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| Nagasaki city mayor shot (Photo credit: nofrills) |
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| Nagasaki, the 9th August - TV screen (3) (Photo credit: nofrills) |
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| English: Superfortress B-29 Enola Gay, the aircraft that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, on display at Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Slovenčina: Superpevnosť B-29 Enola Gay, lietadlo, ktoré zhodilo prvú atómovú bombu na Hirošimu, vystavené v Centre Stevena F. Udvar-Hazyho (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Cover via Amazon |
What is the meaning of "documenting"?
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 2 weeks ago
Reporting on the latest incidents in Syria, the BBC writes of the Syrian
"Observatory" on Human Rights (which as far as is known is one guy in an
apartment in England):
The SOHR is one of the most prominent organisations documenting and
reporting incidents and casualties in the Syrian conflict. The group says
its reports are impartial, though its information cannot be verified.
So I have just a simple question? Isn't the claim of "documenting"
something antithetical to the words "cannot be verified"? Yes, it is
possible to *claim* to be documenting something and to completely fabric... more »
Hypersonic hype
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 2 months ago
If you watched TV news yesterday, or read most newspapers, here's the story
you heard: "Hypersonic plane could fly from New York to Los Angeles in less
than an hour." The news was all about the potential revolution in
commercial travel, about how "the WaveRider could potentially fly from Los
Angeles to New York in 46 minutes."
But if you're good at reading between the lines, or if you read to the end
of the stories that appeared online, you'd learn what this news was *really*about:
Hypersonic travel, meaning speeds of Mach 5 (3,800 miles per hour) and
above, has been a focus of the ... more »
The mass, intentional killing of civilians (a.k.a. genocide)
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 2 months ago
Today is "Hiroshima Day" on which people all over the world remember the
day the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, killing up to 140,000
Japanese civilians. Three days later another 75,000 were killed by the
second atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki. What I choose to remember on this
day is that these were not *exceptional* acts in any way, save the
particular method of destruction. Thanks largely to Kurt Vonnegut and his
book *Slaughterhouse Five* and not any history lessons in school, many
people know of the firebombing of Dresden, which killed at least 35,000
German civilian... more »
And another year starts
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 2 months ago
Aug. 2, 2003. The day of the first post on this blog. Not much happening
here lately, probably not many readers any more, since I'm no longer
posting regularly, and it's really only regular posting that keeps people
showing up. I'm trying to do some tweeting these days to make up, but
frankly not that much of that either. Blame it on Facebook, where I spend
more time keeping up with my personal friends and, as a result, less time
keeping up with the "public" (such as you are). Anyway, if you read this,
thanks for checking in once in a while. I'm still around, and still keeping
my le... more »
Police attempt to smear man they killed
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 3 months ago
In Anaheim, the police murder of a young man has brought protests that are
ongoing even as I write this. Note the back-handed attempt at incrimination
in this story:
"Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn said a single officer shot Diaz and a "gun
was not recovered at the scene." But, Dunn, said officers reported Diaz
tossed away items as he ran. One of those items was recovered, but it was
not a gun."
The fact that Diaz allegedly "tossed away items" is *completely* irrelevant
to the story. Here's the simple fact: *No weapon of any kind was found*.
Here's another fact: Even if he *had* thr... more »
The Bulgarian bombing: the semantics of a smear
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 3 months ago
Yesterday a bus filled with Israeli tourists was bombed in Bulgaria.
Today's *San Jose Mercury News* (online at the *New York Times*) carries
the story. The *Times* headline (unlike the article, which we'll get to in
a minute) is at least somewhat honest, if not still biased by headlining
accusations instead of facts: "Hezbollah Is Blamed for Attack on Israeli
Tourists in Bulgaria." The *Mercury News* headline, the major page one
headline on the top right, screams the pseudo-factual "Suicide attack
linked to Iran", leaving out "allegedly" or anything which would suggest to
the reade... more »
Spinning the news from Afghanistan
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 4 months ago
18 civilians were killed by a "NATO" (i.e., U.S.) airstrike in Afghanistan
yesterday. AP and the *Washington Post* provides a classic case in point
for how such news is treated by the U.S. media, and by the U.S. government
as well.
The first story that appeared was this one. A curious story, because the
page title (that appears on top of the browser) as well as the URL refers
to the 18 people killed, but the headline and the bulk of the story is
about Leon Panetta and Pakistan. Not until the 21st paragraph (!) do we
finally get to the news about the murder of the civilians.
Telling... more »
Shaping the "truth" on Syria
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 5 months ago
The
massacre in Houla provides a perfect illustration of how the corporate
media shapes the "truth" about Syria. First, let's look at the AP
storywhich reported on the killing of 90 people, including 32 children,
in the
Syrian town of Houla. After the basic story is established, we jump
immediately to outrage from the U.S., and the U.N.'s Ban Ki-moon and
Kofi
Annan denouncing the Syrian government for its responsibility for the
crime.
But Al Jazeera, no friend of the Syrian government, provides one more
rather essential detail which the AP omitted, courtesy of the chief U.N.
observer... more »
Syrian forces killed? Blame the government!
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 5 months ago
For the Nth consecutive time, a bombing at a Syrian military intelligence
facility, this one killing nine and wounding another hundred, is ritually
and almost comically blamed by Al Jazeera on the Syrian government:
Al Jazeera's Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the Turkish city of Antakya,
along the border with Syria, said that opposition groups accuse the
government of staging the blasts as a ploy to make the country's protest
movement appear violent...The Syrian National Council (SNC), the country's
main political opposition group, also blamed the government for the blast.
Evidenc... more »
George Zimmerman's "apology"
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 6 months ago
George Zimmerman "apologized" today for killing Trayvon Martin. That's how
the media treated the story. None seemed to notice the *content* of the
apology: "I did not know how old he was. I thought he was a little bit
younger than I am. I did not know if he was armed or not." What is he
saying there? He's sorry he killed a 17-year old, but wouldn't be if
Trayvon were 25? It's ok to kill someone in "self-defense" if you don't
know if they're armed, and therefore are justified to assume that they are?
Interestingly, the last assumption would put Zimmerman right in line both
with U.S. ... more »
Merchant(s) of death
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 6 months ago
Viktor
Bout, who the media calls the "Merchant of Death," just got 25 yearsfor
attempting to sell weapons to anti-government rebels in Colombia
(actually these particular "rebels" were U.S. agents). Meanwhile, the
U.S.
and the Arab kings and sheiks who are its allies openly discuss arming
anti-government rebels in Syria. Hardly the first such occurrence, of
course, since the U.S. armed and funded anti-government rebels in
Afghanistan and Nicaragua as well, not to mention Libya, where they not
only armed and funded the rebels, they did their bombing for them.
Judicial Activism
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 6 months ago
Ruling that the Constitution allows strip searches even for the most minor
offenses, Justice Kennedy "wrote that courts are in no position to
second-guess the judgments of correctional officials," exposing the
right-wing judicial activism of the Supreme Court. Not only are the courts
in "no position" to do so, *it is not their job*. *Their* job is to decide
if actions are *Constitutional*, not to decide on the usefulness or
practicality of laws, or whether they keep us "safe" or not. That is the
job of the other two branches of government. That the Court even "went
there" illustrate... more »
Three more victims of the war on Iraq
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
Two weeks ago, Abel Gutierrez, suffering from (and showing obvious signs
of) PTSD as a result of multiple tours of duty in Iraq, killed his mother,
his sister, and then himself. Today's San Jose Mercury News notes the
following interesting observations:
Carlos Anaya, who had known Gutierrez since elementary school..."he was not
a sociopath. He was a good person."
And
"He didn't join the Army because he wanted to kill people," Ramon
Bustamante said. "He wanted to do something with his life and help take
care of his mom and sister."
And finallly
"To me," Bustamante said, "they're a... more »
One more victim of the war on Iraq
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
An Iraqi woman was beaten to death [death occurred after publication of
this news article] in Southern California after receiving hate-based
threats. A double victim of the U.S. invasion of Iraq. First, because she
was only in the U.S. in the first place because of having fled her country
after the invasion. And second, because she moved to a country where there
is casual acceptance of the deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent
Iraqis (and they were *all* innocent, even the soldiers and resistance
fighters who fought back against the invasion), on the bogus justification
that "... more »
Now Tweeting
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
After resisting for the longest time, I've started tweeting, since I don't
seem to be able to find the time to write long posts. Check it out:
@leftiblog
The Khamenei speech the media ignored
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
Feb. 22, 2012:
“The Iranian nation has never pursued and will never pursue nuclear
weapons,” said Ayatollah Khamenei.
“There is no doubt that the decision makers in the countries opposing us
know well that Iran is not after nuclear weapons because the Islamic
Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically, considers the
possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the proliferation of
such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous.”
“If nations are allowed to independently make progress in the fields of
nuclear energy, aerospace, science, technology and indust... more »
Massacres by the U.S.? Ho-hum.
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
Two reactions to the recent massacre of 16 Afghans by an American soldier
remind us of the nature of the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan (and
elsewhere). In the *New York Times*, we are told regarding the relatively
mild reaction to the slaughter in Afghanistan itself:
Americans have had a lot of practice at apologizing for carnage, accidental
and otherwise, and have gotten better at doing it quickly and convincingly.
As Glenn Greenwald puts it so perfectly:
I don’t mind admitting that I beamed with nationalistic pride when I
learned of our country’s impressive evolution: our nation’... more »
Iraq - the killing continues
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
Two (or quite likely three) more victims of the illegal invasion of Iraq,
this time in in Gilroy, CA. American soldiers may no longer be dying in
Iraq, but they (and others) are still dying right here at home. Utterly
tragic, and utterly avoidable. And the tragedy continues in Afghanistan,
with every new victim - Afghan, soldier, or yet another family member or
innocent bystander right here at home. OUT NOW! Not "soon." NOW!
Book Review: Mornings in Jenin
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 7 months ago
I've just finished reading an unbelievably powerful novel entitled "Mornings
in Jenin" by Susan Abulhawa. You can read all the history books and
articles that you want, and completely understand the history and plight of
the Palestinian people. You can be in complete intellectual support of such
things as the "right of return." But nothing will make you understand that
history *in your bones*, make you feel it *in your gut*, like reading this
fictional, but all too real, account of one Palestinian family's history,
as it spans the pages of time from 1941 through 2002.
All of the key... more »
"No military targets" in Homs
Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 8 months ago
Here's how strange the reporting on Syria gets - this reporter was killed
yesterday in Homs, evidently by Syrian government shelling. Here's what she
said on Anderson Cooper's show last night: "There are no military targets
here. There is the Free Syrian Army. Heavily outnumbered and out-gunned."
No military targets? What exactly does she think the out-gunned, but still
obviously armed, Free Syrian Army is?
WARNING!!!
Mitt or some follower is somehow managing to hijack people's personal
FB pages and make it look as if they had clicked Like. I know damn good
and well that two particular friends of mine would not have done such a
thing as like Mitt. If you don't like that sick creep, you might want to
go to his page and see if the button is for Like or Unlike (if the
button says unlike, it means you presumably like the page... click on
the unlike if you don't like the page, to unlike it) and switch it back
how you want it if you have been switched without your knowledge, and
then you might want to change your password! Geeze what slime those
people are.
..........................................................
The
credulous sheople haven't a clue of the ensuing austerity measures
being implemented on them by these rapacious control freak elite
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/us-usa-economy-consumer-idUSBRE89O0LH20121025
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/25/us-usa-economy-consumer-idUSBRE89O0LH20121025
ESTEE'S SKY WATCH IN VICTORIA B.C. shared Es-tee R. Miller's photo.
Es-tee R. Miller and ESTEE'S SKY WATCH IN VICTORIA B.C. shared Amazing Things : Love And Nature's photo.
![Full Moon Ocean, Greece !!
Visit Here : @[368811333204800:274:Amazing Things \: Love And Nature]](http://sphotos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s480x480/643875_368915006527766_20745031_n.jpg)
Smirking Chimp added a new photo.
www.examiner.com
On Oct. 26, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands the role and scope of Homeland
http://www.marketwatch.com/
"Our
species retains hereditary traits that add greatly to our destructive
impact. We are tribal and aggressively territorial, intent on private
space beyond minimal requirements and oriented by selfish sexual and
reproductive drives. Cooperation beyond the family and tribal levels
comes hard.
Perhaps a law of evolution is that intelligence
usually extinguishes itself. This admittedly dour scenario is based on
what can be termed the juggernaut theory of human nature, which holds
that people are programmed by their genetic heritage to be so selfish
that a sense of global responsibility will come too late."
The Flipside however, is to conceive, believe and achieve in the preparation of groundwork for the EMPATHIC CIVILISATION; http://youtu.be/l7AWnfFRc7g
www.youtube.comBestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifk
in investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has sh...
( Years ago, one reason I stopped using Yahoo! and Microsoft search and news portals were the targeted results which hid anything in which I might be interested. Looks like Facebook might have the same disease. )
www.examiner.com
On Oct. 26, President Obama signed a new Executive Order which expands the role and scope of Homeland
http://www.marketwatch.com/
![Awesome.
Check out how @[114517875225866:274:The Other 98%] did it here: http://upwr.me/TGP4km](http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/s480x480/602502_472101176164079_464081305_n.jpg)
"Our
species retains hereditary traits that add greatly to our destructive
impact. We are tribal and aggressively territorial, intent on private
space beyond minimal requirements and oriented by selfish sexual and
reproductive drives. Cooperation beyond the family and tribal levels
comes hard.
Perhaps a law of evolution is that intelligence
usually extinguishes itself. This admittedly dour scenario is based on
what can be termed the juggernaut theory of human nature, which holds
that people are programmed by their genetic heritage to be so selfish
that a sense of global responsibility will come too late."
The Flipside however, is to conceive, believe and achieve in the preparation of groundwork for the EMPATHIC CIVILISATION; http://youtu.be/l7AWnfFRc7g
www.youtube.comBestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifk
in investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has sh...
Perhaps a law of evolution is that intelligence usually extinguishes itself. This admittedly dour scenario is based on what can be termed the juggernaut theory of human nature, which holds that people are programmed by their genetic heritage to be so selfish that a sense of global responsibility will come too late."
The Flipside however, is to conceive, believe and achieve in the preparation of groundwork for the EMPATHIC CIVILISATION; http://youtu.be/l7AWnfFRc7g
www.youtube.comBestselling author, political adviser and social and ethical prophet Jeremy Rifk
in investigates the evolution of empathy and the profound ways that it has sh...
( Years ago, one reason I stopped using Yahoo! and Microsoft search and news portals were the targeted results which hid anything in which I might be interested. Looks like Facebook might have the same disease. )
Real Coastal Warriors shared a photo.
Real Coastal Warriors shared Samuel Greenberg's photo.
www.sun-gazing.com
ESTEE'S SKY WATCH IN VICTORIA B.C. and Es-tee R. Miller shared Scott Stevens's photo.
Afghans fear being left in the cold
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/10/2012102583226355942.html
On a particularly frigid day last year, at least six children - ranging from one month to five-years-old - froze to death in a camp for the internally displaced people in Charahi Qambar on the outskirts of Kabul.
They were among the 100-odd Afghans who died in the winter of 2012 - one of the harshest in recent memory.
With winter just weeks away, the challenge to beat the elements and stay alive has once again gained immediacy.
The majority of the 6,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Charahi Qambar refugee camp had fled violence from southwestern Herat. They all had hoped that moving to the capital would make their lives less imperiled.
But they might have been wrong.
For Afghanistan, a volatile mix of a three decades-long conflict, a subsequent population boom and a series of natural disasters (2011 saw the eighth drought in 11 years) have led to a situation where one-third of the population lack access to healthful food.
Another 8.5 million people are on the verge of food insecurity.
In rural areas, the extreme weather of the winter months – mid-November to late March – makes it more devastating.
link.
.
Truebook.org and Knowledge of Today shared a link.
Knowledge of Today shared a link.
Open Your Eyes's photo.
Knowledge of Today shared a photo.
Knowledge of Today
Knowledge of Today shared a link.
Open Your Eyes's photo.
Knowledge of Today shared a photo.
Knowledge of Today
Es-tee R. Miller shared a link.
s-tee R. Miller and ESTEE'S SKY WATCH IN VICTORIA B.C. shared a link.
![Good question, with no good answer.
Thanks @[114517875225866:274:The Other 98%] for the image!](http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/s480x480/548787_472855312755332_259180857_n.jpg)
freethoughtblogs.com
In
my book The Achievement Gap in US Education, I emphasized the
distortions in thinking that can occur when people unquestioningly take
the performance or behavior of one group (usually the majority group) as
the norm and/or desirable, and evaluate all other groups by how they
compare with that...
( Now. What if the reporting on 'what people believe' is a lie and push poll. Think about it. )
( Now. What if the reporting on 'what people believe' is a lie and push poll. Think about it. )
freethoughtblogs.com
About
an hour ago, WLTX broke a story about hackers. It seems foreign
hackers have broken into the Department of Revenue’s computers in the
state of South Carolina and stolen 3.6 million social security numbers —
from a state with 4.7 million residents. Essentially, if you’ve paid
taxes since...
Knowledge of Today shared a photo.
Underground News Network shared a link.
Pat Murtagh shared a link.
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