DHS Network Topology (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: , first Assistant Secretary for Policy at the United States Department of Homeland Security, during Senate testimony (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Organizational chart of the United States Department of Homeland Security (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
10:43pm MDSTIsrael Develop Camera That Can Tell If You’re A Terrorist
Israel have unveiled a new type of device that they say is able to ‘recognise a terrorist’ simply by analyzing their face. Israeli start-up company Faception says that its facial-recognition technology can scan a person’s face and automatically develop what it calls a “personality profile”. Mintpressnews.com reports: Claiming its technology will enable security companies to detect and apprehend terrorists and criminals before they have the opportunity to do harm, the company has already signed a contract with the Department of Homeland Security, according to the Washington Post. Th... more »
California Voter Fraud Discovered
An investigation has discovered that California has suffered from widespread voter fraud for a number of years, with authorities refusing to address the problem. CBSLA2 and KCAL9 found that hundreds of deceased voters were still active on voter registration rolls, and that most of the names on the rolls have been voting in Los Angeles for years. Dailysignal.com reports: For example, John Cenkner died in 2003, according to Social Security Administration records, yet he voted in the 2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, and 2010 elections. His daughter told the station that she was “astounded” and...more »
Gates Foundation To Aggressively Push Common Core Education
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation have publicly declared that they will aggressively pressure schools and the government to use the Common Core education standards. In an open letter to authorities, the Gates Foundation say: “Far too many districts report that identifying or developing Common Core-aligned materials is a challenge, meaning that teachers spend their time adapting or creating curriculum, developing lessons, and searching for supplemental materials”. “So, we’re doubling down on our efforts to make sure teachers have what they need to make the most of their unique cap...more »
Monsanto Loses Lawsuit, Pays $46 Million To Poisoned Victims
Monsanto have been found guilty of gross negligence by selling poisonous PCBs to members of the public, some of whom died as a result. The agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology giant has been forced to pay a total of $46 million in damages to plaintiffs in the case. A St. Louis jury voted 10-2 in finding Monsanto, Pfizer, Solutia, and Pharmacia guilty in the selling of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, after the compound had been banned. Theantimedia.org reports: Plaintiffs in this case — three of nearly 100 involved in litigation, some of whom died — said they developed no... more »
Venezuela Government Shuts down As Citizens Suffer Hunger, Blackouts
The Venezuela government has effectively shut down for business, with citizens saying that people are being left hungry, without electricity and without any type of law and order. In the last few weeks the government have deliberately downsized by shutting down most of its offices 6 days a week. Electricity and water are being rationed and many areas of the country are barely surviving as a result. Nytimes.com reports: Many people cannot make international calls from their phones because of a dispute between the government and phone companies over currency regulations and rates. Co... more »
How A U.S. - China War Could Break Out Over Japan's Islands
*Chen Pokong, National Interest*: *If the U.S. and China Go to War: The Battle of the Senkakus* How war could break out over Japan's islands *Editor’s note: The following is a translation of Chapter 7 of the book If the U.S. and China Go to War《假如中美开战》 by the author and analyst Chen Pokong. The current volume was published in Chinese in 2013 and was later translated to Japanese. It presents a range of potential conflict scenarios between China and the United States, including what may trigger conflict, and what the order of events may be.Chapter 7 of the book presents a hypothe... more »
Gallop Poll. 20% Of Venezuelans Approve Of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's Job Performance As Leader
*Gallop: **Venezuelans' Approval of Leadership Remains at Record Low* * Approval of leadership bottomed out in 2014 and 2015 * Three in four residents perceive widespread government corruption * New low of one in seven say they feel safe walking alone at night WASHINGTON, D.C. -- While Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro spoke last week of international and domestic plots to subvert him, Gallup polling in Venezuela shows that most residents have disapproved of their nation's leadership since he took office. In the past two years, just one in five Venezuelans have approved of the job... more »
Malaysia's Government Wants To Adopt Islamic Law
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak attends an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in this March 14, 2016 file photo. REUTERS/OLIVIA HARRIS/FILES *The Independent*:* Malaysia's government throws support behind Islamic penal code that includes amputations and stonings* Multi-ethnic country stunned by bill to introduce ancient religious punishments. Malaysia’s government has caused widespread outrage in the multi-ethnic country after adopting an Islamic penal code that will introduce amputations and stoning as punishments for some crimes. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s coalition govern... more »
41 U.S. Secret Service Agents Disciplined For Leaking The Personal Files Of A Congressman Who Criticized Agency Security Lapses
*Reuters*: *Secret Service punishes 41 over leak of lawmaker's data* Forty-one U.S. Secret Service employees have been disciplined over a media leak of the personal files of a congressman who had criticized the agency's security lapses, the Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday. Punishments ranged from a letter of reprimand to suspensions without pay for up to 45 days, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in a statement. One person found to have disclosed information on Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz to the Washington Post has resigned from the service,... more »
Non-Japanese Asians Are Not Pleased By President Obama's Visit To Hiroshima
Obama and Abe laid wreaths at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park on Friday [Carlos Barria/Reuters] *Chen Shilei, Xinhuanet*: *Obama's Hiroshima trip no occasion to whitewash Japan's WWII atrocities* BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhua) -- The motive behind U.S. President Barack Obama's planned visit to Japan's A-bombed Hiroshima on Friday may seem noble, but in reality, it is nothing more than yet another opportunity seized by Washington and Tokyo to pursue their own ulterior motives. At first glance, for a city falling as the first victim to an atomic bomb in human history, a visit by the first s... more »
Growing Sectarian Divisions In Iraq Over The Role That Iranian General Qassem Soleimani Is Playing In The Battle For Fallujah
Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani (center, with black hat) posing for a picture in Anbar province, Iraq. *Reuters*: *Iraqi Sunni politicians reject visit by Iran's Soleimani to Falluja* Sunni politicians in Iraq condemned on Saturday a visit by Iranian General Qassem Soleimani to Shi'ite paramilitary forces fighting alongside the Iraqi army to drive Islamic State militants out of the Sunni city of Falluja. Three lawmakers from the province of Anbar told Reuters the visit by Iran's al-Quds brigade commander could fuel sectarian tension and cast doubt on Baghdad's assertions th... more »
Iraq's Military And Shiite Militias Continue Their Military Assault On The ISIS Stronghold Of Fallujah
*FOX News*: *50,000 civilians reportedly trapped inside Fallujah as Iraqi forces surround ISIS stronghold* Over 50,000 civilians are reportedly trapped inside ISIS-controlled Fallujah as Iraqi forces surround the town and prepare for an all-out assault on one of the militant's last major strongholds in the country. Al Jazeera reported that conditions in the city, under ISIS control since 2014, have deteriorated as fighting between the militants and Iraqi forces has intensified in the past few days. Some residents have been evacuated, but ISIS checkpoints on the main roads has mad... more »
The Hillary Clinton Email Scandal Is About To Get Worse
*The Hill:* *Clinton email headache is about to get worse* A scathing inspector general’s report this week was just the first in what is likely to be a series of official actions related to her private server stemming from the FBI, a federal courthouse and Capitol Hill. Clinton’s presidential campaign has failed to quiet the furor over the issue, which has dogged her for more than a year. In the next few weeks — just as the likely Democratic presidential nominee hopes to pivot towards a general election — it will face its toughest scrutiny yet. “All of that feeds into this overar... more »
Is The White House Turning A Blind Eye On Russian Military Sales To Iran?
*Washington Free Beacon*:* Obama Admin Considers Permitting Advanced Russian Arms Sales to Iran* *White House might not invoke laws triggering new sanctions.* The Obama administration has the power to sanction key Russian arms sales to Iran, but has so far abstained from exercising this right under U.S. law, prompting some in Congress to question whether the administration is “acquiescing” to the arms sales in order to appease Iran, according to conversations with sources and recent congressional correspondence to the White House exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. ... more »
Austria Investigating Into Alleged Presidential Election Postal Vote Fraud
*Euronews:* *Austria launches probe into alleged postal vote irregularities* Five voting districts are being investigated in Austria over postal vote irregularities in the close-run presidential election, the interior minister has announced. Allegations of fraud arose from the far-right Freedom party (FPÖ) of defeated candidate Norbert Hofer, after the Green candidate Alexander Van der Bellen just scrapped ahead with 31,000 votes when the postal ballot was counted. The Villach branch of FPÖ lodged a complaint with the country’s corruption prosecutor over the Carinthia council cou... more »
Rio Olympics Going Ahead, Despite Zika Risks
The World Health Organization (WHO) has given the green light for the 2016 Rio Olympics to go ahead, despite the high risk the Zika virus outbreak poses to visitors. In a surprising move WHO said they would not postpone or move the games, saying that they believed the games would “not significantly alter” the spread of the virus. BBC News reports: In an open letter to the WHO, more than 100 leading scientists had said new findings about Zika made it “unethical” for the Games to go ahead. They also said the global health body should revisit its Zika guidance. The International Olymp... more »
Our Bipartisan Corrupt Congress Is Choking On Lobbyist Bribes
Progressives were sickened to learn that #DebtTrapDebbie Wasserman Schultz had not just invited the lobbyists that Obama had banned back into the inner sanctums of the Democratic Party but that she was even putting some on the platform committee of the National Convention. That's another reason she just has to go. (Please help Tim Canova defeat her by contributing to his campaign here.) Corporate lobbyists are the scourge of honest government and they gravitate to the most corrupt politicians. You can always tell who are the worst and most dishonest members of Congress are by how ... more »
(Drone Strike Video Gamers Metaphor for Trump Nation?) Trump Wronged by Mean Girl? (Conflating Email Evasions with Partisan Skullduggery)
Niccol takes a stern tack with "Good Kill." Again and again Egan and team do their job. Again and again they’re coached in ignoring the true nature of it. The drones are saving American lives, never mind what the bleeding hearts think. “Drones aren’t going anywhere,” says their commander (Bruce Greenwood). “In fact, they’re going everywhere.” The repetition of their roles drills into the
Trump And Shkreli Have Something Else In Common-- Multiple Campaign Contributions To Hillary Clinton
Thursday, when Herr Trumpf pontificated that "you have to be wealthy in order to be great" how offended were you? What a disgusting little man! I wonder how many evangelicals who voted for him are doing penance. But he certainly excited greed-driven drug maker, scam artist and self-proclaimed arch-villain Martin Shkreli who tweeted "all you people who don't like trump are jealous, stupid and poor! don't make me laugh! and if you are employed by media you are worthless." Something tells me worthless media employees in Shkreli-world would include all the writers at *Jacobin* and cer... more »
Is Uber the Real Monopoly?
Hardly of course. In fact the emergence of Uber is the direct result of monopoly practices exercised for almost as long as we have had the automobile and likely the hackney long before all that. The mere fact that taxi licenses became so valuable tells you that such practises are in force. We have the same thing here in terms of milk quotas as well. What happens though is such regulatory licenses are often rationally justified by extant conditions, not least been predatory dumping and capital concentration, long before anyone worries about the toilers actually making a fair li... more »
Science shows Torture a Total Failure
Well, it seems like it should work but that is untrue. It may serve to gain his cooperation but that must then include restoring his health. He has to answer and to volunteer as well to produce verifiable results. Granted the methods are horrific enough to gain that level of cooperation if at all. Otherwise information under duress is typically useless and it becomes mental babble. In the end, such happens long past the availability of useful tactical information At best then you pick up on an associate or two who may be valuable or not..It is a waste of time.. ... more »
Trump’s Time: The Donald Can Beat Hillary Without NeverTrump
Right now, the only thing that can derail Trump would be Bernie Sanders nomination Since the same establishment that Trump ran over has all their eggs in the Clinton basket as well and Sanders has mostly grabbed traditional socialist democrats who have not experienced love since LBJ's Great Society, it is hard to see a path forward for him. Yet he would be able to polarize the electorate to his advantage and cause Trump difficulties in shaping his message. After all Trump is a mid roader who is sympathetic to socialism done properly as any sane person should be. Thus he woul... more »
Current State of the Sea Ice Cover
The data is getting better. We have essentially lost half of our perennial sea ice since 1978. The actual cover is mostly caused by annual ice and this feeds the natural reservoir provided by the perennial ice. All this suggests that present trends will eliminate perennial ice by 2050 while annual cover will substantially contract. It should be stable at that point. We do not have good enough data to say when and how reversals take place. Recall that the Medieval warm period lasted centuries. This feels like the same scenario is working through. Not quite ever blue water, ... more »
Were Southeastern Towns also Sited According to the Stars?
[image: Georgia-sites] The surprise of course is that the culture used abstract ideas for siting their mounds and indirectly their communities. The usual and reasonable assumption of such sites been tied to geography as dominant elsewhere proves completely wrong.We already know that the South East USA was linked directly to the Maya in much the same way as England was to Virginia. Even that their culture survived contact into the eighteenth century. What is now becoming apparent is the likely extent of this culture in the USA. Again tens of thousands in population.What i find ... more »
Arctic Sea Ice Could Disappear This Summer
That is asking somewhat too much but let us note that the ice is not expanding in mass year by year and is actually continuing its decline. This will mean rapidly expanding blue water during the summer season. This will allow for warmer conditions. However we will still get full sea ice coverage in the winter even if it is thinner than expected. What has happened over the past decade is that the multi year ice has mostly broken up and decayed away. . *Arctic Sea Ice Could Disappear This Summer * * Wednesday, 11 May 2016 00:00 By Dahr Jamail, * *Ice in the south Arctic... more »
9/11 Trillions: Follow The Money with Corbett
A long time has passed since 9/11. Patriots continue to chew on the many open questions and their derived inferences. This item happens to be a good walk through the many disturbing events involved. Recall also that it has taken most of fifty years to properly resolve most of what happened to produce the JFK assassination. These are secrets kept by intimidation and real threats. We the public was presented with clear bolt from the blue along with some compliant perpetrators who all were real enough. I suspect however that only the pilots truly understood that it was a suicid... more »
Steroid Level in Beef Causing Players to Fail Drug Tests
This is startling. That a single large meal of beef is able to put you over the top in atheletic drug testing. either the standard is far too low or the amount of steroid been used is stupid and must be regulated. Our whole food chain is presently been manipulated for the convenience of the large producers who think nothing of heavy steroid use. That labeling fails to identify such is outrageous. Perhaps it is time to measure meat quality on the basis of athletic levels and to start throwing shipments out. A few losses like that may cure the industry. The consumer is alread... more »
Mariann Wizard Vasquez : Out There: My first dispatch from Belize
I’m starting to get a glimmer of the ‘colonial fatalism’ that decrees, ‘That’s just how things are.’ By Mariann Wizard Vasquez* | The Rag Blog | May 16, 2016 SAN IGNACIO TOWN, Cayo, Belize, C.A. — It’s the smallest things … finish reading Mariann Wizard Vasquez : *Out There*: My first dispatch from Belize
93% Of Americans Test Positive For Monsanto’s Glyphosate Poison
The University of California have warned that 93% of the American public have tested positive for Monsanto’s carcinogenic Glyphosate herbicide. The Detox Project, using laboratories at the University of California San Francisco, found traces of the poisonous herbicide in the urine of 93% of participants. Healthimpactnews.com reports: From the project’s public statement on their website: Glyphosate, labeled a ‘Probable human carcinogen’ by the World Health Organization’s cancer agency IARC in 2015, has now been revealed to be ubiquitous in the first ever comprehensive and validated ... more »
Trump Says California Drought Is A Government Conspiracy
Donald Trump told voters on Friday that the California drought is actually a government conspiracy to deprive them of water. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee told a rally in Freno, California, that there is no drought in California, and accused state officials of secretly taking water to Central Valley farmers so that they could send it out to sea “to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish.” Yahoo News reports: “We’re going to solve your water problem. You have a water problem that is so insane. It is so ridiculous where they’re taking the water and shoving it out... more »
Fargo
*Where is pancakes house?* *Are we square?* *Are we square?* *No, you're **on *the square. Everything is backwards. Time is now running backwards. But for everyone experiencing the passing of time, they cannot perceive that it has ceased move to move forwards and thus act in a way that guarantees and locks in their eventual fate. The first scene in the King Club tells us that something has gone wrong with our understanding of time, but which nobody recognises isn't working in the same way as before. Unless you realise what has actually happened, all your actions and planned ... more »
Saint Barack of Hiroshima
Not only is Barack Obama one of the most ironic Nobel Peace laureates in history, he also takes the prize for being the most cynically arrogant. Nobody with even a fraction of his obvious intelligence, nobody with even the mere rotting vestige of a moral compass, would have dared to set foot in Hiroshima otherwise. Grotesquely parading down a hideously symbolic red carpet, Obama proceeded to plant himself comfortably behind yet another global bully pulpit, announcing once again, in case we forgot, that the United States will continue to reign as the concern-trolling bully and mora... more »
Very Important Health News: Breaking Report Shows CONCLUSIVELY That Cell Phone Radiation Causes Brain Cancer!
I am one very pissed off researcher these last few days... I was informed by some people residing around a local telephone network centre here in Central Canada that the telecommunications company that runs that facility was going to erect a brand spanking new cell phone network tower adjacent to that centre and right smack dab in the middle of that residential neighbourhood! Lets be clear here... NO cell phone tower should ever be erected in the middle of a residential neighbourhood, period, end of story... Many reports are coming out of Europe (strangely none in North America..... more »
North America Nakba Tour: Exiled Palestinians, Berkeley 2016
http://www.ism-norcal.org/north-america-nakba-tour-the-exiled-palestinians/ NORTH AMERICA NAKBA TOUR: THE EXILED PALESTINIANS – DIRECT FROM THE REFUGEE CAMPS – Jewish Voice for Peace-East Bay, South Alameda County Peace & Justice Committee, Ecumenical Peace Institute, Friends of Sabeel North America,in cooperation with the Free Palestine Movement, International Solidarity
Vernon Masayesva 'Hopi and Tewa Demand Halt to Water Negotiations'
Vernon Masayesva, the former chairman of the Hopi tribe and founder and director of the Black Mesa Trust. Photograph: Sam A Minkler A No Is A NO! "Hopi Tribal Council and Chairman without consulting with villages have agreed to resume settlement negotiation against the will of the village they represent. We, the Hopi and Tewa people, demand and have a right to know why council decided to
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*The True Story of a Conservative Refugee* By Robert Oscar Lopez Trigger Warning: This is a 100% true story. No names have been changed to protect anyone. You may be disturbed. But I will not lie to you. On April 23, 2016, I declared my independence. The towers of the university where I work reflected the orange glare of L.A.'s sunset. It was Saturday, but I'd driven all the way to campus to do something, I realized, I should have done eight years ago. The office was empty, as one would expect. The security cameras probably captured becoming footage of my lone figure walki... more »
End Date Of Mayan Calendar Is June 2016, Says Scholar
A Mayan scholar is claiming that the end of the Mayan calendar is actually going to occur between 3rd -4th June, 2016, saying that experts had the original December 2012 date wrong. The end of the calendar is thought to mark the end of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which many believed would see a New Age of positive spiritual transformation on Earth and the beginning of a new era. Some also thought the 21 December 2012 date marked the end of the world. The ‘end of the world’ theory was apparently debunked when the 2012 date came and went four year...more »
China Deploys Nuclear Submarines To Pacific Ocean
China are to deploy nuclear submarines to the Pacific Ocean for the very first time, in a move that risks escalating an arms race with the U.S. Chinese military officials are refusing to comment, but it is thought they were left with no choice after the U.S. expanded its missile defence operation in the disputed South China islands region. Foxnews.com reports: The report comes days after U.S. President Barack Obama announced that he had lifted a decades-long arms embargo against Vietnam. Chinese officials publicly praised the move, but an opinion piece in a state-run newspaper warne... more »
Dance of the Divine
Moses said to Satan, Man, that was fun but I've got to cross this river to get my business done. Saul said to Sarah, Girl, button up your dress your fathers on the prowl your sins to him confess. Enoch said to Joseph, Guy, that was a blast but I've got to speak to Jesus to make his divinity last. Jesus spoke to Krishna You know, we both are alike but I bet your congregation didn't nail you with a spike. Loki sat down softly with mischief in his sack he sharpened up his wicked knife to place in someone's back. Rama did a pirouette as Bast slowly turned to the tune of a saxophone whilst Sur... more »
Dear Tony
Tony, Tony, Tony, Tony. When I was a Trot I had it drilled into me that you don't necessarily speak for yourself. You always have to think about how your conduct and the positions you're arguing might reflect on your comrades. This sense of political self-responsibility, I think, is something of a virtue and my many, many blogs (I hope) abide by this rule. When finger tips touch the keyboard, there is a sense of trying to say something that others might find helpful. Political argument, after all, is about *arguing with purpose*. With that in mind, what were you trying to achieve w... more »
U.S. Military Caught On ISIS Frontline In Syria
US Special Forces have been filmed fighting ISIS on the front-lines in Syria, despite assurances from the Pentagon that soldiers were not engaging in the conflict. The fighters were seen alongside the Kurdish militia in northern Syria who are attempting to drive ISIS out of the city of Raqqa. RT.com reports: A photographer for Agence France-Presse (AFP) took pictures of the American special operatives in what The Washington Post identified as the village of Fatisah, roughly 30 miles (48 km) north of Raqqa. Kurdish fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – part of the US-ba... more »
Israel Warn Of Europe’s Destruction If Boycott Continues
Israel have released a threatening video, warning Europe that if they don’t stop their boycott campaign against Israel, their continent will be obliterated. The video, released by a pro-Israel PR firm, depicts ISIS militants destroying European cities with Jerusalem’s blessing. Alternet.org reports: The video was released yesterday on the Facebook social network by Hallelu, a little-known PR outfit dedicated to improving the international image of the State of Israel, and has already racked up over five thousand video views: The minute-long video has high production values and featu... more »
British Scientist To Create Worlds First Genetically Modified Baby
A British scientist has been given the go-ahead to create the world’s first genetically modified baby and has begun preparatory work following the decision. Dr Kathy Niakan, of the Francis Crick Institute, will be allowed to genetically modify human embryos, using gene editing techniques on donated human embryos by fertility treatment patients. Telegraph.co.uk reports: Despite the approval, the start of research may still be months away due to the difficulties of obtaining sufficient embryos. The controversial project is thought to mark the second time the procedure will be underta... more »
EU Leaders Plan For Future Without UK Amid Brexit Fears
EU leaders are bracing themselves for a future European Union without the UK, holding high-level meetings to decide the future of the Bloc amid a possible Brexit vote. The leaders of Italy, France, Germany, Belgium and other core members discussed a “plan B” option on its future without the UK, and said that Europe would resolve to become a closer union with a strengthened army if Britain left. Independent.co.uk reports: Officials expect a punitive approach to Britain, with an official meeting of 27 leaders – excluding David Cameron – expected shortly after a potential Brexit vote.... more »
BMF - Left Hand Darknesses
*Bad Motherfucker* *Mr. Sinister* *Black Magick* *"Nothing drives people to the church faster than the thought of the Devil snapping at their heels. * *Maybe that was God’s plan all along. Why he created him, allowed him to fall from grace to become a symbol to be feared warning to us all, to tread the path of the righteous. "*
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*Climate change could destroy Statue of Liberty, Venice and many other parts of the world's heritage, UN report warns* *And pigs could fly. There is NO evidence for any of the prophecies below. It is just speculation based on global warming theory -- a theory with so many holes in it, it might as well be a sieve.The present day events described are just cherry-picking. One could easily pick other events leading to the opposite conclusion -- like the fact that the world's biggest body of glacial ice -- Antarctica -- is INCREASING in size, suggesting a future sea-level FALL.... more »
It's the End of the Age of Aquarius
Alas, alas! It didn't turn out to be the dawning of the Age of Aquarius after all. Today's *Dateline London *reverted to its old ways. *All four* of its invited guests (Abdel Bari Atwan, Agnes Poirier, Michael Goldfarb and Yasmin Alibhai Brown) were left-wingers (of various hues). Again. So, yielding to despair perhaps, I now think I *must* say: "I don't think I'll ever live to see the day when the programme invites four right-wingers to make up its panel. Bari's big, bushy moustache, even more than Hell, will have to freeze over before that ever happens." That said, I still enj... more »
Links Addressing Nuclear Safety
Spent fuel pools pose catastrophic risks should cooling be interrupted. A 2003 study of the hazards of spent fuel pools describes risks: R. Alvarez, J. Beyea, K. Janberg, J. Kang, E. Lyman, A. Macfarlane, G. Thompson, and F. von Hippel (2003) ‘Reducing the Hazards from Stored Spent Power-Reactor Fuel in the United States’, Science and Global Security, 11.1, 1–51. Spent fuel recently discharged from a reactor could heat up relatively rapidly to temperatures at which the zircaloy fuel cladding could catch fire and the fuel’s volatile fission products, including 30-year half-life 13... more »
Fukushima Steamy Still
I noted May 17 (2016) that Fukushima has been extra "steamy" looking since the recent earthquake near Tokai. I wasn't able to check the cams Wed and Thur, but I returned from my conference on Friday to find that heavy looking emissions continue. Additionally, Netc is showing elevated radiation readings in Kyushu. I wonder whether the ice wall has failed? I saw this article in the Asahi Shimbun that points to problems: Kohei Tomida. May 26, 2016. 10% of TEPCO’s frozen soil wall at Fukushima site not working. The Asahi Shimbun, http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201605260056.... more »
Respite from Reality
Incredibly beautiful music suggested by a commentator:
Goverment Report: EPA Employees Viewing Porn at Work, Raking in Cash While Not Working
[image: EPA, Environmental Protection Agency] An Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employee who watched porn up to four hours a day at work was caught red-handed by a child visiting the office on "Bring Your Daughters And Sons To Work Day." The EPA placed the porn-watching... more »
Republican Says He Accidentally Voted for LGBT Amendment Banning Religious Liberty for Government Contractors
[image: Rep. J] Make that 42, not 43, Republicans who voted with Democrats for the controversial LGBT amendment in the House of Representatives. When the amendment passed late Wednesday night, 223-195, Rep. John Shimkus, R-Ill., voted for the measure but only by accident.... more »
Forget Neil's Ambivalence To Trump Using "Rockin' In The Free World;" Loudon Wainwright's "I Had A Dream" Is A Potential Nightmare
*-by Denise Sullivan* Shaking my head as usual at the headlines and poor excuses for news, Wednesday's trumped-up report that Bernie Sanders booster Neil Young "excused" Donald Trump for using "Rockin' In The Free World" turned out to be a non-starter and almost as out of context as the right appropriating rock 'n' roll for their own diabolical purposes. If you remember last year around this time, non-voting Canadian but Californian Young asked that Trump not use the song during his campaign, and that was the end of that. Young, to his credit, joined the long line of rock 'n' roll... more »
Rupert in the lions' den
If you're thinking of watching Nicky Campbell's *The Big Questions *tomorrow (and may the Lord have mercy on your soul if you are!), *The Times Literary Supplement* blog has a piece about it by one of the people who will be appearing on it: Christian writer Rupert Shortt. I say "appearing on it", but the piece make its clear that the episode of *TBQ *to be broadcast tomorrow was actually recorded last Sunday, so he's *already* "appeared" on it. Rupert is describing his experiences on a programme the BBC hasn't yet broadcast. I had absolutely no idea *TBQ* was pre-recorded a week ... more »
Hillary Loves Fracking, but Only in Other Countries
[image: Hillary Clinton3 - 900] Newly released emails show Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton attempted to bring fracking -- something she opposes -- to other countries while working in the Obama administration. The Intercept published emails showing how Department of State officials worked closely with private... more »
HIV/AIDS Activists Say They Feel Used After a Meeting With Bernie
[image: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. speaks at a campaign rally on Monday, May 9, 2016, in Atlantic City, N.J.] A group of HIV/AIDS activists are unhappy with presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) following a meeting to discuss the fight against the disease, saying he "mischaracterized" the purpose and misled the public and press on the focus of the... more »
Editor's Note
Blogging will return later this evening
Vandals Deface Vietnam War Memorial In Los Angeles
*CBS Los Angeles*: *Vandals Deface Vietnam War Memorial In Venice* VENICE (CBSLA.com) — Vandals defaced a memorial to Vietnam war veterans in Venice – an awful sight on this Memorial Day weekend. Stewart Oscars welled up as he looked at the vandalized mural located on Pacific Avenue near Sunset Court. It was covered in graffiti from end to end. “This knocked me out. So sickening. Just sadness…think of all these people. They’re gone,” Oscars said. “I remember the Vietnam war and how friends went to war, and bodies came back. Somehow, it has to be taught that this is not a good ide...more »
I Reversed the Polarity of the Neutron Flow
Why did this* particular *piece of technobabble become so iconic? Why did it ressonate? What was it about this particular meme with caused it to become self-sustaining, self-replicating, and which gave it life..? How did it become Mantra..? Well, one reason we *do* know about and can prove for certain is that in a break from his usual habit of complaints and dissatisfaction with the lines he had to memorise, Jon Pertwee absolutely adored that line the first time that he read it, realising and immediately declaring that he could sing it to the tune of the Sailor's Hornpipe, whic... more »
UN Health Agency Says Zika No Reason To Postpone Rio Olympics
[image: Zika virus - 900] BERLIN (AP) -- The World Health Organization says there is “no public health justification” for postponing or canceling the Rio Summer Olympics because of the Zika outbreak in Brazil. The assessment, in a statement early Saturday, came a day after... more »
Open Thread
Sorry, blogging is proving next to impossible at the moment for both me and Sue, and I will shortly be going away for two weeks. (Even bloggers go on holiday, and I've found an amazing bargain online - an astonishingly cheap 5-star hotel in a trendy new Middle Eastern resort called Raqqa. Never heard of the place myself, but apparently lots of Brits have started holidaying there in recent years. It's 'up-and-coming', according to the both the website (www.travelcaliphate.co.uk) and the BBC's *Lonely Planet *guide. I received a really lovely email a month or so back from the hotel'... more »
Time for a change of job, Jeremy?
True story... I've just been catching up with today's *From Our Own Correspondent*. I saw the website blurb saying there were stories from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Italy, Malawi and Turkey and wondered if 'from the Middle East' meant 'about Israel' (as if so often does with *FOOC*). Kate Adie's introduction didn't preview the Middle East story, so I ploughed on. It came as the final item and began, innocuously enough, with Kate Adie talking about how anniversaries are increasingly being used as pegs by media outlets. 'Is it going to be a WW1 anniversary?', I wondered. Then... more »
#ChickenTrump: Donald Trump Backs Down From Sanders Debate
Twitter is pounding Donald Trump with the hashtag #ChickenTrump after the Republican presidential nominee refused to face Bernie Sanders in a debate. Sputnik reports: The plan for the debate began on Wednesday evening, when Trump appeared on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! TV show. During the interview, Kimmel read a note from the Sanders campaign inviting Trump him to a debate in California. “That could happen, I’ve been saying that should happen anyway,” Trump said. “If he paid a nice sum for charity, I would love to do that.” A day later, at a campaign rally in North Dakota he confirmed hi...more »
Sci-Hub: 'Pirate Bay for scientists' now available on anonymous Telegram Messaging app
*Sci-Hub: 'Pirate Bay for scientists' now available on anonymous Telegram Messaging app* By Mary-Ann Russon May 17, 2016 17:08 BST *Sci-Hub now lets users search for academic papers on Telegram, which helps to keep their identities safe * Sci-Hub is known as the 'Pirate Bay for scientists' for its offering of 48 million peer-reviewed academic papers for free to download. And it has launched a new feature that enables people to search for papers in the encrypted Telegram Messenger app. All the user has to do is download the Telegram app on to their mobile device, add the Sci-Hub ... more »
Dozens Injured During Lightning Strikes In France & Germany
Dozens of people including children were seriously injured in two separate lightning strikes in Germany and France. In France eight children and three adults were hit by lightening on Saturday afternoon, according to the fire service. Daily Star reports: Six were severely injured in the horror accident during a violent thunderstorm. They were at a child’s birthday party in Parc Monceau in north-west Paris. Police said a medical unit was set up on site to treat the victims with “absolutely urgency”. And elsewhere fierce lightening bolts have struck at a children’s football match in G... more »
From two lines in this article: "[I]t was Mrs. Clinton who hectored her husband into bowing to a chorus of neoconservative and liberal interventionist voices and finally giving the order to bomb the former Yugoslavia." Continuing… "...Serbs in the northern part of the country were demanding some form of local autonomy to stave off violent attacks by Kosovar ultra-nationalists." Long story short, Kosovo and Serbia were abutting provinces in the former Yugoslavia, and the former was attacking the latter ...supported by Hillary. Flash back to early 2001. The blogger (Dave Griscom) was an Invited Professor of Research at Universtiés de Paris 6 & 7 and, most improbably, a Serbian professor was also invited at the same time doing the exactly the same kind of research! Thus we had to take turns using the main instrument called an ESR spectrometer (see the photo of us in front of this instrument below). We immediately became great friends and corresponded for some time. Then all of a sudden Pavle stopped answering my emails. What could have caused this? I had continued being friendly, and I think that there was no way that I could have offended him personally. So now I finally suppose that he had realized what terrible damage had been done to Serbia by the United States (see Hillary Clinton's key role in this in the article below) that he could no longer be a friend to ANY American. This certainly makes me sad.
------------------------------ *Kosovo: Hillary Clinton’s Legacy of Terror* The “liberation” of Kosovo unleashed radical Islamism in Europe by Justin Raimondo, May 25, 2016 Kosovo is Clinton Country: a 10-foot-high statue of Bill overlooks “Bill Clinton Boulevard” in the capital city of Pristina. Hillary is also memorialized in what has become the crime capital of Europe: right off the street named for her husband is a store named “Hillary,” featuring women’s clothing modeled after the putative Democratic party nominee for President. Pantsuits figure prominen... more »
Fukushima Update: "Your Radiation This Week, May 21 to May 28, 2016"
*"Your Radiation This Week, May 21 to May 28, 2016"* By Bob Nichols "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” - Shiva (San Francisco) May 28, 2016 – "Good Day, this is “Your Radiation This Week.” These are the recorded Radiation Highs that affected people this week around the United States and in your neighborhood. There is no way to recover from these kinds of exposures. There is no medicine and there is no cure. Millions now possess a shortened life span due to their radiation exposures. Are you next or already Zapped? Let’s get right to it. *All Radiation Counts repor... more »
Internet Trolling 101: "25 Rules Of Disinformation, Propaganda, “PSYOPS”, Debunking Techniques"
*"25 Rules Of Disinformation, Propaganda, “PSYOPS”, Debunking Techniques"* By Kristan T. Harris *"1. Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.* Regardless of what you know, don’t discuss it — especially if you are a public figure, news anchor, etc. If it’s not reported, it didn’t happen, and you never have to deal with the issues. *2. Become incredulous and indignant.* Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the “How dare you!” gambit. *3. Crea... more »
"So Long You Are Young..."
"Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind. It is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair, these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. Whether seventy or seventeen there is in every beings he... more »
Musical Interlude: Big Brother And The Holding Company, “Heartache People”
Big Brother And The Holding Company, “Heartache People” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ibq448hAhls
Musical Interlude: Ray Charles, "Imagine"
Ray Charles, "Imagine" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExHsrh0hH-w
"A Look to the Heavens"
“A jewel of the southern sky, the Great Carina Nebula, also known as NGC 3372, spans over 300 light-years, one of our galaxy's largest star forming regions. Like the smaller, more northerly Great Orion Nebula, the Carina Nebula is easily visible to the unaided eye, though at a distance of 7,500 light-years it is some 5 times farther away. This gorgeous telescopic close-up reveals remarkable details of the region's central glowing filaments of interstellar gas and obscuring cosmic dust clouds. The field of view is over 50 light-years across. *Click image for larger size.* The Carina ... more »
Paulo Coelho, “Dreams and Obsessions”
*“Dreams and Obsessions”* by Paulo Coelho “Your theory about every person could reach everything in life is really optimistic. But if the person tried once and was despaired and disappointed what is he going to do?” - Antoine Rigal, Lyon, France “There is sometimes a bit of confusion in regards to a passage in my book "The Alchemist": “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” Some people sometimes want things that in the end won’t truly help them. Life is strange: the happier people can be, the unhappier they are. I have some friends that t... more »
The Poet: Mary Oliver, “October”
*“October”* "There’s this shape, black as the entrance to a cave. A longing wells up in its throat like a blossom as it breathes slowly. What does the world mean to you if you can’t trust it to go on shining when you’re not there? and there’s a tree, long-fallen; once the bees flew to it, like a procession of messengers, and filled it with honey. I said to the chickadee, singing his heart out in the green pine tree: little dazzler little song, little mouthful. The shape climbs up out of the curled grass. It grunts into view. There is no measure for the confidence at the bottom of its e... more »
"What Is Hope?"
"What Is Hope?" "What is hope? It is the pre-sentiment that imagination is more real and reality is less real than it looks. It is the hunch that the overwhelming brutality of facts that oppress and repress us is not the last word. It is the suspicion that reality is more complex than the realists want us to believe. That the frontiers of the possible are not determined by the limits of the actual; and in a miraculous and unexplained way, life is opening creative events which will light the way to freedom and resurrection. But the two - suffering and hope - must live from each othe... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Oakes, N. Dakota, USA. Thanks for stopping by!
"I Would Rather Have..."
"When a bull is being lead to the slaughter, it still hopes to break loose and trample its butchers. Other bulls have not been able to pass on the knowledge that this never happens and that from the slaughterhouse there is no way back to the herd. But in human society there is a continuous exchange of experience. I have never heard of a man who broke away and fled while being led to his execution. It is even thought to be a special form of courage if a man about to be executed refuses to be blindfolded and dies with his eyes open. But I would rather have the bull with his blind rage... more »
"Memorializing the Horrors of War with 10 Must-See War Films"
*"Memorializing the Horrors of War with 10 Must-See War Films"* By John W. Whitehead “The horror... the horror...” - "Apocalypse Now" (1979) “You can’t show war as it really is on the screen, with all the blood and gore. Perhaps it would be better if you could fire real shots over the audience’s head every night, you know, and have actual casualties in the theater.”- Sam Fuller, film director and author. "Nearly 71 years ago, the United States unleashed atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing more than 200,000 individuals, many of whom were civilians.... more »
"To Live..."
"To live, man must hold three things as the supreme and ruling values of his life: Reason - Purpose - Self-esteem. Reason, as his only tool of knowledge - Purpose, as his choice of the happiness which that tool must proceed to achieve - Self-esteem, as his inviolate certainty that his mind is competent to think and his person is worthy of happiness, which means: is worthy of living. These three values imply and require all of man's virtues, and all his virtues pertain to the relation of existence and consciousness: rationality, independence, integrity, honesty, justice, productiven... more »
Politics: “Trump's Decision To Debate Sanders In California Is His Most Genius Move Yet”
*“Trump's Decision To Debate Sanders In California Is His Most Genius Move Yet”* by Mike Krieger “Here, a Clinton match-up is highly likely to be an unmitigated electoral disaster, whereas a Sanders candidacy stands a far better chance. Every one of Clinton’s (considerable) weaknesses plays to every one of Trump’s strengths, whereas every one of Trump’s (few) weaknesses plays to every one of Sanders’s strengths. From a purely pragmatic standpoint, running Clinton against Trump is a disastrous, suicidal proposition.” – From the February article: “Why Hillary Clinton Cannot Beat Don... more »
Putin: Poland & Romania In The ‘Crosshairs’ Over US Defense Shield
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that Romania and Poland could be caught in the ‘crosshairs’ of Russian rockets for hosting the U.S. missile shield that Moscow considers a threat. Putin said that his country has “no choice” but to target Romania, which had recently opened a NATO missile defense base, and Poland, which plans to do so within two years. During a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in Athens on Friday, Putin “If yesterday people simply did not know what it means to be in the crosshairs in those areas of Romania, then today we will ... more »
An Airing of Grievances This Political Season
(By *American Zen*'s Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari) *T*his other, quadrennial "silly season" that we charitably refer to as a general election cycle has come with its share of disappointments. It's been a sort of Festivus in which we've been raining blows on each others' heads by blocking on Twitter and unfriending each other on Facebook at the first sign of partisan non-compliance and waging flame wars to no effect. We've been airing our grievances with others not of like mind and letting them know whether they wish to hear it or not. To not be so engaged and passionate is tanta... more »
Chait speech: Education reform, plus the rise of Trump!
*SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2016Our own liberal kindergarten:* We liberals are skilled at noting the intellectual povery which exists Over There, in the other tribe. We're less skilled at noting our own tribe's intellectual poverty. Consider two recent examples from the work of Jonathan Chait, who votes the way liberals do. One example concerns "education reform;" in this post, Chait adopts a contrarian view. The other example concerns the way "Republican politics and conservative thought" evolved during the Clinton/Gore years. It constitutes a perfect pander to the liberal world's tribal... more »
Will The UK Sizzle This Summer?
By Paul Homewood http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/16/uk-weather-britain-to-sizzle-in-summer-highs-of-33c—but-floodi/ And in the red corner, we have the met men: Britain is due to sizzle this summer with highs of 33C (91F), but forecasters say hurricanes threaten to bring floods during the August school holidays due to the La Niña weather phenomenon. The Met Office‘s long-range forecast says […]
Sphere Alliance Message #164 The New Earth has Arrived...
By American Kabuki, with Galactic Comms assistance by Denice. Evening of May 27, 2016 Terran: *Denice something just happened on the planet? Feeling a tremendous sense of excitement!!! Can't tell you what... as I don't know... But I can feel the emotion!!!* Denice: *Wow! I am happy you are feeling it!!!* Terran: *Bev went across the street to her best friends house. The woman said about this time last night when the storm hit she was hearing a strange humming sound. Thor or Riggolt?* Thor: *DEAR TERRAN. IN COMPLETE HUMOUR WE ARE STEALTH AND DO NOT "HUM".* *YOU WILL CERTAINLY HEA... more »
Time for Sanders, or Diane Ravitch, to Pack It In? Part 1
This post is about Diane Ravitch's recent smears against Bernie Sanders, which she posted first at her blog. I will speak specifically about her remarks in the next part of this piece, but first a few preliminaries. Many of the posts at Ravitch's blog are packaged for her by Jon Pelto, who spends a good deal of his time, it seems, scouring the blogger network of Ravitch hangers-on for any suitable Ravitch echoes that Diane can then post at her own blog. This repackaging process gives the attention seekers of Basecamp a chance to bump up the number of visits for their blogs, Faceboo... more »
De-Criminalizing Marijuana-- Long Overdue
*Lou and Lieu* The vote in the House to approve the ability of doctors in VA hospitals in states that have legalized medical marijuana-- 41 and counting-- to prescribe it to patients is a tiny baby step along the road to legalization. There have been many baby steps in recent years. But 14 congressmembers have decided to go for a giant step. I'll explain in a moment. These are the Members: *•* Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) *•* Jared Polis (D-CO) *•* Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) *•* Ted Lieu (D-CA) *•* Barbara Lee (D-CA) *•* Mark Pocan (D-WI) *•* Dina Titus (D-NV) *•* Sam Farr (D-CA) *•* John Co... more »
Priest Warns: Demon Specializes in Attacking the Family
[image: demon possession - 900] A Catholic priest and exorcist said there is a demon that specifically focuses on attacking the family. According to Catholic News Agency (CNA), Father Cesar Truqui told the Italian newspaper Tempi last year that the devil likes divorce and other matters that damage the family... more »
Russian President Putin: No Discussion On Ceding Crimea Back To Ukraine
*TASS:* *Putin says Russia will indulge in no discussion on ceding Crimea back to Ukraine* It was a historic decision of people living in Crimea," Russian President said ATHENS, May 27. /TASS/. Russia will indulge in no discussion with anyone on ceding Crimea back to Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday. "As for Crimea, we think this issue closed once and for all. It was a historic decision of people living in Crimea," he said at a news conference after his talks with the Greek leaders. "Russia will indulge in no discussions with anyone on that matter," Putin... more »
Russian President Putin: 'US Anti-Missile Defence Is A Huge Danger To Russia'
*FOX News:* *Putin warns Romania, Poland over implementing US missile shield* Romania and Poland are in the potential crosshairs of Russian rockets because they are hosting parts of the U.S. missile defense shield that Moscow considers a threat to its national security, President Vladimir Putin warned Friday. Putin warned the European nations that Moscow has repeatedly said it would have to retaliate if the missile defense shield was put into place, but U.S. allies have ignored Russia’s warnings. Earlier this month, the U.S. program was declared operational at a site in Romania,... more »
The New Venezuela: Hunger, Crime, Unemployment, Inflation, Blackouts, Corruption, Collapse In Medical And Social Services
*New York Times*: *Venezuela Drifts Into New Territory: Hunger, Blackouts and Government Shutdown* CARACAS, Venezuela — The courts? Closed most days. The bureau to start a business? Same thing. The public defender’s office? That’s been converted into a food bank for government employees. Step by step, Venezuela has been shutting down. This country has long been accustomed to painful shortages, even of basic foods. But Venezuela keeps drifting further into uncharted territory. In recent weeks, the government has taken what may be one of the most desperate measures ever by a countr... more »
Here Are Some Famous People Buried At Arlington Cemetery
Army Pfc. Jose Vazquez places an American flag in front of a gravestone at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day weekend in 2012. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Matthew Coffee/ U.S. Army) *Washington Examiner*: *21 famous people you didn't know were buried at Arlington National Cemetery* In May 1864, Arlington National Cemetery conducted its first military burials. Since then, it has become the final resting place for approximately 400,000 people who served the U.S. honorably. This Memorial Day weekend, here's a look at 21 notable people you probably didn't know are buried there. *R... more »
The Rise of Home-Made And Makeshift Weapons In War Zones
Makeshift: Free Syrian Army fighters prepare to fire an improvised rocket launcher against government troops from a position in Old Aleppo *The Economist*: *Improvised weapons: Hell’s kitchens* Makeshift weapons are becoming more dangerous with highly sophisticated, commercially available kit. THE “hell cannons” of Aleppo pack a deadly punch. Cobbled together in Syria by militant groups fighting to overthrow the autocratic regime of Bashar al-Assad, they use an explosive charge at the bottom of a pipe to hurl a propane cylinder crammed with 40kg or more of explosives and shrapnel. ... more »
A Look At America's Top 9 Defense Contractors
*Business Insider*: *The top 9 biggest defense contractors in America* As a general in World War II, President Dwight D. Eisenhower intimately knew how to lead and manage the armed forces. After years of public service, he prepared to leave his position as the Commander in Chief with a final farewell address to the nation. In this farewell address, he outlined the dangers of what he coined as the "military industrial complex." Although Eisenhower could have been unwavering in his argument, one cannot deny the amazing advancements, or the destructive power, that military R&D has c... more »
The Russian Military Wants A 'Terminator' Robot Soldier
Designed by Russia's Foundation for Advanced Studies, Ivan is currently remote controlled by an operator (from up to several miles away) wearing a special suit, which contains sensors in the neck, hands and shoulders. This enables the robot to simulate driving a car *Daily Mail*:* Rise of the Russian robo-soldier: Iron Man military hardware is one step closer to reality as Putin's scientists reveal 'Ivan the Terminator'* * Its purpose is to 'replace the person in battle or emergency areas where there is a risk of explosion, fire or high background radiation' * Robot is currently r... more »
This One Chart Has All The Combat Vehicles Of The U.S. Military
*Popular Mechanics*: *All the Combat Vehicles of the U.S. Military in One Giant Poster* From Strykers to Global Hawks, this chart has it all. Pop Chart Lab, master of the infographic poster, has a new offering showing every major combat system of the U.S. Military. The comprehensive poster shows 180 different vehicles used by the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, squeezing them all into a 24" x 36" poster. The vehicles are sorted into air, land and sea categories, and then into sub-classes such as bombers, main battle tanks, and littoral operations ships. The poster is v... more »
This Is How The U.S. Will Fight A War If Their Satellites Have Been Destroyed
Aerospace & Defence News *Kris Osborn, National Interest:* *This Is How the U.S. Army Will Fight If American Satellites are Smashed* The Army is evaluating a new vehicle-mounted radio technology that enables Strykers, tactical trucks, HMMWVs and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles to share real-time, combat-relevant information across the force. The new radios, called the Mid-tier Networking Vehicular Radio, was recently assessed in various combat scenarios to include rugged, mountainous terrain, woodland areas and dense vegetation to assess its ability to relay IP packets of... more »
Building Resistance to Pipelines
It Takes a Cabin to Stop a Pipeline from R3IMAGE on Vimeo. On April 20, 2016 Kinder Morgan announced that it would suspend the North East Direct (NED) pipeline. One month before the news was announced Will Elwell - a traditional New England timber framer - built a replica of the Henry David Thoreau cabin in the pathway of the NED pipeline in Ashfield, Massachusetts. This video captures the sentiments of Elwell the day after the pipeline was halted and explores the future purpose of the Thoreau cabin. It is also a celebration of the relief that came just as suddenly to unsuspecting... more »
Homeless File Complaint Against NYPD For Violatation Of Civil rights
The New York Police Department has once again come under fire over its treatment of the city’s homeless population. A complaint has been filed against the NYPD for forcing the homeless to ‘move along’ when they have not broken any laws. The civil rights group who filed the complaint argue that homeless people should not be discriminatorily targeted for law-enforcement, calling the procedure bias-based profiling, which is against the law RT reports: NYPD officers, seemingly at the direction of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office, began an effort last summer to target the community of peopl... more »
Glee Actor Mark Salling Charged With Child Pornography Offences
Former “Glee” star Mark Salling was indicted on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography by a federal grand jury on Friday. The Wrap reports: Salling, known for playing Noah “Puck” Puckerman on the popular Fox musical series, was arrested in December by the LAPD Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. A search warrant issued for the actor’s residence reportedly uncovered as many as 1000 images depicting minors simulating sexual acts. The photos were allegedly spread across a laptop and flash drive. “Those who download and possess child pornography create a market t...more »
Gingrich predicts Trump will transform the electoral map...
*a great way to start the Memorial Day weekend.* Newt's predicting no more red and blue, but green for Trump and orange for Hillary. "Green for the economy and orange because it seems to fit all the news stories."
Study Confirms Voice Of Freddie Mercury Was Amazing
Science recently confirmed something that Queen fans have known for years: Freddie Mercury was an amazing singer. The late singer’s inimitable voice was the subject of a study by a team of Austrian, Czech and Swedish researchers who set out to analyze Mercury’s voice from archived recordings in an attempt to find out exactly what made it so memorable. Their results were published in April in Logopedics Phoniatrics Vocology (via AlphaGalileo). Consequence of Sound reports: While they couldn’t confirm the long-held belief that Mercury’s range spanned four full octaves, they did discov... more »
Military Photo of the Day: Shaving in Okinawa
[image: Okinawa, 28 May 1945 The caption on this photograph reads "Indifferent-Completely ignoring the fact that his camp is half submerged by heavy Okinawa rains, Marine Staff Sergeant A.S. Barnacle, of Minneapolis, Minn., stands knee deep in water to shave at his "Rube Goldberg" washstand." From the Photograph Collection (COLL/3948), Marine Corps Archives & Special Collections] Okinawa, 28 May 1945 The caption on this photograph reads “Indifferent-Completely ignoring the fact that his camp is half submerged by heavy Okinawa rains, Marine Staff Sergeant A.S. Barnacle, of Minneapoli... more »
Celebrating 75 Years of Woody Guthrie’s The Columbia River Songs
[image: Woody Guthrie - 900] SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Before Macklemore or Nirvana, this land was Woody Guthrie’s land. It was 75 years ago that the celebrated folk singer traveled across Washington and Oregon, composing 26 songs that extolled the virtues of Grand Coulee Dam... more »
4 Out Of 5 ISIS Casualties In Fallujah Are Foreigners: Iraqi Media
Eighty percent of the ISIS terrorists killed in the battle of Fallujah come from foreign countries, according to the director of Iraq’s al-Nakheel News Agency, Mohammad Ali al-Hakim. He added that the terrorist group were supported by Israel and Saudi Arabia who are playing a key role in the destruction of Iraq. Fars News Agency reports: “The figures show that 80 percent of ISIL casualties in the Fallujah operations are foreigners,” Al-Hakim told FNA on Saturday. He, meantime, said that the ISIL was born and supported by Tel Aviv and Riyadh and plays a central role in Israel and Sau... more »
Economic News , Data & Views ( May 28 , 2016 ) Quick Hits For Saturday (1.Refugee Crisis Highlights For Saturday. 2. Iraq/ Syria / Libya - Items Of Interest - Understand People Flee War Zones & Instability & Unlivable Conditions - Which Is A Huge Driver In The Present Refugee / Economic Migration Crisis. 3. UK Referendum AKA Brexit - News / Views , Items To Consider . 4. Greece In Focus - Epicenter For Refugee Crisis In Europe , Facing Its Own Ongoing Financial Turmoil & Dictates From Creditors. 5. Market Moving Data & News At The Top. )
Market Moving Data & News...... Updated as information comes across twitter..... *Holger Zschaepitz* @Schuldensuehner 1h 1 hour ago #Italy’s broken banks show the dangers behind the #euro. http://www. telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/ 05/28/italys-broken-banks-show-the-dangers-behind-the-euro/ … *zerohedge* @zerohedge 2h 2 hours ago Russian Energy Minister Won’t Attend June 2 OPEC Meeting: RIA *Javier Blas* @JavierBlas2 8h 8 hours ago #OPEC PREVIEW: #SaudiArabia Oil Strategy Finally Pays Off http:// bloom.bg/25nUBHf #oil #Iran #Venezuela @business *B... more »
96-Year-Old Heimlich Uses Namesake Maneuver — for the First Time — on Choking Woman
[image: Heimlich - 900] CINCINNATI (AP) -- The 96-year-old Cincinnati surgeon credited with developing his namesake Heimlich maneuver recently used the emergency technique for the first time himself to save a woman choking on food at his senior living center. Dr. Henry Heimlich told... more »
Notorious ISIS Slave Dealer Captured Near Fallujah
An ISIS child rapist who gained notoriety for being the group’s slave negotiator in Iraq has been captured on the outskirts of Fallujah by the Iraqi security forces. The man was featured in a 2014 video from Mosul, showing him getting excited at the prospect of raping captured Yazidi women and other sex slaves. The laughing jihadi was willing to exchange his pistol for a captured Iraqi woman or girl. ISIS have enslaved and abused “hundreds, if not thousands” of Yazidi women and children, according to Amnesty International in 2014. “I buy her for a pistol, unless she has blue eyes, t... more »
US Forces Under Curfew After Rape & Murder In Okinawa
US forces stationed in Japan’s Okinawa island will be put under a month-long curfew following the rape and murder of Japanese women. The US military in Japan said they will restrict all celebrations and off-base alcohol consumption for its servicemen in Okinawa after an employee was arrested on suspicion of murdering a woman and a former US marine pleaded guilty to raping a Japanese tourist. Press TV reports: Lawrence Nicholson, the head of US forces in Okinawa, said on Monday that a night-time curfew and some other liberty regulations will come into effect for a month. “This period... more »
Putin Blasts West on First Trip to EU Country This Year
[image: MOSCOW, RUSSIA - MARCH,15: (RUSSIA OUT) Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the meeting with Morocco's King Mohammed VI (not pictured) in the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Russia, March,15,2016. Morocco's King is having a state visit to Russia. (Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)] ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- On his first trip to a European Union country this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday sharply criticized western policy toward Moscow, describing a newly expanded U.S. missile defense system as a threat to his... more »
Hillary Isn’t Just Dishonest. She Lives in a Different Moral Universe.
[image: Clinton and Trump - 900] As someone who believes that excessive partisanship and Balkanization is poisoning our politics, I have tried to view Hillary Clinton as something other than the ghoul she is portrayed as in conservative circles. No accusation against her is considered too... more »
Untitled
*From* *Jenna Orkin* 'THE END OF THE ROAD FOR ANTIBIOTICS' A note to our readers about a reporter who breached our trust Why cancer is more deadly if you're black The law firm behind the Panama Papers is closing its Jersey, Isle of Mann, and Gibraltar offices First "Shocking" Deposition In Clinton Email Case Reveals She Did Not Use A Password Clinton Foundation Snafu: Video Footage Catches FBI Probe Suspects Arriving At Hillary's House Trump Outlines ‘America First’ Energy Plan: Coal, Oil, Gas Magic 8-Ball Future Crime Predictor Influencing Decisions About Prison Sentences ...more »
Benjamin Nuvamsa: Grassroots Hopi and Tewa Senom Defense of Water Rights
"The Hopi Tribal Council is not informing the Hopi and Tewa Senom of what it is doing ... Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey and others are determined to take our water rights away. Former Sen. Jon Kyl tried hard before he retired." -- Former Hopi Chairman Benjamin Nuvamsa By Benjamin Nuvamsa Censored News To the editor, June 15, 2012 was a historic day
Weekend reads: Improper influence by NFL; dissertations for sale; how common is failure to reproduce?
The week at Retraction Watch featured controversy over an economics paper, and a report of a researcher who faked more than 70 experiments. Here’s what was happening elsewhere: The NFL “improperly attempted to influence” where funding for concussion research went, Ike Swetlitz reports at STAT based on a Congressional finding. Here’s more from Roger Pielke, […] The post Weekend reads: Improper influence by NFL; dissertations for sale; how common is failure to reproduce? appeared first on Retraction Watch.
Will The Conservatives Move Left?
Not very likely, says David Orchard, who was betrayed by Peter Mackay, when Orchard threw his support behind Mackay's bid for the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party. Mackay threw in his lot with Stephen Harper. And Progressive Conservatism went out the window: The party's leadership will likely continue to hew hard right, says a prominent member of the former Progressive Conservatives, David Orchard. Orchard was famously misled by Peter MacKay in 2003 when the Canadian Alliance merged with the Progressive Conservatives to created the modern Conservative Party. Orch... more »
Untitled
*"Sex is one of the nine reasons for reincarnation... * *the other eight are unimportant." - *Henry Miller
Paedophile Prompted Evacuation After Attempting Suicide With Oven Bomb
A paedophile prompted a large-scale evacuation in Essex when he attempted to kill himself by ‘cooking’ a bomb in his oven to avoid prison. More than 300 residents were forced to flee their homes for eight hours after Ian Shingler called police to say he had explosives and was going to commit suicide. Around 100 Met Police officers rushed to the paedophile’s top-floor flat in Rainham, Essex, to lock it down, after Shingler said he was planning to blow himself up because he was terrified of going to prison. RT reports: The 41-year-old aimed to blow himself up because he was terrified ... more »
Ted Cruz to Face Down Trump Over Pro-Life Platform
[image: Trump and Cruz - 900] Ted Cruz intends to use the brave haul of delegates whom he collected as the number two contender in this year's primary contest to fight over the GOP platform. During a radio interview this week, as Politico reported, the host... more »
Louisiana Enacts Law Making It a Hate Crime to Target Police Officers
[image: Police badge - 900] Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards signed the "Blue Lives Matter" bill Thursday afternoon, adding police to the list of protected categories under hate crime law such as race and religion. Louisiana law adds an additional five years in prison and $5,000... more »
Federal Cell Phone Radiation Study Gets Mixed Results, Reactions
[image: teenagers cellphone] ASHINGTON (AP) -- A new federal study of the potential dangers of cellphone radiation, conducted in rats, found a slight increase in brain tumors in males and raised long-dormant concerns about the safety of spending so much time with cellphones... more »
Text: President Obama’s Speech at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park
[image: Japan Obama Hiroshima] Text of President Barack Obama’s remarks Friday at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park about the U.S. atomic bombing, the legacy of World War II and nuclear weapons, as delivered: ___ Seventy one years ago, on a bright, cloudless morning, death fell... more »
Putting #DebtTrapDebbie Wasserman Schultz Out To Pasture-- A Decade Late
*These 2 self-serving careerists have wrecked the Democratic Party* #DebtATrapDebbie Wasserman Schultz has been squawking like a stuck pig in her e-mails about the rivers of small contributions flowing into Tim Canova's campaign to defeat her in South Florida. She has to work hard for the money she gets from special interests for Big Sugar, pay day lenders, Wall Street banksters, the private prison industry, the alcohol lobbyists. All the special favors she's done for them have made her name poison to a growing cadre of good government types. In another one of her misleading and hys... more »
Netherlands Gives Green Light For Scientists To Grow Human Embryos
The Dutch government has announced it will allow researchers to grow human embryos “under strict and limited conditions” for scientific research. The Netherlands will change its laws on embryonic research, which had until now only allowed tests to be conducted on leftover embryos procured from in vitro fertilisation processes. Edith Schippers the Dutch health minister said she “wants to allow the creation of embryos for scientific research – and under very strict conditions to give people the possibility of (healthy) children”. RT reports: “The ban on the cultivation of embryos [has... more »
Los Angeles Schools Have Spent Over $300 Million on Sex Abuse Settlements in Just Four Years
[image: Attorney Luis A. Carrillo holds a copy of the lawsuits filed on behalf of the 14 parents of Miramonte Elementary School students who suffered sexual abuse by former teacher Mark Berndt July 10, 2012. Carrillo held a press conference in his South Pasadena law office to announce the filing of the lawsuits against the Los Angeles Unified School District claiming that the district was negligent and did not protect their children from the abuses by Berndt (Photo by Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)] Los Angeles' public schools have spent a staggering $300 million in ... more »
#NeverHillary Beats #NeverTrump for GOP
[image: Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump’s best ally in winning over skeptical Republicans is turning out to be Hillary Clinton. Having overcome a multimillion-dollar “Never Trump” campaign aimed at blocking him from the Republican nomination, he’s now benefiting from a wave... more »
DOD Uses Undisclosed Files to Defend Sex Assault Testimony
[image: FILE - In this April 15, 2016 file photo, Retired Air Force Col. Don Christensen is seen in his office at Protect Our Defenders (POD), a national organization solely dedicated to addressing the epidemic of rape and sexual assault in the military, in Washington. The Pentagon is relying on information it won't make public to dispute an Associated Press investigation that found the military misled Congress about sexual assault cases to blunt support for Senate legislation. AP's investigation centered on internal military records obtained last year through the Freedom of Informa... more »
Untitled
*After flood officials ransomed their data, colleagues say protection is in place ~Bob Marshall, The Lens* *Second line Sunday: Bayou Steppers Parade for Peace ~Big Red Cotton, Gambit *
German bishops, ministers want mandatory Islam at schools
The Czech public is absolutely stunned by a development in Germany – which some global media already described yesterday. Top center-right server iDNES.cz just told us that Germany's highest evangelical bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, a Lutheran, and the minister of interior, Thomas de Maizière, support a new plan to make the classes of Islam mandatory at all schools in all German lands. (The lands of East Germany don't even teach Christianity at state schools right now.) Islamic organizations would be directly responsible for the education. Wow. I happen to agree with all the mos...more »
5 Misconceptions About the Bible
[image: Vintage tone of man reading the Holy Bible.] The Bible is the most influential book of all time. Given its impact over literature, history, governments, philosophy and more, it should come as no surprise that there are many misconceptions about its nature. Christians need to avoid these misconceptions... more »
What Happens When You Treat People With the Respect of Being Created In God’s Image
[image: Praying around Bible - 900] Think all is lost? Feel like you don't know how to make a difference in our crazy world? Here’s a personal story that just might change your mind. In 9th grade, I was a knucklehead. Even worse, I was a... more »
Guardian Jump On The Extreme Weather Bandwagon Again
By Paul Homewood http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2016/may/27/meteorologists-are-seeing-global-warmings-effect-on-the-weather The Guardian have dredged up a US meteorologist, Paul Douglas, to come up with a list of “extreme” weather events, which he then uses to claim that climate change is making worse. Whatever happened to normal weather? Earth has always experienced epic storms, debilitating drought, and biblical floods. […]
Labour Reinstate Race Row Corbynista per Guido Fawkes
'Jackie Walker is the senior Momentum organiser who was suspended from the Labour Party for writing that "Jews" were the "chief financiers of the sugar and slave trade" and asking "what debt do we owe the Jews?". She's just been let back in – a Labour spokesman says:"Following the outcome of an investigation, Jacqueline Walker is no longer suspended and remains a member of the party."' You can read more at Guido Fawkes here http://order-order.com/2016/05/28/labour-reinstate-race-row-corbynista/ The Labour Party has become even more vile today.
May 27: Get mad. Please.
Today's irving headline is not only the cheapest of sensationalism passing as news, it shows a stunning ignorance of recent history, and an insensitivity to Irish Catholics in general . "Kevin Vickers tackles Dublin protester". Some genius decided it would be a great idea to honour British soldiers who invaded a rebellious Dublin in 1916 to put down an uprising against British rule. And the British soldiers lost 100 dead - while killing 385 Dubliners. Eventually , this led to the end of British rule which had been murderous and arrogant and abusive for many lifetimes. There ar... more »
Learning of information, not an interaction, induces the collapse
The dishonest Bohmist crackpot filth continued to be everywhere – on the Physics Stack Exchange, the Quanta Magazine, and elsewhere – so it was pleasant to see a new, one-week-old YouTube video by Inspiring Philosophy about quantum mechanics, a video I may fully endorse. Last time, in a discussion with him on this blog, I was annoyed by his view that philosophers such as Kant or Hegel or their ideas should "stand above" the physics research which I consider totally ludicrous because physics must use its own philosophy and persistently upgrade it as the evidence arrives and is eval...more »
DARPA Shows-Off Two Hybrid Motorcycles For The U.S. Special Forces
The SilentHawk prototypes shown at the National Defense Industrial Association's Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa. *AutoBlog*: *DARPA shows off two hybrid motorcycles for special forces* The bikes can run on gas, propane, jet fuel, or "theoretically" olive oil. In 2014, the US government's shadowy DARPA research division launched a competition to design a special forces-spec motorcycle. Now, the two finalists from the competition are on display at the National Defense Industrial Association's Special Operations Forces Industry Conference in Tampa, FL. Both bik... more »
This Is How Russia Is Preparing For World War III
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu provided details of Russia's latest snap exercise at the National Defence Control Centre in Moscow on 16 March Source: Russian MoD *Russia Insider*: *How Russia Is Preparing for WWIII* I have recently posted a piece in which I tried to debunk a few popular myths about modern warfare. Judging by many comments which I received in response to this post, I have to say that the myths in question are still alive and well and that I clearly failed to convince many readers. What I propose to do today, is to look at what Russia is really doing in resp... more »
Tweet For Today
On #MemorialDay, the U.S. honors those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in service to the nation. #HonorThem https://t.co/ZMiy0lDY5S — U.S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) May 28, 2016
This Is How The U.S. Would Destroy North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program
An airman inspects a JDAM being loaded onto an F-22 Raptor. *Market Watch/Stratfor*: *How the U.S. would destroy North Korea’s nuclear weapons* *America has the firepower, but there are complications that could prevent a successful mission* No other country can match the United States when it comes to projection of power. Should Washington decide to carry out a military strike against North Korea, even a limited one, the immediate impact would be devastating for Pyongyang. When considering military action, however, it is important to acknowledge the variables and intelligence gap... more »
Picture Of The Day
*(Click on Image to Enlarge)* From left: Eikei Suzuki, Governor of the Mie Prefecture, European Council President Donald Tusk, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, US President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, French President Francois Hollande, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, participate in a tree planting ceremony during a visit the Ise Jingu shrine in Ise, Mie Prefecture, Japan. May 26. © REUTERS/ CAROLYN KASTER
North Korean Leader Kim Jong-Un's Aunt And Her Family Are Living In New York City
(Click on Image to Enlarge) *Washington Post:* *The secret life of Kim Jong Un’s aunt, who has lived in the U.S. since 1998* NEW YORK — Wandering through Times Square, past the Naked Cowboy and the Elmos and the ticket touts, she could be any immigrant trying to live the American Dream. A 60-year-old Korean woman with a soft perm and conservative clothes, she’s taking a weekend off from pressing shirts and hemming pants at the dry-cleaning business she runs with her husband. But she’s not just any immigrant. She’s an aunt to Kim Jong Un, the young North Korean leader who has thre... more »
Energy 67, Helios solar power in Cadiz City, Negros Occ.
I am from Cadiz City, Negros Occidental. Our house is not at the city proper but in a barrio along the national road, same barangay, about 3 kms. from the famous, biggest solar power plant in the Philippines and SE Asia. Am here to visit my sick father in the hospital. The other day, I went around and visited the facility, just outside. The National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (NGCP) put up a sub-station there, so that power generated from the plant is directly fed into the grid. Solar, wind, biomass, run of river hydro are priority dispatch in the grid, based on the RE law of 2... more »
Silencing America as it Prepares for War
By John Pilger Returning to the United States in an election year, I am struck by the silence. I have covered four presidential campaigns, starting with 1968; I was with Robert Kennedy when he was shot and I saw his assassin, preparing to kill him. It was a baptism in the American way, along with the salivating violence of the Chicago police at the Democratic Party’s rigged convention. The great counter revolution had begun. The first to be assassinated that year, Martin Luther King, had dared link the suffering of African-Americans and the people of Vietnam. When Janis Joplin ... more »
What is Sovereignty?
*Zen Gardner* - Conscious awareness may appear to be something vague and illusive but it’s not.
The Men Who Live As Dogs
*-by Noah* I’ve heard of women who think all men are dogs. Even Hillary Clinton famously once said that her husband was a “hard dog to keep on the porch.” So, when my wife sent me this article from England’s *Guardian* newspaper today about men dressing up as dogs and going about their day, naturally, my ears perked up. It seems that in England, there are more than a few men who like to take being a good little doggie to bold new dimensions; literally donning rubber doggie suits and plastic dog face masks to dress up as dogs-- big, life size human dogs or “Human Pups,” to use th... more »
How Is The Air War Against The Islamic State Going?
While airstrikes in Iraq have increased substantially in the past year, they have slightly decreased in Syria. CENTCOM *Cameron Glenn, Newsweek: **How Is the Air War Against ISIS Going?* The difference in the two fronts is reflected in strikes on the two ISIS strongholds. The coalition hit Raqqa—a backwater city that is the nominal capital of its pseudo-caliphate in Syria—less than 60 times this year, or only 8 percent of the total airstrikes in Syria. The coalition hit areas in and around Mosul—a commercial center in Iraq at least 10 times larger than Raqqa—almost 500 times, or a ... more »
Bombshell Government Study Confirms Cellphone-Cancer Link
One of the biggest ever studies on cellphone radiation has conclusively found that mobile phones do cause cancer, ending the long-running debate on the dangers of cellphones. The peer-reviewed study, by the National Toxicology Program, found that rats who were exposed to cellphone frequencies got two types of brain tumors as a result. Partial findings from the study, released on Thursday, warned that the results will likely have a huge effect on public health. “Given the widespread global usage of mobile communications among users of all ages, even a very small increase in the inci... more »
Battle For The Iraqi City Of Fallujah -- News Updates May 27, 2016
*ABC News Online*: *Fallujah: US strikes kill Islamic State commander as hundreds of residents flee embattled city* US-led coalition air and artillery strikes have killed 70 Islamic State fighters in Fallujah, including the jihadists' leader in the Iraqi city, a military spokesman says. Baghdad-based Colonel Steve Warren said that over the last four days, 20 strikes in the besieged city had destroyed IS fighting positions and gun emplacements. "We've killed more than 70 enemy fighters, including Maher Al-Bilawi, who is the commander of ISIL forces in Fallujah," Colonel Warren sai... more »
Donald Trump Accuses Clintons Of ‘Suiciding’ Vince Foster
Donald Trump has sent the mainstream media into a frenzy after publicly declaring that former top aide to the Clintons, Vince Foster, was probably “suicided” by the elite. His comments have re-ignited the story in the mainstream media, upsetting Hillary who has relied on it being buried on obscure conspiracy websites. Alternative news blogger and activist Shepard Ambellas remarked in a recent podcast that Trump’s repeated references to various conspiracies are rocking the mainstream establishment to their very core. Donald isn’t just blowing hot air. His claim that Vince Foster wa... more »
Brief Return On harper's Departure
So, stephen harper is retiring and plans to open a consulting group that dispenses foreign policy "expertise" (which is really just a polite fiction whereupon his corporate masters reward him for his services to keep him quiet until such a time, if ever, when they can kill him and whatever secrets he has on them go with him to his grave).* *[Unlike most other things, it's impossible to go wrong on foreign policy. The only people who suffer will be the poor people from mainly non-white countries who will die. They absolutely don't count in the eyes of the Masters of the Universe. ... more »
NASA Say Our Sun Looks Like It’s Swallowing Itself
NASA have revealed that a huge hole has appeared on the Sun, which covers a staggering ten percent of its entire surface. Footage captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory between May 17 and 19 shows a huge black hole on the Sun’s upper half, known as a coronal hole. Express.co.uk reports: A NASA spokesman said: “Coronal holes are low-density regions of the sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. “Because they contain little solar material, they have lower temperatures and thus appear much darker than their surroundings. “Coronal holes are visible in certain types of extreme ultrav... more »
FDA Approve ‘Kiddie Cocaine’ ADHD Candy
The FDA have approved an ‘ADHD candy’ for kids that comes in the form of sweet, chewy amphetamine-based ‘treats’. The drug has been dubbed ‘kiddie cocaine’ due to its addictive and overly appealing design. Adzenys will replace traditional Ritalin and Adderrall, and have been deliberately designed to appeal to children suffering from Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) by making them chewable and fruit-flavoured. Thefix.com reports: Adzenys is an extended-release dissolvable amphetamine, the active ingredient in drugs like Adderall. It comes in six dose strengths, rangin... more »
Mark Zuckerberg Builds Doomsday Bunker In His Backyard
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is planning on building a doomsday bunker next to his home in Palo Alto, California as part of a series of ‘security upgrades’. Zuckerberg purchased land and surrounding houses next to his $7 million fortress and has started the process of tearing them down in order to make way for the security upgrades. A recently submitted plan to the Palo Alto planning department reveals Zuckerberg’s desire to build what he has called a ‘panic bunker‘ in his extended backyard. Breitbart.com reports: According to the plans, Zuckerberg’s panic bunker is described as ha... more »
Japanese Leader Warns Huge Financial Crisis About To Hit World
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has warned world leaders at this years G7 summit that the world is on the brink of a huge global financial crisis, the likes of which we have never seen before. Abe warned that the coming crisis could rival the 2008 crash, and presented data that proved that commodities prices had fallen by over 55 percent since 2014 – the same amount they fell during the 2008 crash. The other G7 leaders appeared to ignore his warning, as a communique issued at the end of their summit downplayed any hint that a global economic crisis was about to occur. Goldcore.c... more »
Pirate Bay Founder Calls Facebook CEO World’s Biggest Dictator
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg has been accused of being an unwitting “dictator” of “the biggest nation in the world,” by Peter Sunde, co-founder of The Pirate Bay. Peter Sunde made the remarks during an interview at The Next Web conference in Amsterdam, warning that centralization of power on the internet is a very dangerous thing. “People in the tech industry have a lot of responsibilities but they never really discuss these things … Facebook is the biggest nation in the world and we have a dictator, if you look at it from a democracy standpoint, Mark Zuckerberg is a dictator. I d... more »
Delta Scraps TSA Checkpoints
Delta Airlines have scrapped TSA checkpoints in favour of a new system of “innovation lanes,” which they say will speed up the cumbersome security process millions of passengers are forced to go through every year. Delta have installed the first of their new lanes at its hometown airport in Atlanta. The lanes are designed to halve the time it takes for a passenger to be security screened at the airport. The lanes replace the old hand-pushed cart system TSA agents use to bring empty trays to passengers, with a new automated conveyor belt system. Theverge.com reports: And instead of ... more »
US Media and Indian Country Media: Billionaires and Fraud at Core of News
Billionaires take control of mainstream news, while big money, fraud and plagiarism infect Indian country news By Brenda Norrell Censored News The New York Times reveals how billionaires have taken control of much of the US media -- billionaires tied to politicians, casinos, the Mormon Church, sports teams, and more. The New York Times article does not cover how the national Indian country
Pentagon Orders U.S. Special Operations Forces in Syria To Remove Their Kurdish Patches
American soldiers were seen at an outpost in Fatisah alongside Kurdish soldiers, with some even seen wearing the badges (right shoulder of left soldier) of the Kurdish People's Protection Unit. ABC News: *US Special Operations Forces Seen in Syria Photos Ordered to Remove Kurdish Patches* American special operations forces photographed in Syria sporting patches of a Kurdish rebel group have been ordered to remove the patches because their use was "unauthorized" and "inappropriate," U.S. military officials said today. Photos of the service members made public Thursday had outraged ... more »
Nanette Barragán-- Standing Up Against Corruption And Against Trumpism
It's relatively rare-- though it shouldn't be-- that a Democratic primary so clearly highlights the differences between the two wings of the party. But the race for the seat Janice Hahn is giving up in Los Angeles is just that kind of race. CA-44 starts down in San Pedro and heads north through Wilmington, Keystone, Carson, Rancho Dominguez, North Long Beach, Compton, Willowbrook and Lynwood to end up in Watts and South Gate. Demographically, the district was once an African-American bastion but has changed drastically and is now over 70% Latino and just 14% African-American. The ... more »
Hey NASA, Do Gas-Fueled Rockets Really Work in Space?
*Buck Rogers* - Do you believe NASA when describing the possibility of space travel?
Tonight's Movie Is 'Truman'
From *Wikipedia**:* Truman is a multi-award winning 1995 HBO movie based on David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Truman.[1] Starring Gary Sinise as Harry S. Truman, the film centers on Truman's rise to the presidency from humble beginnings, World War II, and his decision to use the first atomic bomb. The film's tagline is "It took a farmer's hand to shape a nation." *WNU Editor:* In view of President Obama's remarks on Hiroshima today .... it is fitting that I post this movie tonight on the U.S. President who ordered the bombing.
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- May 27, 2016
*Krishnadev Calamur, The Atlantic*: *Obama’s Historic Hiroshima Visit* The president is the first sitting American leader to make a trip to the city that was bombed by the U.S. with a nuclear device. President Obama became the first sitting American leader to make a trip to Hiroshima, the Japanese city bombed by the U.S. with an atomic device in 1945, and called for a “moral revolution” to accompany technology such as nuclear weapons. “Technological progress without an equivalent progress in human institutions can doom us,” Obama said in a speech after a ceremony at the Hiroshima... more »
Natural Rights to be Suspended by National "States of Emergency" in Japan and Elsewhere
The Mainichi today has an article on an LDP draft of Constitutional changes that proposes a distinction between the protection of "big" and "small" human rights in the wake of crises situations, referred to as "states of emergency." According to Shojiro Sakaguchi, a professor at Hitotsubashi University and an expert on constitutional law, the LDP's revision essentially deconstructs the idea of "natural rights" and elevates the authority and power of the state (as embodied in the Constitution) over the supposed natural rights of individuals: LDP draft Constitution differentiates be... more »
Gates: Let's keep doing it wrong but do it harder
A few years ago, I made a prediction: "When the new standards and technology fail to produce dramatic results, 'experts' will blame teachers and call for tougher standards, and even more testing, requiring newer (and even more expensive) technology. And the profits for the .01% will be even greater." From: Krashen, S. 2014. The Common Core: A Disaster for Libraries, A Disaster for Language Arts, a Disaster for American Education. Knowledge Quest (Journal of the American Association of School Librarians) 2(3): 37-45. Posted at: http://tinyurl.com/lxnuf7c A note from the Gates Foun... more »
A Fresh New Face in South Florida Politics... Alina Valdes, MD
Largely at the urging of Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the DCCC has studiously ignored FL-25 as a pick-up target. There's been a very hands-off policy in a congressional district that stretches from west and northwest Miami-- Fountainebleau, Doral and Sweetwater-- Hialeah and Miami Lakes, west through Collier County and the Naples suburbs and up into Hendry County. 71% of the residents are Hispanic-- just under 40% of whom are Cuban-Americans; there is also a huge Venezuelan population centered on Doral. The district has leaned Republican but Romney only beat Obama 51-49% and the dem... more »
Black Man Turns Yellow After Wash With Chinese Detergent
A racist laundry detergent ad from China shows a dirty black man getting stuffed into a washing machine and emerging as a clean yellow Chinese man after a main wash The commercial for ‘Qiaobi’ is awash with racism. A Daily Caller report: I Watched This Chinese Laundry Detergent Ad, And An Hour Later I Was Racist Again Did you know there are black people in China? It never occurred to me that there would be, but apparently there are. China doesn’t seem like a super-awesome place for a black person to hang out. I mean, those dudes are racist against the Japanese. So this ad for a brand... more »
Killer Confesses To Murder After Seeing The Devil At Tarot Reading
A man visiting a Tarot card reader in Brighton broke down and confessed to murder after getting dealt his first three Tarot cards, one of which contained the devil. Last week Star Randel-Hanson was convicted of murdering his flatmate Derick Marney after a two-week trial at Croydon Crown Court in England. Psychic Jayne Braiden The Independent reports: Jayne Braiden, who owns JJ Tarot on the Brighton Seafront, told Randel-Hanson to pick 10 cards when he came for a reading at her shop. But the first three he drew – the blasted tower, the emperor and the devil card – caused him to brea... more »
World News Briefs -- May 27, 2016 (Evening Edition)
*BBC*: *Move Olympics over Zika, scientists say* More than 100 leading scientists say the Rio Olympics should be moved or postponed over the Zika outbreak. The group says new findings about the virus make it "unethical" for the games to go ahead in an open letter to the World Health Organization. They call on the WHO to revisit its guidance on Zika, which is linked to serious birth defects. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said in May it sees no reason to delay or move the games due to Zika. *Read more* .... *MIDDLE EAST* Islamic State: Killings of civilians *rises in ... more »
Trump Decides Against Debating Sanders
[image: Donald Trump3 - 900] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump says he will wait to debate the official Democratic nominee, and not debate Bernie Sanders, calling the Democratic nominating process “totally rigged.” Trump said in a statement Friday that “it seems inappropriate that I would... more »
Pancakes
And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, *This is my body which is given for you: * *this do in remembrance of me.* *"Where is pancakes house?"*
Acoma Pueblo Gov. to France: Return Sacred Items to Homeland
Pueblo of Acoma Gov. Kurt Riley, center, accompanied by Pueblo of Acoma Traditional Leader Conroy Chino, contests sale of sacred items. (Andrew Harnik / Associated Press)
The Great Pyramid in Giza - Metric dimensions show - it was built YESTERDAY
*of course it's carved in (free-ma-sonic) stone* the METRE is a description of the radius, circumference and speed of rotation of this planet, Earth. The central or Great Pyramid i.e. pyramid number two in the set of three at the Giza Plateau, is a picture of our own planet in stone and it's (trying to) teach us a very clever lesson involving maths and science and geography and astronomical cataclysm (and it has nothing to do with Carbon Taxation, people). Must watch this AMAZING FRENCH DOCUMENTARY. The obvious answer, and this is not mentioned in the above video nor in any '... more »
BBC wants Olympics moved....uses Zika hoax as excuse
*Rio De Janeiro Carnival* *Will Brazil's Olympics be stolen?* The BBC (Britain's Best Calumny) is up to its usual tricks....engineering a media onslaught on behalf of the globalist, ziofascist bankster cabal. This time it's trying to spearhead a panic attack to move the 2016 Summer Olympics out of Brazil. More than 100 leading scientists say the Rio Olympics should be moved or postponed over the Zika outbreak. The group says new findings about the virus make it "unethical" for the games to go ahead in an open letter to the World Health Organization. They call on the WHO to revisi... more »
New Europe Survey Finds 44% of Muslims Believe in Islamic Fundamentalism
[image: Iranian hardliner - 900] A new survey conducted by the think tank European Values found 44 percent of Muslims in Europe have beliefs that correspond to radical Islamic fundamentalism, further shedding doubt on the prospect of migrant integration. Researchers from European Values, based in... more »
U.S. Navy Sailor Pleads Guilty For Mishandling Classified Information That Will Put Him In Jail. Comparisons To Hillary Clinton Are Being Made
Two tugboats push the Los Angeles-class submarine USS Alexandria (SSN 757) into port at Naval Submarine Base New London. Alexandria is returning from a scheduled six-month deployment. | U.S. Navy *Politico*: *Sub sailor's photo case draws comparisons to Clinton emails* A Navy sailor entered a guilty plea Friday in a classified information mishandling case that critics charge illustrates a double standard between the treatment of low-ranking government employees and top officials like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and ex-CIA Director David Petraeus. Prosecutors allege t... more »
Christians Fighting Christians in Syria: Their Political Civil War
[image: Syrian refugees at Budapest Keleti railway station, 4 September 2015] In Syria, Christians are fighting Christians. It isn't simply about the pro-Assad regime versus anti-Assad forces. It isn't just about fighting ISIS, although the Islamic State is a formidable foe. But the story we aren't told is that believers are... more »
Don’t Let the 43 Republicans Who Voted for Obama’s Transgender Agenda Spin Their Vote
[image: Obama2 - 900 - 900] On Wednesday, 43 Republican members of Congress joined the Democrats to vote for President Barack Obama's transgender agenda. Now they're trying to spin their vote. These 43 Republicans voted for the Maloney amendment, which ratified Obama's 2014 executive order barring... more »
Children Scale 800m Cliff On Way To School In China
Children from an isolated “cliff village” on a mountain top in southwest China have to climb down a 800-meter ladder to get to school. The Atule’er village is home to 72 families whose only route to the outside world are 17 vine ladders attached to the side of a 2,625-foot sheer cliff face. China Daily reports: Fifteen children regularly use a rattan ladder to scale an 800-meter cliff on their way to and from boarding school every two weeks in Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture in Sichuan province. The children, aged 6 to 15, belong to 72 families in Atuler village in Zhaojue county... more »
Business 360-35, Economic expansion in South Asia
* This is my article for this monthly magazine in Kathmandu, April 2016 issue. *Economic expansion in South Asia* South Asian economies are a picture of high diversity in human and natural resources. While India has 1.3 billion population, Maldives and Bhutan have a combined population of only 1.2 million people. And while Nepal and Bhutan are high up in the sky, Maldives and many Sri Lanka cities are just a few meters above sea level. It is this diversity that provide South Asian economies good opportunity for growth and modernization. There is only one Himalayan mountain range... more »
Public school watch: How do children learn to read?
*FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016Nicholas Kristof schools Rich:* How do children learn to read? More broadly, how do kids become literate? In yesterday morning's New York Times, Nicholas Kristof gave a good answer. Along the way, he explained a point we discussed not long ago. He explained how a child's "socioeconomic status" is about more than mere economics. In a lovely and instructive column, Kristof described his relationship with his 18-year-old daughter. They do a lot of backpacking together. Literacy can start like this: KRISTOF (5/26/16): My parents took me backpacking beginning when ... more »
World Human Rights Group Publishes Policy to Legalize Prostitution Everywhere
[image: prostitution - 900] Amnesty International (AI) released its long-awaited policy on prostitution Friday urging governments around the world to decriminalize the sex trade and protect the human rights of prostitutes. AI calls on world leaders to decriminalize consensual prostitution, "including those laws that... more »
Economic News , Data & Views ( May 27, 2016 ) Overview For Friday ( 1. Markets & Market Moving News - Yellen Remarks Lead Traders To Believe Rate Hike Coming In June / July Timeframe , Crude Oil Items Of Note - Opec Meeting Next Week / Supply Data / Nigeria and More , G-& Related News. , Central Banker Item , Turkey Lira Weakens Along With Turkish Tourist Industry 2. Libya Items De jour. 3. Iraq-Syria Regional War - ISIS In Focus. )
Markets & Market Moving News.... *Bloomberg* @business 29m 29 minutes ago What a difference a month makes - gold has fallen 6% in May http:// bloom.bg/25oWtzk *zerohedge* @zerohedge 14m 14 minutes ago Goldman: Yellen Remarks Consistent with High Probability of June/July Hike *Javier Blas* @JavierBlas2 56m 56 minutes agoRichmond, London US #oil drillers cut more rigs (weekly: -2 to 316) despite price recovery to $50 a barrel -- @BHInc data #shale *zerohedge* @zerohedge 1h 1 hour ago "Fed forecasting": here is the Fed's dot plot less than 6 mon... more »
Plans To Create EU Army Kept Secret From Voters Until After Referendum
It has emerged that detailed plans to move towards the creation of a European army are being kept secret from British voters until after the EU referendum on June 23rd. The plans reportedly involve establishing a new European military and operational structures which includes a headquarters. RT reports: The first step towards such a plan is said to be supported by Germany and other EU member states. The document, drawn up by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, will be discussed by European leaders at a summit on June 28. In an effort to avoid derailing the ‘Remain’ ca... more »
Online Dance Craze Sweeps Police Departments Across U.S.
[image: In this undated frame from video provided by the Miami Police Department, officers, including a member of the Bomb Squad in protective gear, and staff dance at Miami police headquarters. In a now-viral sensation, police officers across the U.S. are dancing an updated version of the running man to a catchy 1990s hip hop song, "My Boo" by Ghost Town DJ's, in videos that have included professional sports mascots, cheerleading squads and at least one explosion. The videos started with the New York Police Department and are getting more elaborate and popular, with even some polic... more »
Hillary Clinton Responds To The State Department Inspector General's Report On Her Use Of A 'Secret Server'
*Daily Mail:* *Clinton's extraordinary defense for not speaking to Inspector General about her secret server: They could look on her website if they wanted - and she spoke to the Benghazi committee for 11 hours * * After refusing to answer reporters' questions for a day, Clinton broke her silence about a State Department Inspector General's report * Report was critical of her use of a private server and email system; inspectors were also irritated she refused to meet with them * Clinton contended today that 'nothing has changed' and that she thought she was allowed to use personal ... more »
Nurses, Physicians and Parents React to the Documentary VAXXED
*Alex Pietrowski* - What do doctors, nurses and parents have to say about this controversial documentary?
Brother Bernie Sanders Stands Up For Palestinian Rights
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is willing to be neutral when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict and not allow injustice, suffering and cruelty suffered by either side to go unnoticed. The Vermont Senator has given the momentum needed for the Palestinian suffering that has been ignored for 70 years to be noticed, acknowledged and finally dealt with. The long-term result of which will be justice and peace for all concerned and an end to war profiteering and religious extremism that has plagued the conflict from the outset. Hillary Clinton represents the o... more »
Spanish Bishop Tells His Staff To Get ‘Anti-Paedo Certificate’
A Spanish bishop in Catalonia has told all his staff, including priests and monks, to get a special “anti-paedophile certificate” in order to work in his flock. Bishop Juan Piris Frígola said staff working within the parish of Lleida must present the certificate, officially called the “Certificate of Sexual Offences” to prove that they are not paedophiles. The Local reports: Anyone in Spain can apply for the certificate – officially called the Certificate of Sexual Offences – a document which proves the holder has never committed a sexual crime. The certificate can be obtained via a... more »
Email watch: The New York Times does it again!
*FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2016Takes sad song, makes it worse:* The email matter has done massive harm to Candidate Clinton. Presumably, it will continue to do so. Adding to the candidate's problem is the work of the New York Times. In yesterday morning's front-page report, Myers and Lichtblau offered this, right in their third paragraph: MYERS AND LICHTBLAU (5/26/16): The inspector general found that Mrs. Clinton ''had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business'' with department officials but that, *contrary to her claims that the department ''... more »
Local Council By-Elections May 2016
Party Number of Candidates Total Vote % +/- April Average/ contest +/- April +/- Seats Conservative 77 58,936 29.7% -9.3% 765 +93 -7 Labour 73 74,407 37.5% +22.5% 1,019 +747 +4 LibDem 51 18,944 9.5% -5.7% 371 +39 +1 UKIP 48 19,399 9.8% +3.1% 404 +251 0 Green 34 11,609 5.9% +4.0% 341 +274 0 SNP* 1 3,467 1.7% -10.4% 3,467 +2,140 +1 PC** 1 340 0.2% -1.0% 340 +206 0 TUSC 7 709 0.4% +0.4% 101 +101 0 Ind*** 26 9,353 4.7% ... more »
Sphere Alliance Message #163Short message from Dr Fu.
On May 27, 2016, at 12:38 PM, Denice wrote: Was taking a short nap and got a message from Dr. Fu. Saw his shoes and pants . . . both white. He is working with Heather. Dr Fu: *The unveiling begins now.*
Pawrwe Pafgodp tm so mspome gkikengf dop g rest rest rest not implied in occet
Hey what doi I know cause t
not a descret Identtyh
I love you lile a p peopd tart noooo not \ no way s just gooy]\ out of the oven
The solutin we all live for
If I was worth at billion dollars could I ever have a drink dusk to dawan or do anyting without guards making cheap privacy a moot point The richest the most brilliand live empty lives way past the capacity to enjouy make this word [ perfect this is the chance this planet of h*mqns* *hqw q has a chance* *a very big chance* *t o to toe toe bitg toe* *enjoiy enjoy sucking fuees *
Spatial recognictin factor
When traveling between astor planes its most important to keep your mind sane in the temperal zone you might inherit for example dont go all n on black people or b e any way big on the br
Who Sold Out AfghanTaliban Leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor?
Pakistani local residents gather around a burning vehicle hit by a U.S. drone strike, May 21, 2016. Afghan Taliban Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was the target of the drone near Dalbandin, Baluchistan, Pakistan. *VOA*: *Who Gave Info that Led to Drone Strike on Taliban Leader?* WASHINGTON — Days after a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan, near the Afghan border, killed Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, it remains unclear how the slain leader’s location was discovered. Mansoor was killed in a remote part of Baluchistan, a province that has been thought off limits for U.S. drones, which opera... more »
I had to go on to something
Liek climbing eversest I wanted a window seat for that ride withou actualyu toching a rope but yuou klmnow we;;l ew wattttt I describve the sticky bits and duct tape that fails and then yu die on that mouintin yuopui omcer omd[f dpfpfdf oc dodefedtpeees\ wj human with all yr might and lungs filled with sn2 insetaed of oxyegne, or the cold so bold down below bvut we can prevent that with modern tech soi dxi die on that mountain you foo; I am diening in a suberrbatan swinn,ing pool
Not quite but jiusify being there
Waling barefoot down the mud streets of HOI Amoue ITS to hot to be hardly dressed but in the backside they have no mosquitos and the beer is cold and way more than 5Z% even if it it is half antifrieeze Run down pub with a sliver seat bar coachroaches I hope this is all they are think my legs are hot and I just say wow I am so glad I found this place it was not in any glossy and thats me my friend Pirate video going 24/7 happy people its like a religion no one give a fuck because well there is nothing to run amok no no9 nothing to attack people getting high and drunk and not consuming any... more »
Inside The Hunt For Islamic State Leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
*Martin Chulov and Spencer Ackerman, The Guardian:* *Inside the hunt for Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi* *Intelligence officials have pieced together details of the recent movements of the world’s most wanted man.* At the closest point they can reach to the Islamic State heartlands, the Kurdish Peshmerga can almost feel their enemy. Most days Isis fighters fire mortars or bullets at their frontline, 10 miles south of Sinjar, sometimes crawling through long grass for hours until they are close enough to shoot. Several miles further south, some of Isis’s most senior leaders regula... more »
U.S. Officials Are Worried On How The Islamic State Is Able To Inspire Violence
A poster showing all 14 victims is displayed during an interfaith memorial service at the Islamic Center of Redlands for the victims of the San Bernardino mass shooting, Dec. 6, 2015 in Loma Linda, California. *Voice of America*: *Islamic State's Ability to Inspire Violence Worries US Officials* CAPITOL HILL — U.S. officials are warning of Islamic State’s ability to inspire violent deeds around the world, including in the United States, without commanding or having any direct contact with terrorists. “We are in a new phase of the global terrorist threat,” Homeland Security Deputy ... more »
It Will Take Syria Decades To Recover From This War
(*Click on Image to Enlarge*) Destruction: This aerial view shows the destruction in the al-Khalidiyah neighbourhood of Homs, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting as government forces bid to flush rebels into the open *Washington Post*: *Syria’s ruined cities will need decades, not years, to recover from war* The end of Syria's brutal civil war is not in sight. The combatants are locked in a grinding, attritional battle that is as complex as it is cruel. More than 250,000 Syrians have been killed over the past five years, and roughly half of the country's citizens have been... more »
Is Syria Becoming Another Afghanistan For Russia?
Technicians at Syria's Hmeimim airport where Russian aircraft are deployed. © Dmitriy Vinogradov / RIA Novosti *Micah Halpern, Observer*:* Is Syria Another Afghanistan for Russia?* *ISIS intends to force Russia into another costly quagmire like its miserable failure in Afghanistan (1979-1989).* ISIS attacked a Russian military base in Syria on May 14th. Four Mi-24 attack helicopters were burned, 20 trucks were destroyed, a storage depot was hit and a MIG-25 fighter jet was damaged. The base is known as T-4, sometimes also called Tiyas in Homs province. ISIS is hitting Russia hard ... more »
The US Is Dropping Calls For Syrian President Assad To Go
Troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad celebrate on the edge of Palmyra. Reuters *Robert Fisk, The Independent:* *The US is dropping calls for Assad to go because the Syrian regime is a better bet than Isis* *In Syria and Lebanon there are no plans for a future, but the Syrian army is going to have a role in any New Syria.* I’m getting a bit tired of reading about the “US-backed alliance of Syrian militias” and their advance against Isis. The ‘alliance’ is largely Kurdish – which is why, I suppose, the Americans talked about northern Syria when they announced the visit of General Joseph V... more »
Turkey Furious Over Images of US Soldiers With Kurdish Patches
Images appear to show US soldiers wearing patches of the local Kurdish fighters. AFP *BBC*: *Syria war: Turkey anger over US commando photos* Turkey has hit out at the US over images said to show US special forces in Syria wearing insignia of Kurdish militia, during joint operations against so-called Islamic State (IS). Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu called the US "two-faced" and said the practice was "unacceptable". The images appear to show a US special forces soldier wearing the patch of the YPJ - a Kurdish militia group. A Pentagon spokesman said troops often blend... more »
North Korea Threatens Retaliation After South Korea Fires Warning Shots
*Reuters*: *North Korea threatens retaliation after South Korean warning shots* North Korea threatened retaliation on Friday after South Korea fired what it said were warning shots when a patrol boat and fishing boat from the North crossed the disputed sea border off the west coast of the Korean peninsula. The two vessels from the North retreated about eight minutes after the South Korean navy fired five 40 mm artillery shots at around 7:30 a.m. local time, South Korean officials told Reuters. The North Korean boats had crossed the Northern Limit Line, a border that the North di... more »
World News Briefs -- May 27, 2016
*Reuters:** G7 vows growth efforts as Japan's Abe warns of global crisis* The Group of Seven industrial powers pledged on Friday to seek strong global growth, while papering over differences on currencies and stimulus policies and expressing concern over North Korea, Russia and maritime disputes involving China. G7 leaders wrapped up a summit in central Japan vowing to use "all policy tools" to boost demand and ease supply constraints. "Global growth remains moderate and below potential, while risks of weak growth persist," they said in a declaration. "Global growth is our urgent ... more »
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- May 27, 2016
*Daily Beast:* *U.S. Troops 18 Miles from ISIS Capital* U.S. Special Forces soldiers have been seen and photographed on the front lines in Syria wearing the patches of Kurdish fighters. FATISAH, Syria — Ever since U.S. President Barack Obama decided to send 250 more Special Forces to the Syrian battlefield against the so-called Islamic State, they’ve been easy to spot on the front lines in Hasakah, Tisreen Dam, and near Raqqa, the capital of the “caliphate” that’s also called ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh. In a base close to the town of Ayn al-Issa, U.S. soldiers are not only advising, t... more »
Should President Obama Have Apologized At Hiroshima?
*Washington Free Beacon:** CBS Calls It ‘Remarkable’ That Obama Didn’t Apologize for Atomic Bomb in Hiroshima* CBS correspondent Margaret Brennan said Friday it was “remarkable” that President Obama didn’t offer an apology in his Hiroshima speech for the U.S. dropping the atomic bomb. Obama participated in a wreath-laying ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park honoring those killed in the blast in 1945. He spoke afterward about bringing an end to the nuclear age and promoting diplomacy over warfare. “We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine ... more »
A Better Way to Run for President
[image: Clinton-Trump3 - 900] The frustration of many voters over the way presidential candidates are selected has come to a head with Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the presumptive nominees of their respective parties. If this is the best we can do, maybe we...more »
Yes, Hillary Was an Enabler
[image: WASHINGTON, : US President Bill Clinton listens to First Lady Hillary Clinton 27 July 1999 at the East Room of the White House, during a ceremony for the 25th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation, a non-profit group that supplies legal services to low-income individuals.] Donald Trump’s philosophy is never to use a scalpel when a meat ax is available, and so it is with his attack on the Clinton scandals of the 1990s. And yet, in slamming Hillary as Bill’s “enabler” and daring to... more »
"Networks are Colluding" to Declare Clinton the Overall Winner Before California Polls Close
*by Gaius Publius* The writer of the quoted part of the headline above is Shaun King. Here's the quote in full and in context. When a grown man tells you he is about to start trouble, believe him. What followed, if Matthews is to be taken at his word, is clear evidence that television networks are colluding together to call the primary for Hillary Clinton before she reaches the delegates needed to claim victory. By doing so, they will absolutely suppress the vote in the final states that will be cast ballots in the Democratic primary. Even by mentioning it now, that the networks ... more »
BWorld 59, Free trade and Norwegian salmon
* This is my article in BusinessWorld last May 19, 2016. Among the noticeable things when I buy in public markets is the presence of Norwegian salmon. Usually the salmon heads or salmon belly are available, and their retail price is not that far from bangus or tilapia. So while it is common to see Norwegian salmon in big groceries and supermarkets, it is good to see the presence of this Norwegian product in public markets at affordable prices, implying that trade of this commodity is increasing fast. And that proves further that free trade is good. The taste of salmon is a lot diff... more »
Donald Trump Formal Policy Address on Energy
By Paul Homewood h/t Stewgreen https://youtu.be/9I8soRz1cAA?t=4865 Donald Trump spoke to thousands at the Williston Basin Petroleum Conference in Bismarck, North Dakota yesterday after clinching the GOP nomination for President of the United States. Whatever else you think about him, he talked a lot of sense when it came to energy policy. […]
FDA Approves First Drug-Oozing Implant to Control Addiction
[image: This undated photo provided by Braeburn Pharmaceuticals shows the Probuphine opioid implant. Federal health officials on Thursday, May 26, 2016, approved the innovative new option for Americans struggling with addiction to heroin and painkillers: a drug-oozing implant that curbs craving and withdrawal symptoms for six months at a time. The implant is essentially a new, long-term delivery system for an established drug, buprenorphine, which has long been used to treat opioid addiction.] WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal health officials on Thursday approved an innovative new option f... more »
Shades of Black & Blue
Are we on the reservation or not? Have we become the latest version of those destined to be caged unwanted unneeded by Mr. Big? Taking care of 'biz' at home now out the door bigger fish to fry in cheaper climes What to do? Many attempts many failures to slay the dark beast that marks our door dragons have always been hard to vanquish but try we must Still the beast devours our harvests builds golden-plated armor its bootprint leaves ugly marks and stains much pain around our orbiting satellite The people are turned one against the other our unity thru solidarity made difficult ... more »
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