Fair Use Note

WARNING for European visitors: European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

Thomas Paine

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

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

31 October - Blogs I'm Following

Benjamin Franklin 1767
Benjamin Franklin 1767 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10:00 pm MDST

Ben Franklin ought to be a special person to a blogger. He was a Pamphleteer , writing Poor Richard's Almanack.

Soylent Mitt-- The One Percent Will Eat The Poor, And Other Prophecies By Hal Crowther

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 30 seconds ago
Unless you live in western North Carolina, you probably only know Cecil Bothwell as a progressive Blue America candidate who the Blue Dogs and DCCC screwed out of a chance to win the state's 11th CD. But Cecil is also an author-- *Whale Falls: An exploration of belief and its consequences*, *Finding Your Way In Asheville: 2009* and *The Prince of War: Billy Graham's Crusade for a Wholly Christian Empire*-- a songwriter and owner of Asheville's Brave Ulysses Books. This week he sent me an essay by Hal Crowther, who lives in Hillsborough, North Carolina. He's expressing, with great ... more »

Sheer Madness: Washington Post Says That It Is OK To Give Up Liberty For Security (!)

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 1 minute ago
America is now a police state. I have long thought that the good people living in the once free United States of America would have had enough by now by the criminal actions of their own crooked and deceitful government, but I guess I have been mistaken... There was a famous quote made by Benjamin Franklin at the time of the American Revolutionary War, and the words still ring absolutely true today... The quote goes something like this: "If a nation ever surrenders its Liberty for Security, then it's citizens will wake up one day with no Liberty and no Security!". Ben Franklin wa... more »

Muhamad from Aleppo on Insight SBS Sydney

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 3 minutes ago
The FSA terrorists are not revolutionaries, they are just morons with guns who hate everybody that's not like them. They are creating anarchy, not revolutionary change. They don't have a political vision, a social program, an economic plan, a leader, nothing. They are intolerant barbarians who burn the holy bible, *kill Christian priests*, and destroy churches. German poet Heinrich Heine said, "Where they burn books, they will ultimately also burn people." These FSA extremists are ten times worse than the current government in Syria. They spell nothing but disaster for the Syrian pe... more »

John Friend Interviews Deanna Spingola On His First Show On Truth Militia Radio!

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 32 minutes ago
A close friend of mine, John Friend, who writes the great blog: John Friend's Blog, at www.johnfriendsblog.blogspot.com, has broken new ground in the fight against the criminal element that is out for our enslavement. He is now hosting his own show, every Monday, on Truth Militia Radio, at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-truth-militia , at 8pm, CDT. Just this last Monday, October 29th, 2012, he had a fine lady who I have been a great fan of for years, Deanna Spingola, on his show to discuss various very important subjects. I have the link here for everyone to download for the... more »

"A Look to the Heavens"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 42 minutes ago
“Described as a "dusty curtain" or "ghostly apparition", mysterious reflection nebula VdB 152 really is very faint. Far from your neighborhood on this Halloween Night, the cosmic phantom is nearly 1,400 light-years away. Also catalogued as Ced 201, it lies along the northern Milky Way in the royal constellation Cepheus. *Click image for larger size. * Near the edge of a large molecular cloud, pockets of interstellar dust in the region block light from background stars or scatter light from the embedded bright star giving parts of the nebula a characteristic blue color. Ultraviol... more »

"The Essential Thing..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 48 minutes ago
"The most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well." - Pierre de Courbertin

Grow up, Mr Hickey

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 58 minutes ago
Mark Hubbard calls out Bernard Hickey for yet another childish swipe at efforts by governments, however lack-lustre, to either repay or avoid further debt--to both of which Big-Govt Bernie is apparently opposed. In Bernard’s item number one this morning], looking at the continuing train wreck of Greece, he says: * “…the debt debacle is getting even worse in Greece, forcing the Germans to think about stumping up yet more money. “**The austerity medicine is clearly not working.”* Really? It took Greece, and all the other Keynesian basket-cases, sixty ... more »

US to Focus Exclusively on Arming Al Qaeda in Syria

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 1 hour ago
US dumps Syrian proxy political front in latest move to accelerate long-stalled regime change. Tony Cartalucci Land Destroyer November 1, 2012 * * The Washington Post in its recent article, "U.S. looks to build alternative Syrian opposition leadership," claims: The Obama administration has spent the past several months in secret diplomatic negotiations aimed at building a new Syrian opposition leadership structure that it hopes can win the support of minority groups still backing President Bashar al-Assad. The strategy, to be unveiled at a Syrian opposition meeting next week in... more »

Stimulus failure

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 1 hour ago
Back in 2009, the Australian government panicked. It saw the global financial crisis and immediately pulled the Keynesian lever: they cut a cheque for $900 to every Australian for a shopping subsidy—which was paid for by every taxpayer. How much extra spending did each $900 “stimulate”? About $20. Just twenty dollars for every nine-hundred dollars poured down this particular drain. In fact, even the original unpublished paper on which the “stimulus” was based, now its finally been published, only talks about a fifty-dollar spending increase. Fifty dollars over seven weeks. No... more »

The Daily "Near You?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, United Kingdom. Thanks for stopping by.

Psychology: "How the Brain Stops Time"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
"How the Brain Stops Time" by Jeff Wise "One of the strangest side-effects of intense fear is time dilation, the apparent slowing-down of time. It's a common trope in movies and TV shows, like the memorable scene from "The Matrix" in which time slows down so dramatically that bullets fired at the hero seem to move at a walking pace. In real life, our perceptions aren't keyed up quite that dramatically, but survivors of life-and-death situations often report that things seem to take longer to happen, objects fall more slowly, and they're capable of complex thoughts in what would ... more »

Chet Raymo, “The Universe Becomes Conscious of Itself”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 1 hour ago
*“The Universe Becomes Conscious of Itself” * by Chet Raymo "By now most of us will have seen this spectacular photograph of a dusty star-birthing region of the Carina Nebula, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Hubble Space Telescope. I offer a slightly different cropping from what you may have seen in the media or on APOD. Please click the image to see it it all of its glory. Let me add some context. The image shows an area of the sky that you could cover with the intersection of two crossed sewing pins held at arms length. Think about that for a minute. Hold two imagin... more »

Your second time…

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 2 hours ago
You might have seen the patronising approach the Obama campaign has taken towards women? The likes of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton argued that women were just as capable of rational deliberation as men [writes Rich Lowry]. The conceit of the Obama campaign is that, to the contrary, they are quite susceptible to a few powerful dog whistles and unable to see beyond their gender. To paraphrase a notorious post on the Obama campaign’s Tumblr page, “Ladies vote like their lady parts depend on it.” The twenty-something filmmaker and actress Lena Dunham captured the s... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 2 hours ago

Average American knows very little about daily life in Iran

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 2 hours ago
Kourosh Ziabari Tehran Times November 1, 2012 *U.S. journalist and photographer Nile Bowie says U.S. citizens know very little about daily life in Iran, adding that the realities on the ground in the country are different than what is being presented by Western media outlets.* *“Keeping American society fearful of Iran is key to manipulating the general public into accepting the immoral barrage of economic sanctions and possible military operations taken against the country in the future,” Nile Bowie said in a recent interview with the Tehran Times.* *He is based in Kuala Lumpur,... more »

Nation suddenly realizes this is just going to be a thing that happens from now on

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 2 hours ago
[image: Destruction in the Northeast United States following Hurricane Sandy, October 2012. This, all of this, is just going to be a part of life from here on out, the entire nation now understands. The Onion] NEW YORK, 31 October 2012 (The Onion) – Following Hurricane Sandy’sdestructive tear through the Northeast this week, the nation’s 300 million citizens looked upon the trail of devastation and fully realized, for the first time, that this is just going to be something that happens from now on. Gradually comprehending that this sort of thing is now just a fact of life, citizen... more »

The thing to remember about kooky clerics is that there are doody-brained people who LISTEN to them

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
*Now that the crackpot lying-filth-spewing rabbis are chiming in, the religionist hate-mongering imbecility has officially gone ecumenical.* *by Ken* Just the other day ThinkProgress's Zack Ford reported ("Anti-Gay Preacher Blames Hurricane Sandy On Homosexuality And Marriage Equality," links onsite): A Christian religious leader has already claimed that Hurricane Sandy is further proof that "God is systematically destroying America" as political judgment for the "homosexual agenda." *John McTernan* [right] previously made similar allusions about Hurricanes Katrina (2005) and Isaa... more »

The Economy: "AMT: Uncle Sam Wants YOU…to Pay Up!"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 3 hours ago
*"AMT: Uncle Sam Wants YOU…to Pay Up!"* by Byron King "In September, we discussed the looming U.S. tax increases (what we dubbed “taxaggedon”) scheduled by law to take effect on Jan. 1, 2013. Absent new legislation over the next couple of months, your taxes WILL increase at the beginning of 2013. It’s going to be a tax avalanche! As I stated in the article, “If you earn income in the U.S., or otherwise have ties to U.S. income… you’re in the cross hairs. If nothing else, the tax collector cometh, and he knoweth your name. If you’re a taxpayer, you’re not going to like it.” Many... more »

Halloween 2012, Nexon Style

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 3 hours ago
We prepare to pillage for candy! No one got my costume’s reference. So sad. Happy Halloween!

The Economy: Dr. Marc Faber, "Disaster Area"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 3 hours ago
*"Disaster Area"* by Dr. Marc Faber "In order to exercise control over the population, governments throughout history have made people dependent on government largess. A government can make an increasing number of people dependent on its generosity by providing more and more benefits to a larger and larger share of the population. ․ Social Security Disability Insurance vs. Employment Since 2009: Because of these “freebies,” people will go along with the government’s enlargement as a percent of the economy. The masses believe in their free lunch and because the business elite k... more »

Samhain Tidings

noreply@blogger.com (Niles) at DAMMIT JANET! - 3 hours ago
As a virtual ghost around here the last number of months, I decided to scratch out some sign that while perhaps not sentient, I am still alive and not boycotting the sweat and blood work of DJ!. I thought perhaps today might be the most appropriate; plus I'm huddling in a corner over a hot rock. I confess I retreated from participation in blogging because I was feeling extremely disappointed in myself for not being able to add more than the intermittent beep of 'me too' and deciding I needed to concentrate on my individual existence before I got too despondent at not being able to ... more »

Going to Extremes

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 3 hours ago
The aftermath of Hurricane Sandy is a multidimensional study in contrasts and similarities. The battered seaside estates of the obscenely wealthy and the flooded inner city housing projects of the neglected poor vie for our split screen attention. Polished Mercedes Benzes and battered Ford pickups are equally vulnerable, it turns out, to falling trees and bricks and metal signs. A Democratic Laurel and a Republican Hardy are equity actors in post-disaster consolation theatre. Even though Halloween was cancelled in New Jersey, Thanksgiving came early. They spoke their lines with bar... more »

Attendance Encouraged at Tomorrow's Hearing to Get Pima County to Comply with Existing Election Laws

Intercept at The Intercept - 3 hours ago
Update: From John Brakey- PLEASE, be in court with us, and bring lots of friends, we need a big presence to show that this is a critical case and “we the people” are paying attention and we expect the judge to do the same. *Thursday, November 01, 2012 @ 2 pm Judge James E Marner’s Courtroom 668**Pima Superior Court: 110 W. Congress, Tucson, AZ* All we want is “Verifiable Elections”, not more* **“Election Theater” *Our suit*, “It demands that county races be included in the hand-count audit, which is not required by Arizona law. County staff workers and advocates dispute wheth... more »

PORTAL 2012: Important Update about Fixing the World Project

        AMERICAN KABUKI at American Kabuki - 4 hours ago
Important Update about Fixing the World Project This is the immediate phase one results of the project. It has been sent to the parties in charge of releasing the funds. It needs to also be spread on the internet for the people to read. There will be much much more to this project to come soon, but this is the immediate communication that needed to go out NOW as time is running very short: http://hopegirl2012.wordpress.com/2012/10/29/from-the-people-for-the-people-of-earth-phase-one-how-to/ Basic information about the project is here: http://hopegirl2012.wordpress.com/2012... more »

Democracy at risk: Voting machines might be hacked

Intercept at The Intercept - 4 hours ago
Help Us Transmit This Story Add to Your Blogger Account Put it On Facebook Tweet this post Print it from your printer Email and a collection of other outlets Try even more services

Blessed Samhain

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 4 hours ago
Or happy Halloween if you don't observe the earth based celebrations. If you're going out to enjoy the festivities, be careful on the roads. Lots of amateurs drinking and driving. And Zombies. This is coolest graphic I found all month. It really works. If you stare at the fog long enough, you see more and more of the walking dead. (works best if you click to make it bigger) These were my favorite politically themed pumpkins. They won some contest for scariest entry. I've been collecting Halloween graphics at my other blog, Last One Speaks, all month and I think we all have to ag... more »

Iowa warns international observers of arrest

Intercept at The Intercept - 4 hours ago
Politico Bobby Cervantes [image: Early voters cast ballots in Iowa. | AP Photo]We don't need your oversight. That's what the machines are for. Iowa has joined Texas in warning international election observers of possible criminal prosecution if they violate state laws and get near polling places on Election Day. Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz — like Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott last week — on Tuesday threatened Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe election observers with arrest if they came within 300 feet of a polling place’s entrance, in violation of... more »

Project Camelot: Admiral Fired For Attempted Coup?

Obi-Wan Kabuki at American Kabuki - 4 hours ago
http://projectcamelotportal.com/kerrys-blog/1393-admiral-fired-for-attempted-coup *ADMIRAL FIRED FOR ATTEMPTED COUP?* Tuesday, 30 October 2012 23:43 Written by Kerry Cassidy According to this story on PRESS TV, an admiral was fired today for being involved in plans for an attempted coup against the President of the U.S. Today, Rear Admiral Charles M. Gaouette was “fired” from his command of one of the three carrier battle groups back to Bremerton, Washington to face an investigation. It is impossible to adequately state how unusual this is and how serious..." ..."the decision ... more »

Op-Ed in the WSJ

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 4 hours ago
I have an op-ed in tomorrow's WSJ, just put online. Here is an excerpt: [W]ith respect to disasters we really do make our own luck. The relatively low number of casualties caused by Sandy is a testament to the success story that is the U.S. National Weather Service and parallel efforts of those who emphasize preparedness and emergency response in the public and private sectors. Everyone in the disaster-management community deserves thanks; the mitigation of the impacts from natural disasters has been a true national success story of the past century. But continued success isn't ... more »

Get yours . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 5 hours ago
GET A FLU SHOT. Besides helping to fight the flu, there are strong indications that it is an effective way of lowering the incidence of major cardio problems. That's what a report from the American Council on Science and Health proclaims in a post, "Flu vaccine’s unexpected heart benefits": Flu shots can stop you from getting the flu. Can they also stop you from having a heart attack?That’s

Luminous Light in Alabama

Obi-Wan Kabuki at American Kabuki - 5 hours ago
Image credit and copyright: David Hathaway/NASA/MSFC Posted at: http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=31&month=10&year=2012 AMAZING ICE HALO DISPLAY: Yesterday, sky watchers around the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, witnessed something amazing: A complex network of luminous arcs and rings surrounded the afternoon sun. "I've never seen anything quite like it," says eyewitness Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. Solar physicist David Hathaway snapped this picture of the display: The apparition is almost certainly connected to hurr... more »

Part II: Rigged Elections for Romney?

Intercept at The Intercept - 5 hours ago
The Money Party Michael Collins Part I of this series suggested that there may well have been massive vote flipping for candidate Mitt Romney in the Republican primaries (*Rigged Elections for Romney (10/22/12)* The article and the initial research analysis were received broadly. In addition, highly motivated citizens across the country and a team of high school students contacted the authors for help replicating the research in their states. The researchers, Francois et al., point out that this can be done with their open source techniques. The basic argument is straightforward... more »

Syria: Foreign Rebels Praise Al Qaeda, call to slaughter Alawites

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 5 hours ago
The U.S. defeated Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, a group that it created to "give the Soviet Union its Vietnam," only to turn around and re-launch Al-Qaeda in Syria with the help of Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. It is a funny game. But these sad souls in the video below actually believe that Bin Laden is a symbol of freedom. They also *champion Saddam Hussein as a "Martyr."* They are victims of mind control and brainwashing. They believe Bin Laden did 9/11 but they share that belief with many brainwashed people so that's not really strange. Plus, their hearts are filled with hate. The... more »

Hack the vote: Russian election chief rips US elections, voting machines

Intercept at The Intercept - 5 hours ago
Russia Today Robert Bridge [image: Vladimir Churov, Head of the Russian Central Election Commission. (RIA Novosti/Aleksey Nikolskyi)]Vladimir ChurovRussia’s Central Election Commission chief has ranked the American electoral system among the “worst in the world.” One of the main problems with the US electoral system is the lack of transparency, Vladimir Churov argues in an article published in Wednesday’s issue of Rossiyskaya Gazeta. According to US law, international observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are only granted access to polling ... more »

The Belief That CO2 Can Regulate Climate Is “Sheer Absurdity” Says Prominent German Meteorologist

Intercept at The Intercept - 5 hours ago
NoTrickZone P. Gosselin Meteorologist Klaus-Eckard PulsPhysicist and meteorologist Klaus-Eckart Puls was interviewed by Bettina Hahne-Waldscheck of the Swiss magazine “factum“. I’ve translated and summarized the interview, paraphrasing for brevity. *factum:* You’ve been criticising the theory of man-made global warming for years. How did you become skeptical? *Puls: *Ten years ago I simply parroted what the IPCC told us. One day I started checking the facts and data – first I started with a sense of doubt but then I became outraged when I discovered that much of what the IPCC a... more »

Old and bold

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 5 hours ago
They're talking politics at the assisted living facility. This could be me if live long enough. Audio is NSFW.

Superior HIV Test

arclein at Terra Forming Terra - 6 hours ago
This is excellent news. We will no longer have to largely wait for the disease to progress far too far in order to detect it. It also promises to be an easy test to administer. If we are lucky, it can be available over the counter. Again that matters. Folks want to prove a negative without confronting the emotional costs of dealing with the medical fraternity. Anything that makes it easier to prove a negative is good news. Once a positive is signaled, then behavior quickly changes anyway but then on the patient's own terms. For those affected, this also allows the lev... more »

Are Sandy and Climate Change Related? Part I

Josh Busby at Duck of Minerva - 6 hours ago
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, there is much discussion about whether climate change was responsible for the storm. I’m not sure this is the right question we need to be asking, unless we think that whether we respond to climate change hinges on an affirmative answer. Let’s suspend disbelief for a moment and say that Continue reading

The Post should use the real word: “Fraud!”

bob somerby at the daily howler - 6 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012* *Halloween and Mitt Romney’s “proposal:”* On Monday, the Washington Post published an editorial battering Romney’s tax proposal. Check that! The Post battered Romney’s “tax proposal.” This is part of what the editors said, starting with the headline: WASHINGTON POST EDITORIAL (10/29/12): *Mr. Romney’s tax plan still doesn’t add up* *In a letter published on this page last week, Pierce Scranton, economic policy director for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, took issue with an editorial describing the "implausibility" of Mr. Romney's tax plan.* In the... more »

President's precedence

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 6 hours ago
[photo via Steven Portnoy on twitter] Lot of chatter on the internets this afternoon about Chris Christie ditching Miserable Mitt and singing the praises of President Obama. The general consensus goes along the lines of Mistermix's view that Christie is playing for 2016. There's a small contingent of reluctant admirers ranging from John Cole's near kudos to Atrios who sees Christie as wanting to rise to the occassion and do his job. Me, I'm somewhere betwixt the three of them. I don't doubt Christie calculates the political ramifications of any act and fine tunes his schtick wi... more »

Senate Rules Fight Coming?

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 6 hours ago
Greg Sargent has an important post up this afternoon about the possibility of a strong drive for filibuster reform if, as the polls right now are indicating, we get a status quo election: Barack Obama is re-elected with the Democrats holding the Senate and Republicans keeping their House majority. Greg reports that nine Democratic candidates who are winning or in tossup races are pledging to support Jeff Merkley, who has been pushing Senate reform for a while now. As I've said before, Senate reform is most likely after a party enjoying unified government is thwarted by the filibuste... more »

Blue America-- What We Do

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
*You made that* Are you a "member" of Blue America? All you have to do is contribute any amount to any of our candidates or campaigns. These are the ones we have going right now: Our main page is for progressive candidates running for the House this year. Our Senate page has slots to contribute to the 3 candidates running this year who we felt were good enough to contribute to. Our Independent Expenditure Committee allows us to run TV, newspaper and radio ads, billboard campaigns, GOTV efforts, etc and they work independently of the candidates. That's the one where there are no limi... more »

Kathleen Marden - Commonalities Study Final Report

KRandle at A Different Perspective - 7 hours ago
I received an email from Kathleen Marden (which is not to say that it came just to me, but one that she had sent to many of us interested in UFOs), niece of Betty Hill, about a statistical study she and Denise Stoner had been working on. “The Marden-Stoner Study on Commonalities Among UFO Abduction Experiencers,” as it is called, was a multiple-choice survey of those who believe they have been abducted by aliens, and a core of non-abductees as a control group. Kathleen Marden According to Marden, “Nearly a year ago, Denise Stoner and I met to discuss the commonalities that alien abd... more »

A registration revolution, starting with Charter Schools

Peter Cresswell at Not PC - 7 hours ago
Every form of occupational licensing, of professional registration, is a type of protectionism—a means whereby incumbents in that profession restrict entry to others. The result is an increase salaries and wages above market rates, and the removal of the threat of innovative newcomers. It’s a modern form of medieval guild socialism. One of the prime examples today is teacher registration, which teachers are registered not on the basis of knowing their subject, but because they have endured three years or more of indoctrination at a state teachers college. No wonder the suggestion... more »

"Missteps In The Bunker"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 7 hours ago
*"Missteps In The Bunker"* by The Washington Post "The greatest fears of nuclear terrorism came true on August 29, 2007, and it occurred within the United States, not an Islamic country. The shocking story was shelved from the beginning and wasn’t even reported until September 23, 2007. Under the careful watch of the Bush and Cheney administration, 6 thermo-nuclear 150 kilo-ton nuclear warheads went missing. What role these weapons in question would have played in the planned nuclear terror attack in Dallas, Texas, on February 6, 2011, is unknown, but Barksdale Air Force Base, w... more »

“The Mystery of Minot: Loose Nukes, Dead Airmen”

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 7 hours ago
*“The Mystery of Minot:* * Loose Nukes, Dead Airmen”* by Dave Lindorff Wed, 11/21/2007— "The unauthorized Aug. 29 cross-country flight of a B-52H Stratofortress armed with six nuclear-tipped AGM-29 Advanced Cruise missiles, which saw these 150-kiloton warheads go missing for 36 hours, has all the elements of two Hollywood movies. One would be a thriller about the theft from an armed weapons bunker of six nukes for some dark and murky purpose. The lead might be played by Matt Damon. The other movie would be a slapstick comedy about a bunch of bozos who couldn’t tell the differen... more »

US$ Reserve Status Pays For The Murder of Muslims - Paul Craig Roberts

Saman Mohammadi at The Excavator - 7 hours ago
Source: 108morris108.

Top Five Most Popular Posts for October

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 7 hours ago
The most read posts of the month were: 1. *It's Time to Bash Benefit-Bashing* 2. *Marx on the Box* 3. *On Jimmy Savile* 4. *The Utopia of "Everyman" Toryism* 5. *Introducing iPad Ellis* A kind retweet by Owen Jones helped the winner clamber atop of the chart with a thousand page view lead over its nearest rival.

Interview With the Expelled Bishop Williamson

NO ONE TO VOTE FOR at NO ONE TO VOTE FOR - 7 hours ago
This interview took place during the summer of 2010 while Bishop Williamson was under aqn 'order of silence' imposed by the head of his order, the SSPX, Bishop Fellay. In October 2012 Fellay expelled Williamson from the SSPX so the interview can now be released. Bishop Williamson's expulsion has created a crisis among the priests of the SSPX. Now that Fellay has expelled the SSPX's most determined and vociferous defender of its founding principles, it is clear that these principles have been abandoned for the comfort of being embraced by the mainstream Judaised Catholic Churc... more »

Mm, mm, dumb.

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 8 hours ago
(Originally, this was meant to be a Brilliant at Breakfast exclusive but to anyone who'd tried to follow my link, you may've noticed that Jill's having maintenance issues and, for whatever reason, her site's down. So I decided to cross-post this, after all.) When history pinches the bridge of its nose ages and ages hence and selects the one single stunt the Romney campaign has pulled that reveals the sheer depth of Willard's superficiality, it'll point to his relief efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Granted, it may not be on a par with Bush allowing 1800 mostly African Ameri... more »

How Much Sea Level Rise Would be Avoided by Aggressive CO2 Reductions?

noreply@blogger.com (Roger Pielke, Jr.) at Roger Pielke Jr.'s Blog - 8 hours ago
*UPDATE: Via Twitter @bradplumer points me to a newer paper that suggests perhaps 7 inches is the difference in seal level rise to 2100 between the highest and lowest RCP scenarios. It is not apples to apples with the number presented below, but still a very small number. And another paper here, with perhaps 10 inches between RCP scenarios, a number lower than the projection uncertainties.* One of the more reasonable discussion points to emerge from efforts to link Hurricane Sandy to the need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions focuses on the role that future sea level rise will h... more »

Government Suffers EU Budget Vote Defeat

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
David Cameron has suffered a blow after losing a Commons vote on the European Union's long-term budget. The Prime Minister had hoped to get backing for his threat to veto any rise in the EU budget. *But eurosceptic Conservatives and Labour MPs backed a rebel Tory bid calling for the Prime Minister to push for a real-terms cut in the EU's budget for 2014-20.* The Government was defeated by a margin of 307 votes to 294. http://news.sky.com/story/1005279/government-suffers-eu-budget-vote-defeat

130 fleeing Burma violence feared dead as boat sinks

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Up to 130 people trying to escape ethnic violence in Burma are said to be missing after their boat sank off the coast of Bangladesh. Police and community groups said the boat containing families of Rohingya Muslims, sank while trying to make its way towards Malaysia. “We have heard from our sources on the ground that there were 130 people on the boat,” said Tun Kin, president of the Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (Brouk). “We still don’t know where it happened.” http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/130-fleeing-burma-violence-feared-dead-as-boat-sinks-8269579.html

Greek union calls strike for November 6-7

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Greece's main union on Wednesday called a 48-hour general strike for November 6-7 in protest at a new wave of austerity measures unveiled by the government in order to unlock EU-IMF bailout loans. "The central aim and demand of the unions is the rejection (by parliament) of unacceptable, destructive and coercive measures imposed by the troika," the GSEE union said in a statement, referring to the EU, IMF and European Central Bank. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j_ByZlQgGu6pxUT60_JX09XROing?docId=CNG.329ccfef04a36194aac9d0fcc0452b7c.3b1

GlaxoSmithKline to review European operations amid sales fall

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Britain's biggest drug maker, GlaxoSmithKline, has announced a review of its European operations as sales fell 8pc in the third quarter, which could lead to significant job cuts. Sir Andrew Witty, chief executive of GSK, declined to give any details on what impact the review would have on staff numbers – insisting it could mean the business hires more people in Europe – but analysts raised fears that the move signalled “downsizing”. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/jobs/9646589/GSK-to-review-European-operations-amid-sales-fall.html

Plea negotiations are generally privileged

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
*R. v. Zarinchang, *2010 ONCA 286 holds: [28] We pause to note that plea negotiations are generally privileged in the sense that the information disclosed will not be used against the accused, although there may be exceptions: R. v. Bernardo, [1994] O.J. No. 1718 (S.C.). It may be that an exception applies where the negotiations are adduced to rebut an allegation of prejudice at the hands of the Crown. However, we make no further comment as this issue was not addressed by either party.

France warns Iran after meeting Israeli PM

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday said he wanted "concrete acts" from Iran to prove it was not pursuing a nuclear arms drive after his first face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. At a press conference with Netanyahu, whose aim during a two-day visit to France is to seek more pressure on Iran, Hollande warned that Paris would back "other sanctions" if Tehran failed to convince on its contested nuclear programme. "This is a threat which cannot be accepted by France," Hollande said. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gy5INqy... more »

Merkel reassures Turkey on EU talks, Erdogan raps Cyprus

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday the European Union (EU) would pursue accession talks with his country in good faith, despite some persistent disagreements. Erdogan said on Tuesday the EU would lose Turkey if it did not grant it membership by 2023, the first time he has indicated how long Ankara might continue down the path towards EU entry. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-germany-turkey-erdogan-idUSBRE89U12720121031

Wall Street scrambles to raise cash after Sandy

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
Wall Street firms and U.S. banks scrambled to raise cash on Wednesday, as U.S. financial markets resumed normal trading after a devastating storm pummeled the U.S. East Coast and closed major markets for two days. Major banks and investment houses rely on the money markets - a key cash source for financial markets - to finance trading positions and loans they make. Companies sell commercial paper and other short-term debt to money market funds and other investors to fund their inventories and payrolls. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-storm-sandy-moneymarkets-idUSBRE89U0... more »

Computer geeks: Uncle Sam wants you

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
BOSTON - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is considering setting up a "Cyber Reserve" of computer security experts who could be called upon in the event of a crippling cyber attack. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/net-us-usa-cybersecurity-reserve-idUSBRE89U16Z20121031

Iraq eyes the war next door

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 8 hours ago
In guesthouses and mosques across Iraq's Anbar province, the talk at Sunni tribal gatherings has turned from the usual debate over local politics to a matter even more pressing - the war next door. Many people in Iraq's Sunni heartland, once al Qaeda's stronghold in the country, are most concerned with helping their kin. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-syria-crisis-iraq-idUSBRE89U0X020121031

"Looking Beyond Election Day: The Issues That Threaten to Derail the Nation"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
*"Looking Beyond Election Day: * *The Issues That Threaten to Derail the Nation"* By John W. Whitehead "While it may be months before the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy can be fully resolved, Americans cannot afford to lose sight of the very real and pressing issues that threaten to derail the nation. What follows is an overview of the major issues that both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, despite their respective billion dollar war chests, have failed to mention during their extensive campaign trail stumping and televised debates. These are issues that aren’t going away a... more »

Nunavut cabinet minister violated Integrity Act, says report

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
Nunavut's integrity commissioner has found cabinet minister Fred Schell violated the Integrity Act in six of nine allegations made earlier this year. Schell is the MLA for South Baffin and a cabinet minister without a portfolio after the premier stripped him of all his portfolios in March, alleging Schell had abused his power as a cabinet minister. Schell had been in charge of Human Resources and responsible for the Nunavut Housing Corp. Story

Legally married spouse privileged for pension death benefit

James C Morton at Morton's Musings - 8 hours ago
*Carrigan v. Carrigan Estate*, 2012 ONCA 736 decides who receives the pension death benefit when the member of a pension plan entitled to a deferred pension dies and is survived by both a common law spouse with whom he resided at the time of death and a legally married spouse from whom he was separated but whom he designated a beneficiary of his pension plan. It is the legally married spouse. The Court holds: [24] Section 48(1) gives statutory priority to the member’s spouse. When s. 48(1) is engaged, it applies even if the member has designated a beneficiary as env... more »

Clinton calls for overhaul of Syria opposition

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
The United States called on Wednesday for a major overhaul of Syria's beleaguered opposition, saying it was time to move beyond the Syrian National Council (SNC) and bring in those who are "in the frontlines fighting and dying today". Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, signaling a more active stance by Washington in attempts to form a credible political opposition to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said a meeting next week in Qatar would be an opportunity to bring more people to the table and broaden the coalition against him. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-syria-... more »

Minerals Find Gives New Clues To Life On Mars

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Nasa has discovered the mineralogy of Martian soil is similar to balsatic, weathered soils of volcanic origin in Hawaii. The minerals were found in the first sample of soil collected recently by Mars rover Curiosity using its Chemistry and Mineralogy instrument (CheMin), said Nasa on its website. http://news.sky.com/story/1005148/minerals-find-gives-new-clues-to-life-on-mars

Calvin Lock: Ibuprofen Allergic Reaction 'Nearly Kills' Boy

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
An 11-year-old boy was left covered in blisters and fighting for his life after suffering a rare allergic reaction to Ibuprofen. Calvin Lock was given Nurofen for Children by his mother for a sore throat on the doctor’s advice. But a few days later clusters of spots started appearing all over his body. The burns led to him losing 65% of his skin and the youngster had to be put on a life support machine. http://news.sky.com/story/1005163/ibuprofen-allergic-reaction-nearly-kills-boy

4.7 Magnitude Earthquake KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND - 31st October 2012

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Magnitude 4.7 Date-Time Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 16:26:38 UTC Thursday, November 01, 2012 at 04:26:38 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 30.157°S, 177.791°W Depth 61 km (37.9 miles) Region KERMADEC ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND Distances 99 km (61 miles) S of Raoul Island, New Zealand

4.6 Magnitude Earthquake TANZANIA - 31st October 2012

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
Magnitude 4.6 Date-Time Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 15:15:06 UTC Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 06:15:06 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 5.333°S, 34.833°E Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program Region TANZANIA Distances 22 km (13 miles) SSE of Ikungi, Tanzania

Sandy Uncovers Bomb At Guantanamo Bay

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 9 hours ago
The US military has had to close down a ferry landing at Guantanamo Bay after Hurricane Sandy uncovered an old bomb. The 500lb (227kg) object was discovered several days after the hurricane - later downgraded to a superstorm - hit the Cuban island. Officals at the US naval base evacuated the area around the bomb and flew in a disposal crew. http://news.sky.com/story/1005110/sandy-uncovers-bomb-at-guantanamo-bay

Go away you noisy little brats

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 9 hours ago
Yes it's Halloween but No I won't give you sweets or chocolates regardless of how often you ring my doorbell. Just go away you noisy little brats

No Mention of Tritium Release in ABC Account of Problems at Nuke Plants

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 9 hours ago
Hurricane Sandy: Problems at Five Nuke Plants By Mark Schone, ABC News 31 October 12 http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/14275-focus-hurricane-sandy-problems-at-five-nuke-plants see also here http://news.yahoo.com/hurricane-sandy-problems-five-nuke-plants-153413852--abc-news-topstories.html [Excerpted] The nation's oldest nuclear plant declared an alert and a second plant just 40 miles from New York City was forced to shut down power as five different nuke plants in Hurricane Sandy's path experienced problems during the storm. Indian Point in Buchanan, New York, on... more »

Foodie Find: Boho Mexica, London, UK

Casey at The Adventures of Limited Eating - 9 hours ago
*Foodie Find: Boho Mexica, London, UK* Last night I enjoyed a taste of Mexico right here in East London. Boho Mexica on Commercial Street hit the spot. The menu is authentic Mexican cuisine with a small twist that makes it interesting but not too off the richter scale. Instead of using your typical fried corn tortilla The Tostadas Tropicales uses fried green plantains as a base, with a generous topping of chili marinated prawns, red cabbage and avocado, this mixture creates a delicious balance of sweet and savory flavors. And better yet, the dish is completely gluten and dairy free... more »

Back Online

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 9 hours ago
We just got our internet/phone/cable restored in New Paltz after a two-day disruption, so I am still catching up on all the devastation outside my own little slice of real estate. Just a brief glance at TV and online news makes it apparent that the destruction wrought by Sandy is far worse than most people could have imagined. Thanks to everyone who has written to me with messages of concern. We fared much better during this storm than we did with Hurricane Irene last year, when floods literally washed away whole towns. The latest damage to the Hudson Valley, where I live, was main... more »

doonesbury

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 10 hours ago

Indigenous Empowerment: Activism of Lehman Brightman

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 10 hours ago
United Native Americans Inc. Presents: Cultural Empowerment of Indigenous Activism Featuring the Activism of Lehman L. Brightman Wednesday, November 14, 2012 7:00pm - 9:30pm Berkeley City College Auditorium 2050 Center St. Berkeley, CA 94704 To Inspire the Indigenous Community and Benefit the 'Please Help Save Dr. Lehman L.

Rush Limbaugh is getting frustrated that rightwing media's "BENGHAZI CENTRAL" isn't breaking outside of the rightwing Republican media "BUBBLE"

Big Dan at Big Dan's Big Blog - 10 hours ago
*The so-called "liberal media" or "mainstream media" is actually "THE REPUBLICAN MEDIA", take a look at who OWNS it and who is ON it: * I actually joke with my friend, that when I turn on our local rightwing radio channel WILK, the first words I always hear, no matter what show, is "BENGHAZI". Yes, for TWO MONTHS now, rightwing media is trying to drum up an anti-Obama/pro-Romney "BENGHAZI CRISIS" and outside of their rightwing media bubble of Rush Limbaugh, FOX "news", your local rightwing radio station like our WILK, etc...etc...it's - what's the word or term? - PETERING OUT, DYIN... more »

Be The 5 Percent for Gary Johnson

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 10 hours ago
Mark Daniels Activist & Blogger Global Political Awakening Be The 5 Percent is an Arkansas based grassroots political organization focused on an effort to gain ballot access for Libertarian Party candidates in all 50 States. A local activist and Gary Johnson supporter, Travis Foster, presented the idea to his fellow Libertarian friends who recently gathered in Little Rock, Arkansas for a Gary Johnson Sign Waving Event which was featured on the front page of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. The website domain was purchased and designed within 24 hours and received over 1000 unique hit... more »

Halloween Jailbirds

noreply@blogger.com (fern hill) at DAMMIT JANET! - 10 hours ago
*Sigh*. One of the Jubilee Jailbirds has been arrested again. Yes, Linda Gibbons is up to her one-trick-pony trick again. Outside an abortion clinic, but according to the LieShite story, now with supporters. Plural. One of her supporters had a video camera, proof at the link. Maybe Linda wanted to join her pal Mary Wagner, who is *still* in jail, to show her what her little trinket looks like. Mary will get one too, courtesy of one of Canada's fetus fetishizing MPs, Maurice Vellacott. In Canada, we celebrate the Queen's Jubilee by giving commemorative medals to convicted serial cl... more »

China, the Voracious Economic Giant, Steve the Supplicant

The Mound of Sound at The Disaffected Lib - 10 hours ago
Given how fast Stephen Harper is working behind his veil of secrecy to sell out Canada to China, this timely warning from *Der Spiegel:* *"I love nature," says Huang Nubo, 56, a businessman with an estimated net worth of at least $1 billion (€772 million). The founder and chairman of the Beijing Zhongkun Investment Group, Huang discovered a market niche: He builds resorts with an emphasis on sustainable design. His company benefits from the new wanderlust and "green" consciousness of the affluent Chinese upper and middle classes.* *Huang has trouble understanding why his latest proj... more »

Green Party presidential candidate arrested at Tarsands Blockade in Texas

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 10 hours ago
Green Party presidential candidate arrested at Tarsands Blockade in Texas www.tarsandsblockade.org ***UPDATE 10:30AM – In Winnsboro, Dr. Jill Stein has been arrested, taken to Wood County Jail, and is awaiting processing. The freelance reporter has been released from detainment without arrest or charge. A statement from Dr. Jill Stein: “I’m here to connect the dots between super storm

Noteable Omissions: Content Analysis of the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal Coverage of Hurricane Affected Nuclear Plants

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 10 hours ago
Majia here: The media often set the AGENDA for public discourse through their coverage (or not) of important issues. Hurricane Sandy posed a severe threat to nuclear plants located on the east coast due to flooding and power outages. Arnie Gunderson warned that a spent fuel pool fire could occur at Oyster Creek nuclear plant http://enenews.com/9pm-special-edition-exactly-happened-fukushima-going-njs-oyster-creek-except-reactor-refueling-gundersen-audio see also http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2012/10/29/nuclear_plants_from_virginia_to_vermont So, my question was, 'HOW DID THE MAIN... more »

Climate Change-- Much Scarier Than Halloween

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 11 hours ago
No serious Climate Change action from this crew Given the nature of conservatism, the political right will not wake up to the realities of Climate Change until long after its possible to do anything about it. Just as much as Fox News and Hate Talk Radio, the greed-obsessed oil giants have helped create a dysfunctional version of democracy. I voted for Obama in 2008, despite his mediocre record in the Senate and his tendency to bend over backwards for the corporate criminals and Wall Street hucksters who finance the entire Republican Party and most of the Democratic Party-- the whole... more »

"I'VE BEEN BAD FOR YEARS AND YEARS"

Anon at aangirfan - 11 hours ago
*Savile (left)* John was only aged ten when Mr BBC, the friend of Tony Blair and Israel, sexually assaulted him. The assault took place on the utterly corrupt island of Jersey. *I was only 10 when Jimmy Savile assaulted me in a toilet.* "John" was living at Jersey's notorious Haut de la Garenne children's home, where children were reportedly tortured and murdered by top people. John told how Sir Jimmy Savile regularly came to the home. John broke down as he told how Savile moved him into a toilet and subjected him to a sexual assault. John sobbed as he said: "I was frightened and... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 11 hours ago
*Levees.Org** founder Sandy Rosenthal will be a guest on Huffpost Live to discuss Hurricane Sandy 2pm CST* *The news you are not getting from New York City ~Ken McCarthy*

CMS proton-lead ridge: color glass condensate?

Luboš Motl at The Vampire Skeleton - 11 hours ago
Two years ago, I reported the observation of surprising two-particle correlations at the CMS in proton-proton collisions, something that was previously observed at Brookhaven's RHIC in their 2005 gold-gold collisions. You know that the LHC sometimes collides lead nuclei against lead nuclei instead of proton-proton pairs but a few weeks ago, it tried something something new, the proton-lead (asymmetric) collisions. *Physics World*tells us about a (not too) surprising result of this hybrid crashing game: Unexpected 'ridge' seen in CMS collision data again I wrote it's not "too" sur... more »

Open Thread

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 11 hours ago
The latest demotivational poster from Casa de la Puerco. Making some last minute preparations for tonight's Halloweenery so posting here will be light to nonexistent. However, if you're Jonesing for a good dose of lib'ral outrage, hop on over and see today's post at Brilliant at Breakfast. I've been sorta shouldering the load there while Jill Hussein has been swamped with work and tending to a sick kittie. So what are you dressing up as tonight? I hear Willard's going out as a stock boy. I also hear that, instead of candy, Paul Ryan and his wife will be handing out vouchers. So, ... more »

Gary Johnson 2012: The Libertarian Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Mark Daniels at GLOBAL POLITICAL AWAKENING - 11 hours ago
“The revolution will not be televised.” This phrase accurately describes the libertarian movement, as it continues to penetrate the American psyche in the forms of Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. Every day, a growing segment of the population, which is young, educated, and internet native, joins the ranks of the libertarians and their allies. And every day, the regime which currently controls the United States — those inner party officials, media mouthpieces, and corporate backers — continue to lose legitimacy, support, and ultimately, control. Over the next few years, these elements... more »

Not that Sandy is in any way a laughing matter, but even those that suffered damage might get a chuckle out of this.

Barbara Diamond at American Scofflaw - 12 hours ago
I mean, you could have this in your yard.... It's a Great White, by the way, washed into a New Jersey suburban yard!!!!

AP: Your bias is showing

Left I on the News at Left I on the News - 12 hours ago
The lead paragraph of an AP story today: CAIRO -- A suspected Israeli airstrike against a weapons factory in Khartoum last week points to a possible escalation in a hidden front of the rivalry between Israel and Iran: The arms pipeline through Sudan to Islamists on Israel's borders. So the airstrike, for which no explanation other than an Israeli attack has ever been offered, and which even the article says that "consensus has built among Israeli and Arab military analysts" that it was done by Israel, is just "suspected." But the existence of an "arms pipeline through Sudan to Isla... more »

What Can You Say?

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 12 hours ago
The theme this week and for the foreseeable future is Canada's putrid political culture. Today's morning heave came from the homepage of the Toronto Star. If you don't know already, the Toronto Star is joining the Globe & Mail by going behind a paywall. I have no intention of reading this stupid article (not even for the shits n' giggles that are no doubt inside) because to do so would be a waste of time. But it's an opinion piece by Rosie DiManno, justifying the move, entitled: "DiManno: Star introduces digital subscription because it costs big bucks to put out a decent paper." The... more »

Dogs, Not Barking

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 12 hours ago
Time for a campaign-oriented version of things that, surprisingly, haven't happened: 1. Crazy GOP rally audiences. Oh, I'm sure there have been some, but it hasn't as far as I know been a story, the way it was during fall 2008 and during the Republican debates this year. 2. Minimum wage. Wasn't that going to be a thing? I mean, as an issue for the Democrats. It sure hasn't been, certainly in the presidential race, and as far as I know in Congressional elections either. 3. I think I've mentioned this before, but I think it's worth mentioning again: where are all the citizen oppositi... more »

Hezbollah reportedly installs surveillance camera network along Israeli border, "in preparation for conflict"

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 12 hours ago
http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-installs-surveillance-camera-network-along-israeli-border/

Ignatius sets himself right on Benghazi!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 13 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012* *Also: When Chris Hayes met Anne-Marie Slaughter:* As we told you in real time, David Ignatius broke every rule in the book when he defended Susan Rice’s statements concerning Benghazi. Within the Village, Ignatius has surely been pounded hard since he committed that outrageous act. And sure enough! In this morning’s Washington Post, he skillfully rights the balance, with several early nods to the genius of those at Fox. Let’s be clear: There have always been perfectly valid questions about what happened at Benghazi. Obama avoided one such question at ... more »

Aspartame is linked to leukemia and lymphoma in new landmark study on humans

Intercept at The Intercept - 13 hours ago
Natural News Ethan Evers As few as one diet soda daily may increase the risk for leukemia in men and women, and for multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in men, according to new results from the longest-ever running study on aspartame as a carcinogen in humans. Importantly, this is the most comprehensive, long-term study ever completed on this topic, so it holds more weight than other past studies which appeared to show no risk. And disturbingly, it may also open the door for further similar findings on other cancers in future studies. The most thorough study yet on aspartame... more »

Down to the wire . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 13 hours ago
— Elizabeth Warren, Democrat populist — “The Republican vision is clear — ‘I got mine. The rest of you are on your own.’ Republicans say they don’t believe in government. Sure, they do. They believe in government to help themselves and their powerful friends. After all, Mitt Romney is the guy who said corporations are people. No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. “People have

One more time... Heat alone does not create storms. Storms are caused by a temperature differential, and severe storms are caused as much by upper atmosphere cooling as by surface warming.

Barbara Diamond at American Scofflaw - 13 hours ago
*American Scofflaw* The man is a moron. More to the point, he is not a scientist, he's just a politician selling an agenda of carbon taxes and carbon credits, from which he hopes to make millions. The proof is seen on Jupiter, Saturn, and the other gas giants, which have monster cyclonic storms larger than our entire planet, yet their temperatures are hundreds of degrees below 0. But then, Al Gore once claimed the temperature of the Earth's core was "millions of degrees." It's actually about 5000 degrees C.

GM Slashes Jobs Amid Europe Car Downturn

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
General Motors has announced European job cuts amid the sales downturn in the continental car market. http://news.sky.com/story/1005159/gm-slashes-jobs-amid-europe-car-downturn

In darkened NYC, safety on the list of concerns

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Faced with the prospect of days without power and swaths of the city plunged into darkness at night, police brought in banks of lights and boosted patrols to reassure victims of a monster storm that they won't be victims of crime. Some prominent galleries in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood hired private security and apartment building superintendents suddenly became guards. In Coney Island, about 100 police officers stood on corners or cruised in cars to guard a strip of vandalized stores and a damaged bank, to the relief of shaken residents. http://news.yahoo.com/darkened-nyc-saf... more »

MT - To Show Outrage Against ALEC 11/6

2old2care at Because I Can - 13 hours ago
Voters in Montana will express their outrage against ALEC legislators corporatist leanings at the polls on November 6. Editorials across Montana are asking citizens – Where is your outrage? Montana wants to be at the front of the renewable energy movement and their ALEC legislators will stop at nothing to make sure that the ALEC fossil-fuel corporate profits sector members do not let that happen. Montana also has a lot of public land that ALEC legislators want to turn over to ALEC fossil fuel corporate profit sector members for mining, drilling, exploration and fracking. Montanans... more »

这些武装无人机在阿富汗,巴基斯坦,利比亚,也门一直在做,将是未来的空域对美国在不太遥远的将来。REPEAT: Will be coming to the airspace over the US in the not too distant future.

Barbara Diamond at American Scofflaw - 13 hours ago
*American Scofflaw* 这些武装无人机在阿富汗,巴基斯坦,利比亚,也门一直在做,将是未来的空域对美国在不太遥远的将来。 What these armed drones have been doing in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, and Yemen, will be coming to the airspace over the US in the not too distant future. here are two types of lethal drones primarily now used by the US: the MQ-1B Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper.[10] The Predator MQ-1B, first flown in 1994,[11] was designed “to provide persistent intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information combined with a kill capability.”[12] Equipped with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, the Predator MQ-1B was the world’... more »

Cyclone Nilam: India evacuates 5,000 on southern coast ahead of cyclone

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
At least 5,000 people were evacuated from India's southern coast Wednesday as powerful Cyclone Nilam surged in, authorities said. Evacuations were ordered in low-lying areas off the coast of Tamil Nadu state, said Jatindranath Swain, the province's disaster management commissioner. http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/31/world/asia/india/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

Australia pumps $1.83 billion into food bowl river

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 13 hours ago
[image: Darling River at Wilcannia. Winding across 640 kilometers of southeastern Australia’s landscape, the Murray-Darling river system often struggles to sustain its environment and much of the country’s agriculture. Photo © J. Carl Ganter / Circle of Blue] Sydney, 26 October 2012 (AFP) – The government Friday pledged Aus$1.77 billion (US$1.83 billion) to pump more than 450 billion litres of water into the ailing Murray-Darling River and help rejuvenate a crucial system supplying Australia's food bowl. The river and its basin stretches thousands of kilometres from Queensland s... more »

War, Children: It’s Just a Welfare Check Away

Intercept at The Intercept - 13 hours ago
4SS Thomas L. Knapp When pundits name-check “the welfare-warfare state,” we usually mean, and are usually understood to mean, something along the lines of “bread and circuses at home, military adventurism abroad.” That’s as good a definition as any, I suppose, and certainly an accurate description of today’s global political environment, but it fails to really capture the nature of the post-WWII trend in US politics. In America, the “welfare” and “warfare” aspects of the state have, over that period, achieved a near-perfect merger. Rather than representing one side of two mutually... more »

Afghanistan Helmand roadside bomb kills 10 civilians

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
A roadside bomb in the southern Afghan province of Helmand has killed at least 10 civilians, officials say, most of them women and children. A second roadside bomb in the same province killed another person. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20153542

Sudan rebels 'recruit children' from refugee camp

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Sudanese rebels are using a refugee camp across the border in South Sudan as recruitment grounds for troops including child soldiers, a senior US official said Wednesday. Anne Richard, US Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, said Washington had called on rebels fighting in Sudan's South Kordofan and Blue Nile states to end militarisation of the Yida refugee camp. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5joRe5DVTV97zosQxvrXg9NbSD2Pg?docId=CNG.9d9bb5d97241aa39684f8140764984ed.6d1

Perverse Politics

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 13 hours ago
Mitt Romney's supporters are engaging in the same kind of perverse politics which the Romney campaign has practiced. Two days ago, David Brooks suggested that there was an upside to Romney's opportunism: If Americans elect Romney, Brooks wrote, he will work with intransigent Republicans and more reasonable Democrats. Brooks is not the only one to make this argument. The Demoines Register has based its endorsement of Romney on the same argument, as has the Orlando Sentinel. Ezra Klein writes that these endorsements validate Mitch McConnell and John Boehner's policy of unrestrained... more »

More strikes called in Greece after 2013 budget published as Greece Enters DEPRESSION

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
- *the budget predicts that government debt will hit 189.1% of gross domestic product in 2013. The budget is forecast at 5.2% of GDP, compared with the 4.2% predicted a month ago.* - *The revisions mean that Greece no longer expects to post a surplus excluding debt costs of 1.1% of GDP next year. It now only expects a primary surplus of 0.4%.* - *The budget also forecasts the Greek economy contracting by 4.5% in 2013, from 3.8% in the previous draft. That means that Greek GDP will have slumped by 21.5% since 2008 by the end of next year. A true depressi... more »

Eurozone unemployment hits record level

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Eurozone unemployment hit a record level in September in the latest sign that the debt crisis is far from abating. Joblessness in the 17-country bloc increased to 11.6 per cent in September compared with 11.5 per cent in August http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d7b3dde6-2353-11e2-a66b-00144feabdc0.html

Euro zone weighs new Greek aid as numbers deteriorate

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Euro zone finance ministers conferred on how to keep Greece afloat as negotiations between Athens and its foreign lenders neared conclusion over reforms the country must implement to receive fresh emergency loans. Greece needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth 13.5 billion euros ($17.5 billion) as well as a raft of economic reforms to appease EU and IMF lenders and secure bailout money to avoid bankruptcy. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-eurozone-economy-idUSBRE89U0PV20121031

Rebels bring fight to pro-Assad Palestinians

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Syrian rebels said they had formed a brigade of sympathetic Palestinians in a Damascus district to fight armed Palestinians aligned with President Bashar al-Assad. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/31/us-syria-crisis-palestinians-idUSBRE89U0H320121031

For years, scientists warned New York City of climate disaster

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 13 hours ago
[image: The flooded entrance to the tunnel leading to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive in Lower Manhattan after Hurricane Sandy, 30 October 2012. For nearly a decade, scientists told city and state officials that New York faces certain peril: rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, and extreme weather patterns. Damon Winter / The New York Times] By DAVID W. CHEN and MIREYA NAVARRO 30 October 2012 The warnings came, again and again. For nearly a decade, scientists have told city and state officials that New York faces certain peril: rising sea levels, more frequent flooding, an... more »

Superstorm Sandy: 'This Is A Wake-Up Call'

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Superstorm Sandy is a "wake up call" that could lead to billion dollar flood defences being created in New York City. Three of New York's top 10 highest floods have occurred in the last two and a half years, and the latest disaster has fuelled calls for major investment in flood defences. http://news.sky.com/story/1004900/superstorm-sandy-this-is-a-wake-up-call

4.2 Magnitude Earthquake OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - 31st October 2012

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Magnitude 4.2 Date-Time Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 13:00:14 UTC Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 05:00:14 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 41.792°N, 127.083°W Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program Region OFF THE COAST OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Distances 230 km (142 miles) WSW of Gold Beach, Oregon

4.5 Magnitude Earthquake FIJI REGION - 31st October 2012

Lynsey at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
Magnitude 4.5 Date-Time Wednesday, October 31, 2012 at 12:35:13 UTC Thursday, November 01, 2012 at 12:35:13 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones Location 18.645°S, 177.530°W Depth 315.9 km (196.3 miles) Region FIJI REGION Distances 253 km (157 miles) NNE of Ndoi Island, Fiji

Tanzania police seize more than 200 elephant tusks – 30 elephants being slaughtered every day

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: Poached Elephant Carcass in Tanzania 1984. This is a sad reminder of the ivory trade's devastation on the elephant population in Africa. The poachers cut out the tusks and left this carcass to rot. Jeff Shea] By Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by James Macharia and Alistair Lyon 31 October 2012 DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) – Tanzanian police have seized more than 200 elephant tusks hidden in a coffin and in fertilizer bags, pointing to rising poaching in the east African country, officials said on Wednesday. "This is the biggest seizure of elephant tusks in Dar es Salaam in rec... more »

Hitachi Bids to Acquire British Nuclear Venture, RWE AG and E. On AG

Majia's Blog - 14 hours ago
The article is written by S. Williams (2012, October 29). Hitachi Set to Win Bidding for British Nuclear Venture. The Wall Street Journal, p. B3 Paraphrasing: Hitachi has joined with Canadian SNC-Lavalin Group to bid for RWE AG and E. ON AG. The opposition is Toshiba, which currently owns Westinghouse Electric. Excerpt: "The deal is also vital for the UK government, which has put nuclear energy at the center of its energy policy" "Analysts are skeptical of utilities' ambitious nuclear plans for the UK and think it is likely that less than the planned 16 gigawatts of new nuclear wi... more »

Climate change feeds superstorm triple whammy – ‘The terrifying truth is that America faces a future full of Frankenstorms’

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: This image of Hurricane Sandy was acquired by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP satellite at 2:42 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (06:42 Universal Time) on 28 October 2012. NASA Earth Observatory image by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon] Contact: Shaye Wolf, (415) 385-5746, swolf@biologicaldiversity.org 30 October 2012 SAN FRANCISCO (Center for Biological Diversity) – As America copes with the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy, scientists with the Center for Biological Diversity are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to use the C... more »

Electronic Voting Machines Designed to “Steal Elections”

Intercept at The Intercept - 14 hours ago
Global Research Harvey Wasserman [image: vote] CICJ Books has just released *“Grassroots, Geeks, Pros, and Pols: The Election Integrity Movement’s Rise and Nonstop Battle to Win Back the People’s Vote, 2000-2008″* by Marta Steele. *Marta Steele has done yeoman work for the election integrity movement. She has plowed through more websites and blogs than one can even imagine. She set out with the nearly impossible task of writing the definitive historical narrative of the folly of electronic voting in the United States between 1988 and 2008. More shockingly, she accomplished that tas... more »

RACE TO THE FINISH: Men in Orange!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 14 hours ago
*WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2012* *Part 3—What the AP has reported:* The AP’s ongoing project about “racial attitudes” got its start in 2008. In 2009, five academics explained how the whole shebang got started. As we noted yesterday, their report appeared in Public Opinion Quarterly. As we noted yesterday, their explanation was transparent nonsense. This is part of the eway it began: PASEK ET AL (2009): *Long before election day 2008, long before the country even knew who the major parties’ nominees for President would be, forecasting models predicted a win by the Democratic Party's ca... more »

Graph of the Day: Water Storage at O. H. Ivie Reservoir in Texas, 1991-2012

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: Water Storage at O. H. Ivie Reservoir in Texas, 1991-2012. Texas Water Development Board with data from USGS, IBWC, and USACE] Reservoir stage data are collected every day from USGS, IBWC, and USACE websites. These data are preliminary and subject to revision. Reservoir storage (in acre-feet) is derived from these stage data (elevation in feet above mean sea level), by using the latest rating curve datasets available to TWDB. TWDB Reservoir Stage Summary Technorati Tags: North America,freshwater depletion,drought,global warming,climate change,agriculture,heat wave,crop fai... more »

Hours before Hurricane Sandy hit, activists protested climate inaction in Times Square

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 14 hours ago
[image: Activists protest climate silence in New York City before Hurricane Sandy makes landfall, 28 October 2012. 350.org] By Jeremy Hance 30 October 2012 (mongabay.com) – On Sunday, as Hurricane Sandy roared towards the coast of the Eastern U.S., activists took to the streets in New York City to highlight the issue of climate change. Activists organized by 350.org unfurled a huge parachute in Times Square with the words, "End Climate Silence," a message meant to call attention to the fact that there has been almost zero mention of climate change during the presidential campaign,... more »

All Hallows’ Eve Linkage

Daniel Nexon at Duck of Minerva - 14 hours ago
The impact (so far) of the Syrian civil war on Hizballah (via Andrew Exum). UK conservatives want to export (further) austerity to the EU budget. Steve Saideman’s take on the “future of Star Wars.” John Scalzi thinks Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm is a good thing for the franchise. PTJ agrees. Indeed, it seems as if everyone Continue reading

WotW: A Healthier Halloween

Seth R. Hawkins at Housewife Eclectic - 14 hours ago
Happy Halloween. In just a few short hours,you'll be out collecting pillowcases full of candy as you bully your neighbors into giving you a treat in exchange for not vandalizing their homes. What, never thought of what Trick or Treat really means? Perhaps you won't be out knocking the doors, but your kids will. And when they come home they will have enough candy to keep them occupied for a year. But it won't last that long. Chances are, if your kids are like most, they will devour all the candy within a week or two. Kids hyped up on sugar: It's a problem for parents and a teacher'... more »

WHO KILLED HOLLY AND JESSICA?

Anon at aangirfan - 14 hours ago
*Holly and Jessica* On 17 August 2002, the bodies of two ten-year-old girls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, were found right next to an air force base. "The series of murders in the South East of England during 2000-2002 had five victims, namely Sarah Payne, Milly Dowler, Danielle Jones, and Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman." Sarah Payne in Cheshire - The Soham Murders... Well protected pedophile rings at work? BODY ON QUEEN'S ESTATE - SUSPECTS RELEASED. Sunday 4 August 2002 Holly and Jessica spend the day playing together at *Holly's home in Soham*, Cambridgeshire. 1704 - Th... more »

A President Romney Would Be Plotting To Sell Off Central Park To Real Estate Developers This Morning

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was all over TV Tuesday praising President Obama for his hands-on engagement in leading the response to Sandy. Monday we asked the question here whether or not Romney would handle the crisis any different. There was a great response to the vision Stephen Goldstein created in his book about a Romney/Ryan America, Atlas Drugged which deals primarily with a press conference in the aftermath of a monster double hurricane in Florida by a Romney character (President Ham Cooper) and a Governor Rick Scott character (Cris Cott). Goldstein then takes us into t... more »

Read Stuff, You Should

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 15 hours ago
Happy Birthday to Dan Rather, 81. From when broadcast network anchors were a big, big deal; and then, from when they weren't. Some good stuff: 1. John Sides (with Lynn Vavreck) looks at undecided voters again; again, their conclusion is basically that late-deciding voters shouldn't tip the results very much, although this time they suggest undecideds might slightly break for the president. 2. More on insider information from Henry Farrell. 3. Nate Silver, or mathematics, or something like that has been under attack; it produced some useful posts (including the one above); here al... more »

The State of Neuroeconomics

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 15 hours ago
An assessment of a new, promising field. (HT to MR).

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 15 hours ago
*Louisiana is already aiding storms victims in northeast U.S.* *A Region Battered and Hurting* *National Guard arrives to help Hoboken recover from Hurricane Sandy, city says* *Corps sends unwatering experts to New York for storm recovery* *A Dutch Solution for New York's Storm Surge Woes?**~"As it happens, I visited the Netherlands after Hurricane Katrina to look at how Dutch flood control worked, and how its success might apply to New Orleans. After crawling over New Orleans’ crappy levees and floodwalls, it was like stepping from “Deadwood” into “Star Trek.”* *Hurricane Sandy S... more »

UT Voters - To Tell ALEC - "GET OUT"

2old2care at Because I Can - 16 hours ago
This summer in Utah: Now during the elections Utah voters are saying * “Get out of Utah” * to ALEC. Utah got to see first hand how ALEC Keeps journalists out of their secret meetings Lies to the public about ALEC intent Lobbyists wine and dine state legislators in a posh hotel. Utah voters have decided that legislators from the American Legislative Exchange Council do not represent the people of Utah. The citizens of Utah have decided that they don’t want Utah to become the next ALEC Arizona. Projections show that Utah voters will kick ALEC legislators out of office in the upcomi... more »
Enhanced by Zemanta