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Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

18 August - My Feedly

Our changing pattern of home energy useOur changing pattern of home energy use (Photo credit: explainthatstuff)Oran, AlgeriaOran, Algeria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)English: The city hall of Oran, Algeria. Franç...English: The city hall of Oran, Algeria. Français : Mairie d'Oran, Place des Lions (Photo credit: Wikipedia)English: Entrance to the Mosque of the Pasha, ...English: Entrance to the Mosque of the Pasha, Oran, Algeria. Français : L'entrée de la Mosquée du Pacha à Oran en Algérie. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Seaside of Oran, Algeria.Seaside of Oran, Algeria. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Madagh beach in Oran, AlgeriaMadagh beach in Oran, Algeria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Several injured in Dagestan mosque shooting
At least eight wounded after gunmen open fire on worshippers in the Caucasus town of Khasavyurt.
How much electricity do solar and wind make on a global scale? Answer: “Not much”
Simple numbers are hard to get, so when Anton Lang pointed me at the EIA site (U.S. Energy Information Administration), I wanted to give everyone the straight answer to the question: just how much electricity do renewables make on a global scale? The EIA has the only database in the world with a this much accuracy. The answer is that 80% of our electricity comes from the fossil fuels and nuclear that the Greens despise. Hydroelectricity, with all its pluses and minuses, produces a serious 16% of the total. But all the vanity renewables bundled together make about 3.5% of the total. Wind power
Dozens of cancer victims settle tainted groundwater suit in Florida.
More than three dozen former factory workers have settled their multimillion-dollar five-year legal battle against Siemens Corp. and General Dynamics Corp. over trichloroethene and other toxic chemicals they allege the companies carelessly dumped into drinking water, causing them to develop cancer.

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Genessee County, MI Elections Officials Report Another ES&S Optical Scan System Failure
By Ernest A. Canning and Brad Friedman We now have yet another ominous sign of trouble that may be on the horizon for this November's election. As if we needed yet another sign. And, once again, the concerns come via failures on paper ballot-based optical-scan computer tally systems. Election officials in Genessee County, Michigan have acknowledged failures by the county's M-100 model optical-
Compulsive namecallers: nutter, conspiracy theorist, anti-semitic, denier — trying to censor through denigration
Got no evidence? Can’t hold a rational discussion? Just call people names — smear them. David Evans (my other half) pointed out that anyone who opposed the regulating class gets called a racist sooner or later (see those quotes at the end). Now it’s happened to him. Two weeks after getting a mention of climate “feedbacks” into The Age, he’s being called antisemitic. And on what basis? Wait for it…
There Was So Much Rock'n'Roll In The Political News This Week
Let's see... Rage Against The Machine, Pussy Riot, Megadeth... Green Day. That's the official video for Green Day's new single, "Oh Love" from the first album in a trilogy they're releasing: ¡Uno! (September 25), ¡Dos! (November 13) and ¡Tré! (January 15). A reporter once asked Billie Jo if musicians ought to be putting political content into their music. He looked at the condescending asshole and
Cows being fed rejected candy during drought
Ranchers have struggled with skyrocketing corn prices, because the drought has made feeding their livestock very expensive. But one rancher has turned to a very sweet solution.At Mayfield's United Livestock Commodities, owner Joseph Watson is tweaking the recipe for success."Just to be able to survive, we have to look for other sources of nutrition," he said.His 1,400 cattle are no longer feeding

WordPress
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Radioactive Rats, Nuclear Techno Geeks And Life In The Damage Control Continuum
by Richard Wilcox, PhD There is no such thing as society. - Margaret Thatcher, England’s prime minister, 1987 (1) If there is a single, metaphysical idea that I have dedicated my life’s work to [exposing], it is that the greatest evil, the greatest destructive force, in terms of thought, is nominalism…the idea that there is no intrinsic connection among objects in classes of things….that the only

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Suzie-Q
2 unread articles
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Scrutiny for Casino Mogul’s Frontman in China
The New York Times By MICHAEL LUO, NEIL GOUGH and EDWARD WONG Published: August 13, 2012 When Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate, needed something done in China, he often turned to his company’s “chief Beijing representative,” a mysterious businessman named Yang Saixin. Mr. Yang arranged meetings for Mr. Adelson with senior Chinese officials; acted as a frontman on several ambitious projects for

The EnvironmentaList
10 unread articles
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Reclaiming the History of California’s Counterculture and Resistance Movements
Book Review: West of Eden: Communes and Utopia in Northern California
Climate Change is Raising Sea Level – and Threatening Havoc
RISE: A Six-Part Video Series. Part 6: "Tide Ride"
The Not-So-Great Part of Richard Muller’s Conversion from Climate Skeptic to Believer
Berkeley scientist’s advocacy of natural gas extraction via “clean fracking” is troubling
The Hidden Costs of Hamburgers
Rising rate of meat production worldwide threatens to mess up our climate, land, and water big time

The Corbett Report
42 unread articles
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Global Warming Hysteria and Food World Order
Tonight on the program we tackle the latest wave of PR propaganda for the manmade global warming hoax by delving beyond the headlines and examining some of the latest claims of the catastrophists. In the second half of the program we are joined by James Evan Pilato for our FoodWorldOrder.com update, and James makes a special announcement about the future of the FoodWorldOrder series on Corbett Rep
Corbett Report Radio 199 – Global Warming Hysteria and Food World Order
Tonight on the program we tackle the latest wave of PR propaganda for the manmade global warming hoax by delving beyond the headlines and examining some of the latest claims of the catastrophists. In the second half of the program we are joined by James Evan Pilato for our FoodWorldOrder.com update, and James makes a special announcement about the future of the FoodWorldOrder series on Corbett Rep
#TrapWire Exposed with Andrew Blake
Tonight we talk to Andrew Blake about TrapWire, a detailed surveillance system that has come into the spotlight thanks to the Stratfor leak. We discuss the origins and nature of this system, as well as the connections of the people behind it, as well as breaking news tying TrapWire into MI5, the RCMP and even the White House.
New World Next Week – 2012/08/16
Welcome to New World Next Week – 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: Is Israel Trying To Lead The US To War With Iran? http://ur1.ca/9yfqw Why Do Israeli Media Keep Predicting War with Iran? http://ur1.ca/9yfr1 Israel Would Strike Iran to Gain a Few Years, Oren Says http:/

ArmsControlWonk
5 unread articles
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Spurgeon Keeny
Spurgeon Keeny, one of the founding fathers and practitioners of nuclear arms control, died last week, after a full life, well lived. Spurgeon loved Hieronymus Bosch as much as touch football. His understanding of arms control, nonproliferation, and the fuel cycle was encyclopedic, one reason why meetings with him were rarely brisk. Almost every issue discussed in ACW bears his fingerprints. Spurg
Ayatollah’s Pregnant Pause
Sorry about the light posting as of late — the day job has been busier than usual and the new column at Foreign Policy is definitely a lot of work. I’ve started a few posts, but got hung up in the usual ways — the problems turned out to be more interesting than I thought or documents harder to obtain.  I am hoping some of these efforts will bear fruit at some point. In the meantime, I have a long

Pesticide Action Network
7 unread articles
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MN court backtracks on pesticide drift
The Supreme Court of Minnesota recently issued a disappointing ruling on the legal rights of organic farmers faced with pesticide drift from neighboring farms. As we reported some months ago, Oluf and Debra Johnson went to the courts when they lost their organic certification (and their crops) due to pesticide drift. They were looking for compensation for these losses, as well as future protectio
Why GE labeling is Monsanto's worst nightmare
Recent media coverage of Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, which would permit companies to label foods made with genetically engineered (GE) crops, highlights the gulf between citizens demanding the right to know what's in our food and corporations desperate to keep the public in the dark. read more

Syria Comment
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“The Original Shabiha,” by Mohammad D.
The Original Shabiha Mohammad D. Aug 17, 2012 for Syria Comment Edited by Joshua Landis Fawwaz al-Assad (center) watching his beloved team, Tishriin, play soccer - photo supplied by the author Who were the first Shabiha? How was the word coined? And how did their numbers spread? The following stories about a few shabiha pioneers are based on my personal experiences in Latakia, Syria in the 1970′s

Green & White
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Google’s special doodle for Independence day
It’s 14th August and spirit of independence is in the air. To celebrate our independence google has prepared a special doodle, which is in the form of truck art. You can see it if you go to http://google.com.pk Google has been working closely with local industry, in enabling access to technology and promoting culture of entrepreneurship in Pakistan, they launched Social Innovation Fund, and have

In These Times
23 unread articles
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The Bain Legacy
The new bosses billed the meeting in late January 2011 as their ‘welcome’ to the 200 workers at a long-established factory in Freeport, Ill. Maybe the description reflected some dark corporate humor lost on the workers, but just three minutes into their welcome, the new managers from Sensata announced that all the jobs in the factory—which produces finely calibrated sensors for the automobile an
Who Is Paul Ryan?
Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan admires Ayn Rand, and if you believe Republican Party mythology, Ryan is a messianic John Galt who will save America from a secret socialist conspiracy. Thus, in Rand fashion, it's worth asking: Who Is Paul Ryan? The answer is simple: the GOP's presumptive vice presidential nominee is the 21st century's flesh-and-blood embodiment of political decepti
Paul Ryan’s High Threshold for Hometown Pain
The career arc of Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, Mitt Romney’s choice for vice-presidential running mate, illustrates how the U.S. political system perversely rewards politicians who ignore the needs of their real constituents in favor of their major campaign contributors. Ryan has raised $8.3 million since 2009, and has $5.4 million left in his coffers for his 2012 race for Congressional reelection,
Our Fascination with Female Train Wrecks
True story: Right as I sat down to write a piece about Cat Marnell, there was a car crash outside my apartment. I live near a gas station, so the sound of screeching tires is common. But this sounded like a genuine wreck: first the screech, then a loud thud, then breaking glass. It sounded horrible; it sounded expensive; it sounded like someone had gotten hurt. There was no way I was not getting

Texas Liberal
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Punk Band Pussy Riot Jailed In Russia For Engaging In Freedom Of Expression—The Work Of Freedom Is Up To Each Of Us
The Russian punk band Pussy Riot has been sentenced to two years in a Russian prison for exercising free speech and engaging in political protest. This past February, Pussy Riot staged a performance inside of Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. This performance was directed at the linked repressive power of the Russian Orthodox Church and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Here is an overvie
I Am At Home When I Am In Motion—Every Place Has Value
I am very much at home when I am in motion. Here is a picture I took a few days ago on the commuter train from the Chicago suburbs into Downtown Chicago. On a train such as the one I was on when I took this picture , or when I am driving, or when I am taking a walk—-I have many productive thoughts. The place where we return each day after our work—or where we return after a vacation—has many virt
A Big Feature Of Existence Was Set Right At The Big Bang—Samness And Difference
The only point at which there was sameness was before the Big Bang. Ever since that point, there have been differences. This is so even though the different things consist of the original matter expelled by the Big Bang. Right away the nature of being was set. There was a common point of origin and an existence made up of many different things. This is useful for understanding everyday life. It i
Sun Shower Through Impressionist Windshield
Here is a sun shower as seen through an impressionist windshield. This picture is from two days ago in the Chicago suburbs.

Obsolete
19 unread articles
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Power.
Ecuador!
Shall we get an ad hominem out of the way first? That Julian Assange, he's a bit of a tit, isn't he?Right, down to business. To say there are as many layers to the whole Assange circus as there are in an onion is to probably understate things. Quite clearly, he has a case to answer in Sweden. For this to have all been a set-up or ruse by two women serving US interests, as some of the more ridi
These people are insane.
Bartle Breese Bull in the New York Times knows exactly what the Syrian rebels need to bring down Assad:Only a shift in military momentum will end such talk. The balance of power that currently favors Mr. Assad could easily be overturned. Providing the rebels with as few as 500 Stinger missiles and 1,000 tank-busting R.P.G.-7’s could potentially cut the conflict’s length in half. And grounding
Reality bites.
Well, the less said about the closing ceremony the better, yes? There are after all enough innate contradictions in Jessie J's Price Tag dirge without her arriving to sing it in the back of a Rolls-Royce, in surroundings which confirm that err, yes, it really is all about the money. Musical apocalypse aside, even a hardened pessimist such as myself has to admit the last two and a bit weeks have b

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Suspects in Louisiana Cop Killings May be ‘Sovereign Citizens’
State and federal investigators believe at least two of the five suspects arrested in connection with a shoot-out Thursday that killed two sheriff’s deputies near New Orleans have ties to the sometimes violent, antigovernment “sovereign citizens” movement. If so, that would mean that sovereigns have now killed four law enforcement officers since May 2010 and wounded [...]
SPLC: Family Research Council License-to-Kill Claim ‘Outrageous’
Editor’s Note: The following statement may be attributed to Mark Potok, Senior Fellow of the Southern Poverty Law Center and editor of its Intelligence Report and Hatewatch blog. Yesterday’s attack on the Family Research Council and the shooting of a security guard there was a tragedy. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) deplores all violence, and [...]
SPLC Statement on Shooting at Family Research Council
We’ve seen news of the shooting of a security guard today at the Family Research Council office in Washington, D.C., and are getting media inquiries about it. There are unconfirmed reports that the shooting was ideologically motivated. We condemn all acts of violence and are following the story closely.
Wisconsin Temple Attack: Authorities Chose to Look the Other Way
Editor’s Note: This essay by Hatewatch Editor Mark Potok was originally posted Sunday night in The New York Times online opinion section as part of a “Room for Debate” feature that also included articles from four other contributors. The essays were meant to address the question, “Is the Threat From Hate Groups Overlooked?” One of the [...]

Centauri Dreams
18 unread articles
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Barnard’s Star: No Sign of Planets
Barnard’s Star has always gotten its share of attention, and deservedly so. It was in 1916 that this M-class dwarf in Ophiuchus was measured by the American astronomer Edward Emerson Barnard, who found its proper motion to be the largest of any star relative to the Sun. That meant the star soon to be named for him was close to us, and unless we’re surprised by a hitherto unobserved brown dwarf, Ba
Into the Uncanny Valley
After our recent exchange of ideas on SETI, Michael Chorost went out and read the Strugatsky brothers’ novel Roadside Picnic, a book I had cited as an example of contact with extraterrestrials that turns out to be enigmatic and far beyond the human understanding. I’ve enjoyed the back and forth with Michael between Centauri Dreams and his World Wide Mind blog because I learn something new from him
Are ‘Waterworlds’ Planets in Transition?
Ponder how our planet got its water. The current view is that objects beyond the ‘snow line,’ where water ice is available in the protoplanetary disk, were eventually pushed into highly eccentric orbits by their encounters with massive young planets like Jupiter. Eventually some of these water-bearing objects would have impacted the Earth. The same analysis works for exoplanetary systems, but the
100 Year Starship Public Symposium
“The future never just happened, it was created.” The quote is from Will and Ariel Durant, the husband and wife team who collaborated on an eleven-volume history of civilization that always used to be included in Book of the Month deals, which is how many of us got our copies. I’m glad to see the Durants’ quotation brought into play by the 100 Year Starship organization in the service of energizin

NolanChart.com
21 unread articles
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American election process is broken, no discussion of the real issues
by Mark Vogl:    In 2012 the quality and calibre of the general citizenship is the reason why we have mediocore candidates and no discussion of the issues!
The Most Boring Election Season EVER!
by Bill Gee:    My thoughts on the most expensive presidential election season in History...BORING!
Tea Party Unmasked As Just Another Republican Front
by Mark Vogl:    Sometimes I think American politics is like a Halloween Costume Party where you really can't tell the Zebra's from Pythons.
The Affordable Heath Care Act's "Papa John's Loophole"
by Paul Benedict:    The Papa John loophole demonstrates that Affordable Health Care is far from universal health care.

Obsidian Wings
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your "it's shite being Scottish" open thread
by liberal japonicus As you probably know, from the iconic NSFW speech in Trainspotting. It's a speech I have my students work thru for English phonetics and that I love for a number of reasons, but that's just a hook to hang this Guardian article on the DNA of the people of Scotland. Scotland, he told the Edinburgh international book festival, despite a long-held belief that its ethnic m
Fruitbasket turnover
by liberal japonicus This Guardian article is about the heightened speculation of a Iran strike and the possibility of it occuring before the US presidential election. From the article: Writing in Israel's biggest-selling daily, Yedioth Ahronoth, Nahum Barnea and Simon Shiffer, both respected commentators, said: "Insofar as it depends on Binyamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, an Israeli mili
Complificating Matters
--by Sebastian There has been a 'why Paul Ryan' explosion on the internet media channels.  Just about everyone is making the analysis too complicated.  There are two essential types of Vice President picks: solidify your base voters or attempt to broaden your appeal to swing voters.  A presidential campaign tends to choose which of those concepts they need to fill most.  It was obvious tha
I'm in your body, getting all yr data
by liberal japonicus More interesting medical stuff. A video below the fold, of a TEDx talk by Hugo Campos, who has a heart defibrillator inside him but has no access to the data it collects. There is a lot more interesting stuff at his blog.   

News Center PK
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Missing Persons: Subversive Activities in Balochistan
by Sajjad Shaukat A Gallup survey for the UK international official body, Department for International Development (DFID) conducted on July 20, this year, revealed that the vast majority of the Baloch people oppose the idea of an independent Balochistan. According to the survey, 67 percent of the people of Balochistan including Baloch and Pashtuns, oppose independence and support greater provincia
14th August: Reminder of ‘Unity’
by Sajjad Shaukat The 14th August which is celebrating every year as the Independence Day, has come at a time when Pakistan is facing multiple threats of serious nature, which are not only worrying all the citizens, and creating divisions among the federal institutions, but also putting the very integration of the state at stake. No doubt, it was due to the strong unity among the Muslims under the
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