thailand ko phi phi 02 (Photo credit: FriskoDude)My Feedly Feed your mind
Featured
blogger-following
Coercive Nannies
Information Liberation by Jeffrey Tucker The term “nanny state” actually dates to the 1960s, and that’s not surprising. It was about this time that government ran out of ideas for improving society — it didn’t really improve us, but it claimed to — and turned its attention to hectoring us about all the things we do to ourselves that it wants us not to do. That turns out to be just about everythin
WordPress
The religious right and their traditional family of lies
From the Texas Patriots' Tea Party web site. No, of course they aren't promoting a theocracy. The phrase “traditional family values” is the sheep’s clothing of the religious right, their thinly veiled attempt to disguise their aim to remake America into a fundamentalist theocracy in which their religious beliefs and preferences are encoded into law. Which raises a few questions. The religious rig
Politics and the party of god
Going Ballistic / by Dan O'Shea / 1 day ago • In my formative years, the struggle between the Democratic and Republican parties was in essence that between a Democratic party wishing a more active role for government (whether on issues like civil rights, in social programs or in even in the common pursuit of scientific or other goals – see NASA and Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon “before this decade is out”) and a Republican party
Feed your mind
Featured
blogger-following
Coercive Nannies
Information Liberation by Jeffrey Tucker The term “nanny state” actually dates to the 1960s, and that’s not surprising. It was about this time that government ran out of ideas for improving society — it didn’t really improve us, but it claimed to — and turned its attention to hectoring us about all the things we do to ourselves that it wants us not to do. That turns out to be just about everythin
WordPress
The religious right and their traditional family of lies
From the Texas Patriots' Tea Party web site. No, of course they aren't promoting a theocracy. The phrase “traditional family values” is the sheep’s clothing of the religious right, their thinly veiled attempt to disguise their aim to remake America into a fundamentalist theocracy in which their religious beliefs and preferences are encoded into law. Which raises a few questions. The religious rig
Politics and the party of god
In my formative years, the struggle between the Democratic and Republican parties was in essence that between a Democratic party wishing a more active role for government (whether on issues like civil rights, in social programs or in even in the common pursuit of scientific or other goals – see NASA and Kennedy’s promise to put a man on the moon “before this decade is out”) and a Republican party
blogger-following
A Year After Fukushima, US Nuclear Plants Still Vulnerable, Says Report
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Slow at Implementing Safety Measures to Protect Reactors Against Unprecedented Disasters
“The Lorax” Marketing Campaign Misses the Forest AND the Trees
Mazda’s SUV Sales Pitch a Classic Case of Corporate Co-optation
Tom Hanks Narrates Pro-Obama Film, Trailer Released
The Huffington Post | By Sam Stein Posted: 03/ 8/2012 8:50 am Updated: 03/ 8/2012 12:10 pm The Obama campaign on Thursday morning released the trailer for the 17-minute-long infomercial/biopic that it will unveil later this month. The trailer doesn’t reveal much, save that the film — directed by Davis Guggenheim of “An Inconvenient Truth” fame — is narrated by Tom Hanks and features a wide cast
Obama to Romney: Make Your Case For War With Iran Or Quit Talking About It
March 07, 2012 05:00 PM Crooks and Liars- By karoli Mitt Romney’s pathetic efforts to stain the President’s track record when it comes to foreign policy ring hollow and are actually dangerous, or could be. During his news conference yesterday, President Obama addressed Mitt Romney’s irresponsible comments about war with Iran in recent days. Here’s a sample: “Yet, the current administration has pro
Obama News Conference: President Holds First Full Conference Of 2012
By JIM KUHNHENN 03/ 6/12 11:00 AM ETAssociated Press WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is aiming mortgage relief at members of the military as well as homeowners with government-insured loans, the administration’s latest efforts to address a persistent housing crisis. In his first full news conference of the year Tuesday, Obama was to announce plans to let borrowers with mortgages insured by t
New World Next Week – 2012/03/08
Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com – the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. This week: Story #1: Joseph Kony Viral Video Campaign Clouded In Controversy http://ur1.ca/8khpo ‘Get Kony’ Goes Viral: Questions Raised About Charity’s Social Media Blitz http://ur1.ca/8khpq Joseph Kony Is Not In Uga
Interview 476 – New World Next Week with James Evan Pilato
Welcome to http://NewWorldNextWeek.com – the video series from Corbett Report and Media Monarchy that covers some of the most important developments in open source intelligence news. This week: Story #1: Joseph Kony Viral Video Campaign Clouded In Controversy http://ur1.ca/8khpo ‘Get Kony’ Goes Viral: Questions Raised About Charity’s Social Media Blitz http://ur1.ca/8khpq Joseph Kony Is Not In Ug
Corbett Report Radio 084 – Vote Fraud and Other News with Madison Ruppert
Madison Ruppert of EndTheLie.com joins us once again to go over news and information from around the world. Tonight we discuss the latest stories detailing the transparent sham of the electronic voting fraud across the US, and compare it to the MSM “coverage” of the Russian elections. We also discuss this May’s G8 Summit at Camp David, the roll out of the police state, and how the AFNOC has become
Stefan Molyneux on The Corbett Report
The map of a world without violence, and the path to get there. Stefan Molyneux, host of Freedomain Radio, interviewed by James Corbett of The Corbett Report – http://www.corbettreport.com Freedomain Radio is the largest and most popular philosophy show on the web – http://www.freedomainradio.com Video provided by Stefan Molyneux’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/stefbot
Interview 475 – Curing Statism with Stefan Molyneux
Stefan Molyneux of FreedomainRadio.com joins us for a wide-ranging discussion of the philosophy behind anarchism. We cover the typical arguments against freedom that statists generally raise, imagine what a free society would look like and how it would function, and debate the underlying causes of the problems we face as a society. (NOTE: CLICK HERE to download a low-quality small file size versio
Interview 474 – The Anti-Authoritarian Mind with Dr. Bruce Levine
Dr. Bruce Levine is a practicing clinical psychologist and an author, speaker and educator about the ways that society, culture, politics and psychology intersect. Often at odds with the mainstream of his profession, his writing has appeared in numerous online publications and he is the author of numerous books including Get Up, Stand Up: Uniting Populists, Energizing the Defeated, and Battling th
China puts the brakes on GE rice
A raging public controversy over genetically engineered (GE) rice in China captured media attention in recent months, and has culminated in a surprising win. A few weeks ago, the country’s State Council released a new Draft Food Law1 that, if passed, would protect the genetic resources of China’s food crops and restrict the application of GE technology in its main food crops. This is significa
GMO labeling momentum builds
The call for labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods continues to grow louder. The Just Label It campaign — with more than 500 partner organizations — is well on its way to collecting one million comments urging the Food and Drug Adminstration to mandate GE (or GMO) labeling. Members of Congress are joining the groundswell of concerned citizens by signing onto a bicameral letter to FDA s
French scientists say fewer pesticides needed
A new study by French scientists demonstrates that pesticide use can be dramatically reduced — maybe even by half — without impacting crop yields or farm income. And the French government is acting on the findings, pledging to cut chemical inputs in the country's agricultural fields in half by 2018. Why not, if it means spending less while maintaining yields and reducing risks of exposure
Connecticut's 'pesticide-free schools' under attack
In 2005, Connecticut passed a landmark law prohibiting the use of hazardous pesticides in schools. And ever since, the state has been successfully ensuring that children are exposed to fewer chemicals where they learn, play and grow. Now this historic program is under attack.
A proposed state law — supported by the pesticide industry — would reverse Connecticut’s strong stance on keeping sch
What Rush Has Wrought
On February 29, Rush Limbaugh said something sexist, and feminists were outraged. This time, unlike the last few thousand times this has happened, he actually paid a price for it. Limbaugh's comments about Sandra Fluke have been endlessly cycled and recycled throughout the Internet: He called her a "slut" and a "prostitute," alleged that she was "having so much sex she can't afford her own birth
The Second Coming of El Papa to Cuba
On March 26, Pope Benedict XVI will arrive in Cuba for a two-day whirlwind of religious ceremonies and meetings with the Castro brothers and other political leaders. Fourteen years will have elapsed since John Paul II became the first pope to visit the country in 1998. Yet Benedict's visit will have a very different meaning than John Paul's. Then, the Cuban Catholic hierarchy was in the initial st
How Do You Like It Now, Republicans?
Echoes from the early 1960s grow louder every day in this election cycle. Half a century ago, three men who largely defined the modern conservative movement--William Buckley, Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan--were approaching their prime. Goldwater would win the GOP nomination in 1964 and lose the general election badly, but his campaign laid the groundwork for Reagan's win in 1980. As the edit
Revolution Springs Eternal for Eric Hobsbawm
Eric Hobsbawm, Marxist historian, public intellectual and author of, among many other books, The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789-1848, was born nearly 95 years ago in Alexandria, Egypt. He grew up in Vienna and Berlin, but after the death of his parents he moved to London in 1933 where he finished his schooling. I met him in 1952, during my first term at Cambridge, in the University Library. He w
PHILIPPINES: Women Weather Climate Change
As the world commemorates International Women's Day today, women around the globe are speaking out on various issues that affect them. In light of recent natural disasters and calamities in the Philippines, women are increasingly citing climate change as one of their most pressing concerns.
Mesoamerican Coral Reef on the Way to Becoming a Marine Desert
Scientific studies show that global warming is causing irreversible damage to the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, the world's second largest coral reef, yet efforts to protect this biologically and economically vital ecosystem remain insufficient.
Green Economy Seeks to Maintain Growth Threatened by Disasters
There is every indication that major disasters could be the new midwives of history. Seeking to prevent them, the green economy aims to reduce "environmental risks" and "ecological scarcities" while improving human well-being and social equity.
Spanish Cities Far From Sustainable
Though Vitoria-Gasteiz, capital of the Basque Country, was elected the European Green Capital of 2012 – an award presented by the European Union to promote and reward efforts to mitigate climate change – Spain still has a long way to go to earn the label of ‘sustainable' for others cities around the country.
Sunni Deputy Minister Defects; Panetta Pushes back against US Involvement
Syrian deputy oil minister Abdo Hussameddin announced his resignation from the Syrian government in a YouTube video, becoming the highest-ranking civilian official to join the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad. Hussameddin had worked for the Syrian government for 33 years, and had served as deputy oil minister since August 2009. “I am joining the revolution of the people who reject injustic
“Syria’s Currency Plunges, Raising Fears of Economic Chaos and Poverty,” by Joshua Landis
The exchange rate of the Syrian Pound has reportedly plunged to the 103 range against the dollar at mid-day Wednesday, March 7th, 2012 in Damascus. This is a loss of over 50% since the beginning of the uprising. Over the last month, the pound has begun to weaken significantly which has received little attention. The 100 mark is an important psychological barrier. Syrian businessmen are taking larg
Is Aleppo Slipping out of Government Control?
A friend from Aleppo wrote me over the weekend that he believes that the northern suburbs of Aleppo are falling out of government control. In particular, the poorer towns of Azaz, Hreitan, and Anadan, which are on the road to Turkey, have been taken over by opposition groups. On February 27, a number of local residents were killed by the military, setting off protests and violent confrontations wi
“Inside Syria – Can Syria’s Opposition Unite?” al-Jazeera English
Inside Syria – Can Syria’s opposition unite Part 1 – Al-Jazeera English why Syria’s opposition has been unable to incorporate itself into a strong coalition with a united message and what the divide means for Assad. Guests: Joshua Landis, Syria expert; Randa Slim, scholar, ME Institute; Najib Ghadbian, SNC. Part 2
Intelligent Probes: The Spread-Spectrum Challenge
Let’s imagine for a moment that John Mathews (Pennsylvania State University) is right in theorizing that space-faring civilizations will use self-reproducing probes to expand into the galaxy. We’ve been kicking the issues around most of this week, but the SETI question continues to hang in the background. For if there really are extraterrestrial civilizations in the nearby galaxy, how would we tra
SETI and Self-Reproducing Probes
It was back in the 1980s when Robert Freitas came up with a self-reproducing probe concept based on the British Interplanetary Society’s Project Daedalus, but extending it in completely new directions. Like Daedalus, Freitas’ REPRO probe would be fusion-based and would mine the atmosphere of Jupiter to acquire the necessary helium-3. Unlike Daedalus, REPRO would devote half its payload to what Fre
Robotic Networks Among the Stars
Imagine a future in which we manage to reach average speeds in the area of one percent of the speed of light. That would make for a 437-year one-way trip to the Alpha Centauri system, too long for anything manned other than generation ships or missions with crews in some kind of suspended animation. Although 0.01c is well beyond our current capabilities, there is absolutely nothing in the laws of
Oxygen Detected at Saturn’s Moon Dione
We recently looked at biosignatures as part of a discussion about using polarized light to examine exoplanet atmospheres. As if on cue, we now get a reminder of how carefully the biosignature hunt must proceed. It’s not enough, for example, to find one or two interesting gases in a distant atmosphere, for natural processes can account for potential biomarkers, which is why we need to find gases li
Bits and Pieces - International Women's Day Edition
We don't make much of International Women's Day here in America, and from the last barrage of invective, legislation intended to humiliate women, and defunding of women's health services, it's easy to see why. Maybe when we all give up our shoes and independent voices and don the veil, our men will deign to celebrate our proper behavior.Which is unfair to those men who haven't joined the Republica
New SPLC Report: ‘Patriot’ Movement Explodes
The number of antigovernment “Patriot” groups grew at an astounding pace last year, as it has in all three years of the Obama presidency, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) annual count of extremist groups, released today. The number of these groups rose from 824 in 2010 to 1,274 last year. This dramatic expansion [...]
Nativist Lawyer Kris Kobach Plays Dumb About His Employer’s Racism
Anti-immigrant law drafter extraordinaire Kris Kobach continues to play dumb about the racist organization bankrolling his efforts, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), and its founder John Tanton. In a piece published by Salon yesterday, Kobach, who is also the Kansas secretary of state, was quoted claiming that he is “not familiar with [Tanton’s] [...]
International Women’S Day Feature
Sabita’s Journey with WWF-Nepal Sabita Malla, 27 years of age, is WWF-Nepal’s Senior Research Officer. With a Master’s Degree in Wildlife Sciences from Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, Sabita has made significant strides as a young female conservationist. Her professional career started with WWF-Nepal in 2010 as Research Officer for the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) Program; she was promoted
Lying about Afghanistan.
Politics and lies go hand in hand, always have, always will. On rare occasions we are lied to for "good" reasons, with the media voluntarily going along with it: see the role of the D-Notice committee. More often the lies are simply to avoid embarrassment, such as David Cameron (or his office) denying that he had ever gone horse riding with Rebekah Brooks as was claimed by Peter Oborne, only for
Wading knee-deep through the jihadist media sewer.
I don't pay anywhere near as much attention as I once did to jihadist media. This is for a number of reasons: English sources for it have almost completely dried up, with the main site I used to find it on long gone; the insurgency in Iraq, similarly, essentially no longer exists, and so the insight the propaganda of the groups there provided into how the occupation was going and into jihadist st
"I'll be gone till November."
Good to know then that deputy mayor of London Kit Malthouse last year "repeatedly told" the then Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson that Operation Weeting, the reinvestigation of phone hacking at the News of the World was "over-resourced" and being driven by "press hysteria". This is a remarkably similar line to the one that the likes of Jeremy Clarkson and Kelvin MacKenzie were pushing prior t
Harris County Republican Party To Hold Convention At Grace Community Church
The Harris County Republican Party will be holding its 2012 convention at one outlet of the Grace Community Church chain. From the Harris County Republican Party— “… we will be having our County/SD Convention on Saturday, April 21st at Grace Community Church, 14505 Gulf Freeway, Houston, TX 77034. Please mark your calendars for this date! We will update the website as further details are finalized
Annise Parker’s Ongoing Legislative Barrage On Houston’s Homeless—Isn’t The Dignity Of All People Connected?
For the third time in recent months, Houston Mayor Annise Parker and Houston City Council are considering regulations directed at homeless people. From the Houston Chronicle— “Mayor Annise Parker is asking the council to adopt rules that would require organizations and people who feed the homeless to register with the city, take a food safety class, prepare the food in certified kitchens, serve on
Number Of Texans With Health Insurance Will Soar With Health Care Reform—It Was Mitt Romney’s Idea
The percentage of Texans with health insurance will sharply increase to 91% after President Obama’s Health Care Reform takes effect in 2014. From the Houston Chronicle— “The percentage of Texans with health insurance will increase to 91 percent – up from 74 percent today – after the national health care law takes effect in 2014, the state’s Medicaid director told lawmakers….” Texas has the highest
Time To Catch The Flying Flat Boat Back To Texas
It is time to catch the flying flat boat for the return trip from Cincinnati to Houston. Often this flight traces the route of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers Picture is of Ohio River from Cincinnati’s Eden Park this afternoon. Peace and blessings to all.
It Is Up To Us To Act—The Extreme Right Will Always Be With Us
Here is a Rick Santorum sign and a Tea Party sign that I saw in Cincinnati today. No matter if it is the 40% that voted for Barry Goldwater in 1964, or right-wing extremists today, these folks are always with us. They steal our time and resources with ceaseless efforts to move the nation backwards. We can’t deny that these folks are here, and that they have the right to proceed as they will. Yet
Edinburgh Council Threatens Arts
Last Thursday, along with my Pirate Party colleague Stephen Bathgate, I went to a public meeting about change to public entertainment licences and how they will affect the arts. Currently, while large arts events have had to be licenced, small ones do not. The change is due to legislation by the Scottish government, which give local government the power (but not, in my opinion the obligation) to l
Edinburgh Pirate meeting, Saturday 10 Mar at 3:30 pm
There will be a Pirate Party meeting in Edinburgh, this Saturday (10-Mar-2012) starting at 3:30pm. The venue is the Cameo Bar, 38 Home St, EH3 9LZ (map) Anyone wishing to be involved in the Edinburgh local election this May should attend, as should anyone interesting in joining the party, or just curious about who we are and what we stand for. I will be there as will our candidate in Southside/New
Pointless Death
There is something extraordinarily pointless about the death of six British soldiers today at the fag end of a war which we have lost, the purpose of which is long since vanished. Of course Afghans die daily in this war, which is not meaningless for most of them as it involves ridding their country of an extremely unwelcome and alien occupying force. Each death is a tragedy, but we can be forgiv
Heartsick
Sometimes the horror of the abuse of power in the world just seems to close in, and I want to run away from the toil of blogging against it. To rage against the dying of the light is indeed noble; but also energy-sapping, and the light dies anyway. Where do I begin? Not content with giving over the entire NHS budget to be plundered for private profit, the police service is now being privatised.
An #M5 Occupy Education Report
UPDATE 4: In relation to my post last Thursday, I haven't been able to find any posts or dairies at firedoglake about the Occupy Education actions that took place in California and New York yesterday. The total number of occupiers arrested in Sacramento yesterday was 76.UPDATE 3: 72 arrests reported at the state capital last night after the capital building closed at 6pm. Prior the arrests, stude
Goodbye, Dennis the Menace
Kucinich, out of Congress after being redistricted into a tough primary fight with Marcy Kaptur that he lost. Good riddance, although Russell Simmons is no doubt heartbroken. It is tempting to say that he was thrown onto the trash heap of political has-beens despite providing a progressive fig leak for the neoliberal policies of Obama and Pelosi when the Democrats controlled Congress during the 2
finance
AAPL 541.99 11.3
Apple Upgraded to Outperform Apple Upgraded to Outperform • 10 hours ago
GOOG 607.14 0.34
Symantec Makes Ties with Autodesk Symantec Makes Ties with Autodesk • 6 hours ago
CRM 146.08 2.62
Ahead of Wall Street - February 24, 2012 Ahead of Wall Street - February 24, 2012 • 13 days ago
F 12.46 0.22
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AutoNation, General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota Motor and Toyota Motor The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: AutoNation, General Motors, Ford Motor, Toyota Motor and Toyota Motor • 17 hours ago
ORCL 30.07 -0.15
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: F5 Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, Oracle and Red Hat The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: F5 Networks, Alcatel-Lucent, IBM, Oracle and Red Hat • 13 days ago
MSFT 32.01 0.17
QCOM Boosts Shareholders' Wealth QCOM Boosts Shareholders' Wealth • 1 day ago
GHDX 30.45 0.44
Myriad: Prolaris a Useful Test Myriad: Prolaris a Useful Test • 9 days ago
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment