10:31pm MDST
Alan Waldman : Brit TV critics call ‘Line of Duty’ the best cop show ever, and for good reason
The BBC’s riveting, best-performing drama in a decade, starring Lennie James, is an intelligent, surprising look at police corruption. By Alan Waldman | The Rag Blog | July 6, 2014 [In his weekly column, Alan Waldman reviews some of his … finish reading Alan Waldman : Brit TV critics call ‘Line of Duty’ the best cop show ever, and for good reason
You Not Wanting To Be Known For Something That You Have Done, Is Not The Same Thing As You Not Having Done It
Rachel Maddow does not play requests. "We will not," she explained, "stop reporting on the political actions, and the consequences of the political actions, of rich and powerful men, even if they send angry letters every time we do it." If you've read much of Thomas Frank's work, you probably have a good idea he's in the same boat. Frank's *Salon* article this morning, about the deal with the Devil business Republicans made with the racists and crackpots, will probably generate a lot of the same kind of angry letters the Koch brothers sent Maddow. If there was one thing worth rea... more »
Bill Hayton in RSIS on the Paracels
*Baby Golden Orb Spiders, newly hatched, struggle to get out into the world.* Bill Hayton (author of The South China Sea: the struggle for power in Asia) published a great commentary on the South China Sea and the Paracels at RSIS. Reproduced in its entirety with permission from the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS). Click on Read More to read more! *++++++++* No. 126/2014 dated 3 July 2014 *The Paracels:* *Historical Evidence Must be Examined* *By Bill Hayton* *Synopsis* Advocates of the Chinese territorial claim to the islands of the South China Sea frequentl... more »
Performing the Taiwan Identity
*A bike path near Dahu in Miaoli.* My friend Mark Roche, who is one of the most knowledgeable and active foreigners on cycling, camping, and hiking on Taiwan, was observing on Facebook that it was difficult for him to get information on the upcoming Sun Moon Lake swim. This Sunday event, a single day, consists of a swim across the lake which now has 27,000 participants and surges in growth every year. What used to be a fun athletic event is now an exercise in mass stupidity. The obvious solution to the burgeoning population of swimmers is to conduct multiple swims over a month or s...more »
Which would you rather do?
If you’re a racing driver, you could either drive 500 miles in a circle … or flat out around the Isle of Man. Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Please contact author for permission to republish: (organon at ihug.co.nz)
Iraqi writer Abu Firas attacks Saudi Arabia & Qatar on Al Jazeera (English Subs)
*Bow to this? Shame on you Obama, you piece of shit.* Iraqi writer Abu Firas attacks Saudi Arabia & Qatar on Al Jazeera (English Subs). Source: MMEMonitorMideast. Date Published: June 20, 2014. An Iraqi writer by the name of Abu Firas was a guest at Aljazeera's "The Opposite Direction" on June 18, 2014 where he took every chance to attack Saudi Arabia, Qatar's Emir and prominent religious clerics Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Ibn Baz in those countries. Abu Firas returned to Iraq, where he received a hero's welcome. Death to Saudi Arabia. Death to Qatar.
federal court again rules in favour of health care and basic decency, against radical harper agenda
A few days ago, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the Harper Government's denial of health care to refugee claimants from certain countries is unconstitutional and cannot stand. In a surprisingly strongly worded statement Friday, the federal court ruled Ottawa’s cutbacks to health-care coverage for refugee claimants are unconstitutional because they constitute “cruel and unusual” treatment. The decision was quickly lauded by many, including the Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers and Justice for Children and Youth — groups that, along ... more »
Mike's Story Part 70 - Spin-Off
By Jenna Orkin The phone rang. After going through the usual niceties, Mike said,* "Listen to this:" * * He donned an orotund Russian accent.* * "Dear George Bush and Dick Cheney:" * *The letter continued, a fantasy - grounded in reality, as good satire must be - of the message the Russians were sending the U.S. with their latest signing of a cease-fire agreement with Georgia even as they set forest fires to prevent the installation of concealed troops and weapons, and bombed bridges between their former satellite and Europe. * * "I'm writing well, huh?"* * He was on a...more »
IMPORTANT CURRENT UKRAINE ANALYSIS
Disillusionment with the actions of Ukraine's military has reached the country's parliament. The National Guard says it will search for those who refuse to lay down arms in the retaken cities - and "question them". Mark Sleboda, who's an International affairs lecturer at Moscow State University, says that locals see the army as the opposite of liberators.
Obama's Accomplishments
*By Isaiah Earhart* There is a common perception that the Obama Administration, and Obama himself, have not achieved the goals set by Democratic Party leadership. It is commonly communicated that the Obama Promises of hope and change are thwarted by a recalcitrant Republican Party, or that Obama’s willingness to negotiate with Republicans is cynically and brilliantly exploited by the mean and nasty conservatives. Other threads of thought among ‘liberal’ reasoning for the failure of deliverable change relies on the assessment of Obama’s personality, dismissing his uselessness in car... more »
"Final notice"? "Last chance"? Worried about the FBI and Interpol raids your DVDs have been warning you about? What about the Twitter Cops?
*"These Phone Cops play hardball!" exclaimed Dr. Johnny Fever, who knew what there was to fear from those hordes of (gasp) Phone Cops. Who's to say the Phone Cops of the '70s and '80s haven't been given way to Twitter Cops?* *by Ken* For some reason I didn't just delete an e-mail I got the other day, instructing me, *by name*: "Complete your Twitter profile today!" It was that exclamation point that got me -- an exclamation point, it should be noted, that wasn't present on the inside of the e-mail. Without the exclamation point, it's much easier to read as a mere exhortation, or a... more »
And Now for Something Completely Different:
*As **Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott heads to the Northern Territory to live in an aboriginal community for a week* *, honouring an election promise to gain “a better understanding of the needs of people living and working in those areas” by spending one week every year living amongst them, our guest correspondent from Australia, Suzuki Samurai, offers his own thoughts on the aboriginal culture, and its problems. Complete with strong views, and even stronger language …* And Now for Something Completely Different I've been putting off writing my thoughts on this subject for s... more »
Ray McGovern was a CIA analyst for 27 years and served as chief of CIA's Soviet Foreign Policy Branch as well as preparer/briefer of the Presidents Daily Brief. If he were still in that position, President Obama would instruct him not to tell him any facts that disagree with the fictitious story that he wishes the public to buy.
------------------------------ The Risk of a Ukraine BloodbathJuly 2, 2014 *Exclusive:* Pressured by neocons and the mainstream U.S. media, the Obama administration is charting a dangerous course by seeking a military solution to Ukraine’s political crisis and possibly provoking Moscow to intervene to protect ethnic Russians, ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern warns. By Ray McGovern Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko – by thumbing his nose at the leaders of Russia, Germany and France as they repeatedly appealed to him to renew the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine – has left hi... more »
Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War - Max Hastings
Title: Catastrophe: Max Hastings. Source: Charleston Trust. Date Published: May 30, 2014. Description: Catastrophe, Max Hastings' narrative of WW1 to the end of 1914, combines the grasp of a first class historian with a novelist's acute eye for human detail. His blend of vivid top-down and bottom-up testimonies, from a host of witnesses, linger in the imagination. Told with his customary pace, sense of landscape, battlefield knowledge and character portraits, Catastrophe tells the story of how Europe embarked on the first of the 20th century's global tragedies. Max Hastings is th... more »
Iraq Sunni Mufti: ISIS and Al Qaeda Slaughtered 300 Sunni Clerics (English Subtitles)
Video Title: Iraq Sunni Mufti: ISIS and Al Qaeda Slaughtered 300 Sunni Clerics (English Subtitles). Source: MMEMonitorMideast. Date Published: July 2, 2014. Description: Iraqi Sunni cleric Khaled al-Mulla on Al-Mayadeen TV expressed his concern over Salafists of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, stating that they had slaughtered over 300 Sunni clerics in Iraq. Like us: www.facebook.com/monitormideast Subscribe to us: http://www.youtube.com/user/MMEMonito... Follow us: http://www.twitter.com/MonitorMideast Read us: http://www.monitormideast.com Translation: The CIA, MI6, Mossad, NATO, and Saudi Arab... more »
(Collapse of Legitimacy: True Both-Siderism?) Is It Really In OUR Interest To Have Both Major Parties Agree on All Major Issues (Even If This Is Never Admitted)? US United To Police the World (We're All Druids Now)
Philip Giraldi, ex-CIA agent, contributing editor to The American Conservative and executive director of the Council for the National Interest, gives us a few hints at how the system really works (in spite of his unspoken larger mission). Whatever that mission is, it's definitely agreed to by those who pay him and allow him the latitude to publish about almost any issue. And not always on the
Betrayal at Slavyansk- Pro separatists cheer their militia
Interesting article- Was Slavyansk really a military win for Kiev? Could it have been a war lord (Oligarch) buy out? Or a complete coercion on the part of the fascists in Kiev? *Highlighting the interesting bits-* DONETSK, Ukraine >> Driven out of their key stronghold in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russia separatists regrouped Sunday in the city of Donetsk, vowing to renew their fight against the government in Kiev before thousands of cheering supporters at a rally. Ukrainian troops on Saturday forced the rebels out of Slovyansk, a city of about 100,000 that had been the center of the fight...more »
Syrian NATO backed 'oppositon" to "select new leader"
*A choice that is always limited to Western intelligence linked stooge #1 or Western stooge #2, # 3 or perhaps # 4?* *So, the latest stooge in the running...... * The Syrian National Coalition will pick a replacement for its current president, Ahmad al-Jarba, in a vote expected on Tuesday.* The top candidate for the job is senior coalition members are Hadi Bahra and Muwaffaq Nairabiyeh,* who belong to Jarba’s Democratic bloc. Spokeswoman Sarah Karkour said that by Sunday evening, there hadn’t been an agreement on a candidate, although* members were coalescing around Bahra. * *Took... more »
Disaster Putin Posin'
"Honey, that Harper boy is at again with his Putin Posin'." "Uh, yeah, seriously, I'm like so really a pilot. Why do you ask?" Vlad, smiling for the camera in his Bear near Canada as Stephen snaps his photo from his prime ministerial CF-18. (I wonder if they trade pics?) Word: It's not even a disaster in Manitoba, and may not be. There've been no evacuations yet in Manitoba's annual flood
Prosperity On The Edge: Sir Edward Grey and the Crisis of July 1914 - Vernon Bogdanor
*Wikipedia:* Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, (25 April 1862 – 7 September 1933), better known as Sir Edward Grey, Bt, was a British Liberal statesman. He served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office. He is probably best remembered for his remark at the outbreak of the First World War: "The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our time". Ennobled as Viscount Grey of Fallodon in 1916, he was Ambassador to the United States between 1919 and 1920 and Leader of the Liberal Part... more »
Libya Updates ( July 6 , 2014 ) Political , security , business items of note !
Libya Herald.... Sawan demands government state position on Hafter and Operation Dignity *By Libya Herald staff.* [image: Mohamed Sawan] Mohamed Sawan *Tripoli, 5 July 2014*: Mohamed Sawan, the leader of the Justice and Construction Party, has said that the government must make clear where its stands on Operation Dignity, being conducted by forces in Benghazi under the control of General Khalifa Hafter. On Thursday evening, following a meeting with party leaders, Sarwan issued a statement condemning what he described as the government’s silence on the operation. “It has to make it cle... more »
Third Way Has A Sure-Fire Way To Lose In November
Zach Goldfarb celebrated the 4th of July with a column for the *Washington Post* informing us that the moneymen behind the New Dems, Blue Dogs and Third Way-- i.e., the Republican wing of the Democratic Party-- have had enough of all this income gap and economic inequality palaver. JUST STOP! And he seems to have some kind of measurement to be able to claim that Obama has. "After making fighting income inequality an early focus of his second term," he wrote, "President Obama has largely abandoned talk of the subject this election year in a move that highlights the emerging debate ... more »
Why Won't Ed Balls Renationalise the Rail?
If you were to glance at this headline, you might think Labour is tearing itself apart over rail renationalisation. It isn't, but that the bulk of members and supporters think the rail should be taken back into public ownership reflects its popularity in the wider population. Pretty consistently, over half of the electorate would like to see this happen, with just 20% content with the current set up. Apart from Tories who are evenly pro- and anti-, voters for Labour, the LibDems, and UKIP notch up big majorities in favour. Labour are the natural go-to for renationalisation. It's t... more »
Ukraine...
Ukraine hasn't made much in the news lately. I think it once it became clear that Putin wasn't likely to invade beyond Crimea and the pro-Russian rebels appeared to have consolidated their gains in the east, the press lost interest outside of the odd report. It's back in the news a bit now with the pro-Russians retreating in the face of the Ukrainian military's assault. It's hard to retake a city
NSA Collecting Far More Info on Non-Targets per WAPO Story
According to a new story based on documents obtained by former government contractor turned NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden there are vastly more innocent victims of mass surveillance than acknowledged. The story broken by The Washington Post and written by Pulitzer Prize winner Barton Gellman along with Julie Tate and Ashkan Soltani reports that 90 percent of of those whose data was collected - at least according to this sample being analyzed- were *not* legitimate targets of the spying but rather they were innocent internet users both domestically and abroad. The sample is desc... more »
Shinzo Abe and the Three Magic Arrows
*Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is in New Zealand this week. If there aren’t questions about his economic management, says Andy Sirkis in this guest post, there should be.* Despite claims to the contrary in the mass media, Japan’s economy is continuing to suffer mightily under the leadership of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe is from a famous family and he’s a convincing talker, so he was able to bamboozle people into believing that he could make Japan prosper with his three arrows. These metaphorical arrows stand for “monetary stimulus,” “fiscal stimulus,” and “structural refo... more »
Oniste
John A Carroll shared Oniste Honoré Guay's album: Oniste. 5 mins · It's been one year now since Oniste Honoré Guay was operated in Colorado. [image: Thank you God] [image: Thank you God] [image: Thank you God] [image: Thank you God] [image: Thank you God] Oniste Honoré Guay added 10 new photos to the album Oniste — at Vernet, Les Cayes, Haiti. 😊😊😊😊😊Thank you God LikeLike · · Share - John A Carroll Oniste (July 2013). [image: John A Carroll's photo.] 1 min · Like - [image: John A Carroll]
Margaret Hodge
*Margaret Openheimer - J'accuse!* Labour MP Margaret Hodge, who chairs the Public Accounts Committee, said there had been a *"veil of secrecy"* over the establishment for far too long. *Quite right, luv - and you're right in the middle of it (in every sense).* Appearing on the Sky News Murnaghan programme, she added: *"Thank God it is coming out into the open. I think the really interesting thing about it is there has been a veil of secrecy over the establishment for far too long.* *"Now the establishment who thought they were always protected...find actually they are subject to ... more »
John Friend on By Yahweh's Design w/ Pastor Dan
I was a guest this morning on Pastor Dan's radio program *By Yahweh's Design*. We discussed my background and journey through the alternative media, Christian Identity, the Jews, and related subjects. You can download the entire interview *here*.
Iraq Updates July 4 , 2014 -- Ironic that as the US celebrates Independence from Britain today , we discourage the Kurd from achieving their own independent Kurdistan ? Latest items of note on Iraqi politics ( their principal factions absolutely no closer to forming a Government as Maliki refuses to leave , the Kurds and Sunnis seem determined to have their own independent territories ) .... US " mission sprint in Iraq on full display - Advisors only quickly morphed into combat troops to guard the US Embassy , now we see combat troops in Irbil ....... Status of civil war - Shi'a rounding up Sunnis in Baghdad , security forces killing " militants " across Iraq , Iraq wants F-16's it can't even fly , US scared to provide the jets because Maliki just might use them against political foes / Kurds - but we are okay with supplying thousand of Hellfire missiles ? What a masquerade !
Catharsis Ours - 11 hours ago
Vineyard of the Saker..... 4th July Iraq SITREP by Mindfriedo "defendants will be safe in our hands; for as Imam Ali said, ‘If you have the ability to oppress people, then you should remember the power of god over you.’” ---Kurdish judge Ra'ouf Rashid Abdul-Raham who sentenced Saddam to death. 4th July: The Iraqi army has taken over the village of Awja, b
Ghost of Sunday Classics: It's a barely fathomable distance dramatically from the end of Act I to the end of Act II of Verdi's "Otello"
*Aa Act II ends, Otello (Jon Vickers, right) swears vengeance and Jago (Cornell MacNeil) swears his support (all with subtitles), one of the most thrilling and most appalling moments you'll encounter on a stage -- with James Levine conducting, at the Met in September 1978.* *by Ken* We've been dealing with the sisterly or at least cousinly kinship between Verdi's Luisa Miller and Desdemona, and in case it wasn't in obvious in last night's preview, this week we're back to Desdemona. In the preview we heard the very end of the conclusion of Act II of Verdi's *Otello*, the moor's oat... more »
Spanish Tech Company ( Let's Gowex ) Admits It Is A Fraud Following Short-Seller Report ....... And countless spanish shareholder voices suddenly go silent !
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-07-06/spanish-tech-company-admits-it-fraud-following-short-seller-report Spanish Tech Company Admits It Is A Fraud Following Short-Seller Report [image: Tyler Durden's picture] Submitted by Tyler Durden on 07/06/2014 10:23 -0400 - Prison Time - Twitter - Twitter inShare2 There was a time when reports issued by short selling-focused research shops such as Muddy Waters would usually result in disparagement lawsuits by the targeted company (typically a reverse-merged Chinese fraudcap), seeking to shut said short-sellers and restore co...more »
Hillary: Snowden Should Return to USA for Trial
When it comes to repulsive characters of the type that are created by the failed American political system one of the worst of the dismal collection is Hillary Rodham Clinton. The former Secretary of State, US Senator and humiliated spouse of a philanderer in chief, Hillary has been a dominant and relentless performer in the political circus dating back to the waning days of the last century and after a failed run at the Democratic nomination in 2008 it was always a foregone conclusion that she would be running again. The Clintons are like genital herpes - they just won't go away.... more »
My Proposal For a New EU Commision
At least they would be tasty and soon gotten rid of.
EFFECTIVE MOTIVATION:
EFFECTIVE MOTIVATION:.Filed under: SHAUN JOHNSON, PHD: Musings from the Chalk Face
He's Not New and Improved
http://www.torontolife.com/ Rob Ford is a little thinner. But, in the interviews he did last week, you could be forgiven for thinking that rehab hasn't really had much effect. Jim Coyle writes in the *Toronto Star*: Experienced hands in recovery listen carefully for hints that newbies are harbouring old, self-destructive attitudes or aren't committed to new ways of living. There were lots of alarms in what Ford had to say before his team abruptly scrapped a planned series of one-on-ones with media outlets. To wha... more »
It's Sunday...
time for: *Reaganite's SUNDAY FUNNIES* * Best ever...*
Vietnamese landscape art - Phan Thu Trang - delightful palette and composition
Born in Hanoi, artist Phan Thu Trang paints decorative landscapes inspired by images of the city and Northern villages of Vietnam. In her colorful yet minimalistic paintings she works with limited colors and textures, focusing on only bare essentials to create each piece centered around billowing, pointillistic trees.
We condemn this murder
An open condemnation of the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir We unequivocally condemn the horrific murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir. It was unjustifiable under any circumstances. The killing was reprehensible and we hope that the criminals who did this sickening act are found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Israel is a country run by the rule of law. There are reports that Jews have been arrested for this crime. If a trial finds that Jews are indeed guilty of this unconscionable killing, our condemnation is redoubled. The idea that Jews could do such an act fills us with s...more »
Northerntruthseeker Rant For Sunday, July 6th, 2014
[image: rant-jpeg-b] Sunday, July 6th, 2014, and again time for my weekly rant.... I am giving everyone a "vacation alert" right now just as a warning that I will be taking a much needed vacation starting one week from today and will be basically MIA for about 12 days.... I am bringing one of my portable laptops with me, much to the chagrin of my family, and will do my damn best in trying to put out an occasional article, including my rants.... But it will be based on time available and when I actually feel like sitting down and writing them.... I have needed a vacation for quite s... more »
Extreme confusion
Did you see Michael Gove on the Andy Marr show? Yes of course you did. Before he was wheeled in, Norman Tebbit and Helena Kennedy took a look at the papers. A gentle disagreement over what is and isn’t acceptable with regard to Islam in the UK ensued. Norman was looking frail beside the larger-than-life Baroness Kennedy, who managed to introduce the commonly held but false equivalence when defending Sharia law in the UK by citing ‘Jewish law’ and metaphorically squashing Mr. Tebbit’s protests by sheer force of her comparatively overbearing personality. Michael Gove was introduced... more »
Iraq Updates ( July 6 , 2014 ) , including the political state of play and civil war updates .......Lead article to consider " ISIS Attack Planned In Amman " ----- While the US / Jordan / Turkey and other countries have voiced concerns over the ISIS campaign launched by the taking of Mosul , was the ISIS attack planned in Amman , Jordan ( with the full knowledge of the US , Israel , Jordan , Turkey and the Saudis ? And was the KDP in the know as well ? Was Chalabi sent to discourage Kurd support od ISIS - by Iran ? )
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/ozgur-gundem-isis-attack-planned-in-amman.htm Özgür Gündem: ISIS attack planned in Amman ANF - ISTANBUL04.07.2014 12:48:04 It has emerged that the recent ISIS assault on Iraq was planned at a meeting in the Jordanian capital of Amman. According to the Özgür Gündem newspaper, the secret meeting was attended by the KDP and Ba'athists and took place with the knowledge of the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Turkey on 1 June, 8 days before the attack on Mosul began. The article in Özgür Gündem has exposed the forces behind the Iraq plans of ISIS. Acco... more »
Ravitch Waves Goodbye to Common Core and Throws Kisses to Dennis and Randi
I read both of Diane Ravitch's books that she wrote after her conversion experience and subsequent surrender of her honored chair with the boys at Hoover/Koret/Fordham, and I kept looking to find out the real history of American corporate education reform, the one that Diane had ignored in every one of her books prior to her conversion. What I found in her newer books was more or less a watered down version of Jerry Bracey's scorching critique that he had been offering for many of those years that Ravitch had remained an avid and loyal fan of privatization, testing accountability, ... more »
Cryptozoology: The Megatherium Theory - Lobizón, Chupacabras and Cattle Mutilations
*Cryptozoology: The Megatherium Theory – Lobizón, Chupacabras and Cattle Mutilations* *By Luis Jorge Salinas* With the best intentions of providing clarification for these matters, and in the hope that these words reach the authorities and citizens of the countries of the Americas regarding something that all of us should understand calmly and rationally, in order that people may become aware and take protective measures especially at night, I extend this warning mainly to the young: do not endanger your lives trying to capture these unknown animals, as they generally go about in ... more »
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*New Orleans Saints move training camp to The Greenbrier ~Lyons Yellin* *Vargas: Burden of proof tackles Jimmy Graham, but payday could still be coming * *GoNOLA Find: Popp’s Fountain in City Park ~Mallory Whitfield * *After years of making Spirit Pole, New Mexico artist tries hand at hieroglyphics ~Leslie Renken, Journal Star*
Mississippi Senate Debacle-- Who Will Have The Last Laugh?
Right-wing populists-- who are sometimes referred to as teabaggers-- have pretty much taken over the Republican social policy agenda. But have been largely unable to beat Chamber of Commerce Republicans in primaries this year, the way they did manage to do in 2010 and 2012 by replacing longtime Senate incumbents like Bob Bennett (R-UT), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Dick Lugar (R-IN) and beating Establishment candidates in Delaware (Mike Castle), Florida (Charlie Crist), Nevada (Sue Lowden), Colorado (Jane Norton), Texas (David Dewhurst) and Kentucky (Trey Grayson). Although the Tea... more »
Untitled
*LA Schools Realize Giving Every Kid an iPad Was a Costly Disaster, Will Give Every Kid a Laptop Instead* The Los Angeles Unified School District's plan to give every child an iPad—at a cost of $1 billion to taxpayers—drew universal criticism after numerous problems arose. For one thing, when the devices were broken, lost, or stolen, it wasn't clear whether parents, the schools, or the kids themselves were responsible. Tech-savy students easily broke through the firewalls administrators had installed to keep them from using the devices to visit social media websites. This prompted ... more »
Some ACA Readings
1. Kate Ho and Ariel Pakes 2. Chuck Blahaus 3. James Capretta
Sunday Morning Comin' Down.
Well, if two or three of *my* sacred cows haven't been tipped, of late. Since Friday. CNN. Bourdain. Who'd have thought I'd benefit from it? Me, of all people? Not being either a foodie (I like to eat, though), or well-travelled (been a few special places); I never thought I would learn much from that type of programme. (I have CNN for mid-terms, storms, and Presidential elections.) I've been re-thinking my ill-considered opinions on gun-carrying civillians. Never occured to me that I may need to do just that someday. Someday is today. Everyday in fact, I just realized.... more »
SMASHED PRESS
RT reports: A crowd of around 50 masked men with stones and flares has attacked and vandalized the office of Kiev's Vesti newspaper. The paper’s security guard was beaten as the mob shattered the windows and filled the building with tear gas. Ever since the beginning of Ukrainian crisis media in the country been facing pressure to paint a “consistent” image of events. Soon after the February coup, the head of Ukraine’s National TV was abused and forced to resign over his *“not patriotic enough”* angle. In the meantime, all Russian TV channels were banned and many journalists prev... more »
Roy Cohn
*HIV is not the cause of AIDS.* *(Or Karposi Sarcoma)* *LIFE MAGAZINE* THE SNARLING DEATH OF ROY M. COHN Elevated by Joe McCarthy, felled by AIDS, he went with no regrets March 1988 By Nicholas von Hoffman *207S-004-03A * *Four months before the end, a haggard Cohn posed willingly, just as he’d sought the spotlight with McCarthy 35 years earlier.* A the time of his death on August 2, 1986, Roy Cohn was 59 and a generation had come to adulthood knowing of no senator named Joe McCarthy. But people born in the 1940s or earlier remember Cohn and his master performing on televi... more »
Brutally hot day on the Miaoli 124
Today Drew of Taiwan in Cycles and I rode up the 3 through Miaoli and climbed the 124, then rolled down to Nanzhuang and followed the river to Zhunan where we hopped a train for home. With temps soaring near 100, and probably well over that in the heated areas on the road, the moderately difficult climb up the 124 became a brutal battle against the heat. Still, it was a gorgeous ride. Click on read more to read more! *Route Notes*: You pick up the 124 in Shitan town, just north of the big Family Mart where the road into Shitan splits from the 3. Pay attention! It's the second big r... more »
Sacha Stone - New Earth Project - zero point economics or just another bunch of Overlords?
here at Free Planet, you'll have noticed the editorial stance is something along the lines of ALL CITIES MUST DIE, and all funding of THE EMPIRE (that's the patent-protected for-profit war-world economy) must be stopped. You get that (so far) right? But it's also about who we are, as a race of Advanced Fore-brainers. And what we do to show THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE that we deserve to remain Custodians of this Free Planet (and any God would tell you that you shouldn't be a debt/wage-slave, but that's by the by) and then that we deserve to share in the wonders of multi-dimensional trav... more »
New Blogs June/July 2014
Want some new(ish) blogs? Of course you do. 1. A Liberal Life (Unaligned/anti-UKIP) 2. Dream Deferred (Unaligned/anti-fascist) (Twitter) 3. Feminists Unknown (Unaligned/feminist) 4. Gender Minefield (Unaligned/feminist) (Twitter) 5. Labour Central Devon (Labour) (Twitter) 6. New Narratives (Unaligned/feminist/trans) 7. Novara Wire (Unaligned) (Twitter) 8. The X-Ray Factor (Unaligned/health) (Twitter) 9. Twickenham Labour Party (Labour) (Twitter) 10. Vixens With Convictions (Unaligned) (Twitter) 11. Young Fabians (Labour) (Twitter) That's your lot for this month's round up. If you know of ... more »
The open source revolution is coming and it will conquer the 1% - says ex CIA spy
A businessman tries to break through a line of Occupy Wall Street protesters who had blocked access to the New York Stock Exchange area in November 2011. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images *Open Source is a powerful concept, its given us Wikipedia and the computer operating system Linux. Its not without flaws however. In my discussions with Caleb, we discussed how frequently open source software encryption and networking software has been compromised by intelligence agencies because while the source code can be inspected by anyone, in truth it often isn't, because that takes con... more »
Iran pilot killed fighting in Iraq
[image: Iraqi Su-25 Frogfoot]An Iranian pilot has been killed while fighting in Iraq, state media reported Saturday, in what is thought to be Tehran’s first military casualty during battles against Islamic State fighters. Iran’s official IRNA news agency did not say whether the pilot died while flying sorties or fighting on the ground. It said Col. Shoja’at Alamdari Mourjani was killed while “defending” Shiite holy sites in the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad. Read more
Iraq lacks ability to fly F-16s it seeks, US trainer says
[image: Iraqi F-16 Fighting Falcon]Despite complaints by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki that the United States has been slow in its delivery of F-16 fighter jets, no Iraqi pilot team has qualified to fly the aircraft in combat and none will be ready before mid-August, according to an official at the U.S.-based program where the pilots are being trained. That problem is one of many the Obama administration is confronting as it tries to speed more equipment to the Iraqi air force to help it defeat the Islamic insurgency engulfing the country. There are also challenges in providing or... more »
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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has warned South Korea not to test his patience in the Yellow Sea, saying it might be made to "regret bitterly" its threatening actions near the two Koreas' de facto maritime boundary, Pyongyang's official media reported Saturday. Kim, who heads the National Defense Commission and commands the Korean People's Army, made the remarks as he "guided" a landing drill on a simulated enemy-held island involving ground, naval, air and anti-air forces, the Korean Central News Agency said. In the report, which did not specify when the drill took place, Kim was... more »
Ramadan problem
I don’t have a Twitter account. I’ve been told I should, but I already spend more than enough time making my arse fat with the blogging. I know you can Tweet whilst doing other things, say, jogging, playing tennis or tightrope walking but I like to concentrate on one thing at a time, monogamously. Anyway, to a stick in the mud like me “going viral” sounds alien and “trending” sounds transient and here-today-gone-tomorrow, and not in a good way. So I don’t warm to the concept of the BBC having a whole ‘Trending’ department, with web pages and broadcasts. It sounds as though it’s m... more »
The F-35 Strike Fighter. Technical Failures of the World’s Most Expensive Weapons System
[image: F-35 Engine Fire]Troubles never seem to end for the F-35 Strike Fighter. Not yet fully operational, the nuclear-capable fighter-bomber recently had different test versions either leak oil in flight or burst into flames on takeoff. The F-35 is the world’s most expensive weapons system – $400 billion and counting. The estimated lifetime cost of this military-industrial project is $1.5 trillion. The F-35 is already close to a decade behind schedule and its cost is already more than twice the original estimate. The Pentagon has lowered its performance specs and it’s still year... more »
Overhauling an aircraft carrier: a complex challenge
[image: USS Abraham Lincoln]When Edward Shields joined the Navy 10 months ago, the recruiter didn't mention jackhammer duty. But last week, the young Navy airman stood aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, bending his 6-foot-5-inch frame in a cramped passageway, blasting apart floor tiles and making a great deal of noise while doing it. He is part of a 35-sailor team that has pulverized 372,000 square feet of tile since the Lincoln arrived at Newport News Shipbuilding last March. These sailors normally work on the carrier flight deck. They launch, recover and refuel jet a... more »
China's torpedoes were born from Russia: Russian analyst
[image: Yu-6 heavyweight torpedo]Chinese torpedoes are mostly designed based on components introduced from Russia, according to a report written for the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies as cited in the state run Global Times. According to Russian analyst Maksim Klimov, the Soviet Union began to provide torpedoes to its allies — including China, Indonesia, Egypt, Syria, North Korea and members of Warsaw Pact — in the 1950s. Even though the exact number still remains unclear, they were mostly 533mm Type 53-59 torpedoes. Beginning in the 1960s, India and ... more »
Strauss sorry for Pietersen remark - BBC Sport
Does anybody know what Strauss actually said about Kevin Pietersen? http://m.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/28179086
Gay weddings, UK Muslims going to Syria, WWI, problems for the Catholic Church, Ramadan, the living wage and calls to scrap Christian assemblies in schools
This week's *Sunday *dwelt on many familiar themes - as you can see from the title of this post. First was an interview with Rev Roberta Rominger, former general secretary of the United Reform Church, which looks set to become the first mainstream church to allow gay weddings to be carried out in their churches. Rev Roberta supports the idea. William Crawley asked her if she hoped such a move would encourage other mainstream churches to follow their example. Then it was onto the story of the 100+ imams and their open letter urging British Muslims not to travel to Iraq or Syria to...more »
Free Online Grow Your Own Food Conference - July 7 to 14, 2014
[image: Foto: START THE FOOD REVOLUTION...IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD: http://tinyurl.com/lgypypp 34 reasons why growing your own food can save you…and the world! What one thing can you start TODAY that will change the world tomorrow? Grow your own food! It’s good for you, your family and your community. Learn every step you need to get started at the GROW YOUR OWN FOOD SUMMIT, ONLINE & FREE from July 7-14. REGISTER HERE: http://tinyurl.com/lgypypp The health of the world depends on growing our own food. Didn’t know this, did ya? It reduces toxicity, transportation and pollution, and gives... more »
What is the Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP)?
*Published on July 2, 2014* The Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership is a trade deal between the EU and the US - and is anything but harmless. The deal boosts corporate power and endangers people and the planet. This video, made by international campaigning organisation Attac, sets out the problems with the deal in a really clear, informative way. *For More Information:* *http://blog.38degrees.org.uk/2014/05/...** ,* *http://www.attac.org/en/node/16244* .
Tomorrow begins a multi-part series from #DougCo Colorado. #talkchalk #CrazyinCO
Here’s the listing for tomorrow’s show at 6PM EST: SUNDAY! SUNDAY! SUNDAY! @the chalk face radio presents “Crazy in Colorado.” We begin a series of Sunday shows devoted to the Rocky Mountain state’s embrace of the failed reform movement and also talking to those marginalized voices that have and are fighting back and suffering tremendous casualties. Joins us at 6 […]
Mickey Gilley: Stand By Me...
*I remember Gilley's Club in Pasadena very well.* Fun times... *Word is Mickey is planning on reopening in Pasadena*
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"
Moon Of Alabama..... July 06, 2014 Ukraine: Retreat From Slaviansk Far From End Game The Saker is somewhat depressed that the insurgents in east Ukraine retreated from Slaviansk. But that retreat was in good order and with few losses despite being surrounded by enemy forces. As their commander Strelkov explains there was no way Slaviansk could be defended against superior artillery and air superiority with little means to counter those. Strelkov is now setting up defenses in Donetsk which is a much bigger city with more resources and likely easier to defend. As the Ukrainian army and... 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 »
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*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 »
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 »
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