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| English: http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e128/buggylittle/skyline_buckhead_storm.jpg Category:Images of Atlanta, Georgia (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| English: Smyrna, Ga. (Mar. 26, 2004) – Members of the media question Secretary of the Navy, Gordon England, Senator Saxby Chambliss and Congressman Phil Gingrey following a visit with Naval Reserve leaders and community officials at Naval Air Station Atlanta, Ga. U.S. Navy photo by Capt. Kevin Wensing. (RELEASED) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Don't Count On Seeing Poor Ole Bob Barr Back In Congress
Phil Gingrey represents Georgia's 11th congressional district, mostly Atlanta suburbs in Cobb, Bartow, Fulton and Cherokee counties. It includes all of Marietta, the east side of Smyrna, and part of Atlanta's upscale/uptown Buckhead neighborhood (the Beverly Hills of the South). The PVI is R+19 and the only part of the district even remotely competitive for Democrats-- and only remotely-- is the Cobb County section. The current congressman is far right extremist-- and crackpot-- Phil Gingrey and he won reelection last cycle 196,968 (68.6%) to 90,353 (31.4%), beating his unknown... more »
Corporate Conflation? ...More Like Corporations Confiscating Commoner`s Few Remaining Coins
*Written **by Mark Taliano* *The modern-day conflation of corporate and public interests forms the bedrock of what is likely the most dangerous ideology to afflict humanity.* Domestically, it creates a "predator" economic system which disembowels the public domain by creating “new” markets which unnecessarily imperil the public’s health, safety, freedom, and material well-being. Internationally, it manifests itself as corporate-driven imperial conquest which divides and ruins target countries as it destabilizes political economies globally. Corporate profit is the fo... more »
Welcome Ducklings!
Our periodic rotation of guest bloggers is underway. This season’s newcomers: 1) Jarrod Hayes is Assistant Professor in the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and is the author of Constructing National Security: US Relations With India and China. You may have seen his IO article on securitization, and his guest posts on nuclear policy, Crimea, the Arab Continue reading
Ukraine Updates ( July 5 , 2014 ) -- What is the deeper meaning of Russia and Putin retreat in South Est ukraine ( several excellent articles from Vineyard of the Saker , including - The Fall of Slaviansk, its meaning and implications ) ..... Pro-Russian Rebels Flee Slavyansk After "Massive Shelling", Demand Putin's Help To Avoid "Genocide"
Vineyard of the Saker...... SATURDAY, JULY 5, 2014 What the Kremlin's inaction over the Ukraine means for Russia's geopolitics, international relations, and the Eurasian Union by Mark Sleboda What the Kremlin's inaction over the Ukraine means for Russia's geopolitics, international relations, and the Eurasian Union: All moral and national security issues aside for a moment, the precedent that Russia's inaction is setting in the Ukraine in terms of both geopolitics and foreign policy alone is crippling. The surrender of Ukraine to the West by Russia inevitably means exactly that t... more »
Ghost of Sunday Classics preview: " 'Tis a dark hydra, malignant, blind"
*by Ken* We tried something a few weeks back, listening just to a tiny bit of music, which turned out to be the brief orchestral prelude to Act IV of Verdi's *Otello*, with the (hopefully) suggestive question of what mood or moods it suggested ("How would you describe the atmosphere? Austere? Melancholy? Solitary? Foreboding?"). I have no idea whether that served any purpose, except maybe to me, but is that any reason not to try it again? Tonight we have *two* brief orchestral excerpts, and we start with a very brief one, which I don't think one has to be a wizard to intuit is t... more »
The best darned explanation of our Bill of Rights, aka The First Ten Amendments to the Constitution, why our Founding Fathers wrote them in such great detail (to prevent our government from ever again taking our freedom), and how the current "powers that be" have essentially by nulified every one of them (so as to enslave us).
------------------------------ Commentary ------------------------------ 238 Years Later, Would Americans Still Choose Freedom Over Slavery?July 01, 2014 “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”—Patrick Henry Imagine living in a country where armed soldiers crash through doors to arrest and imprison citizens merely for criticizing government officials. Imagine that in this very same country, you’re watched all the time, and if you look even a... more »
Sex differences in the structural connectome of the human brain
Sex differences in the structural connectome of the human brain Ingalhalikar et al *PNAS* ; published ahead of print December 2, 2013 Sex differences in human behavior show adaptive complementarity: Males have better motor and spatial abilities, whereas females have superior memory and social cognition skills. Studies also show sex differences in human brains but do not explain this complementarity. In this work, we modeled the structural connectome using diffusion tensor imaging in a sample of 949 youths (aged 8–22 y, 428 males and 521 females) and discovered unique sex differences... more »
Updates On Iraq [7.5]: Need For Jihad - Washington's Half-Hearted Pursuit of Islamic State In Iraq; Washington's Man In Syria Is A Lying Rat; So-Called Caliph Underperforms In First Public Appearance
*The CIA and Jihadist terrorists: a generational partnership.* *1.* An excerpt from, *"YPG Commander: Kurds in Syria ‘Deserve’ US Support"* by Mutlu Civirogly, Rudaw, July 3, 2014: To understand the latest attacks by ISIS in Iraq, you have to understand the background as well. ISIS was shaped by some powers about a year and a half ago to carry out their plans in Syria. ISIS isn’t a random Al-Qaeda organization. We have intelligence on them. *There are documents that we acquired. There are also the statements taken from members we captured. When we put all these pieces together, we ... more »
No Iraq invasion unless US homeland threatened? A bit to telling?
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/jul/3/pentagon-no-iraq-invasion-unless-us-homeland-is-th/ Original url above. However... the story title changed to -Pentagon draws red line on Iraqi attack Why? Did it make the false flag potential to obvious? We know the US and friends have been looking for any excuse to launch attacks on Syria, perhaps Iraq, and maybe Israel will finally go for a strike on Iran? Lots of scenarios to entertain. Relevant paragraph *The Defense Department’s top uniformed official said the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has seized vast territory o... more »
I feel Good
I live in Canada and there is so much cold pain that makes me want to go to Costa Rica. Yep I can change the world with better coffee. I still think I can change the world. Old and somewhat fat, I think a treadmill is such and iconic symbol of where we are going, and who put you on that track? I want to rip your mind from what is considered reality and put you back in time yep your grandpa would agree with my scheme because he knew it overtime, We got to go back] and we got to go forward and no one is making sense I see the future its a socialist place like Germany is today. How fast we... more »
The Faces of War
July 5, 2014 Yesterday was Independence Day here in the United States – the day we celebrate our Declaration of Independence from England, 238 years ago. I didn’t celebrate it; I haven’t celebrated it for years; I can’t imagine that … Continue reading →
Breaking news (according to the IoS and the BBC's Nick Sutton): "Leon Brittan questioned by police over rape allegation"
Well, well, well...one of the things that was cautiously hinted at on Friday's *Newsnight* post (gleaned - along with even more shocking claims - from Twitter over the preceding few days) looks as if it might have some truth to it after all. If so, Twitter seems to have been leading the way here, well in advance of the UK newspapers and, above all, the BBC. In dissing the (seemingly) over-cautious BBC here, it's only fair to note that the *World at One's *editor Nick Sutton has already tweeted the front page of tomorrow's *Independent on Sunday*... [Update: Sky News' Paper Review ... more »
Stephenville and the Men in Black
There are times when there simply is no inspiration for writing this blog and other times when inspiration fills the air. I’ve been in something of a drought lately, but as I was looking at some of the information I had gathered on the Stephenville, Texas sightings of 2008, I found something interesting. Ricky Sorrells, who told the media including the Associated Press and CNN that he’d seen a huge, solid object during one of those sightings, also said that he had been intimidated by the military. According to newspaper reports, including one of those filed by Angelia Joiner that w... more »
Politics And Food Safety-- Is There A Connection?
An integral part of what it means to be a Republican in the 21st Century is starving regulatory agencies that protect consumers… that whole shrinking government and drowning it in a bath tub thing. Back in 2008 we were horrified by the deaths of 81 Americans from contaminated blood thinner, Heparin, made in China. At the time, we laid the blame, at least in part, at the feet of Mitch McConnell and his "wife," Elaine Chou who "have become multimillionaires by acting as unofficial lobbyists for Chinese industry and pushing 'free trade' with that country. The entire Republican Party a... more »
Climate Change as Crime against Humanity
originally published on CounterPunch Have you ever found yourself thinking about the fact that climate change is both caused by and benefits a certain class of people, and generally does not benefit – and actually harms – another, far larger, class of people? Have you? And have you ever thought that, just maybe, this is not just a moral or ethical problem but a criminal matter? Something like a reckless or negligent crime against humanity? Have you? Well, maybe you have. Maybe you’ve even thought, as I do now and then, that there’s no reason to hatch up yet another crime, another l... more »
Time to write a stiff letter to the Telegraph
The goddess Isis - now, thanks to Caliph Ibrahim, known as Is. I read a piece at *The Spectator *recently concerning "The bloody battle for the name Isis." The Pagan Federation, apparently, has written to the *Daily Telegraph *complaining that the acronym Isis "is likely to form an inadvertent association in the minds of hearers between Sunni jihadists and followers of the goddess Isis". How I chortled! The *Speccie*'s Dot added, Apart from the army of bloodthirsty Islamists, Isis is a centre for scientific research at Harwell, near Oxford; a group of schools teaching English; a...more »
Jumping Jack for the Sinclair Spectrum
I love me some nostalgia. Back in our final year at school, a 48K Sinclair Spectrum mysteriously turned up in our classroom. With it was a single tape and only one game that would agree to load. The title? 1983's *Jumping Jack* by the infamous Imagine Software. Like all software titles dating from that period, the graphics and sound were rudimentary but functional. The gameplay simple, bordering on the primitive. And yet, *horrendously addictive*. Us young hip things in the Class of '93 may have poured scorn on the Speccy's abilities. It couldn't hold a candle to our Amigas, our 3... more »
Untitled
*City Dismisses Taxicab Bureau Director Malachi Hull ~Stephen Babcock, NOLA DEFENDER* *New Orleans home and garden events, July 5-Aug. 4 ~Stephanie Bruno, New Orleans Advocate *
Social networking usage and @ the chalk face
Pew recently updated their facts and information on social media/networking usage. Twitter, as far as I’m concerned, is a cesspool. According to Pew, roughly 19% of all online adults are using it. May seem like a lot. Yeah, it is. Pretty powerful stuff. But it’s not even close to where we @ the Chalk Face, and […]
BBC Apologises: To those who think it is biased towards 'climate sceptics'
Despite the National Audit Office's denunciation of the BBC for hiding behind commercial secrecy to withhold embarrassing evidence, the BBC *does* publish the findings of the BBC's Trusts Editorial Standards Committee on its well-hidden Corrections and Clarifications page. The latest batch of Editorial Standards Committee findings (released on 1 July) covers April and May this year, and is typical of these publications. Regular readers of them - and there are three of us in total (me, Alan at B-BBC and Hadar at BBC Watch) - will know that they contain two catchphrases: Finding:... more »
Decommodifying Democracy
originally published on CounterPunch As the Fourth of July is celebrated across the US – in the glow of unprecedented economic polarization, a ballooning prison population, and a barrage of dire climatological studies, among other pieces of evidence leading ever more people to consider whether our collective way of life is in need of a fundamental transformation – an examination of the ostensible objects of our celebration (independence and democracy) seems in order. Aside from the concept of independence (and the question it implies: independence from what?) democracy, it should... more »
Bitcoin Regulatory Update ( July 5 , 2014 ) -- Bitcoin Faces Regulatory Backlash as EU Tells Banks to Stay Away .....
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-04/bitcoin-faces-regulatory-backlash-as-eu-tells-banks-to-stay-away.html Bitcoin Faces Regulatory Backlash as EU Tells Banks to Stay Away By Ben Moshinsky and Jim Brunsden Jul 4, 2014 9:37 AM ET 25 Comments Email Print - Facebook - Twitter - Google+ - LinkedIn Save Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg EU Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier. Virtual currencies have come under... Read More The European Commission signaled it will try to impose rules on virtual currencies such as Bitcoin after the bloc’s banking regulator or... more »
China's missing metal collateral scandal updates ( July 3 , 2014 ) ...... Lead Article -- Meet Decheng Mining: The Chinese Firm Which Rehypothecated Its Metal (At Least) Three Times ..... As the unraveling of what appears to be a classic ponzi scheme slowly comes into view , we see traders / investors / banks , Chinese Regulators scrambling to understand the magnitude of the problems , how systemic the problems are and across which commodities are implicated !
Catharsis Ours - 8 hours ago
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-03/meet-decheng-mining-chinese-firm-which-rehypothecated-its-metal-least-three-times Meet Decheng Mining: The Chinese Firm Which Rehypothecated Its Metal (At Least) Three Times [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/03/2014 14:08 -0400 - B+ - Borrowing Costs - BTFATH - China - Copper - Creditors - Goldman Sachs - goldman sachs - Hong Kong - notional value - Reuters - Shadow Banking - Yuan inShare2 We have written extensively about the problem surrounding the re... more »
Röyksopp ft Robyn - The Girl and the Robot
Many thanks to Sarah Ditum for reminding me about this brilliant tune in the week. It would be rude if the Solid Satday Night Disco cooked with anything else.
The secretive BBC
For those of us who have watched the BBC's relentless use of legal loopholes to weasel their way out of releasing the Balen Report, this would hardly have come as a great surprise: *BBC hides secrets under guise of privacy, complains watchdog* (*The Times*) *Alex Spence, Media Editor* The BBC is more prone to hiding behind commercial secrecy to withhold embarrassing evidence than almost any other organisation, according to public spending watchdogs investigating its costly failures. The BBC’s willingness to deploy commercial confidentiality and individual privacy as reasons to keep... more »
"Israel and the Palestinians - The Moral Divide" on YouTube
Israel and the Palestinians - The Moral Divide: http://youtu.be/eAk9-30eCb4
"WORST SYCOPHANTS IN THE WORLD"
Simon Heffer huffs in today's *Mail*: On Radio 4 this week, Dame Jenni Murray casually described Hillary Clinton as ‘the most famous woman in the world’. Oh really? What about our beloved Queen? Or William Hague’s big crush, Angelina Jolie? Or, for that matter, the singer Beyonce (and if I’ve heard of her, she must be distressingly famous)? I am sure Dame Jenni was not party to such a shoddy arrangement, but it is widely believed that the Lefties who run the BBC are lining up Mrs Clinton as their ‘approved’ candidate for the next U.S. presidential election and are keen to promote ... more »
Riot at Anti-Illegal Immigration Protest in Murrieta, CA
*A group of about a dozen self-described anarchistic communists started a minor riot at the Murrieta protest against Obama's illegal-alien trafficking on Independence Day, 2014. * *One of the communists reportedly crossed the street and slapped a woman on the anti-illegal immigration side. When the police arrest her, she resists and pandemonium breaks out. Five communists are eventually arrested in total.*
July 5: Bad taste? Ignorance?
Page G8 of Saturday's TandT has a full page titled "Five free things to see and do in Detroit".I'm sure that will attract the full attention of those many New Brunswickers who plan to go to Detroit for their summer vacations. At it's best, some twenty or more years ago, Detroit was not an attractive place. Just crossing the street from a white folks' district to a black ghetto was like crossing a border between heaven and hell. Now, much more of Detroit is hell as free trade has allowed billionaires to get away from all those auto workers and their unions who had the silly idea the... more »
'Dateline'
Sorry, I'm going to talk about *Dateline London* again. Were I on *Just a Minute, *Paul Merton would be forever buzzing me for 'repetition'. [The 'hesitation' I'll leave to President Obama and the 'deviation' I'll leave to any number of much-loved celebs and semi-retired politicians]. Today's edition had three topics: (a) the latest warnings from the U.S. government about potential Islamist terror attacks, (b) the week's event in the Israel-Palestinian conflict and (c) the burqa ban in France. [Spot a running theme there ?] The guests were a left-leaning, Muslim *Guardian *colum... more »
Mental health of detained immigrant children
The news of unaccompanied children and teens crossing the U.S. southern border circulated about two weeks ago, causing serious concern to many. The Obama administration announced that more family detention centers will be opened to detain the minors. Family detention centers have long been criticized on legal grounds, as Paul W. Schmidt’s excellent review outlines. Law Continue reading
Untitled
*This is what happens when you express global temperature in simple degrees Fahrenheit instead of as an "anomaly"* *Calibrated in whole degrees* And here it is in Celsius: *Odd that Warmists always use "anomalies", isn't it?* *The Trouble With Climate Change Denial (?)* *Bob Ward below must get tired talking about global warming. It's the same old story from him over and over: Appeal to authority, abuse, Appeal to authority, abuse, Appeal to authority, abuse. No room for the facts about global warming -- such as we see above. Odd that skeptics are always using graphs...more »
The Disintegration Of Iraq And The Birth Of An Independent Kurdistan
After World War I, as the British and French were divvying up the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, it looked, for a while, that the Kurds were finally about to get their own homeland. As we saw last week, Kamal Atatürk quickly dashed those hopes-- and the Kurds have been split up between Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria. Today, Iraqi Kurdistan is on the verge of an independence supported by Israel and acquiesced to by Turkey-- which has always been the stumbling block. The U.S. still seems committed to an unrealistic and incoherent urge to keep British-created Iraq together as one coun... more »
Giveaway: Jamberry Nails
I have always liked the look of having my nails done, but I am so hard on them. Usually within a day or two, my nails are chipped and terrible looking. I have been looking for something better, so when I got the chance to try Jamberry Nail Wraps, I was thrilled. My sister and I put the wraps on our toenails. It took a little bit of time, but they look fantastic and they have been holding up really well. I really wanted to put the wraps to the test, so I have been to the pool multiple times and have worn sandals almost exclusively and they still look fantastic. Here is some info on... more »
Skynet Updates ( July 5 , 2014 ) Terminator possibility not just a fictional hollyweird thriller - not just possible but already starting to play itself out ( note 2009 experiment where machines have learned how to lie for self preservation ) . Wake up folks !
Terminator scenario already coming into view ? By 2045 'The Top Species Will No Longer Be Humans,' And That Could Be A Problem - DYLAN LOVE - - JUL. 5, 2014, 8:33 AM - 74,516 - 61 - FACEBOOK - LINKEDIN - TWITTER - GOOGLE+ - PRINT - EMAIL [image: terminator red eye rise of robots] Terminator "Today there's no legislation regarding how much intelligence a machine can have, how interconnected it can be. If that continues, look at the exponential trend. We will reach the singularity in the timeframe most experts predict. From that point on ... more »
Percy Bysshe Shelley
*"Can Man be free, if Woman be a slave...?"* * “The true difference between Byron and Shelley consists in this, that those who understand and love them consider it fortunate that Byron died in his thirty-sixth year, for he would have become a reactionary bourgeois had he lived longer; * *conversely, they regret Shelley’s death at the age of twenty-nine, because he was a revolutionary through and through and would consistently have stood with the vanguard of socialism.”* *- Karl Marx* Paul Foot on Percy Bysshe Shelley from Spike EP on Vimeo. DECLARATION OF RIGHTS.1GOVERNMENT has... more »
Is There a Second NSA Leaker in Addition to Edward Snowden?
A very interesting question has come out regarding a story on the NSA's targeting of those who utilize internet privacy tools, specifically the browser Tor (The Onion Router) and portable Linux based operating system Tails (The Amnesic Incognito Live System) as potential "terrorists" and "extremists". The question being is that the copy of the XKeyscore code published by German website Das Erste apparently *was not* a part of the collection of NSA documents procured by whistleblower Edward Snowden but may actually have come from a second leaker. If true this would be a bombshell as... more »
Congressional Panel ( jump the shark news for July 5 , 2014 ) Accused Of Leaking Insider Information, Refuses To Comply With Probe ........ Must be a reference to that Constitutional provision wherein the 1 percenters have inalienable rights to loot ....... Or maybe it's just time to jump the shark over the almighty hubris and arrogance on display !
Congressional Panel Accused Of Leaking Insider Information, Refuses To Comply With Probe [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/05/2014 10:57 -0400 - Insider Trading - Insurance Companies - Medicare - Obama Administration - Obamacare - Reuters - Securities and Exchange Commission - Testimony inShare It was back in April 2013, when the WSJ reported of a peculiar surge in various health insurance stocks that came moments after a report from Height Securities, a Washington-based investment-research firm that ferrets out poli... more »
Taliban provide Independence Day Surprise for the US ! ( July 5 , 2014 ) Note the Taliban torch hundred of Oil Tankers bound for US Forces - just outside Kabul ! An assault by militants at a large parking lot on the outskirts of Afghan capital, Kabul, Friday night left at least 200 fuel tankers incinerated. The Taliban said the privately-owned tankers were targeted because they supply foreign troops.
1. - - - - - - - - - 7 hours ago More images for *Taliban torch hundreds of oil tankers* Yeah...... FIRE http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/07/taliban-torches-hundreds-kabul-oil-trucks-201475131638243927.html An assault by militants at a large parking lot on the outskirts of Afghan capital, Kabul, Friday night left at least 200 fuel tankers incinerated. The Taliban said the privately-owned tankers were targeted because they supply foreign troops. *“The number of tankers on fire is not yet c... more »
Not helping
Four or five years ago, a BBC spokesperson with the ironic moniker ‘John Reith’ often contributed to the Biased-BBC blog, mainly to defend the BBC against accusations of bias against Israel and the BBC’s increasingly obvious, deliberate whitewashing of Islamic-related violence and the attempts, running through the BBC’s entire output, to ‘normalise’ Islam. One day a commenter reminded ‘John Reith’ of the existence of ‘holy Jihad’, which in those days the BBC appeared not to have heard of. Palpably sighing with exasperation, he wrote: “you’re not helping”. The idea appeared to be t... more »
Did You Smile Today?
If not, please do so. :)
ISRAELI VIOLENCE RARELY GETS CONDEMNED
The person in the video is 15-year-old Palestinian-American Tarek Abu Khdeir being brutally assaulted by Israeli police. Israeli police are refusing to look at a surveillance video showing Abu Khdeir’s assailants. Tarek Abu Khdeir is the cousin of Muhammad Abu Khdeir who was burned alive on Wednesday. *Tarek Abu Khdeir (Photo provided and published with consent from the Abu Khdeir family) *
Move toward the light
By Capt. Fogg Yes, it's easy to look on the dark side of the recent Supreme Court decisions allowing corporations to claim religious convictions and attendant relief from legal obligations. One can suspect that it's part of a progression toward full citizenship and voting rights for paper entities and perhaps even a superior status to the individual. If Subaru can claim that it builds cars with love, and a retail store chain to have religious scruples, then of course a corporation must be not only fully human in its own right, but an American citizen. More than an American citizen: ... more »
Child witnesses
R. v. O.M., 2014 ONCA 503: [51] As I have said, the trial judge was alert to the approach to the assessment of children's evidence mandated by the Supreme Court of Canada in *R. v.* *W.(R.)*. At p. 42 of his reasons, he noted the Supreme Court's direction in *R. v. W.(R.)*, at p. 134, that when the evidence of an adult witness concerns events that occurred in childhood, "the presence of inconsistencies, particularly as to peripheral matters such as time and location, should be considered in the context of the age of the witness at the time of the events to which she is test...more »
Untitled
*University should never be a ‘safe space’* *The obsession with safety has undermined academic freedom* When I began my undergraduate course in politics and sociology in September 2010, I was looking forward to getting stuck in to some serious ideas and discussions with my peers. The opening core module for the politics side of my degree dealt with ‘essentially contested concepts’. After a few weeks of discussing liberalism, Marxism, conservatism and power, we moved on to some more contemporary issues. Following a discussion on porn, the professor leading the module declared that... more »
Wynne's Two Headed Beast
http://community.businessfightspoverty.org Kathleen Wynne's budget is a two headed beast. One head talks about investing in infrastructure and training. The other head talks about spending restraint. As with all two headed beasts, when the heads quarrel, the animal is paralysed. Tom Walkom writes that the beast was born of a traditional Liberal strategy -- campaigning from the left, but governing from the right: [Jean] Chrétien was elected on a centre-left platform that made no mention of cuts to public services. Yet once in power, he... more »
Lawrence Lessig vs Mike Simpson (R-ID)-- What It Means To The Rest Of Us
It's almost a truism of today's politics that "one man, one vote" has been replaced with "one dollar, one vote." We'll know we've recaptured our democratic form of government when that changes, when we no longer have a Supreme Court-- not to mention the two other branches of government-- made up of corporate whores whose idea of "balance" involves balancing the rights and privileges of corporations and Big Business against the rights and privileges of American citizens. Hillary Clinton is no more a part of the solution than her husband was or than Chris Christie, Mitt Romney, Ted ... more »
Jordan also at risk from ISIS / ISIL ? ( July 5 , 2014 ) Anger boils over in the 'Fallujah of Jordan' Al-Qaeda flags have been raised in Maan, where residents say they are tired of police brutality and a lack of services........ ISIS: Iraq today and possibly Jordan tomorrow ....... Israel Vows Aid to Prevent ISIS Invasion of Jordan
Anger boils over in the 'Fallujah of Jordan' Al-Qaeda flags have been raised in Maan, where residents say they are tired of police brutality and a lack of services. Areej AbuqudairiLast updated: 05 Jul 2014 10:28 [image: Listen to this page using ReadSpeaker] [image: Email Article] [image: Print Article] [image: Share article] [image: Send Feedback] Angry residents have burnt shops and banks in Maan in protest of what they see as government neglect [Reuters] *Maan, Jordan -* This southern city - known for violence, riots, and clashes - received worldwide attention last week when ne... more »
James Bond - another civil servant spending too much money during the recesion
CasseetteBoy takes on James Bond
Iraq Updates ( July 5 , 2014 ) - ITEM OF NOTE - A Second report that Alleged ISIS / ISIL leader Al - Baghdadi was wounded in an air strike ( according to Iraqi Counter Terrorism Bureau ) ........ Why is US mission creep occurring in the face of divisive PM Maliki's complete refusal to step aside for the good of Iraq ? Examination of the state of play in Iraq , civil war item of note , Kurdistan updates , various points of view touching on Iraq ......
Anti War...... US Continues Iraq Buildup with Combat Troops, HelicoptersDenying 'Mission Creep,' US Escalation Creeps Along by Jason Ditz, July 04, 2014 Print This | Share This US officials continue to loudly protest against concerns of “mission creep” in Iraq, but with the rate of the military buildup in the nation it no longer appears at all credible to deny that the administration is moving toward direct involvement in the latest Iraqi War. Last week saw deployments of growing numbers of ground troops, with claims Obama’s promises of no boots on the ground only covered “combat tro... more »
New LHC diboson excesses point to light SUSY
*Guest blog by Tommaso Dorigo (CMS), a vocal SUSY denier who is starting to [verb] into his pants* Among the many more-or-less boring news from the ICHEP conference (International Conference on High Energy Physics), which is presently going on in Valencia (Spain), one bit today is sending good vibrations through the spine of many of the few phenomenologists who have chosen to remain faithful to the idea of Supersymmetry all the way to the bitter end. It is the excess of diboson events that ATLAS has just reported there. (See TRF on Thursday.) \(W^\pm\) bosons are the massive partic... more »
Cryptozoology: A “Yeti” in Cuba in 1962?
*Cryptozoology: A “Yeti” in Cuba in 1962?* [Author *Luis Jorge Salinas* posted the following account to his Facebook Page on 06.30.2014 regarding a case involving a “Yeti” or Bigfoot in Cuba. He writes: *“While looking for information on what I believe should have existed, given that Cuba is closer to the continent, and considering an ancient land-bridge that allowed the passage of Pleistocene fauna to the isles of the Antilles. [My current estimation] is that the current predator species (Chupacabras, etc.) is simply an evasive relict species.”*] *Danger: The Yeti* *By Manuel Itu... more »
Media advertorials
Hey kids, remember PostMedia's pitch for their tarsands promotion partnership with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers : "Postmedia is proud to present its 2013 media partnership with CAPP. We are a media company national in scope but community-focused. Canadians know our brands, trust our content, and welcome us as a vital member of their communities. CAPP's messaging will extend to our massive mobile and tablet network so that vital energy information is never more than a click away. Our print coverage will include weekly energy editorial across our entire newspaper c... more »
New Bloom First Issue Out
Lorand Laskai announces that the first issue of the new magazine New Bloom is out. From Facebook: *++++++++++++* Friends-It's with great excitement and minor apprehension that I share with you a project I've been working on the last few months.New Bloom is a politics and culture magazine that came out of Taiwan's Sunflower Movement, in collaboration with a number of the young activists and thinkers that made the movement possible in the first place. Our goal is to create a space for critical discourse on the problems facing Taiwan, turning its current crisis in democracy into an o... more »
Russia to upgrade missile attack warning system
[image: Voronezh-M radar]The Oko-1 ballistic missile early detection system, which formed part of Russia’s missile attack warning system (MAWS), is to be superseded by a new unified outer space system capable of tracking tactical missiles as well as ballistic ones. It came to light recently that the last geostationary satellite of the Oko-1 ballistic missile early detection system had gone out of commission. The 71H6 apparatus, put into orbit in March 2012, was operational for only a third of its expected working life. The loss of the satellite weakened the outer space segment of t... more »
Is this the US Army’s next generation 'superchopper'? Radical design has dual tilting blades and can travel at over 270mph
It could become the US Army's new 'superchopper' - able to transport troops, carry heavy goods and be fitted out as a flying gunship. This futuristic helicopter from Texas firm AVX is the frontrunner to win a $100bn contract from the Pentagon for the next generation of attack helicopter. It uses two rotors to create lift, while fans propel it forward to reach 230 knots. Read more
Will Cost Escalation Down-Size Rafale Jet Contract?
[image: Dassault Rafale]India many consider downsizing the Rafale fighter order from 126 to 80 following concerns over cost escalation, Indian media reports. The DNA newspaper quoted an unnamed IAF officer saying, “Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL) has asked France to re-consider the price. Cost escalations and disagreements over production have delayed the contract.” The report speculated that in the absence of an agreement on price, India my cut down the order to 80 in order to save money and keep the purchase within the originally budgeted amount of US$ 12 billion. Read more
Russia launches Black Sea Exercises the same day as NATO
[image: Su-24 Fencer]Some 20 warships, over 20 airplanes and helicopters, as well as the marines and coast artillery are taking part in the Black Sea Fleet exercise, Russian Defense Ministry reported. The war games were launched the same day as NATO's military drill in the area. Starting from July 4, the scheduled training maneuvers are conducted in the whole of the Black Sea, the Ministry told journalists on Friday, adding the drill is being carried out according to international standards. "The exercise plan involves performance of a number of combat training missions, including ... more »
UK’s latest aircraft carrier is christened by Queen
The breaking of bottles as part of the “christening” of ships is a crucial part of a tradition thought to date back hundreds of years. A vessel’s naming marks its birth and asks for a blessing of good fortune and safety for her. In modern times the ritual has seen a bottle smashed against the hull. One theory is that the the practice of using a liquid was introduced to mirror the use of water in christening services in the church. Champagne has been the drink of choice for the majority of bottle smashes, though submarines often home brew beer. Source
India to Induct Indigenous Anti-sub Corvette Soon
[image: INS Kamorta]India is all set to induct its newest corvette later this month at Visakhapatnam to boost its anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The warship was built by Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited, one of India’s four defence public sector shipyards. To be commissioned as INS Kamorta, it is a super sophisticated frontline warship with stealth features and it will sail from GRSE to Visakhapatnam ahead of its induction into the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet. Read more
Collins-class submarine critic calls in AFP over navy ‘plot’
[image: Rex Patrick]A former submariner and a confidant of Defence Minister David Johnston has accused senior naval officers of trying to muzzle his public criticisms of the Collins-class submarine. Rex Patrick has asked the Australian Federal Police to examine the conduct of the navy, which he claims tried to coerce him into withdrawing from public debate by reviewing and ultimately terminating his contract to train submariners. A series of emails between naval officers reveals a high-level navy plot to silence Mr Patrick despite the fact that he was a civilian and not bound by... more »
Rising red tide: China’s Navy in frenzy to build new nuclear-powered attack subs
[image: Type 094 (Jin) class SSBN]China's military is investing heavily in advanced submarines, including both ballistic and cruise missile firing vessels and attack subs. Recently, Beijing showed off what appears to be a mock-up of its next-generation nuclear-powered attack submarine, according to veteran military analyst Rick Fisher. “A large outdoor model of a next generation nuclear attack submarine [SSN] has appeared at the People’s Liberation Army Navy [PLAN] submarine academy in Qingdao, China,” Mr. Fisher stated in a report published by the International Assessment and Stra...more »
Was MH370 Hijacked?
[image: cockpit tampering] This is an excellent workup of the hijacking scenario which I view as the minority solution to the ongoing puzzle. A developing fire works far better to deal with the data we have. It is also becoming plausible that the craft did not spend long hours in the air after such a catastrophic event began. Yet we still have a plausible scenario here that also fits our data or perhaps our lack of data. I do not see any obvious way to combine both scenarios easily either as a mere suicide makes this way to much effort and trouble fraught with difficulties. *Ne... more »
A Neuroscientist Explains What Happens To Your Brain When You Meditate
[image: bright-brain] This is an excellent review of what happens inside the brain during the application of medication at the levels most of us are cable to achieve easily. The more serious take home that comes out of thuis is that we all need to practice therapeutic meditation on a daily basis by carefully working it into our personal schedules. It is just too valuable not to. This gets our understanding of the science out of the anecdotal realm once and for all. *A Neuroscientist Explains What Happens To Your Brain When You Meditate* * June 16, 2014 | By WakingTimes | 1 Rep... more »
Retina Grown from Stem Cells
[image: Researchers were able to grow a light-sensitive retina by taking adult stem cells and re-programming them back to an embryonic state] *Retina grown from stem cells could allow blind to see again* This is another obvious target for stem cell work and one likely to do no further harm as well. It may well turn out to be easier than most as well. What is happening is that the low hanging targets are now been gobbled up. I also think now that all such problems will be deemed as solved in about twenty years. That is not a particularly long time. It is just that we have the res... more »
A 500,000-Year-Old Spark Plug?
This has been debunked as a real modern artifact. If that is true, then it demonstrates just how swiftly accretion can occur in the natural environment. Certainly all long dates must be treated carefully in this light. This also warns us about mine finds in particular. Just how long does it take for wood to become petrified? Or something to become fossilized? In this case fossils are quoted and that seems unreasonable in this case. Again a careful review of providence is demanded. In the end it appears unlikely that this is other than a recent artifact. ... more »
Quantum mechanics doesn't really imply solipsism
*The subjective character of certain processes doesn't mean that there aren't other subjects* Stubborn warriors against proper quantum mechanics often like to say that the theory, as it's stated, is incomplete, incorrect, or ludicrous because it leads to "solipsism" and that's why one of their "fixes" is needed. Wikipedia defines this meme as follows: Solipsism (/ˈsÉ’lɨpsɪzÉ™m/ from Latin solus, meaning "alone", and ipse, meaning "self") is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outs... more »
Brian Hooker, PhD AutismOne Video: "How to Lie to a Generation of Families - Malfeasance in the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Program"
Brian Hooker, PhD AutismOne Video: "How to Lie to a Generation of Families - Malfeasance in the CDC’s Vaccine Safety Program" A Shot Of Truth Blog *Arm yourself with the studies. Parents must lead the charge to protect children’s health and the future of this country.* If you missed Dr. Brian Hooker’s talk at AutismOne, you can view every entertaining, infuriating, inspiring, informative moment by clicking on this link. The days of blindly accepting what is mandated by law or policy and initiated by doctors and public health officials are over. The conversation re... more »
Silly Wabbit, Tricks Is for Kids! (Would You Believe (-)10.5% Yearly Growth? Well, How About . . . (-)9.8%?) Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns Wheeler Dealers Coin Gold from Housing Implosion (How To Catch A Chess Cheater: Ken Regan Finds Moves Out Of Mind)
As long as our national (convenient) memory holes are well functioning and, once again, an acknowledged expert forgets the fact that Afghanistan's government of 2001 offered to turn over bin Laden and any other 9/11 collaborators to the USA when offered evidence of their involvement. . . . The Al Qaeda camps, leadership, and infrastructure within Afghanistan had to go. No sitting president
Paper on Parade: Comprehensive Overview of Renewable Energy Development in Taiwan
Picked up this sturdy overview paper *Comprehensive overview of renewable energy development in Taiwan* (H.H. Chen, A.H.I.Lee/Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 37(2014)215–228) for my regularly irregular Paper on Parade series. The paper concludes by noting that solar thermal, solar PV, and wind appear to be Taiwan's most promising renewable resources. On wind, it notes: According to the statistical report from Industrial Technology Research Institute(ITRI)in Taiwan,a potential of 4.6GW (7.47%) wind power associated with annual generating hour more than 1800h is forecasted ... more »
Ukraine: Kiev's Ticking Time Bomb
*July 3, 2014* (Tony Cartalucci - NEO) - After a brief ceasefire, Kiev has resumed the bombardment of populated centers in the eastern breakaway provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk, both bordering with neighboring Russia. Kiev and its Western backers face a confounding dilemma - continue military operations in eastern Ukraine and create a heavily militarized opposition while racking up a troubling human rights record, or commit to a ceasefire and for all intents and purposes forfeit Donetsk and Lugansk just as Kiev has done regarding Crimea. *Ceasefire Over, Kiev's Savagery Resumes* ...more »
Movie Watch: Coming up at NYC's amazing Museum of the Moving Image -- "2001" in 70mm!
*For 2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick tapped both of the supreme Strausses. For the approach to the space station it's Johann II (the Waltz King) and his Blue Danube; it'll look (and sound) way better in 70mm at MoMI. Below we'll hear (the unrelated) Richard S. * *by Ken* For months now I've been meaning to write an update to the piece I wrote last September about the Museum of the Moving Image, to catch up on the large number of terrific experiences I've had in the last half-year. No, the museum isn't convenient for me, since I live in Far Northern Manhattan and work in Far... more »
Smoked ribs: The leftovers...
*first time smoking.* It was FUN! One hour smoked with apple wood (the smell was heavenly.) Two hours wrapped in foil at 300 degrees. About 30 minutes on a hot grill with BBQ sauce and indirect heat to finish. Not much left...
Tropes and Tragedies in the Media
*Beetle larvae crowd a leaf in my backyard jungle.* The Economist actually took the Zhang visit as a serious event, and not a PR campaign aimed at the Chinese domestic media and the international media, where it was totally successful. First see this piece (also online here). It apparently hasn't occurred to anyone in the media that the head of the Taiwan Affairs Office is not a ministerial-level official, he's just the government bureaucrat nominally in charge of some affairs of China's drive to annex Taiwan and not what one would normally think of as a "minister" when discussing ... more »
PARADE DAY IN BATH
We had about 25 of us doing the PeaceWorks climate change & conversion theme in the Bath, Maine July 4 parade today. This peace train was created by artist Anita Clearfield who helped us spiff up our look. It's never easy being in these parades because there is so much nationalism and superficial commercial advertising in them. But we were able to reach thousands of people today....and we were not just talking to the choir either. I heard only one negative comment ("Go home") as we walked along the parade route. We got many many kind nods, smiles, gleaming eyes, waves, applaud... more »
Aborigines brilliantly respond to Tourism Bureau
Aboriginals pulled off a brilliant stunt to show the Tourism Bureau how obnoxious -- and deeply racist -- their plan is to commodify aboriginal lifeways for Chinese tourism... Aboriginal activists yesterday organized a “tour group” to visit the Tourism Bureau headquarters in Taipei to protest the agency’s proposal to encourage Chinese tourists attend Ilisin festivals and other traditional events held in Amis Aboriginal communities along the east coast. “Okay, everyone, look over to your right. We have now arrived at the Tourism Bureau and you can see that the staff here are perform... more »
The Supreme Court opens a drive-through window for right-wing zealots with (right-wing Christian) religious objections to the law
*"I disagree strongly with what the Court has done," Justice Sotomayor wrote, joined by Justices Ginsburg and Kagan in what the NYT's Adam Liptak called "an unusually fierce dissent."* *by Ken* The other day I wrote, regarding the last-day-of-term dump of the Supreme Court's Cro-Magnon majority's two most egregious decisions: Was there any doubt that the Cro-Magnon Five knew that these exhibitions of thuggery were going to produce firestorms? Possibly the atmosphere around the place is getting testier as the four Court moderates understand just what contempt they're held in, and s... more »
Philip Mansel Interview
*"Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean" by Philip Mansel (2012).* *Wikipedia:* Philip Mansel (born 1951) is a historian of courts and cities, and the author of a number of books about revolutionary and post-revolutionary France and the rise and fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was born in London in 1951 and educated at Eton College, Balliol College, Oxford, and University College London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, the Royal Society of Literature, the Institute of Historical Research (University of London), and the Royal Asiatic Society, and a ... more »
THE EMPIRE IS CRUMBLING / BRING IN THE CLOWNS
*The last refuge of a scoundrel is patriotism and this Independence Day 2014 as we celebrate our independence with parades, picnics and fireworks ~ let us not forget the clowns and scoundrels who cloak themselves in patriotism and represent the worst of America. There is no more despised clown or scoundrel who still represents the worst of American values, yet continues to cloak himself in patriotism, than Darth Vader himself, Dick Cheney ~ the behind the scenes architect of the 9/11 attacks and cover up, the promoter of the illegal war with Iraq for Oil resources, the... more »
Weekend Fun 56: Some Photos at Sic O'clock News
With endless corruption and other political scandals on-going in the Philippines today, the public would have great fun if the political satire program on tv more than two decades ago, *Sic O'Clock News, *is still around. The program ran from around early 1987 to late 1990. I joined its last 10 or 12 months shows, late 1989 to late 1990, as among the minor comedians :-). In this photo, I was the one standing. Others from left): Direk Marilou in action (facing us), Wilson Go, Dina Padilla, Khryss Adalia (RIP) and Celeste Bueno. See Weekend fun 19: Sic o Clock News. From left: Err... more »
Austerity and Trade Union "Betrayal"
My comrade and former Twitter sparring partner Mark has a post up about the state of the anti-austerity movement after, well, four years of austerity. His basic argument is one I would concur with, albeit with some caveats. He confesses to feeling *de ja vu* ahead of next Thursday's public sector strike, an action that could see around two million workers take industrial action. He observes that while the cause is just and should be supported, workers are only striking for a single day. There is no joined up strategy to defeat austerity, nor a road map for what happens when people g... more »
'Newsnight' - 30 June-4 July
It's been quite a week news-wise: the murders in Israel, the jailing of Rolf Harris and Andy Coulson, the rebirth of the Caliphate and the extraordinary story about Leon Brittan and the missing sex abuse dossier.... ...(and, golly gosh, cor blimey guv, hasn't the world of social media been absolutely abuzz about that last story this week? Can it *really* be true what they're saying? It's scarcely believable (but, then again, so was Rolf Harris). Some newspapers, especially the *Daily Mail*, are giving all manner of collaborative hints that some of it is true. *If* it is, the most s... more »
money is your god
money is our god you've felt it your entire life
Censored News in solidarity with Zapatistas will begin again
By Brenda Norrell Censored News In solidarity with the Zapatistas and Subcomandante Marcos, and in honor of Galeano, the murdered Zapatista teacher in La Realidad, Censored News halted publishing in its previous format on May 27, 2014, after 8 years of publishing. Now, Censored News -- much to the dismay of our opponents -- will continue in a new format. In the meantime, we have breaking news
Friday Nerd Blogging: Independence Day Edition
Silly sci-fi covered in patriotism sauce? There can be only one speech we can post here:
How Many Seats Will Steve Israel Cost House Democrats In November?
Israel's specialty: wasting resources on conservatives like Jennifer Garrison Bill Scher is a respected liberal author and the online campaign manager at Campaign for America's Future. Maybe he was drunk when he wrote the How Obama's immigration push could hand the House to Democrats for *The Week*. Acknowledging that the Republicans can win back the Senate, he asserts-- with no evidence whatsoever and not even a superficial look at the reality on the political ground-- that the House is within the Democrats' grasp. Only Inside the Beltway would anyone float such utter nonsense and s... more »
Happy Birthday America
I may slag you a bit, okay a lot. But your the best empire in human history, take that to heart ! If you could just get your head back to pre Pearl Harbour days the world would be such a great place.
Independence Day 2014
Happy Independence Day! I tend to rerun a mix of videos every year, and these remain two of my favorites: Meanwhile, The New York Times has an intriguing piece about the possibility that a period was mistakenly added to the official transcript of the Declaration of Independence, significantly shaping its interpretation.
JP Morgan skates again ! ( July 4 , 2014 ) A tale of two banks ( one US that pays 88 million fine and one French that pays 8.9 billion fine ) , US banks not violating any french laws , none at all ? The US Bank That Made BNP's Epic Money-Laundering Possible Is...
The US Bank That Made BNP's Epic Money-Laundering Possible Is... [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/04/2014 12:55 -0400 - Cleary Gottlieb - Department of Justice - France - Iran - New Normal - None - Treasury Department inShare6 Today's undisputed winner of the prestigious award for best use of the word *"unwittingly" *in the headline of an article about money-laundering goes to Bloomberg, for their brilliant... Because when you help a foreign bank violate U.S. sanctions as French bank BNP did when it hid billions of dolla... more »
Erste Group woes surface ( July 4 , 2013 ) -- Largest Austrian Bank Crashes After "Revealing" 40% Surge In Bad Debt Provisions, Record Loss ...... And if this has happened to the third largest bank in Eastern Europe , why won't the two largest banks ( UniCredit and Raifeisen ) suffer the same fate ?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-04/stock-largest-austrian-bank-crashes-after-revealing-40-surge-bad-debt-provisions-rec Largest Austrian Bank Crashes After "Revealing" 40% Surge In Bad Debt Provisions, Record Loss [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durdenon 07/04/2014 11:04 -0400 - Central Banks - Eastern Europe - Erste - Hungary - Meltdown - Moral Hazard - Raiffeisen - Romania - Sovereigns - Stress Test inShare14 *Update: *just as expected, the confidence-preservation brigade is quick on the scene: - *HUNGARY LO... more »
Has Israel Blown Palestine
to smithereens, yet? (I only turn it on at night, so the NEWS doesn't mess with my days.) Should only be about 50 hundred more dead civillians, to equal three- in Israeli math.
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