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China finishing first domestic CV-17 aircraft carrier and preparing catapults for next CV-18 carrier
The second PLAN aircraft carrier, CV-17 is in advanced stages of construction at Dalian Shipbuilding in northeastern China. It will be the first aircraft carrier built entirely in China. The Liaoning was purchased from the Ukraine in the late 1990s and towed to China for an extensive rebuild. The CV-17 has a somewhat larger displacement than the CV-16 Liaoning. It has greater internal hanger space for aircraft stowage below deck, and a larger island. Located on the starboard side of the flight deck, in similar orientation as that on the Liaoning, the island of the CV-17 is substant... more »
NATO Auditor General And Investigator Of Terror Financing Found Dead Of Apparent Suicide In Belgium
Yves Chandelon (Photo from Global Research) *Express:* *Mystery as NATO Auditor General is found shot dead in suspicious circumstances* POLICE in Belgium are probing the death of a high ranking NATO official after his body was discovered in his car with a gunshot wound to the head. According to reports, Yves Chandelon, the 62-year-old auditor general of NATO was found miles away from both his home and office. His body was found in the Belgian town of Andenne, 62 miles away from his home in Lens on December 16. According to local newspaper reports Mr Chandelon was the registered ke... more »
Berlin in Lockstep with US — Planning ‘Center of Defense Against Disinformation’ Ahead of Elections
[image: fake]Following in the US' footsteps, Germany will create a center of defense against fake news — a purely fictitious problem — in advance of its elections next year.
Cop Admits to Throwing 4yo Child Against the Wall, Causing Serious Injury, Gets Slap on the Wrist
[image: abuse]This cop admitted to felony child abuse then received a promotion -- then, he escaped even the minimum sentence for his crimes.
Mosul Campaign Day 71, Dec 26, 2016
December 25 the Golden Division attacked the Qudsdistrict on the outskirts of east Mosul. On December 26 the Islamic State counter attacked there with three car bombs all of which were destroyed. This was the first movement by the Iraqi forces (ISF) in east Mosul in several days after they were paused to recover from two months of heavy fighting. IS was also said to be changing their tactics inside the city. The group has been relentlessly shelling the eastern half of Mosul. Mortar fire for example, killed two civilians on December 26. Their firing positions however have been tar... more »
China has test flight of an improved FC-31 Gyrfalcon stealth fighter
China has tested the latest version of its fifth-generation J-31 stealth fighter The newest version of the J-31, now renamed the FC-31 Gyrfalcon, took to the air for the first time on Friday, the China Daily reported. The new FC-31 has “better stealth capabilities, improved electronic equipment and a larger payload capacity” than the previous version which debuted in October 2012, the newspaper said, quoting aviation expert Wu Peixin. “Changes were made to the airframe, wings and vertical tails which make it leaner, lighter and more manoeuvrable,” Wu told the paper. The FC-31 Gyrfa... more »
"How It Really Is"
If you thought 2016 was great fun, you're gonna *love* 2017...
Fukushima Daiichi Update December 27-28 2016
The temperature has been in the high to mid-30s F in Fukushima with high humidity but the "visible" emissions are down significantly over the last few days. I am not sure whether the cold weather alone can explain this reduction in visible emissions or whether TEPCO's nitrogen injections were successful. December 27, 2016 00:32 December 28, 2016 00:12 December 28, 2016 00:13 You will notice that December 27 looks better than December 28. It will be interesting to see what conditions look like tomorrow.
"If..."
"If you follow your heart, if you listen to your gut, and if you extend your hand to help another, not for any agenda, but for the sake of humanity, you are going to find the truth." - Erin Brockovich
Ghosts
This morning's *The Infinite Monkey Cage Christmas Special *(on the subject of ghosts and ghost stories) inevitably began with a now bog-standard BBC quip from Robin Ince about 2016 being a terrible year (see yesterday), but who couldn't forgive our (Christmas) Robin for that when we also had this kind of thing?: *Neil deGrasse Tyson*: But if I may broaden the concept of 'ghost'? As an astrophysicist it's not hard for me to think of stars that have long ago died whose light only just reaches us on Christmas Day telling us that they once did die. And that stream of light is a ghost... more »
BREAKING: China Sends Aircraft Carrier to Pacific That Could Soon Be in “Offshore Areas of the US”
[image: china]"When China's aircraft carrier fleet appears in offshore areas of the US one day, it will trigger intense thinking about maritime rules."
Thomas Sowell, "Random Thoughts, Looking Back, And Farewell"
*"Random Thoughts, Looking Back, And Farewell"* by Thomas Sowell "Any honest man, looking back on a very long life, must admit- even if only to himself- being a relic of a bygone era. Having lived long enough to have seen both "the greatest generation" that fought World War II and the gratingest generation that we see all around us today, makes being a relic of the past more of a boast than an admission. Not everything in the past was admirable. Poet W.H. Auden called the 1930s "a low dishonest decade." So were the 1960s, which launched many of the trends we are experiencing so pai... more »
Harvard biologist retracts diabetes breakthrough in Cell
2013 probably felt like it was going to be a great year for stem cell biologist Douglas Melton at Harvard. He had published a buzz-worthy paper in Cell about a new way to potentially boost insulin in diabetics, attracting significant media attention, and eventually gathering nearly 200 citations. But 2016 is closing out on a less […] The post Harvard biologist retracts diabetes breakthrough in Cell appeared first on Retraction Watch.
Error-laden database kills paper on extinction patterns
An ecologist in Australia realized a database he was using to spot trends in extinction patterns was problematic, affecting two papers. One journal issued an expression of concern, which has since turned into a retraction. So far, the other journal has left the paper untouched. The now-retracted paper concluded that medium-sized species on islands tend to […] The post Error-laden database kills paper on extinction patterns appeared first on Retraction Watch.
More on that intriguing tweet
Here's a little more on the mystery of Tom Holland's tweet (see yesterday) - a tweet based on Tim Shipman of the *Sunday Times'*s book about Brexit: A BBC review of their Brexit coverage lamented that too many of the Leave supporters they interviewed "were a bit shaven-headed, tattooed". The mystery here was that I couldn't find any internet reference to such a BBC review. *News-watch*'s David Keighley has ridden to my rescue and read the passage in question, and it reads as follows (and a big thanks to David for this): Once the referendum was over, executives did a second, quali... more »
World News Briefs -- December 27, 2016
*DW:* *Obama, Abe set for symbolic Pearl Harbor visit* The US and Japanese leaders are due to visit the site of the 1941 attack that brought America into World War II. Abe is not expected to apologize for the deadly incident, which decimated the US Pacific fleet. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arrived in Hawaii ahead of Tuesday's visit, where he'll be joined by outgoing US President Barack Obama, who is vacationing on the island with his family. Abe will become the first Japanese leader to visit the USS Arizona Memorial that honors sailors and marines killed in the surprise at... more »
Year-End Episode Of ‘Unauthorized Disclosure’ With Roqayah Chamseddine
All throughout the year, we enjoyed producing episodes of our podcast, “Unauthorized Disclosure.” We navigated the dreadful and not-as-awful events of 2016, sometimes with guests who brought sharp insight to significant issues and topics. But now the third season of the show comes to an end with this finale. In The post Year-End Episode Of ‘Unauthorized Disclosure’ With Roqayah Chamseddine appeared first on Shadowproof.
“Dog Spends 2 Days on Frozen Rail-tracks Trying to Save Injured Pal”
*“Dog Spends 2 Days on Frozen Rail-tracks Trying to Save Injured Pal”* by RT "This heartwarming story from western Ukraine tells a tale of true friendship and love coming from the animal kingdom. A dog spent two days protecting an injured buddy that couldn’t move from the tracks. Facebook user Denis Malafeev posted pictures of the two dogs that he found at a small train station not far from the town of Uzhgorod. One of the dogs appeared to have been injured by a train and couldn’t move from the tracks, so the other stayed there for two days keeping his friend warm and protecting he... more »
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- December 27, 2016
A U.S. Air Force Boeing B-52H Stratofortress of the 2d Bomb Wing static display with weapons, at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, in 2006. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Robert J. Horstman *Defense News*: *US On Track for Record Foreign Weapon Sales* WASHINGTON – In just three short months, the US State Department has blown past its dollar total of foreign weapon sales cases for all of last year -- but a close look at the numbers shows that industry should temper its expectations for the rest of 2017. Through Dec. 23, the State Department has ok’d 21 foreign sales cases, ... more »
A Long Twilight Stuggle
Chris Hedges writes that the election of Donald Trump signals the triumph of a New McCarthyism. The moment has been forty years in the making: The late Lewis Powell, a general counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and later a Supreme Court justice, in 1971 wrote an eight-page memo outlining a campaign to counter what the document’s title described as an “Attack on American Free Enterprise System.” The memo established the Business Roundtable, which generated huge monetary resources and political clout to direct government policy and mold public opinion. The Powell report listed ... more »
The 6 Most Powerful Armies of All Time
Reddit *Zachary Keck, Scout Warrior*:* 6 Most Powerful Armies of All Time* Armies are the most important factor in assessing the relative power of a nation. But how do we judge which armies were the most powerful in their time? n an anarchical system like international relations, military power is the ultimate form of currency. A state may have all the culture, art, philosophy, and glitter and glory in the world, but it’s all for naught if the country doesn’t have a powerful military to defend itself. Mao Zedong put it [4] bluntly when he stated: “power grows out of the barrel of ... more »
China Wants To Sail Its Aircraft Carrier Off The U.S. Coast
*Brad Lendon, CNN:* *China's aircraft carrier prowling Pacific, sending a message* (CNN)China's lone aircraft carrier is prowling the Pacific as the country seeks to assert its military might and build up its naval warfare capabilities. The Liaoning carrier's J-15 fighter jets practiced air confrontations and air refueling in the Yellow Sea late last week before the ship and its flotilla of escorting frigates and destroyers headed into the open Pacific beyond Taiwan and Okinawa. On Monday it headed to the South China Sea -- the site of regional tensions caused by China building ... more »
Memories
Yesterday's *Today *had a few festive sections. We heard a selection of famous voices naming the people who have inspired them most. Three of the *Today *presenters contributed to this bit. Nick Robinson named his German Jewish grandparents who had escaped from Nazi Germany. Sarah Montague named a pansexual French singer who "made her think differently". Mishal Husain named a Bataclan survivor who refuses to hate the Muslim terrorists who killed his wife. She admires "the example he set by his attitude". We also had four senior BBC editors talking about their stand-out moments o... more »
I sent my girlfriend a huge pile of snow and then I rang her up and said, "Did you get my drift?"
Here are a few Tim Vine jokes from yesterday's *The Tim Vine Christmas Chat Show* (all worthy of being inside Christmas crackers): - I actually live in an Advent calendar. It's freezing at the moment because all the windows are open. - Shopping can be quite a tense thing. I've got a fear of enclosed grottoes. I've got Santa Claustrophobia. - I was in Tesco. I saw this man and woman wrapped in a barcode. I said, "Are you two an item?" - Did you know this? The guitarist in U2, who's called The Edge, he actually takes December off. He's replaced by a Christmas... more »
"Reverse BDS?"
This reads as sarcasm to me. Does it to you?
Jon Swift Memorial
Tom Ellar as Harlequin with his wooden batocchio or slapstick, early 19th century. Via Museum of London.The 2016 edition of the Jon Swift Memorial Roundup, the Salon des Indépendents of online political writing, an annual tribute to the late and great blogger Jon Swift/Al Weisel in which some dozens of mostly small bloggers select a favorite post of the past year for the delectation of a wider public, is up at Batocchio's Vagabond Scholar site. You'll see some familiar names and a lot of less familiar ones you might want to know better. It's one of the sweetest institutions of the ... more »
down these mean streets: raymond chandler's "the simple art of murder"
Netflix has added many older movies to its library, including several classics and modern classics. Among them I noticed "Mean Streets," the 1973 film that put both Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro on the map. I always thought Scorsese took the film's name from Piri Thomas' autobiography, *Down These Mean Streets*. Thomas' work is a landmark of urban and prison literature, and was highly influential. What I didn't know was that both Thomas and Scorsese borrowed their titles from a common source: an essay by Raymond Chandler, published in 1950, called "The Simple Art of Murder". Th... more »
The Hangings in Mankato
In the spring of 2005, Jim Miller, a Native spiritual leader and Vietnam veteran, found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of South Dakota. Just before he awoke, he arrived at a riverbank in Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim knew nothing of the largest mass execution in United States history, ordered by Abraham Lincoln on December 26, 1862. "When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator... As any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn't get it. I tried to put it out of my mind, yet it's one of... more »
Putin's New World Order
Brits were freaking out this weekend over an old, first-released statement by mass-murder and Trump Commerce Secretary-designate, Wilbur Ross to a much of shady Cypriot banksters. He told them that “I recommend that Cyprus should adopt and immediately announce even more liberal financial service policies than it already has so that it can try to take advantage of the inevitable relocations that will occur during the period of confusion.” The British press is interpreting Ross’ comments as a call to steal marketshare from the U.K., still trying to figure out a way forward after the... more »
Not the Usual One People Show
'Tis the Silly Season, so this week we didn't really do a proper "One People Show". Instead we had a more informal chat with the UnFuckers. Lisa joined in about a third of the way through, and our old friend Ben joined us a few times to add his latest thoughts on Life the Universe and everything. We talked about energetic/particle/plasma "Wave" that purportedly swept past "earth" on the 25/26th, and the various theories of what it is/was, and the effects of it that were felt by a lot of people everywhere. We also revisited several of our own theories of the fuckery of this co... more »
Russia Sees U.S. Decision To Arm Syrian Rebels With Shoulder-Fired Anti-Aircraft Missiles As A 'Hostile Act'
Rebel fighter clean a weapon in al-Rai town, northern Aleppo countryside, Syria December 25, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi *TASS:* *Russia sees US decision to supply MANPADS to militants in Syria as 'hostile move'* The relevant decision also poses a direct threat to aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Maria Zakharova has noted MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/. Moscow considers the permission to supply MANPADS to Syria in the new law on US defense spending to be a hostile move, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on Tuesday. She noted that the transferred we... more »
Chinese President: 'Space Program Must Help Protect National Security'
Tiangong-2, China's second space laboratory lifts off from the launch pad in Jiuquan, Gansu province, China, September 15, 2016. Picture taken September 15, 2016. China Daily/ via REUTERS *Reuters:* *China says space program must help protect national security* China's space program must help protect the country's national security, but China is dedicated to the peaceful use of space and opposes a space arms race, the government said in a policy paper issued on Tuesday. President Xi Jinping has called for China to establish itself as a space power, and it has tested anti-satellite ... more »
Russian Embassy In US Tweets Russian Army Choirs Version Of 'God Bless America'
#GodBlessAmerica sung by the Alexandrov Chorus, FIMMQ 2011. Soloist Grigory Osipov was among other artist on board of the #RA85572 #RIP pic.twitter.com/cSsSqECDQg — Russia in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) December 25, 2016 *RT*: *Alexandrov choir sings 'God bless America' in tribute posted by Russian Embassy in US (VIDEO)* Mourning the victims of Sunday’s Tu-154 plane crash in Russia, in which 92 people died, including 64 members of the renowned Alexandrov Ensemble, the Russian Embassy in the US posted on its official Twitter feed one particular song performed by the artists. In the video... more »
Phil Jones Steps Down
By Paul Homewood h/t Dave Ward http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/environment/uea_s_climatic_unit_director_steps_down_1_4829565 One down! Climatologist Prof Phil Jones, who was at the centre of the Climategate row over hacked emails, will be succeeded by Prof Timothy Osborn. Prof Osborn, who has worked at the UEA since 1990, said: “UEA provides a superb environment for climate […]
Guardian Scoop–It Was Windy In Portugal For Four Days In May!
By Paul Homewood https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/dec/26/this-is-possible-we-did-it-the-week-portugal-ran-on-renewables The Guardian must be desperate for some news. Yesterday they rehashed some story from last May! If you can keep your gaze off the hilltops, imagine away the pylons and forget the occasional tractor of an uncertain vintage coughing along the narrow roads, little appears to have changed […]
Untitled
*Pre-school to prevent delinquency?* *The rant below is typical of disassociated Leftist thought. Jacqueline Maley points to problems and just asserts that pre-school will fix them. Asking for evidence that your "cure" will in fact cure anything is chronically "forgotten" among Leftists. Evidence connecting the cure to the problem is absent.She points to the problems that children reared in feral environments pose for both themselves and everyone else and then points out that if you get an infant very early, you may be able to train its brain into more positive behavio... more »
Untitled
*The Macassar tyranny* Macassar is a small seaport in Indonesia. So what has that got to do with Warmism? Nothing at all. But its namesake does. I refer to Rowland's Macassar Oil, a product first marketed by a London barber in 1783. It was marketed as a way for men to keep their hair in order and in good health. It soon had imitators and it became a fashion for men to put oil or grease in their hair. And that fashion lasted into recent times. I remember going into Woolworths in the 1950s and buying "Californian Poppy" grease for my hair. Greasing your hair had become virt... more »
THE ELITE ET AL. VS. TRUMP ET AL with Paul Rosenberg
Yes it is scary. We have a probable NWO whose glue is Pedophilia which produces a natural conspiracy always desperate to centralize information and power in order to hide their obscene secret. That part of the story at the very least needs to be tamped back down and that is what is certainly driving the Fake News narrative just now. Their strategy is to try to get to a point in which they can argue fake news for all such unseemly disclosure. Since the major media will and is going along with all this along with the CIA, it is reasonable to expect that they all have skin in the ... more »
Pope Francis compares Fake News Consumption to eating faeces
This is not a new problem but what has made it disconcerting is that the few trusted mainstream sources have also been dipping, particularly in support of the deeply flawed Hilary Clinton. I personally browse plenty of sources and have a pretty good handle on just who is simply lying. Yet i also need a standard to check against. It is usually as simple as checking Google for breaking stories. This election cycle has seen the advent of independent newsmen and paid propagandists. The latter do not care about credit ability but do care about muddying the waters. The Ne... more »
Election Fraud in Detroit Looks 'Organized, and Government Involved'
Here we go. This was rumored to be true but we now have prima facie direct evidence that known Democrat polls were globally subjected to vote stuffing. The excuses are specious and magically apply nowhere else. The brakes failed! This is absolute probable cause for a deliberate Dem program to stuff polls in Dem leaning cities in particular. There are a dozen prospective cities in which this might be done and that means a half million votes each distributed to polls in which they are not obvious per city. Thus we have super counts in friendly polls. None of this survives a rec... more »
Naupa Iglesia: An Egyptian Portal in the Andes?
This blog has long since made the case for a remarkable global Bronze Age society that established trading palaces all over the globe. This was a sea based system remarkably close to the much later British empire and it arose for all the same reasons. Again it was based in the Atlantic on at least four core islands. These were the Azores (areal extent - AE: England), Lyonese (AE: Ireland), Bahama Bank (AE: France), and Cuba (Ae: Japan). It also dominated the Mississippi Valley, the SE USA and surely Mexico if not also South America. Whatever lands were actually held directly a... more »
Elections Have Consequences
*UN Resolution on Israel* The incoming US Administration has serious reservations about the utility of the United Nations. I expect that there will be far less money flowing into those anti-American coffers during President Donald Trump's term in office. Secretary of State John (Wooden head) Kerry is defending the Obama administration’s decision to effectively allow the United Nations to condemn Israeli for attempting to build more settlements in the disputed West Bank, saying the “unprecedented” effort has spawned terrorism and violence that jeopardizes lasting peace in the region... more »
The Most IMPORTANT Video You’ll Ever See (Parts 1-4)
Dandelion Salad Updated: Nov. 27, 2012 added full length video. kip399 on Jan 26, 2012 Arithmetic, Population and Energy A presentation by: Dr. Albert A. Bartlett Professor Emeritus Department of Physics University of Colorado, Boulder *** wonderingmind42 And probably the most boring. But then again, when I told that to my students and had them […]
Summary of Umberto Eco on Fascism & Its Connection to Trump
I venture the challenging statement that if American democracy ceases to move forward as a living force, seeking day and night by peaceful means to better the lot of our citizens, fascism will grow in strength in our land. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt http://ieet.org/archive/soldiers-1329293_960_720.jpg
The Rashomon-ization of the World Health Organization
An event happens. Four different people tell four different versions of what happened. How do we figure out how to move forward? This is a very rough plot summary of Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 masterpiece Rashomon, but it’s also a pretty accurate description of what is happening to the World Health Organization these days. There’s probably […]
Musical Interlude: Liquid Mind, "Moment of Grace Part 1"
Liquid Mind, "Moment of Grace Part 1" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I61vm_nLNYg
"A Look to the Heavens"
"A gorgeous spiral galaxy some 100 million light-years distant, NGC 1309 lies on the banks of the constellation of the River (Eridanus). NGC 1309 spans about 30,000 light-years, making it about one third the size of our larger Milky Way galaxy. Bluish clusters of young stars and dust lanes are seen to trace out NGC 1309's spiral arms as they wind around an older yellowish star population at its core. *Click image for larger size.* Not just another pretty face-on spiral galaxy, observations of NGC 1309's recent supernova and Cepheid variable stars contribute to the calibration of the... more »
“How to Quiet the Mind”
*“How to Quiet the Mind”* From “How to Quiet the Mind On-Line Course” by Gina Lake, The DailyOM “The following is an excerpt from the "How to Quiet the Mind" on-line course. If you would like to take the entire course, click here." "The mind is a wonderful tool for thinking, but it has a dark side. There is an aspect of the mind that is not useful but pretends to be useful, which is called the egoic mind. It is the aspect of our mind that chats with us as we move about our day. It is the "voice in our head," as Eckhart Tolle calls it. Much of the time, this voice seems like our own ... more »
“Everything Wrong With Humanity, In One Short Animation”
*“Everything Wrong With Humanity, In One Short Animation”* by Isaac Saul “Man, by nature, can be a destructive creature. In this short film by Steve Cutts, the many environmentally un-friendly decisions of man are brought to light- and they are not without their price. Even though this video was originally posted in 2012, the environmental problems it addresses, like wildlife poaching, factory farming and deforestation, remain just as urgent today as they were then.” - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Electoral fraud: Voters will have to show ID in pilot scheme per BBC News
This BBC report http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38440934 on the pilot scheme to require voters to prove their identity before voting is an opportunity for the BBC to quote Labour Party allegations. 'Labour's shadow minister for voter engagement and youth affairs, Cat Smith MP, said the party supported the plan. However, she said more needed to be done to ensure eligible voters were registered after a change to the rules by the Conservatives in February meant people had to register as individuals, rather than as a household - a move that saw thousands of people drop off the register.... more »
Taiwan Nervous As The Chinese Navy Conducts A Display of Force Near Their Waters
*Reuters:* *Taiwan warns of increasing threat as Chinese warships conduct drill* Taiwan warned on Tuesday that "the threat of our enemies is growing day by day", as Chinese warships led by the country's sole aircraft carrier sailed towards the island province of Hainan through the South China Sea on a routine drill. The drill comes amid renewed tension over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own, following U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call with the island's president that upset Beijing. "The threat of our enemies is growing day by day. We should always be maint... more »
Tweet For Today
PHOTOS: Here’s a look back at the months leading up to the collapse of the Soviet Union. https://t.co/3bExp44ivN pic.twitter.com/yofvx7tUKX — Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) December 26, 2016
How George Michael And WHAM! Helped To Change China
*Reuters*:* George Michael had his own cultural revolution in China* BEIJING (Reuters) - It was strangely muted when George Michael, as part of the British pop duo Wham!, took the stage at the Workers Gymnasium in Beijing in April 1985, recalled one of those who attended that now legendary first Western pop act in Communist China. Around 15,000 concert-goers watched Michael and bandmate Andrew Ridgeley sing hits such as "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" – as police grimly stared at them. "I'd never seen so many police in my life," Mao Danqing, a now well-known ... more »
Picture Of The Day
A search operation near the Black Sea coast at the crash site of the Russian Defense Ministry's Tu-154 aircraft. © SPUTNIK/ NINA ZOTINA
Swiss Army Bans Selfies Because Female Recruits Were Bending The Rules
BANNED: Army recruits are no longer allowed to post photos in uniform *Mirror:* *Frustrated Swiss army chiefs ban sexy selfies because female army recruits continue to flaunt the rules* Army has said it has found that new recruits, and mostly women, are obsessively taking snaps of themselves and posting them to their personal social media accounts Frustrated army commanders are growing increasingly furious with selfie-obsessed newbies constantly posting pictures of their military duty on social media. The Swiss army has said it has found that new recruits, and most specifically ... more »
The Daily "Near You?"
Tijeras, New Mexico, USA. Thanks for stopping by.
"Maslow's Pyramid Gets a Much Needed Renovation"
"Maslow's Pyramid Gets a Much Needed Renovation" by PhysOrg.com "If you have ever felt that your children are your life's work, then you may in fact be recognizing a high-level psychological need. Caring for your children, feeding them, nurturing them, educating them and making sure they get off on the right foot in life - all of the things that make parenting successful - may actually be deep rooted psychological urges that we fulfill as part of being human. Maslow's original hierarchy of needs: This is according to a team of psychologists who have updated a cornerstone of modern p... more »
Paul Ryan Fully Embraces Trump's Style Of Post-Factual Governance
Alan Grayson will be out of Congress in two weeks, but he’s not stopping. He just filed a bill that makes president’s tax returns releasable under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). His bill is H.R. 6507 ands Paul Ryan will make sure it’s never voted on while he’s Speaker of the House, something we plan to end after the 2018 congressional elections. Grayson explained to his constituents why he feels his new bill is necessary. “Donald Trump,” he wrote, “is the first major-party Presidential candidate in modern times who refused to release his tax returns. During the campaign, t... more »
"We All Know..."
“We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars... everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings. All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you’d be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being. - Thornton Wilder
Israel Claims That They Have Evidence That President Obama Orchestrated The UN Resolution To End The Settlements
*The Guardian*:* Israel threatens to give Trump 'evidence' that Obama orchestrated UN resolution* Netanyahu allies claim ‘iron-clad information’ from Arab sources reveals Obama administration drafted document to end settlements, which US abstained from Israel has escalated its already furious war with the outgoing US administration, claiming that it has “rather hard” evidence that Barack Obama was behind a critical UN security council resolution criticising Israeli settlement building, and threatening to hand over the material to Donald Trump. The latest comments come a day afte... more »
"Compulsive Apologies: The Feeling Underneath"
*"Compulsive Apologies: The Feeling Underneath"* by Madisyn Taylor, The DailyOM "Apologizing chronically can be a sign that you are not feeling that you have much self worth. Many people suffer with the tendency to apologize all the time, chronically, for everything. On the one hand, apologizing is a social convention that keeps interactions between people polite, and in that way it can be very helpful. On the other hand, if we find ourselves apologizing for everything, it might be time to look at why we feel compelled to say “I’m sorry” so often. Ultimately, saying you’re sorry is ... more »
Untitled
*From Jenna Orkin*Britain could 'indefinitely' pay billions for former EU workers' pensions despite Brexit How Europe's far right is already using the Berlin attack to exploit fears A new law in Taiwan is requiring workers take 2 days off a week 'We have never been embedded to this degree': US forces are stepping up their role in the fight for Mosul Watch an amazing 360 degree video of a MiG-29 flying to the edge of space *Maybe this all makes sense if you can understand the Russian commands. (Admittedly, we only spot-checked it.) Otherwise, we recommend a couple of joints fir... more »
Pamela Ellen Ferguson : METRO | An ecumenical gathering for Chanukah in Austin
Members of Austin Jewish Voice for Peace stage vigil at Texas State Capitol. By Pamela Ellen Ferguson | The Rag Blog | December 27, 2016 AUSTIN — Elaine Cohen, an activist with Austin Jewish Voice for Peace (AJVP) and a … finish reading Pamela Ellen Ferguson : *METRO* | An ecumenical gathering for Chanukah in Austin
Quote of the Day: “May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams…”
*“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.”* ~ Neil Gaiman . Content is copyright PC.BlogSpot.Com © Permission to republish is granted, with attribution.
Is The United Nations A Place For People To Get Together And Have A Good Time?
The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 26, 2016 *Washington Examiner*: *Trump: UN just a 'club' for people to 'have a good time'* President-elect Trump Monday moved to diminish the United Nations, calling it "just a club" where people chat things up and enjoy themselves. "The United Nations has such great potential but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad!" Trump wrote in a tweet. Th... more »
Derrick Jensen, "Change"
*"Change"* by Derrick Jensen "History is predicated on at least two things, the first physical, the second perceptual. As always, the physical and the perceptual are intertwined. So far as the former, history is marked by change. An individual’s history can be seen as a series of welcomings and leavetakings, a growth in physical stature and abilities followed by a tailing off, a gradual exchange of these abilities for memories, experiences, and wisdom. Social histories are similarly marked by change. The deforestation of the Middle East to build the first cities. The first written... more »
Jerry Pournelle talks about China's orbital tests of the EMDrive as a bigger than Sputnik moment
Jerry Pournelle is a famed science fiction author who also had an interesting technology career Jerry Eugene Pournelle (born August 7, 1933) is an American science fiction writer, essayist and journalist who contributed for many years to the computer magazine Byte. Pournelle was an intellectual protégé of Russell Kirk and Stefan T. Possony. Pournelle wrote numerous publications with Possony, including The Strategy of Technology (1970). The Strategy has been used as a textbook at the United States Military Academy (West Point), the United States Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs), ... more »
China Tests Its Latest J-31 Stealth Jet Fighter
An earlier version of the J-31 stealth fighter pictured at the Zhuhai air show in southern China two years ago. Photo: Xinhua *South China Morning Post:* *China tests prototype of most advanced stealth fighter jet* Latest version of the fifth-generation J-31 fighter flown for first time on Friday, state media report China has tested the latest version of its fifth-generation stealth fighter, state media reported on Monday, as it tries to end the West’s monopoly on the world’s most advanced warplanes. The test comes as the nation flexes its military muscles, sending its sole aircr... more »
The War Grinds On In Eastern Ukraine
*Radio Free Europe:* *Ukrainian Army, Separatists Trade Accusations Of Cease-Fire Violations* The Ukrainian army and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine have accused each other of violating a cease-fire that took effect just a day ago. The army press service said on December 25 that the separatists had fired 39 times at various government-controlled areas near the front line, despite the truce agreement. The military said the separatists shelled the Maryinka, Shirokine, Talakovka, and Vodyanoye residential neighborhoods in the Mariupol area. Ukrainian military positions... more »
Trump Administration's First Sex Scandal
As Americans we should all be happy that the first reported sex scandal in a Trump Administration *designed* for sex scandals, didn’t directly involve the predator-in-chief molesting any women a quarter his age. Instead, on Christmas Eve one of the original deplorables, former far right, unhinged Breitbart blogger, A.J. Delgado, who hasn’t been offered a job with the Trump administration beyond the transition team, posted and then deleted a couple of swipes at Jason Miller, who was named Trump’s Communications Director, something that drove the primitive/jealous Delgado insane. Aft... more »
A Comment; Blog Report 12/26/2016
Some of you have noticed that posting has at times "faltered" lately, not as many posts as before, and sometimes, like today, very few so far. I'm grateful for your concern, so let me explain where we've come from, and where we're going on this little blog. The first post was on August 14, 2008, 8 1/2 years ago. Always ad-free, and never made a penny, quite intentionally. As I type this Google Statistics and StatCounter show these totals: 37,657 posts; 4,701,798 page views; and 1,983,008 unique visitors from literally every country on Earth. Not a bad run... Countless hours of extr... more »
$160 billion hedge fund wants Artificial intelligence software to make 75% of all management decisions by 2022
The world’s largest hedge fund is building a piece of software to automate the day-to-day management of the firm, including hiring, firing and other strategic decision-making. Bridgewater Associates has a team of software engineers working on the project at the request of billionaire founder Ray Dalio, who wants to ensure the company can run according to his vision even when he’s not there The firm, which manages $160 billion, created the team of programmers specializing in analytics and artificial intelligence, dubbed the Systematized Intelligence Lab, in early 2015. The unit is he... more »
I saw Mommy kissing the continuing resolution
Drawing by Thomas Nast, 1881, via Wikipedia.Our beloved absent host surfaced on the Twitter to react to a piece of sublime idiocy from the tax crusader Grover Norquist: Norquist: Liberals see government the way kids see Santa https://t.co/gwls1JUs56 pic.twitter.com/86fskyXM7k — The Hill (@thehill) December 25, 2016 So your point is what, Grover? There is no government? Government is really your parents? https://t.co/eVc99er8AW — Steve M. (@nomoremister) December 25, 2016 It struck me that there's actually something to that; not, I mean, that government is a bishop from Anatolia wh... more »
New Mosul Offensive 'To Be Launched Within Days'
*Reuters*: *Exclusive: Fresh advance in east Mosul to begin within days - U.S. commander* Iraqi forces will resume their push against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS) inside Mosul in the coming days, a U.S. battlefield commander has told Reuters. The move would be a new phase of the two-month-old operation that will see American troops deployed closer to the front line in the city. The battle for Mosul, involving 100,000 Iraqi troops, members of the Kurdish security forces and Shi'ite militiamen, is the biggest ground operation in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. ... more »
Around The Empire – Episode 2: Reporting From Syria Feat. Rania Khalek
Dan and Joanne talk to independent journalist Rania Khalek, who recently traveled to Syria. She shares what she witnessed and her conversations with Syrians. The post Around The Empire – Episode 2: Reporting From Syria Feat. Rania Khalek appeared first on Shadowproof.
Russia Says Mass Graves Of Tortured Syrians Have Been Found In Eastern Aleppo
*RT:* *Mass graves of tortured civilians found in Aleppo – Russian MoD* Mass graves with dozens of bodies of civilians subjected to brutal torture have been discovered in Aleppo neighborhoods left by militants, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday. Many of the corpses were found with missing body parts, and most had gunshot wounds to the head, according to a statement by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov. *“The completion of a uniquely large-scale humanitarian operation by the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Aleppo will destroy many of the ... more »
Death Toll Surges In Afghanistan To 30,000 War Dead In 2016
Taliban fighters posing with weapons in an undisclosed location in AfghanistanThomson Reuters *Voice of America*: *Officials Count Around 30,000 War Dead in Afghanistan This Year* ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — Hostilities in Afghanistan have left around 30,000 people dead and as many wounded, mostly insurgents, according to the latest official estimates. As of Sunday, counter-insurgency operations conducted by Afghan police and military forces around the country had left more than 18,500 "enemy" fighters dead and wounded 12,000 more, according to defense and interior ministry officials.... more »
A Ceasefire In Syria? - Not if the US & co Have Their Way!
After all these years of bloggin’ on Syria, it seems to me we are witnessing the best opportunity ever for a Syrian ceasefire. And, yet, there is this strange disconnect with the media coverage regarding Syria? We are supposed to believe, having been told for years now, that the cessation of fighting in Syria was always the goal. No military solution, just a political solution. The recent deal worked out between Russia, Turkey and Iran looks, to me, to be the closest the world has come to making/witnessing this cessation of hostilities actually taking place in Syria. An actual mov... more »
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