21 December - RSS SnapShot! Pt 3

Image by oursolarsystem via Flickr

Futurismic

• Personal Information: episode 24
  Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals. Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness! Share and Enjoy:Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness!
• Arguments against life extension
  Via Michael Anissimov, here’s a spectacularly empty diatribe against “deathhackers” by TechCrunch‘s Paul Carr. Carr objects to the idea of radical life extension as advocated by transhumanists, which is fair enough, but as written here most of his objections seem to boil down to personal distate tow ...
• Daddy, where does innovation come from?
  Plenty of folk have been linking to this excerpt from Matt Ridley’s new book The Rational Optimist, and with good reason – it’s a provocative piece that plays to advocates (and opponents) of free trade, open exchange, copyright reform and much more. The basic thesis? The one persistent factor that h ...
• Replacement arms: mechanical or biological?
  Prosthetic limbs are still in their infancy, but there’s a lot of progress being made: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is working with Darpa (who else?), and has a research grant for trying out their mind-controlled modular prosthetic arm on five test subjects over the next couple of years ...
• How to be a futurist
  The irrepressible Scott “Basic Instructions” Meyer has the lowdown if you’re thinking of a career in futurism: Click through for the whole thing. But take it from me, being a futurist is a lot of work for no money. Or maybe that’s just the way I do it… and I’ve never been featured in a [...]Follow F ...

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
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on Government Oversight

• Morning Smoke: More Cases of State Department Cont ...
  Contractors behaving badly mean headaches for US by Richard Lardner [Associated Press] Coast Guard Introduces Expanded Whistleblower Protections by Joe Palazzolo [The Wall Street Journal] SBA suspensions in fraud investigation continue by Sean Reilly [Federal Times] House Oks Split LCS...
• POGO Urges SEC to Resist Industry's Efforts to Wea ...
  In a public comment submitted on Friday, POGO called on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to provide safe and open channels for whistleblowers tips. One of the most significant provisions in the Dodd-Frank financial reform law required the SEC...
• Systemic Failures That Set the Stage for WIkiLeaks ...
  POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian recently participated in a panel discussion on secrecy, journalism and WikiLeaks. The discussion was part of a one-day conference presented by Harvard’s Nieman Foundation for Journalism. Since WikiLeaks touches on so many aspects of POGO’s...
• WikiLeaks Misconceptions Derail Progress, Threaten ...
  POGO's still hoping for a House vote sometime today or tomorrow on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372), which the Senate passed by unanimous consent earlier this month. S. 372 protects federal workers who use legal and safe channels...
• Morning Smoke: How Congress Can Deter Government W ...
  Where there's smoke, there's fire. POGO's Morning Smoke is a collection of the previous day's investigations, scoops, and opinions related to the world of government oversight. Have a story you'd like to see included? Contact POGO's blog editor. Editorial: Congress...

Digital Journal

• Issues of water scarcity raising concern in hotspo ...
  In countries and regions most impacted by the demands of swelling populations, worries have existed around the health of freshwater reserves - and now real questions of water scarcity are emerging.
• Senior citizen scammed by Ontario man twice
  Con artists have a habit of targeting the elderly. One such man is alleged to have taken the same victim twice this year costing her over $1,000.
• Crack cocaine allegedly being peddled out of hospi ...
  Toronto Police were at an unusual place for a drug investigation this week. They busted an alleged drug dealer at a local hospital in Etobicoke allegedly dealing crack cocaine out of his room.
• Toronto City Council repeals much-hated personal v ...
  Toronto City Council today repealed the $60 per vehicle and $30 per motorcycle Personal Vehicle Tax by a wide majority, 39-6, fulfilling one of Mayor Rob Ford's campaign promises.
• Eleven guns stolen in Ontario
  A gun collector in Oshawa returned home today to find his collection of eleven guns and ammunition after being away for the day.

End Homelessness | Change.org

• Mississippi Launches Plan To End Child Homelessnes ...
  Fulfilling the wishes and happiness of children is at the heart of the holiday season. So, now seems particularly timely for Mississippi to launch a new plan to end child homelessness (pdf) in the state.  What better way to set the season of giving in motion than by committing to finding safe and st ...
• Thanksgiving 2.0: Food, Poverty and Telling the Tr ...
  This Thanksgiving, most of us around the country shared a bountiful harvest feast with friends and family. We celebrated all that we are thankful for by gorging ourselves right into a food coma. It's the American way. Unfortunately, it's also the American way to be thankful for all that we have whil ...
• Homeless People Wanted: Must Be Open to Demeaning, ...
  What are they thinking? People obviously don't see the homeless as human or they wouldn't attempt to hire them to do most of the insane, demeaning and illegal jobs out there. Here's a small sampling: Rob dead bodies. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan is the site of 50 to 100 su ...
• LA Plans to Make Homelessness Go the Way of the Do ...
  Instead of pretending homelessness doesn't exist, creating new laws to make it illegal to sit or sleep in public, or sending homeless residents on a one-way trip out of town, Los Angeles County may attempt to actually do something about ending homelessness. And the county is setting the bar high; it ...
• Don't Let Violence Against the Homeless Go Unpunis ...
  Despite its economic troubles, Detroit is not known for being kind to the homeless. That's too bad, since there are nearly 10,000 homeless people living there. In October, police say that Steven James Diponio, 54, became so enraged at Charles Duncan, 42, who was homeless and sleeping behind a school ...

Ceasefire.ca

• Canada’s dwindling peacekeepers
  The Toronto Star reports on Canada’s dwindling contribution to U.N. peacekeeping (Brett Popplewell, “Last of a dying breed: The Canadian peacekeeper,” Toronto Star, 11 December 2010): The Canadian mission in Sudan began in 2005, at the close of a 22-year civil war that saw a rebel movement in the so ...
• Canadians split on Afghan extension
  Canadians are split on the Harper government’s plan to extend Canada’s military mission in Afghanistan reports an Angus Reid Poll released on Monday (Jill Mahoney, “Canadians divided on Afghan training mission: poll,” Globe and Mail, 13 December 2010). According to the poll, 48% of Canadians support ...
• Pugliese on the F-35 fighter
  Recent coverage by reporter David Pugliese on the F-35 and Canada: “Can the F-35 win a charm offensive?” Ottawa Citizen, 13 December 2010 “Peter Mackay in F-35 Attack Mode,” Ottawa Citizen, 13 December 2010 “Selling Canada on the need for fighters,” Ottawa Citizen, 12 December 2010 “The untold story ...
• Ottawa off course on jets
  Tamara Lorincz and Steven Staples comment on the government’s plan to purchase F-35 stealth fighters (Tamara Lorincz & Steven Staples, “Ottawa off course on jets,” Chronicle-Herald, 11 December 2010): Representatives from the Department of National Defence were in Halifax recently to promote the con ...
• Canadians “may underestimate security threat”
  The Harper government is worried about Canadian opposition to its plans to more closely integrate Canadian and U.S. border security efforts (Steven Chase, “Ottawa crafts plan to ward off criticism over U.S. border deal,” Globe and Mail, 10 December 2010). As the Globe and Mail reports, the Departmen ...

Kevin Trudeau Show

• Panel Wants FDA to Examine Mercury Dental Fillings
  December 16th, 2010 CNN By: Val Willingham A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee said Wednesday that the agency should look at updated data on mercury amalgam dental fillings that may indicate possible medical problems for patients. The panel — after hearing two days of testimony from ex ...
• 10 Foods You Should NEVER Eat!
  I know I’ve posted this before, but as the new year approaches us, I feel that you may need to be reminded. I have this framed in all of my offices, so I would suggest you do the same! 1. Microwaved Food 2. Excitotoxins (MSG – monosodium glutamate, aspartame) and anything you can’t pronounce 3. Hom ...
• The Kevin Trudeau Show: 12-9-10
  Today, Kevin reveals exactly why he does this radio show and why he will never give up the fight! Plus, find out what the banks are doing this time to take your hard-earned money from you! Self Help: Diabetes Cure Show Your Support Invest Your Money Protect You & Your Family Health: Turn Off The Lig ...
• Using Cell Phones While Pregnant Can Cause Behavio ...
  December 8th, 2010 Daily Mail By: Jenny Hope Pregnant women who regularly use mobile phones could increase the risk of their children behaving badly, claims a startling survey. If their offspring then start using the devices at an early age, the chance of problems climbs to 50 per cent, according to ...
• How WikiLeaks Altered The Way We See The World In ...
  December 8th, 2010 The Guardian By: Robert Booth and Haroon Siddique Shortly before 6.30pm on Sunday night, the first cracks appeared in the dam. The largest ever leak of US government classified documents streamed out online, revealing never publicly seen details about Iran, North Korea, Afghanista ...

Pambazuka News

• Africa: Angola hosts 3rd African meeting on Cuba s ...
  The third African meeting on Solidarity with Cuba was held in Luanda, Angola, 11-12 September, to consolidate the friendship between the African and Cuban people and contribute to strengthening African solidarity towards the Caribbean island nation. ...
• Global: Afro-Colombian women fight prejudice by em ...
  On an improvised stage “Bombón de chocolate” (Chocolate Candy) is being performed. The play, which narrates the story of an African-Colombian girl who feels rejected because of the colour of her skin, is one of the events at a special day on drug add...
• Global: May for the Cuban 5
  The month of May started with a great number of activities in support of the Cuban 5. On May 1st hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched on International Workers Day in Havana and other cities. They were joined by hundreds of internationalists in de...
• Haiti: Where solidarity means survival
  Perhaps more than anything today, Haiti needs a new macro-economy, one based above all on meeting the needs of its citizens. Post-earthquake economic restructuring could include equitable distribution of resources, high levels of employment with fair...
• 45 years after the assassination of Malcolm X
  Malcolm X was assassinated 45 years ago this weekend. Earlier this year, WNYC Radio unearthed a 1960s interview between the civil rights leader and a reporter named Eleanor Fischer. On this somber anniversary, we consider Malcolm X’s legacy through t...

War in Context

• The American Surveillance State
  Glenn Greenwald writes: One of the hallmarks of an authoritarian government is its fixation on hiding everything it does behind a wall of secrecy while simultaneously monitoring, invading and collecting files on everything its citizenry does. Based on the Francis Bacon aphorism that “knowledge is ...
• Israel takes urgent action to counter Palestine’s ...
  Haaretz reports: After reports reached Jerusalem that the Palestinian Authority is trying to persuade about a dozen European Union member states to upgrade the PA’s diplomatic status, the Foreign Ministry on Monday ordered every Israeli envoy abroad to begin “urgent” diplomatic activity. The aim is ...
• Outsourced war in Afghanistan wins only a thin sli ...
  The New York Times reports: The grueling war [in Afghanistan], where a day rarely goes by without an allied casualty, is like a faint heartbeat, accounting for just 4 percent of the nation’s news coverage in major outlets through early December, according to a study by the Project for Excellence in ...
• Pentagon health plan won’t cover brain-damage ther ...
  T. Christian Miller at ProPublica and Daniel Zwerdling at NPR report: During the past few decades, scientists have become increasingly persuaded that people who suffer brain injuries benefit from what is called cognitive rehabilitation therapy — a lengthy, painstaking process in which patients rele ...
• Peter King: ‘I’m willing to’ be called a bigot if ...
  ThinkProgress reports: The Islamophobia gripping the U.S. grows more entrenched by the day. Once confined to the far right, more and more pundits, power-brokers, and politicians are bringing it into mainstream. Apparently unsatisfied with dragging Muslims through the mud, Rep. Pete King (R-NY) is n ...

Watts Up With That?

• Climategate–the Made Up Story, or Mr. Assang ...
  By Charles The Moderator While the identity(ies) of the source(s) of the Climategate files has never been identified, long time readers of WUWT and Climate Audit are quite familiar with the Climategate timeline as it unfolded here, there, and throughout … Continue reading →
• Australia’s white summer, Monbiot’s re ...
  Australia swaps summer for Christmas snow Excerpts from Physorg.com Snow and ice covering buildings and cars on December 19, 2010 at Mount Hotham,Victoria, as snow fell in Australia. The usual hot and summery December weather was replaced in parts by … Continue reading →
• Department of Homeland Security goes off the deep ...
  Not content to keep to the terrorism prevention mission for which they were founded, DHS’s Janet Napolitano now plans to battle a religious war of “climatic jihad”.  Here’s what happened the last time Washington DC took on weather in February … Continue reading →
• Warm Bias: How The Met Office Misleads The British ...
  By Dr. Benny Peiser of the Global Warming Policy Foundation Met Office 2008 Forecast: Trend of Mild Winters Continues Met Office, 25 September 2008: The Met Office forecast for the coming winter suggests it is, once again, likely to be … Continue reading →
• A Dalton Minimum Repeat is Shaping Up
  The sun went spotless yesterday, the first time in quite awhile. It seems like a good time to present this analysis from my friend David Archibald. For those not familiar with the Dalton Minimum, here’s some background info from Wiki: … Continue reading →Image by AN HONORABLE GERMAN via Flickr

Dandelion Salad

• Palast Arrested – Busted by BP in Azerbaijan ...
  by Greg Palast Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.gregpalast.com 20 December, 2010 “Here in Azerbaijan we believe in human rights. PLEASE GIVE US YOUR FILM.” Oh, no, no, not good. The enforcers here come in three colors:  the military police still wearing their old Russian puke-green uniforms ...
• Chris Hedges: Obama is a “Poster Child for t ...
  with Chris Hedges Featured Writer Dandelion Salad December 20, 2010 Democracy Now! Dec. 20, 2010 The compromise tax-cut deal that President Obama signed into law on Friday has angered many of his supporters. In his new book, Death of the Liberal Class, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author Ch ...
• Michael Parenti: The Panama Deception + US imperia ...
  with Michael Parenti Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.michaelparenti.org December 20, 2010 RTAmerica | December 20, 2010 December 20th marks the 21st anniversary of the 1989 US Invasion of Panama. An Incident, known as ‘Operation Just Cause,’ that erupted after CIA client Manuel Noriega charted a ...
• Wikimania and the First Amendment by Ralph Nader
  http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/ by Ralph Nader The Nader Page December 20, 2010 Thomas Blanton, the esteemed director of the National Security Archive at George Washington University described Washington’s hyper-reaction to Wikileaks’ transmission of information to some major media in various c ...
• Is Bradley Manning Being Held as Some Sort of “Ene ...
  by Andy Worthington Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.andyworthington.co.uk 20 December, 2010 In disturbing reports from the US, it appears that Private First Class Bradley Manning, the former intelligence analyst accused of leaking the Afghan and Iraqi war logs, the US diplomatic cables and the “ ...

Your New Reality

• No title
  Fuck The War Fuck The War : The Movie is coming to DVD and torrents in November, 2010. In 2003, during anti-War On Iraq protests, the Australian prime minister was kidnapped by an activist and interrogated for 24 hours. The disappearance of the prime minister was officially covered up as an " ...
• No title
  "We Cannot Allow The Corporate Takeover Of Our Democracy" 1961 : 2010 : .
• No title
  Oh yes, this is cynical, and even bitter, but it's also an excellent and short expose of the formula so many, many Hollywood films put into the market every year. In Australia, the pressure is on producers, screenwriters and directors to turn out pap exactly like this, in the belief that the only wa ...
• No title
  A radical experiment in social chaos is about to be unleashed on the UK. Basically, the government has run out of money and they have try something, anything : At the heart of this revolution is the idea that power shifts from the centre to the local level. The chaotic world that Boles envisages i ...
• No title
  Okay, Here We Go Just launched the YouTube channel for FTW : The Movie In 2003, during anti-War On Iraq protests, the Australian prime minister was kidnapped by an activist and interrogated for 24 hours. The disappearance of the prime minister was officially covered up as an "unexpected vi ...

Wired - Science

• Girl Chimpanzees May Use Sticks as Dolls
  In a fashion similar to human girls, some young chimpanzees seem to play with sticks as if they were dolls. The findings, reported in the Dec. 21 Current Biology, are the first documented evidence of boy and girl primates in the wild playing differently with their toys. Though these patterns’ origi ...
• Lunar Eclipse Monday Night Will Cast Rare Shadow o ...
  A total lunar eclipse will be visible (weather permitting) across North America Monday night, just in time for the longest night of the year. This will be the first time a lunar eclipse has fallen on the winter solstice since 1638. The Earth’s shadow will begin to blot out the moon at 1:32 a.m. EST ...
• Video: New X-ray Camera Sees Through Melting Metal
  runMobileCompatibilityScript('myExperience714586424001', 'anId');brightcove.createExperiences(); A new high-speed X-ray video camera, now the fastest in the world, can see through molten metal and watch weld-weakening flaws form in real-time. The $670 ...
• Missing Black Holes Cause Trouble for String Theor ...
  By John Timmer, Ars Technica The results continue to pour out of the LHC’s first production run. This week, the folks behind the CMS detector have announced the submission of a paper to Physics Letters that describes a test of some forms of string theory. If this form of the theory were [...]
• Opportunity Rover Finds Fresh Crater on Mars
  SAN FRANCISCO — The Mars rover Opportunity has just rolled up to a fresh new crater that could hold clues to when and why Mars dried up. This image was downloaded from Opportunity at 10 am Pacific time on Dec. 15 and presented in a press conference at the American Geophysical Union meeting Dec. 16. ...

Israeli Occupation Archive

• Despite court ruling, IDF took Arab land for train ...
  Former Civil Administration head signed order expropriating 50 dunams from West Bank village for rail line connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. 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 mo ...
• Shin Bet to compensate PFLP member for torturing h ...
  In an unusual move, the Shin Bet security service has agreed to compensate Jamal al-Hindi, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for a partial disability that he says is due... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands ...
• Israel denies plans to expand East Jerusalem hotel ...
  Israel has denied that it recently approved expansion plans for a hotel on the Mount of Olives owned by the Jordanian royal family, but documents obtained by Haaretz prove otherwise. The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now in its fifth ...
• Moshé Machover: The endless so-called ‘peace proce ...
  Israel's strategic aim is to prevent the creation of anything that can even remotely be described as a sovereign Palestinian state; to colonize as much as possible of the best Palestinian lands; and... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands ...
• Israeli towns continue to rewrite bylaws to keep A ...
  Town draft bylaws: "...multigenerational and variegated communal life that upholds Zionist values and seeks to maintain Israel as a Jewish and democratic state in the spirit of the Declaration of... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, n ...

Ria Novosti - Military

• Russia, India sign design contract for prototype m ...
  Russia and India signed a contract on Tuesday to jointly develop a design for a new fifth-generation multirole fighter.
• Russia to develop new heavy ICBM by 2020
  Russia's state arms procurement program through 2020 provides for the development of a new heavy ballistic missile, a leading missile designer said on Monday.
• Russian-Indian second prototype T-50 fighter to fl ...
  The Russian-Indian second prototype T-50 fighter aircraft will take to the skies in early 2011, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) President Alexei Fyodorov said on Monday.
• Russia to begin building first Project 11356 friga ...
  The construction of the first Project 11356 frigate for Russia's Black Sea Fleet will begin at the Yantar Shipyard in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on Saturday.
• Iran's nuclear program

NewsWise

• Third Warmest November Leaves 2010 Behind '98
  November 2010 came in as the third warmest November in the 32-year satellite temperature record, but still warmer than November 1998. From January through November, that leaves 2010 only 0.012 C (0.022 deg. F) cooler than 1998, which was the warmest year in the satellite record.
• Brain Imaging Predicts Future Reading Progress in ...
  Brain scans of adolescents with dyslexia can be used to predict the future improvement of their reading skills with an accuracy rate of up to 90 percent, new research indicates. Advanced analyses of the brain activity images are significantly more accurate in driving predictions than standardized re ...
• Natural Supplement May Reduce Common-Cold Duration ...
  An over-the-counter herbal treatment believed to have medicinal benefits has minimal impact in relieving the common cold, according to research by the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health.
• Using Genetic Mapping to Save Wheat Production
  Researchers at the University of California-Davis, Kansas State University, and the USDA Cereal Disease Laboratory in Minnesota have mapped and characterized a gene resistant to Ugandan stem rust.
• Intensive Chemotherapy Can Dramatically Boost Surv ...
  More effective risk-adjusted chemotherapy and sophisticated patient monitoring helped push cure rates to nearly 88 percent for older adolescents enrolled in a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment protocol and closed the survival gap between older and you ...

Natural Health News

• Fainting Kittens
  Charlie and Spike are kittens with myotonia congenita, also known as 'fainting goat' syndrome. at the slightest sound or movement, the kittens respond by collapsing and falling into a rigid paralysis which lasts about a minute.
• Dogs are Awesome Too
  Dogs can do amazing things!
• Was There a Conspiracy Involved with BP Oil Spill?
  Jesse Ventura takes a look at the BP oil disaster.� Could this disaster have been averted? Could it even have been planned?
• Grow up Near Highway and Radically Increase Risk o ...
  A new study has found that children who lived near highways at birth have twice the autism risk.� Researchers interviewed and examined more than 300 children with autism, and a similar number of children without the disorder.� Children whose families lived within 1,000 feet of a freeway at the time ...
• Tuna Can Seriously Damage Pregnant Women and their ...
  Pregnant women and children are often warned that they should avoid certain seafood because of mercury contamination. The FDA and EPA recommend that women of childbearing age and young children should eat no more than 12 ounces a week of light tuna, including six ounces of white tuna -- but that may ...

Antemedius

• Demonstrations Worldwide To Demand WikiLeaks' Foun ...
  Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports today that online supporters of Julian Assange working through the Spanish-language website Free WikiLeaks called for worldwide demonstrations Saturday to press for the release of the founder of WikiLeaks from a London jail where he awaits possible extradition to S ...
• Karl Rove Behind Push To Prosecute Julian Assange?
  Roger Shuler is a former journalist who, according to his bio at OpEdNews lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and works in 'higher education'. Shuler goes on in his bio there to say that "I became interested in justice-related issues after experiencing gross judicial corruption in Alabama state courts. T ...
• Emperor Waits In Wings With Waterboard
  Originally published at Asia Times Oh! spies are of no use nowadays. Their profession is over. The newspapers do their work instead. - Oscar Wilde, An Ideal Husband, Act III "He will not be going back to that cell once occupied by Oscar Wilde." Eventually he didn't. But little did Mark Stephens, on ...
• Greens Defending Assange While Dems and GOP Attack
  The sell-out by rank-and-file Democrats in Congress that will allow the Bush tax exemptions for the wealthy to continue, as President Obama wishes, is indicative of the utter abandonment of the liberal ethos that characterized Democratic office holders during the New Deal era. The Democratic Party n ...
• Westboro Baptist Church To Protest Elizabeth Edwar ...
  It is a hard thing to have a pluralistic society. It requires a certain level of tolerance for those who don’t seem to be able to restrain themselves to the idea of polite society. Since we all, from time to time, break those constraints it is understood that the price of our forgiveness for doing s ...

Climategate

• Dean of science…suggesting rising seas t…
  Dean of science…suggesting rising seas this next century of up to 100 metres, or Al Gore six metres. When I see things like that I know these are false. You mentioned the IPCC report; that suggests, at worst on best scenarios, 59 centimetres. http://www.google.com
• ABC science presenter Robyn Williams seeks more tr ...
  ABC science presenter Robyn Williams who in 2007 believed seas could rise 100 meters, seeks more truth from scientists after Climategate.
• How to avoid your own Climategate scandal
  What are the lessons of Climategate? More honesty and transparency in science? Not according to attorney Alan Nelson in the Guardian UK today.  To him, the lesson is how not to get caught next time. So how do universities and academics ensure that their correspondence does not become the “smoking g ...
• What is the “likelihood” that the 2007 IPCC Report ...
  A very interesting analysis of the IPPC Assessment and has some important questions that invite others to help him answer. Please read his article and let him know what conclusions you draw.
• Schools call for a “balanced teaching of global wa ...
  USA Today reports that US schools are finally calling for both sides of global warming to be taught, because it is after all, a theory -- not a fact:

Opinio Juris

• The Hypocrisy of Julian Assange
  by Roger Alford by Roger Alford It is with great concern that I hear about this because it puts Julian and his defence in a bad position. I do not like the idea that Julian may be forced into a trial in the media. And I feel especially concerned that he will be presented with the [...]
• Still a Bad Idea: Military Commissions Under the O ...
  by David Glazier by David Glazier David Glazier is a Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.  He has written, under the same title as this post, a paper critiquing U.S. military commissions which you can download from SSRN here. As the Senate considers an outright ban on the transfe ...
• Hegemony and Legitimacy and China, Five Remarks
  by Kenneth Anderson by Kenneth Anderson I have been working on a preliminary presentation  (“paper” would be nice, but so far not true) for a meeting in a couple of weeks at the Hoover Institution on hegemony, legitimacy internal and external, and, by implication, China.  It arises out of my book ...
• The Effects of WikiLeaks on Those Who Work at the ...
  by Samuel Witten Samuel Witten is counsel at the law firm Arnold & Porter LLP. He worked at the State Department for 22 years, including six years as Deputy Legal Adviser (2001-2007) and three years as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration (2007-2010) ...
• Rare Honesty About WikiLeaks and American Exceptio ...
  by Kevin Jon Heller by Kevin Jon Heller Courtesy of Ben Wittes at Lawfare, responding to a question about whether he believes that, if America should be permitted to prosecute a non-American like Assange for disclosing American secrets, countries like France, China, or Iran should be able to pros ...

Investigate - Breaking News

• RIP Chris Carter, Investigate columnist
  It's an odd thing, finding out on the radio news that your magazine's longest serving opinion columnist has passed away. What turns out to be his last column only hit the newsstands yesterday in the latest Investigate magazine: Chris Carter...
• Climate scientists go feral, begin wearing cammo g ...
  Utah survivalists infiltrate climate science community. Whodathunkit?: It might surprise, and hopefully disturb you, to hear that in my short time at AGU, I discovered four scientists who are already creating some form of survival retreat for their family, and...
• Admission: climate science IS stalking horse for g ...
  Slate magazine calls it: For 20 years, evidence about global warming has been directly and explicitly linked to a set of policy responses demanding international governance regimes, large-scale social engineering, and the redistribution of wealth. These are the sort of...
• BREAKING: Hottest year ever claims based on fake d ...
  You hear it trotted out so often it's tiresome, but for those who still believe the climate scientists who claim 2010 is "the hottest year ever", here's a wake-up call: the data is fake. (another perspective here) It's a similar...
• Britain buried under coldest dump of "global warmi ...
  From Benny Peiser's clmate newsletter, some highlights: The Met Office, using data generated by a £33million supercomputer, claims Britain can stop worrying about a big freeze this year because we could be in for a milder winter than in past...

My Care2 Picks

• So Long To Ya, 2010 | The JibJab 2010 Year in Revi ...
  FarceSubmitted by John Farnham to US Politics & Gov't �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• America Held Hostage: 9/11 first responders bill c ...
  U.S. Chamber of Commerce has ordered lackeys in U.S. Senate to effectively kill first responders who were sickened rescuing people from the rubble of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 re closing a jobs offshoring loopholeSubmitted by John Farnham to US Politics & Gov't �|� �Note-it! �|� ...
• Canada Passes Draconian Food Law
  Bill C36 one piece in the wider global plan called Codex Alimentarius precursor for another bill that will give Health Canada the power to take some 75% of natural health products off the shelves.Police can enter and seize private property w/o causeSubmitted by John Farnham to World �|� �Note-it! ...
• WikiLeaks: Is Bradley Manning being tortured?
  The Army specialist accused of passing documents to WikiLeaks is allegedly being held in mind-numbing solitary confinement. Does the punishment exceed the crime? ( Torture without conviction : Gitmo redux )Submitted by John Farnham to US Politics & Gov't �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• EPA Knowingly Allowed Pesticide That Kills Bees
  "The mystery of the disappearing bees has been baffling scientists for years and now we get another big piece in the puzzle. EPA document reveals that the agency allowed the widespread use of a bee-toxic pesticide,Submitted by Doug G. to Environment �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment

Angry Indian News

• NATO Trains Afghan Army To Guard Asian Pipeline | ...
  NATO Trains Afghan Army To Guard Asian Pipeline | Scoop News: "Presidents Hamid Karzai, Asif Ali Zardari and Gurbangulu Berdimuhammedov along with Indian Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• No change to 'Aboriginal people' wording - ABC New ...
  No change to 'Aboriginal people' wording - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation): "Western Australia's Department of Indigenous Affairs says it has received mixed feedback in its review of... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Papua New Guinea: Hidden Valley Litigation Has Not ...
  Papua New Guinea: Hidden Valley Litigation Has Not Been Withdrawn - Indigenous Peoples Issues and ResourcesMember of Parliament, Sam Basil, says a statement issued by the Hidden Valley mine on 16... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• WikiLeaks lawyers: Sweden ‘smeared’ Assange with p ...
  WikiLeaks lawyers: Sweden ‘smeared’ Assange with police files release | Raw Story: "The WikiLeaks founder's Swedish legal team is planning to file a complaint demanding that authorities investigate... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Iranian riot police out in force as food and fuel ...
  Iranian riot police out in force as food and fuel subsidies end | World news | The Guardian: "Iranians are facing huge increases in fuel and food prices after Tehran began implementing a long-delayed... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]

Farm Wars

• Bribery and Graft abound as Reid attaches S.510 to ...
  S.510 Fake Food Safety bill was passed quickly late Sunday afternoon; a vote taken when the Senate could be assured few were watching or even aware that the vote on the criminalization of independent and family agriculture was taking place.
• Food Safety Sneak Attack! Passed by Unanimous Cons ...
  As reported above, the Senate on Sunday night simply took the revised food safety language that was approved by the House in the CR, substituted it to the language of HR 2751, one of the original "Cash for Clunkers" bills from last year, and approved it by unanimous consent.
• Conservation Easements (CEs)*:Read the fine print ...
  A basic Constitutional tenet of private property ownership in America is the landowner’s right to determine the use and disposition of his or her land. This ownership gives the property owner the right to occupy, use, lease, sell, develop, and deny public access to his or her land. Today, lando ...
• Truth Squad Radio – Guardian Abuse!
  The legal abuse and exploitation of Gary Harvey: What happens when the state steps in and takes custody and control of an adult? Does the family have any rights?
• Grandma Got Molested At The Airport – Funny Video
  TSA strikes again!

True/Slant Headline Grabs

• The stupidity of crowds helps kill a planet - Todd ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• Sex, death, and the noble American toad - Scott Bo ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• How to save a fishery: owning, renting, and expand ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• ‘Gossip Girl’ unethical because of threesome? - La ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• ()
  Noted by user deleted on December 31, 1969 7:12 PM

Citizens for Legitimate Government

• Leaked Presentation Shows How Carriers Can Deliver ...
  ShareThisLeaked Presentation Shows How Carriers Can Deliver Tiered Internet Services 20 Dec 2010 As all eyes turn to the Federal Communications Commission as they prepare to vote on the net neutrality proposal, a leaked presentation outlines how cellular carriers can roll out a fee-based tiered Inte ...
• Apple Removes WikiLeaks App From App Store
  ShareThisApple Removes WikiLeaks App From App Store 21 Dec 2010 Looks like an unofficial iPhone and iPad app that let you view WikiLeaks site content and follow the WikiLeaks Twitter account on the go has been removed from the App app store earlier today. The app used to be available here. (Here’s t ...
• WikiLeaks cables: Syria believed Israel was behind ...
  ShareThisWikiLeaks cables: Syria believed Israel was behind sniper killing 21 Dec 2010 It was late in the evening of 1 August 2008 in the Syrian coastal city of Tartous when the sniper fired the fatal shot. The target was General Muhammad Suleiman, President Bashar al-Assad's top security aide. Isra ...
• Anti-terror squad arrest 12 men 'plotting to cause ...
  ShareThisAnti-terror squad arrest 12 men 'plotting to cause Christmas shopping carnage' --Plot believed to involve 'multiple' locations 21 Dec 2010 Christmas shoppers and partygoers are feared to have been the target of 12 men who were arrested by anti-terror police early yesterday. The suspects, ag ...
• Latest Terror Threat in US Aimed to Poison Food
  ShareThisLatest Terror Threat in US Aimed to Poison Food --DHS Uncovered Plot to Attack Hotels and Restaurants Over Single Weekend 20 Dec 2010 CBS News reports the latest terror attack to America [the next false flag] involves the possible use of poisons - simultaneous attacks targeting hotels and r ...

The Briefing Room | Investigate

• RIP Chris Carter, Investigate columnist
  It's an odd thing, finding out on the radio news that your magazine's longest serving opinion columnist has passed away. What turns out to be his last column only hit the newsstands yesterday in the latest Investigate magazine: Chris Carter...
• Climate scientists go feral, begin wearing cammo g ...
  Utah survivalists infiltrate climate science community. Whodathunkit?: It might surprise, and hopefully disturb you, to hear that in my short time at AGU, I discovered four scientists who are already creating some form of survival retreat for their family, and...
• Admission: climate science IS stalking horse for g ...
  Slate magazine calls it: For 20 years, evidence about global warming has been directly and explicitly linked to a set of policy responses demanding international governance regimes, large-scale social engineering, and the redistribution of wealth. These are the sort of...
• BREAKING: Hottest year ever claims based on fake d ...
  You hear it trotted out so often it's tiresome, but for those who still believe the climate scientists who claim 2010 is "the hottest year ever", here's a wake-up call: the data is fake. (another perspective here) It's a similar...
• Britain buried under coldest dump of "global warmi ...
  From Benny Peiser's clmate newsletter, some highlights: The Met Office, using data generated by a £33million supercomputer, claims Britain can stop worrying about a big freeze this year because we could be in for a milder winter than in past...

Mondoweiss

• Aid groups say they, not Hamas, are thwarted by Is ...
  And other news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Arab states preparing UN resolution against Israeli settlements Israeli officials fear that Washington will not rush to exercise its veto power against such a resolution, which calls ...
• Ten days to raise $3,000 – Please help us re ...
  We are now in crunch time. We have ten more days in our current fund raising drive. This means we only have to raise $3,000 more to meet the $20,000 matching fund challenge presented to us by a very generous donor. If you've already given, thank you! If not, please help us to continue our [...]
• Forging the bonds of a juster world, Helena Cobban ...
  Commitment, staying power, moral thunder and presence distinguish the third in our panel of Mondo Award Judges: Helena Cobban, founder of Just World News. And Helena is entrepreneurial. She has broadened her empire lately with a new publishing company, Just World Books, which has already got an im ...
• Realist GHW Bush dealt with the shock of his son&# ...
  Did you read Michael Kinsley's review of Bush's memoir in the Sunday Times yesterday? I thought this part-- Speaking of a sense of humor and the Middle East, when Bush called for a new Palestinian leadership, Barbara Bush the elder (“Mother,” he invariably calls her) rang up to say, “How’s the ...
• Rogue nation
  From Wikileaks: Syria believed that the 2008 sniper murder of the President al-Assad's top security adviser in the port city of Tartous was carried out by Israel. The U.S. says nothing. As it says nothing about the recent attacks on Iranian scientists, no, they're koshered in the Washington Post.

Vaccine Resistance Movement

• VRM: The Dark Side of The Vitamin K Shot
  Apart from the trauma inflicted on a newborn of getting the shot, the amount of Vitamin K injected into newborns is 20,000 times the needed dose. The injection also contains a preservative, Benzyl alcohol, that can be especially toxic for your babyâs delicate, young immune system. A parent has to k ...
• VRM: UK Institutes Brand of Medical Martial Law Wi ...
  As of January 1st, 2011, all children in the UK, upon reaching the age of 1, will be subject to a one stop, 6 vaccine assault. In what is being labeled ‘Super-vaccination’ day, babies will now get a series of 3 injections in one visit, a combination of the Measles, Mumps, Rubella [...]
• VRM: Vaccine Clinic – A Concise Compendium To The ...
  PRIMARY FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE THE EXTENT OF VACCINE RELATED NEUROLOGICAL DAMAGE: 1. POINT OF ENTRY Vaccines are injected into deep muscle tissue, a route which literally bypasses one’s natural defences altogether. Thus the body is left vulnerable to live viruses, heavy metals, antibiotics, deterge ...
• VRM: The Problem With Vaccines Part 2 – Syne ...
  Toxicity is defined in the Medical lexicon as “a condition that results from exposure to a toxin or to toxic amounts of a substance that does not cause adverse effects in smaller amounts.” Vaccine-induced toxicity, while similar in some respects to this model, requires a deeper understanding in term ...
• VRM: The Awakening Has Begun
  On the heals of Ukraine’s 2009 Black Lung Infection, a mysterious variation of flu which bypassed trachea, targeting the lungs directly, a “bilateral pneumonia, the result of viral distress syndrome, i.e the total destruction of the lungs.” (1.3 million infected, over 75,000 hospitalized), eye witn ...

B.C. Preppers Network

• You Know You're Getting Old When...
  A few weeks back we received our new high-efficiency front loading LG washer and dryer set and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by them. The set was only around $1000 (on sale) but I felt like I'd gone from a Chevette to a Cadillac when compared to our old set.� A cute little luxury featur ...
• Control Your Home Thermostat On the Internet!
  Today a fellow from our natural gas company came by to install a new thermostat as part of the Peaksaver program that we signed up for.�If you haven't heard of Peaksaver, basically what it does is allow the Ontario government electricity provider to turn off your central air conditioner for ...
• Happy Day!: The Water Bill Arrived!
  After being shocked a few months ago with a water bill of over $240 I decided to do a few things to cut down on our water use We converted our main toilet to a dual-flush and installed a water saving device on the second (haven't switched it over to a dual yet). We also installed a new low- ...
• Strawberry Picking
  Our family went strawberry picking this morning, it's a fun thing to do once in a while and I think it's a good way to help our 3-year old daughter realize where food comes from. While my wife picked berries with our oldest I went for a walk around the farm with our youngest in the stroller. T ...
• Pioneer Solar: PV System For Free?
  I received a flyer from Pioneer Solar in the mail the other day which claims to help people get a solar system installed on their house, farm, or business for free. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, like most things there's good and bad points about it and what might be a good deal for o ...

Michael Yon

• Hostages Press Release
  www.thethayerhotel.com/ Please Click here to view the entire story. {loadposition user8}
• Shooting Star
  16 December 2010Six years ago this week, I was packing for my first trip to Iraq.� Been a long road. Earlier this week, the annual Geminids meteor shower was a beautiful sight to behold.� Using 4 cameras, I made about 3,600 photos over the Andaman Sea.�� Due to computer issues, I�ve been able to re ...
• Ripley’s Believe it Or Not
  14 December 2010 Ripley�s Believe it or Not has asked to publish one of my photos in their next book.� This photo was made in Sangin, Afghanistan during the last time I was with British forces.� Sangin is the most dangerous place in the country.� The enemy is good and the fighting is serious.� The ...
• Supportfooter
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• American Arrogance
  13 December 2010 There have been many comments about American arrogance.� During my travels to 48 United States and over 50 countries -- most of those states and countries multiple times -- some themes have emerged.There is a pervasive sense in the United States that we are THE best.� I've seen this ...

The Killing Train

• Thoughts on Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows"
  After a couple of recommendations from a couple of different directions, I read Nicholas Carr's "The Shallows: What the internet is doing to our brains". It combines neuroplasticity research (which I read about in Norman Doidge's "The Brain that Changes Itself") with ideas about a literary, print-ba ...
• "Santa" Ford just stole 1000 jobs from the future
  Yesterday's headlines in Toronto newspapers were about how Rob Ford and City Council repealed the $60 vehicle registration tax. The Toronto Sun went as far as painting a beard on a picture of Ford, calling him Santa, and referring to the tax repeal as a christmas gift to Toronto. Another advance aga ...
• Spinning the leaks
  My daily routine these days includes going to the Wikileaks twitter feed (twitter.com/wikileaks), which took me to this story in the UK Guardian about how Saudi Arabia proposed an Arab force to invade Lebanon. The Guardian is definitely the best site on the Wikileaks, and for data in general - they ...
• Wikileaks Cablegate
  The US Embassy cables put out by Wikileaks are not the truth. Even though I knew it, a part of me was disappointed at how ideological some of the cables were. Take #09TELAVIV1060, "Rep. Wexler discusses Iran with IDF Intelligence". The entire discussion is about the threat posed by Iran to Israel. E ...
• Would anyone be unhappy if Tom Flanagan disappeare ...
  I know I wouldn't... and no, I don't think it's manly. I think it's disgusting.

treehugger

• Put Deposits On Everything, Even Street Furniture
  Images credit Vincent Wittenberg and Guy Königstein Deposits are a wonderful tool; I have previously suggested that It's Time for Deposits. On Everything. Dutch designers Vincent Wittenberg and Guy Königstein have carried the principle a step further, to street furniture. ...Read the full s ...
• The Axes of Public Peeing - a Novel Way to Look at ...
  Image credit: Laura Norén (the full image is available on The Society Pages) Some time ago, I asked whether peeing in public was green. With issues ranging from nasty smells to social disapproval, it's clear that the appropriateness of peeing in public is a far from cut-and-dry matter. We have ...
• Is the Wikileaks Saga the Biggest Crypto-Environme ...
  image: Jose Mesa/Creative Commons As 2010 comes to a close, the time for giving thanks for all those small green steps that we've collectively taken over the past twelve months now past by a couple weeks, ever media outlet is trying to make a bullet-pointed list of the year's high- and low-ligh ...
• The Most Popular Posts in Cars and Transportation ...
  We've now reached that time of year when we traditionally look back at the past 12 months and try to see what caught your attention among the hundreds and hundreds of articles published on TreeHugger. From a Jaguar electric car to a man single-handedly building his own subway system to a tin ...
• Desalination Plants To Hit $87.8 Billion in Invest ...
  Photo by prilfish via Flickr Creative Commons Desalination technology -- turning brackish or salt water into fresh water -- has been a hotly debated issue for years. The main problem is that the technology is incredibly energy intensive, and there for financially and environmentally expensive. ...

Democratic Voice of Burma

• When pixels, bytes and VJs unite
  Suu Kyi's live video forum with London-based intellectuals and Amartya Sen lessened the decades-old divide between 'here and there'
• Mass Mandalay eviction ordered
  Up to 200 residents to be forcibly evicted from Mandalay apartment block despite pledges by authorities to the contrary
• Suu Kyi rules out party overhaul
  Aung San Suu Kyi ruled out a reorganisation of her party's top ranks to replace elderly leaders with a younger generation of activists
• DKBA faction could commence guerilla war in &#8216 ...
  Renegade DKBA commander assertive as he tells DVB from the front line that faction is prepared for guerilla war across Burma if the Burmese army continues its 'offensive'
• Suu Kyi’s ‘time has come and gone’: In ...
  Leaked cable reveals India's views on Aung San Suu Kyi and the junta number 1's extraordinary travel 'arrangements' for his 2004 visit to the world's largest democracy

Telegraph - Climate Change

• Environment review of 2010
  The year started badly after the failure of the Copenhagen climate summit and got worse with the 'climategate' scandal and the largest oil spill in US history. But it was a good year for tigers and wildlife.
• It's 'the hottest year on record', as long as you ...
  Much of the data cited to support warmist claims is pure conjecture, says Christopher Booker.
• The climate bugaboo is the strangest intellectual ...
  Christopher Monckton says that perspective was sorely missing at the Cancun climate conference.
• Save capitalism, not the ozone layer
  To satisfy Chris Huhne's deranged obsession with global warming, we must all pay much, much more for electricity, writes Simon Heffer.
• £500 on electricity bills to pay for green energy
  Analysts say the Coalition's plans will put Britain on course for a "high cost, low carbon" electricity market.

National Geographic | Environment

• Mummified Forest Found on Treeless Arctic Island
  "Surreal" remnants of a prehistoric forest have been discovered on a now treeless island in the Canadian Arctic.
• Best Pictures: Nat Geo Photo Contest Winners, 2010
  NoneFrom a charging buffalo to an erupting volcano—see the winning pictures of the 2010 National Geographic Photo Contest.
• New Oil—and a Huge Challenge—for Ghana
  The massive Jubilee field begins producing oil this week, but with revenue from the site come concerns about the risk of corruption and environmental compromise.
• Presented By:
• Pictures: Seven Supergreen U.S. Government Buildin ...
  NoneA subterranean labyrinth in the Rockies, breathing curtain walls by San Francisco Bay, and a Manhattan sky park highlight the U.S. government's drive to cut down its prodigious use of energy.

Jurist - Legal Research

• US violent crime rate drops for fourth straight ye ...
  [JURIST] The FBI's preliminary annual crime statistics for 2010, released on Monday, show a decrease in violent crime [press release] for the fourth year in a row. According to the Preliminary Annual Uniform Crime Report of 2010 [text], the number of reported violent crimes between January and June ...
• Sri Lanka to allow UN war crimes panel visit
  [JURIST] The Sri Lankan Ministry of External Affairs [official website] announced Saturday that a UN war crimes panel will be allowed to visit [press release] the island to look into alleged war crimes in the final stages of the conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam [JURIST news archive ...
• Rights groups drop suit after government changes t ...
  [JURIST] The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) [advocacy website] on Friday dropped a lawsuit [notice of dismissal, PDF] challenging the US government's Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) licensing scheme after the government changed the p ...
• Ukraine prosecutors charge ex-PM Tymoshenko with m ...
  [JURIST] Ukrainian prosecutors on Monday filed criminal charges [press release, in Ukrainian] against opposition leader and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko [personal website; JURIST news archive] for allegedly misappropriating state funds during her time in office from 2007-2010. Tymoshenko, ...
• UK High Court overturns interim immigration cap
  [JURIST] A UK High Court ruled Friday that a temporary immigration cap on skilled workers cannot stand because it was passed without sufficient parliamentary review. The court held that Home Secretary Theresa May [official profile] attempted to sidestep Parliament [BBC report] in enacting the tempor ...

Atlantic | Mark Ambinder

• A Primary Challenge to Obama?
  The apoplexy of loud liberals probably won't be enough to spur a credible primary challenge to President Obama. That's because Obama enjoys extremely high approval ratings among African Americans, who are not likely to desert him for anyone else, because the White House and the Democratic National C ...
• WikiLeaks: One Analyst, So Many Documents
  To date, Bradley Manning stands accused only of providing a classified video of U.S. operations in Iraq to WikiLeaks. But U.S. government officials say they consider Manning the prime suspect behind the flood of documents that have wound up being promulgated by the group determined to bust U.S. secr ...
• After North Korean Attack, Obama Waits for Beijing
  In the wake of North Korea's artillery fusillade, President Obama's foreign-policy team is looking to see whether China, which has the most leverage with the isolated regime, responds in a way that the administration considers productive. MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL: Ostrich Oversight? ...
• I Am a Blogger No Longer
  This is my final blog post for The Atlantic. Five years ago, as a way to boost the competitive metabolism of The Hotline, Chuck Todd hired me away from ABC News to create "Hotline On Call."  I was to be the first political reporter working for a mainstream news organization whose output would be exc ...
• Billy Joel Explains the Election
  What explains the partial collapse of the Democratic Party in the industrial Midwest? Billy Joel, in Allentown, caught the moment decades before it happened...the last time the economy in Pennsylvania transitioned away from coal and steel.  Educated, hard-working people. The generational tension. Th ...

COAT - Coalition to oppose the Arms Trade

• [COAT] Canada at War in Iraq! New 54-page COAT re ...
• [COAT] Success! AntiCANSEC arms-bazaar campaign - ...
• [COAT] Raging Grans video: CANSEC-NO CANSEX-YES!&q ...
• [COAT] Arms Bazaar in Ottawa Citizen, letters-to-e ...
• [COAT] Oppose the CANSEC War Machine! - coat

Bulletin of American Scientists - News

• US and Vietnam sign nuclear energy agreement | Ass ...
• SKorea on alert after ship hit by mysterious blast ...
• Obama administration may send U.S.-Russia arms tre ...
• Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the nation's energy ...
• More tritium found at Vt. Yankee, NRC plans closed ...

Tikun Olam

• Wikileaks: Shabak Told U.S. Hamas Wouldn’t Take Ov ...
  There seems to be a meme among a certain conspiracy minded portion of the left that the Israeli government has colluded with Wikileaks to reveal information that casts Israel’s enemies in a derogatory light and casts no aspersions on Israel.  According to this theory, Julian Assange is in the Mossa ...
• Martin Van Creveld: Give Up West Bank or ‘Tell You ...
  Hebrew University Professor Martin Van Creveld is one of the world’s foremost military historians.  He’s what I’d call a non-ideological, highly pragmatic observer of the Israel-Arab conflict.  Because of his academic expertise and reputation as an independent, I feature his work here his as a bre ...
• Bergman: Bibi Will Send Israeli Bombers on Their W ...
  More bragging from Mossad sources and their journalist friends in the Israeli media about the proficiency with which they have attacked both Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and its nuclear program.  It’s very hard to know whether this report is part of Israeli intelligence psyops campaign or whether th ...
• Iranian General’s Wife Accuses Turkish Intelligenc ...
  December 11th marked the fourth anniversary of the disappearance of Iranian general Ali Reza Asgari in Turkey.  Asgari’s wife on that date demonstrated outside Turkey’s Teheran embassy with her children and others.  She demanded that Turkey take a tougher line with Israel and find out where he is. ...
• Support Tikun Olam: 2010 Appeal
  In the past year, with the help of you, my readers, and new friends of this site who’ve helped me break major stories censored within Israel, Tikun Olam has broken new ground.  It has gone where few other blogs have gone.  My Israeli sources and I revealed Anat Kamm’s secret arrest and detention. ...

Ode Magazine

• How peace entails dropping ego and desire
  By: PeaceCorso Sathya Sai Baba, born as Sathyanarayana Raju, on 23 November 1926, is a popular Indian guru, spiritual figure and educator. He is described by his devotees as an avatar, godman, spiritual teacher and miracle worker. Sathya Sai Baba has said: Peo ...
• Miyako: A picture of pursuit
  By: Anne Thomas As I watch the many fundamental changes sweeping the world, I find that the young people I teach are either completely taken up with them, or pretty overwhelmed. And I have found among my university students that most often their focus on change lie ...
• The independent bookstore that could
  By: Jeremy Mercer One can’t help but feel the past decade has been Biblically awful for independent booksellers. There was the plague of big chain stores like Barnes & Noble who introduced heavy discounts on bestsellers that couldn’t be matched by smaller stores wi ...
• The goal of history is peace
  By: PeaceCorso I’d never thought of history having a goal, per se, have you? Consider these words from educational philosopher and dean of Yale Law School Robert Maynard Hutchins (January 17, 1899 - May 17, 1977): "The goal toward which all history tends ...
• The oneness of humanity
  By: Anne Thomas The other night I had the privilege of attending a party of Middle Easterners. It was a farewell get-together for an Iranian friend. He and his wife were heading to the U.S. to work at a university. Of course, everyone was happy for them, so the mer ...

OpEd News

• The Close Battle, the Deep Battle or the Winning B ...
  In military parlance, the "close battle" is the battle being waged at the moment. The "deep battle" is the fight for hearts and minds. Ret. Gen. Michael Hayden, former CIA Director, says the close battle is the easy one for the U.S. to win. Despite our being the beacon of democracy, we have a hard t ...
• More on Haiti's Raging Cholera, Electoral Fraud an ...
  Washington plans deportations to Haiti in crisis
• The DREAM Act Goes Down... Again
  I wish I could say "wait 'til next time" and shake my fist with respect to the prospect of passing the DREAM Act sooner than later, but with the Republican opposition gaining strength in the new Congress at least two years will pass before we can reasonably hope to hope again. Oh well. At least some ...
• A DEMOCRATIC MANIFESTO: Launching a Democratic Pri ...
  Announcing a Democratic Primary Race for President in 2012 -- And Why!
• The Obama Administration: December 1-17, 2010
  This article is the 46th in a continuing series chronicling the unfolding history of the Obama Administration. The writer's opinions are not offered, leaving the readers to arrive at their own conclusions.

Switchboard

• California Welcomes Electric Vehicles
  The first of new generation of mass-market electric vehicles was recently delivered to a happy customer at a Nissan dealership in my home town, Petaluma.  Petaluma has a small hi-tech industry, but is better known for chicken farming.  In 1879, a Petaluman invented the first practical ...
• Great public spaces make great holiday places
  �� ��Stockholm (photo by Brian Colson) It is impossible to have a great community without great public spaces - appealing and accommodating streets, sidewalks, parks, storefronts, plazas, accessible cafes, and so on. �These are the essence of what many designers call "the public real ...
• Washington Lobbyists and Prophets of Doom
  Sidewalk prophets of doom and Washington lobbyists know the best time to hype an “end of the world” story is just before the world is scheduled to come to an end.  But the sidewalks are littered with the placards of doomsayers whose predictions flopped.  That’s why industry lobbyists ...
• Some Dilemma: Efficient Appliances Use Less Energy ...
  Some Dilemma: Efficient Appliances Use Less Energy, Produce the Same Level of Service with Less Pollution and Provide Consumers with Greater Savings. What’s Not to Like?  In The Efficiency Dilemma, The New Yorker  (December 20, 2010), David Owen revives a discredited 19th century arti ...
• Just in time for the holidays: new MPAs a gift to ...
  On December 15th, California’s Fish and Game Commission adopted a network of safe havens for ocean wildlife along the coastline of southern California under the state’s visionary Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA).  The adopted plan—the “Integrated Preferred Alternative” (IPA)—will crea ...

Lawyers,Guns,& Money

• Happy Solstice!
  The last time this happened, the world as we know it – and the right to worship it as we choose – did not exist. Related posts:Happy Belated Birthday Happy Birthday Happy Irrational New Year! Related posts:Happy Belated Birthday Happy Birthday Happy Irrational New Year!
• Happy Secession Day!
  The NYT has been running a series on “Disunion” that, alas, I’ve somehow managed to overlook for the past two months. Regardless, the most recent entry coincides with the 150th anniversary of South Carolina’s Secession Ordinance nation-destroying exertions in defense of slavery, signed and feted on ...
• In Commemoration of Treason In Defense of Slavery ...
  Loomis: 150 years ago today, South Carolina declared treason to defend slavery, seceding from the Union in order to preserve its ability to own, sell, rape, and murder black people. 4 1/2 years later and 500,000 dead Americans later, this treason was crushed. But of course, the South has contested ...
• Run, Haley, Run!
  Is Haley Barbour really going to run for the GOP nomination in 2012?  I hope so; the modern neo-Confederate+Corporate Lobbyist Republican Party might as well have a definitive standard-bearer: As Barbour recalls it in a new profile in The Weekly Standard, things weren’t so bad in his hometown of ...
• A Few Thoughts on the Repeal Amendment
  The proposed amendment that would allow 2/3rds of the states to repeal federal legislation is getting a surprising amount of attention. A few points: What would we be without wishful thinking:  “Randy E. Barnett, a law professor at Georgetown who helped draft the amendment, argued that it stood ...

Desert Research Institute

• Top Cited Article in the Journal of Human Evolutio ...
  Dr. Glenn Berger is lead author in top-cited article in Journal of Human Evolution. The article "Luminescence chronology of cave sediments at the Atapuerca paleoanthropological site, Spain" was the top-cited article published in the Journal of Human Evolution for the period of 2008 to 2010.
• DRI Researcher Published in Nature Geoscience
  The atmosphere over the Dead Sea, researchers have found, is laden with oxidized mercury. Some of the highest levels of oxidized mercury ever observed outside the polar regions exist there.
• Taking Your Home’s Energy Temperature
  An article authored by DRI Associate Research Professor Emeritus Charles “Fred “Rogers, Ph.D., outlines the best practices for homeowners who are looking to save money on their home heating and cooling bills.
• DRI Researcher Earns National Science Foundation M ...
  DRI Research Professor Hans Moosmüller, Ph.D. and colleagues received $649,801 from the National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program to develop a Photo-Acoustic Light Absorption and Albedo Spectrometer (PALAAS) for the characterization of aerosol radiative forcing in the ...
• DRI Researcher Develops Bioengineering Company
  DRI’s Joseph J. Grzymski, Ph.D. partnered with Adam G. Marsh, Ph.D. from the University of Delaware to develop Evozym Biologics, a company created to bridge the gap between research and innovation and commercial value.

Earth Techling

• Energy Harvester Powers Via Heat, Light
• Big, Green Blimp Coming to Moffett Field
• Utah Home Takes GreenBuilder’s Top Honor
• Aussie Electric Bikes Look Tough, Fast
• Solar To Power LA-Berthed Cruise Ships

National Law Journal | U.S.

• Executions and death penalty sentences continued t ...
  The death penalty continued to be imposed and carried out in lower than usual numbers nationwide in 2010, reflecting continued controversy over claims of innocence, execution methods and the costs of capital punishment.
• Don't Ask, Don't Tell foes plan to fight on in cou ...
  Don't Ask, Don't Tell is on its way out, but the litigation surrounding the policy will stick around for a little bit longer. The Log Cabin Republicans — which first challenged the constitutionality of the policy in 2004 — said it wouldn't pull its lawsuit until Defense Secretary Robert Gates certif ...
• Concerns about terrorism justified search, 1st Cir ...
  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit has ruled that a Massachusetts transit police officer's search of an occupied van, prompted by a suspicion of terrorism, was reasonable and does not disqualify evidence for the defendant's crime of transporting illegal aliens.
• Project marries recent law graduate's love of musi ...
  A new site, launched last week, includes 2,400 court decisions relating to the music industry that are searchable by artist, case type, location and date.
• Striking sanction, court rules same-sex adoption c ...
  The Minnesota Court of Appeals has ruled that an attorney who argued that same-sex adoptions are unlawful in Minnesota could not be sanctioned for making a frivolous claim.

How Shall We Do The Mountain ?

• Waterdog Training January 10th 2011
  Waterdogs Training Monday, January 10th, 2011 7:00-9:00pm Jersey Shore Middle School Library Registration Fee $10 Additional $20 if you would like a TDS Meter Registration is due by January 3rd, 2011 Please make checks payable to: LCCD Lycoming County Conservation District 542 County Farm Road, Suit ...
• Pittsburgh Sets Model to Reject Corporate-Imposed ...
  November 30, 2010 By S.B. Thompson Chambersburg, PA – Edited for length * The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) is actively involved in many issues to help prevent corporations from raping America’s land and resources, including speaking out against uranium mining and mountaintop re ...
• Investigating the US Gas Boom
  I know many of you are becoming very aware of the natural gas boom happening in the Mid Atlantic area. This video covers some old ground but it also discusses some very current issues and is a great intro for anyone who is trying to learn about the problems with the fracking process. http://www.thee ...
• Under the Influence of Fracking?
  In addition to the environmental and health threats posed by gas drilling, driving on PA roadways is also becoming more dangerous.  The Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of Environmental Protection announced that during an October three-day joint safety enforcement operation, three out of ...
• Speaking Out on Water Issues
  Tiadaghton Audubon Society is pleased and privileged to have Sean Saville, National Field Director of the National Audubon Society speak on the Gulf Oil Spill at our annual meeting on Wednesday November 17 at 7:30PM in Mansfield Pa at the Holy Child Church, 242 South Main St. He has extensive and in ...

News Blaze

• Venezuela Protests Verbal Aggrssion by U.S. Govern ...
  Venezuela says the administration od Barack Obama is continuing the historical line of intervention and aggression against the Venezuelan people, its institutions and democracy.
• North Korea Says It Won't Retaliate After South Ko ...
  The drills, which involved F-15K fighter bombers and live rounds fired into disputed waters, were carried out as planned today, despite the threats from the North and the urging of Russia and China.
• NAAT Revolutionizes TB Care and Control By Provid ...
  According to the WHO, evidence to date indicates that implementation of this test could result in a three-fold increase in the diagnosis of patients with drug-resistant TB and a doubling in the number of HIV-associated TB cases diagnosed in areas wi
• Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis Tea ...
  It has also reportedly been offering Hinduism class like teaching its origins, distinctive beliefs, practices and contemporary status.
• NASA Completes Space Station and Makes Amazing Dis ...
  NASA and its international partners celebrated 10 years of permanent human habitation on the International Space Station on Nov. 2.

environment 360

• Deep Water Wind Farm Proposed Off Northeast Coast ...
  A Rhode Island company is planning to use a relatively new design for offshore wind platforms to build a large wind farm 18 to 27 miles off the coast of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Deepwater Wind’s proposed wind farm, which would use four-legged platforms to support large wind turbines, could be ...
• In China, a New Transparency On Government Polluti ...
  The Chinese government has begun to make environmental records available to the public, empowering green groups and citizens as they try to force factories — and the Western companies they supply — to comply with the law. BY CHRISTINA LARSON
• Controversial Gulf Sand Berms Did Little to Keep B ...
  A controversial series of sand berms built in the Gulf of Mexico to keep leaking oil from reaching Louisiana’s wetlands has stopped a “miniscule” amount of oil, according to a federal report. According to a presidential commission created to investigate the BP oil spill, the U.S. Coast Guard’s appro ...
• Cap-and-Trade System To Be Adopted This Week by Ca ...
  California, which has the world’s eighth-largest economy, is expected to approve regulations this week that will impose a cap and a price on CO2 emissions beginning in 2012. The California Air Resources Board is set to adopt key provisions of California’s landmark climate bill, known as AB32, at mee ...
• Dumping Retired Navy Ships Has High Economic and E ...
  The U.S. Navy's policy of dumping retired Navy vessels into the ocean to create artificial reefs leads to the loss of hundreds of thousands of tons of recyclable metals, releases toxic metals into the ocean, and costs the U.S. thousands of jobs, according to a new report. As Pentagon officials decid ...

Red Ice Creations

• Goldman Sachs pay out $111million in bonuses despi ...
  Goldman Sachs bosses are to pick up $111million in bonuses in an 'outrageous' pay deal that flies in the face of the worst recession for 80 years. The investment banks' chief executive Lloyd Blankfein and president Gary Cohn will get $24million each under the bumper agreement that will see thousands ...
• Morality is Modified in the Lab
  Scientists have shown they can change people's moral judgements by disrupting a specific area of the brain with magnetic pulses. They identified a region of the brain just above and behind the right ear which appears to control morality. And by using magnetic pulses to block cell activity they impai ...
• Amazing Satellite Images Of The Ghost Cities Of Ch ...
  The hottest market in the hottest economy in the world is Chinese real estate. The big question is how vulnerable is this market to a crash. One red flag is the vast number of vacant homes spread through China, by some estimates up to 64 million vacant homes. We've tracked down satellite photos of t ...
• NASA Captures Stunning images of the Far Side of t ...
  These amazing pictures capture the moon's cratered surface in the most intricate detail ever recorded. The images, which were taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO), have boosted the resolution of images of the far side of the moon over 100 times. Digital elevation and terrain maps based ...
• Bright White Storm Raging on Saturn
  About a week ago, a bright white storm emerged on Saturn’s northern hemisphere, and amateur astronomer/planet astrophotographer extraordinaire Anthony Wesley from Australia has captured a few images of it. “This is the brightest Saturn storm in decades,” Anthony said on his website, Ice In Space. “I ...

Russia Today

• Ave Caesar, Germans salute you!
  The German Bundestag now has Gaius Julius Caesar among its proud members. The MP from the ruling Christian Democratic Union represents Lippe district in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
• Boosting trade and military-technical cooperation ...
  Trade, nuclear power and defense ties have been at the forefront of a meeting between the Russian and Indian leaders in New Delhi. Military and trade deals worth billions of dollars were sealed on Tuesday.
• Political witch-hunt behind sexual assault charges ...
  Wikileaks founder Julian Assange may be out of jail, but his legal battle on sexual assault charges is still ongoing.
• Russian Society of Authors seeks to pay royalty to ...
  Russian Society of Authors is looking through its website for any contacts for Cherubina de Gabriak – a famous literary hoax of the early 20th Century.
• Spaniards take to streets to protest austerity mea ...
  There are fresh demonstrations in Madrid against severe budget cuts as the country tries to reduce its massive debt.

Dad2059′s Webzine of Science Fiction, Science Fact and Esoterica

• The Great False Wall of China
  From io9′s Mad Science: Scientists in China were able to make a “false wall” in an incredible demonstration of illusion optics. Find out why you shouldn’t believe your eyes anymore, thanks to physics.China has been in the business of building walls for a long, long time. Recently, they’ve added a ne ...
• Lloyd Pye: In Defense of Zecharia Sitchin
  From Paranormal Utopia: Zecharia Sitchin was an author famous for “The Earth Chronicles” series of books about the writings of the ancient Sumerians (circa 5,000 years ago) as he interpreted them. He was one of perhaps 200 people in the world, if that many, who could translate cuneiform, the symboli ...
• Horse Shoe Shaped UFOs
  Here’s something you don’t see every day, horse shoe shaped UFOs. Here’s a disclaimer though, the first video could be CGI and the second could be the planet Venus. Both are interesting. … Horse Shoe UFO Seen From A Plane ] … Fiery Horse Shoe UAP Seen From The Ground The embedding code was removed, ...
• Soyuz Launch To I.S.S. 12/15/10
  Expedition 25 launch on a Russian Soyuz rocket happened yesterday at 2:09:25 p.m. EST to the International Space Station. One Italian, one Russian and one American was on the flight and will live on the space station for six months. I would like to try it once just to see if I could do it. [...]
• Louisiana Zombie Photo Viral Marketing
  From Mysterious Universe: Recently at my blog The Gralien Report, I took a moment to touch on a story pertaining to a strange trail camera photo, supposedly obtained near New Orleans, Louisiana. The strange image seemed to depict an emaciated, naked, pale-skinned humanoid with large “bug eyes” somew ...

Tippers News

• DNA testing a proven weapon in fight against human ...
  DNA testing is a proven aid in solving child trafficking cases in the country, a well-known international research institute says.Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• Three men helped starve kids, court tol
  Three men helped starve five children in Adelaide until they looked like they had came from a famine-affected Third World country, a court has been told.Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• Chinese sex traders challenge verdict
  The three Chinese nationals who were jailed by an Accra Circuit Court for transporting 10 Chinese girls into the country and engaging them in sex trade have appealed against the verdict. Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• The real terrorist was me - US Soldier -
  The Truth from a American Soldier who fought in an Unjust WAR in Iraq; thankfully his conscience willed him to admit that it was just a war for the rich elite few to get richer and had nothing to do with Patriosm or Security of Americans.He is a True HeroSubmitted by Mary P. to US Politics & Gov't ...
• BRUTAL TRUTH Of IRAQ WAR
  'War' on any country is a 'Terrorist Act.' How can it be anything else?? People sit in their cosy homes; happy and Falsely believing that the soldiers are in a Patriotic War; Well see for yourself and ask Whats Patriotic about Suffering of Human Beings?Submitted by Mary P. to US Politics & Gov't � ...

The Freeman

• Ominous Copyright Ruling Stands
  A stunning but little-noticed Supreme Court ruling signals that the face of business and the boundaries of ownership could soon change dramatically.
• State “Repeal Amendment” Would Check Central Gover ...
  “The same people driving the lawsuits that seek to dismantle the Obama administrationâs health care overhaul have set their sights on an even bigger target: a constitutional amendment that would allow a vote of the states to overturn any act of Congress. Under the proposed ârepeal amendment,â any fe ...
• Americans Are Under Government’s Watchful Ey ...
  “Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators.” (Washington Post) Quis custodiet ipsos cu ...
• The Tax-Rate Debate in Perspective
  Over many decades the total federal take from taxation has been quite steady: just under 20 percent of GDP. (It dips during recessions, of course.) This tells us that people — surprise! — adjust their behavior to the tax rates and as a result the haul stays about the same. So the fight over rates [. ...
• Well, Mr. Moore?
  Cuba banned Michael Moore’s 2007 documentary, Sicko, because it painted such a “mythically” favourable picture of Cuba’s healthcare system that the authorities feared it could lead to a “popular backlash”, according to US diplomats in Havana. The revelation, contained in a confidential US embassy ca ...

Teaching Online Journalism

• Skills for journalists: Again, the question
  What skills does today’s journalist need to have? I do not think this question has only one answer. In a comment on a blog post by Robert Hernandez, Michael Grimaldi wrote: The highest skill of journalism is knowing the number of questions to ask, how many people of whom to ask them, and then rep ...
• Data journalism and programmer journalists
  Some good stuff on this topic: Debate over journalism’s required skills gets heated, by Robert Hernandez: I do not believe you need to master programming to succeed in journalism. I do believe you need to respect and understand the power of each and every craft, not just programming, but photog ...
• Nitpicking some myths about digital journalism
  Andy Boyle wrote a response to Mark S. Luckie’s blog post 5 myths about digital journalism, and because I left a comment on Mark’s post, Andy called me out on Twitter. Now, I know Mark a little and Andy not at all (except via his tweets), but I think they are both bright and sincere young journalist ...
• Online video, audiences, sharing: Putting it all t ...
  I thought about titling this post “Another stupid way news sites waste time and effort by failing to understand the Web and how people use it,” but I thought maybe that was far too broad, since it covers so many things. This post is really about how journalism organizations could use video intellig ...
• Online video, links, and people: Putting it all to ...
  I spend a lot of time speaking (and thinking) about online video — both journalism video and the broader YouTube varieties. When we think about how people use online video — and by “people” I mean mostly North Americans in the college and university student age group — we have to consider sharing. ...

Facing South

• INSTITUTE INDEX: Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
  Date on which the Senate repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy prohibiting gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers from serving openly in the military: 12/18/2010 Number of U.S. service members who have been discharged under the policy since it was adopted in 1993: more than 13,300 Final Senate v ...
• IKEA at center of labor rights controversy in Virg ...
  By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest When my colleagues and I at Good Jobs First introduced the Subsidy Tracker database recently, our hope was that the information would be helpful to a wide range of campaigns for economic and social justice. I can now offer one particular use. By p ...
• Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown
  By Kung Li Georgia prisoners came out of their cells today, ending the lockdown phase of the largest prison work strike in U.S. history. The coordinated, nonviolent action drew support from around the country. Months in the planning, the work strike this past week surprised prison officials.�� � ...
• INSTITUTE INDEX: Segregation forever?
  Over the past five years, percent of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas where racial segregation increased: 25 Percent of those same metro areas where segregation increased for Hispanics: 50 Percent of U.S. whites who live in predominantly white neighborhoods today: 79 That figure in 2000: 8 ...
• Feds sue companies behind BP oil disaster as exten ...
  The Department of Justice announced yesterday that it was suing BP and eight other defendants for their roles in the oil rig disaster that claimed the lives of 11 workers and spilled 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The defendants named in the suit include BP Exploratio ...

Worldpress - Africa

• U.S. Dual-Track Policy in Somalia
  In a country with layers of complexity, clan warfare and a broken state, the Obama administration is taking an appropriately complex approach to stabilizing Somalia, one that may or may not bear fruit.
• Preventing Maternal Deaths in West Africa
  Dr. Fredanna M'Cormack and her Bele Uman Project are working in Sierra Leone to save the lives of pregnant mothers and their babies.
• Interview with Kumi Naidoo
  The Greenpeace executive director talks about connections between the environment, poverty, peace, and how the interconnectedness of these issues can drive civil society.
• Zimbabweans Still Suffering
  On a daily basis, the people of Zimbabwe face starvation, poverty, corruption and oppression, and their government is highly unlikely to bail them out anytime soon.
• Re: Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody
  We are seeing a steadily growing tide of discontent with the Kimberley Process.

Canadian Encyclopedia

• Trudeau, Pierre Elliott
  Pierre Elliott Trudeau, politician, writer, constitutional lawyer, prime minister of Canada 1968-79 and 1980-84 (b at Montr�al 18 Oct 1919; d at Montr�al 28 Sept 2000). Trudeau was born into a wealthy family, the
• Native People: Eastern Woodlands
  Major Language and Tribal GroupsEastern Woodland Indians spoke languages belonging to 2 unrelated families, Iroquoian and Algonquian. At the onset of the historic period, Iroquoians occupied much of southern Ontario, northern
• Fur Trade
  Fur trade in Canada began as an adjunct to the fishing industry. Early in the 16th century fishermen from northwest Europe were taking rich catches of COD on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland and in the Gulf of St Lawrence (
• Canadian Pacific Railway
  Commencement of a transcontinental railway within 2 years and completion within 10 years were conditions of British Columbia's entry into Confederation in 1871 (seeRAILWAY HISTORY). Competition for the lucrative contract for the
• World War II
  Memories of WWI - the tragic loss of life, the heavy burden of debt and the strain on the country's unity imposed by CONSCRIPTION- made Canadians, including politicians of all parties, loath to contemplate another such

How Can I Recycle This ?

• What can I reuse or recycle to make placemats/tabl ...
  We’ve been using our dining table more recently – regular use stops it becoming a dumping ground for everything we own but can’t be bothered putting away properly. But because we’re newcomers to the idea of actually dining at a dining table (as opposed to using it as an office desk, which we’ve done ...
• How can I reuse or recycle old duvets?
  We’ve covered sheets & valances and feathers & down – but not intact duvets themselves. I was thinking about duvets last week – not just because I spent much of Thursday wrapped up in one and the rest of the week wishing I was wrapped up in one, but also because I saw this insulating [...]
• How can I make a Christmas fairy out of a chicken/ ...
  Eileen Bradley left a comment on our “how to make Christmas decorations by reusing and recycling stuff?” post, asking about wishbone fairies: Does anyone know how to make Christmas Tree Fairies from Chicken or Turkey wishbones. I have seen them made but donât know how to make them. Thank you I’ve ne ...
• How can I reuse or recycle parts of wooden toys?
  We’ve had an email from Sarah P: Cleaning out my boys toy box before Christmas, found lots of pieces of wooden toys from when they were little, sorting blocks, building blocks that sort of thing. Tried to get them into original sets to give away but either too many pieces missing or just not knowing ...
• How can I reuse or recycle chocolate/sweet tins?
  After seeing Judith Williamson’s wonderful jewellery made from old sweet tins the other week, I’ve been thinking about what else could be done with them. T’is approaching the season for big tins of chocolates and biscuits after all. Since they’re well sealing metal tins, they’re great for using for ...

Mondoweiss

• Aid groups say they, not Hamas, are thwarted by Is ...
  And other news from Today in Palestine: Settlers/ Land, Property, Resource Theft & Destruction/Ethnic Cleansing Arab states preparing UN resolution against Israeli settlements Israeli officials fear that Washington will not rush to exercise its veto power against such a resolution, which calls ...
• Ten days to raise $3,000 – Please help us re ...
  We are now in crunch time. We have ten more days in our current fund raising drive. This means we only have to raise $3,000 more to meet the $20,000 matching fund challenge presented to us by a very generous donor. If you've already given, thank you! If not, please help us to continue our [...]
• Forging the bonds of a juster world, Helena Cobban ...
  Commitment, staying power, moral thunder and presence distinguish the third in our panel of Mondo Award Judges: Helena Cobban, founder of Just World News. And Helena is entrepreneurial. She has broadened her empire lately with a new publishing company, Just World Books, which has already got an im ...
• Realist GHW Bush dealt with the shock of his son&# ...
  Did you read Michael Kinsley's review of Bush's memoir in the Sunday Times yesterday? I thought this part-- Speaking of a sense of humor and the Middle East, when Bush called for a new Palestinian leadership, Barbara Bush the elder (“Mother,” he invariably calls her) rang up to say, “How’s the ...
• Rogue nation
  From Wikileaks: Syria believed that the 2008 sniper murder of the President al-Assad's top security adviser in the port city of Tartous was carried out by Israel. The U.S. says nothing. As it says nothing about the recent attacks on Iranian scientists, no, they're koshered in the Washington Post.

Media Consortium

• Clyde Bentley updates his timeline for newspapers ...
  Three main points from this post that are important. 1) "For newsrooms that are behind on mobile—and the vast majority of them are,” said Bentley, “the mobile web site is most important thing they need to catch up on. When you’re using a mobile device, you should get taken to mobile site. Technicall ...
• Jonathan Stray » Does journalism work?
  "Journalism has no theory of change — at least not at the level of practice. I’ve taken to asking editors, “what do you want your work to change in society?” The answer is generally along the lines of, “we aren’t here to change things. We are only here to publish information.” I don’t think that’s ...
• Nicholas Christakis on the networked nature of Twi ...
  We need metrics, in particular, to determine “which online interactions represent real relationships, where an influence might possibly be exerted.” ..And that has big implications not only for news organizations, but also for the platforms that are hoping to translate their ubiquity into financia ...
• The New York Times Introduces The Evolution of the ...
  As reported by the Atlantic, The New York Times has snuck in an update to its hyperlink feature. The new feature allows users to link to and highlight individual sentences and paragraphs in its web stories. While it could be a tad complicated for an average reader, it’s a great tool for writers and ...
• Fundly + Facebook = Millions in Micro-Donations fo ...
  One startup that's trying to capture the heat of micro-donations and make them more social is Fundly, which started life as BlueSwarm in 2009 before moving to Palo Alto, Calif., from Boston. The donation platform lets candidates begin taking micro-donations online quickly, and even embed those effor ...

Reality Asserts Itself

• Drug Wars in Juarez Fuels Boom in El Paso
  My colleague Malak Behrouznami recently returned from Juarez Mexico where she grew up as a child. She as a wonderful heritage - her father is Iranian and her Mother is Mexican. She went Juarez for family and journalistic reasons. One of her objectives was to find out why Juarez has become a terroriz ...
• PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI NEGOTIATIONS TO NOWHERE NOT TH ...
  A few months ago when shooting a documentary in the Middle East, we met Zeina, a 13-year-old Palestinian living in a Beirut refugee camp. She was traumatized as she watched the Israeli Gaza war on television. It changed her life. She now thinks of revenge and cannot understand the Israeli children w ...
• FROM JOE McCARTHY TO GLEN BECK – TIME TO END FEAR ...
  I listened to Glen Becks "Restoring Honor" speech today hoping to find something of substance to write about. I found a stringing together of such empty phrases it does not bear discussion.  The more important issue is why a man whose megalomania seems to have no bounds can become such a phenomena ( ...
• PAKISTAN FLOODS AND A FAILED POLICY - UN Sec. Gen ...
  Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, says of the flooding in Pakistan "The world has never seen such a disaster. It's much beyond anybody's imagination". At least 20 million people have lost their homes, more than 1600 have died, and disease and hunger will claim many, many more l ...
• China and the end of the end of history
  Many economists and political analysts think the current recovery, as it's being called, is a rather temporary phenomenon. Many expect the recession to kick back in, and perhaps within a few years get much more serious. What does that mean in terms of the future of the world economy and world politi ...

Great Beyond ( Nature )

• Live report: Are you watching the lunar eclipse? - ...
  If you’re in North America right now, as I am, and if skies are clear, then you need only look up to see one of the most interesting lunar eclipses in years in progress. Although not especially rare, total lunar eclipses are always a treat. This one was particularly anticipated because of the p ...
• Historic food safety legislation poised to become ...
  The US Senate, for the second time in less than a month, has passed legislation giving broad new powers to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to police food safety. If passed by the House of Representatives tomorrow as expected, and signed into law by President Barack Obama, who has voiced ...
• Australia nixes carbon storage project
  The state of Queensland, Australia – a major coal-producing region – has pulled out of funding a flagship demonstration project to capture carbon dioxide emissions from a coal-fired power station and store them underground. The ZeroGen project, which has already had around A$192 million (US$191 ...
• US federal court upholds medical diagnostics paten ...
  In a ruling that could be a boon to the medical diagnostics industry, a US federal court upheld a series of patent claims covering methods to determine the best dose of a drug to give to a patient. The decision, issued on 17 December by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washing ...
• Vaccine push urged in Haiti cholera fight
  UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has pledged an independent investigation of the cholera epidemic in Haiti, amid continuing claims that peacekeeping troops were the source of the current outbreak. With the death toll from the epidemic now standing at at least 2,400, the Pan American Health Organi ...

new geography

• Smart Growth and the Quality of Life
  The idea of “smart growth” should be like mom and apple pie. But take a closer look and you find, for the most part, that smart growth policies often have unintended consequences that are anything but smart. If housing is unaffordable, the cost of living is high and people are leaving, it probably ...
• Toward a Continental Growth Strategy
  North America remains easily the most favored continent both by demography and resources. The political party that harnesses this reality will own the political future. America cannot afford a prolonged period of slow economic growth. But neither Democrats nor Republicans are prepared to offer a ro ...
• Don’t Touch My Junk – At the Airport OR at the Zon ...
  Until recently, “Don’t touch my junk” was only a rallying cry for people who liked to accumulate broken down cars in their yards, in defiance of local nuisance ordinances. The internet meme radiating from San Diego International Airport puts an entirely new spin on the phrase. Americans have a str ...
• Belly-Up In The Burbs: Bank-Owned Developments
  In 2009, the number of repossessed autos increased to 1.9 million. The number of homes under foreclosure varies from month to month, but the 2009 total was about 2.8 million. For 2010, it seems that a million new foreclosed homes would be conservative, with a large percentage in California. Miss ...
• Pittsburgh's Tunnel of LOV
  Before Pittsburgh’s light-rail “Tunnel to Nowhere” under the Allegheny River came along, my favorite Port Authority boondoggle was the Wabash Tunnel under Mt. Washington. Most Pittsburghers know all they need to know about the notorious "Tunnel to Nowhere." Still under construction and still di ...

GM Watch

• No labelling for GM food in India
• City in the Philippines destroys Bt eggplants
• U of Manitoba home to new Monsanto centre
• GM debate gets a Polish twist
• Spain a key ally of pro-GMO America

spiked

• A moral defence of late abortion
  ESSAY: The chief executive of bpas urges faltering pro-choice campaigners to rediscover their respect for women’s moral autonomy.
• When economics becomes freaky
  The movie of the best-selling book is a popular taster of a worrying obsession with individual behaviour.
• A queer take on Italian family life
  Loose Cannons is an uplifting film about Italian traditions and sexuality, but it ends up looking like a clichéd pasta ad.
• Our Brave New World of Malthusian madmen
  From Burgess’s Wanting Seed to Huxley’s Brave New World, the wacky Malthusian ideas of dystopian literature are now everyday beliefs.
• The most boring league in the world?
  As the Man Utd-Arsenal snoozefest revealed, the Premier League is in danger of losing its�lustre.

Cryptogon

• State Budgets: The Day of Reckoning
  Via: CBS News / 60 Minutes: By now, just about everyone in the country is aware of the federal deficit problem, but you should know that there is another financial crisis looming involving state and local governments. It has gotten much less attention because each state has a slightly different stor ...
• U.S. Government Storing Information on Americans i ...
  Via: Washington Post: Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators. The system, by far th ...
• Probable Carcinogen Hexavalent Chromium Found in D ...
  Add it to the list: Can You Do This With Your Tap Water? Hundreds of Millions of Pounds of Pharmaceuticals LEGALLY Released Into Waterways That Provide Drinking Water Illegal Concentrations of Arsenic, Radioactive Substances like Uranium, Dangerous Bacteria Often Found in Sewage Via: Washington Post ...
• Britain May Require ISPs to Block Internet Pornogr ...
  I wonder how long it will take for other categories of sites to be added to this blacklist? Via: IT Pro Portal: The government has urged UK Internet service providers to block pornographic websites in order to help protect children. UK communications minister Ed Vaizey is expected to meet representa ...
• Cable Search: Full Text Search of Released Wikilea ...
  Cable Search is automatically adding documents as WikiLeaks makes them available. Via: cablesearch.org: CABLESEARCH is an attempt for an user friendly search engine of already published documents from Wikileaks. Research Credit: RB

The Economic Collapse

• Government Waste: 20 Of The Craziest Things That T ...
  You are not going to believe some of the things that the U.S. government is spending money on.  According to a shocking new report, U.S. taxpayer money is being spent to study World of Warcraft, to study how Americans find love on the Internet, and to study the behavior of male pros ...
• Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That ...
  Guess what?  Unemployment is up again!  That's right - even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that "the recession is over", the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher.  So are you enjoying the jobless recovery?  The truth is that t ...
• The Federal Reserve Bans A Local Oklahoma Bank Fro ...
  What in the world are they thinking over at the Federal Reserve?  The privately-owned central bank that runs the U.S. economy is now forcing local banks to remove every shred of Christian faith from their establishments.  When Federal Reserve examiners recently visited a local bank ...
• Did The Price Of Oil Help Cause The Financial Cris ...
  Oil prices are starting to spin out of control once again.  In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February hit 91.89 dollars a barrel on Friday.  New York crude moved above 88 dollars a barrel on Friday.  Many analysts believe that 100 dollar oil is a virtual certainty no ...
• Trillions In Secret Fed Bailouts For Global Corpor ...
  Has the Federal Reserve become the Central Bank of the World?  That is what some members of Congress are asking after the Federal Reserve revealed the details of 21,000 transactions stretching from December 2007 to July 2010 that totaled more than $3 trillion on Wednesday.  Most ...

Desertification

• Soil Desertification (Google / Stephaniexin)
  Read at : Google Alert – desertification http://stephaniexin.blogspot.com/2010/12/soil-desertification.html Soil Desertification is a serious environmental problem in the world. Soil Desertification reduce arable soil to produce food for huge amount of population and there are already some regions a ...
• “World Atlas of Desertification and Improvement (W ...
  Read at : Google Alert – desertification http://pkrc.forst.nu/2010/12/world-atlas-of-desertification-and-improvement/ World Atlas of Desertification and Improvement Between 29th of November and 3rd of December, PKRC hosted an international expert meeting for the development of a new âWorld Atlas of ...
• Desertification, a threat to global wellbeing (Goo ...
  Read at : Google Alert – desertification http://theothersideofeverything.com/flip/2010/12/desertification-is-greatest-threat-to-planet/ Desertification is Greatest Threat to Planet Desertification and land degradation is “the greatest environmental challenge of our time” and “a threat to global well ...
• What is desertification ? (Google / Blast Magazine ...
  Read at : Google Alert – desertification http://blastmagazine.com/2010/12/18/earthtalk-what-is-desertification-why-does-dishwashing-detergent-suddenly-not-work-as-well/ by E – The Environmental Magazine EarthTalk: Can you explain what âdesertificationâ is and why it is an important environmental iss ...
• Growing Roots (Katherine Leiner – Food Freed ...
  Read at : http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/12/18/growing-roots-the-new-generation-of-sustainable-farmers-cooks-and-food-activists/ Growing Roots: The New Generation of Sustainable Farmers, Cooks, and Food Activists Book Review by Jeanne Santangelo Novato Advance After generations of decline, th ...

The Paper Trail

• EPA Reminds Republicans Cap-and-Trade Used to be G ...
  The Obama administration is turning the tables on Republican foes of climate regulation, demonstrating not only that cap-and-trade works — it significantly reduced acid rain — but that the program was started by one of their own, George H. W. Bush.
• Corporations Aim to Narrow SEC’s Proposed Wh ...
  Midnight is the deadline to weigh in on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plan to offer whistleblowers a bounty of up to 30 percent of settlements over $1 million and protection for alerting the government to corporate malfeasance.
• In Webcast Debut, Fed Meeting To Propose Limiting ...
  The Federal Reserve Board takes a step into 21st century transparency this afternoon when it offers a first-ever webcast meeting, giving the public a peek into how the secretive U.S. central bank operates.
• SEC Moves Ahead On Oil, Mining, Derivatives Transp ...
  The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed new transparency rules today mandated by the Dodd-Frank reform law for mining companies, international oil producers, as well as companies that buy or use certain “conflict” minerals from Africa.
• Bank Lobbyists Plead to Delay Derivatives, FDIC Fe ...
  A fundamental principle of Lobbying 101 is that when a regulatory issue isn’t going your way, ask for more time. So it’s not surprising to see Wall Street and banking lobbyists starting to plead with regulators to delay the aggressive deadlines set by the Dodd-Frank reform law.

backofthebook.ca

• Battle of the Bigots
  A white supremacist group called The Council of Conservative Citizens is outraged that Marvel has cast Idris Elba as Heimdall in Thor, because he is foxy.  I mean, black.  They probably don’t appreciate that foxy black men exist in the world, but it is definitely the blackness that they are ...
• WikiLeaks’ Canadian secrets not all that sec ...
  By Frank Moher I can tell from our logs that a lot of people are still looking to find out what Wikileaks' purloined cables have revealed about Canada, but the answer remains: Not a whole lot. Little enough, in fact, that it's possible to run the Canadian content all in one ...
• Hang the holidays
  By Bev Schellenberg What has happened to our celebratory schedule? It seems it was only a few weeks ago I bought a witch hat and cape for my daughter, a baron costume for my son, and carved a pumpkin. In fact, it was only a few weeks ago. Now here I ...
• The security perimeter: It’s Aliiiiiive!
  By Alison@Creekside Well, it's back. The "one security perimeter" deep integration SPP/FTAA zombie, now with new and improved emphasis on security. You're shocked, I'm sure. Like it ever really died. The re-animators just learned not to dig it up and parade it around in parliament too often ...
• The polygamists down the street
  By Jodi A. Shaw Last week, Angela Campbell, a professor of law at McGill University, testified at a constitutional reference case examining Canada’s current polygamy law that the practice ought to be decriminalized. I wasn’t sure if I should gasp or applaud. Campbell visited Bountiful, B.C. in ...

Worldnews

• Inquirer Editorial: Gay ban banished
  Rep. Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.) got a deserved call from President Obama to congratulate him for his role in the successful repeal of the U.S. military's antigay ban. Murphy, an Iraq war veteran who was defeated in the midterm elections, sponsored the House version of the bill that unexpectedly w ...
• Powerful earthquake hits south-east Iran
  A powerful earthquake has hit south-eastern Iran, killing at least seven people and destroying several villages in...
• Nicole respects kids' wishes
  Nicole Kidman wishes her adopted children lived with her. The Australian actress raised 18-year-old Isabella and Connor, 15, with ex-husband Tom Cruise and is saddened by their decision to live with their father, his wife Katie Holmes...
• 'No toilets costs India $ 54 billion annually ...
  New Delhi, December 21: A lack of toilets and poor hygiene practices in India cost Asia's third largest economy almost $54 billion every year, the World Bank said on Monday. Premature deaths, treatment for the sick, wasted time and productivity, as well as lost tourism revenues, are the main re ...
• Common dairy foods may cut diabetes risk
  Washington, Dec 21 (ANI): Scientists have discovered a natural substance in dairy fat that may substantially reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.� The compound, trans-palmitoleic acid, is a fatty acid found in milk, cheese, yogurt, and...

Alex in Wonderland

• Report: Active-Duty Army PSYOPS Soldiers Embedded ...
  To better manufacture consent, U.S. Army soldiers are embedded as intern and fellows at local TV affiliates, along with previously reported newspapers and national outlets.
• Daily Briefing—15th-16th Sept 2010
  News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire
• Report: U.S. Troops ‘Still Killing Civilians’ in I ...
  A U.S.-Iraqi night raid results in the deaths of eight civilians weeks after U.S. combat operations were announced as over.
• Military Welfare Budget Won’t Thin Any Time ...
  Ivan Eland sat with RT to discuss the astronomical political clout held by the welfare queens of the military-industrial complex that will thwart any translation of the Pentagon's rhetoric into actual policy
• Because the System’s Not Rigged Enough for Cops an ...
  Kevin Carson on the criminal injustice system 'shrills' pushing the narrative that the letter of the law aides criminals against so-called 'crime fighters'.

MY Daily Apple

• Bioethics Commission Calls For Enhanced Federal Ov ...
  The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues has released its first report - a wide-ranging review of the emerging field of synthetic biology - issuing 18 recommendations including a call for coordinated federal oversight of scientists working in both large institutions and smaller ...
• SPF 15 (Titanium Dioxide) Powder [Melaleuca, Inc.]
  Updated Date: Dec 15, 2010 EST
• European Medicines Agency Recommends Action Plan T ...
  The European Medicines Agency has been informed by Baxter of the potential presence of endotoxins in their peritoneal dialysis solutions Dianeal, Extraneal and Nutrineal. These are sterile solutions used in patients who have to undergo peritoneal dialysis because of kidney failure... ...
• Compound With Potent Effects On Biological Clock D ...
  Using an automated screening technique developed by pharmaceutical companies to find new drugs, a team of researchers from UC San Diego and three other research institutions has discovered a molecule with the most potent effects ever seen on the biological clock...
• Fighting flu in newborns begins in pregnancy, stud ...
  A three-year study has found that vaccinating pregnant women against influenza is over 90 percent effective in preventing their infants from being hospitalized with influenza in the first six months of life.

Common Dreams

• Assange Confirms Wikileaks Holds 'Bank of America' ...
  LONDON - WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Tuesday the Swedish women who have accused him of sexual assault had got into a "tizzy" about the possibility they had caught a sexually transmitted disease from him.Assange told the BBC that one account of what happened in August -- the month at the ce ...
• McConnell and GOP Slam START, But Facts Don't Back ...
  by Jonathan S. LandayWASHINGTON — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell detailed Monday on the Senate floor his reasons for opposing New START, the nuclear arms reduction accord the Obama administration negotiated with Russia. Many of his assertions don't check out. Here is an assessment of th ...
• The Year Washington Became “Business Friendly”
  by Robert ReichHistory will record 2010 as the year Washington became "business friendly." Not that it was all that unfriendly before. Some would say the bailouts of Wall Street, AIG, GM, and Chysler were about as friendly as it can get. In addition, Washington gave windfalls to drug companies ...
• Red Cross Briefed US on Indian 'Torture' in Kashmi ...
  NEW DELHI - The International Committee of the Red Cross provided US diplomats in 2005 with evidence of the systematic use of torture by Indian security forces in Kashmir, leaked US diplomatic cables revealed Friday.In a confidential briefing, the ICRC told the diplomats of 177 visits it had made to ...
• US, Last Holdout on Native Rights Declaration, Rev ...
  by Matthew O. BergerWASHINGTON - U.S. President Barack Obama announced Thursday he was reversing the U.S.'s position and endorsing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.The reversal comes three years after the U.N. adopted the measure in 2007, despite being opposed by th ...

The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

• Wendel Clark
• Tegan and Sara
• Lee Daniels
• James Cameron
• Anna Kendrick

Examine Religion - Tweets

• ExamineReligion: Animism vs. Old Testament http:// ...
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• ExamineReligion: Yule http://exm.nr/eBXRq6
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• ExamineReligion: The Holy Innocents http://exm.nr/ ...
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• ExamineReligion: Temple of the Feminine Divine to ...
  ExamineReligion: Temple of the Feminine Divine to Host Winter Solstice Ritual http://exm.nr/ij1lRa
• ExamineReligion: An X-Rated X-Mas http://exm.nr/i4 ...
  ExamineReligion: An X-Rated X-Mas http://exm.nr/i4L7WD

Energy Collective

• From the Gulf to the Volt
  When trying to save the planet, every litter bit helps. But let’s not lose sight of the forest when we’re saving a tree–or when General Motors is recycling “plastic boom material used to soak up oil in the Gulf of Mexico” into auto parts in the Chevrolet Volt.
• UL Study Raises New Questions About E15
  One of the energy stories I've followed with great interest all year concerns efforts to increase the proportion of ethanol blended into ordinary US gasoline. This began last year when Growth Energy, an ethanol trade association, asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver to increase th ...
• Michael Oppenheimer delivers American Geophysical ...
  The truth is bad enough Integrity should never be compromised Don’t be afraid to use metaphors Distinguish when speaking about your values (as a member of the human race) and when speaking as scientist Don’t let fear (of deniers) keep you from working on the most important problems facing society O ...
• Field Report from POWER-GEN International 2010
  One of my colleagues filed the following field report from the conference held last week:
• SAP talks e-mobility!
  Tweet�

Green House - USA Today

• Tap water in many U.S. cities has probable carcino ...
  The tap water of most U.S. cities tested contains hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen made famous by the film "Erin Brockovich," an environmental group reports Monday.
• My green house gets HVAC, but winter delays work
  Winter could be cold this year, my USA TODAY colleague and weather expert Doyle Rice said the other day at our weekly news meeting. This is not what I wanted to hear. The unseasonable coldness, including Thursday's snow, has delayed some work on the eco-friendly home I'm building in Falls Church, Va ...
• Home design trends for 2011? Think small, green, u ...
  Fewer new homes are popping up across the United States, but there are still enough of them to discern trends. An obvious one is the push toward smaller homes, which Green House has previously talked about. Jenny Sullivan, a senior editor of BUILDER, calls this "portion control." She cites nine othe ...
• How to simplify, spend less and enjoy the holidays ...
  Christmas is next Saturday, only days away. If you're like me, you're feelilng the rush. I have cards to write and gifts to mail (and a few still to buy.) What to do? Well, take a deep breath, and consider ways to simplify.
• Obama OKs tax credits for ethanol, solar power, ho ...
  President Obama signed into law Friday a massive tax-cut deal that includes an extension of tax credits for U.S.-made ethanol, solar and wind power as well as home energy efficiency upgrades.

Prior Art

• Recent Patent Litigation Weekly Columns
  Much of the patent news that was published on this blog has been moved to the IP Insider section of the Corporate Counsel website. Here's a list of the last several Patent Litigation Weekly columns— Oct. 25, 2010: Big Patent-Licensing...
• Paul Allen v. The Internet
  Former Microsoft executive and billionaire Paul Allen sued several major Internet companies and three large retailers for patent infringement today, asserting that four patents originating at Interval Research, Allen's dot-com era think tank, cover basic web browsing and e-commerce technologies....
• Citing Possible Bias, ACLU Asks Rader to Recuse Hi ...
  With the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit set to consider a landmark case over the validity of human gene patents, attorneys for the plaintiffs in the suit are asking the court's chief judge to recuse himself from the matter—before the panel that will hear it has even been selec ...
• Law360 Calls Lawyer-Owned Shell Company a "Public ...
  seems to have a pretty flexible definition of that term. Last month, it included . Who is so concerned about such fairness? That would be , the Texas law firm that owns Americans for Fair Patent Use, which is a limited liability company set up to prosecute a false marking lawsuit filed in E ...
• Eben Moglen on Bilski, software patents, and big p ...
  Moglen's position on the subject of software patents—that they should be banned—is, to say the least, outside the mainstream in legal circles. It has, however, garnered support among software developers and other techies, especially those who work in the world of open-source and free softw ...

Peoples Voice

• How Deceit and Truth Are Feeding Resistance to U.S ...
  By Kevin Zeese Vets Plant Seeds of Mass Action Against U.S. Wars Watered by Obama’s Deceit and WikiLaks Truth Mike Ferner, the president of Veterans for Peace, was speaking outside the White House calling for a “culture of resistance” against U.S. wars. His organization was leading a protest out ...
• More on Haiti's Raging Cholera, Electoral Fraud an ...
  by Stephen Lendman Haitians remains plagued by a perfect storm combination of earthquake devastation, crushing poverty, raging cholera, electoral fraud, exploitation, persecution, Obama-ordered deportations, and world indifference to their plight, with few exceptions like Cuba and Venezuela. ...
• Lebanese! Beware of the treacherous Israeli snake
  By Khalid Amayreh Saad al Hariri's recent visit to Iran is undoubtedly a welcomed development. It served the interests of Lebanon, Iran and all other forces that stand against Israel's nefarious designs in the region. We all know the diabolical nature of Israeli goals in Lebanon. These can be summ ...
• Millions Of Flood Victims In Pakistan Now Face Har ...
  by Brian McAfee Reports indicate that the hardships from Pakistan’s earlier monsoon floods have been exacerbated by the onslaught of winter. The floods impacted 20 million of Pakistan’s population of just over 180 million people. As the temperature dips, hundreds of thousands of displaced children ...
• Zionist lobby’s new orders for Obama
  By Alan Hart After his appointment as Chairman of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, California’s representative Howard Berman told The Forward, “Even before I was a Democrat, I was a Zionist.” This is the man, one of the Zionist lobby’s most influential stooges in Congress, who ...

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

• A recipe for greater equality
  The always insightful Alex Himelfarb asks in his latest must-read blog: "What would you think if someone could show that they knew just what it would take to improve our physical and mental health, reduce crime and violence, increase civic trust and participation, reduce teenage pregnancy and drug a ...
• A holiday gift from the CCPA: Enhanced publication ...
  For a limited time the CCPA is opening its entire cache of research free of charge � giving full public access to our publications via a database run by the Canadian Electronic Library. Browse our books, peruse chapters from our education journal Our Schools/Our Selves, and utilize the key-word se ...
• Canada's richest 1% taking more than ever before
  A major report by CCPA Senior Economist Armine Yalnizyan shows Canada's richest 1% enjoy more of the gains from economic growth than ever before in recorded history. The report looks at income trends over the past 90 years, revealing the richest 1% took 32% of all growth in incomes between 1997 and ...
• New York Times article: Income Inequality too big ...
  New York Times writer Robert Frank says it's time to tackle the problems of income inequality in this article.
• Let's Do Something About Poverty!
  The Saskatchewan office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is a proud partner of Poverty Free Saskatchewan (PFS), a coalition of groups attempting to develop a comprehensive anti-poverty program for the province. Today we released Let's Do Something About Poverty!, in order to encourage ...

World Wide Hippies

• As I Understand It, They Just Took Away Everything
  Enjoy WWH while you can! Because they are coming for us. Obama FCC Caves on Net Neutrality; Tuesday Betrayal Assured | Save The Internet Late Monday, a majority of the FCC’s commissioners indicated that they’re going to vote with Chairman Julius Genachowski for a toothless Net Neutrality rule. Accor ...
• UK Government wants BT, Virgin and other internet ...
  Broadband firms urged to block sex websites to protect children | The Guardian Internet service providers are to be asked by the government to tighten up on website pornography to try to combat the early sexualisation of children. Ministers believe broadband providers should consider automatically b ...
• Worldwide Hippies News and stuff
  This week: Is Bill Clinton stalking Sarah Palin? Time magazine is “the Man”. Hell has no fury like a 71yr. old woman with a frying pan. HippieLeaks- Secret Walmart file and more…
• Big Brother Will See You Now
  Monitoring America | The Washington Post Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators. Th ...
• The Online Sabotaging of Intelligent Debate Seems ...
  These astroturf libertarians are the real threat to internet democracy | The Guardian They are the online equivalent of enclosure riots: the rick-burning, fence-toppling protests by English peasants losing their rights to the land. When MasterCard, Visa, PayPal and Amazon tried to shut WikiLeaks out ...

Michael Moore - Must Read

• The Great Fear
  Nine years after 9/11, hysteria about Muslims in American life has gripped the country. With it has gone an�outburst�of arson attacks on mosques, campaigns to stop their construction, and the branding of the Muslim-American community, overwhelmingly moderate, as a hotbed of potential terrorist recru ...
• Statement by Michael Moore on Accusations Against ...
  Excerpt from "Dear Government of Sweden ...an open letter from Michael Moore"I don't pretend to know what happened between Mr. Assange and the two women complainants (all I know is what I've heard in the media, so I'm as confused as the next person). And I'm sorry if I've jumped to any unnecessary o ...
• Daniel Ellsberg on Wikileaks and Julian Assange on ...
• Bernie Sanders' "Berniebuster" Filibuster Against ...
• The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
  A soft landing for America 40 years from now?� Don�t bet on it.� The demise of the United States as the global superpower could come far more quickly than anyone imagines.� If Washington is dreaming of 2040 or 2050 as the end of the American Century, a more realistic assessment of domestic and g ...

Salon

• The year Washington became "business-friendly"
  This originally appeared at Robert Reich's blog.
• New York appeals court upholds ex-sailor's terror ...
  A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of a former Navy sailor who was found guilty of leaking details about ship movements to an overseas website that supported attacking Americans.
• Author of Barbour profile comments on controversy
  I just spoke with Andrew Ferguson, the author of the big new�Weekly Standard profile of Mississippi governor and potential presidential hopeful Haley Barbour. The profile has been making waves today for, among other things, a passage in which Barbour, a native of Yazoo City, Miss., seems to downp ...
• Kyl: "Don't ask, don't tell" repeal could cost liv ...
  Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl explained on Fox yesterday that allowing gay men and women to serve openly in the armed forces " is not a constitutional right as was the issue of racial segregation," and he went on to argue that repealing the policy that bars them "could disrupt unit cohesion... and ...
• Lindsey Graham too tired to vote for START
  Poor Lindsey Graham was so tired, Friday, from so much voting. So, so much voting!

SMB News

• Indonesian volcano rumbles as president visits cam ...
  For SMB News Indonesian volcano rumbles as president visits camps PURWOBINANGUN: Indonesia’s Mount Merapi volcano spewed more deadly heat clouds Wednesday as President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono visited some of the 50,000 evacuees in shelters. Searing gas billowed from the crater of the 2,914-metre (9 ...
• Kasaba throws spit on the camera
  \Kasaba throws spit on cameraMUMBAI: Ajmal Kasaba webcam spit on Tuesday during a hearing in the Bombay High Court for confirmation of the death penalty, which led the court strictly tell him to behave properly. Judjes a warning when they Kasaba altercation with the police and spit at the camera saw ...
• K’taka Speaker disqualifies 16 MLAs
  For SMB News KBANGALORE: Hours ahead of the trust vote for beleaguered Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa in the Assembly, Speaker K G Bopaiah disqualified sixteen rebel MLAs, including eleven from ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), legislative sources said on Monday. Bopaiah signed the disq ...
• Twin bombing at Shah Ghazi’s shrine kills 8
  For SMB News Twin bombing at Shah Ghazi’s shrine kills 8 KARACHI: Eight people including two children were killed and over 65 others suffered injuries when two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine in Clifton, official sources said here Thursday. Two heads, believed ...
• Musharraf seeks Pak nation’s apology for ‘mistake
  For SMB News Musharraf seeks Pak nation’s apology for ‘mistakes’ LONDON: Former president Gen. (Retd.) Pervez Musharraf Friday admitted that political mistakes were committed in the twilight years of his regime and sought apology from Pakistani nation for the same. “These mistakes caused damage to t ...

Toronto Star - Editorials

• Don’t ask, don’t tell: U.S. rights an old wrong
  For gay American troops serving their country in Afghanistan and Iraq, and sometimes dying for it, the Pentagon’s “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy was a constant reminder of their second-class status. No longer. Soon they will be able to serve openly ...
• CPP reforms: Still alive, but on life support
  There is hope yet for an expanded Canada Pension Plan (CPP) as a solution to looming retirement woes, but it is hanging by a thread.
• Harper's belated move on native education
  Stephen Harper is finally proposing to improve education for First Nations and other native peoples.
• Brampton council dithers
  Brampton's quest for an integrity commissioner is already generating concern and controversy.
• Welfare rules: Keeping people in poverty trap
  A report last week documents the vice-like restrictions that keep people pinned down by poverty.

Energy Collective

• From the Gulf to the Volt
  When trying to save the planet, every litter bit helps. But let’s not lose sight of the forest when we’re saving a tree–or when General Motors is recycling “plastic boom material used to soak up oil in the Gulf of Mexico” into auto parts in the Chevrolet Volt.
• UL Study Raises New Questions About E15
  One of the energy stories I've followed with great interest all year concerns efforts to increase the proportion of ethanol blended into ordinary US gasoline. This began last year when Growth Energy, an ethanol trade association, asked the Environmental Protection Agency for a waiver to increase th ...
• Michael Oppenheimer delivers American Geophysical ...
  The truth is bad enough Integrity should never be compromised Don’t be afraid to use metaphors Distinguish when speaking about your values (as a member of the human race) and when speaking as scientist Don’t let fear (of deniers) keep you from working on the most important problems facing society O ...
• Field Report from POWER-GEN International 2010
  One of my colleagues filed the following field report from the conference held last week:
• SAP talks e-mobility!
  Tweet�

EU Times

• Egypt uncovers ‘Israeli spy ring’
  Egyptian officials have charged a local businessman and two Israelis with recruiting agents to spy for Israel. State prosecutor Hisham Badawi said Tareq Hassan was charged with harming Egypt’s national interests. The two Israelis were charged in absentia. It comes a day after Egyptian sources said a ...
• Belarus rounds up Opposition supporters
  Security forces in Belarus have detained over 600 people, including seven opposition candidates, after smashing a mass rally protesting fraud in the landslide re-election of president Alexander Lukashenko. Western governments have been quick to condemn the vote and the crackdown, with the United Sta ...
• Chavez ‘would expel US ambassador’
  Tension flared between the US and Venezuela over Washington’s nominee for ambassador on Saturday. President Hugo Chavez warned the diplomat would be detained and put on the next flight home if he sets foot in the country. For months Mr Chavez warned that President Obama’s nominee, Larry Palmer, woul ...
• DREAM Act students vow revolution after act fails ...
  “This is war!” claims Phoenix student Aldemar Cruz. “Republicans may have stopped the DREAM Act, but they won’t prevent La Reconquista from happening. “White people, watch out!” Olivia Perez, an undocumented student who claims she was forced to fill out false paperwork in order to stay in the United ...
• Immigration in Canada: A smaller welcome mat
  Some Canadians are having second thoughts about their traditionally liberal immigration policy. But many still support it. CANADA has long been known as one of the world’s most welcoming countries for immigrants, and thus a good bet for refugees, who are granted most of the same rights and freedoms ...

Stonecipher News

• Don't Quit Your Day Job
  This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Ashworth College. All opinions are 100% mine. With approximately 4,000,000 students today, more than 20 percent of all students enrolled in higher education are taking at least one course online. Self paced online courses all ...
• Breast Cancer Gene May Raise Men’s Risk, Too
  Source: HealthDay News: "A faulty gene that greatly increases a woman’s risk of breast cancer also boosts a man’s risk for the disease, a new study finds. While most people think of breast cancer as a woman’s illness, in rare cases men can develop breast tumors as well. The new study found that me ...
• Diabetics Urged to Confer With Their Doctor About ...
  According to Amanda Gardner HealthDay Reporter, "THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- One day after a U.S. advisory panel recommended that the controversial diabetes drug Avandia stay on the market -- albeit with added restrictions -- several medical organizations are urging patients not to change ...
• Top Five Cleaning Mistakes
  This is a short video about the common mistakes when cleaning. You may still be sleeping with bugs after cleaning.
• Repression and the Ruling Class
  From my Triond collection: I recently read Louis Althusser’s article on Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses. He discusses the production for conditions of reproduction by breaking down the Marxist theory into several fundamental aspects. Althusser discussed the differences between the proleta ...

Liquida : Worldwide News & Opinion

• Israel will never share Jerusalem
  I wrote about it numerous times, to hell with Israel they are the problem. Netanyahu does not want peace until he gets everything he wants which includes all of Jerusalem. We have to take care of our own and let them hang themselves. Ahmadinejad was right in one thing when he said years ago that is ...
• The Technology newsbucket: mobile app data leakage ...
  Plus Windows Phone 7 marketplace live stats, visualising Europe's energy use, why micropayments (still) won't work, the mystery of China's CE mark and more See link 8. Photo by zipckr on Flickr
• Sorted App for iPhone and iPad Updated, Brings iOS ...
  Sorted is an elegant and simple to do app using which you can sort your everyday tasks. Sorted app updated to version 2.0 for iPhone and iPad . This new updated version comes with refined and simplified interface, support for iOS 4, improved time and date settings on tasks, improved internationalis ...
• In Response to Intensive Rocket Fire, IAF Targets ...
  Overnight, in a joint IAF-ISA activity, the IAF targeted seven terror related sites in the Gaza Strip. In the Northern Gaza Strip, three Hamas-operated tunnels were targeted. In the Southern Gaza Strip, an additional Hamas-operated tunnel, a smuggling tunnel, a weapons manufacturing facility and a ...
• HP Android, low cost netbooks incoming
  For several months HP is considering to market netbooks running Google Android. The ‘Google OS would be to replace the standard Windows devices utlraportatili. The main advantage is in lowering the cost of these devices: it works with Android ARM processors, a family of CPU that have lower performa ...

Groklaw

• Attachmate Acquisition: What does it mean for SUSE ...
  A Q&A with Jeff Hawn, chairman and CEO of Attachmate by Jos Poortvliet, openSUSE Community Manager at Novell:... What is Attachmate's view of open source software? Attachmate recognizes that enterprises all over the world are utilizing more open source technology in their infrastructures, data cent ...
• A 10th Circuit Split
  By a vote of 5-4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit denies rehearing en banc in the Utah highway patrol roadside memorial crosses case: You can access the order denying rehearing en banc and the two dissents therefrom at this link [PDF]. [PJ: You might find it of interest to read th ...
• Intellectual Ventures: Independence Day Take II
  Just like in the story-line of Independence Day, where the alien death ships slowly but surely positioned themselves over each major city, with the eventual outcome well understood, so too is Intellectual Ventures (I.V.) slowly positioning itself as the patent overlord over many major industry segme ...
• F.C.C. Is Set to Regulate Net Access
  Citing the wireless proposal, Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, said over the weekend that the F.C.C. was effectively allowing discrimination on the mobile Net, a fast-growing sector. "Maybe you like Google Maps. Well, tough," Mr. Franken said on Saturday on the Senate floor. "If the F.C.C ...
• Lunar Eclipse Monday Night Will Cast Rare Shadow o ...
  If you only want a quick glimpse of the eclipse (standing outside for four hours in December takes serious dedication), bundle up and look skyward mid-eclipse at 3:17 a.m. EST (12:17 a.m. PST), when the moon will be in deepest shadow and displaying its best coppery red hue. - Wired Science

WideShut

• Alleged UK Terror Plot Thwarted: 12 Arrests
  Twelve men arrested in anti-terror raids for allegedly planning bomb attacks in UK.
• Debt Free Money and Less Fraction In The Reserves
  An analysis of the financial collapse and solutions to national debt and the corrupt fractional reserve system.
• £500 Green Tax On UK Energy Bills
  UK energy bills to rise by £500 to pay for green powerplants under EU agreement.
• December 14, 2010, WideShut Webcast On Resistance ...
  On this week's show Keelan discusses the obvious push for a New World Order, and the global awakening Brzezinski fears.
• The Private Security Takeover
  Seven EU countries have more private security than police, and in the UK they are quite clearly abusing their non-power.

Waterkeeper Alliance

• Remedial investigation of Buffalo River cleanup
  Remedial investigation of Buffalo River cleanup
• Appeal filed to fight coal plant
  Appeal filed to fight coal plant
• Baykeeper on Once-Through Cooling at State Water R ...
  Baykeeper on Once-Through Cooling at State Water Resources Control Board
• Environmental Groups Move To Block US Coal Export ...
  Environmental Groups Move To Block US Coal Export Terminal
• EPA mandates DeKalb clean water-sewer system
  EPA mandates DeKalb clean water-sewer system

Politics in the Zeros

• Britain: Has the Loop Current stopped?
  The Loop Current which gives Britain a moderate climate has stopped, says a noted scientist with years of experience in analyzing it. If so, the ramifications are staggering. The current weather in Britain is the coldest in 100 years. Is this a one-time anomaly or a precursor of things to come? He b ...
• Portugal to install pumped hydro
  Hydroelectric power has been around for a long time. With pumped hydro, water is pumped up to a reservoir during times of excess power production. When power is needed, the water is released to power turbines and create electricity, and it is available almost instantly. This is increasingly importan ...
• US Navy preparing for climate change
  Rear Admiral David Titley, director of the US Navy climate change task force, sees failed states with millions of angry migrants, as well as the Bering Strait becoming as important as the Straits of Hormuz. The Pentagon fully believes that climate change is happening (quick, someone tell the Republi ...
• Michael Vick wants a dog
  Michael Vick hung dogs that performed badly in the dog fighting ring “by placing a nylon cord over a 2 X 4 that was nailed to two trees located next to the big shed.” He also “drowned approximately three dogs by putting the dogs’ heads in a five gallon bucket of water.” He lied to [...]
• Joe Biden is a pompous ass
  VP Biden says Assange is a “high tech terrorist.” Really? Terrorism is generally understood to include the deliberate targeting of civilians and noncombatants for death or injury. Thus, Assange is not even remotely a terrorist by any definition and Biden should be ashamed of himself, if he’s capable ...

TVNZ - Top Stories

• ACC minister issues warning over debt
  It will take a decade to close the current $10 billion deficit in the ACC scheme, minister Nick Smith says.  
• Pike mine families receive 'Christmas cheer' payou ...
  Families of the 29 men killed in the Pike River mine will be getting immediate financial relief to help them through Christmas
• Minister orders report into abuse of Waitakere gir ...
  Social Development Minister Paula Bennett has called for a report into the welfare agencies handling of the case of a nine-year-old Waitakere girl who was the victim of systematic abuse
• Kiwi soldier gets military send-off for a 'valiant ...
  A crowd of 700 gathered in Wellington this afternoon to farewell Kiwi-born British soldier Private Jack Howard
• ACC minister issues warning over debt
  It will take a decade to close the current $10 billion deficit in the ACC scheme, minister Nick Smith says.  

Just World News

• Standoff-ending precedents: The 'USSR' and Iran
  I was just reading the generally sensible 'Talk of the Town' piece on Iran and WikiLeaks that Rick Hertzberg had in the Dec. 13 issue of the New Yorker, that landed on our stoop this afternoon. (Sorry, can't easily find a link for it.) The piece is interesting because-- though Hertzberg seems to ta ...
• Visser's book on Iraq now available for sale!
  Reidar Visser's magisterial 300-page book A Responsible End? The United States and Iraq, 2005-2010 is now available for sale from Amazon. Actually, it's already selling really well there! Long-time JWN readers will be quite familiar with the work of this smart and dedicated European researcher, who ...
• U.S. diplomacy in tatters-- and not from Wikileaks
  Our country's ability to influence events around the world is in tatters-- and this was already the case before the latest round of Wikileaks started to dribble out to the public. Yesterday there were "elections" in Egypt and Haiti, two countries deep within the U.S. sphere of influence. Both electi ...
• Robinson and Brahimi: Wrong on Hamas and women
  Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi have a piece in HuffPo today in which they argue, probably correctly, that it is Gaza's women and children who are paying the highest price for Israel's now years-long siege of Gaza. They write: Women in this conservative society find their domestic responsibiliti ...
• Celebrate Laila's book launch today!
  Today's the day! Laila El-Haddad will be launching her first book, Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything In Between at 6:30 pm EST in Washington DC's Palestine Center. The event will be livestreamed. So come in person if you can-- but if you can't, make sure to watch the livestrea ...

First Truths

• State-Corporate Healthcare: No "Right to Choose"
  I responded to Monday's U.S. District Court decision on the new healthcare law for C4SS.
• Cartelization Harries the UK Student
  Britain's education oligopoly bleeds its students dry while the ruling class invokes "austerity." My analysis here.
• The Ivory Coast and "Power-Sharing"
  The election controversy in Ivory Coast has raised the idea of "power-sharing" within the country, an idea that arguably, when carried to its ultimate end, leads to anarchy. Read my comment here.
• Liberty or Authority: The Social(ism) Question
  Although the vicissitudes of the political season belie the fact, when November draws to a close the state will persist. And with it will remain its ring of members, superficial substitutions notwithstanding, all ready to deal in douceurs with wealth created by the productive among us. Convinced a ...
• The State's Corporate Wasteland
  Corporations, while they are celebrated as paragons of innovation and efficiency, suffer from the same slow reaction time, waste, and lack of creativity that defines government agencies. Taking into account the fact that the state and the corporation are pieces of the same coercive puzzle, a system ...

Media Co-Op

• Journalists! Pitch your story for 2011
  As we do every month, the Media Co-op will pay two contributors for news features to be published in The Dominion. We prioritize solutions-oriented news pieces with a Canadian angle, including photo essays and video pitches. Pitches are welcome from anyone; priority for payment goes to those who hav ...
• Pancakes for All! Homes for All!
  VANCOUVER - Van.Act hosted a�pancake brunch�today to mark the publicity launch of the February 2011�tent village at the site of Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson`s�multi-million dollar bailout for developers. The Olympic legacy at the Athlete's Village still has zero social housing units occupied. Se ...
• "Media is Just the Word for getting the Word Out"
  David Eby, Henry Yu, Tami Starlight, and Harsha Walia Speak Out on Human Rights and Media Last week, on the eve of International Human Rights Day, the Chinese-Canadian National Council and W2 hosted a panel on human right and the media in Vanc ...
• Who Ya Gonna Call?
  The Commissioner of the Environment takes your questions Some might call Scott Vaughan a modern-day Chicken Little. But Vaughan is the federal Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. He would know better than anyone if the ...
• Africville Settlement: A Replica Church Amidst a D ...
  By Denise Allen On November 26th, Mayor Kelly announced that $2.5 million had been transferred by the Halifax Regional Municipality to the Africville Heritage Trust Society. This money has already been committed to the construction of a repl ...

David Seaton's News Links

• Wikileaks: comparing conspiracy theories
  Image by Christian Ségal������ David Seaton's News LinksIt isn't as if conspiracies don't exist, but generally stupidity or incompetence explain most disasters and even real conspiracies don't tend to be as elaborate as their legion of fans would like to believe. But if we define a "conspiracy" as w ...
• The travails of Pfc Bradely Manning
  From the beginning of his detention, Manning has been held in intensive solitary confinement. For 23 out of 24 hours every day -- for seven straight months and counting -- he sits completely alone in his cell. Even inside his cell, his activities are heavily restricted; he's barred even from exerc ...
• Is "freedom" just another word for nothing left to ...
  David Seaton's News Links There is a world, a universe, of pain in the following quote from the Financial Times: If you want something to get angry about, I wouldn�t look at tuition fees. I�d look at a little graph produced by Leon Feinstein of the Institute for Education, which shows tests of cogn ...
• Holbrooke and Assange: the end of empire and the d ...
  Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori "You've got to stop this war in Afghanistan." The last words of Richard HolbrookeDavid Seaton's News LinksAmerica's most famous über-diplomat went out like an old Roman: his last words, lucid and noble, are worthy of the best moments that American history has to ...
• Wikileaks (virtual world) versus lynching the Prin ...
  David Seaton's News LinksOn Saturday the 11th of December, about 50 people demonstrated in favor of Julian Assange in front of the US Embassy in London. The demonstration was organized on the Internet.� Two days before, in the same city, a crowd of rioting students nearly lynched the Prince of Wales ...

EWG - Environmental Working Group

• EWG Tests Show Notorious Carcinogen is Widespread ...
  Contact: Home Full Report Executive Summary Study Findings Industry Tactics Government Failings Progress in California Study Methodology ... [[ This is a content summar ...
• EWG response to EPA’s review of chromium-6 health ...
  December 15th, 2010 Read our Press Release Download PDF. November 23, 2010 Office of Environmental Information (OEI) Docket Mail Code: 2822T U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW. Washington, DC 20460 Re:... [[ This is a content summa ...
• Lawmakers, Researchers, Doctors Reject Schwarzeneg ...
  Contact: Renee Sharp,             (510) 444-0973      x302 or renee@ewg.org Read our letter to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Oakland, Calif. – Lawmakers, public health advocates, scientists, public utility managers and medical doctors are demanding that... [[ This is a content summary only. ...
• Put Low Radiation Smart Phones on Your Shopping Li ...
  Contact: EWG Public Affairs,            (202) 667-6982       alex@ewg.org or leeann@ewg.org Washington, D.C. — Shoppers looking for smart phones with the most features don’t have to expose themselves to higher radiation levels to get what they want, a new... [[ This is a content summary only ...
• Obama Signs Child Nutrition Act
  Contact: EWG Public Affairs:            202-667-6982       Alex Formuzis alex@ewg.org or Leeann Brown leeann@ewg.org Taking an historic step to improve the health of children across the country, President Obama signed into law today (Dec. 13) the Healthy,... [[ This is a content summary only ...

Dr. Mercola Natural Health

• The "Calcium Lie" Every Woman Should Know About
  By Dr. Mercola Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by porous and fragile bones. It affects 44 million Americans, striking 1 in 3 women, and 1 in 5 men. Those with osteoporosis are at increased risk of height loss, fractures of the hips, wrists and vertebrae, and chronic pain. If you've been ...
• One Year in 40 Seconds
  Images were snapped at the same spot throughout a single year, showing the seasons change.
• What the Length of Your Index Finger Says About Yo ...
  For many decades, scientists have noticed an extraordinary link between the length of your ring and index fingers and a plethora of apparently unrelated traits. Evidence is growing that this 'digit ratio' effect is real. Recently, strong evidence has emerged that men whose index fingers are longer ...
• This Powerful Nutrient Improves Concentration by 6 ...
  A clinical study in children with ADHD showed that they significant improved both their clinical scores and identified EEG patterns when their diets were supplemented with krill oil for a period of 13 weeks. The EEG patterns of the study participants were compared to a database of more than 400 chi ...
• Get the White Out of Baby's First Foods
  Almost every childcare book offers the same advice about a baby's first solid meal -- start them first on rice cereal mixed with breast milk or formula. This has been received wisdom for 60 years. But this is because in the 1950's, baby food companies launched an advertising blitz trumpeting the b ...

JAMA

• Weight Lifting for Women at Risk for Breast Cancer ...
  Context Clinical guidelines for breast cancer survivors without lymphedema advise against upper body exercise, preventing them from obtaining established health benefits of weight lifting. Objective To evaluate lymphedema onset after a 1-year weight lifting intervention vs no exercise (control) amo ...
• JAMA's Online Evolution [Editorial]
• Painkillers in Pregnancy [The World in Medicine]
• Blood Progenitors From Skin [The World in Medicine ...
• Global Routine Vaccination Coverage, 2009 [From th ...

Survival - tribal peoples

• Nukak’s desperate plea to return home
  Many Nukak have been forced to flee their forest homes, and now live in refugee camps outside the forest. © Arnau Blanch/Survival A leader of the Nukak tribe from the Colombian Amazon has made a desperate appeal for his people’s survival before the country’s top human rights committee. ’We wan ...
• Borneo tribes under threat from massive palm oil e ...
  Penan mother and child, Sarawak, Borneo. © Survival International The hunter-gatherer Penan and other tribes are under threat from new plans to expand palm oil plantations massively in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The Sarawak government has announced plans to double the area used for palm ...
• Tribe reveals new evidence of uncontacted Indians ...
  Kayapó Indians dance at a protest against the Belo Monte dam © T Turner A tribe in the Brazilian Amazon has revealed new evidence showing that there are uncontacted Indians living in the area of the planned Belo Monte mega-dam, and has warned that these Indians are seriously threatened by the p ...
• Success! USA is final country to support tribal ri ...
  All countries that opposed the Declaration, including Australia, now support it. It is a small step in creating real change for tribal people like this Aboriginal boy. © John Miles/Survival The United States has formally endorsed the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, meaning t ...
• Survival calls on Obama to support the UN Declarat ...
  The UN Declaration sets standards by which governments' treatment of indigenous people can be judged. © 1996 Fiona Watson/Survival To mark tomorrow’s opening of the White House Tribal Nations Conference, Survival has called on President Obama to support the UN Declaration on the rights of indi ...

Montreal Gazette

• Editorial: Amir Khadir unclear on the concept
  One has to wonder if Amir Khadir has some kind of perverse thing about shoes -or just Israel. The Quebec solidaire member of the National Assembly for Mercier previously came off looking silly at an anti-American demonstration where he threw a shoe atapictureof formerpresidentGeorgeW. Bush. ...
• Editorial: Uncertainty clouds future of anglo scho ...
  Uncertainty is becoming ever more the way of life in the English-language education sector in Quebec, a situation that the provincial government seems little pressed to alleviate.
• Amir Khadir unclear on the concept
  One has to wonder if Amir Khadir has some kind of perverse thing about shoes -or just Israel. The Quebec solidaire member of the National Assembly for Mercier previously came off looking silly at an anti-American demonstration where he threw a shoe atapictureof formerpresidentGeorgeW. Bush. ...
• Uncertainty clouds future of anglo schools
  The spectre of school closings looms once again at this year's end. According to the English Montreal School Board's revised three-year plan, there is a possibility that 40 of its schools face an uncertain future, including 14 elementary schools with fewer than 200 students.
• Editorial: Good riddance to a losing proposition
  Few tears are being shed over the end of an institution that helped usher in modern Quebec. It has been nearly 50 years since the Societe generale de financement du Quebec was established to help the Quebec of the early 1960s catch up economically with the rest of the country and the outside ...

Food World Order

• 1 in 7 US homes hit by hunger; numbers nearly doub ...
  6.8m US households did not have enough food last year from alertnet: The number of U.S. households that reported getting emergency food from a food pantry almost doubled between 2007 and 2009, at the height of the recession, a government report said on Monday. The U.S. Department of Agriculture ...
• hexavalent chromium found in drinking water of 31 ...
  from washington post: An environmental group that analyzed the drinking water in 35 cities across the United States, including Bethesda and Washington, found that most contained hexavalent chromium, a probable carcinogen that was made famous by the film "Erin Brockovich." The study, which will be re ...
• before your next grocery trip, get the non-gmo sho ...
  non-gmo shopping guide: get the app & download the pdf! from NonGmoShoppingGuide.com: The Institute for Responsible Technology is a world leader in educating policy makers and the public about genetically modified (GM) foods and crops. We investigate and report their risks and impact on health, e ...
• grocer a&p files for chapter 11 reorganization
  from ap: The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., once the nation's largest grocer, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Sunday after years of struggling with enormous debt and rising competition from low-priced peers. The 151-year-old company, based in Montvale, N.J., operates 395 stores ar ...
• 12/9 binge & purge: nano-foods & merck muppets
  dems try to pass 'food safety' by hiding it in hr3082* even forbes agrees: more fda authority won't improve food safety* leaked cables reveal gmo, agrofuel agendas* food stamp rolls continue to rise* artificial 'nano-food' could soon show up at a store near you* rat in curry prompts c ...

CrusadeWatch

• "Crorepathy" Fr. Jegath Gasper Raj main ...
  source:  Asian Tribune The Sri Lankan Catholic Church, the Catholic Radio Veritas based in Phillipines, the Tamil Catholic hierachy and its priests have been the main links of the global network of the Church to protect, promote, provide succor and cover to the internationally banned T ...
• Sex, lies and money in the church
  source: Indian Express, October 24, 2010 Shevlin Sebastian It was midnight. Fr Jose George could not sleep because there was no fan in his room. Jose knocked on Anna Jacobs door. When she opened it, he told her he could not sleep. She invited him inside, because there was a fan. ...
• Denigration of Buddhism & conversion of the vu ...
  source:  Vijayvaani.com,   Oct 25, 2010 Christianisation was the third force of colonialism as best expressed by Jomo Kenyatta, the late Kenyan leader, who said: When the white man came he had the bible we had the land. Then he said let us close our eyes and pray. When we opened our eyes ...
• Christianity's contributions mostly negative, Amer ...
  source:  Christian Century, October 26, 2010 (RNS) When asked about Christianity's recent contributions to society, Americans cited more negatives than benefits, according to a new survey.
• Evangelism as part of foreign political strategy
  source:  The organiser, Oct 3, 2010  By Manju Gupta Evangelical Intrusions, Sandhya Jain, Rupa & Co., Pp 251 (HB), Rs 395.00 THIS book comes at an opportune moment when repeated reports of religio-political violence in the north-eastern states are pouring in, accompanied by the ris ...

Whole Truth Coalition

• .Lies, Damned Lies and Scottish Justice
  Robert Green, the man who was brave enough to speak out about the horrific paedophile rapes of Hollie Greig, the most probable murder of her uncle Robert Greig to “shut him up”, and the sickening wall of silence by the Scottish establishment, has been arrested. We believe the charge is Breach of th ...
• Child Rapists Protected By The State
  In the October 2009 print edition of the UK Column, we reported in our article “BBC Hides Truth of Girl’s Sexual Abuse Ordeal” the shocking ordeal of Downs Syndrome girl, Hollie Greig, who was horribly abused by an Aberdeen paedophile ring, over a period of ten years. After investigating and planni ...
• An Invitation to Meet Hollie and Anne Greig
  ‘Hollie and Anne would like to thank their many supporters for their continuing hard work and support. Towards that end, they have decided to host an informal function near Berwick-upon-Tweed at the Marshall Meadows Hotel on Sunday the 21st of March from 2 until 5pm. The Marshall Meadows Hotel is s ...
• Robert Green Speaking at Truthjuice Llangollen, Ma ...
  Wednesday 24th March 2010 at 7pm Reporter Robert Green was arrested in Aberdeen for the crime of seeking justice and an investigation into the case of Down’s Syndrome girl, Hollie Greig, who says she was serially-raped over a decade by an establishment paedophile ring operating in Scotland. Robert ...
• Mary Rodwell The New Human Vers. 02

The Economic Collapse

• Government Waste: 20 Of The Craziest Things That T ...
  You are not going to believe some of the things that the U.S. government is spending money on.  According to a shocking new report, U.S. taxpayer money is being spent to study World of Warcraft, to study how Americans find love on the Internet, and to study the behavior of male pros ...
• Jobless Recovery?: 25 Unemployment Statistics That ...
  Guess what?  Unemployment is up again!  That's right - even though Wall Street is swimming in cash and the Obama administration is declaring that "the recession is over", the U.S. unemployment rate has gone even higher.  So are you enjoying the jobless recovery?  The truth is that t ...
• The Federal Reserve Bans A Local Oklahoma Bank Fro ...
  What in the world are they thinking over at the Federal Reserve?  The privately-owned central bank that runs the U.S. economy is now forcing local banks to remove every shred of Christian faith from their establishments.  When Federal Reserve examiners recently visited a local bank ...
• Did The Price Of Oil Help Cause The Financial Cris ...
  Oil prices are starting to spin out of control once again.  In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in February hit 91.89 dollars a barrel on Friday.  New York crude moved above 88 dollars a barrel on Friday.  Many analysts believe that 100 dollar oil is a virtual certainty no ...
• Trillions In Secret Fed Bailouts For Global Corpor ...
  Has the Federal Reserve become the Central Bank of the World?  That is what some members of Congress are asking after the Federal Reserve revealed the details of 21,000 transactions stretching from December 2007 to July 2010 that totaled more than $3 trillion on Wednesday.  Most ...

CASSE

• Top 10 Songs for the Steady State
  Check out this list of top songs with thematic elements of the steady state economy.
• Ecosystem Services: Pricing to Peddle
  Markets are good for several things, but allocating ecosystem services is not one of them.
• Real Economies and the Illusions of Abstraction
  Hazel Henderson, a true champion of the steady state economy, digs deep into the deficiencies of our economic and financial systems.
• A Shift in the Burden of Proof
  The World Bank and other proponents of growth need to prove that growth is actually "economic" instead of "uneconomic."
• From Black Friday to a Better Way
  Rethinking consumption and consumer spending may be the key to enjoying the holidays.

The Talking Clock

• Man made global warming? I want my money back!
  Coldest winter in 25, 50 or 100 years depending on the report you read. We'll never see snow again, they told us. Oh, really? The end of the world is nigh, they told us... and only sending all of our tax revenues to Pachauri and Al Gore and exporting all of our industry to India will save u ...
• Economist Jim Rogers tells RT: 'Britain is bankrup ...
  Now can we leave the European Empire (billions and huge trade deficit); now can we stop giving all of our money to the banks; now can we stop funding the global climate scam; now can we stop giving benefits to people who have never paid into the pot... because - according to respected economist Jim ...
• Quote of the Day: 20th December 2010
  "Greece was supposed to be the bailout to end all bailouts. It is now clear it's just the first of many. What countries like Ireland, Greece and Spain need to do is default, take back their own currencies, devalue and export their way out of trouble. Otherwise we are just pouring money into a black ...
• Sunday Paper Review: 12th December 2010
  Oh dear... real life is starting to parody p*ss takes that we post on this blog already! We don't normally feature the Sunday Mirror in our round-up, but we just had to as they report that: "Nick Clegg is being lined up for a top EU job in an “emergency exit” strategy as he faces a revolt in h ...
• There may be trouble ahead (unless Westminster sud ...
  Oh dear. First it was the students with legitimate concerns... and they got elbowed out of the way by Marxist Youth thugs with sympathies for the Labour Party. And, despite this observation, it seems increasingly clear that the mood of the public - both here in Britain and elsewhere around the ...

Facing South

• INSTITUTE INDEX: Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
  Date on which the Senate repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy prohibiting gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers from serving openly in the military: 12/18/2010 Number of U.S. service members who have been discharged under the policy since it was adopted in 1993: more than 13,300 Final Senate v ...
• IKEA at center of labor rights controversy in Virg ...
  By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest When my colleagues and I at Good Jobs First introduced the Subsidy Tracker database recently, our hope was that the information would be helpful to a wide range of campaigns for economic and social justice. I can now offer one particular use. By p ...
• Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown
  By Kung Li Georgia prisoners came out of their cells today, ending the lockdown phase of the largest prison work strike in U.S. history. The coordinated, nonviolent action drew support from around the country. Months in the planning, the work strike this past week surprised prison officials.�� � ...
• INSTITUTE INDEX: Segregation forever?
  Over the past five years, percent of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas where racial segregation increased: 25 Percent of those same metro areas where segregation increased for Hispanics: 50 Percent of U.S. whites who live in predominantly white neighborhoods today: 79 That figure in 2000: 8 ...
• Feds sue companies behind BP oil disaster as exten ...
  The Department of Justice announced yesterday that it was suing BP and eight other defendants for their roles in the oil rig disaster that claimed the lives of 11 workers and spilled 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The defendants named in the suit include BP Exploratio ...

CenterLine

• Today’s Terrorism News
  Trio of False Alarms Put New York on Edge Today’s Terrorism News will be on hiatus until January 3. We’d like to wish all of our readers a happy and healthy holiday season, and we hope to see you in … Continue reading →
• Today’s Terrorism News
  Lawyers for Ghailani Urge Judge to Dismiss Single Conviction On Friday, lawyers for Ahmed Ghailani, who was acquitted of more 280 counts of murder and conspiracy in November in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in East Africa, urged … Continue reading →
• Today’s Terrorism News
  Lawyers for Zubaydah Ask Poland to Open Investigation Lawyers for Abu Zubaydah, a Palestinian detained at Guantanamo, have filed a lawsuit in Poland to request a formal investigation into whether Zubaydah was mistreated at a secret CIA-run prison in the … Continue reading →
• Today’s Terrorism News
  Guyanese Man Gets Life Sentence for JFK Bomb Plot Abdul Kadir, a former Guyanese politician who was convicted earlier this year for plotting to detonate the fuel system at JFK International Airport in New York, was sentenced to life in … Continue reading →
• Today’s Terrorism News
  Virginia Man Arrested After Threatening DC Metro on Facebook A Virginia man was arrested earlier this month and charged with communicating threats via interstate communications after allegedly making threatening comments about bombs on DC Metro trains on Facebook. According to … Continue reading →

Short Sharp Science

• Today on New Scientist: 20 December 2010
  All today's stories on NewScientist.com, including: rogue planets, chimpanzees with dolls and vermin-infested mangers
• HIV cure a success, but won't work for everyone
  Does one man's apparent recovery from HIV herald the dawn of a cure for the disease? Not for everyone, if you look at the facts
• Could US nuke treaty really be a new start?
  As a US-Russian treaty to reduce nuclear arsenals inches towards a vote, does an accompanying US investment in nuclear weapons undermine it?
• First use of animal sedative on death row
  A shortage of regular sedatives has lead to a the introduction of a new drug for lethal injection executions in Oklahoma
• Today on New Scientist: 17 December 2010
  All today's stories on NewScientist.com, including: alien trees, living dinosaurs and a jet getting a piggyback

Tech Drive In

• Pinguy OS - Probably the Best Ubuntu Derivative I ...
  Pinguy OS - not many must have heard about it. Pinguy OS is basically a heavily modified Ubuntu with an emphasis on the out-of-the-box functionality of the OS and more importantly on the look-good factor. And I got to tell you folks, on every count, my experience with Pinguy OS was well above averag ...
• Orta Theme for Ubuntu GNOME Just Got Awesomer!
  We had already featured Orta theme in our listing of�top themes to be used with Faenza icon theme in Ubuntu. Orta GTK theme hit version 1.0 today and has become ever more beautiful. The latest version comes with a number of new features and tweaks as well. What's New in Orta 1.0 GTK Theme fo ...
• Top 3 Application Menu Alternatives for Ubuntu
  I didn't had any problem with the default menu application I have in my Ubuntu. That was until I tried other application menus available out there. Here is a collection of 3 simple application menu alternatives you should give a try in your Ubuntu. GnoMenu GnoMenu is a nice and simple alte ...
• Latest RapNews Episode Featuring WikiLeaks is Sple ...
  I am not a big fan of rap music, but I had to feature this episode of RapNews video here. It is RapNews episode 6 - "Wikileaks' Cablegate: the truth is out there". It is definitely worth watching(mildly NSFW content warning). Wikileaks' Cablegate: The Truth is Out There Interested ...
• 18 Applications You Need to Install and Experience ...
  We have already featured a post dedicated to things you should do after installing Ubuntu, now lets take a look at the applications/softwares to install after installing Ubuntu. Please bear in mind that this is a post meant for newbie Ubuntu users primarily. [image via ubuntu wallpapers] This ar ...

Case About Bird Flu

• WILL GERMANY INTRODUCE THE DEUTSCHMARK IN 2011?
   IT IS WEDNEDSAY, JANUARY 19th, 2011. All the lights in Berlin’s Chancellory are shining in the grey-blue dusk. Extra police are on duty, checking the identity cards of the journalists, arriving in large numbers. Chancellor Angela Merkel has called an emergency press conference for 5 pm. The euro is ...
• MERKEL PREVENTS EUROZONE MELTDOWN BUT CAN EUROPE B ...
  Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel backed by other European leaders managed to stop economic devastation for millions of people across the eurozone on Thursday by blocking the introduction of eurobonds and the expansion of the 750 billion euro bank bailout fund at a Brussels summit on Thursday. Whil ...
• Germany honours Prince Harry, shuns the Guttenberg ...
  A TV take show special featuring German Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) and his wife in a German military base in Afghanistan has flopped, attracting only 1,01 millionen viewers yesterday, a figure below the SAT 1 average audience. German media criticised the Guttenbergs of underta ...
• Trial of activists spotlights problems in Austrian ...
  The corruption plaguing the Austria’s justice system has been dramatically highlighted by the trial of 13 animal rights activists under a new paragraph introduced to deal with organised crime. Though millions of euros have been spent, and a 200,000 page report compiled, it has become evident Judge S ...
• EUROPE AT CROSSROADS: Feudal economy and political ...
  Ahead of a key meeting of eurozone finance ministers  in Brussels today on how to rescue the euro,Germany’s conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel and Austrian Social Democrat Chancellor Werner Faymann have paired up forming an unlikely Batman and Robin to try to save the people of Europe from an unp ...

Invisible Opportunity

• Winter Solstice Total Lunar Eclipse Explained &#82 ...
• The Psychopath’s Kettle Is Boiling
  Like the frog in the kettle, the most notorious criminal gang in the world is coming to a boil. Their games are over and paybacks reside just over the horizon. The Elitist’s One World paradigm is wracking apart under internet exposure, astounding failures in climate change, cap and trade, profligate ...
• Iran reportedly in nuclear fuel swap negotiations
  Iran is in negotiations with France, Russia, Turkey and the United States on a nuclear fuel swap deal that Teheran hopes will curb sanctions levied against it, The Telegraph reported on Thursday. According to the report, Iran would send 1,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium and all of its 30 kilog ...
• Der Spiegel 1974 – New Ice Age Approaching
  By P. Gosselin An increased frequency in extreme weather events, a cooling North Atlantic, and growing Arctic sea ice were viewed as signs of climate change. The odds of a warmer climate in the future, according to one scientist, were “at best 1 in 10,000″ (see below). That’s what Der Spiegel wrote ...
• SPECIAL REPORT: More Than 1000 International Scien ...
  By Marc Morano More than 1,000 dissenting scientists (updates previous 700 scientist report) from around the globe have now challenged man-made global warming claims made by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and former Vice President Al Gore. This new 2010 321-page ...

Veterans Today

• Battle Over Science, Money Blocks Widely Recommend ...
  Pentagon blocks cognitive rehabilitation therapy promoted by health experts in show of foolishness unusual even by DoD standards From the VA: Running a very similar version of a story that first appeared on the NPR website, Stars And Stripes (12/21) says that “despite pressure from Congress and the ...
• Suicide Rate Breaks Army Record from ’09
  According to the current edition of the Army Times (12/27, 104K), the US Army “has set a new calendar year record for soldier suicides — with one month still to count.” By the end of the year, the “2010 suicide rate will be more than 10 percent more than last year and as much as [...]
• Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News
  Top 10 Veterans Stories in Todayâs News 1.      Veterans’ Benefits Entangled In Red Tape.  The Washington Times (12/21, 77K) says that while leading Democrats “like to hold up” the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) “as an example of how well government can provide” healthcare, veterans “w ...
• VA Innovation Initiative Makes First Industry Awar ...
  Today we are highlighting two new technologies being tested in hopes of improving treatments for Veterans with heart problems or traumatic brain injury, both funded by the VA Innovation Initiative, or VAi2.  These projects are the first to be awarded under the 2010 Industry Innovation Competition – ...
• WIKILEAKS IS POISON II: DECONSTRUCTION OF THE MYT ...
  Wikileaks Is Zionist Poison II: Deconstruction Of The Myth by Jonathan Azaziah for www.zionunmasked.com Not since Zionist warmonger Barack Obama’s ‘ascension’ to the US presidency, has there been such a hysteria in the anti-war/anti-Zionist community as there is with Julian Assange and his organizat ...

electric politics

• Priorities
  To be honest, the shrimp fishermen don't matter. The Gulf coast tourist traps don't matter. The economic effects of the spill. Don't matter. It's not about the money. What matters is that we're destroying the environment, killing countless innocent creatures. I keep hoping things may not be quite a ...
• Regime Change Politics
  We tell ourselves that humans are sentient animals. Yet here in the U.S. our politics seem rather more directed by delusion, or denial, than reason. Collectively, we not only do not know that our political system does not produce democratic results, we pretend the results are democratic no matter h ...
• The Death and Life of Intelligence Analysis
  Magical thinking drives the Neocons' perpetual efforts to start a war with Iran. Politicians, by and large, fail to apprehend the danger. If it weren't for analysts like Dr. Thomas Fingar — and many others — who have held the line on explaining the real costs of war, we would by now be well and tru ...
• (Unlawful) Targeted Killing
  The U.S. government should not murder people abroad. A simple enough rule, yet in a bizarre, barbaric, and cold-blooded fashion Washington now not only claims the right to murder anyone it wants, anywhere it wants, abroad, including American citizens, but actively carries out such intent with drone ...
• The Power of Imagination
  Harkening back to an earlier age, the prolific and brilliant author and anthologist Michael Sims helps us to understand science, natural history, literature, and all manner of other things. A Renaissance man. In Dracula's Guest he explores through Victorian eyes the universal human fear of the dark ...

PR News

• REI begins informal agency search amid expansion
  SEATTLE: Sports gear and apparel company REI has begun an informal search for a PR agency to support its expansion plans in the tri-state area.
• Kellwood hires Kaplow as AOR for Baby Phat brand
  NEW YORK: Fashion brand Baby Phat hired Kaplow as its AOR following an informal review.
• Cision announces Winter Release upgrade
  CHICAGO: Cision announced an integrated press release tool to multiple social media platforms.
• The Placemaking Group adds Userlytics account
  OAKLAND, CA: Userlytics hired The Placemaking Group to manage its branding, website content, and media relations.
• Davis-Block hires McManus
  WASHINGTON: Davis-Block, a strategic consulting and public affairs shop, hired Eleanor McManus as a partner, effective January 1.

The Story Behind the Story

• The Bursting Debt Bubble – Power Point
  To see Dr. Ott’s newest power point – and to follow along with his radio broadcast, click here:   The Bursting Debt Bubble This is clearly THE BIGGEST STORY in American History. Spread the word — and Merry Christmas – (no thanks to the treasonous traitors at Goldman Sachs.)  
• UTAH SOUND MONEY ACT (Brilliant!!!)
  Today I was introduced to Mr. Larry Hilton, JD, MBA – the author of a brilliant piece of much needed legislation that hopefully will pass the Utah legislature, and then each and every other state in this union. Here is his introduction to me for the “Utah Sound Money Act” —- Click here:  Sound Mone ...
• Long Live King and Queen Obama!!!!
  Barack Obama enjoys living like a king, so why shouldn’t Michelle Obama live like a queen? The First Lady was photographed last night in Hawaii wearing $635 per pair designer shoes by Maison Martin Margiela. A woman lucky enough to have a job in this economy and working for the federal minimum wage ...
• Remember November 22, 1963 – The Assassinati ...
  To honor the memory of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, I think it important to post the following correspondence with independent researcher and film-maker John Hankey. This written dialog was first posted on Rense.com by Mr. Hankey back in 2007. A. True Ott, PhD The Reason JFK Jr Was Murdered From John Ha ...
• COLD FUSION IS HERE!!!
  Understanding Lightning âNeltronsâ is Key to Cold Fusion One manâs study of lightning and itâs effects led to his discovery of the Neltron – tiny negative particles of matter smaller than electrons. The Van Allen Magnetic belts discharges tiny negative particles into the part of the air where helium ...

k2p blog

• Landscheidt minimum is here — a new Dalton i ...
  All the indicators are that the Landscheidt minimum is here and that this is going to be close to a Dalton minimum.
• Snow Chaos
  Snow chaos in Europe but nothing unusual for Stockholm's Arlanda airport where operations continued without any fuss at -10°C and masses of snow. Flights cancelled from Arlanda were only those to the UK and Frankfurt!!!!
• Coldest December in 135 years
  Sweden has experienced more cold days and more snow than is normal for December. This has been the coldest December in 135 years.
• UN to “investigate” its introduction o ...
  The United Nations secretary-general plans to call for an independent commission to study whether U.N. peacekeepers caused a cholera outbreak that has killed more than 2,400 people in Haiti, an official said on Wednesday.
• Winter variations and global warming
  A good thing that Cancun didn't do too much and deferred everything again but of course the jamboree can - and will - continue next year in S. Africa. Global warming is going out of fashion and I have the gut feeling that climate alarmism is beginning to be seen in perspective.

Left Foot Forward

• A progessive agenda for Wales in 2011
  John Griffiths, Labour Member for Newport East, Counsel General & legislative programme leader, sets out the challenges which lie ahead for the Welsh Assembly.
• 2011: The year political activism and progressive ...
  New campaigning models that are de-centred mean 2011 promises to be a year of immense excitement for grassroots politics in our country, writes Aaron Peters.
• Is the Sustainable Communities Act the most import ...
  Steve Shaw discusses the importance of the Sustainable Communities Act, and asks if it is the most important piece of legislation of the past decade.
• Another Tory broken promise on health
  Low-paid health workers including nurses look set to lose jobs or pay. The move would break one of two promises made by David Cameron and George Osborne.
• The campaign for fair admissions to schools
  Margaret Tulloch from Comprehensive Future sets out the challenges of ensuring fair schools admissions under proposals in the new education white paper

Consumerist

• JetBlue Takes Forever To Give Me Near-Useless Trav ...
  Several months ago, Matthew booked a flight to take his family and in-laws from Rochester to Disney World. Then he discovered JetBlue was canceling the flight he had planned. The airline offered him a voucher but made him drive 75 miles to another airport to get a direct flight. It took too much ba ...
• Who Should I Tip During The Holidays And How Much?
  I've left strict word upstairs that the cat-sitter must be tipped well. So far, it's worked. The fancy food comes out, the litter box is kept extra clean, and I even get to sleep in the master bedroom. But not everyone is so generous with their cash. The results of a survey conducted by our older ...
• Here's One Gift For That Child You Hate And Want T ...
  Be glad it's 2010 and not 1890, if only for the fact that your child (or niece/nephew, or precocious sidekick) will not be asking for one of Thomas Edison's talking dolls. The dolls, which Edison called his "little monsters," look innocent enough (we're assuming the one on the left is merely missi ...
• Do Not Move Your Xbox While A Disc Is In The Drive
  B learned the hard way that Xbox 360s like to eat games when you flip the machine from vertical to horizontal orientation while playing. He sought out the publisher for a replacement and has been stuck without the game for several weeks while the company spins its wheels. Note: the disc pictured is ...
• Blockbuster To Close 182 Stores... Wait, There Are ...
  It's hard to believe that Blockbuster's $20 million TV ad campaign hasn't been able to save the sinking ship. Alas, the once-great video chain will soon say farewell to 182 stores over the coming months. From Bloomberg: Blockbuster has already closed more than 1,000 underperforming stores in the ...

Whistleblogger - GAP

• Why James Cole Still Awaits Confirmation Vote; Sen ...
  Washington Post: Why James Cole is Still Waiting for His Confirmation Vote In this letter to the editor, GAP International Reform Director Beatrice Edwards argues that the delay on a vote for James Cole’s confirmation as U.S. deputy attorney should be prolonged until Cole can explain his lapse ...
• McCarthyism on Steroids: Monitoring Americans
  The Washington Post, to its credit, has a new blockbuster article, "Monitoring America," that is part of its larger "Top Secret America" series. In frightening detail, it dissects the vast domestic localized intelligence apparatus being used to collect, store and analyze information about Ameri ...
• Whistleblower Rollercoaster & Espionage Hysteria
  Representative Darrell Issa believes the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act--which had been stuck in the Senate for more than a decade--should be considered next year, when the Republicans control the House, citing: new areas of concern that have been raised by WikiLeaks disclosu ...
• Serpico, MacLean Support Whistleblower Legislation ...
  Orange County Register: Will Serpico, MacLean, Finally Get New Whistleblowers Law? This article specifies how Frank Serpico, Robert MacLean, and many other well-known whistleblowers have expressed support for passage of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act (S. 372) by writing a letter ...
• 63 Good Government Groups Urge Issa to Support Vot ...
  Conservative, Oversight Groups Plead Representative Not to Delay Crucial Reform (Washington, D.C.) – Today, the Government Accountability Project (GAP) and over 60 other groups, including the National Taxpayers Union and Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, sent a letter to Rep. Darrell ...

UK Progressive

• Massachusetts Folks Will Understand !!!!
  If you grew up in the US state of Massachusetts or anywhere near Bahston (Boston, as I did), 96% of these will make all the sense in the world. If you didn’t, 20% will be about the best you can do and they will be very funny. Happy Holidays to all our Massachusetts readers! 1. The [...]
• Bradley Manning Within Rights on Wikileaks
  As the U.S. is now an international aggressor, do Americans still owe it allegiance? If a citizen releases information about crimes the U.S. commits, can he or she be legally punished? These questions arise in connection with the arrests of Australian Julian Assange and PFC Bradley Manning, a U.S. A ...
• Hey, You! Get Off My Lawn! – aka John McCain’s Ran ...
  Close your eyes as you watch this and then realise that this grumpy old man was within 10 million votes of becoming the 44th President of the USA. It is amazing to see an entire distinghuished military and political career go down in such a display of pique. Remember when John McCain was a maverick ...
• Sen. Kyle Still Making Excuses for START and Not P ...
  Oh how we laughed when Rachel Maddow and guest John Kerry created a fictitious Congressional mid-December holiday called “Festivus” when Republicans, who want nothing more than to run out the legislative clock, decided there was not enough time to do the work they had filibustered for an entire year ...
• The Monday Line: FOX Viewers Grossly, Shockingly M ...
  NYU’s Professor Jay Rosen tweeted Friday, urging us to read the entire report by the non-partisan WorldPublicOpinion.org group about campaign messaging and FOX during the recent US elections. It had to be bad. One just could not be prepared for HOW bad. When respondents were asked their news/televis ...

NewsAlert

• Rents in D.C. Area Have Soared
  The Washington Post reports:Rents in the Washington area have soared to the highest level measured in at least 20 years as an array of economic and psychological forces thrust people into the rental market after the housing sector tanked in the last half of the decade. Big government helps D.C. rent ...
• Curbing Excellence: The trouble with American educ ...
  Reason
• Harry Potter actress was beaten and branded a pros ...
  The Daily Mail reports:A Harry Potter actress fled her home after her father and brother threatened to kill her for going out with a Hindu man, a court heard yesterday. Afshan Azad, 22, who appeared in the blockbuster movies as Padma Patil, was attacked and branded a ‘slag’ when Muslim relatives fo ...
• Donation Drive at Newsalert: We Need Your Help
  Your donations help keep this site going. If you value the information on this site , please consider making a donation down below. This is our semi-annual donation drive. We attempt to use many sources of information to help keep you informed. No donation size is too big or too small. Have a great ...
• The Smearing of Ron Paul
  William Anderson

JoNova

• Global Warming takes a holiday
  Here in the sunburnt country, floods are running rife, temperatures are so low some people might have a White Christmas, indeed many people are wearing clothes that are from the wrong season, and all of this of course is just weather. Luckily we aren’t getting as much weather as the UK and Europe. T ...
• Global Warming takes a holiday
  Here in the sunburnt country, floods are running rife, temperatures are so low some people might have a White Christmas, indeed many people are wearing clothes that are from the wrong season, and all of this of course is just weather. Luckily we aren’t getting as much weather as the UK and Europe. T ...
• A journalist who confuses journalism with propagan ...
  Great news: This commentary appears in The Weekend Australian today (in a slightly different edited version). Below was what I submitted, before the edits, with the links intact. Comments are open at The Australian. I’ll be posting less often over the Southern Summer, possibly quite irregularly, so ...
• Could we make that flood worse?
  It’s not like we need another case study in just how creatively dumb bureaucracy can be, but Jennifer Marohasy has been relentless in pursuing the extraordinary case of a government contracting a corporation to pour nearly 7000 Mega litres into a area facing life threatening floods. That’s more than ...
• Global Warming — it’s just another joke
  UPDATE BELOW:See also  the Shut Up Choir’s new song — self satire at work Armstrong and Miller mock the Global Warming thought police as they tell us to ignore our lying eyes, and give us glossy printed pamphlets telling us what we are allowed to think. The formerly fashionable theory of man-made c ...

ReNew America

• Prelude to dictatorship: next they're coming after ...
  (Wes Vernon, RA analyst) - The rejected, tone-deaf leftists in Washington, clinging to their last hours of congressional power, have attempted (with mixed results) to do everything possible to strike back at the voters who dared to hand them pink slips last month at the polls...
• Virginia lawmaker: Bar gays from National Guard
  (Washington Times) - Responding to the federal repeal of the military policy banning open gays from serving in the armed forces, a state lawmaker in Virginia plans to fight back with legislation that bars "active homosexuals" from serving in the Virginia National Guard...
• The FCC's threat to internet freedom
  (Robert M. McDowell) - Tomorrow morning the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will mark the winter solstice by taking an unprecedented step to expand government's reach into the Internet by attempting to regulate its inner workings. In doing so, the agency will circumvent Congress and disregar ...
• Congress overturns military gay ban
  (Fox News) - In a landmark vote, the Senate on Saturday ended the Clinton-era ban on gays serving openly in the military, marking a major triumph for President Obama, liberals and the gay community...
• Reporters told: Don't say 'illegal immigrant'
  (WorldNetDaily) - A diversity plan from a group of journalists says reporters should not be using the term "illegal aliens" because it is not constitutional. "Frequent use of the phrases 'illegal immigrant' and 'illegal alien' by our mainstream media is being questioned in order to remain faithful t ...

Truth Offering

• Truth Offering w/ Matt Gordon - December 15, 2010
  Check out our first Podcast featuring TruthOffering.com's Matt Gordon. Topics range from WikiLeaks and Internet censorship, to food freedom and the Federal Reserve. Being that it's our first Podcast, it's a work-in-progress. So, please leave any and all feedback. Thanks...and enjoy: �
• The False Flag Cyber Attack Takedown of the Intern ...
  Here are some of today's top shock headlines: "Army of hackers targets the Swedish government, Sarah Palin and credit card giants in WikiLeaks 'Operation: Payback'" - The Daily Mail "Hackers Rise for WikiLeaks" - Wall Street Journal "WikiLeaks backers hit MasterCard and Visa in cyberstrike" - Reut ...
• A Nation of Cowardly, Morally-Bankrupt Sheep
  Sheep are led to slaughter. They are controlled from birth to death. They are oppressed. And once they are controlled, they will never again be free. WE are a nation of SHEEP! Note: this isn't for the faint of heart. I'm frustrated! Why!? Because I care. I care deeply; about this country; about our ...
• Latest Poll - Week Ending 12/5/10
  This time around, we wanted to know what you thought of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. More specifically, we asked, "Do you think the Federal Reserve's monetary policy will lead to hyperinflation?" Here are the results: So although we didn't all agree it would happen soon, we all say hyperi ...
• S. 510: The Death of Food Freedom Act
  In the world of liberty lovers and food freedom fighters, there's been a ton of attention lately on Senate bill S.510 -- the deceitfully-named, "Food Safety Modernization Act." But in the mainstream media, there's been but a whimper; a pathetic trickle of occasional, fleeting and understated mention ...

2012 Blog

• 2012: Brightest Northern Lights
  According to NASA, 2012 will be the big one for observing the Northern Lights. Scientists say that they “should at least be visible as far south as Rome.” Icelandic photographer Orvar Thorgiersso says “By the year 2012 if you catch the moment the Sun is spewing out solar storms dir ...
• Noah’s Ark / Facebook Game / Bollide Data
  With state-funding, a Christian ministry will build a $150 million theme park, featuring a full-size Noah’s Ark, complete with live animals. There will also be a Tower of Babel. Can’t wait to take my family, and it is aiming to open in 2014. Those 500 million Facebook users now have ...
• Prince Charles and 2012 Topics
  First of all, I severely doubt HRH Prince Charles is a 2012er, and although I respect his principles, I never thought I would write a blog post about him. But today it crossed my mind that perhaps he has a role to play in the peripheral topics of 2012. He has written a book called [ ...
• Chinese Pyramid: Excavation Now
  Many tourists in China have seen the terracota warriors and been told that the nearby tree-covered hill is the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Tourists are unaware, and Chinese authorities have refused to admit that the “tomb” is actually one of the largest pyramids in the world. Legend ...
• Our Galactic Centre: “enormous energetic eve ...
  Every time a scientist tells us we have nothing to fear, another will admit that they often don’t know much at all. Some 2012 theorists have suggested our galactic centre might be the cause of a 2012 event. For some, like me, it is because most galaxies have very energetic centres, ...

Facing South

• INSTITUTE INDEX: Ending 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'
  Date on which the Senate repealed the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy prohibiting gay, lesbian and bisexual soldiers from serving openly in the military: 12/18/2010 Number of U.S. service members who have been discharged under the policy since it was adopted in 1993: more than 13,300 Final Senate v ...
• IKEA at center of labor rights controversy in Virg ...
  By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest When my colleagues and I at Good Jobs First introduced the Subsidy Tracker database recently, our hope was that the information would be helpful to a wide range of campaigns for economic and social justice. I can now offer one particular use. By p ...
• Georgia prisoner strike comes out of lockdown
  By Kung Li Georgia prisoners came out of their cells today, ending the lockdown phase of the largest prison work strike in U.S. history. The coordinated, nonviolent action drew support from around the country. Months in the planning, the work strike this past week surprised prison officials.�� � ...
• INSTITUTE INDEX: Segregation forever?
  Over the past five years, percent of the 100 largest U.S. metro areas where racial segregation increased: 25 Percent of those same metro areas where segregation increased for Hispanics: 50 Percent of U.S. whites who live in predominantly white neighborhoods today: 79 That figure in 2000: 8 ...
• Feds sue companies behind BP oil disaster as exten ...
  The Department of Justice announced yesterday that it was suing BP and eight other defendants for their roles in the oil rig disaster that claimed the lives of 11 workers and spilled 172 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The defendants named in the suit include BP Exploratio ...

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