15 February - New Blog Picks

Image by Jamiecat * via Flickr

 Aangirfan
CIA and NED
In 1979, in Nicaragua, the Sandinista Party took over from Somoza.

Carter and Reagan then got the CIA to use terrorism against the Sandanistas.

• CIA AND NED
• MUBARAK'S WEALTH
• TUNISIA IN TROUBLE
• 2% BELOW POVERTY LINE IN EGYPT.
• CIA PLOTS IN EGYPT
• EGYPTIAN PSY OP
• PRO-MUBARAK
• ANOTHER CIA COUP IN EGYPT?
• CHINA'S PROPERTY BUBBLE
• EGYPTIANS WORKING FOR THE CIA-MOSSAD-NATO?
• PIPER & SCHOENMAN; TRUTH & LIES ON EGYPT
• MUBARAK OPPOSED USA'S 'GREATER MIDDLE EAST'
• CIA AND MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD VERSUS MUBARAK
• THIRD WORLD BRITISH HOSPITALS
• AFTER EGYPTIAN COUP - ISRAEL INVADES?
• LOCKERBIE AND SCOTLAND
• EGYPT RIOTS GOOD FOR USA
• WINNERS AND LOSERS IN EGYPT
• ISRAEL WANTS MUBARAK TOPPLED
• MOSCOW AIRPORT ATTACK
• MUBARAK SUPPORTERS
• CHILD SEX ABUSE 'COVER UP'
• ISRAEL'S PLANS FOR EGYPT
• EGYPT - LOOK AT THE PATTERN
• Q & A ON EGYPT REVOLT
• EGYPT - THE NEW IRAQ?
• WHO CONTROLS THE EGYPTIAN MILITARY? HISTORY OF MAN...
• US BACKS EGYPTIAN COUP
• WHAT THE USA REALLY THINKS ABOUT EGYPT
• CIA, MOSSAD & SOROS VERSUS MUBARAK
• THE PUZZLING CASE OF MOROCCO

information liberation
Police beat the hell out of innocent students during botched raid
Police in New Brunswick raided the home of some young college students and beat the absolute hell out of them. The police failed to press any charges against the students and failed to even arrest them, indicating they knew they had no legal right to do so.


Former San Jose Police Chief Paid $534,000 Taxpayer Money in 2010  

140 people per day are arrested for marijuana possession in NYC  
As the economy is in a slump and the national unemployment rate is at a horrendous 9.8 percent as of January 2011, it would seem there are better ways to use taxpayer money than marijuana enforcement – which crowds jails with non-violent offenders, imposes substantial costs on non-violent ... (more) 

Atlanta police won't hinder citizens who videotape cops after dispute with Copwatch 

As part of Thursday's settlement, reached before a civil rights lawsuit was filed, the city will pay Kautz and Copwatch of East Atlanta $40,000 in damages. APD will also adopt an operating procedure that prohibits officers from interfering with citizens who are taping ... (more)

Obama Pencils In $37 Billion Budget Increase For DHS, Naked Body Scanners 
( Remember the scanners - which don't work effectively - are supplied by a company owned by the former head of 'Homeland Security' - Mike Chertoff )

Tomorrow the Federal Trade Commission will publish a decision denying William Isely’s application for an award of attorney fees after he previously defeated the Commission’s effort to hold him liable for allegedly false advertising claims made on a foreign website. Isely, a retiree in his mid-80s, spent two years fighting false FTC charges that he participated ... (more)

http://www.informationliberation.com

Cover of Police Beat

The Egyptian Crisis and Libertarian Class-Conflict Theory

For weeks, Egyptians long frustrated by decades of stifling, autocratic rule have taken to the streets. The unity of their demonstrations has been centered on what they are against more than what they are for. The demands that have arisen from the crowds, the prescriptive messages for change, have been very general, asking for fair elections and a civilian rather than military government. Now that erstwhile president Hosni Mubarak has finally made his exit from Cairo, the immediate future... (more)

Obama Sends $3.7 Trillion Budget to Congress  
President Obama sent Congress a $3.73 trillion budget Monday, a spending plan for 2012 that projects $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade but also continues adding to the national debt for years to come. ... (more) 

"At no point in the president's 10-year projection would the U.S. government spend less than it's taking in."

Turns out Toyota hysteria was overblown  

Let's Play "Name That Arab Despotism"!

There is a large and powerful Arab state ruled by a Soviet-trained military dictator. The figure he has chosen as a successor, the head of the secret police, was also trained in the Soviet Union, and the apparatus of terror and repression he s... (more)

 Conning Slaves
Seems John "The Perv" Pistole, chief deviant at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), "wants to hear our [ideas]" on "transportation security."

Indeed.

Haven’t outraged passengers shrieked ideas a-plenty at airports as The Perv’s underlings sexually abuse them? Yet this sociopath not only ignores the clamor, he refuses to change "screening procedures" however heart... (more) 

POLICE STATE - Atlanta Police Conducting Public Strip & Cavity Searches On Citizens

Wikileaks Wasn't The Only Operation HBGary Federal, Palantir And Berico Planned To Defraud  

Leaked HBGary Documents Show Plan To Spread Wikileaks Propaganda For BofA... And 'Attack' Glenn Greenwald

The Tea Party and civil liberties  Glenn Greenwald

It's long been clear that the best (and perhaps only) political hope for civil liberties in the U.S. is an alliance that transcends the standard Democrat v. GOP or left v. right dichotomies.  Last night's surprising (and temporary) failure of the House to extend some of the most controversial powers of the Patriot Act -- an extension jointly championed by the House GOP leadership and t... Image by Renegade98 via Flickr (more)

Amazon fights off North Carolina government parasites  
In a settlement signed with the American Civil Liberties Union, North Carolina has agreed not to seek personal information related to consumers’ online purchases. The state said it wanted the information so taxing officials could determine how much sales tax North Carolina was owed for web purchases.

The settlement follows a ruling in the U.S. District Court in Seattle last fall in a lawsuit brought by Amazon.com against the North Carolina Department of Revenue. The court said th... (more) 
 

US Chamber Of Commerce Wants More Censorship, More IP Protectionism

IMF discusses plan to replace dollar as reserve currency  

Paul Supporters Hijack Cheney-Rumsfeld Reunion, Call Cheney a War Criminal  

43% Say Government Policy Mistakes Created Great Depression of 1930s, 26% Disagree  
( Guess I disagree...because deliberate sabotage is not an accident ) 

Related articles

• "The Incomplete Revolution in Egypt" and related posts (economicpolicyjournal.com)
• Bait and Switch on the Nile (lewrockwell.com)
• CIA chief says it looks likely that Mubarak is out (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• John Perkins: The Global Message of Egypt (huffingtonpost.com)
• Stupidity, Intelligence, and Egypt (spectator.org)
• The CIA IG Report on Renditions (emptywheel.firedoglake.com)
• CIA chief says it looks likely that Mubarak is out (sfgate.com)
• mubarak resigns - CIA takes over Egypt (propagandapress.wordpress.com)
• Egypt's PR Industry Affected by Protests (mediabistro.com)

14 February - RSS SnapShot! Pt 1

Image via Wikipedia

UPDATES FROM OPIT'S LINKFEST! AT  MY OPERA

WATER RELATED SEARCH RESULTS AT BOTTOM

Blacklisted News

• Egyptian Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspen ...
• Wall Street rally based on fantasy valuations ...
  Wall Street has a way of sucking people back into a money losing vortex. With hedge funds using high frequency trading boxes the public has no chance in competing with these organized and sophisticated gambling casinos. It is amazing how quickly people forget.
• Google's Revolution Factory: Alliance of Youth ...
  In 2008, the Alliance of Youth Movements held its inaugural summit in New York City. Attending this summit was a combination of State Department staff, Council on Foreign Relations members, former National Security staff, Department of Homeland Security advisers, and a myriad of representat ...
• Analysis: Military coup was behind Mubarak's e ...
  It was the people who forced President Hosni Mubarak from power, but it is the generals who are in charge now. Egypt's 18-day uprising produced a military coup that crept into being over many days - its seeds planted early in the crisis by Mubarak himself.
• 21 Signs That The Once Great U.S. Economy Is B ...
  This is the legacy of globalism.� Multinational corporations now have the choice whether to hire U.S. workers or to hire workers in countries where it is legal to pay slave labor wages.� The "great sucking sound" that Ross Perot warned us about so long ago is actually happening, and it has l ...

The Intelligence Daily

• IntelFilter — February 14, 2011
  February 14, 2005: Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon Rafik Hariri killed, along...
• The week of the game changer in oil, or was it ...
  By Kurt Cobb This past week was supposedly the week of the game changer in the world of oil. Leaked...
• Tourism Boycott for Egyptian Reforms
  By Joel S. Hirschhorn How wonderful that the Egyptian dictator Mubarak has finally stepped down. ...
• Hold the Celebration: Egypt’s Struggle Just Be ...
  By Stephen Lendman Hopefully beneath celebratory euphoria, Egyptians know ousting Mubarak was...
• IntelFilter — February 11, 2011
  Update: What a coincidence: Hosni Mubarak resigns and hands over power to the Egyptian military on...

My AntiWar

• Arab women lead the charge for political chang ...
  rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r”The Arab world is in revolt against dictatorships,” and from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, women have been leading the charge for political freedoms and reforms as Emad Mekay reports.
• Egyptian activist Mona Seif: It’s a revo ...
  rr r r rr r rr r rr r rr r rr rrr r11 February 2011 will forever be an historic day for Egypt. It was then that weeks of protests around the country finally forced Hosni Mubarak, the US-backed president of the country for the past 30 years, to leave office. On 12 February, EI’s Matthew Cassel sp ...
• ON EGYPT, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE MIDDLE EA ...
  Summary: The United States does not really support democratization in Egypt or anywhere else in the Middle East, because regional governments that were genuinely reflective of their people?s preferences would not support many aspects of current U.S. policy in the region?whether with regard to t ...
• Pakistan Police Report Deems American Official ...
• Caregivers of Wounded Troops Still Waiting for ...

CASMII - Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran

• ON EGYPT, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE MIDDLE EA ...
  Summary: The United States does not really support democratization in Egypt or anywhere else in the Middle East, because regional governments that were genuinely reflective of their people’s preferences would not support many aspects of current U.S. policy in the region—whether with regard t ...
• The tyrant has gone. Now the real struggle be ...
  Summary: AsadabadiThe protesters have stripped Mubarak and his foreign backers of their authority. But the roots of despotism run deep source: The Guardianread more
• Egypt's joy as Mubarak quits
  Summary: The show of popular strength was enough to get rid of the current dictator. He'd only go if the US decided to take him away. After much wobbling, they did. They had no other serious option left. The victory, however, belongs to the Egyptian people whose unending courage and sacrific ...
• Why 5+1 Passed Over Cooperation Agenda?
  Summary: Various members of 5+1 do not follow the same strategic approach to Iran’s nuclear program. The United States sees the program as a strategic threat and Israelis consider it a threat to their very survival. The European troika considers the nuclear program from the viewpoint of nonp ...
• Washington Faces Arab Revolts Sacraficing Dict ...
  Summary: To understand the Obama regime’s policy toward Egypt, the Mubarak dictatorship and the popular uprising it is essential to locate it in an historical context. The essential point is that Washington, after several decades of being deeply embedded in the state structures of the Arab ...

The Daily Galaxy

• The Day a Half-Million Years of Starlight Zapp ...
  It came suddenly from the distant reaches of the Constellation Sagittarius, some 50,000 light years away. For a brief instant, a couple of tenths of a second, on December 27, 2004 an invisible burst of energy the equivalent of half...
• Saturn's Enceladus Spewing Geysers of "Primord ...
  Last March the Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion not from Yellowstone National Park, but from Saturn's moon Enceladus during a close flyby on 12 March. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon...
• Image of the Day: The "Gamma Ray Galaxy"
  If our eyes could see radio waves, the nearby galaxy Centaurus A would be one of the biggest and brightest objects in the sky, nearly 20 times the apparent size of a full moon. Human eyes can see wavelengths between...
• The World's First Laser Beam -"Invented to Mak ...
  Fast on the heels Flash Gordon, who made his first appearance to the world in a science-fiction comic strip published on January 7, 1934, the frontpage of The New York Times on July 11 blared TESLA, AT 78, BARES NEW...
• Ice-Age Trees Predicting Climate Change
  "While it will be fascinating to find out more about the earth 30,000 years ago perhaps more importantly we will have a better appreciation of the challenges of future climate change." Chris Turney of the University of Exeter A team...

Natural News

• Pediatricians warn about seizures from energy ...
  (NaturalNews) It's big news today: A new report released by conventional pediatricians in the U.S. warns that energy drinks may cause seizures, kidney damage and even death in children. "Across the world there are signs that for some people who consume these drinks, there are side effects," expl ...
• Major victory: Calgary city council votes to r ...
  (NaturalNews) Calgary, Canada, with a metropolitan population of well over one million, will no longer lace its water supply with toxic fluoride. After much heated debate from both sides, the Calgary city council voted 10 - 3 to stop adding the hazardous chemical byproduct of the aluminum and ph ...
• China stockpiles tens of thousands of tons of ...
  (NaturalNews) Touch-screen smart phones, laptop computers, flat screen televisions, hybrid car batteries, vehicle parts, wind turbines -- these and many other high tech products require certain rare earth minerals in order to function. And according to recent reports, China, the world leader in ...
• Fresh produce prices to double or triple follo ...
  (NaturalNews) In an article posted on January 3 of this year, I predicted a rise in food prices resulting from freak weather events (http://www.naturalnews.com/030903_predictions_2011.html). Here's what I said in that article:By the end of 2012, I predict significant food supply disruptions in N ...
• Was Judge John Roll the actual target of the G ...
  (NaturalNews) While most of the country has been focused on the tragic shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), the murder of Judge John McCarthy Roll, a federal judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, remains largely and strangely missing from most of the mainstream pr ...

Threat Level

• Op-Ed: A Civil Perspective on Cybersecurity
  Jane Holl Lute is the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Bruce McConnell is a Senior Counselor at the Department. How important is cyberspace? It is hardly possible to overstate it. The internet is an engine of immense wealth creation, a force for openness, transparency, innovation and fre ...
• Report: Stuxnet Hit 5 Gateway Targets on Its W ...
  Attackers behind the Stuxnet computer worm focused on targeting five organizations in Iran that they believed would get them to their final target in that country, according to a new report from security researchers. The five organizations, believed to be the first that were infected with the wo ...
• Ruling in Assange Extradition Case Expected Fe ...
  Final arguments in the extradition hearing of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were presented in a London court on Friday. The judge is expected to rule on February 24, but the case is likely to continue long afterward if either side files an appeal. Assange is being sought for questioning in S ...
• Researcher Makes Free Phone and Text Encryptio ...
  Free phone and text-messaging encryption software that has until now been available mostly to U.S. users can now be used in Egypt, according to the security researcher who developed it. The researcher, who goes by the name Moxie Marlinspike, released the software last year for use in the U.S. t ...
• Sony to Inspect PlayStation Hacker’s Hard Driv ...
  SAN FRANCISCO — PlayStation 3 jailbreaker George Hotz must allow console-maker Sony to comb through his computer’s hard drive and retrieve information “that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation,” a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s ruled from the bench in Son ...

PERRspectives : Blog

• Mitt Romney Rewrites His Book - and History
  Perpetual presidential candidate Mitt Romney has performed more flips than an X Games champion. The pro-choice Senate candidate (and Planned Parenthood donor) of 1994 did a hard right turn on abortion for the approaching 2008 GOP primaries, prompting adviser Michael Murphy to acknowledge "he's ...
• Kyl, Flake Highlight GOP's Broken Term Limits ...
  This week, Arizona Senator and Republican Minority Whip Jon Kyl declared he would not seek a fourth term in 2012. Of course, in 1994 Kyl, one of the signers of the GOP Contract with America, promised he would only serve two. And the ironies don't end there. Within hours of Kyl's announcement, ...
• The Return of the Republican Malpractice Fraud ...
  Back in September 2009, Republicans made the unfortunate selection Louisiana Congressman and physician Charles Boustany to deliver the GOP response to President Obama's address on health care. Unfortunate, it turned out, because tort reform champion Boustany himself has been repeatedly - and su ...
• The Great Tax Cutter? Obama, Not Reagan
  This weekend's Reagan centennial predictably produced paeans to the great tax cutter who never was. After all, in the wake of the his budget-busting 1981 tax cuts which ultimately tripled the national debt, Reagan raised taxes six of his eight years in office and 11 times overall. As it turns ...
• Republicans Threaten Judges. Again.
  On Tuesday, the Washington Post reported that federal judicial vacancies are reaching a "crisis point." As it turns out, when Republicans aren't turning to record-setting obstructionism to block President Obama's nominees to the federal bench, they are threatening the "umpires" of the law outri ...

Blackspot News Feed

• The Great Tax Cut Debate - Myths and Facts
  In the lame-duck Congress agenda, perhaps the most substantive debate is over whether to continue tax breaks for the rich. President Obama and most Congressional Democrats want to extend the Bush tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans, everyone making under $250,000. Republicans want to extend the ...
• What Landslide?: A Closer Look at the Midterm ...
  By now, everyone has heard of the conservative "tidal wave" that has overtaken Congress and most gubernatorial seats throughout the U.S. Indeed, anyone who has watched mainstream media coverage probably understands the midterm election results as a "rebuke of Obama's policies," with the "Tea Par ...
• INS Targets Community Leaders, Not Criminals
  When people the world over think of Arizona nowadays, they generally think of Governor Jan Brewer, Sheriff Joe Arpaio or state representative Russell Pearce – the poster children of the state's move toward legalized discrimination and racial profiling. If they are closely following the politics ...
• Dancing with Dynamite:How Citizens Can be More ...
  Two years ago, President Obama sailed into the White House on the winds of voters’ desire for widespread social change and their disgust with two wars and a massive recession associated with George W. Bush. Only two years into his presidency and the concurrent Democratic takeover of Congress, ho ...
• Pope Says Condoms Acceptable 'In Certain Cases ...
  Until now, the Vatican had prohibited the use of any form of contraception -- other than abstinence -- even as a guard against sexually transmitted disease.

Consortium News

• Mubarak's Dangerous 'Groupthink'
  The chasm between Egyptian President Mubarak and the protesters starts with their different realities, notes Lawrence Davidson. February 7, 2011
• NYT's Keller Disparages Assange
  New York Times editor Bill Keller mocks WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange but uses the group's documents, writes Coleen Rowley. February 6, 2011
• Ronald Reagan, Enabler of Atrocities
  Though hailed for making Americans feel good, Ronald Reagan facilitated horrible human rights crimes, recalls Robert Parry. February 6, 2011
• Egyptian Blogger Describes Clashes
  One of Egypt's top bloggers helped galvanize protests to dictator Hosni Mubarak and describes the cost to Dennis Bernstein. February 6, 2011
• Egypt Is Test of Obama's Promises
  In 2009, President Obama went to Cairo and promised "a new beginning," words now being put to the test, notes Kevin Zeese. February 5, 2011

CounterPunch

• :
• Alexander Cockburn : Autumn of the Driveler
• Carl Ginsburg : Life in the Low to Mid-Teens
• Alexander Cockburn : Loose-Lip McChrystal Did ...
• Alexander Cockburn : He Should Have Kept His M ...

Institute for Middle East Understanding

• Will the U.S. use democracy to divide Egyptian ...
  After hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators barricaded themselves in Cairo's Liberation [Tahrir] Square and demanded both the immediate departure of Mubarak and a total restructuring of the regime, the world's biggest nations reluctantly called on Mubarak to resign. He is accused ...
• Gazans hope for free border (Al Jazeera)
• Chief negotiator Saeb Erkat resigns over 'Pale ...
  The Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, tendered his resignation on Saturday amid deadlock in efforts to renew peace talks with Israel, a Palestinian official said. Mr Erekat s ...
• Palestinians promised general elections by Sep ...
  The Palestinian cabinet will tender resignations on Monday, after which Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will select new ministers at the request of President Mahmoud Abbas. The shakeup co ...
• Gadhafi: Palestinian refugees can use Mideast ...
  Palestinian refugees should capitalize on the wave of popular revolts in the Middle East by massing peacefully on the borders of Israel until it gives in to their demands, Libyan lead ...

Water - AlterNet

• Just How Dangerous is Fracking? We May Be Abou ...
  The EPA has proposed examining every aspect of hydraulic fracturing, from water withdrawals to waste disposal, according to a draft plan the agency.
• No Dirty Gold: This Valentine's Day, Say No to ...
  Communities affected by mining deserve meaningful changes that improve real conditions on the ground.
• Major Blow to Public Health and the Environmen ...
  Legislation just passed in Virginia would take away the State Water Control Board's authority in protecting waters from waste coming from surface coal mines.
• It's Official: Sea Lice From Salmon Farms Infe ...
  A new study is the first to show a potential role of salmon farms in sea lice transmission to juvenile sockeye salmon during their critical early migration to the sea.
• How Your Garden and Yard Can Weather Our Chang ...
  Increases in average temperatures will mean far less than learning to deal with unpredictable weather, storms and severe weather extremes.

Public Citizen in Texas

• Texas Barnett Shale community finalist for EPA ...
  According to the Fort Worth Star Telegram, the Barnett Shale natural gas fields of Denton and Wise counties are one of five finalists to be considered for a case study as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) examination of hydraulic fracturing.   That is not a competition I would ...
• WCS press conferance 100 [Flickr]
  Public Citizen Texas posted a photo:
• WCS press conferance 099 [Flickr]
  Public Citizen Texas posted a photo:
• WCS press conferance 098 [Flickr]
  Public Citizen Texas posted a photo:
• TransCanada sues to access pipeline land in So ...
  TransCanada has filed more than a dozen lawsuits to condemn land along the route of its Keystone XL oil pipeline in western South Dakota, trying to force the 47 percent of the landowners who hadnât signed easement agreements along the states portion of the Keystone XL route, even though it hasn’ ...

Unexplained Mysteries

• Shipwreck linked to 'Moby-Dick' found
  A shipwreck skippered by the captain who inspired Moby Dick has been found off Hawaii. Captain George Pollard Jr had commanded another boat just two y...
• Museum investigates mystery bee deaths
  A Toronto museum is attempting to determine why thousands of its bees have suddenly died. Over 20,000 bees housed in a glass-enclosed beehive exhibit ...
• Anti-android marriage activist speaks out
  An activist in Maryland has tried to make a case against the future of marriage to androids. In a bizarre move the activist suggested that the current...
• World's smallest engraving on a razor blade
  Graham Short has managed to produce the world's smallest engraving on the edge of a razor blade. It took the 64-year-old 150 attempts to carve the wor...
• Voynich manuscript age finally worked out
  Scientists have finally been able to carbon date the mysterious manuscript to the 15th century. Discovered by Wilfrid Voynich near Rome in 1912 the ma...

Grassroots

• Peasants from La Via Campesina join the World ...
  wsf-dakar6.jpg �read more
• At work: Grassroots International’s human righ ...
  2010_brazil_site_visit_046.jpg read more
• Manifest Haiti: U.S. Food Aid and Monsanto
  4681874221_9aa39475ec_b.jpg Make no mistake; Haiti needs seeds and food. Following last January�s devastating earthquake, it�s been all hands on deck in the small island nation�but decision making on rebuilding�is very often�in all hands b ...
• Man-made disasters need human solutions: Hondu ...
  45215_124975520882877_100001112887609_128997_8228661_n.jpg read more
• One Year on in Haiti
  Previous Publication Info Previous publication:� Huffington Post Outside Link:� One Year on in Haiti oneyear.jpg ...

Climate

• In Food Vs. Fuel Debate, U.S. Resolute on Etha ...
  Source:� Reuters Unlike in 2008, when a wave of global panic over grain supplies provoked a fierce "food vs. fuel" debate, there's so far only muted outcry over biofuels in the U.S.
• Australia: Industry Fears Doubled Carbon Price
  Source:� The Australian Industry fears that the Gillard government's price for a carbon tax of $20-$30 a ton next year will lead to a doubling in the cost of carbon when an emissions trading scheme begins in 2015-16.
• EU Could Meet Carbon Targets More Cheaply with ...
  Source:� Guardian Europe could save ��900bn and still hit its 2050 carbon reduction targets if it built fewer wind farms and more gas plants, a coalition of gas producers has told the European commission.
• Food, Demography Are Invisible Drivers in Egyp ...
  Source:� AFP Huge population growth and food insecurity count among the factors that fueled the revolution in Egypt and serve as a caution for other countries facing environmental overload, say analysts. �
• 'Bonfire of the Quangos' Threatens Climate Cha ...
  Source:� Guardian The independent status of Britain's key climate watchdog is under threat, environmentalists have warned, because it is on a list of quangos whose structure could be altered by ministers.

GreenBiz

• More Companies Now Willing to Pay Extra for Gr ...
  Increasingly, corporate real estate executives say they consider sustainability when making decisions about locations and that they are willing to pay more to lease green office space, according to recent research.
• Waste Management, Genomatica To Turn Trash Int ...
  �Chemicals company Genomatica has partnered with Waste Management to turn gas from trash into chemicals with the help of organisms.
• Coca-Cola Tackles Water Challenges with Mixed ...
  The company is making gains in packaging and water efficiency, but facing challenges in wastewater recycling. Absolute system-wide energy use edges higher.
• Four United Biscuits Sites Eliminate Landfill ...
  �Four of United Biscuits' snack-making facilities no longer send trash to be tossed in landfill.
• Hyundai Heating Up Competition for Fuel Effici ...
  The Korean automaker announced that it will step up its drive to build the most fuel-efficient cars around by publicly releasing its fleet's average fuel economy every month.

Reuters Global

• Egypt and Pakistan; something borrowed, someth ...
  The indifference to religious authority shown in Eygpt's uprising could be transformative in the Muslim world, and no more so than in Pakistan.
• U.S. State Dept. figures out how to say &#8220 ...
  It took a while, but the U.S. State Department is now tweeting in Arabic
• Where’s an embattled leader to go?
  Spa treatment or desert retreat? With so many possible locations from which to choose and no worries about stretching the 401K, where's an embattled leader to settle in retirement?
• Separating the Taliban from al Qaeda
  A report released by NYU argues that the Taliban would be ready to break with al Qaeda as part of a negotiated settlement to the Afghan war
• Army, Allah and America: on Pakistani pitfalls ...
  All countries are unique, but the challenges Pakistan has faced in the past, over Army, Allah and America, provide a guide to those which need to be addressed in Egypt.

Booman Tribune

• Pahlavi and Mubarak: The Rhyme of History
  In thinking about what is next for Hosni Mubarak, it pays to familiarize yourself with the long, sad odyssey of the Shah's exile (pdf) which saw him go from Teheran to Egypt to Morocco to the Bahamas to Mexico to New York (for cancer surgery) to Lackland Air Base's psych ward in San Antonio to P ...
• Is Frank Gaffney Legitimately Insane?
  I am beginning to wonder if it isn't an act. Maybe Frank Gaffney is genuinely insane. He's very well-educated. He has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown and a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins. Both degrees involved international affairs. He's not ignorant. He's got quite a strong ne ...
• Gulf Coast Beaches Still Unsafe
  Roll tape: I thinks that says it all, frankly. (h/t to Climate Denial Crock of the Week where I first found this video) Discuss
• Time to Pivot in the Middle East
  Haaretz offers good advice, with one significant caveat. Until the final moments of his rule, Mubarak championed "security and stability," and Israel saw his regime as a vital strategic pillar. His adherence to the peace treaty gave Israel prosperity, a quiet border, energy supplies, and the ...
• Cops Beat Crap Out of Rutgers Students
  Imagine this. You are asleep in a basement apartment with your roommate. You are both Rutgers students. One of you is white, the other an Arab American, and you are both 19. One of you has a father who was a cop. Police in New Brunswick, NJ have a warrant for a different student living in a ...

European Tribune

• Monday Open Thread
  xkcd funny Valentine...
• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch ...
  �A Daily Review Of International Online Media�Europeans on this date in history:1779 - death of...
• Sunday Open Thread
  Open!...
• European Salon de News, Discussion et Klatsch ...
  �A Daily Review Of International Online Media�Europe on this date in history:1881 - the feminist...
• Saturday Open Thread
  A Saturday in February on Earth...

Futurismic

• Personal Information: episode 24
  Image via WikipediaPersonal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals. Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness! Share and Enjoy:Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness!
• Arguments against life extension
  Via Michael Anissimov, here’s a spectacularly empty diatribe against “deathhackers” by TechCrunch‘s Paul Carr. Carr objects to the idea of radical life extension as advocated by transhumanists, which is fair enough, but as written here most of his objections seem to boil down to personal distate ...
• Daddy, where does innovation come from?
  Plenty of folk have been linking to this excerpt from Matt Ridley’s new book The Rational Optimist, and with good reason – it’s a provocative piece that plays to advocates (and opponents) of free trade, open exchange, copyright reform and much more. The basic thesis? The one persistent factor th ...
• Replacement arms: mechanical or biological?
  Prosthetic limbs are still in their infancy, but there’s a lot of progress being made: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is working with Darpa (who else?), and has a research grant for trying out their mind-controlled modular prosthetic arm on five test subjects over the next couple of ye ...
• How to be a futurist
  The irrepressible Scott “Basic Instructions” Meyer has the lowdown if you’re thinking of a career in futurism: Click through for the whole thing. But take it from me, being a futurist is a lot of work for no money. Or maybe that’s just the way I do it… and I’ve never been featured in a [...]Foll ...

Therapy News

• Comedy and Tragedy, Depression and Recovery in ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline An interview with actress Jodie Foster is the cover story for the Winter 2011 issue of the National Alliance on Mental Illness’s publication Advocate. In the interview, Foster speaks about filming the upcoming movie The Beaver, in which she plays the wife of a man ...
• What the Psychology of Sight Teaches Us About ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Summary Often, the work of psychologists and neuroscientists provides insight into the realm of therapy and counseling by breaking down, into very small and specific actions, how and why our thoughts and actions relate the way they do. Sometimes this new knowledge is direc ...
• How We See Others, How We See Ourselves
  A GoodTherapy.org News Summary Eating disorders and low self-esteem are just two of the problems that have been linked to media exposure for adolescent girls. We often see ourselves not in light of our own strengths and attributes, but in light of the perceived strengths and attributes of others ...
• Personal Feedback as Pre-Therapy Intervention ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline An individual who exhibit signs of addictive behavior—such as increased internet gambling or alcohol consumption—may get to a point where finding an addictions counselor is necessary to regain control of their life. But researchers at the University of Missouri ha ...
• Spending Trends: Mental Health vs. Health on t ...
  A GoodTherapy.org News Headline While health care spending has risen dramatically in recent years, spending on mental health care—psychotherapy, family counseling, substance abuse counseling, etc.—hasn’t matched step, according to comparative data just released by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Me ...

Mountaintop Removal

• Mountaintop removal spurs musical protest - Th ...
  Mountaintop removal spurs musical protest The News Record The Lucy Becker Trio performs Appalachian-inspired music at Southgate House to raise money to stop mountaintop removal in ... and more��
• Kentucky group shows love for mountains - UT D ...
  Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky group shows love for mountains UT Daily Beacon The group will march through the capital of Kentucky, rallying against the practice of mountaintop removal, a method of coal mining that literally destroys ... Sturgill: Coal companies take what they need, leave des ...
• Book Review | Removing Mountains: Extracting N ...
  Book Review | Removing Mountains: Extracting Nature and Identity in the ... Louisville Courier-Journal While activists against mountaintop removal coal mining protest the destruction of the mountaintops, burial of the headwaters of the rivers, demolishing of ... and more��
• Mountaintop removal spurs musical protest - Th ...
  Mountaintop removal spurs musical protest The News Record The Lucy Becker Trio performs Appalachian-inspired music at Southgate House to raise money to stop mountaintop removal in the Appalachian Mountains. ... Kentucky group shows love for mountainsUT Daily Beacon �I Love Mountains� March Foll ...
• Sturgill: Coal companies take what they need, ...
  Lexington Herald Leader Sturgill: Coal companies take what they need, leave destruction Lexington Herald Leader 114 in Floyd County to protest mountaintop removal coal mining Feb. 3. The group plans to join the "I Love Mountains" rally today in Frankfort. ... Book Review | Removing Mountains: E ...

Memeorandum

• U.S. Deficit Expected to Spike (Wall Street Jo ...
  Wall Street Journal: U.S. Deficit Expected to Spike  —  WASHINGTON—The White House projected Monday that the federal deficit would spike to $1.65 trillion in the current fiscal year, the largest dollar amount ever, adding pressure on Democrats and Republicans to tackle growing levels of debt.
• Flake to announce Senate run (Jennifer Epstein ...
  Jennifer Epstein / The Politico: Flake to announce Senate run  —  Rep. Jeff Flake will announce on Monday that he is running for the Senate seat being vacated by Jon Kyl, who said last week that he is retiring and will not seek reelection in 2012.  —  Flake, who like Kyl is a Republican, is exp ...
• Eat The Future - On Friday, House Republicans ...
  Paul Krugman / New York Times: Eat The Future  —  On Friday, House Republicans unveiled their proposal for immediate cuts in federal spending.  Uncharacteristically, they failed to accompany the release with a catchy slogan.  So I'd like to propose one: Eat the Future.  —  I'll explain in a min ...
• Flake to announce Senate bid Monday (Arizona R ...
  Arizona Republic: Flake to announce Senate bid Monday  —  Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., will announce Monday that he will run for the U.S. Senate being vacated by Sen. Jon Kyl, a source has told The Arizona Republic.  —  Flake, who was first elected to Congress in 2000, has long expressed interest ...
• Would Women Support Newt Gingrich for Presiden ...
  Jill Lawrence / Politics Daily: Would Women Support Newt Gingrich for President? … It's November 2012 and voters have a choice between President Barack Obama and former Speaker Newt Gingrich.  Given the gulf between their personal lives, what's a social conservative to do?  More to the point, ...

Energy & Environment News

• Green: Bare-Bones Irrigation in India
  Holes are punched into simple pipes connected to a barrel of water atop a stool.
• Gas Plant in Alaska to Be Closed
  The energy companies said that market conditions contributed to the decision to shut the facility.
• Link by Link: A Conglomerate’s Tack to ...
  Skirting the legal protections for satire, Koch Industries is suing to find out who created a fake news release purported to be from the company.
• Europe Moves to Stabilize Its Energy Supplies
  Under the proposal, the European Commission would be able to help member states reach contracts with foreign governments if the deals would affect the bloc’s energy security.
• Hopes Dim for China’s Wheat Crop
  Chinese officials are exhorting officials to do everything possible to cope with the drought in the country’s wheat belt, a crisis that has global implications if China is forced to import grain.

5+ quakes - 7 days

• M 5.0, offshore Maule, Chile
  Monday, February 14, 2011 10:21:23 UTCMonday, February 14, 2011 07:21:23 AM at epicenterDepth: 10.00 km (6.21 mi)
• M 6.1, Tonga
  Saturday, February 12, 2011 17:57:56 UTCSunday, February 13, 2011 06:57:56 AM at epicenterDepth: 81.00 km (50.33 mi)
• M 5.6, Molucca Sea
  Saturday, February 12, 2011 11:55:23 UTCSaturday, February 12, 2011 07:55:23 PM at epicenterDepth: 26.90 km (16.71 mi)
• M 5.1, Bougainville region, Papua New Guinea
  Saturday, February 12, 2011 08:20:03 UTCSaturday, February 12, 2011 06:20:03 PM at epicenterDepth: 59.10 km (36.72 mi)
• M 5.4, southwestern Siberia, Russia
  Thursday, February 10, 2011 05:35:17 UTCThursday, February 10, 2011 12:35:17 PM at epicenterDepth: 14.50 km (9.01 mi)

China Dialogue

• The Chinese data chase
  Fearful of stifling economic development, China’s local environmental authorities are still falling short on data disclosure, seven grassroots groups found in an innovative study. Amy Sim explains.“As a civil society organisation, we must step up our work to support information disclosure, incre ...
• Hydropower’s green excuse
  Seven years ago, public pressure brought plans to dam China’s Nu River to a halt. But top officials, bolstered by clean-energy targets, are backing the scheme once again, reports Meng Si.“Hydropower development is a must,” said a senior official from China’s top economic planners, the National D ...
• Unscrambling the price spike
  The brutal drought in China’s grain-producing heartlands is compounding global fears over rising food prices. Now facing the spectre of hoarding and export bans, governments must find a way to work together, writes Alex Evans.What a rollercoaster ride the story of global food prices has been thi ...
• Costly goodnight for toxic US town
  The pollute first, pay later model is catching up with America, now forced to finance ever-mounting clean-up jobs – like this one in the ghostly mining town of Picher. Kristi Eaton reports.It has been called the most toxic town in America, and now, less than 100 years after it received its chart ...
• The shadow over rural China
  Horrified by reports of Chinese “cancer villages”, Liu Lican travelled deep into the countryside to find out more. Here, he tells Zhang Yingying what he saw, and why it should prompt others to act.In 2008, Liu Lican visited 20 “cancer villages” in 20 provinces at his own expense, seeing at first ...

AlterNet Top Stories

• U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thugs Used 'Terror To ...
  And why the Chamber's hired goons are highly likely to get away with it.
• Meet the HR3 Ten: Mark Critz
  Ten Democrats cosponsored H.R.3, even with language redefining rape; four of those ten also apparently donât care if pregnant women die. Sarah Jaffe takes a closer look at all ten, find all posted to date here. Originally posted at RH Reality Check.Meet Mark Critz. He got a huge chunk of cash f ...
• Ronald Reagan becomes new ‘tool’ i ...
  I haven’t weighed on the conservative mass inconization of former President Ronald Reagan because to a degree, it’s so amusing. While many on our side of the spectrum have pointed out flaws in Reagan’s policies that should make today’s conservatives shiver at the notion of making him their hero, ...
• Killing the Internet Not Just a Problem in Egy ...
  As we speak, Egypt is struggling with near-total Internet and communications shut-off, and not just Egyptians are grappling with the implications. Can the flow of social media information to an entire country simply be cut? Apparently yes. And that’s not just an Egyptian concern. Itâs very much ...
• Kermit Gosnell’s Horror Show
  Written by Katha Pollit, posted by RHRealityCheck.org – News, commentary and community for reproductive health and justice.This article originally appeared in the February 14, 2011 edition of The Nation and can also be found on The Nation’s web site.Blood-spattered floors. Cat feces. Broken equi ...

Threat Level

• Op-Ed: A Civil Perspective on Cybersecurity
  Jane Holl Lute is the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security. Bruce McConnell is a Senior Counselor at the Department. How important is cyberspace? It is hardly possible to overstate it. The internet is an engine of immense wealth creation, a force for openness, transparency, innovation and fre ...
• Report: Stuxnet Hit 5 Gateway Targets on Its W ...
  Attackers behind the Stuxnet computer worm focused on targeting five organizations in Iran that they believed would get them to their final target in that country, according to a new report from security researchers. The five organizations, believed to be the first that were infected with the wo ...
• Ruling in Assange Extradition Case Expected Fe ...
  Final arguments in the extradition hearing of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange were presented in a London court on Friday. The judge is expected to rule on February 24, but the case is likely to continue long afterward if either side files an appeal. Assange is being sought for questioning in S ...
• Researcher Makes Free Phone and Text Encryptio ...
  Free phone and text-messaging encryption software that has until now been available mostly to U.S. users can now be used in Egypt, according to the security researcher who developed it. The researcher, who goes by the name Moxie Marlinspike, released the software last year for use in the U.S. t ...
• Sony to Inspect PlayStation Hacker’s Hard Driv ...
  SAN FRANCISCO — PlayStation 3 jailbreaker George Hotz must allow console-maker Sony to comb through his computer’s hard drive and retrieve information “that relates to the hacking of the PlayStation,” a federal judge ruled Thursday. U.S. District Judge Susan Illston’s ruled from the bench in Son ...

Reuters - Most Popular Articles

• Iran forces in streets to thwart opposition ra ...
  TEHRAN (Reuters) - Scores of Iranian security forces deployed in the streets of Tehran on Monday to prevent a planned opposition rally in solidarity with popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia that toppled their presidents, witnesses said.
• Obama budget to kick off U.S. battle on spendi ...
  WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will offer a 2012 budget plan on Monday that aims to slash $1.1 trillion from the U.S. deficit over 10 years, launching a fight on fiscal priorities with Republicans who want even deeper spending cuts.
• UPDATE 1-Mobile Fair-Smartphone makers woo dev ...
  * Phone makers vie for developer attention at mobile fair
• Japan economy shrinks but exports may fuel rec ...
  TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2010 but analysts expect a recovery this year as stronger exports to China and other parts of fast-growing Asia offset persistently weak domestic demand.
• Video of Boeing’s 747-8 Intercontinental Being ...
  Here is a quick video showing how Boeing kept the 747-8 Intercontinental hidden and then showed it off during their unveiling event inside the Boeing factory today. They had music playing and people on stage. It was a surprise when the curtains fell quickly and suddenly to show the orange liveri ...

IntelNews

• Mubarak delayed exit in order to shift secret ...
  One of the reasons why Egyptâs disgraced ex-president kept prolonging his rule amidst ferocious anti-government protests this month, was to transfer billions of dollars-worth of personal assets into bank accounts around the world. Continue reading →
• General arrested in Taiwan’s biggest spy scand ...
  A "tall, beautiful and chic" Chinese female operative, who held an Australian passport, appears to be behind Taiwanâs most serious espionage scandal in almost half a century, according to news reports. Continue reading →
• News you may have missed #476
  Canada not in need of CIA-type agency says official. Australia and US sign secret satellite spy deal. US judge bars passport from ex-CIA agentâs trial. Continue reading →
• News you may have missed #475 (Arab revolution ...
  Obama 'disappointed' with US intelligence on Tunisia. An Intelligence Failure in Egypt? Did US intelligence fail in North Africa? Continue reading →
• Embassy cables show US spied on UK Foreign Off ...
  The latest release of US embassy cables from whistleblower website WikiLeaks shows that the US Department of State ordered its diplomats to actively report on the personal lives of British Foreign Office officials. On several instances, American diplomats in London appear to have reported on the ...

War is a Crime.org

• US Misinformation: International Law is Clear ...
  By Yasmeen Ali Lahore, Pakistan--You cannot open the TV, or read a paper here without more and more news about Raymond Davis and his murderous act. His killing on Jan. 27 of two young Pakistanis has created international waves, too, plunging the Pakistan-America relationship into stormy waters. ...
• The Worst Thing Ever Invented
  In this age of supposedly fighting against rulers and on behalf of oppressed peoples, the Vietnam War offers an interesting case in which the U.S. policy was to avoid overthrowing the enemy government but to work hard to kill its people. To overthrow the government in Hanoi, it was feared, would ...
• Audio of David Swanson and Marc Steiner at Bus ...
  David Swanson Podcast From Marc Steiner David Swanson is a writer and progressive political activist. �His latest book is War is a Lie. We recently interviewed David Swanson at Busboys and Poets in Washington, DC. �Here is our interview, along with the lively audience Q & A. read more
• 60min: Wael Ghonim and Egypt's New Age
  "I wrote, 'Dear Western governments. You have been supporting the regime that was oppressing us for 30 years. Please don't get involved now. We don't need you.' " - Wael Ghonim 13 Feb. 2011 � Wael Ghonim, speaking with Harry Smith in an interview for "60 Minutes." (CBS) � February 13, 2011 - Har ...
• Egypt at Dawn's Early Light
  Egypt at Dawn's Early Light - by Stephen Lendman What's unfolding looks different than what protesters demand. World headlines partly reflect it, mostly outside America, especially on US television reporting an illusion of change, when, in fact, coup d'etat rule is in charge, headed by authorita ...

Grist - News

• Fish consumption at all time high, says U.N. a ...
  by Agence France-Presse. ROME -- Fish consumption reached record levels in 2010 and world stocks need to be urgently rebuilt, experts at the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said in a report Monday. "The contribution of fish to global diets has reached a record of almost 17 kil ...
• Bordeaux vineyards go organic, slowly but sure ...
  by Agence France-Presse. BORDEAUX, France -- Two historical Bordeaux wine estates have gone green, breaking a long resistance to organic viticulture amongst the region's elite producers. "Still in 2011, there are people who do not trust in the fact that it is possible to grow organic in Bor ...
• U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon shifts focus from clima ...
  by Agence France-Presse. LONDON -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is shifting his focus away from involvement in international climate change talks and toward new areas in the fight against global warming. Ban is to redirect his efforts from trying to push forward the international clim ...
• New Senate bill aims to avoid next oil spill
  by Agence France-Presse. WASHINGTON -- Senators plan to introduce in the coming weeks new legislation aiming to prevent another disastrous oil spill like last year's massive gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) said Wednesday. A similar bill that would revise offshore ...
• Big cities are not always the biggest polluter ...
  by Agence France-Presse. WASHINGTON -- Big cities like New York, London, and Shanghai send less pollution into the atmosphere per capita than places like Denver and Rotterdam, said a study released Tuesday. Researchers examined data from 100 cities in 33 nations for clues about which were ...

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Technorati - What's Hot in Blogs

• CPAC 2011 was a Carnival of Weirdness
  The sky is always falling in the conservative universe. When they're not blaming you, they're blaming each other.
• Stats Show Valentine's Day is Bad for Your Rel ...
  There are times I feel sorry for single people. Valentine's Day is not one of those times.
• Valentine's Day is for Suckers, Not Romantics
  Valentine's Day flowers at double the cost? Let's not and say we did.
• Self-Sustaining
  How a television show gave me ideas about saving money, time, and the environment.
• Dog adoption
  Pet adoption

Time - Top Stories

• Will Egypt's Military Fulfill Its Promises of ...
  As the country adjusts to a post-Mubarak era, the generals in charge say elections will be held in six months. But many wonder how much of their power they'll surrender
• The Four Pieces of the Great Spending Debate
  Starting this week deficits and spending will take center stage in Washington. And barring a total meltdown in the Middle East, they will hog the stage for the next three months
• Food Prices: Crisis Deepens as Biofuels Consum ...
  Diverting grains to produce gasoline is one of a number of factors, including bad weather and economic growth, that have created record high food prices
• Why Mubarak Should Have Seen Egypt's Revolutio ...
  If Hosni Mubarak had noticed the worldwide trend of steady improvement in human health, wealth and literacy, he'd have known he couldn't avoid his people's demand for democratic governance
• Energy Drinks May Harm Health, Especially for ...
  A new report, published Monday by the journal Pediatrics, suggests that energy drinks may be dangerous to children's health

Farming Pathogens

• The Scientific American
  Science is the business right now. If the science works, the business works, and vice versa. –Craig Venter Bird flu marinates a chicken in its own juices, a satay best avoided whatever the menu special. In such short an order better for the bistro than the barn, infected birds rapidly bleed from ...
• Fearful Symmetry
  A colleague, genuinely perplexed, even outraged, asked me what the fuck was going on with all those dead birds in Arkansas. And, tongue-in-cheek, what would Mulder and Scully say? Scully: Mulder, it’s me. I got your message. Really, Beebe, Arkansas for a flock of dead birds? Does Skinner approve ...
• The Great Recession Flu
  Swine flu is so 2009. Like La Roux and v-neck t-shirts. And yet the United Kingdom is presently suffering a swine flu attack worse than anything it faced in 2009. The number of flu patients in intensive care has risen by 60 per cent in the past week to 738, four times greater than at [...]
• Alien vs. Predator
  Dallas: [looks at a pen being dissolved by alien's body fluid] I haven’t seen anything like that except, uh, molecular acid. Brett: It must be using it for blood. Parker: It’s got a wonderful defense mechanism. You don’t dare kill it. –Alien (1979) NASA announced earlier this month one of its re ...
• That’s the Thicke
  The logistics of a just, equitable and healthy agricultural landscape here in the United States would remain a problem if Michael Pollan himself, Wendell Berry, or better yet Fred Magdoff were appointed Secretary of Agriculture. Decades-long efforts pealing back agribusiness both as paradigm and ...

Suzie-Q

• Palin Hires Chief Of Staff For PAC
  Palin hires chief of staff for PAC (AP) – 1 day ago JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Sarah Palin has hired longtime political strategist Michael Glassner as chief of staff of her political action committee. The hire, confirmed to The Associated Press on Saturday morning by Palin aide Rebecca Mansour and Sa ...
• Egypt’s Military Dissolves Parliament
  Egypt’s Military Dissolves Parliament; Calls for Vote The New York Times- By ANTHONY SHADID and J. DAVID GOODMAN Published: February 13, 2011 CAIRO — The Egyptian military consolidated its control Sunday over what it has called a democratic transition from three decades of President Hosni Mubara ...
• Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll For Second Conse ...
  CPAC Straw Poll 2011: Ron Paul Wins For Second Consecutive Year HuffPost- First Posted: 02-12-11 05:11 PM   |   Updated: 02-13-11 12:57 AM Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) came out on top in the much-anticipated 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll, according to Fox News. Human Events ...
• Arrest Warrant Issued For Musharraf: In Connec ...
  Musharraf Arrest Warrant Issued: Former Pakistan President Sought In Connection With Benazir Bhutto Assassination ASIF SHAHZAD and HEIDI VOGT 02/12/11 11:32 AM   via Huffpo ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani court issued an arrest warrant for ousted military leader Pervez Musharraf on Saturday over allegat ...
• Afternoon Jukebox- Rock The Casbah
  The Clash – Rock The Casbah

Solari

• Happy Valentine’s Day!
  YouTube
• Imagining Life Without Fannie and Freddie
  By Gretchen Morgenson KUDOS to Treasury and the Department of Housing and Urban Development for some straight talk about the nation’s broken mortgage system. A report to Congress from those departments, published on Friday, provided some long-awaited analysis by the Obama administration about w ...
• Morales Flees Food Price Protests
  Bolivian president Evo Morales has abruptly left the southern highlands city of Oruro after protesters angered by rising prices booed him and set off dynamite. Mr Morales cancelled plans to participate in a march on Thursday, instead returning to the capital La Paz, after people in the mining c ...
• Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext Inc. Confi ...
  NEW YORK and FRANKFURT, 9 February 2011 – In light of recent market rumors, Deutsche Börse AG and NYSE Euronext (NYX) today confirmed that they are engaged in advanced discussions regarding a potential business combination. They cautioned that no agreement has been reached.  They also noted tha ...
• Suez Canal 101
  From Wikipedia The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس‎ Qanāt al-Sūwais) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation around Africa. The northern ter ...

Insurgency Watch - Newswire

• Times Scare
  ISLAMABAD–The apparent links between Pakistan and Faisal Shahzad are certainly cause for concern, but let’s not lose site of things here. The attack in Times Square was a fizzle. The rush to claim credit is a bit embarassing for the TTP and looks like it was — like the attack itself — a rush job ...
• Stepping up - University at Buffalo The Spectr ...
  Stepping up University at Buffalo The Spectrum The president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari, recognized the direness of the situation and began to mobilize military forces to combat the Taliban. ... and more��
• Obama, us leaders should contemplate future of ...
  BBC News Obama, us leaders should contemplate future of Afghan women Chicago Tribune Would nuclear-armed Pakistan become even more vulnerable to its own Taliban insurgency? Will a defeat embolden America's enemies? That line of thinking must ... Vietnam syndrome has begun in AfghanistanSri Lank ...
• Officials: Campus blasts perplexing - United P ...
  Officials: Campus blasts perplexing United Press International ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The International Islamic University, where bomb blasts killed at least six people, is a unique Pakistani institution ... and more��
• Schools closed in Pakistan after bombing - GMA ...
  Schools closed in Pakistan after bombing GMA news.tv An Associated Press reporter met three Taliban fighters Tuesday traveling in a car with darkened windows at Shaktoi, a town close to the border between ... and more��

AlterNet - Rights and Liberties

• Right-Wing Disunity? Clashes at This Year's Co ...
  If there was any unifying theme to this year's conference, it was conflict between different factions on the Right.
• US Chamber's Lobbyists Have Firm Investigate O ...
  New emails reveal that the private spy company investigated the families and children of the Chamber's political opponents.
• Horrific Bill Takes the GOP's War on Women to ...
  This bill would let public hospitals refuse to provide emergency abortion care even when necessary to save a woman’s life.
• US Chamber's Lobbyists Has Firm To Investigate ...
  New emails reveal that the private spy company investigated the families and children of the Chamber's political opponents.
• No Dirty Gold: This Valentine's Day, Say No to ...
  Communities affected by mining deserve meaningful changes that improve real conditions on the ground.

Sideways News

• Could you be a 10:10 community champion?
  The Guardian Newspaper and Franny Armstrong, through the Guardian 10:10 campaign, challenge organisations and individuals to cut their carbon footprint by 10%.
• Brit mums strict about eco-chores
  Families in the UK are increasingly likely to be nagged about doing eco-chores, a new study conducted on behalf of the Energy Saving Trust has revealed.
• UK venue offers rainforest weddings
  Getting married in a luscious rainforest has never been easier or more eco-friendly, according to the Eden Project.
• Battery recycling 'too difficult'
  The European Recycling Platform (ERP) reports that while only a third of households at present recycle batteries, four out of five said they would do so if it was made easier.
• 10 green resolutions to save you money
  By taking green steps at home, you can save money and make life easier. Being smart about waste, consumption and resources won't only win you the thanks of forthcoming generations: you'll feel the financial benefit immediately. 1. Make money from old electronics As your electronic goods become o ...

Fabius Maximus

• Excessive optimism is our enemy, with Coal-to- ...
  Summary:  Confidence provides strengths for a society, but only when coupled with clear vision.  Unfortunately modern America too-often too often sees the future only in terms of doomsters’ pessimism and advocates’ optimism.  Here we have a case study of the latter. In the run-up to the 2008 ...
• A powerful story about America’s dealing ...
  Summary:  We remain ignorant about the world because we reply on the news media for information.  Recent events provide a powerful case study illustrating not only how the US news media misinforms us but why the American government has a dark reputation in much of the world. The sanitized ve ...
• Update about the potential for another year of ...
  Summary:  We have a fevered desire to know the future, especially about the dynamics that shape our lives.  Giving us confident answers pays well, tempting even the best of professionals.  Here we examine a case study:  the La Nina related weather and bad harvests.  Another in a series about foo ...
• Update about the weather – on the Sun. P ...
  Summary:  The current fad for “black swans” just reflects our disinterest in non-consensus thinking.  We prefer the clear stories the news media tells us about poorly understood things (both natural and social phenomena).  We would be less often surprised if we would only open our vision to s ...
• A bad, likely, and seldom mentioned scenario f ...
  Summary:  Summary: Rising inflation would be bad. But there is something that might make inflation far worse, is more likely, and almost never mentioned: prices rising faster than wages.. About the past The cost of living rose during the great inflation of the 1970′s.  But people got by becau ...

Open Your Eyes News

• New View of Human Evolution? 3.2 Million-Year- ...
  ScienceDaily — A fossilized foot bone recovered from Hadar, Ethiopia, shows that by 3.2 million years ago human ancestors walked bipedally with a modern human-like foot, a report that appears Feb. 11 in the journal Science, concludes.  The fossil, a fourth metatarsal, or midfoot bone, indicates ...
• Corruption scandals hit equity mutual funds
  Reuters – Corruption scandals and an investor pullback from emerging markets left Indian equity funds among the worst performers in January, while euro zone funds proved the biggest gainers, Lipper data showed. Funds investing in the world’s largest democracy represented nine of the bottom 10 wo ...
• Rallies near UN call for human rights in Egypt
  Associated Press – Egyptian-Americans and human rights activists have rallied in New York to celebrate the ouster of Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak and to call for human rights reforms in that nation. The two separate demonstrations Saturday near the United Nations came one day after Mubarak was ousted f ...
• Diet soda may be tied to heightened risk of st ...
  Herald Sun – Diet soda drinkers are probably doing their waistlines a favor, but may also be boosting their risk of having a stroke, according to research released by researchers from the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. The study monitored the health of more than 2500 patients ove ...
• Smallpox virus: crunch time for the fate of a ...
  The Guardian – Smallpox has long been eradicated but the virus still exists at two high-security labs. Should these stocks now be destroyed? Twenty miles south-east of Novosibirsk, in Siberia, several dozen concrete buildings have been erected outside the town of Koltsovo. The settlement is ring ...

The Progressive Realist

• The Taliban's Egypt Flailing
  Spencer Ackerman reports that the Taliban is reaching to align itself with the protesters in Egypt: It doesn’t matter to the Taliban that Egypt lacks the 98,000-strong U.S. troop presence that Afghanistan has, nor that President Obama, at the very least, offered Hosni Mubarak the bare minim ...
• Anatomy of Egypt's Youth Revolution
  The New York Times humanizes the ongoing Pan-Arabian revolution with uncharacteristically poetic prose that describes two years of collaboration between Tunisian and Egyptian youth: The exchange on Facebook was part of a remarkable two-year collaboration that has given birth to a new force i ...
• After Mubarak -- What Does Israel Do?
  After almost thirty years President Hosni Mubarak is gone. For the people of Egypt and especially those with the courage to have taken to the streets it is no doubt a day that is impossible to put into words. For the rest of us, a day of awe, celebration and inspiration. Some however have pro ...
• Egypt-US Relations: The Uncomfortable Hypothe ...
  When big shifts occur in the world, like the successful revolution (thus far) in Egypt, Americans like to race toward ideological frames that fit the moment and which should be applied to every nation in a similar circumstance, perhaps to Algeria, Jordan, Morocco, Yemen, even Saudi Arabia. Polit ...
• Seven Reasons to be Pessimistic about the Pros ...
  In the past this blog has advocated of a process of reconciliation with the Taliban tied to government reform involving a decentralization of power.  This process of reconciliation is the best way to ensure that at the end of the war a power vacuum resulting from a U.S. withdrawal does not lead ...

TAPPED - The American Prospect

• The Individual Mandate: Not a Slippery Slope.
  Scott Lemieux says that requiring all Americans to have health insurance is not only constitutional, but necessary to make health-care reform work. But there are many things preventing us from broccoli tyranny; the slope is actually not so slippery. The contention that upholding the ACA would a ...
• The Obama Budget, Version 2010.
  President Obama won't make his official budget request until later this morning, but at this point, the contents aren't a secret: as a first step toward addressing deficits, Obama will propose cuts in several programs -- Pell Grants for summer and graduate students, federal assistance for he ...
• Boehner and the Birthers.
  Sigh: MR. GREGORY: As the speaker of the House, as a leader, do you not think it's your responsibility to stand up to that kind of ignorance? SPEAKER BOEHNER: David, it's not my job to tell the American people what to think. Our job in Washington is to listen to the American people. Having ...
• Pan-Arabian Revolution and Renaissance.
  Nothing since Israel's birth has sparked demonstrations of pan-Arabian identity like the self-immolation of a 26-year-old street vendor in Tunisia. When Mohamed Bouazizi doused himself with paint thinner and struck a match on December 17, 2010, it ignited a shared sense of indignity�among those ...
• A Presidency Waived; a Constitution Scrapped.
  "Constitutional crisis" is an understatement. The revolution in Egypt appears to have left the country's constitution in tatters, with military commanders apparently operating outside the legal framework to restore order, protect Egyptians' natural rights, and heed protesters' demands. Hosni Mu ...

Buzzflash

• CPAC is a Dinosaur that Belongs in the Creatio ...
  MARK KARLIN, BUZZFLASH EDITOR FOR TRUTHOUT It is fascinating to read about the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) cloud of delusion. If any annual gathering symbolizes the fringe fanaticism associated with advocates of "American exceptionalism," it is CPAC, the yearly gathering o ...
• Obama's Ironic Legacy Might Be That He Continu ...
  WALTER BRASCH FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT The U.S. House of Representatives this week did something it should have done years ago—it blocked the continuation of three of the more controversial parts of the PATRIOT Act. The vote was 277–148 to continue the Act, but a 2/3 majority (284 of those ...
• Symbol of Wall Street to be Sold to Germany
  MARK KARLIN, BUZZFLASH EDITOR FOR TRUTHOUT While the right wing claims that American capitalism leads the world, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is about to be acquired by new owners in Germany. That's right, long the symbol of the so-called "free market," the likely sale symbolizes that ...
• The Reagan Myth
  Body As we take note of what would be Ronald Reagan's one hundredth birthday it remains a mystery why he is revered by so many Americans and held up as an icon by the Republican Party. Everyone in the GOP takes a crack at explaining why he is a splendid example of everything a ...
• The Resurrection of Ted Haggard as Orchestrate ...
  BILL BERKOWITZ FOR BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT "I bought the drugs to enhance masturbation. Because what crystal meth does - Mike [Jones] taught me this - crystal meth makes it so you don't ejaculate soon. So you can watch porn and masturbate for a long time."  - Ted Haggard to GQ's Kevin Roose Four ...

Glenn Greenwald - Salon

• The leaked campaign to attack WikiLeaks and it ...
  A proposal to help Bank of America destroy the group and its advocates reveal a deeply lawless mindset
• The Tea Party and civil liberties
  Numerous right-wing House members oppose the Patriot Act extension; is there a potential for a right-left alliance?
• Obama's man in Cairo
  No discussion of Omar Suleiman is complete without examining his brutal and repressive history
• The Egyptian mirror
  Shocking stories about a country where "wealth bought political power," and a close friend who suddenly isn't
• Guantanamo death highlights U.S. detention pol ...
  A 48-year-old Afghan citizen dies at the camp after 9 years in a cage and no charges filed against him

The BiPartisan Report

• Sex, lies and ‘edited’ videotape
• Nihilism 1 American People Nil
• Sheldon Whitehouse brings truth to the Senate ...
• Pesky facts spoil GOP’s mammogram arguments
• Those holier than thou Conservatives

Sciencebase

• Count envy, satisfaction and achievement
  A friend of mine, András Paszternák, runs a thriving online nanotech community called Nanopaprika (he’s in Hungary, hence the name). He started the community (for which I am a Scientific & Advisory Board member) when he was doing his PhD and it has grown rapidly into one of the most targeted n ...
• An octet of science news
  Perfect Perfume – a video for Valentine’s Day – A bit of fun for Valentine's Day as the team combinesto make our very own "perfect perfume"! The lingering risk of thirdhand smoke – As Dubowski suggests, the notion of thirdhand smoke putatively being hazardous to health is controversial. Research ...
• Breaking down technology transfer barriers
  Breaking down the technical and legal barriers are essential if technology transfer from academia to industry is to be done efficiently and effectively, according to researchers in Spain. Antonio Hidalgo, Professor of Technology Strategy at the Technical University of Madrid and José Albors, Pro ...
• The trouble with encryption
  Lots of us encrypt files using the likes of AxCrypt and TrueCrypt. If there’s a risk of losing a device carrying sensitive information such as contacts, email, bank statements, invoices etc, then it is worth using such a tool. The ease with which a file, folder or even complete hard drive or USB ...
• SpectroscopyNOW – February 1 issue
  Valentine’s Day science – Spring may not quite be in the air, but Valentine's Day is on the way and love is certainly on the minds of researchers in the US. A small functional magnetic resonance imaging has been used to investigate love. The study revealed brain activity in 10 women and 7 men wh ...

Common Dreams-Progressive Newswire

• Egypt: Frank Wisner and the Nexus of US Intere ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2011Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA)Envoy to Egypt Frank Wisner stated this weekend that “President Mubarak’s continued leadership is critical.”read more
• Free Press Blasts FCC for Asking Questions Alr ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2011Free PressFederal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski released his proposal to revamp the Universal Service Fund and a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to update its broadband data collection efforts at the agency’s open meeting Tuesday. r ...
• Amnesty International Says Libyan Writer is Ja ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2011Amnesty International - USAA Libyan writer and political commentator arrested last week and accused of hitting a man with his car appears to have been targeted, arrested and jailed instead because he called for peaceful protests in the country, Amnesty Inter ...
• CREW Releases Searchable Version of Issa Docum ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2011CREWToday, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) praised Congressman Darrell Issa's (R-CA) release of almost 2,000 pages of information related to his letters to corporations, trade groups and research organizations regarding governm ...
• ACLU Witnesses Brutal Beating Of Los Angeles C ...
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 8, 2011ACLUThe American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Southern California (ACLU/SC) today condemned a recent brutal beating by two Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies of a detainee at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, part of the county jail syst ...

Common Dreams-Views

• Obama's Scary Budget: Why the Neediest People ...
  by Earl Ofari HutchinsonPresident Obama will unveil his budget for 2012 on February 14. The administration has so far been guarded about detailing how deeply the budget ax will slice. What is certain, however, is that the cuts will be painful, and that the neediest Americans will feel the worst ...
• Media Miss the Al Jazeera Story
  by Laura FlandersOne of the biggest stories of the past few weeks has been the story of Americans discovering Al Jazeera English.  It shouldn't have been so hard. As the protest movement in Egypt grew, Americans found that Al Jazeera had what no US network has any more: fully staffed reporting ...
• Nuclear Radiation Is Forever
  by Helen Caldicott and Dale DewarLike most Ontario towns, Port Hope, on the shores of Lake Ontario, has a water treatment plant supplying its drinking water. Incredibly, adjacent to this plant is a huge factory now owned by Cameco. The factory hovers over this picturesque town, emitting uran ...
• Time for Democracy in Egypt
  by Ralph Nader Those politically savvy people who thought strongman, Hosni Mubarak would be out before the end of the first week of the Egyptian uprising better rethink the odds. For thirty years Mubarak has developed what can be called a deeply rooted dictatorial regime with regular White House ...
• Reagan’s Third-World Reign of Terror
  by Dennis HansAs the nation pays tribute to Ronald "Dutch" Reagan on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth, media coverage is every bit as laudatory as when he turned 90.  I wrote in 2001 about PBS's fawning tributes on the Charlie Rose show and the Jim Lehrer NewsHour.  Then, a ...

Newshoggers - AfPak

• On Anniversary of Marjah Push, Escalation Stra ...
  By Derrick Crowe Exactly one year ago, on February 13, 2010, the U.S.-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan launched the first major military operations enabled by President Obama's 30,000 troop increase. President Obama and the high priests of counterinsurgency warfa ...
• One Year On, Where's That "Government In A Box ...
  By Steve Hynd When General McChrystal sent NATO troops into the area around Marjah, a tiny and scattered township worth of buildings in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, a year ago today, we were told that the assault, entitled Operation Moshtarrak, would quickly clear and hold - with overwhelming ...
• So why are there so many troops in Afghanistan ...
  By Steve Hynd Press secretary Robert Gibbs has no idea. Q Secretary Napolitano testified this morning in front of the House committee and said in no uncertain terms that al-Awlaki in Yemen is the clearest threat -- terrorist threat to the United States and a bigger threat than Osama bin Laden or ...
• We'll Know We're Winning By The Sound Of Guns
  By Steve Hynd Saint General David Petraeus is keeping up the happy talk while warning of more Afghan violence to come. "There's been considerable progress in taking away from the Taliban safe havens," Gen. David Petraeus said in an interview with NATO TV aired on Wednesday. "They have to fight b ...
• US seeks Permanent Bases, Karzai Confirms
  By Steve Hynd If you ever wondered whether the talk of a complete withdrawal by 2015 was honest... Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Tuesday that he was in talks with the United States about the possible establishment of permanent US military bases in his war-ravaged country. "From the statemen ...

Water Wars

• Summit Series Films Continue
  KENT—Two more films remain in the 2011 Kent Environmental Summit film series. Feb. 15 brings “Blue Gold: World Water Wars,” which describes the privatization of water in an era when water is becoming more and more scarce.
• Deal: solving water wars an important farm iss ...
  Associated Press - February 8, 2011 2:04 PM ET ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has told Georgia's largest farm lobbying group that not everyone will be happy with the steps necessary to resolve...
• Deal: solving water wars an important farm iss ...
  Associated Press - February 8, 2011 2:04 PM ET ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Nathan Deal has told Georgia's largest farm lobbying group that not everyone will be happy with the steps necessary to resolve...
• Summit Series Films Continue
  KENT—Two more films remain in the 2011 Kent Environmental Summit film series. Feb. 15 brings “Blue Gold: World Water Wars,” which describes the privatization of water in an era when water is becoming more and more scarce.
• Salton Sea flashpoint in state's water wars
  The evaporating Salton Sea is the flashpoint for the latest dispute in California’s water wars, testing an uneasy alliance of farmers and city dwellers that has sought to wean the Golden State from overreliance on Colorado River water.

WordPress | Economics

• Who the REAL Taxpayers Are & Why Income In ...
  I’m sick & tired of politicians, pundits, and “average joe’s” invoking t
• From the complex to the simple: pseudovariety ...
  With all my excitement about the world of data visualization, I think it was good that I stumbled on
• Time To End The Federal Reserve System For Fai ...
  http://www.aier.org/research/briefs/1826-the-long-goodbye-the-declining-purchasing-power-of-the-doll
• Swiss Chapter of Hand-Wringers and Mothers of ...
  The Swiss gun-banners decided that there was no further use for Swiss families to have fully automat
• Hope Talk Radio
  Don’t miss the show it starts in 30 Minutes!  Log on www.blogtalkradio.com and search Hope Ini

Electronic Intifada

• Egypt's revolution and Israel: "Bad for the Je ...
  The view from Israel is that if they indeed succeed, the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions are very bad. They make the Israeli occupation and apartheid policies in Palestine lo ...
• Arab women lead the charge for political chang ...
  "The Arab world is in revolt against dictatorships," and from Tunisia to Egypt to Yemen, women have been leading the charge for political freedoms and reforms as Emad Mekay rep ...
• Egyptian activist Mona Seif: It's a revolution ...
  11 February 2011 will forever be an historic day for Egypt. It was then that weeks of protests around the country finally forced Hosni Mubarak, the US-backed president of the c ...
• Gaza celebrates fall of Mubarak
  "Masr, Masr, Masr, Masr" -- the Arabic word for Egypt was the call from huge crowds on the streets of Gaza City on Friday night as Palestinians reflected on what the overthrow ...
• The revolution continues after Mubarak's fall  ...
  "The revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt have reawakened a sense of a common destiny for the Arab world many thought had been lost, that seemed naive when our mothers and fathers ...

Afghanistan Sun

• Two die in suicide attack at Kabul shopping ma ...
  Two people were killed Monday in a massive suicide bombing at a shopping mall that is frequented by foreigners in this Afghan capital, officials ...
• Suicide bombing in Kabul
  A suicide bomb attack took place Monday near a shopping mall in the Afghan capital ...
• Former Taliban member visits UK for secret ins ...
  A former senior Taliban member who is said to be in close contact with the group's leader Mullah Omar, is reportedly in Britain for insurgency ending ...
• Pak Taliban demands death for Raymond Davis
  Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has said that the government should execute double murder-accused US official Raymond Davis, or hand him over to ...
• UN envoy says Pak backs reconciliation bid for ...
  Pakistan's Ambassador to the United Nations, Abdullah Hussain Haroon, has said that his country supports an Afghan-led reconciliation process in Afghanistan to pave the way for durable peace and ...

Futurismic

• Personal Information: episode 24
  Personal Information is a new serial sci-fi webcomic from Sarah “Does Not Equal” Ennals. Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness! Share and Enjoy:Follow Futurismic on Twitter for more nuggets of near-future fun and weirdness!
• Arguments against life extension
  Via Michael Anissimov, here’s a spectacularly empty diatribe against “deathhackers” by TechCrunch‘s Paul Carr. Carr objects to the idea of radical life extension as advocated by transhumanists, which is fair enough, but as written here most of his objections seem to boil down to personal distate ...
• Daddy, where does innovation come from?
  Plenty of folk have been linking to this excerpt from Matt Ridley’s new book The Rational Optimist, and with good reason – it’s a provocative piece that plays to advocates (and opponents) of free trade, open exchange, copyright reform and much more. The basic thesis? The one persistent factor th ...
• Replacement arms: mechanical or biological?
  Prosthetic limbs are still in their infancy, but there’s a lot of progress being made: Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory is working with Darpa (who else?), and has a research grant for trying out their mind-controlled modular prosthetic arm on five test subjects over the next couple of ye ...
• How to be a futurist
  The irrepressible Scott “Basic Instructions” Meyer has the lowdown if you’re thinking of a career in futurism: Click through for the whole thing. But take it from me, being a futurist is a lot of work for no money. Or maybe that’s just the way I do it… and I’ve never been featured in a [...]Foll ...

geopolitics | geoeconomics

• Geithner's Dirty Little Secret
• Swine Flu
• Putin and the Geopolitics of the New Cold War: ...
• The Fake Oil Crisis of 1973
• Fossiles Erdöl
  �

on Government Oversight

• Should Debarred Contractors Be Allowed to Buil ...
  By Neil Gordon Today, POGO submitted a public comment about a new rule limiting the ability of suspended or debarred contractors to do business with the federal government. The rule prohibits prime contractors from subcontracting with any entity that has...
• Morning Smoke: Obama Administration Kills Cont ...
  Where there's smoke, there's fire. POGO's Morning Smoke is a collection of the previous day's investigations, scoops, and opinions related to the world of government oversight. Have a story you'd like to see included? Contact POGO's blog editor. Publishing contracts...
• McCaskill Breathes New Life into Bill to Enhan ...
  By Bryan Rahija Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) has re-introduced the Non-Federal Employee Whistleblower Protection Act of 2011 (S. 241), a bill to enhance whistleblower protections for federal contractor employees. Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) is a co-sponsor of the bill. Under...
• 13 House Republican Freshmen Soliciting Defens ...
  By Nick Schwellenbach In a killer story locked behind the Bloomberg Government paywall, Roxana Tiron highlights another classic intersection of the defense industry and political fundraising: The new Republicans on the House Armed Services Committee are seeking help with their...
• President Obama Opposes Own Contract Transpare ...
  By Scott Amey Today, the Obama Administration vacated a proposal to enhance contract transparency. The proposal would have amended Federal Acquisition Regulation to enable the online posting of contracts and task and delivery orders. POGO supported that proposal, which fell...

Digital Journal

• Officer seen kicking man on video will not fac ...
  A Victoria police officer who was seen on video kicking two men will not face criminal charges, after an investigation concluded that he had used legally permissible force.
• China digging wells to save wheat crops, droug ...
  Feeling the impact from a widespread drought, China - the world's most populous country and largest global wheat producer - is now forced to dig wells to protect what is left of its wheat crops.
• City councillors, activists discuss Toronto Ci ...
  City councillors, protesters and protest organizers spoke to the media regarding what transpired, why they protested and what they feel is Mayor Rob Ford's real agenda during his tenure as leader of the city of Toronto.
• Toronto budget meeting to resume after protest
  After budget talks were disrupted earlier today at Toronto City Hall they will resume after lunch according to Mayor Rob Ford's Ford spokesperson Adrienne Batra.
• Anti-poverty groups storm Toronto city hall, c ...
  What started off as a debate over the city of Toronto's planned budget cuts at City Hall turned out to be a massive protest held by anti-poverty groups demonstrating against the cuts. Arrests were made, people were injured and insults were hurled.

End Homelessness | Change.org

• Mississippi Launches Plan To End Child Homeles ...
  Fulfilling the wishes and happiness of children is at the heart of the holiday season. So, now seems particularly timely for Mississippi to launch a new plan to end child homelessness (pdf) in the state.  What better way to set the season of giving in motion than by committing to finding safe a ...
• Thanksgiving 2.0: Food, Poverty and Telling th ...
  This Thanksgiving, most of us around the country shared a bountiful harvest feast with friends and family. We celebrated all that we are thankful for by gorging ourselves right into a food coma. It's the American way. Unfortunately, it's also the American way to be thankful for all that we have ...
• Homeless People Wanted: Must Be Open to Demean ...
  What are they thinking? People obviously don't see the homeless as human or they wouldn't attempt to hire them to do most of the insane, demeaning and illegal jobs out there. Here's a small sampling: Rob dead bodies. The Aokigahara forest at the base of Mt. Fuji in Japan is the site of 50 to 10 ...
• LA Plans to Make Homelessness Go the Way of th ...
  Instead of pretending homelessness doesn't exist, creating new laws to make it illegal to sit or sleep in public, or sending homeless residents on a one-way trip out of town, Los Angeles County may attempt to actually do something about ending homelessness. And the county is setting the bar high ...
• Don't Let Violence Against the Homeless Go Unp ...
  Despite its economic troubles, Detroit is not known for being kind to the homeless. That's too bad, since there are nearly 10,000 homeless people living there. In October, police say that Steven James Diponio, 54, became so enraged at Charles Duncan, 42, who was homeless and sleeping behind a sc ...

Ceasefire.ca

• NORAD role to expand?
  Last week's perimeter security talks between Prime Minister Harper and President Obama included an interesting proposal of expanding NORAD to cover land and sea operations. The proposed new deal would integrate Canada-U.S. command structures, headquarters, and operations with regards to continen ...
• Go figure: What would it cost to save the worl ...
  $1.6 billion in military spending worldwide in 2010. What else could we have done with that money? Demilitarize.org shows some of the alternatives.
• Respected Canadian negotiator removed from dis ...
  Respected Canadian disarmament negotiator Earl Turcotte has been removed from his post following American complaints that his stance on the international Convention on Cluster Munitions was too aggressive. Turcotte has since informed his colleagues that he will be resigning from the Department o ...
• Steven Staples discusses F-35s on CTV Power Pl ...
  Watch Steven Staples discuss Canada’s controversial purchase of F-35s with Lt.-Gen. George Macdonald on CTV Power Play.
• The human cost of war
  The human cost of war sometimes seems like just one more statistic. But what’s at stake is lost lives and broken families. Ernie Regehr discussed the grim task of calculating war deaths on his Disarming Conflict blog earlier this week (“Counting the War Dead,” Disarming Conflict, 7 February 2011 ...

Kevin Trudeau Show

• Freeze Dry Guy
  Click the picture or link below to hear Kevin’s interview with the Freeze Dry Guy and click here to start preparing for the challenging times ahead!   Freeze Dry Guy on The Kevin Trudeau Show 2/11/11
• The Kevin Trudeau Show: 2-11-11
  Today, Kevin hands out a huge dose of tough love. Find out what the difference is between a winner and a loser and what you can do to become a winner! Plus, the Freeze Dry Guy stops by to help prepare you for any disaster!     Prepare! Survival Food    Filter For Emergencies    Self Help: Cure Y ...
• Tea Tree Oil Offers Hope of New Effective Trea ...
  February 11th, 2011 Daily Mail Tea tree oil may provide a fast, cheap and effective treatments for some skin cancers, according to researchers. The natural remedy commonly used on spots and insect bites was found to shrink non-melanoma skin cancers in mice in just one day and wiped them out with ...
• The ‘Low-Allergy’ Peanut Which Cou ...
  February 11th, 2011 Daily Mail A low-allergy peanut which could transform the eating habits of those who have to avoid them is being developed. U.S. researchers are creating naturally grown peanuts with two major proteins that cause allergy bred out of them. If experiments succeed, the nuts coul ...
• Depression Linked to Alzheimer’s
  February 11th, 2011 BBC News People who have had depression may be more prone to Alzheimer’s disease, two studies suggest. Dutch researchers found Alzheimer’s was 2.5 times more likely in people with a history of depression. Similarly, US researchers, examining Catholic clergy, found those with ...

Pambazuka News

• Haiti: Government says Aristide can come home
  Haiti's government has said it was ready to issue a new passport to former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which would allow him to return after almost seven years in exile in South Africa. 'The government will give assurances that as soon as it re...
• Cuba: Cuban organisation fights for release of ...
  Enrique Roman, first vice-president of the Cuban Institute for Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), has underlined that the movement in solidarity with Cuba prioritises in 2011 the struggle for the release of the five Cuban antiterrorist heroes incarc...
• Haiti: Returned ex-dictator Duvalier charged
  Haiti on Tuesday briefly detained former dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, back from exile in France, and charged him with corruption, theft and abuses of power allegedly committed during his 15-year rule. While a noisy crowd of his supporter...
• Break the Silence Congo week
  The purpose of the Break the Silence Congo Week is to raise consciousness about the devastating situation in the Congo and mobilize support on behalf of the people of the Congo. Break the Silence Congo Week will take place from Sunday 17 October to S...
• Haiti: Women demand role in reconstruction
  Women's civil society groups were noticeable by their absence from the landmark Haiti donor conference on 31 March, which secured pledges of US$5.3 billion over the next two years to support the country’s post-quake recovery. Their lack of a presenc...

War in Context

• » Bombay Dub Orchestra – Beauty And The East
• The West can no longer claim to be an honest b ...
  Gary Younge writes: The events of the last month in Tunisia, Egypt and elsewhere have challenged the way the west thinks of the Arab world (and how the Arab world thinks of itself). What remains to be seen is the extent to which these ongoing events confront the way in which western powers view ...
• Jen Marlowe: the freedom reading list
  Reprinted with permission of TomDispatch.com With Hosni Mubarak gone, let’s do a little Egyptian math on the Mubarak years.  According to experts, the fortune amassed by Egypt’s former president and his two sons (both billionaires) could reach $70 billion.  That includes funds in secret offsho ...
• How American soldiers are falling apart
  New York Magazine reports: Even at the lowest point of the Global War on Terror—in April 2004, say, when the number of casualties was spinning out of control and it looked like there was no end in sight—morale among our troops ran fairly high. Yet today, with casualties tapering and a slightly ...
• Egypt burning – standoff on the Nile

Watts Up With That?

• The Met Office link-buries the CET
  The Central England Temperature Record has been getting some inconvenient attention as of late. Joe D’Aleo at ICECAP pointed out recently: The Central England Temperature record is one of the longest continuous temperature record in the world extending back to … Continue reading →
• The Futility of Wind Power
  From Viv Forbes of Australia’s Carbon Sense Coalition comes this new document intended as “a submission to the Australian Senate Enquiry into Wind Farms” on the extraordinary costs of wind power generation both economically and environmentally: Wind power is so … Continue reading →
• The Futility of Wind Power
  From Viv Forbes of Australia’s Carbon Sense Coalition comes this new document intended as “a submission to the Australian Senate Enquiry into Wind Farms” on the extraordinary costs of wind power generation both economically and environmentally: Wind power is so … Continue reading →
• I Have A Stake In The Outcome
  Guest Post by Willis Eschenbach Here on WUWT, Ron Cram has provided an interesting overview of a number of people’s ideas about desirable changes to the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC). He proposes that the IPCC … Continue reading →
• “The main problem is that the earth is h ...
  That headline is a newspaper article quote from NASA JPL’s resident climatologist Bill Patzert. However, given how badly writer “Beige Luciano-Adams” has botched the rest of the article Patzert is featured in, I suspect it is a misquote. Patzert can’t … Continue reading →

Dandelion Salad

• Fight for a World Without Coal by Chris Hedges
  by Chris Hedges Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Truthdig February 14, 2011 The writer and philosopher Wendell Berry, armed with little more than a copy of William Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” and his conscience, has been camped out for three days with a handful of other activists in the governor’ ...
• Michael Brown vs Rabbi David Blumofe: Who is J ...
  http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/ JewsForJesus | December 16, 2010 Sid Roth, President of Messianic Vision presents a public debate between Dr. Michael Brown and Rabbi David Blumofe. Who is Jesus? Michael Brown vs Rabbi David Blumofe see The Jewish Foundation of Christianity New Age Christian ...
• Tourism Boycott for Egyptian Reforms by Joel S ...
  by Joel S. Hirschhorn Featured Writer Dandelion Salad www.foavc.org February 13, 2011 How wonderful that the Egyptian dictator Mubarak has finally stepped down.  But there are considerable uncertainties about when and how a fully functioning democracy that benefits ordinary Egyptians, especially ...
• Once Upon a Time in the Evil Empire by Cindy S ...
  by Cindy Sheehan Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Cindy Sheehanâs Soapbox Blog Cindy Sheehanâs Soapbox February 13, 2011 America is a Nation with a mission – and that mission comes from our most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace – ...
• Rachel Corrie’s mom, Cindy Corrie, inter ...
  by Cindy Sheehan Featured Writer Dandelion Salad Cindy Sheehanâs Soapbox Blog Cindy Sheehanâs Soapbox February 13, 2011 (SOAPBOX #87) – Cindy Sheehan welcomes a most honored guest, Cindy Corrie.  (Note: That link goes to Part 1 of an interview with Rachel Corrie’s parents.  Part 2 is here.)  ...

Your New Reality

• No title
  Mute the sound on this video, taken during the Southeast Queensland floods last week, before you watch it. The music destroys the atmosphere, there should be silence, the only sound that of water lapping.
• No title
  Now, Who In The Media & Western Governments Said Egyptians Aren't Ready For Non-Mubarak Rule? In less than 30 days of mostly non-violent protests and direct action, the people of Egypt has brought the 11,000 day emergency rule of the US & Israel lackey Hosni Mubarak regime to an end. For a rev ...
• No title
  Hey Gun Massacre Guy! We're Gonna Make You Famous! Just Like You Wanted! By Darryl Mason It was once forbidden in newspaper journalism to write that someone had committed suicide, even if they were famous, a prime minister, a movie star. The fear, based in what has long seemed to be pretty sol ...
• No title
  There's so much to say about this wonderful, brilliant lecture by Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy author Douglas Adams, but I'm not going to spoil any of it. Just get through the first 10 minutes or so and you'll find it almost impossible to stop listening. I had to tear myself away from it at ...
• No title
  Extraordinary.

Wired - Science

• NASA Considers Space Station Family Portrait
  NASA is considering a plan to snap a photo of the International Space Station at its most crowded. The agency hasn’t made a decision yet — but maybe enough public support can convince them to take the most mind-blowing space photo of the Space Shuttle era. During the final flight of the Space S ...
• Winter Halts Drilling Into 14-Million-Year-Old ...
  By Liat Clark, Wired UK A Russian team searching for signs of life beneath a 14 million-year-old frozen Antarctic lake has had to halt drilling just a few meters from water, potentially damaging twenty years of work in the process. The team — headed up by the Russian Arctic and Antarctic Resea ...
• World’s Total CPU Power: One Human Brain
  By John Timmer, Ars Technica How much information can the world transmit, process, and store? Estimating this sort of thing can be a nightmare, but the task can provide valuable information on trends that are changing our computing and broadcast infrastructure. So a pair of researchers hav ...
• Q&A: Company Buys Robot a Rocket Ride to the M ...
  It’s impossible to know which team is leading the Google Lunar X Prize competition to land a robot on the moon. But one thing is certain: Only team Astrobotic has announced that their rocket ride is booked. Spawned in September 2007, the GLXP is a $30 million lunar exploration competition cr ...
• Gallery: The Last Uncontacted People
  See Also: Uncontacted Tribe Photographed in Brazilian Jungle Video: Uncontacted Tribe in Brazilian Jungle Lost Tribes Used Clever Tricks to Turn Amazon Wasteland to Farms … Yucatan Jungles Are Feral Maya Gardens

Israeli Occupation Archive

• Demand Al Jazeera in the US
  Al Jazeera English's correspondent in Cairo, Ayman Mohyeldin, tells our American viewers that we appreciate your enthusiastic support. Largely unavailable through US cable and satellite providers,... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian la ...
• Lamis Andoni: The resurrection of pan-Arabism
  The era of using the Palestinian cause as a pretext for maintaining martial laws and silencing dissent is over. The Palestinians have been betrayed, not helped, by leaders who practice repression... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian land ...
• Moustafa Barghouthi: Palestine Supports Egypt
  After the announcement that Hosni Mubarak would be stepping down, Dr. Moustafa Barghouti, the Secretary General of the Palestinian National Initiative congratulated the Egyptian people for achieving... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian l ...
• Abe Hayeem: Help the campaign to save Lifta
  Lifta has become known within Israel and internationally as a quintessential Palestinian village, one of the few of the 500 villages that had not been completely destroyed by Israeli forces in the... The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lan ...
• Bashir Abu-Manneh: Revolt in Egypt
  IOA Advisory Board member Bashir Abu-Manneh speaks about current events in Egypt. The Israeli Occupation Archive (IOA) covers Israel's military occupation of Palestinian lands, now in its fifth decade. Go to the IOA website for much more...

Ria Novosti - Military

• Russia, NATO 'on verge of breakthrough'
  Russia and NATO are about to achieve a new quality of relations, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.
• Russian military justifies purchase of Mistral ...
  Russia has decided to buy Mistral ships from France because it would have taken at least 10 years to develop a similar domestic model, Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov said Thursday.
• Construction of 4 Mistrals to take a decade - ...
  It will take 10 years to complete the construction of four Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, Chief of the Russian General Staff Gen. Nikolai Makarov said Thursday.
• Russia must be ready to host Mistral ships in ...
  Russia must start building infrastructure near the port of Vladivostok as soon as possible to accommodate two Mistral class amphibious assault ships to be built in France for the Russian Navy, a military analyst said Thursday.
• Russian-Indian joint development of 5G fighter ...
  The Russian-Indian joint development of a fifth generation fighter jet will cost some $6 billion, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) Financial director D. Shivamurti said

NewsWise

• Archaeologists Find Hidden African Side to Not ...
  A famous US Revolution-era building has a hidden African face, University of Maryland archaeologists say. Maryland's "Orangery" - the only 18th century greenhouse left in North America, and made famous by Frederick Douglass - shows African American slaves played a key technical role there, and l ...
• Eating Berries May Lower Risk of Parkinson's
  New research shows men and women who regularly eat berries may have a lower risk of developing Parkinson's disease, while men may also further lower their risk by regularly eating apples, oranges and other sources rich in dietary components called flavonoids. The study was released today and wil ...
• Study Finds Massive Flux of Gas, In Addition t ...
  A new, University of Georgia-led study co-authored by Florida State University oceanographer Ian MacDonald is the first to examine comprehensively the magnitude of hydrocarbon gases released during the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico oil discharge. The study has found that up to 500,000 tons of ...
• Two-Timing Spacecraft Has Date with Another Co ...
  NASA's Stardust spacecraft, equipped with the University of Chicago's Dust Flux Monitor Instrument (DFMI), is hurtling at more than 24,000 miles an hour toward a Valentine's Day encounter with comet Tempel 1.
• Web Experts Ask Scientists To Use the Web To I ...
  Peter Fox and James Hendler of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are calling for scientists to take a few tips from the users of the World Wide Web when presenting their data to the public and other scientists in the Feb. 11 issue of Science magazine. Fox and Hendler, both professors within the T ...

Natural Health News

• Kitty Eating With Hands
  Well, how else would he eat?
• Baby Elephant Taking its First Steps
  The baby takes a walk while all the relatives protectively watch.
• New Diet Sodas Can Cause Strokes
  A new study concludes that there could negative consequences associated with artificial sugar substitutes -- including a much higher risk of strokes. The study is somewhat controversial; some critics have argued that since the participants voluntarily reported how much diet soda they consumed, ...
• Common Spice Protects and Rebuild Brain Cells ...
  Scientists have created a new molecule from curcumin, the key chemical component of the spice turmeric. �In laboratory experiments, the molecule was shown to affect the mechanisms that protect and regenerate brain cells after a stroke. The new curcumin compound, called CNB-001, actually repairs ...
• More Doctors Questioning 'Shaken-Baby Syndrome ...
  In cases involving shaken-baby syndrome, the last person to care for the child was labeled an abuser. But some doctors are now saying that the syndrome could have alternate explanations. Emily Bazelon, a senior editor at Slate, said the following in an NPR interview: �It used to be that the as ...

Antemedius

• Under The (Egyptian) Volcano
  Originally published at Asia Times The party - and what a party - is over. Now it's hangover time - and what a hangover. Meet the new boss, or the Pharaoh rebuilt as Shiva; the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. If this was Southeast Asia, people would say "same same - but different". Ins ...
• Robert Samuelson Is Dead Wrong About High Spee ...
  The Washington Post’s Robert J. Samuelson takes the Op-Ed pages of his paper to hammer the president’s high speed rail initiative today. What has Mr. Samuelson’s undies in a twist? Basically a Catch-22 that he constructs by ignoring two of the central facts about rail in the United States. Yo ...
• The Worst Thing Ever Invented
  In this age of supposedly fighting against rulers and on behalf of oppressed peoples, the Vietnam War offers an interesting case in which the U.S. policy was to avoid overthrowing the enemy government but to work hard to kill its people. To overthrow the government in Hanoi, it was feared, would ...
• Pique the Geek 20110213: Firearms 102. Shotg ...
  I was astonished at the response for the first installment for this series, and so decided that instead of just a couple of survey pieces, reader interest justifies a bit longer treatment, getting more into the weeds. Thus, I have come up with a bit more structured series. Unlike rifled firearm ...
• Egypt: From Celebration To Confrontation With ...
  Only two days after cheering began in Egypt's Tahrir Square following the resignation of Hosni Mubarak, it now appears that the celebrations of the Egyptian democratic revolutionary movement have begun to give way to the realization that while many low ranking soldiers in the Egyptian Army are l ...

Climategate

• Dean of science…suggesting rising seas t…
  Dean of science…suggesting rising seas this next century of up to 100 metres, or Al Gore six metres. When I see things like that I know these are false. You mentioned the IPCC report; that suggests, at worst on best scenarios, 59 centimetres. http://www.google.com
• ABC science presenter Robyn Williams seeks mor ...
  ABC science presenter Robyn Williams who in 2007 believed seas could rise 100 meters, seeks more truth from scientists after Climategate.
• How to avoid your own Climategate scandal
  What are the lessons of Climategate? More honesty and transparency in science? Not according to attorney Alan Nelson in the Guardian UK today.  To him, the lesson is how not to get caught next time. So how do universities and academics ensure that their correspondence does not become the “smoki ...
• What is the “likelihood” that the 2007 IPCC Re ...
  A very interesting analysis of the IPPC Assessment and has some important questions that invite others to help him answer. Please read his article and let him know what conclusions you draw.
• Schools call for a “balanced teaching of globa ...
  USA Today reports that US schools are finally calling for both sides of global warming to be taught, because it is after all, a theory -- not a fact:

Opinio Juris

• Setbacks in the Case Against Julian Assange
  by Kevin Jon Heller by Kevin Jon Heller It’s been a while since I checked in on the WikiLeaks kerfuffle, so now that the HILJ symposium is over — and I thought it was great — I wanted to flag this recent article in the Wall Street Journal, which reports that the government has found no eviden ...
• The Shift from Proportionality to Necessity an ...
  by Kenneth Anderson by Kenneth Anderson Oh heck, one final comment about the Texas International Law Journal discussion of the model air and missile warfare manual, which does run to Gaby Blum’s article and discussion here at OJ.  It is only somewhat responsive to the article, so I’ll put it ...
• A Response to Stavros Gadinis and Eric Pan by ...
  by Harvard International Law Journal by Harvard International Law Journal [Pierre-Hugues Verdier, author of Mutual Recognition in International Finance, responds to the comments by Stavros Gadinis and Eric Pan] I would first like to thank Professors Pan and Gadinis for their generous and insi ...
• Setbacks in the Case Against Julian Assange
  by Kevin Jon Heller by Kevin Jon Heller It’s been a while since I checked in on the WikiLeaks kerfuffle, so now that the HILJ symposium is over — and I thought it was great — I wanted to flag this recent article in the Wall Street Journal, which reports that the government has found no eviden ...
• The Shift from Proportionality to Necessity an ...
  by Kenneth Anderson by Kenneth Anderson Oh heck, one final comment about the Texas International Law Journal discussion of the model air and missile warfare manual, which does run to Gaby Blum’s article and discussion here at OJ.  It is only somewhat responsive to the article, so I’ll put it ...

Investigate - Breaking News

• New-look Investigate magazine HIS and HERS goe ...
  As of Sunday...with more exclusive revelations about the Pike River disaster and police bungles in the rescue operation...and HERS features new poll results showing support for National is wide but shallow, and that a large number of voters want Winston...
• Investigate Political Poll 2011 - No1
  Investigate magazine's first big omnibus and political poll in more than five years is underway. If you want to fill in the survey form (takes less than two minutes on average) online, you'll find it here.
• BREAKING NEWS: Arizona shooter of Gabrielle Gi ...
  The young gunman who shot and killed six people, and left Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in critical condition, appears to have borne a grudge against Giffords after meeting her in 2007 at the age of 19. According to reports, former...
• New study says CO2 rise a result of warmer tem ...
  A new peer reviewed study supports another contention I raised in Air Con: that CO2 increase follows temperature increase, and that there appears to be no correlation between fossil fuel emissions and temperature. The paper is available in full in...
• RIP Chris Carter, Investigate columnist
  It's an odd thing, finding out on the radio news that your magazine's longest serving opinion columnist has passed away. What turns out to be his last column only hit the newsstands yesterday in the latest Investigate magazine: Chris Carter...

My Care2 Picks

• The Fiction Of Climate Science
  Many of you are too young to remember, but in 1975 our government pushed "the coming ice age." In a room of the Smithsonian, one entire wall charted the cooling of our globe over the last 60 million years. Submitted by John Farnham to Environment �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• If Only We Could Trade Obama for Chavez...
  in just 12 years, Chavez has created a thriving national public health care system with 533 diagnostic centers and medical facilities spread throughout the capital. Health care is free and there have been over over 55 million medical consultations Submitted by John Farnham to Society & Culture ...
• California Prisoners Sentenced to Death by Wat ...
  The water at Kern Valley State Prison contains twice the federally accepted level of arsenic, a known carcinogen. But the 4,800 men imprisoned at the "state-of-the-art" Central California facility have no choice: they have to drink it.Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add ...
• Tropical Cyclones Attacking Australia
  Tropical Cyclone Yasi, recently upgraded to a category 5, the highest level of threat, is bearing down on Queensland Australia and the Great Barrier Reef with wind speeds likely exceeding 175 mph. Submitted by Anna Smith to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• Alarming NOAA data, Rapid Pole Shift
  Since 1860, the magnetic pole shift has more than doubled every 50 years.During the past 10 years, the magnetic north pole has shifted nearly half of the total distance of the past 50 years! IOW, the pole shift has apparently sped up substantiallySubmitted by John Farnham to Offbeat �|� �Note-i ...

Angry Indian News

• Free Hawai`i
  Free Hawai`i: "SHE WAS ASKED TO UNCOVER HAWAI`IʻS HIDDEN PAST ON VOICES OF TRUTH – ONE-ON-ONE WITH HAWAI`I’S FUTUREWeʻre all familiar with the saying, “many are called, but few answer.”Lanakila... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Abbas' cabinet to resign on Monday: sources | ...
  Abbas' cabinet to resign on Monday: sources | Reuters: "The shake-up, disclosed to Reuters Sunday, was long demanded by Fayyad and some in Abbas's Fatah faction. It follows the fall of Egyptian... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Palestine Video: Israel shuts embassy in Cairo
  Palestine Video: Israel shuts embassy in Cairo: "'Since the announcement that Hosni Mubarak has stepped down, people have been celebrating across the world. But one group isn't joining the party:... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Eleven killed in stampede at presidential rall ...
  Eleven killed in stampede at presidential rally in Nigeria | World news | The Guardian: "A stampede that broke out as President Goodluck Jonathan spoke at a political rally on Saturday left 11 people... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]
• Rock around the Blockade - Viva Cuba! news blo ...
  Rock around the Blockade - Viva Cuba! news blog: El Paso Diary: Day 16 of the Posada Carriles Trial: "By JOS� PERTIERRA, 11 February 2011-The trial of Luis Posada Carriles in El Paso stands now al... [[Continue reading Inteligentaindigena Novajoservo...]]

Farm Wars

• Playing the Global Warming Card
  The global warming myth is thriving internationally, on the federal level and in state and local governments.
• Directing Public Energy 101: The Petitioning S ...
  Real Power of the People lies in our everyday choices, and how we influence others by the lives we live. That is real power. It is the 'trickle up' effect as applied to activism. Instead of working from the top down, begging for the execs at Corp USA to show mercy, you work from the bottom up, s ...
• Food Bank Locator
  Enter your zip code to find the nearest emergency food bank.
• Global Governance of Nano-scale Technologies
  Nanotechnology has been rolled out with virtually no government oversight or public debate.
• Truth Squad Radio – Nell Walton of AllHorses P ...
  Nell Walton joins us this Wednesday evening to discuss her novel titled "The Bone Trail."

True/Slant Headline Grabs

• The stupidity of crowds helps kill a planet - ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• Sex, death, and the noble American toad - Scot ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• How to save a fishery: owning, renting, and ex ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• ‘Gossip Girl’ unethical because of threesome? ...
  Noted by Jeff McMahon on July 31, 2010 11:07 PM
• ()
  Noted by user deleted on December 31, 1969 7:12 PM

Citizens for Legitimate Government

• Egyptian protesters slam military rule
  ShareThisEgyptian protesters slam military rule 13 Feb 2011 Egyptian protesters are still out on the streets as the new military rulers insist they will stay in power for six months or until elections. The developments come two days after Mubarak handed over power to Egypt's Supreme Council of t ...
• Egypt's generals impose martial law
  ShareThisEgypt's generals impose martial law 14 Feb 2011 Egypt's generals imposed martial law on Sunday, dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution. In a written communique, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, led by Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi, said the military rule was temp ...
• Hosni Mubarak used last 18 days in power to se ...
  ShareThisHosni Mubarak used last 18 days in power to secure his fortune 12 Feb 2011 Hosni Mubarak used the 18 days it took for protesters to topple him to shift his vast wealth into untraceable accounts overseas, Western intelligence sources have said. The former Egyptian president is accused of ...
• Barack Obama to unveil $1.1tn cuts in US budge ...
  ShareThisBarack Obama to unveil $1.1tn cuts in US budget over next decade --President announces pay freeze for government workers and slashes projects designed to help the poor and the environment [after extending the Bush tax cuts for the rich] 13 Feb 2011 Barack Obama is poised to announce $1. ...
• 'Iran hails exit of useless UK envoy'
  ShareThis'Iran hails exit of useless UK envoy' [] 14 Feb 2011 Chairman of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Ala'eddin Broujerdi says Iran hails the exit of the 'useless' British Ambassador to Tehran Simon Gass from the country. "We are happy that he has g ...

Daily Loaf

• Unhappy Valentine’s Day: The Top 10 Most Miser ...
  I have no romance to celebrate this year. I don’t even have a crush on anyone. As I resign myself to a life of solitude I present to you my list of the 10 most heartbreaking songs ever, just in time for that sucks-if-you’re-single holiday.
• Do It Today: Tampa Bay Symphony, stand-up yuks ...
  Whether you're flying solo or attached, there's plenty to do to take your mind off your love life (of lack thereof).
• I ♥ [heart] the Grateful Dead: a Valentine's D ...
  I love the Grateful Dead. There. I’ve said it. Go ahead and judge me, I don’t care. I know how relentlessly un-hip that makes me. Young, tattooed women these days often respond to that admission with something approaching “Ewww!” I love tattooed women, too. It’s okay if they don’t love me back. ...
• T-Paw and Barbour start sounding serious about ...
  The former House Speaker, who dragged out such a possibility for months on end four years ago before not running, said that he will "probably make a decision by the end of this month about whether or not to set up an exploratory committee, and we're working our way through it." Way to stretc ...
• The Green Community week in review: Proposed d ...
  Read what you might have missed last week in CL's Green Community.

Vaccine Resistance Movement

• VRM: Dr. Wakefield’s Imminent Vindicatio ...
  Dr. Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 Study demonstrated “anti-myelin antibodies and digestive tract pathologies in children with autism after being given the Urabi strain triple live virus MMR vaccine. All 12 children in the Study had intestinal abnormalities (known as Inflammatory Bowel Disease), with c ...
• VRM: A Concise Compendium The Problem With Vac ...
  The advent of cloned DNA vaccines & Synthetic Genomics, backed by proponents of the Trans-humanist & Bioethics movements (this is a post-Darwinian view, in which the species has the power to direct its own evolution), has opened a Pandora’s Box spelling the inevitable death of natural immunity. ...
• VRM: Medical Industry Data Proves Influenza Va ...
  The Influenza virus itself is constantly mutating from year to year. While mainstream doctors are traditionally divided, several prominent Studies have come forward in recent years challenging the Status Quo on the efficacy of the sacrosanct Flu shot & awakened an increasingly distrustf ...
• VRM: The Problem With Vaccines Part 3 – ...
  For centuries humankind has depended on an inherent natural immunity to survive; adapting to environmental changes while overcoming mutable diseases, viruses, bacterial or biological threats & inter-species cross contamination. With the 21st Century advancement of high-tech laboratory ...
• VRM: GlaxosmithKline Implicated In Systemic Cl ...
  ‘A psychiatrist on the payroll of GlaxoSmithKline has been sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to committing research fraud in clinical trials for antidepressant Paxil. Palazzo enrolled children who did not actually suffer from major depressive or obsessive compulsive diso ...

B.C. Preppers Network

• You Know You're Getting Old When...
  A few weeks back we received our new high-efficiency front loading LG washer and dryer set and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed by them. The set was only around $1000 (on sale) but I felt like I'd gone from a Chevette to a Cadillac when compared to our old set.� A cute little luxury fe ...
• Control Your Home Thermostat On the Internet!
  Today a fellow from our natural gas company came by to install a new thermostat as part of the Peaksaver program that we signed up for.�If you haven't heard of Peaksaver, basically what it does is allow the Ontario government electricity provider to turn off your central air conditioner ...
• Happy Day!: The Water Bill Arrived!
  After being shocked a few months ago with a water bill of over $240 I decided to do a few things to cut down on our water use We converted our main toilet to a dual-flush and installed a water saving device on the second (haven't switched it over to a dual yet). We also installed a new ...
• Strawberry Picking
  Our family went strawberry picking this morning, it's a fun thing to do once in a while and I think it's a good way to help our 3-year old daughter realize where food comes from. While my wife picked berries with our oldest I went for a walk around the farm with our youngest in the stroller ...
• Pioneer Solar: PV System For Free?
  I received a flyer from Pioneer Solar in the mail the other day which claims to help people get a solar system installed on their house, farm, or business for free. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, like most things there's good and bad points about it and what might be a good deal f ...

Michael Yon

• River of Tears: Snapshots from the Edge of a W ...
  River of Tears Snapshots from the Edge of a War 14 Feburary 2011 The Salween River forms a border between Thailand and Burma.� �Rambo� fictionally crossed this jungle current in the movie Rambo IV.� But there is nothing fictional about the war, or the bombs that often fly from Burma into Th ...
• JFCOM Disestablishment Working Group
  Please Click to download PDF.
• Great Britain Loses one of its Finest
  03 November 2009 British soldiers at war are an incredible group.� Courageous, competent, and committed in very difficult conditions.� An email came today from London, from a BBC correspondent who has been to Afghanistan saying that Staff Sergeant Olaf Schmid had been killed. To see the ...
• The River - Part II
  “It had become a place of darkness. But there was in it one river especially, a mighty big river, that you could see on the map, resembling an immense snake uncoiled, with its head in the sea, its body curving at rest afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the land. ...
• Sangin Then, and Now
  2 February 2011 During the summer of 2009, the British were fighting hard for Sangin.� They were always outnumbered by Taliban and terrain.� Casualties were high. Today, US Marines are paying in blood for the very same ground because, in part, they gave up a miniscule speck of Afghanistan, and ...

The Killing Train

• Wikileaks and the Future of Information
  Wikileaks and the future of information from Justin Podur on Vimeo. read more
• Settle in and wait for the coup in Egypt
  Most people are interested in something that no one knows or can know: what is going to happen in Egypt? It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future (that's from Keynes). There are lessons from past revolutions that might help us understand what is happening, but from where ...
• More such philanthrocapitalism we shall be utt ...
  Philanthrocapitalism, a book by Bishop and Edwards, argues that philanthropy will help the public accept a new age of plutocracy (the rule by wealth). The rich are giving their money away so effectively, they say, that the public won't mind increasing inequality. read more
• I am not a gadget
  Jaron Lanier, author of "You are not a gadget", is very well-informed about what he is writing about, which is some of the social consequences of the internet, and some of the implicit ideologies that are built into the internet as we are living with it today. Lanier was one of the early minds b ...
• Raj Patel's "Value of Nothing"
  For various reasons I found myself with several hours on public transit and with Raj Patel's fine book "The Value of Nothing" in hand. I really liked a few things about it. First, it's a very readable summary of a lot of economic theories (and ideologies) that guide policies today. For a more ma ...

treehugger

• Australia's First Green Star Public Housing Pr ...
  Photo Credit: Watpac Green Star is to Australian commercial and government buildings, what LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) is to American structures of a similar ilk. The 5 Green Star rated Lilyfield Housing Redevelopment in inner city Sydney was officially opened this mo ...
• TreeHugger Staff Weighs In: Stuff We Love (Sli ...
  Photo: cocoinzeni/Creative Commons The TreeHugger staff often gets really excited about savvy green things. Sometimes too excited. But what better day to gush our love for green initiatives, products, and lifestyle changes than Valentine's Day? From high speed rail to aerated water, the ...
• Lie Down With Spoonk, Wake Up Stress Free
  Photo courtesy Spoonk Space. Two years ago, funny-looking mats started appearing in the windows of all the health food stores in Europe. The mats were in mellow new-age colors - sunburst orange, Mediterranean turquoise - and they were covered with tiny plastic spikes. Not imagining any ...
• Textile Artists Take Over Pop-up Shop
  Photo: B.Alter What a lovely surprise: five women textile designers have taken over a local shop and turned it into a teaching and display area for two weeks. Called Bricolage, the women are all involved with the creation of sustainable textile art. Bricolage's products include delicat ...
• Hot Springs In Hot Water? Preserving Public Us ...
  photo: Bonnie Hulkower There are over 1,700 hot springs in the western United States. Most of these are located in Nevada and California. In California, many hot springs dot the landscape and there used to be at least four hot springs commonly used in the Kern River Valley. Geologic sources ...

Democratic Voice of Burma

• ‘Activists’ to serve up to 50 year ...
  Additional sentences handed down to imprisoned group who are accused of being behind several bomb attacks in Burma
• Funding cuts endangering exiled media
  Major exiled media outlets forced to curtail operations as analysts blame policy changes in European donor countries
• India ‘hiding violations’ in Andaman 34 case
  Activists allege Indian government is hiding intelligence misdemeanours behind case of imprisoned Karen and Arakanese resistance fighters
• Union Day
  View Photo Album Burma celebrated its 64th Union Day on 12 February, commemorating the founding of the Union of Burma in 1947. The day was marked bya simple flag hoisting ceremony in the capital Naypyidaw, attended by MPs and the military, while  smaller ceremonies were held across Burma and am ...
• Suu Kyi’s party ‘risks tragic end& ...
  State media sounds ominous warning about National League for Democracy's continued support for Western sanctions on Burma

Telegraph - Climate Change

• Prince Charles defends his faith against 'deni ...
  Prince Charles's speech in Brussels last week shows him still clinging to climate change orthodoxy, says Christopher Booker.
• Republicans fight Barack Obama on climate chan ...
  Congressional Republicans vowed on Wednesday to prevent the Obama administration from reducing the pollution that contributes to global warming, proposing to cut the budget of the U.S. environmental agency.
• Prince of Wales: climate change sceptics 'play ...
  Climate change sceptics are "playing a reckless game of roulette" with the future of their grandchildren, the Prince of Wales on Wednesday told a European Union conference on global warming.
• A waste-to-energy power plant in Denmark that ...
  A power plant in Denmark that blows smoke rings and has a ski slope.
• Climate change fuelled by pursuit of economic ...
  Prince warns against pursuit of growth at the expense of the environment.

National Geographic | Environment

• Best News Pictures of 2010: World Press Winner ...
  NoneWhooper swans, a victim of the Taliban, and Bolivian wrestlers are among the winners of the 2010 World Press Photo Contest.
• Wolverine to Vanish From U.S. Due to Warming?
  Built for the cold, the fierce wolverine may retreat from the mainland U.S. due to global warming, a new study says.
• Pictures: Kickoff Time for Green Stadiums
  NoneAs Green Bay and Pittsburgh face off Sunday in Super Bowl XLV in the NFL's newest and largest stadium, a drive for greener design and cleaner energy is under way at arenas worldwide.
• "Extinct" Salmon Discovered in Japanese Lake
  A Japanese TV host helped identify a fish from a Mount Fuji lake as the kunimasu salmon, thought to have gone extinct 70 years ago.
• "Killer" Winter Storm Seen From Space; U.S. Bl ...
  A new NASA picture shows just how big the current U.S. winter storm is. Hitting at least 30 states, it's among the worst in 50 years.

Jurist - Legal Research

• Pakistan issues arrest warrant for former Pres ...
  [JURIST] An arrest warrant for former president Pervez Musharraf [BBC profile; JURIST news archive] was issued Saturday by a Pakistani anti-terrorism court in connection with the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto [BBC obituary; JURIST news archive]. The court determined Musha ...
• Egypt military dissolves parliament and schedu ...
  [JURIST] The Egyptian military on Sunday announced that it has dissolved the country's parliament and will run the country until an election is held in six months. The television announcement [NYT report] marked the first time that the military had publicly disclosed its transition plan. The cou ...
• Judge orders stay on release of Tucson shooter ...
  [JURIST] Federal District Judge Larry Burns [Judgepedia profile] ordered [text, PDF] on Friday that the federal mug shots of accused Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner temporarily be kept from public view. Defense counsel for Loughner filed an emergency motion to bar release of those photos to th ...
• Federal judge upholds Wal-Mart firing of medic ...
  [JURIST] A federal judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan [official website] on Friday ruled [opinion, PDF] that Wal-Mart [corporate website; JURIST news archive] did not wrongly fire an employee who had been using medical marijuana to treat a brain tumor. In dismis ...
• Federal judge rules LA emergency evacuation pr ...
  [JURIST] A federal judge of the US District Court of the Central District of California [official website] on Friday held [summary judgment, PDF] that the city of Los Angeles violated the Americans With Disabilities Act [text] by not accounting for people with disabilities in the city's emergenc ...

Atlantic | Mark Ambinder

• The Greatest Budget Story of All Time
  This being Budget Day, I thought I'd post a link to the greatest budget story of all time, "The Education of David Stockman," by William Greider, which, of course, appeared in The Atlantic in December 1981, and is one of my favorite magazine pieces of all time. It's a potent reminder that for al ...
• Time: Haley Barbour Lobbied For Mexico On 'Amn ...
  Mississippi Gov. and potential 2012 GOP contender Haley Barbour has sought to defend his lobbying record by arguing that the president is little more than the lobbyist in chief. Time's Michael Scherer digs up some evidence that suggests, as we all know, that the distinction between lobbying and ...
• Republicans Skeptical of Obama's Budget
  John Boehner on NBC's "Meet the Press." credit: AP Photo/NBC, William B. Plowman One day before President Obama releases his budget plan for next year, House Republicans said today that they aren't impressed with what they've heard so far. "Spends too much, borrows too much, and t ...
• Ron Paul Wins CPAC Straw Poll, Again
  Human Events scooped the outcome: The results of the CPAC straw poll of presidential candidates are in, and the winner is Ron Paul, with 30% of the vote. Mitt Romney was the runner-up with 23%, and all other candidates tied with about 6% each. 84% of the voters identified themselves as fisc ...
• Why Is the New York Times Asking Me to Dress S ...
  OK, so it's not really The New York Times, it's a Web ad that was served to me when I was reading Gail Collins' column on Chris Lee online, but still. The ad appears to be designed to entice click-through to online gaming site Mighty Magoo and the Cartoon Doll Emporium. I was not actually able ...

COAT - Coalition to oppose the Arms Trade

• [COAT] Canada at War in Iraq! New 54-page COA ...
• [COAT] Success! AntiCANSEC arms-bazaar campaig ...
• [COAT] Raging Grans video: CANSEC-NO CANSEX-YE ...
• [COAT] Arms Bazaar in Ottawa Citizen, letters- ...
• [COAT] Oppose the CANSEC War Machine! - coat

Bulletin of American Scientists - News

• US and Vietnam sign nuclear energy agreement | ...
• SKorea on alert after ship hit by mysterious b ...
• Obama administration may send U.S.-Russia arms ...
• Energy Secretary Steven Chu on the nation's en ...
• More tritium found at Vt. Yankee, NRC plans cl ...

Tikun Olam

• Ashkenazi Video Admits IDF Bombed Syrian Nucle ...
  Haaretz has just published a story that will certainly disappear due to gag order.  In it, Anshel Pfeffer writes that Gabi Ashkenazi prepared a video celebrating his achievements as chief of staff, which was screened at a party marking his final day on the job.  What is extraordinary about the ...
• Haaretz Discovers al-Araqib Nakba (Finally), G ...
  (GOD TVâs and all other trademarks are the property of their respective holders. The video above contains limited excerpts from GOD TVâs broadcast.) Haaretz sometimes is a little slow on the uptake in reporting news.  In the case of GOD-TV’s involvement with the dispossession of the Bedouin res ...
• Ashkenazi Criminal Investigation: IDF Chief So ...
  Isn’t it instructive to note that Egypt has just thrown off the yoke of a corrupt military dictator while Israel seems enmeshed in a web of military corruption reaching to the very highest echelons.  Today, chief of staff Gaby Ashkenazi is to step down from his position and almost immediately c ...
• Retiring IDF Chief of Staff Accused of Selling ...
  I reported last week (and here) that the Israeli censor had prohibited the naming of the soon to be former (as of tomorrow) IDF chief of staff, Gaby Ashkenazi as the target of a criminal inquiry.  Yesterday, the Israeli media finally named Ashkenazi as the one under investigation.  According t ...
• Marty “Party” Peretz Severs Ties to TNR, Close ...
  Recently, the NY Times actually sent a reporter all the way to Israel to document the weirdness of Marty Peretz’s life (Martin Peretz: Not Sorry About Anything).  Among other things, the profile revealed that senior editors at The New Republic, which he used to own, are mortally embarrassed by ...

Ode Magazine

• Mizukaburi Matsuri: Keeping at bay
  By: Anne Thomas Japan has wonderful festivals throughout the year. Some are huge and world renown. Others are so small only locals attend. But no matter the size, all of them are filled with great enthusiasm and merrymaking as people give their all to ...
• The muse in the moment
  We all know meditation helps you relax. But can it also ease the symptoms of depression and anxiety disorders and improve quality of life for people with chronic diseases? Recent research suggests it can. For those of us who haven’t practiced it, meditation can seem like a ...
• The secret life of metaphor
  By: James Geary Metaphor is most familiar as the literary device through which we describe one thing in terms of another, as in Shakespeare’s famous line from Romeo and Juliet, “Juliet is the sun.” But metaphor is much more than a mere literary device ...
• A new food manifesto
  Itâs time to take back control of what and how we eat. Hereâs why. Food isn’t just something we need to shovel down our gullets each day to survive. It’s far more potent: the means, more than any other, by which we humans shape our planet and ourselves.Photo by Marko Matas ...
• Harness a vocabulary of intention
  By: Nazia Mallick Are you using diminishing language in your speech and writing? The law of diminishing returns is defined as: "A point beyond which the application of additional sources yield less than proportional increases in output." In the same wa ...

OpEd News

• Valentines Day-- A Bit of Its History
  the historical and contemporary aspects of Valentines day.
• Can The Egyptian People Keep Up The Momentum F ...
  Now That The People of Egypt Have Toppled Mubarak, Will the next fight be with the military?, asks News Dissector Danny Schechter
• Love Lessons from Abu Ghraib
  No one wants to think about torture. But if no one thinks about it, who will stand up and put a stop to it? "Love Lessons from Abu Ghraib" is a one-woman show that offers an engaging and uplifting way to begin taking in the horrors that are being perpetrated in our name.
• US Misinformation: International Law is Clear ...
  A Pakistani attorney based in Lahore says the US is relying on bullying, not international law, to try and prevent suspected spy and terrorist Raymond Davis from facing trial on murder and espionage charges in Pakistan.
• "Voice Teacher" Debuts at Louisville Derby Cit ...
  To enter this particular studio, pupils must embrace the psyche behind the training.The film catapults you into every aspect of Don's hyperactive personality. It also explores how his roots in the synagogue drove Don to become a cantor and rabbi, where he combined artistic singing with religious ...

Switchboard

• We Saved San Onofre State Park From The Toll R ...
  It’s been over two years since one of California’s most popular state parks was spared from being paved over by a six-lane toll road.  It turns out, however, that not everyone’s gotten the message about the road’s demise. In December 2008, NRDC and our coalition partners rejoiced ...
• The House Bill to Block Bay-Delta Protections ...
   The draft budget released by House Republicans on Friday contains a breathtaking array of anti-environmental provisions that would damage the nation’s economy, health and natural heritage.  One of the riders in that bill would block protections under the Endangered Species Act for ...
• The Heritage Foundation's critique of the new ...
  Last Thursday the Heritage Foundation was quick to publish a blog post, “What happens when economists skip econ 101,” criticizing a report released only two days earlier by Ceres and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI). The report estimated employment impacts over a fiv ...
• House Republican Cuts Bypass Real Waste and Ba ...
  Last week I wrote about a proposal from extremists in the House targeting a program with a proven track record of effectiveness. Now a version of that proposal has been folded into a larger one from House Republican budget leaders called a "Continuing Resolution,"� which is basical ...
• Why Slashing NOAA's Budget Hurts our Economy M ...
  Late Friday night, House Republicans released their proposed FY 2011 budget, which - in 359 pages - amounts to a tremendous assault on our nation’s environment.  My colleagues have blogged on the dangerous and irresponsible affects of the Republicans ideological quest from allowing ...

Lawyers,Guns,& Money

• The Commerce Clause and the Slippery Slope
  I have an article up at the Prospect on the hot new trend in arguments that policies that Republicans supported until Obama started supporting them represent a massive threat to liberty and the Constitution: if the Supreme Court upholds the mandate, the broccoli tyrants will be knocking down you ...
• Obligatory Post Based On Intermittent Grammy W ...
  Alas, Jethro Tull Darcy and the Secret Society were robbed.   Still, it’s heartening that even an awards organization so relentlessly committed to mediocrity in the winners of its major awards can stumble over something good.   I’ve always liked Arcade Fire, but while I can understand people ...
• Great Moments in Sexist Conservative Paternali ...
  There seems to be some confusion in comments here about what “putting women on a pedestal” in the pejorative sense means. This, for instance, isn’t that.   For an actual example, we’ll need to turn to Associate Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, whose majority opinion in Carhart II was faithful eno ...
• Cherished Winger Myths
  Edroso has a good list. Michele Bachmann’s recent assertion that the framers who agreed to a Constitution that explicitly and implicitly protected slavery and were long dead before slavery was abolished made sure that slavery was abolished ranks right up there — I’m betting it becomes more wi ...
• They Send Letters
  This is academic inside baseball, but since that’s obviously a disproportionate percentage of our audience, I’d thought I’d give some publicity to the issue here. The political science journal Gender and Politics has apparently decided to reject without external review any manuscript dealing ...

Desert Research Institute

• 2010 DRI Annual Report
  The 2010 annual report is now available for download. This issue includes an interview with Executive Vice President for Research Dr. Terry Surles, our involvement with a large NSF grant to study climate change, an overview of the work in our divisions and centers, select researcher profiles, an ...
• Tracking the Air Quality at Lake Tahoe
  In order to better understand the pollutant sources that are affecting Lake’s Tahoe’s water quality, Research Professor Hampden Kuhns, began studying Lake Tahoe in 2003 when he assembled the areas first emissions inventory. The inventory included local measurements using his TRAKER road ...
• Building Concepts for Clarity
  Todd Mihevc has a knack for finding the right tools for the job, but he’s no handyman for hire. For 25 years, Mihevc, an Assistant Research Hydrogeologist at DRI, has been instrumental in developing equipment that surveys, studies, and samples water systems in Nevada. His latest research concern ...
• Top Cited Article in the Journal of Human Evol ...
  Dr. Glenn Berger is lead author in top-cited article in Journal of Human Evolution. The article "Luminescence chronology of cave sediments at the Atapuerca paleoanthropological site, Spain" was the top-cited article published in the Journal of Human Evolution for the period of 2008 to 2010.
• DRI Researcher Published in Nature Geoscience
  The atmosphere over the Dead Sea, researchers have found, is laden with oxidized mercury. Some of the highest levels of oxidized mercury ever observed outside the polar regions exist there.

Earth Techling

• Green Power Comes Via A Twist Idea
• Clean Energy Apparently Big Deal To Intel
• Solar Powered Fridge Keeps Vaccines Safe
• Clean Energy Inverter Plant Opens In Arizona
• Report: Stimulus Funding Helps Renewables

National Law Journal | U.S.

• Arbitration challenges on the rise
  Arbitration allows parties to arrive at a resolution more quickly and cheaply than is possible through litigation, but a surge in challenges to arbitrators' decisions threatens to undermine the whole point of the process.
• Plaintiffs' lawyers shift gears against Toyota
  In an attempt to swerve around a government report that largely substantiated Toyota's position that its electronic throttle system wasn't to blame for sudden unintended acceleration, plaintiffs' lawyers have turned to emphasizing Toyota's failure to install a brake override system that might ha ...
• Legal Services Corp. braces for budget cuts
  The Legal Services Corp. has survived any number of near-death experiences in its 34-year history. But the agency that funds civil legal services for the poor may be facing its biggest challenge yet at the hands of congressional budget cutters.
• ADA doesn't cover woman's immune deficiency co ...
  A federal judge in New York granted summary judgment for a defunct hedge fund in one of the few decisions addressing whether a type of immune deficiency qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Judge allows MDL alleging price-fixing of plas ...
  A federal judge in Chicago this week rejected a motion by CSL Ltd., Baxter International Inc. and an industry trade group to dismiss allegations that the companies conspired to fix prices and reduce the supply of life-saving blood plasma therapies.

How Shall We Do The Mountain ?

• FrackTracker
  Here’s an exceprt from the blog at Fracktracker, a useful site for info and maps and visuals. The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a draft of its Hydraulic Fracturing Study Plan, which is to be reviewed by the Science Advisory Board (SAB), a group of independent scientists that w ...
• A Comprehensive Website for News Headlines
  The below site, while not covering everything, does offers a lot of info in one place. Newspaper Headlines: http://www.marcellus-shale.us/Gas-Drilling_NEWS.htm
• Groups File Federal Gas Drilling Lawsuit again ...
  Delaware River Basin Commission Served Notice Trenton, New Jersey —The Delaware Riverkeeper Network and Damascus Citizens for Sustainability have joined forces in filing a federal lawsuit against the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) in federal district court in Trenton, NJ. Complaints were ...
• Oil and Gas Companies Illegally Using Diesel i ...
  By Adam Federman, Earth Island Journal Posted on February 1, 2011 The 2005 Bush-Cheney Energy Policy Act famously exempted hydraulic fracturing from the Safe Drinking Water Act. But it made one small exception: diesel fuel. The Policy Act states that the term “underground injection,” as it relat ...
• PA DEP Fines Pennsylvania General Energy Co. L ...
  COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA Dept. of Environmental Protection Commonwealth News Bureau Room 308, Main Capitol Building Harrisburg PA., 17120 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 02/2/2011 CONTACT: Daniel T. Spadoni, Department of Environmental Protection North-central Regional Office 570-327-3659 DEP Fines Pe ...

News Blaze

• Secretary Clinton's Remarks on The Anniversary ...
  For decades, the people of Lebanon have fought for their inherent right to live free from fear of murder for political reasons. We call on the next Lebanese government to provide stability and promote justice for the people of Lebanon by honoring it
• UN Asks PMW to Publicize That UNFPA Was Not Be ...
  Following PMW's exposure of a video from the campaign, UNFPA issued a press release 'disavowing' its involvement in the campaign. Writing to PMW, the organization said that it 'would appreciate any kind action you (PMW) take as a result of this
• Oil Firm to Promote Access to Sustainable Ener ...
  The geographical scope of the agreement covers countries of mutual interest in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America.
• UN Partners With West African Nations to Boost ...
  The project is part of a wide-ranging cooperation plan initiated in 2006 by the two bodies, aiming to develop the use of ICTs to support an ongoing reform of higher education in the member countries of the UEMOA - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire
• Journalist Detained Overnight Was Released On ...
  Bulhan's arrest comes days after the radio he was working for was banned by the Ahlu Sunna Administration. It is believed that his arrest is associated with the ban.

environment 360

• Arctic Roamers: The Move of Southern Species i ...
  Grizzly bears mating with polar bears. Red foxes out-competing Arctic foxes. Exotic diseases making their way into once-isolated polar realms. These are just some of the worrisome phenomena now occurring as Arctic temperatures soar and the Arctic Ocean, a once-impermeable barrier, melts. BY ED ...
• Serengeti Highway Plan Poses Threat to Entire ...
  A proposed two-lane road across the northern edge of Serengeti National Park in Tanzania would block the migration of 1.5 million wildebeest and threaten endangered species, according to a leaked government report. The study, obtained by the conservation group Serengeti Watch,  predicts that hea ...
• Republican-Controlled House Assails EPA Head o ...
  At a congressional hearing, the new Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives challenged the Environmental Protection Agency’s effort to limit greenhouse gas emissions, questioning the legal, scientific, and economic basis of such regulation. Republican members of the House Energy ...
• Growth of Wood Biomass Power Stokes Concern on ...
  Across the U.S., companies are planning scores of projects to burn trees and wood waste to produce electricity, claiming such biomass plants can be carbon-neutral. But critics contend that combusting wood is not really a form of green energy and are urging a go-slow approach until clear guidelin ...
• Second-largest Palm Oil Company Commits to Pre ...
  The world’s second-biggest palm oil company has agreed to preserve critical Indonesian rainforest and peatland as a result of pressure from major food processors and conservationists. While Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) will still be able to exploit some areas of forest, company officials have vow ...

Red Ice Creations

• House Patriot Act Extension Derailed by GOP Fr ...
  A Blow Against Big Brother? Video from: YouTube.com In a stunning turn of events, the House of Representatives has narrowly defeated the effort to “fast track” the USA Patriot Act extension for an additional 10 months. The vote needed a two-thirds majority, but managed to only get 277-148. It ha ...
• NASA Images the Entire Sun, Far Side and All
  Our home star is a seething, roiling ball of superhot gas that goes through cycles of relative quiet, punctuated by violent outbursts. Every so often, the Sun spits out a blob of charged subatomic particles - and occasionally, one of them is aimed directly at the Earth. These eruptions, known a ...
• Clinton Convenes Mass Meeting of U.S. Ambassad ...
  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is convening an unprecedented mass meeting of U.S. ambassadors. The top envoys from nearly all of America's 260 embassies, consulates and other posts in more than 180 countries will be gathering at the State Department beginning on Monday. Officials say ...
• Will Apophis Hit Earth in 2036? NASA Rejects R ...
  In 2004, NASA scientists announced that there was a chance that Apophis, an asteroid larger than two football fields, could smash into Earth in 2029. A few additional observations and some number-crunching later, astronomers noted that the chance of the planet-killer hitting Earth in 2029 was ne ...
• Mona Lisa Was a Man, Maybe
  This pigment-person has more secrets than most. Who is she? What’s she smiling about? Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa gets more intriguing all the time. Last year, Italy’s National Committee for Cultural Heritage discovered inexplicable numbers and letters inscribed in her eyes - some sort of real ...

Russia Today

• Americans should spread their goodness by sett ...
  America's attempts to spread its ideals around the world should not be achieved by force or money, believes US Congressman Ron Paul, who says Washington's efforts to buy influence in countries like Egypt have failed and...
• Teens die in train-surfing thrill ride
  Two young men died on Sunday night from injuries received while riding on top of a Moscow Metro train. The two 19-year-olds suffered multiple broken bones and other traumas.
• US pharm industry creates diseases to cure the ...
  US pharmaceutical companies get creative when it comes to disorders and drugs to treat almost anything, from canine depression to female sexual dysfunction.
• Cop that! Girl’s murder plot undone in sting
  A case in which a 19-year-old student tried to execute the cold-blooded murder of her own family has shocked Russia's southern city of Volgograd.
• European backlash over multiculturalism
  European leaders are one by one denouncing the policy of multiculturalism. The latest “fail” stamp came from French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who said he does not want people to pray in an “ostentatious way” in the...

Dad2059′s Webzine of Science Fiction, Science Fact and Esoterica

• Even Gary Bekkum is skeptical
  Gary Bekkum’s  STARpod.org’s site is usually replete with government conspiracies, psychic spies, hamsters, Bigelow’s Skinwalker Ranch, Laura Eisenhower’s Mars Colony and other wondrous esoteric oddities that it’s hard to believe that Gary could be skeptical of anything. But he is. He is very s ...
• More Paracast: George Filer
  Yeah I know I’ve been lazy lately (or so it seems), but trust me on this one. You won’t be disappointed with this interview Gene Steinberg and co-host Chris O’Brien of the Paracast had with Eastern MUFON Director George Filer, who also has the website Filer’s Files (which caters to guess what? Y ...
• The Paracast: Clifford Clift of MUFON
  This week’s Paracast with Gene Steinberg and Chris O’Brien is a conversation with MUFON International’s Clifford Clift. Subjects range from the nuts and bolts aspects of UFOs to the possible paranormal links with ghosts, angels, demons and Sasquatch. This was a down to earth and civil interview, ...
• Bizarre Beachcoming: Review of the Codex Serap ...
  Dr. Beachcoming, that eccentric collector of all things of an exotic historical nature, reviews The Codex Seraphinianus,  a book written by Luigi Serafini that is purportedly about an alien world complete with language, customs, architecture, flora and fauna. Luigi Serafini, Codex Seraphinianus ...
• Quantum DNA
  It’s been written that photosynthesis might be a quantum process. Now a paper appears that claims DNA itself is a quantum process: A Nobel Prize winning biologist has ignited controversy after publishing details of an experiment in which a fragment of DNA appeared to ‘teleport’ or imprint itsel ...

Tippers News

• DNA testing a proven weapon in fight against h ...
  DNA testing is a proven aid in solving child trafficking cases in the country, a well-known international research institute says.Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• Three men helped starve kids, court tol
  Three men helped starve five children in Adelaide until they looked like they had came from a famine-affected Third World country, a court has been told.Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• Chinese sex traders challenge verdict
  The three Chinese nationals who were jailed by an Accra Circuit Court for transporting 10 Chinese girls into the country and engaging them in sex trade have appealed against the verdict. Submitted by Rose NoFWDSPLZ to World �|� �Note-it! �|� �Add a Comment
• The real terrorist was me - US Soldier -
  The Truth from a American Soldier who fought in an Unjust WAR in Iraq; thankfully his conscience willed him to admit that it was just a war for the rich elite few to get richer and had nothing to do with Patriosm or Security of Americans.He is a True HeroSubmitted by Mary P. to US Politics & Gov ...
• BRUTAL TRUTH Of IRAQ WAR
  'War' on any country is a 'Terrorist Act.' How can it be anything else?? People sit in their cosy homes; happy and Falsely believing that the soldiers are in a Patriotic War; Well see for yourself and ask Whats Patriotic about Suffering of Human Beings?Submitted by Mary P. to US Politics & Gov' ...

The Freeman

• “Big Meat” and Big Government
  Inviting authoritarian oversight into your competitor's business always seems like a good idea at the time, but when the same authorities start pounding on your door the notion loses some of its charm.
• Conflict Breaks Out over House GOP Spending Pl ...
  “An already wobbly week for House Republicans turned chaotic Thursday as their unruly new majority flatly rejected a spending plan crafted by House leaders, saying its cuts fell far short of fulfilling a campaign pledge to slice $100 billion from federal programs.” (Washington Post) Perverse inc ...
• Mortgage Rules to Get Government Rewrite
  “The Obama administration is pushing ahead with a vast rewrite of the rules of the nation’s mortgage market separately from the delicate task of devising options to abolish mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” (Washington Post) Why should central planning work any better here? FE ...
• What Egyptians Are Teaching the World
  In Egypt the powers that be continue to defy the peaceful throngs in the streets. Yet their rulers’ clumsy efforts to mollify the courageous people remind us of something usually overlooked about the nature of political power, namely, that ideas, not force, ultimately rule, for as Jeffrey Rogers ...
• Obama’s Budget Faces Cut Threat in House
  “House Republicans sketched their vision for a smaller federal government Wednesday, proposing sharp spending cuts that would wipe out family planning programs, take 4,500 cops off the street and slice 10 percent from a food program that aids pregnant women and their babies. Top White House prio ...

Teaching Online Journalism

• Web literacy: Should be required
  A student calls me on the phone. “Professor McAdams, I wonder if you could help me. I’ve never taken a class with you, but …” “Yes, what can I do for you?” I reply. “I bought my own website, but I’m not sure how to get my Web pages there.” From past experience, I know what I need to ask now. ...
• Can journalism education rise to the challenge ...
  Most journalism programs face the same challenges: How to find, employ and retain faculty who are comfortable teaching new skills and techniques. How to provide equipment and software to students (especially with shrinking budgets). How to keep up with a rapidly changing field. Perhaps mos ...
• HTML and CSS Resources for Teaching
  Every year around this time, I update the resources I use in teaching my advanced online design class. I know there are a million lists like these online. I try to keep mine short, simple and current. Also, I’m not teaching programmers or graphic design majors. My students are journalists. C ...
• Visual narratives: Empirical data
  From a research study by two scholars at Stanford: In this paper, we investigate the design of narrative visualizations and identify techniques for telling stories with data graphics. We take an empirical approach, analyzing visualizations from online journalism, blogs, instructional videos, an ...
• Teaching HTML and CSS to journalism students
  I’ve been looking at the open-source course materials for Web Design 1, from the WaSP InterACT curriculum project. I think these materials can easily be adapted for use in a journalism curriculum. The idea is to acquaint our students with the building blocks of the Web they use every day. For s ...

Facing South

• The truth about the Gulf's beaches (video)
  Incensed over BP ads claiming that the spilled oil is gone and the Gulf's beaches are clean, Hurricane Creekkeeper John Wathen of Alabama set out to document the truth. He's released a six-minute video of footage shot along the Fort Morgan Peninsula on Feb. 9, 2011: a familiar brown s ...
• INSTITUTE INDEX: Coal power's mercury menace
  Rank of coal-fired power plants among America's biggest sources of air pollution: 1 Of the five leading causes of death in the United States, number to which coal plant pollution contributes: 4 Number of U.S. water bodies impaired by mercury, a particularly toxic component of coal plant p ...
• Glossing over the misdeeds of big business
  By Phil Mattera, Dirt Diggers Digest I was just beginning to recover from President Obama's dismaying speech at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce when I found myself in the middle of another effort to gloss over the misdeeds of big business. This occurred at the annual conference of the BlueGreen ...
• The great Gulf offshore drilling jobs hoax con ...
  Politicians in the Gulf Coast are still attacking President Obama's slow-down on offshore drilling, even as more evidence comes in that the post-BP spill measure has had modest effect on the coast's oil economy. A month after BP's oil disaster, Obama's Interior Department announced a six-mont ...
• Federal government failing victims of BP disas ...
  There's growing evidence that serious health problems threaten the Gulf Coast's residents, cleanup workers and seafood consumers in the wake of the BP oil disaster. But so far the federal agencies in charge of responding to the disaster have failed to take adequate steps to help the injured and ...

Worldpress - Africa

• Will Freedom of Expression Hold in Southern Su ...
  With southern Sudan likely to find itself an independent nation, in addition to problems with healthcare, electricity and illiteracy, it may also face challenges to the freedom of its media.
• Will Freedom of Expression Hold in Southern Su ...
  With southern Sudan likely to find itself an independent nation, in addition to problems with healthcare, electricity and illiteracy, it may also face challenges to the freedom of its media.
• Preventing Maternal Deaths in West Africa
  Dr. Fredanna M'Cormack and her Bele Uman Project are working in Sierra Leone to save the lives of pregnant mothers and their babies.
• Interview with Kumi Naidoo
  The Greenpeace executive director talks about connections between the environment, poverty, peace, and how the interconnectedness of these issues can drive civil society.
• Re: Blood Diamonds: Still Bloody
  We are seeing a steadily growing tide of discontent with the Kimberley Process.

Telegraph UK - oil

• William Hague 'lobbied strongly' for oil compa ...
  Exclusive: Foreign Secretary "lobbied strongly" for oil companies.
• BP: Big Oil is never far from trouble
  BP's shareholders are about to receive a dividend. They should enjoy it while they can, says Alistair Osborne.
• BP: Big Oil is never far from trouble
  BP's shareholders are about to receive a dividend. They should enjoy it while they can, says Alistair Osborne
• The PM's disappointing retreat on soaring fuel ...
  Telegraph View: Mr Cameron says a promised fuel tax stabiliser has turned into a 'difficult issue', but this is not so.
• Petrol prices to hit £6 a gallon
  Petrol could hit new record price as the price of oil on the world markets climbed higher following Alaska oil spill.

Ian Welsh

• Mubarak gone, military takes charge
  Good news, probably. We’ll see if they rein in the secret police and the various corrupt police stations which run semi-autonomously and engage in much of the rape and torture. Notice that this happened when the people marched on the presidential palace, and not before. Endgame here is probably ...
• Mubarak gone, military takes charge
  Good news, probably. We’ll see if they rein in the secret police and the various corrupt police stations which run semi-autonomously and engage in much of the rape and torture. Notice that this happened when the people marched on the presidential palace, and not before. Endgame here is probably ...
• Puntland’s proto-state formation
  Piracy is a sympton of land-based disorder.  Pirates only can make money if they have the port-based infrastructure to repair their ships, re-provision for the next patrol, hold their captives and prizes and take delivery of ransom.  States that possess an effective monopoly on the use of forc ...
• Puntland’s proto-state formation
  Piracy is a sympton of land-based disorder.  Pirates only can make money if they have the port-based infrastructure to repair their ships, re-provision for the next patrol, hold their captives and prizes and take delivery of ransom.  States that possess an effective monopoly on the use of forc ...
• AOL Buys Huffpo
  Arianna Huffington cashes out.  This is the American dream baby, make something, then sell it to a soulless corporation which stands against everything you claim to stand for.  What do you care?  You’ve cashed out. Cashing out is one of the biggest problems with American style business, actua ...

Media Consortium

• 1.4 million fans can’t be wrong: NPR’s Faceboo ...
  But Carvin also emphasized the importance of audience expectations. “They still see our site as mainly dedicated to consuming news,” he said. Facebook, on the other hand, is a web venue in which people are used to chatting with their family and friends. ..NPR’s Facebook page is a complement to, ...
• The Newsonomics of 2011 news metrics to watch ...
• Gallery: 15 iPad news apps
  Thinking about creating an iPad app for your newsroom? Want to see what other news media have come up with? Below are screengrabs of several news apps from newspapers, magazines radio, television, and online-only news websites.
• Five Months on Tumblr as Seen Through Pummelvi ...
• The Media Consortium: Weekly Diaspora: After D ...

Reality Asserts Itself

• Drug Wars in Juarez Fuels Boom in El Paso
  My colleague Malak Behrouznami recently returned from Juarez Mexico where she grew up as a child. She as a wonderful heritage - her father is Iranian and her Mother is Mexican. She went Juarez for family and journalistic reasons. One of her objectives was to find out why Juarez has become a terr ...
• PALESTINIAN-ISRAELI NEGOTIATIONS TO NOWHERE NO ...
  A few months ago when shooting a documentary in the Middle East, we met Zeina, a 13-year-old Palestinian living in a Beirut refugee camp. She was traumatized as she watched the Israeli Gaza war on television. It changed her life. She now thinks of revenge and cannot understand the Israeli childr ...
• FROM JOE McCARTHY TO GLEN BECK – TIME TO END F ...
  I listened to Glen Becks "Restoring Honor" speech today hoping to find something of substance to write about. I found a stringing together of such empty phrases it does not bear discussion.  The more important issue is why a man whose megalomania seems to have no bounds can become such a phenome ...
• PAKISTAN FLOODS AND A FAILED POLICY - UN Sec. ...
  Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, says of the flooding in Pakistan "The world has never seen such a disaster. It's much beyond anybody's imagination". At least 20 million people have lost their homes, more than 1600 have died, and disease and hunger will claim many, many mo ...
• China and the end of the end of history
  Many economists and political analysts think the current recovery, as it's being called, is a rather temporary phenomenon. Many expect the recession to kick back in, and perhaps within a few years get much more serious. What does that mean in terms of the future of the world economy and world po ...

Great Beyond ( Nature )

• Egyptian science community celebrates a free E ...
  Cross posted from Nature Middle East By Mohammed Yahia On 11 February, at around 6:00 pm local time in Egypt, the Egyptian vice-president announced in a televised speech that Hosni Mubarak decided to step down after being on power for 30 years due to popular protests. Jubilant scenes ex ...
• Malaspina expedition: Starting with a splash
  Freelance journalist Lucas Laursen is joining the Malaspina expedition, a Spanish oceanographic survey circling the globe in the wake of Alessandro Malaspina’s 1789-1794 exploratory voyage (http://www.expedicionmalaspina.es). He will report from aboard the Hespérides for the month-long leg betwe ...
• Revised list of cuts would bite deeper into US ...
  The US House Appropriations Committee ramped up its attack on government spending this evening, releasing the text of a bill that it says represents the biggest round of spending cuts in US history. This time it's the turn of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science F ...
• ElBaradei: 'greatest day of my life'
  Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency and a leading Egyptian opposition figure, has applauded the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak after 18 days of protests (read some of Nature's coverage here). "This is the greatest day of my life. The country has be ...
• Malaspina expedition: Shipping out
  Freelance journalist Lucas Laursen is joining the Malaspina expedition, a Spanish oceanographic survey circling the globe in the wake of Alessandro Malaspina’s 1789-1794 exploratory voyage (http://www.expedicionmalaspina.es). He will report from aboard the Hespérides for the month-long leg be ...

new geography

• China Housing Market More Stable Than You May ...
  The sensationalist reporting of rising China tends to celebrate the country’s ascent. But there is one area where both economists and casual observers see a potential disaster: the real estate market.  Media reports of skyrocketing housing prices in first tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai ...
• Regional Efficiency: The Swiss Model?
  Given that no one likes Switzerland’s banks, coo-coo clocks, high prices, smugness, dull cities, cheesy foods, or yodeling, I realize that it is too early to speak politically about “the Swiss Model.” But it needs to be pointed out that while the European Union evaporates and Homeland America g ...
• Why Duany is Wrong About the Importance of Pub ...
  One of the news stories circling lately is an interview with Andres Duany where he asserts that public participation requirements are too onerous to enable great work to be done.� �Early in my career I worked as a public historian and historic preservation specialist, so rather than launch i ...
• America's Biggest Brain Magnets
  For a decade now U.S. city planners have obsessively pursued college graduates, adopting policies to make their cities more like dense hot spots such as New York, to which the "brains" allegedly flock. But in the past 10 years "hip and cool" places like New York have suffered high levels of dom ...
• China's Empty Trains... & Other Unintended Con ...
  In a technical sense, the economy has been in recovery since June of 2009. A year and a half into the rebound though, a general cloud of economic malaise continues to cover the nation. Fears of a diminished America are perpetuated from our political and punditry classes. We are told that our col ...

GM Watch

• No seeds, no independent research
• U.S. approves corn modified for ethanol
• "GM alfalfa will be everywhere"
• UK needs a labelling scheme for GM-free meat p ...
• Contamination with unapproved GMOs illegal in ...

spiked

• How the vetting frenzy alienates adults from k ...
  ESSAY: The state’s vetting of adults working with children suggests it no longer trusts us to use our judgement to socialise the next generation.
• Five reasons why CBOs are worse than ASBOs
  The Lib-Cons aren’t merely rebranding anti-social behaviour measures – they are intensifying them.
• A library shouldn’t be a glorified Starb ...
  In order to defend libraries from government cuts we must first clarify what these institutions are actually for.
• How 400 rabbis are wrong about Glenn Beck
  Yes, the cranky Fox talkshow host should be criticised and mocked for his anti-Semitic rants - but he shouldn’t be forced off air.
• A global conspiracy against St Julian?
  Julian Assange’s supporters don’t know who to fear most: the Great Satan that is America or ‘feminazi’ Sweden.

Cryptogon

• Jihadi Who Helped Train 7/7 Bomber ‘May& ...
  ‘May’ have worked for U.S. Intelligence… British Intelligence Had 7/7 Ringleader Under Surveillance Since 2003 Terror Exercise Held on the Same Morning as the London 7/7 Bomb Attack Netanyahu Changed Plans Due to Warning Italian Intelligence Questions Claim of Responsibility London Bombers Claim ...
• France Wants New Global Finance System
  Via: RTE: France will help the transition to a global financial system based on ‘several international currencies’, the French Economy Minister said today. France, as current head of the Group of 20 countries, will help the transition to a global financial system based on ‘several international ...
• Egyptian Military Dissolves Parliament, Suspen ...
  Via: BBC: Egypt’s new military authorities say they are dissolving parliament and suspending the constitution. In a statement on state TV, the higher military council said it would stay in power six months, or until elections. Egypt’s current parliament is dominated by supporters of President Ho ...
• And Now… Algeria
  Via: Telegraph: Internet providers were shut down and Facebook accounts deleted across Algeria on Saturday as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested in violent street demonstrations. Plastic bullets and tear gas were used to try and disperse large crowds in major cities and towns ...
• America’s Legacy of Mutagenic War
  Via: Berkeley Daily Planet: A series of disturbing reports from Iraq and Vietnam (backed up by a horrific collection of videos) have exposed a hidden legacy of war — weapons that continue to create victims years after the conflict has ended. Thanks to the US military’s embrace of Mutagenic Weapo ...

The Economic Collapse

• Shocking New IMF Report: The U.S. Dollar Needs ...
  The IMF is trying to move the world away from the U.S. dollar and towards a global currency once again.  In a new report entitled "Enhancing International Monetary Stability—A Role for the SDR", the IMF details the "problems" with having the U.S. dollar as the reserve currency o ...
• 59.9 Percent? Americans Are Racking Up Huge Cr ...
  Well, it was nice while it lasted.  One of the really good things that came out of the recent economic downturn was that millions of American families decided to get out of debt.  In particular, we had seen a sustained trend of reduced credit card usage in the United States.  It ...
• Economy News Nightmare: 20 Things That You Sho ...
  Today America is very, very frustrated.  In fact, we probably have not seen this level of anger in the country since World War 2 ended.  So why are so many Americans so frustrated and so angry right now?  Well, for most Americans it comes down to the economy.  Very few things ar ...
• Huge Numbers Of Dead Animals, Dead Birds And D ...
  Just what in the world is going on out there? Large groups of animals are keeling over dead, thousands of birds are falling out of the sky dead and millions of dead fish are washing ashore all over the globe.  Something is happening.  Do any of you know what is causing all this ...
• Which Of The Currencies Of The World Is Going ...
  Last year was an absolutely fascinating time for world currency markets.  The yen, the dollar and the euro all took their turns in the spotlight.  Each experienced wild swings at various times, but the overall theme that we saw was that faith in paper currencies is dying.  The b ...

Desertification

• How to make and use seed balls to revegetate d ...
  Check this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWyduWsoy8o&feature=related SEED BALL STORY �
• Environmental causes to the present and antici ...
  Read at : http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/notes/dimidia-llc/global-stress-china-desertification-population-displacement/10150104557751842 Global Stress / China: Desertification & Population Displacement by Dimidia, LLC There is a growing movement taking place â predominantly in the developin ...
• MEA Bulletin – Issue No. 109
  Read at : IISD RS is pleased to announce that the newest issue of MEA Bulletin is now available. To access the 109th issue directly, visit: http://www.iisd.ca/mea-l/meabulletin109.pdf . To read past issues and to sign up to receive the PDF … Continue reading →
• Inter-Disciplinary Scientific Advice to the UN ...
  Read at : Land Degradation Announcement List Request for Circulation of Side Event Announcement CST S-2 Bonn Side_Event_flyer_20110208 Providing Inter-Disciplinary Scientific Advice to the UNCCD: A View from the Scientific Community Speakers: Dr. Richard Thomas UNU-INWEH D ...
• The 2Seeds Network
  Read at : http://www.2seeds.org/about.html The 2Seeds Network is an incorporated non-profit which serves as an umbrella organization incubating small, efficient, and effective agricultural development projects in Africa. 2Seeds focuses on selecting, training, and mentoring bright and passionate ...

The Paper Trail

• Judge Says Fannie Mae Whistleblower’s La ...
  As Congress begins to tackle the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-chartered mortgage giants that have been kept alive with $150 billion in taxpayer aid, a whistleblower lawsuit has been given the green light to proceed.
• Data Confirms That Securitized Mortgages Less ...
  Government data analyzed by Federal Reserve economists shows what many home owners have already learned the hard way: Consumers have a much better chance of renegotiating a distressed mortgage if the original bank lender still holds it.
• Grassley Targets Federal Charge Card Abuses
  Many federal employees have government-issued charge cards for work-related expenses, and a handful of workers are using taxpayer dollars to pay for entertainment, prostitutes, and gambling.
• ABA Says Debit Card Cap for Big Banks Would Al ...
  U.S. bankers are asking Congress to halt a proposed Dodd-Frank regulation that would cut debit card revenues by claiming it would also discourage smaller banks from making “job-producing loans.”
• Issa Releases Letters From Industry on Regulat ...
  Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, has released a massive collection of letters received from nonprofits, businesses, and trade associations regarding the impact of government regulations on job creation nationwide.

backofthebook.ca

• Red, warm, and close to the heart
  By Jodi A. Shaw I’ve never been shy about my distaste for Valentine’s Day.   I don’t endorse or encourage celebrating it, I don’t accept Valentine’s Day gifts from anyone other than small children who have an innocent appreciation for the "holiday." Instead, every year I close my eyes, plug m ...
• Sorry, PQ, but my BC is multilingual
  By Bev Schellenberg I see the Parti Quebecois are once again hammering BC for our perceived lack of French inclusiveness at last year's Winter Olympics. Boy, are they going to be mad when they hear about our new language curriculum. If proposed changes go through, French is about to become ...
• Is Christy Clark the Sarah Palin of BC politic ...
  By Dave Brindle As one crusty but well-connected B.C. political observer DM'd me the other day, Christy Clark is not a deep thinker. Her chief rival to become leader of the B.C. Liberals and Premier, Kevin Falcon, may have had it right when he shot back at Ms. Clark's recent criticism of . ...
• Clement leads anti-UBB forces down slippery sl ...
  By Frank Moher So, all you digerati who are celebrating this morning because the Conservatives have told the CRTC to rescind its decision on user based internet billing, or else: do you really want the federal government calling the shots on this? The Tories especially? One can't help but ...
• Final Total for F-35?
  by Eric Pettifor When buying an SLR camera, the price of the unit is not the entire cost. Will you need additional lenses? Tripod? Camera case/bag? Filters? Additional media? Apparently it's the same thing when buying fighter jets. You can't just buy 65 ...

Worldnews

• Arik Air Lowers Fares for Valentine Celeb ...
  Arik Air has reduced fares across its network to celebrate...
• Icahn makes last push for Dynegy shares ...
  Quick ReadIcahn Partners extends Dynegy offer to Friday, says it won't raise bid for power producer (AP) âEuro" Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is extending an offer for power producer Dynegy Inc. for a final time. Icahn Partners LP said Monday its offer for the Houston company will expire ...
• Trump Entertainment Resorts to Sell Atlan ...
  Trump Entertainment Resorts agreed to sell the Trump Marina Hotel Casino in Atlantic City for $38...
• Obama unveils $3.73 trillion budget for 2 ...
  WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama is sending Congress a $3.73 trillion spending blueprint that pledges $1.1 trillion in deficit savings over the next decade through spending cuts and tax increases. Obama's new budget projects that the deficit for the current year will surge to an all-time ...
• Jessica Simpson's fashion line gets bette ...
  Jessica Simpson may not be doing too well in her music and acting careers, but her fashion line has never been better. According to an...

Alex in Wonderland

• Report: Active-Duty Army PSYOPS Soldiers Embed ...
  To better manufacture consent, U.S. Army soldiers are embedded as intern and fellows at local TV affiliates, along with previously reported newspapers and national outlets.
• Daily Briefing—15th-16th Sept 2010
  News and views from around the web posted to the Wonderland Wire
• Report: U.S. Troops ‘Still Killing Civilians’ ...
  A U.S.-Iraqi night raid results in the deaths of eight civilians weeks after U.S. combat operations were announced as over.
• Military Welfare Budget Won’t Thin Any T ...
  Ivan Eland sat with RT to discuss the astronomical political clout held by the welfare queens of the military-industrial complex that will thwart any translation of the Pentagon's rhetoric into actual policy
• Because the System’s Not Rigged Enough for Cop ...
  Kevin Carson on the criminal injustice system 'shrills' pushing the narrative that the letter of the law aides criminals against so-called 'crime fighters'.

MY Daily Apple

• Scramble back to eggs! Forget those high chole ...
  The cholesterol content of eggs – which was previously believed to be a health risk – is now much lower compared with ten years ago, a study suggests.
• Virus Shuts Down Australian Ambulance Dispatch ...
  angry tapir writes "Computers which co-ordinate ambulances in NSW, Australia, are back online in three of the state's regions after a major virus forced staff to shut them down for more than 24 hours. The virus crept into the Ambulance Service of NSW's dispatch system, prompting staff to co-ordi ...
• A&E staff 'to face 3 drunks every minute': How ...
  Soaring rates of binge-drinking mean that by 2015 alcohol-related problems will be responsible for 1.5 million A&E admissions a year.
• Ultrasound Industry Expert, Chris Daft, Joins ...
  SANTA CLARA, Calif., Feb. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Samplify Systems, Inc., a leading provider of technology, semiconductors and sub-systems for the ultrasound equipment market, announced today that Chris Daft, Ph.D. has joined the company as Senior Scientist, where he will apply his experti ...
• Sandia Helps Secure Kazakh Nuclear Material
  RedEaredSlider writes "A large cache of enriched nuclear fuel – some 13 metric tons — was stored in a nuclear reactor in the port city of Aktau, on the Caspian seacoast. The reactor was a Soviet-era fast breeder reactor, designed to make nuclear fuel for both weapons and power plants. The reacto ...

Common Dreams

• The Insurers’ Real Agenda for Change
  by Wendell Potter The media had lots of health care news to obsess about last week. A federal judge ruled the health care reform law unconstitutional, and Senate Republicans tried in vain to repeal the law. But most of the press paid virtually no attention to a potentially much more impor ...
• Vermont Governor Lays Out Details for Single P ...
  by Nancy RemsenThe Shumlin administration released the legislative details of how to move the state to a single payer health care system, with the first steps beginning this summer."We are committing to reforms that get us as many of the benefits of a single payer as possible under current feder ...
• Protests Swell at Tahrir Square
  read more
• 'Sheik al-Torture': Washington's New Man in Ca ...
  by Pepe EscobarCAIRO - The Egyptian revolution is being dissolved right in front of the world's eyes by an optical illusion. The protesters who have been on the streets for two weeks still want President Hosni Mubarak out. Now. Yet United Stat ...
• Virginia Debates Opening Largest Uranium Mine ...
  by Scott HarperVIRGINIA - The National Academy of Sciences on Monday took up the controversial issue of possible uranium mining in Virginia, with experts testifying for hours and environmentalists protesting what they say is a dangerous business idea.The all-day hearing came less than a week aft ...

The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos

• James Moore
• Neill Blomkamp
• Sarah Polley
• Jay Baruchel
• David Suzuki

To Do

renewable recycling conservation

Renewable energy sector booms but also is lagging

JoongAng Daily

- Feb 14, 2011

- 2 hours ago

Korea's renewable energy sector has seen growth in recent years in terms of sales, exports and private investment, although its technology is still lagging ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Fuel Cell Charger Provides Portable Renewable Energy Source

TMCnet

- Feb 14, 2011

- 1 hour ago

By Mini Swamy How often have you been left “speechless” with a sentence hanging in midair while using a run down or discharged mobile? ...

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Here Enterprises Joins Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association to ...

PR Newswire (press release)

- Feb 14, 2011

- 5 hours ago

Founded in 1984, the Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TREIA) is a key trade and advocacy organization headquartered in Austin, Texas. ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Obama seeks repeal of fossil fuel subsidies to fund renewable energy

ESI Africa

- Feb 14, 2011

- 5 hours ago

Announcing the intention to cut fossil fuel funding to increase spending on renewable energy, Chu wrote: “fiscal responsibility demands shared sacrifice. ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

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Human Habitat

ecology water energy

Former Sentinel building in downtown Santa Cruz filling up after remodel

San Jose Mercury News

- Feb 11, 2011

- Feb 11, 2011

By Jondi Gumz -- Santa Cruz Sentinel The newly renovated offices of Ecology Action in Santa Cruz were open for tour on Friday afternoon. ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Gregoire names new director for Puget Sound cleanup

Seattle Times

- Feb 11, 2011

- Feb 11, 2011

Gerry O'Keefe, who helped pull together a pair of landmark water agreements on the Columbia River while working for the state Department of Ecology, ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

'Melvin the elk' back on display in Richland

Mid Columbia Tri City Herald

- Feb 14, 2011

- 28 minutes ago

Melvin was born and died on the Hanford Reach National Monument's Arid Lands Ecology Reserve along the face of Rattlesnake Mountain. ...

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Growing Valentine's Day roses harming Kenya's ecological site

The Guardian

- Feb 13, 2011

- 17 hours ago

Consumer appetite for cut-price Kenyan roses for Valentine's Day is "bleeding the country dry" by threatening the region's precarious ecology. ...

clipped from Google - 2/2011

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Water Power

water floods pollution

Playboy Mansion outbreak linked to illness that brews in warm water

Los Angeles Times

- Feb 14, 2011

- 3 hours ago

A milder form of Legionnaires' disease, legionellosis is caused by a bacterium that grows in warm water and can take root in hot tubs or parts of ...

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Water service restored in Beaver County

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

- Feb 14, 2011

- 3 hours ago

By Jonathan D. Silver, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Parts of Potter and Raccoon townships, which were without water since about 10 pm Sunday, regained full ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

Crews work to restore water in Ruidoso

KOB.com

- Feb 14, 2011

- 1 hour ago

Ruidoso residents are on day eight with no water but families should start seeing some relief starting Monday morning. Governor Susana Martinez sent 100 ...

Related Articles »

clipped from Google - 2/2011

NH woman pulled from icy pond water

Boston Herald

- Feb 14, 2011

- 6 hours ago

By AP HOOKSETT, NH — Firefighters in the New Hampshire town of Hooksett say a local woman was hospitalized after she was pulled from the icy water of a ...

Related Articles »

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Related articles

• Egyptian Military Says Protests Harming the Economy (businessweek.com)
• Arianna Huffington: Sunday Roundup (huffingtonpost.com)
• The Emerging Counter-Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt (redantliberationarmy.wordpress.com)
• Netanyahu: After Egypt, we're ready for anything (thejc.com)
• Richer than Mubarak: Junta's Stranglehold on Egypt's Economy Imperils Reform (news.antiwar.com)
• U.S. policy and Egypt after Mubarak's resignation (thehill.com)
• Egypt protests: UK under pressure to freeze Hosni Mubarak's British assets (dailymail.co.uk)
• Here Enterprises Joins Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association to Promote Wind Power (prnewswire.com)
• Trojan Battery Launches Web Site Focusing on Renewable Energy and Backup Power Solutions (prweb.com)
• Renewable energy "a front-burner agenda item" for Barbados (greenantilles.com)
• All About the State of Renewable Energy in Europe (interfaceflorcutthefluff.com)
• Evan Smith is Featured Speaker at TREIA Policy Luncheon (renewableenergyworld.com)
• Renewable Energy World Asia Call for Papers (renewableenergyworld.com)
• Open thread for night owls: GOP out to smash states' renewable energy standards (dailykos.com)
• Why the U.S. Needs a Renewable Energy Policy (solarfeeds.com)
• USDA changes Renewable Energy Program Changes to promote biofuel production (greencarcongress.com)