Fair Use Note

WARNING for European visitors: European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. You are responsible for confirming this notice actually works for your blog, and that it displays. If you employ other cookies, for example by adding third party features, this notice may not work for you. Learn more about this notice and your responsibilities.

Thomas Paine

To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

23 December - Blogs I'm Following II

Damascus
Damascus (Photo credit: sharnik)
Damascus Panorama, Looking Southwards
Damascus Panorama, Looking Southwards (Photo credit: spdl_n1)
10:10 pm MST

Cartoonists weigh in on the gun-violence crisis

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 10 minutes ago
[*Click on any of the cartoons to enlarge.*] *by Ken* I'm still impressed (and surprised) that normally reliably conservative outposts like New York's Daily News and Post came out so unequivocally against (as the Post put it) the gun nuttery toward which the nation has so long turned a blind eye. Now the cartoonists are weighing in. *YES, THE GUN-VIOLENCE PROBLEM IS COMPLEX --* *BUT THERE'S SOME CLARITY ABOUT THIS CORE ELEMENT --* * **THERE'S ALSO PLENTY OF SKEPTICISM --* About this new day that has dawned, about how sincere and how motivating it's apt to prove. #

December 24, 2012 – White Hats Report #47.1

The White Hat Reporters at The White Hats Report - 10 minutes ago
*Twas the night before Christmas (Updated) * Twas the night before Christmas and all through the land, The rats were all scurrying because Judgment Day is at hand; Their stockings were filled with big lumps of coal, It was their payment for trying to steal our soul; The children were nestled all snug in their beds, While visions of freedom danced in their heads; With mama in her pj’s and I with my pipe, Reading the media’s most recent NWO hype; When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter, I put down my pipe to see what was the matter; I moved to the door to peek through the crack,... more »

Syrian Military: Militants Using Chemical Weapons

Land Destroyer at Land Destroyer - 28 minutes ago
Chemical weapons reportedly used by NATO-armed, funded terrorists near Damascus. *December 24, 2012* (LD) - PressTV has reported (more details via Fars News) that chemical weapons have been used by militants fighting Syrian government forces in Daraya, near Damascus. PressTV also reported that threats have been made against Syria's ethnic minorities that their water supplies will be poisoned by militants - this on the heels of the UN itself warning of (and preemptively spinning) impending sectarian-driven genocide. *Image: (via the Guardian) "Chemical containers in the Libyan des... more »

Aamjiwnaang First Nation blockade rail in support of Idle No More

brendanorrell@gmail.com at CENSORED NEWS - 51 minutes ago
Censored News http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com   Citizens of Aamjiwnaang First Nation continue a blockade of CN rail, in support of the Idle No More movement. Aamjiwnaang Citizens are indicating they will continue the blockade until Chief Teresa Spence is granted a meeting with Prime Minister Harper, and there is recognition of the historical injustice inflicted upon the community.

Want Citizenship in Taiwan? Peter Whittle with a great piece....

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 1 hour ago
Longtime resident and government regulations boffin Peter Whittle has a long article explaining a fairer path to citizenship for local long-term expats and giving excellent background on the issue at Taiwanease.com. The article addresses an outrageous unfairness in Taiwan citizenship rules: if you immigrate to Taiwan, you must give up your original citizenship, but if you are born here, you can hold two passports, no problem. A taste: Ms. Hsiao was prompted to raise the proposal on behalf of two Pakistani men, long-term residents of Taiwan with Taiwanese wives, who had applied for ... more »

THE MYTH OF A TWO STATE SOLUTION

Moshe Goldsmith, a Rabbi who immigrated to Israel from Brooklyn and who now lives in the West Bank Israeli settlement of Itamar, summed up the true intent of all of the Zionists of Israel when he told *UK Daily Telegraph*reporter Nick Meo that; “The Israeli government and political establishment don't want a two-state solution, they won't say that because they are just worried about what Obama and the Europeans say”. Neoconservatives, rather than outrightly deny they have no intention of allowing the Palestinians to have their own state in a two-state outcome, instead they tell thei... more »

Gun Crazies Are A Threat To US National Security ...

leftdog at Buckdog - 1 hour ago
* -NRA President David Keene's Son Is a Serving 10 years For Road-Rage Shooting * * -Woman Decorating Church Shot; 1 Of 3 Killed In PA Shooting -Gun Crazies Try To Deport Piers Morgan* *-Assault Weapons Ban Talk Sparks Run on Gun Stores * *-Hope for consensus on gun control diminishes * *-Gun deaths top 100 post Sandy Hook*

"Settler Canadians"

Boris at The Galloping Beaver - 1 hour ago
Note to the #idlenomore uprising: "Settler Canadian" is a well-intended but divisive and couterproductive term. Some of you are engaging in arguments about who is more authentic as an Indigenous person and who is "allowed" to participate in the movement. This does three things. First, it  reproduces the mechanisms of colonialism by othering, by constructing boundaries and in-groups. Second, these

Obama Would Deport Churchill - but Never Piers Morgan

MrArbitrage at Table Of Wisdom.com - 2 hours ago
A petition has been circulating the Internet to "deport" British citizen and CNN Host Piers Morgan for his attacking of the Second Amendment and the Bill of Rights on his television show. It probably would have been more plausible if the petition were to simply revoke his work visa and replace it with a B-2 "Vacation, Tourism, Pleasure" visa, which could prevent him from working in the US. Seriously, I realize that the purpose is to require "White House response" but I can't imagine Obama would "deport" the guy to England for attacking the Second Amendment when he himself is assaul... more »

Released FBI documents reveal plans to assassinate OWS activists

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 2 hours ago
* * *Note: the documents were redacted, so its not clear "who" was going to target OWS leaders... -AK* * * http://www.presstv.com/usdetail/279777.html *Released FBI documents reveal plans to assassinate OWS activists* Sun Dec 23, 2012 9:8PM Jason Leopold, an investigative journalist for Truth-Out, has obtained FBI documents - through the Freedom of Information Act - relating to Occupy Wall Street. Most of the pages in the documents are redacted, and show concerns of cyber threats against the financial sector. However, there are questions of assassination plots against Occupy activi... more »

Fiji Unveils New Currency Without Queen Elizabeth's Portrait

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 2 hours ago
LOL!!! A bug has replaced the Queen!!! http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v6/newsworld.php?id=914737 December 12, 2012 12:46 PM *Fiji Unveils New Currency Without Queen Elizabeth's Portrait* SUVA, Dec 12 (Bernama) -- Fijian President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau on Wednesday unveiled the country's new banknotes and coins that no longer feature British Queen Elizabeth II's portrait. Xinhua news agency reports over the last 78 years, Fiji's currency has featured members of the British royal family from King George V to Queen Elizabeth II. In launching the new banknotes and coins, Nailatikau s... more »

The newThe new constitution and the polarization of Egyptian society

Hani Fakhouri at Middle East Today - 2 hours ago
Since the fifth day after the start of the January 25thRevolution, the strategy of the Muslim Brotherhood and their political arm, “The Justice and Freedom Party”, has been based on lies and deception. Such a strategy is not based on intelligence, rationale, or clever thinking. The revolution ended by replacing one authoritarian regime with another. The new constitution has been ratified by 63% of voters, according to the national election committee. There have been reports issued by journalists, human rights organizations, and some judicial observers, that claim that the election... more »

Second Amendment solutions

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 2 hours ago
To be clear, I support gun rights for responsible owners. I know many of them intimately. But this happened all across America in the week after the Newtown massacre. At gun shows. Where not everyone does a background check. More than 200 people lined up at each of three entrances on Saturday morning to pay the $8 entrance fee to the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, which has an exhibit hall spanning 25 acres. They crowded the aisles of the show and stood two-deep at booths for assault weapons and ammunition clips. At all three shows the attendees were overwhelmingly whi... more »

Of hunger strikes, CON pigs tweeting about bacon, and #IdleNoMore

noreply@blogger.com (deBeauxOs) at DAMMIT JANET! - 3 hours ago
As I stood on Parliament Hill in solidarity with #IdleNoMore activists and protesters I was reminded that the ancestors of those whose *revendications*I supported, taught my ancestors how to survive the harsh winters of Turtle Island. Were it not for the extraordinary generosity that the Anishinabek, Cree, Abenaki and perhaps even Iroquois peoples extended to Europeans, settlement after settlement would have succumbed to the challenges and dangers the natural environment posed. Famine, and diseases attributed to malnutrition, killed many colonists. This is particularly ironic si... more »

Is Scott Brown maybe NOT destined to sneak his way back into the Senate?

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 3 hours ago
*One thing I'll freely concede is that Scott is, or leastwise was, mighty purty. But that's not really a credential for the U.S. Seante, is it?* *by Ken* In my occasional (these days) reflective moments, I ponder why it bothers me so much that Scott Brown may slither his way back into the Senate as a result of the appointment of Sen. John Kerry to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Howie, you may recall, expressed concern about that, but much greater concern about the ascension of NJ Sen. Bob Menendez to the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. I don't lose sleep over... more »

Poof: The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 3 hours ago
Poofness ~ The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Merry Christmas 12/23/2012 Greetings and Salutations; Hope you all are enjoying the holidays, as best you can. Some of you heard, some folks have hit the banks already. Some will deny such a thing because they don’t know anyone who went. That’s ok, there are non-disclosures that get signed, which locks people’s lips for 90 days. Some may have heard some old contracts are being paid out. Don’t be surprised to find out the big O people were not the first on the list to be paid out, the point being, all is orderly and the oldest stuff goes first... more »

Massive protests rock India over vicious gang rape; riots everywhere; reporter shot dead; 1 woman raped every 20 minutes across country

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 3 hours ago
A journalist has been killed in violent demonstrations against sex attacks in India as police failed to contain fresh violence. A television reporter, 36, was reportedly shot dead when officers opened fire on a protest in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, over an attack on a film actress. The star, known as Momoko, was dragged from stage in full public view last week by an armed militant who tried to rape her. She managed to fight him off and fled. Momoko, also a popular model, has waived her right to anonymity to make a public appeal for her attacker's arrest. Crowds in Manip... more »

ALEC Policy - FAILS - AGAIN!!!!

2old2care at Because I Can - 3 hours ago
From the Daily Kos The Wisconsin State Journal reported over the weekend that a private company hired by the Scott Walker administration to provide janitorial services in the state capitol building has been fired - for damaging the expensive marble floors in the building. State officials have fired a cleaning company they believe may have damaged or stained marble floors in the Capitol, said Wisconsin Department of Administration spokeswoman Stephanie Marquis. The damage appears to have occurred when a cleaning solution or other liquid leaked from a floor-scrubbing machine... more »

Russian military presence in Syria poses challenge to US-led intervention

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 4 hours ago
Russian military advisers are manning some of Syria's more sophisticated air defences – something that would complicate any future US-led intervention, the Guardian has learned. The advisers have been deployed with new surface-to-air systems and upgrades of old systems, which Moscow has supplied to the Assad regime since the Syrian revolution broke out 21 months ago. The depth and complexity of Syria's anti-aircraft defences mean that any direct western campaign, in support of a no-fly zone or in the form of punitive air strikes against the leadership, would be costly, protracted a... more »

Released FBI documents reveal plans to assassinate OWS activists

Intercept at The Intercept - 4 hours ago
PressTV Jason Leopold, an investigative journalist for Truth-Out, has obtained FBI documents - through the Freedom of Information Act - relating to Occupy Wall Street. Most of the pages in the documents are redacted, and show concerns of cyber threats against the financial sector. However, there are questions of assassination plots against Occupy activists in Houston, Texas. Because the documents have redactions, it is not clear who or what group was planning the assassinations. On page 61, the section reads: “An identified [redacted] of October planned to engage in sniper attac... more »

Northerntruthseeker Rant For Sunday, December 23rd, 2012

Northerntruthseeker at Northerntruthseeker - 6 hours ago
I have said before that I cannot always post articles every day of the week in this blog... Saturday was a day spent first with some last minute Christmas shopping, and then spending the evening with friends for our annual Christmas get together..Therefore my posting any new articles yesterday was delayed... I must say that the items of conversations in the party last night were most interesting... We discussed the usual Sports, and then turned to some world and political issues. There were a lot of people discussing the recent "massacre" in Newtown, Connecticut, and they showed th... more »

North Korea could have U.S. within missile range, says South

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 6 hours ago
This month's rocket launch by reclusive North Korea shows it has likely developed the technology, long suspected in the West, to fire a warhead more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles), South Korean officials said on Sunday, putting the U.S. West Coast in range. North Korea said the December 12 launch put a weather satellite in orbit but critics say it was aimed at nurturing the kind of technology needed to mount a nuclear warhead on a long-range missile. North Korea is banned from testing missile or nuclear technology under U.N. sanctions imposed after its 2006 and 2009 nuclear weapons ... more »

Julian Assange: expect 1 million new WikiLeaks

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 6 hours ago
Julian Assange has said (video) that WikiLeaks is preparing to publish 1m new secret government documents as he marked six months of refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London with a speech from its balcony on Thursday. The WikiLeaks founder has remained in the embassy to avoid arrest and extradition to Sweden on suspicion of sexual offences. There is a permanent police guard and Assange will be arrested if he leaves the premises. About 80 supporters gathered on Thursday night to hear Assange speak. They carried candles and held placards reading, "Don't shoot the messenger" and "Don... more »

Hydrogen Sonata Forum wrap-up

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson at Duck of Minerva - 6 hours ago
Just to collect all the links from our Forum on Iain M. Banks’ The Hydrogen Sonata into one coherent place: Chris Brown: A Triumphant Return to Form | Gerard van der Ree: Learning from Utopia | Iver B. Neumann: Religion and the Sublime | Patrick Thaddeus Jackson: Actors on the Sci-Fi Stage | Dan Nexon: To Sim, Perchance to Dream | and Iain M. Banks’ reply Continue reading

D-FOX: Please contact us if you can read this

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 6 hours ago
To D-fox: if you're reading this, please contact us at thecomingcrisis@gmail.com. It's important -- we believe.

Naked Bill O'Reilly . . . and My Five Wishes for 2013

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 7 hours ago
*Oh, the horror! (See No. 5 below.)* *by Noah* [*Yesterday Noah had predictions for 2013. Today he moves on to some wishes for the new year.* -- Ed.] *1. A Bankster Gets His* A crossbow? An extra-large gigunda knife in the back thrown from ten feet? A crowd of über-angry middle-class machete-wielding citizens out for vengeful blood? A simple flaming pit suddenly opening up under Jamie Dimon's thousand-dollar shoes? Snakes on Lord Bankfiend's plane? To me any of these would suffice. All of them would suffice more. I think all of us must learn to give back. Does that make me a bad... more »

Mitt Romney, reluctant candidate

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 7 hours ago
They're still doing post mortems on Romney's failed bid for POTUS. Boston Globe rehash is pretty good if you're not sick of these yet. This part is the only thing that's new and much mockery of Tagg's claim ensued on the social nets. More than being reticent, Romney was at first far from sold on a second presidential run. Haunted by his 2008 loss, he initially told his family he would not do it. While candidates often try to portray themselves as reluctant, Tagg insisted his father’s stance was genuine. “He wanted to be president less than anyone I’ve met in my life. He had no d... more »

America’s Hype over WMD: Five Invasion Plots, Three Continents, Identical Lies

Intercept at The Intercept - 8 hours ago
Global Research Felicity Arbuthnot [image: Bush1_Hitler] *“I do not understand this squeamishness about the use of gas. We have definitely adopted the position at the Peace Conference of arguing in favour of the retention of gas as a permanent method of warfare…. I am strongly in favour of using poisoned gas against uncivilised tribes.”*(Winston S. Churchill, 1874-1965, from War Office minute, 12th May 1919.) As the sabre rattling against Syria gets ever louder, the allegations ever wilder and double standards, stirring, plotting and terrorist financing (sorry: “aiding the legiti... more »

Fra Giovanni, "Written on Christmas Eve, 1513"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
"Written on Christmas Eve, 1513" "I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you which you have not. But there is much, very much, that, while I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it today. Take heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and glory in darkness, could we but see. And to see, we have only to look. I beseech you to ... more »

If more guns is crazy, Wayne LaPierre doesn't want to be sane

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 8 hours ago
Hot on the heels of the most bizarre press conference ever, NRA chief Wayne LaPierre is making the rounds of the bobblehead shows to defend the NRA's hare-brained position on gun regulation, that being, there should be absolutely no additional regulation whatsoever. Surprisingly, Dancing Dave challenged that idiotic NRA stand: GREGORY: This is a matter of logic, Mr. LaPierre, because anybody watching this is going to say ‘hey wait a minute. I just heard Mr. LaPierre say that the standard is we should try anything that might reduce the violence. And you’re telling me that it’s not ... more »

"Can You Keep Christmas?"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
"Are you willing to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you? To remember the weakness and loneliness of people who are growing old? Are you willing to believe that love is the strongest thing in the world... stronger than hate, stronger than evil, stronger than death? Then you can keep Christmas! But you can never keep it alone." - Henry van Dyke

"Many Thanks- An Internet Merry Christmas!"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
*"Many Thanks- An Internet Merry Christmas!"* Author Unknown "As we finish up the year 2011, I want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery! I no longer open a bathroom door without using a paper towel, or have the waitress put lemon slices in my ice water without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel. I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels. I can't sit down on the hotel bedspre... more »

"My Grown-Up Christmas Wish"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 8 hours ago
"No more lives torn apart, That wars will never start, And time will heal our hearts. Every man will have a friend, That right will always win, And love will never end. This is my grown-up Christmas List." - Author Unknown

Sunday Question for Liberals

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 8 hours ago
Sticking with the theme: what's a Christmas (or other appropriate holiday) gift that you would like to give to a Democratic or liberal leader?

Zionist lobbies seek to restrict Press TV activities in US: William Spring

Intercept at The Intercept - 8 hours ago
PressTV United States Zionist lobby groups seek to limit the activities of Press TV in America over fears of losing the propaganda war, a human rights activist tells *Press TV*. This is while the US House of Representatives has recently approved a ‘defense bill’ that includes new anti-Iran sanctions on broadcasting, another almost USD500 million for the Israeli regime’s missile systems and approximately USD89 billion for its war in Afghanistan. Press TV has conducted an interview with William Spring, a human rights activist from London, to further discuss the issue. Spring is... more »

Russ Roberts talks with John Taylor

Greg Mankiw at Greg Mankiw's Blog - 8 hours ago
Previous installments are here.

Happy Festivus, People of Earth

Jay Allbritton at Jay Allbritton - 8 hours ago
I got a lot of problems with you people!

Christmas past

Libby Spencer at The Impolitic - 8 hours ago
I'm posting Christmas graphics every day at my other place, but since no one reads that blog maybe I should post a few here since it's almost that time. Love antique Christmas cards. This one is from 1870. [graphic via Mental Floss More cards at the link] And for those who hate the holiday and want a little bah humbug to brighten their day, this was billed as the saddest Christmas album ever. Haven't seen a fact check on it, but guessing it could be true. [graphic via Pour Me Coffee]

Master list of Antidepressant/SSRI Related Violence

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 9 hours ago
I knew this was a problem given the people I know who have died from taking these drug and using handguns to kill themselves, but this list is amazing and a wake up call to congress and gun control advocates that the problem is more than just guns, its the drugs people are taking. The combination of antidepressants and guns are a much more serious problem than drinking and driving. Where are the Mothers Against Antidepressants? Surely enough mothers are sick and tired of their children dying in school shootings? Where are the calls for to hold the pharmaceutical indust... more »

Sunday Question for Conservatives

Jonathan Bernstein at A plain blog about politics - 9 hours ago
Let's have some fun: what's a Christmas (or other appropriate holiday) gift that you would like to give to a Republican or conservative leader?

Kauilapele: Now that Video…”’2012 A-Z’ – A Galaxial Event of Disneyesque Proportion”

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 9 hours ago
*Now that Video…”’2012 A-Z’ – A Galaxial Event of Disneyesque Proportion”* Posted on 2012/12/23 by kauilapele Okay, I’ve viewed this once. It’s a little over an hour long, but if you just want to listen to a bit, I’d suggest going to 20 minutes and view from there. I was completely “drawn in” by this one. Jelaila Starr just emailed her latest message with this video in it. Made a lot of “connection-sense” to me. And fun to watch.

“Joy Paradigm” Grid Fully Enabled

Obi-Wan Kabuki at AMERICAN KABUKI - 10 hours ago
* * * * *“Joy Paradigm” Grid Fully Enabled* by ÉirePort "Joy Paradigm" Grid has been fully enabled as of the 12-23-12, as result of Cosmic Alignment. Resistance is futile. Resistance is no longer possible. Individual human co-alignment with this Joy Paradigm Grid comes step by step, individual by individual, yet expect to see entire groups align instantly. New Joy Paradigm Grid supports strongly such alignments. As veil has been largely lifted, these Joy Paradigm Grid group alignments will be visible to all. ÉirePort | December 23, 2012 at 17:01 URL: http://wp.me/p2sFUY-5R

Hunger and homelessness rise in U.S. cities

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 10 hours ago
[image: A homeless man in New York City using a unique shelter heated by exhaust from buildings, 20 December 2012. ParaSITE] 20 December 2012 (Reuters) – Across the United States, the number of hungry and homeless people is growing, and budget fights at the federal level are threatening the aid many need to survive, the U.S. Conference of Mayors said on Thursday. Amidst the holiday season of family feasts and corporate dinners, the mayors released a report that found requests for emergency food assistance rose in 21 out of the 25 cities it surveyed in 2012 and remained at the sam... more »

"How It Really Is"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago

forever lost

Oberon at GlobaLove Think Tank - 11 hours ago

Something for Christmas Eve

Not a sheep at Not a sheep - 11 hours ago

Sunday Classics: It's "The Nutcracker" -- the whole deal! (Again!)

KenInNY at DownWithTyranny! - 11 hours ago
*Since we already saw the "Nutcracker Suite" sequence of Disney's Fantasiawith Friday night's preview, I thought to kick off we'd just look at this little teaser from Helgi Tómasson's San Francisco Ballet staging.* *by Ken* [*To repeat, this is an "encore presentation" of last year's complete- Nutcracker post, which I thought came out pretty darned well. You probably think it's a huge labor-saver just running a post "rerun." Perhaps I thought so too, but it never works out that way.*] The plan is pretty simple. As promised in Friday night's preview, when we heard two quite different... more »

"What Going Over The 'Fiscal Cliff' Would Mean..."

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago
*"What Going Over The 'Fiscal Cliff' Would Mean..."* By Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post "Two years the leaders of a presidential commission rolled out a startling plan to dig the nation out of debt. After decades of profligacy, they said, Washington must tell people to work longer, pay higher taxes and expect less in retirement. Lawmakers recoiled from the blunt prescriptions of Democrat Erskine Bowles and Republican Alan K. Simpson. But their plan has since been heralded by both parties as a model of clear-eyed sacrifice, and policymakers say the moment has come to live up to... more »

Plastic chokes oceans and trashes beaches

Jim at Desdemona Despair - 11 hours ago
[image: Plastic and other debris pollute a beach on Midway Island, 20 August 2012. Daisy Gilardini / Danita Delimont Photography / Newscom] By Karin Schulze 23 December 2012 (SPIEGEL) – A new exhibition in Hamburg seeks to alert people to the dangers of the plastic in our daily lives, painting a stark picture of how it accumulates in the world's oceans. It reveals how plastic particles can enter into the food chain and return to us through our dinner plates. The unsightly mess is a must see for anyone who wants to have a bad conscience for the right reason during the orgy of cons... more »

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 12.21.12"

noreply@blogger.com (CoyotePrime) at Running 'Cause I Can't Fly - 11 hours ago
*"Weekly News Wrap-Up 12.21.12"* By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com "Don’t expect a debt deal Christmas present. It ain’t going to happen. This is a political football. It is also about putting blame on the other party and getting a deal that hurts the other party’s base the worst. Solving this debt crisis problem will involve real pain and sacrifice if we ever want to balance the budget. Even the so-called Erskine-Bowles plan only meant a total of $4 trillion to the budget over the next decade. That plan slowed the growth of government, forget about actually cutting it. What Con... more »

John Friend on What's Ailing the World? with Dr. Rebecca Carley

John Friend at John Friend's Blog - 11 hours ago
I was on *Dr. Rebecca Carley's radio program* What's Ailing the World? on *The Micro Effect Radio Network *yesterday morning. We discussed the Sandy Hook "shooting" hoax and related matters. You can download the first half of the show *here*, and the second half *here*.

Why Poor Kids Fail in College

Majia's Blog at Majia's Blog - 11 hours ago
*The New York Times *today has a very interesting and detailed analysis of stalled class mobility and the failure of university education to eliminate barriers to mobility. The story follows working class female students success in graduating from high school and failure to graduate from college For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall. Jason De Parle and Kitty Bennett (contributing to research). December 22, 2012 The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit... more »

Statement of SWP Democratic Opposition

Phil at A Very Public Sociologist - 12 hours ago
- And there I was just minding my own business when this below tumbled into my inbox. Readers may be aware from a number of discussions at Socialist Unity and the *Weekly Worker* that a handful of members have been expelled in the lead up to the SWP's conference in early January. Under the rules, SWP members can form a faction in the three month period leading up to their annual meeting. It would appear from internet grapevine gossip that the four members in question fell foul of the central committee's expulsion compulsion for daring to communicate with each other outside the party'... more »

Have a Very Classist Christmas

Karen Garcia at Sardonicky - 12 hours ago
Until I read all about it in *The Huffington Post*, I never would have known that I have permission from the Obamas to start celebrating. Until they boarded Air Force One for their annual jaunt to Hawaii, we hoi polloi had supposedly been agonizing over the Fiscal Cliff right along with them. So as long as the first family can take some time off, we can too. Because this is a democracy, where everybody who does their fair share and plays by the same rules gets a fair shake, and gets it good and hard. It's that most wonderful time of the year, when Barack and Michelle deliver their a... more »

If it Bleeds it Leads, So Let it Bleed

jurassicpork at Welcome Back to Pottersville - 12 hours ago
(By *American Zen*'s Mike Flannigan, on loan from Ari) "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is to have a good guy with a gun." - *NRA VP Wayne LaPierre, December 21, 2012* If one were to take Maureen Dowd's dry sarcasm literally (and I'm afraid many liberals do), then the NRA is wrongly anathematizing the MSM that she represents and that the 4th Estate is being used as a scapegoat, an innocent victim that's not actually accountable for the atmosphere of fear the NRA's Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre rightly pointed out at his Friday presser. Of cou... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 12 hours ago
*Listen to Saints Radio online*

Parker and Douthat and Robinson oh my!

bob somerby at the daily howler - 12 hours ago
*SUNDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2012* *The sad state of pundit culture:* We were struck this morning by the sad state of pundit culture. In the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker’s column takes us back to an earlier, more innocent era. Parker falls back on two favorite old tales, one concerning Michael Dukakis, the other concerning Richard Nixon. Did Dukakis really lose the election because of his ride in that tank? As a candidate, was Nixon really “sweat-soaked?” Actually no. But for decades, treasured old stories like these have driven the work of our pundits. These treasured old stories a... more »

Stevie does Gangnam . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 12 hours ago
ACCORDING TO HUFFINGTON, the Air Farce has nailed it. Delightful!

Fiscal Cliff - Yeah, Baby!!!, Let's Do It.

2old2care at Because I Can - 12 hours ago
I have been ready to go over the fiscal cliff for months now. I don’t fear it. As a matter of fact I look forward to it – I think it can be a moment of awakening for both parties. This morning on The Hill I saw this Conservatives urge GOP leaders to be bold, prepare to go over cliff And thought – oh shit, the GOP and I agree. But it is really a RepubliCON “bait and switch” if you read the whole article. The article is full of juicy little tidbits. My emphasis throughout Conservative activists who helped doom Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) fiscal Plan B say *Republicans must be p... more »

If harper Kills Chief Spence

thwap at thwap's schoolyard - 12 hours ago
Is it possible? Is harper so debased that he'd actually let Chief Spence die rather than agree to a meeting between First Nations leaders, himself and the Crown? Personally, I don't think so (although the overall lack of media attention to this gripping story might try to make it possible for harper to get away with that). I think, while he's tweeting inanities and filling his mind with empty thoughts about Christmas, harper will let Spence starve until she requires hospitalization, perhaps suffers permanent organ damage, and then he'll agree to a meeting where nothing will be discu... more »

Doug Ross: The 2012 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards...

Adrienne at Adrienne's Corner - 12 hours ago
*announced.* I've collected my badge. Sigh. [image: Winner - 2012 Fabulous 50 Blog Awards]

Stevie needs a reading . . .

Edstock at The Galloping Beaver - 12 hours ago
THE HR GIGER TAROT SET. Awesome.

trials of a student librarian: readers' advisory, the library thing i love best

laura k at wmtc - 13 hours ago
Of all the aspects of librarianship that I know about, the piece I'm most excited about is readers' advisory. Readers' advisory is the library term for answering that important question... *"What to read next?"* Questions like, "Do you have any more books like this one?", "I'm tired of reading mysteries, I need something different," and "I loved this book, I want another just like it," are all about readers' advisory. I was surprised to learn that adult readers ask library staff for book recommendations all the time. In my own reading, I am guided by almost exclusively by book rev... more »

NHS Alexandra Hospital apologises to 38 families for appalling care that saw a patient starve to death

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
An NHS hospital has apologised to 38 families after a patient starved to death and it left other dying people screaming in pain. Alexandra Hospital in Redditch is writing to 38 families after a massive legal action that exposed years of bad practice, ranging from nurses taunting patients to leaving an elderly woman unwashed for 11 weeks. In one of the worst cases, a man had starvation recorded as the cause of his death after being treated at the hospital for two months. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said last night that he was “disgusted and appalled” by what the families had ... more »

Israel backs Russia’s avowal that Syrian chemical arms are secure “for now”

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 13 hours ago
“At the moment, [Syria’s] chemical weapons are under control,” said senior Israeli defense official Amos Gilad Sunday, Dec. 23, echoing the statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Saturday that “the Syrian government has “consolidated its chemical weapons in one or two locations amid a rebel onslaught and they are under control for the time being.” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu then said enigmatically: “We are facing a near possibility of far-reaching changes in the Syrian regime with ramifications for the sensitive weaponry [chemical, biological] present there.” Li... more »

Behind The Numbers

Owen Gray at Northern Reflections - 14 hours ago
When Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page released a report two weeks ago, which documented the average annual salary of a federal employee as $114,100, there were howls from the usual critics. Andrew Jackson writes: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation was quick to jump on the report of the Parliamentary Budget Office on federal government pay and compensation, saying that it provided “shocking numbers on the overly generous compensation of federal government employees.” Echoing similarly-exaggerated claims by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business and other employer gr... more »

Mysterious death prompts Person authorities to seize dog (Very strange)

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 14 hours ago
Questions surrounding a man's death over the weekend prompted Person County authorities to seize a pitbull. Deputies found the body of Eugene Cameron, 65, of Henderson, under a carport at 1189 Semora Road, west of Roxboro, late Saturday. Family members said he was checking on the house while his friend was out of town. Witnesses said that Cameron was found naked, with his clothes balled up beside him, and bloody dog paw prints surrounded him. He had a severe injury to his right arm that could have caused him to bleed out, and the injury was consistent with a dog bite, according to ... more »

American Dream Fades for Generation Y Professionals

Matt at The Coming Crisis - 14 hours ago
After being dismissed from her job as a Midtown Manhattan securities attorney in October 2009, Christina Tretter-Herriger hitched a used horse trailer to her Dodge Ram pickup and drove 1,628 miles to Texas. The 32-year-old lawyer sold skin-care products in Houston before finding work as the assistant general counsel of a futures-trading firm where an irate customer punctuated a recorded voice-mail message with gunfire. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-21/american-dream-fades-for-generation-y-professionals.html

A New Beginning is Here

Mark Daniels at Global Political Awakening - 14 hours ago
*Press For Truth* PressforTruth.ca Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter: Delivered by FeedBurner Be the Change! Share this using the tools below. Sharing on Reddit and Newsvine will help the most.

Welcome to Boehnerville

2old2care at Because I Can - 14 hours ago
Saw this on the TV this morning and had to chuckle. Hadn't seen it before - thought I'd share in case others had not seen it either.

The Hydrogen Sonata Forum: Iain M. Banks Replies

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson at Duck of Minerva - 14 hours ago
General Warning: this is emphatically not a spoiler-free Forum! Hence all of the text all of the contributions will be safely below the fold, and only the identifying information for the author of the contribution will be here for even causal browsers to see. Iain M. Banks is a celebrated author of both science fiction Continue reading

Sunday Globe Special: South African Zombies

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 14 hours ago
*I thought that was a Haitian thing. * * **‘‘The ARVs are called the ‘Lazarus drug’ because people rise up and walk’’ * "South Africa improves in fighting HIV-AIDS" by Carley Petesch | Associated Press, December 02, 2012 JOHANNESBURG — Stories of hope and progress are readily available on World AIDS Day 2012 in sub-Saharan Africa, where *deaths* from *AIDS-related causes* have declined by 32 percent from *1.8 million* in 2005 to *1.2 million* in 2011, according to the latest UNAIDS report.... * **An ongoing Holocaust. * Themba Lethu clinic, with government funding [from] the Unite... more »

A Life of Indentured Servitude for a Chance at a College Diploma: When the American Dream Goes Nightmare

Jim Horn at Schools Matter - 15 hours ago
Recently the NYTimes shows signs of coming out of its corporate cocoon to do real investigative reporting again. The recent story on WalMart corruption was terrific, and in this story, the Times looks at the deepening of the categorical inequality as it plays out in the higher education arena. The story is based in Galveston, TX, and the charts and graphs, alone, are worth the price of the Sunday paper. If democracy is to have a chance in the U. S., and if the American dream is to be anything other than a worn-out pipe dream, it will not be under the current crush of rapacious ... more »

Untitled

New Orleans Ladder at New Orleans Ladder - 15 hours ago
*New Orleans Saints fan photos ~WDSU * *Profit Island purchase could restart work on Comite Diversion Canal * *Farmers using new methods ~Sable Lefrere* *Happy Festivus fo'da rest of us!*

Boehner's Already Low Popularity Takes A Hit But Is He Vulnerable?

DownWithTyranny at DownWithTyranny! - 15 hours ago
Boehner knows he can count on Steve Israel for a free pass again The GOP smear machine went to work on Pelosi many years ago and systematically turned her into a symbol of loathing for the right-wing/Fox News/hate talk radio base. They did their worst to turn her into a divisive figure, an untrustworthy "other" and put millions and millions of campaign dollars into tying all their electoral targets to her. Democrats had done something similarly with Tom DeLay, the difference being that DeLay is a convicted criminal, a zealot for the interests of plutocrats and an unhinged extremist. ... more »

I Missed the AIDS Conference

Rocker at MSM Monitor - 15 hours ago
*I'm sorry, readers. I just didn't have time to attend.... * "US pledges $150m more to fight AIDS" by Lauran Neergaard | Associated Press, July 24, 2012 WASHINGTON — Science now has the tools to slash the spread of HIV even without a vaccine — and the *United States* is *donating an extra $150 million* to help poor countries put them in place, the Obama administration told the world’s largest AIDS conference Monday. * **Such chump change when you consider the trillions spent on wars and Wall Street. And not to be insensitive on the matter, but now Americans are being told to accep... more »

*SIGH* Miramar Hotel BOT Project gets conditional EIA approval

Michael Turton at The View from Taiwan - 15 hours ago
[image: Taitong] *A list of build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects in Taitung county. Following the developer credo: there is no place so beautiful that it can't use more concrete.* The Taipei Times reports: The controversial construction of Miramar Resort Village at Taitung County’s Shanyuan Bay (杉原灣) gained conditional approval from a seventh Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) meeting yesterday, despite heated debate over the legitimacy of the project and the EIA meeting. According to the Taipei Times, the project was created to get around the environmental impact assessment (... more »

tell stephen harper you support chief theresa spence and idle no more

laura k at wmtc - 15 hours ago
As Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence enters her twelfth day without food, solidarity actions with the IdleNoMore aboriginal movement are growing throughout Canada and around the globe. In Winnipeg, demonstrators blocked the Trans Canada Highway. In freezing weather in Edmonton, protesters filled downtown streets. At least 1,000 people came out in the snow in Ottawa. In Toronto, supporters filled Dundas Square with a flash-mob round dance. Hundreds protested in Iqaluit, Yellowknife and Whitehorse. In Vancouver, Montreal, Saskatoon, and Sudbury, people took to the streets. Aborigina... more »
Enhanced by Zemanta

No comments:

Post a Comment