a few . Regret is hanging thick in the progressive community these days, sort of like a morning fog in New England — or that deep black cloud that always envelops Dick Cheney as he moves from one undisclosed location to the next: regret over one war that won’t end ...
  
• Rising Anger on all Sides
  Body These days everyone’s mad at someone or about something. Progressives are angry and feel as if Obama has sold them out by not championing a tough health-care reform bill and toadying up to the insurance and drug industries. The rank and file electorate is angry because it seems what ...
  
• Christmas Cheer Turned to Ideologue's Jeer: Laura ...
  BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT by Jeffrey Joseph For years, Bill O’Reilly acted as the face of FOX News and the misinformation it perpetuates, but the arrival of Glenn Beck and his ilk may have signaled an even further right bend for FOX as Laura Ingraham recently chastised O’Reilly for writing kind words abo ...
  
• BuzzFlash Mailbag for December 22, 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: Which "Americans" were the ...
  

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

• The Joys of Airstrikes and Anonymity
  Each time the U.S. bombs a new location in the Muslim world, the same pattern emerges.  First, officials from the U.S. or allied governments run to their favorite media outlet to claim -- anonymously -- that some big, bad, notorious, "top" Al Qaeda leader "may have been" or "likely was" killed in t ...
  
• Salon Radio Transcript: Gregory Johnsen
  To listen to this interview, go here and click on the recorder at the bottom, or for an MP3 file, go here : GG : My guest today on Salon Radio is Gregory Johnsen, who is an expert on Yemen; he's a Ph.D. candidate in Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and has advised the U.S. and British g ...
  
• Salon Radio: Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen
  Over the last week, there have been several extremely significant though unclear events in Yemen.  As I wrote about earlier this week , last Thursday there were two sets of attacks -- one in the North on a rebellious Shiite group and one in the South on "suspected Al Qaeda sites" which caused numer ...
  
• Reason Editor suggests his own magazine is lying a ...
  "The Congressional Budget Office now reports that this bill will reduce our deficit by $132 billion over the first decade, and by as much as $1.3 trillion in the decade after that" -- Barack Obama, Tuesday . " Obama's Latest Health Care Lie :  There are actually multiple lies and deception ...
  
• The NYT's view of "journalistic objectivity"
  (updated below) I've written many times before about Sami al-Hajj, the Al Jazeera cameraman who was abducted by the U.S. in late 2001, tortured at Bagram, sent to Guantanamo for seven years -- where he was never charged with any crime and was interrogated overwhelmingly about Al Jazeera's ope ...
  

The BiPartisan Report

• Sheldon Whitehouse brings truth to the Senate floo ...
• Pesky facts spoil GOP’s mammogram arguments
• Those holier than thou Conservatives
• Dennis Kucinich: Enemy of the good, pursuer of the ...
• Betsy’s Bullshit, Round 2

Sciencebase

• Intute hot topics in physical science
  Over on the Intute site in the physical sciences section you will find the December science news round up from yours truly: What’s the buzz at the LHC? – After a frustrating false start, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) finally got it up and running in its underground home at CERN on the Swiss-Frenc ...
  
• Five-step plan for green design
  I recently saw a research paper discussing the lack of tools for designers hoping to make their products greener, more environmentally benign, sustainable even. The paper focused more on the likes of coming up with a green espresso machine and offered a five-step scheme for getting the green creden ...
  
• Happy Solstice Event
  Wishing all readers, commenters, contacts, fellow tweeps and scientwists, Facebook fans, and friends everywhere a happy mid-seasonal, solstice feast event from sciencebase.com… …I couldn’t just say Happy Christmas could I? It’s not as if it’s scientifically possible to reconcile a belief in any arc ...
  
• Religious science and other science books
  Having posted about atheism recently on the SciScoop science forum, it seems quite apt to have received for review a couple of books with a religious theme at this time of year. The first is The Faith Instinct by Nicholas Wade. Wade is a well-known New York Times writer who presents the case for an ...
  
• Myrrh, bones, and medical waste
  Hepatic epiphany for myrrh – A statistical analysis of experimental data on laboratory animals shows that the resin of the middle-eastern tree Commiphora, better known as “myrrh” can act as a protective antioxidant against liver damage caused by organic lead compounds. Myrrh is a rust-coloured resi ...
  

Common Dreams-Progressive Newswire

• Statement on “Deal” at Copenhagen
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 18, 2009 Center for Biological Diversity Upon news of a non-legally binding accord today in Copenhagen, Kassie Siegel, director of the Climate Law Institute at the Center for Biological Diversity, had the following response: read more
  
• Copenhagen: A Disaster for World's Poorest
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 18, 2009 Friends of the Earth - International Commenting on the failure of rich country governments to secure a strong and fair UN agreement to tackle climate change in Copenhagen, Nnimmo Bassey, Chair of Friends of the Earth International, said: “Copenhagen has been ...
  
• Drinking Water Regulations Should Ban Unsafe Chemi ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 18, 2009 Food & Water Watch “The latest New York Times article in its “Toxic Water” series continues to detail the consequences of the Bush Administration’s poor record on safeguarding the nation’s water and highlights the immediate need for the Obama Administration to ...
  
• One Year Later: America’s Worst Environmental Disa ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 21, 2009 Earthjustice It’s been one year and piles of coal ash still remain. Train cars full of the toxic waste move from Kingston, Tennessee to Perry County, Alabama. The few remaining residents along the Clinch and Emory Rivers say the cleanup goes on, but not much o ...
  
• Statement from CARE's Dr. Gayle on Outcome at Cope ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 21, 2009 CARE CARE President and CEO Dr. Helene D. Gayle released the following statement after the conclusion of the U.N. Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. read more
  

Common Dreams-Views

• Beyond the Darkest Hours, Grassroots Rising
  by Ronnie Cummins Winter in America 2009. Passing through the darkest period of the winter solstice, shrouded by the gloom and doom of climate destruction, war, and economic depression, making our way around the broken promises of "change we can believe in," we nonetheless find ourselves celebrat ...
  
• Open Letter to President Mubarek
  by The Gaza Freedom March Dear President Mubarak; We, representing 1,362 individuals from 43 countries arriving in Cairo to participate in the Gaza Freedom March, are pleading to the Egyptians and your reputation for hospitality. read more
  
• Back to the Drawing Board
  by David Sirota The Senate health care bill betrays the promise of fundamental "change" Democrats made during the 2008 election. It cloaks a handout to the health industry in the veneer of "reform." Though it includes some positive subsidies and regulatory tweaks, the bill creates few mechanisms to ...
  
• Break the CIA in Two
  by Ray McGovern After the CIA-led fiasco at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, President John Kennedy was quoted as saying he wanted to "splinter the CIA into a thousand pieces and scatter it into the winds."  I can understand his anger, but a thousand is probably too many. Better is a Solomon soluti ...
  
• What's in Your Water?
  by Elaine Shannon In the context of the ongoing climate and health care debates, one of the season's big environment stories has been tainted tap water, which was the subject of the New York Times series, "Toxic Waters" , a recent Senate committee hearing , as well as the focus of dozens of newspape ...
  

Karl Burkart

• Highlights from Copenhagen
  Video clips from the great Copenhagen march for the climate.
  
• Monbiot takes on the 'Climate Denial Industry'
  A hilarious accounting of 'Climategate' and why universities need professional PR help.
  
• Helsinki Cathedral to house hi-tech source of ener ...
  WWII bomb shelter becomes a chapel for energy efficient servers while heating hundreds of homes.
  
• Boy discovers microbe that eats plastic
  PhDs have been searching for a solution to the plastic waste problem, and this 16-year-old finds the answer.
  
• The bright side of 'Flopenhagen'
  My 13th and final report on the Copenhagen climate talks. What happened. What's next.
  

Water Privatization

• Ex-OLG boss gets $750,000 payday (Toronto Star)
  Calling it "the great Christmas giveaway," opposition parties are attacking a $747,925 wrongful dismissal settlement for fired Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. chief executive Kelly McDougald.
  
• Dec. 24th Press Review (TurkishPress.com)
  Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday began his official talks in Syria after a welcoming ceremony in the capital Damascus.
  
• Ecuador revokes Shuar radio broadcast license (AP ...
  Ecuador has revoked the broadcast license for an indigenous radio station in the Amazon region over accusations it incited violence during protests in October.
  
• Ecuador revokes Shuar radio broadcast license (Roc ...
  QUITO, Ecuador — Ecuador has revoked the broadcast license for an indigenous radio station in ...
  
• Ecuador revokes Shuar radio broadcast license (Bay ...
  Ecuador revokes broadcast license for indigenous radio station accused of inciting violence
  

Guardian

• Police investigate UK link to alleged airline terr ...
  Nigerian reportedly linked to al-Qaida in custody after foiled terror attack on transatlantic flight to Detroit Searches are being carried out in central London after a man with suspected links to al-Qaida allegedly tried to blow up a transatlantic plane, Scotland Yard said today. The student, from ...
  
• Divers search river for missing boy
  Jordan Trowsdale, 13, has not been seen since Christmas Eve Police searching for a teenage boy who vanished from a skate park on Christmas Eve, are dredging a river near where he was last seen. Jordan Trowsdale, 13, of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, failed to return home after playing with frien ...
  
• Two people killed in motorway crash
  M6 in Lancashire closed for five hours after cars skidded on ice Two men died on the M6 after their car apparently skidded on ice and hit a tree before overturning on Christmas Day night, after the Met Office had warned that icy conditions could cause chaos on the roads. The motorway in Lancashire w ...
  
• Sounds of 2009: the year in music
  From monster comebacks to career meltdowns, guardian.co.uk/music looks back at the last 12 months in music Paul MacInnes Rosie Swash Tim Jonze Christian Bennett
  
• Sales draw huge Boxing Day crowds
  • Four shoppers injured when ceiling collapses in Selfridges • Bargain hunters rush before VAT increase on 1 January Thousands of bargain hunters flocked to high streets across the UK today in search of post-Christmas bargains and millions more were expected to be sale shopping online. Shop owners s ...
  

McClatchey

• Commentary: If Mexico can cover its citizens healt ...
  Which is more apt to achieve the lofty political goal of universal health care coverage?
  
• Commentary: The latest in gifts that last a lifeti ...
  Think it's impossible to find a child a hot, new gift for a modest price? If you're hunting for one of those trendy electronic hamsters, you might be out of luck. But take heart: $10 or $15 can still go a long way — and even save a child's life.
  
• The lingering Bush legacy: What to do about those ...
  WASHINGTON — In the back of every Washington politician's mind is this sobering fact: Unless Congress acts, the temporary tax cuts it passed when George W. Bush was president will expire at the end of next year.
  
• Kansas couple's deaths mark the end of a perfect l ...
  WICHITA, Kan. — As they died side by side Tuesday evening at St. Francis hospital, Loren and Florence Gerber's hearts beat as one.
  
• Florida avocado growers fear spread of exotic Asia ...
  MIAMI — This year's avocado season is making farmers happy: The 920,000-bushel crop, grown mostly in southern Miami-Dade County, is fetching prices that are almost 50 percent better than a few years ago.
  

BBC - Richard Black's Earth Watch

• Best wishes from a white land
  Just a quick note, today, to say "best wishes" to everyone about to celebrate Christmas or some other winter festival. Here in London, it's been refreshing (in more ways than one!) to see snow on the ground and kids out playing in it - a reminder of childhood days. For me, it's time to put the lap ...
  
• COP15: (No) Hopenhagen?
  Everywhere you go in Copenhagen, you're met with two kinds of advertising poster. One sells lingerie, the morning walk to the railway station bringing a sequence of scarcely clad models smiling unfeasibly in the freezing morning air. The other sells hope. "Hopenhagen" has been the city's alterna ...
  
• COP15: Deal or no deal?
  0043 CET Saturday: Now, we are totally - totally - into uncharted territory. A US president has reached an climate change agreement with leaders of just four countries - although a few more clearly had a inkling of what was going on. The White House announced the deal - this is supposed to be a UN ...
  
• A tale of two superpowers
  1926 CET: It's supposed to be about two degrees. It appears to have come down to two men. As I write, US President Barack Obama and China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao are locked in a room somewhere around this conference centre - a meeting that could answer the question of whether ther's a deal here ...
  
• COP15: Saving the planet or saving face?
  1641 CET: We're into a strange dark limbo-land here. The draft political agreement that leaders are supposed to sign today has gone through more changes than Eva Longoria at an awards ceremony. The latest version, we're told, sheds many of the frills. It's a jeans and t-shirt job compared with the ...
  

Afghanistan Sun

• 'True patriot' Imran Khan turns 'me ...
  Lahore, Dec. 26 : The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan's (TTP) Swat chapter has said that it is ready to accept the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan as a mediator for talks with the government in order to restore peace in the region.
  
• ISAF condemns Taliban video of captured US soldier
  Kabul, Dec 25 (DPA) The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) condemned Friday the release of a video showing a US soldier captured in Afghanistan nearly six months ago.
  
• Taliban commander dies in mosque shootout
  KABUL — A heavily armed Taliban commander was killed Saturday during an pre-dawn shootout at a mosque in eastern Afghanistan, NATO said as it reported an American service member was killed in a ...
  
• Afghanistan parliament vote by late May but fund p ...
  Afghanistan aims to hold a vote for the lower house of parliament by late May, as laid out in the constitution, a top election official said on Saturday. But Zekria Barakzai, deputy head of the govern...
  
• Taliban was to use Americans in Pakistan attacks
  Last Updated: December 26. 2009 3:18PM UAE / December 26. 2009 11:18AM GMT ISLAMABAD // Taliban insurgents had planned to use five Americans detained in Pakistan, who had contacted the militant group ...
  

Futurismic

• Happy Holidays
  Does Not Equal is a webcomic by Sarah Ennals – check out the pre-Futurismic archives, and the strips that have been published here previously. [ Be sure to check out the Does Not Equal Cafepress store for webcomic merchandise featuring Canadians with geometrically-shaped heads! ] Project Wonderful ...
  
• Festive downtime
  Hi folks; just a quick note to apologise for the radio silence here over the last week! I’ve been off doing that family thing for the festive season alongside finishing up all the fiddly details of my recent house move (an experience I’m glad to have seen the end of), and there simply hasn’t been [. ...
  
• The legislation of fabrication – should 3D printin ...
  Here’s another sf-nal thought experiment to keep your brain occupied. We frequently mention 3D printing and fabbing here at Futurismic, but usually in the context of its positive disruptive potential – a potential sea-change in capitalist economic systems, for example. But here’s a negative response ...
  
• Potential outcomes of pervasive surveillance
  Sometimes it really feels like science-fictional thinking is becoming a much more mainstream thing to do. Following on from yesterday’s mention of CCTV control software that can learn to recognise suspicious behaviour (as defined by operator feedback, natch), out-bound BoingBoing guest blogger Paul ...
  
• Mercurial cartography
  With the cold weather really digging in for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, you may well be thinking of taking a holiday somewhere hot. Courtesy the US Geological Survey, you can now scout out the lay of the land on the hottest destination in the entire solar system, as their near-global map ...
  

geopolitics | geoeconomics

• Geithner's Dirty Little Secret
• Swine Flu
• Putin and the Geopolitics of the New Cold War: Or ...
• The Fake Oil Crisis of 1973
• Fossiles Erdöl
  
  

Whistleblowers Protection Blog

• EEOC announces proposed federal sector rules and i ...
  The federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued proposed amendments to its rules for handling complaints by federal employees.  The EEOC's press release identifies changes that will allow federal agencies to implement pilot programs, and that would require agencies to follow EE ...
  
• Liberian president issues executive order to prote ...
  The African Press Agency reports that President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has issued an Executive Order to protect anyone who discloses information about actions of impropriety against the public interest that is occurring, has occurred, or will occur in any public or private institution.  It is known a ...
  
• Maine judge issues a fine order for attorney fees
  Last week, Justice Joyce A. Wheeler of Maine's Androscoggin Superior Court issued an excellent decision awarding attorney fees in Maine Human Rights Commission v. Saddleback, Inc., Case No. CV-06-219 (Dec. 17, 2009, Order Regarding Attorneys Fees ). The case arose when electrician Robert Duggan rais ...
  
• Comment on Metro safety, the STAA and the Washingt ...
  On October 14, the Washington Post ran a story on Metro drivers going " Strictly by the Book " (p. B-1). The story highlights safety issues that reach beyond Metro. That the Post's writer would be concerned about the disruption reveals a prevalent but dangerous attitude that speed is more impor ...
  
• Jury awards Colin Browne $282,000
  Mr. Colin Browne worked as a program advisor for the UDC Career Counseling and Development Center. Throughout his term, he discovered many flaws within the system. For example, Kevin Naiker, the former Director of UDC’s “Team 100” retention program, and others were purposely spinning the retenti ...
  

Defense and the National Interest

• On War #323: Milestone
  William S. Lind 23 November 2009 One of the ongoing themes of this column has been gangs and the role they play in a Fourth Generation world. Here in the United States they already serve as an alternative primary loyalty (alternative to the state) for many urban young men. Gangs will likely be a m ...
  
• DNI to close — update
  23 November 2009 Many thanks to everyone who wrote in.  My wife and I are deeply touched. We’ll try to find someone to at least take over the site as it is and keep the links intact.  Several people have contacted me with ideas.  In the meantime, I’ll leave everything up unless we start having mo ...
  
• 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 same subjec ...
  
• 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 “Political Corr ...
  
• 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, the ...
  

Digital Journal

• Credible Reasons Why Pacquiao Will Inevitably Figh ...
  The good news amongst boxing fans and scribes is that Pacquiao is likely to fight in March 2010. Bob Arum has reasons that is very different to that of the Filipino boxing superstar.
  
• Actor Charlie Sheen arrested, charged with domesti ...
  The hero of the movie Platoon and many others, Charlie Sheen is behind bars today after a 911 call to Aspen, Colorado, where police alleged domestic violence. Sheen is being held with no bond.
  
• Pacquiao-Mayweather Fight Will Happen In and Outsi ...
  The question that every boxing fans and scribes is asking is whether the Pacquiao and Mayweather fight will ever happen. The answer is a big yes. It will happen both inside and outside the ring.
  
• Oshawa Catholic Church torched on Christmas Day
  An arsonist has caused heavy damage to a Catholic church in Oshawa on Christmas morning. This is the second church torching. An earlier fire caused damage at a Whitby church. Police say it is too early to connect the two incidents.
  
• Good Samaritan and Children's Joy Reveal Meaning o ...
  The Pope is attacked at the Vatican. Folks are wounded and killed in a fall in Toronto. Family stress is reported to increase at Christmas. But there's good news today after all, as Portland, Oregon shows in its stories and pictures of giving and love.
  

End Homelessness | Change.org

• The Story of American Heartbreak
  From $90,000 a year to the streets, James is a story of American heartbreak. Working in the auto industry and as an electrician, he seemed on top of the world. He accepted an early buyout, took the chance to go back to college, and graduated to find no opportunities. Shelters and abandoned buildings ...
  
• 10 Places People Slept in 2009
  Living without a home of your own is a devastating experience. But sleeping without a home is downright difficult. Today, we're looking back at 10 places homeless people slept in 2009. Some of these places received media attention this year; others did not. But all of these overnight accommodations ...
  
• Family Downsizing
  The first time I ever heard the term "families downsizing" was this past July during an interview with the Nevada Partnership Of Homeless Youth (watch the interview here ). Larry Lovelett, Homeless Youth Transition Specialist, said this was currently their biggest challenge. He explained that since ...
  
• Church Sells Window to Keep Shelter Doors Open
  A small church in Brattleboro, Vermont is learning the hard way that desperate times call for desperate measures. With fledgling funds, the congregation faced a difficult decision: cut off services to the homeless, or sell an invaluable piece of church history? ABC News reported last night that memb ...
  
• NYC Charity Fraud Ordered Off Streets
  Following months of "investigation," and years of expose', United Homeless Organization has  finally been ordered to remove its sidewalk donation tables from the streets of New York City. State Supreme Court justice in Manhattan, Hon. Barbara R. Kapnick, granted the injunction at behest of state’s a ...
  

Ceasefire.ca

• Treatment of prisoners not Roman problem: Pilate
  Perhaps inspired by the Christmas season, Prime Minister Harper has reached back into biblical history for a new answer to the torture allegations dogging his government. Channelling the infamous Roman governor of Judea, the Prime Minister argued earlier this week that if Canadians hand detainees ov ...
  
• Decal offer from Bill and Rhyl Stollery
  Dear Ceasefire.ca supporters, You might be interested in this offer from Bill and Rhyl Stollery in Edmonton. Magnetic decals 3 1/2 ” x 8″ to display on rear of vehicles $2.00 each or 10 for $15.00, plus mailing To order and receive details to promote campaign: e-mail rstoller@shaw.ca or hready@shaw. ...
  
• World leaders agree on climate change
  World leaders and their representatives attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen failed to achieve a binding agreement to cap and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the close of the conference on Friday, in effect agreeing instead to continue their collective experiment i ...
  
• McChrystal in Ottawa
  The commander of U.S. and ISAF forces in Afghanistan, U.S. General Stanley McChrystal, visited Ottawa Wednesday to discuss Afghanistan strategy with Canadian Chief of Defence Staff General Walt Natynczyk and other officials. He also made a speech at an event sponsored by the Conference of Defence As ...
  
• Torture file: Colvin shoots back; government ducks
  The Canadian diplomat whose mid-November testimony to the Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan ignited a firestorm of controversy over Canadian transfers of Afghan detainees to probable torture by the Afghan authorities has fired back at his critics. In a 16-page letter sent to t ...
  

Kevin Trudeau Show

• Dr. Jeff McCombs
  Click the picture or link below to hear Kevin’s interview with Dr. Jeffrey McCombs. Click here to order The McCombs Plan and click here to purchase LifeForce: A Dynamic Plan for Health, Vitality, and Weight Loss. Dr. Jeff McCombs 12/23/09
  
• The Kevin Trudeau Show: 12-23-09
  Today, Kevin gives you the hard evidence behind the September 11th conspiracy, the reasons why Barack Obama is merely a puppet and his solution to Obamacare!! Plus, Dr. Jeff McCombs, the author of LifeForce, explains how Candida is polluting your body and what you can do to rid your body of this to ...
  
• Two Years of Failure in Directing the Economy
  December 23, 2009 The International Forecaster As we look back and this year comes to an end we find two plus years of failure. Even government admits to 1-1/2 years of negative growth - a sorry record after having poured trillions of dollars into the economy. The recent 3rd quarter results supposed ...
  
• Wait 18 Months To See A Doctor
  December 23, 2009 Info Wars By Paul Joseph Watson Eye surgeon and senatorial candidate Rand Paul warns that under ObamaCare, Americans could be forced to wait a year and a half merely to see a doctor due to Canadian-style rationing of health care being imposed. As an eye surgeon with his own private ...
  
• Health Care Bill Is A Huge Tax Heist
  December 23, 2009 Prison Planet By Paul Joseph Watson A Boston Globe analysis of the health care bill which Democrats are trying to ram through before Christmas illustrates how the legislation is a gigantic tax heist which will further economically cripple Americans already laboring under the worst ...
  

Pambazuka News

• Katrina victims face eviction
  Following reports of federal government plans to repossess temporary housing from Katrina victims, the US Human Rights Network - http://www.ushrnetwork.org has called for the Obama administration to reverse this decision and provide those affected with substantive directive support.
  
• Extradition threat for Black Liberation activist
  As the US opens up political channels with Cuba, Black Liberation Army - http://www.thetalkingdrum.com/freedomfighters.html activist Assata Shakur faces extradition from the country where she has lived under political asylum since 1984, writes Paul Scott. While the mainstream media portrays Shakur h ...
  
• Stop senate renege on black farmer compensation
  ColorOfChange.org - http://www.colorofchange.org/farmers/?id=1842-429864 is campaigning to ensure that a US senate bill to compensate black farmers in the South for discrimination gives them the money they deserve, rather than capping the total amount available at $100 million, which would only cove ...
  
• Ekiti must hold free, fair elections
  The North America-based Ekiti Focus Group has strongly condemned election violence and intimidation in Nigeria’s Ekiti State, describing reported cases of ‘arson, maiming, ballot stuffing, ballot hijacking, and shooting’ as ‘barbaric acts’. In a statement the group called for ‘the release of true an ...
  
• Global: Why Haiti can't forget its past
  Thank you for the attention you have brought to the country of Haiti. In response to your New York Times op ed piece I wanted to widen your perspective a bit. I don't pretend to represent anyone. I've been living in Haiti since 1985. I grew up in New...
  

War in Context

• YEAR IN REVIEW: Israeli propaganda campaign downpl ...
  Israeli propaganda campaign downplays the success of the truce By Paul Woodward, War in Context, January 4, 2009 (UPDATE: Since the graphs appearing below have been removed from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) website, some readers might have doubts about there authenticity. However, J ...
  
• YEAR IN REVIEW: ‘We went into Gaza and God went in ...
  ‘We went into Gaza and God went into Gaza with us’ “After the Second Lebanon War, we learned some very valuable lessons. We learned that we had been living in an imaginary world and that the most dangerous type of war is the one that you call peace. We learned that we are not in fact [...]
  
• YEAR IN REVIEW: We will not go down - a song of ho ...
  We will not go down - a song of hope for Gaza
  
• Christmas in the Holy Land - 2009
  Christmas in the Holy Land - 2009 Never Before Campaign, December, 2009 Breaking Palestine’s peaceful protest By Neve Gordon, The Guardian, December 23, 2009 “Why,” I have often been asked, “haven’t the Palestinians established a peace movement like the Israeli Peace Now?” The question itself is pr ...
  
• Why war will take no holiday in 2010
  Why war will take no holiday in 2010 By Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch, December 22, 2009 Our endless wars are nightmares. Few enough would disagree with that, even, I suspect, among the supportive 58% in that poll or the 54% who “approve of the president’s performance as commander-in-chief.” If only ...
  

Watts Up With That?

• Satellite measurements show our quiet sun is cooli ...
  From NASA News. New measurements from a NASA satellite show a dramatic cooling in the upper atmosphere that correlates with the declining phase of the current solar cycle. For the first time, researchers can show a timely link between the Sun and the climate of Earth’s thermosphere, the region abov ...
  
• G. P. Bear goes to Washington: The true story of a ...
  A writer friend of mine, Bill Steigerwald, has created an interesting serial story, a Christmasy “docu-fable” as he calls it. I’ll be running this over the next 12 days. Here’s the foreword on it. While I’ve had a bit of a detour today on Christmas-y type things, tomorrow we’ll see our regular scien ...
  
• Three Cheers for Holiday Lighting
  Guest post by Robert Bradley of Master Resource House in Boston with 250,000 lights – see Boston Globe story here -Photo by Paul Keleher Environmentalists critical of electrified America must have mixed emotions this time of the year. It may be the season of good cheer and goodwill toward all, b ...
  
• Steam train rescues stranded passengers in Britain ...
  Both my father and grandfather, both of whom had connections to steam locomotives in their life are undoubtedly cheering this story(wherever they are) from the BBC. So am I. Inconveniently, it runs on coal. Steam train’s snow rescue ‘glory’ Excerpts: Passengers were rescued by a steam locomotiv ...
  
• Nearly two thirds of the continental USA gets a wh ...
  I don’t know if this is a record or not for Christmas coverage, but it is certainly reminiscent of the winter of 1977-78 where we had similar bouts of cold and snow. About 99% of Canada has snow cover also, with some parts of the Pacific Coast excepted, and it appears that all of Canada’s [...]
  

Dandelion Salad

• “Accountability for War Crimes is Imperative ...
  By Mike Whitney ICH with Cindy Sheehan Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Blog Cindy Sheehan’s Soapbox Dec. 24, 2009 Mike Whitney—President Barack Obama recently visited Dover Air Force Base where he was photographed with the flag-draped coffins of soldiers who were kille ...
  
• Chris Hedges: The tragedy of Gaza, the West Bank a ...
  with Chris Hedges Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Dec. 24, 2009 [Speech given in January, 2009] SuppressedNews December 24, 2009 In this brilliant speech, former New York Times Mideast Bureau Chief Chris Hedges said, “The Israeli decision to rain death and destruction” on Gaza was aimed at “creat ...
  
• Israel threatens another large-scale Gaza war
  http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/ PressTV 23 Dec 2009 Israel has threatened another massive war against the Gaza Strip as the impoverished enclave continues to suffer in the aftermath of the devastating January offensive. Israeli planes have been dropping thousands of leaflets across Gaza, warn ...
  
• Afghan youth release ‘doves’ in support of World M ...
  http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/ Afghan youth release ‘doves’ in support of World March for Peace (more pics) photo by Hakim ourjourneytosmile December 25, 2009 As this country is built into a verdant meadow, oh why dont the intellectuals care about peace?‎ Peace is priceless.‎ Without peace, ...
  
• Honduras: The Coup That Never Happened by Tyler Sh ...
  Dandelion Salad Crossposted with permission from www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/ by Tyler Shipley Socialist Project | The Bullet December 22, 2009 “When the media goes quiet, the walls speak.” — graffiti in Tegucigalpa. What strikes a visitor to the Honduran capital most immediately in this moment ...
  

Your New Reality

• No title
  Obama And The Bankers By Darryl Mason President Obama sat down with 12 cashed-up-from-the-taxpayers-pocket members of the American banking and financial industry. He told them, in short, to shape up, get their money back out there and spread around the wealth : So my main message in today's meet ...
  
• No title
  When Special Effects Artists Were Stars By Darryl Mason Back in the days before CGI, movie monsters and creatures had to be sculpted, cast, assembled and built. Two great videos from the early 1980s follow, on the artists who made the monsters and creatures. And to fans of magazinese like Fangori ...
  
• No title
  If these beautiful images are anything to go by , the $US70 million POV nature doco Oceans is going to be a stunning cinematic experience in 2010. In a scene from the movie, thousands of horseshoe mackerel try to disguise themselves as an aquatic Death Star. Beautiful. .
  
• No title
  Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson wonders what happened to Britain , and explains why the British are getting a bit crazy : They can’t understand why they are taxed at 50% on their income and then taxed again for driving into the nation’s capital. They can’t understand what happened to the hunt for the wea ...
  
• No title
  The opening rant about how we are deceived and constantly pitched against each other in never ending battles over things so often of little consequence is so packed with truth, it should be taught to all children by the age of five. After explaining how we are divided, on purpose, George Carlin list ...
  

Wired - Science

• Warming Already Speeding Up Insect Breeding
  Summertime and the insect breeding is easy. That old song rings especially true for 44 species of moths and butterflies in Central Europe, according to an analysis by ecologist Florian Altermatt of the University of California, Davis. As the region has warmed since the 1980s, some of these species ...
  
• Tidal Forces Trigger Tremors on San Andreas Fault
  The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests. The same forces of attraction that cause ocean tides also cause tides in Earth’s rocks, says Amanda Thomas, a s ...
  
• Saturn’s Moons Are Cuter Than Sugarplum Fair ...
  We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Saturn’s moons in action into this sequence, bringing another corner of the solar system to life for ...
  
• Tidal Forces Trigger Tremors on San Andreas Fault
  The subtle changes in stress caused by tides in Earth’s crust can trigger small, deep quakes along a seismically active portion of California’s San Andreas fault, a new analysis suggests. The same forces of attraction that cause ocean tides also cause tides in Earth’s rocks, says Amanda Thomas, a s ...
  
• Saturn’s Moons Are Cuter Than Sugar Plum Fairies
  We love Cassini more with every amazing image the intrepid spacecraft sends back from its travels, and this latest treat is no exception. The Cassini imaging team has assembled images of some of Saturn’s moons in action into this sequence, bringing another corner of the solar system to life for ...
  

Israeli Occupation Archive

• Egypt refuses entry to Viva Palestina aid convoy
  The Egyptian government has denied entry to the Viva Palestina aid convoy carrying medical and humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now in its fifth decade. Go to the IOA website for much more...
  
• Poll shows Israelis ready to pay ‘any price’ for S ...
  However, 35 percent of Israelis maintained that terrorists responsible for the deaths of Israelis should not be released. Some 58 percent also support the release of Arab Israelis in exchange for... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now ...
  
• Neve Gordon: Breaking Palestine’s peaceful protest
  Palestinians have a long history of nonviolent resistance but Israel has continuously deployed methods to destroy it... Israel's response to [the] first strike was immediate and severe: it issued... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now ...
  
• Danger: Popular struggle
  There is an internal document that has not been leaked, or perhaps has not even been written, but all the forces are acting according to its inspiration: the Shin Bet, Israel Defense Forces, Border... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, n ...
  
• Everyone can drum
  During the first and last days of Hanukkah, the Jerusalem police arrested drummers and clowns who believe in nonviolence, coexistence and equality between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem. The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now in its fifth d ...
  
  
  
  
  
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  To Do

  renewable recycling conservation

  China adopts law to boost renewable energy industry

  AFP

  - Dec 26, 2009

  - 1 hour ago

  The new law, an amendment to one on renewable energy adopted by the National People's Congress standing committee, obliges electricity grid companies to buy ...

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  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Surprise couple cashes in on solar rebates

  YourWestValley.com

  - Dec 26, 2009

  - 2 hours ago

  Leo said families should make the commitment to energy conservation before switching to solar power, or they won't get the full benefit of using a renewable ...

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  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Renewable power plants hit roadblock

  East Bay Business Times (blog)

  - Dec 24, 2009

  - Dec 24, 2009

  Desert tortoises are among the concerns of environmentalists worried about the impact of utility-scale renewable energy projects planned for the Mojave and ...

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  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Clean, renewable energy will create jobs in state

  The Tennessean

  - Dec 26, 2009

  - 6 hours ago

  Federal clean energy policies that invest in renewable energy and energy efficiencies and reduce carbon pollution from our economy will create jobs in ...

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  Human Habitat

  ecology water energy

  Wash. Governor Wants to Lessen Carbon Footprint

  ABC News

  - Dec 24, 2009

  - Dec 24, 2009

  Chris Gregoire wants state government to be carbon-neutral by 2020, and announced the Department of Ecology would be the first agency to start enacting ...

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  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Burn Ban issued for Walla Walla County

  Seattle Times

  - Dec 25, 2009

  - 20 hours ago

  The Washington Department of Ecology is issuing a burn ban in Walla Walla County because of worsening air quality. The Associated Press The Washington ...

  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Sparx to Set Up Partnership With Japan Wind for Ecology Fund

  Bloomberg

  - Dec 24, 2009

  - Dec 24, 2009

  By Shunichi Ozasa and Keiko Ujikane Dec. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Sparx Group Co., Asia's biggest hedge-fund company, will set up an investment partnership with ...

  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Bird-watchers to take snapshot of ecology's health

  Tribune Review

  - Dec 20, 2009

  - Dec 20, 2009

  The data they've accumulated — and will gather again Saturday — will be used to help measure the region's ecology and quality of life for people living here ...

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  Water Power

  water floods pollution

  Water main break in Kensington floods basements

  Washington Post

  - Dec 25, 2009

  - 18 hours ago

  AP A water main break has knocked out water service to 27 homes in Kensington and flooded basements. The 8-inch main broke at about 2 am Friday at the top ...

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  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Water projects advance in Harford, Cecil counties

  Baltimore Sun

  - Dec 26, 2009

  - 6 hours ago

  The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will contribute most of the financing through its Water Improvement Fund, which draws revenue from the 5 ...

  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Water main bursts on Far Northwest Side

  Chicago Sun-Times

  - Dec 26, 2009

  - 1 hour ago

  A water main burst Saturday morning causing police and city Water Department personnel to quickly work to secure the streets before the water iced over, ...

  clipped from Google - 12/2009

  Gas Drilling Plan Raises Water Contamination Fears in New York City

  Voice of America

  - Dec 24, 2009

  - Dec 24, 2009

  They say the process, called horizontal hydraulic fracturing or hydro fracking, would contaminate New York's unfiltered drinking water sources with ...

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