Google Verizon attack Net Neutrality

that's bullshit...

how about a non bullshit, positive story of humanity rises above itself?...

I know...doesn't happen much any more...but that's by design really...

you have to be made to not trust humanity...you must need reasons to have an army, a police force...more control ceded to the authority...

you must make ppl be afraid...fearful, angry ppls brains don't work as well as calm ones...

the logic of business school...you cut employees to increase production...you whip the mule into a frenzy...

so what's wrong with not just not being evil but being good and doing good?...

make ppl comfortable...happy...content...ah then you see the ppl will quit working...the mule will stop trying if you feed it...

if they're not angry....if they're not afraid then the wheels of industry stop turning...human advancement grinds to a halt...the coins stop pouring into the coffers and the eternal pissing contest of who has the most of what they can't spend slows to a halt and a winner declared...

like rats scrabbling over one another...tearing at each others flesh to get the last piece of cheese...inflicting irrepairable damage to themselves just to make sure that there is no winner if it's not themselves they undercut those beneath them and bring it all down in a writhing mass of selfish despair and misery...

so why not have less bullshit?...it's hard to be good when everyone is out to get you...

now how do you convince the rats that they don't need to destroy each other over that last piece of cheese?...start by learning to make you own...by not needing that thing they put value in...become independant of the rat pile...

then start helping others to 'drop out' as well...stop playing the game and the game ends...

btw...for those of you old enough to remember when AOL tried to corner the internet...you will also remember that it failed miserably...ppl are just not going to pay extra for limited content and constraints...poor business model...

end of random bitching and cajoling post number 300000 or so...carry on.

I'm so sick of this "double dip recession" bullshit.
Let's just call it what it is: a mild depression. We are in a depression. Fucking deal with it, you children.
When the idiots of the '90s and the '00s took the tracks away from the train it... uuuuhhh... CRASHED.
And stop with this "Reagan this and that" bullshit. Reagan talked the game when he was with the mouth-breathers, but today people would consider him a "loony leftist."
CLINTON LIVED IT. CLINTON DOVE INTO THAT SHIT AND GORGED ON IT.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

"Nothing could more starkly illustrate the very high costs of ‘cheap labor' than California's current situation," continued Stein. "A small number of powerful interests in the state reap the benefits, while the average native-born family in California gets handed a nearly $1,200 a year bill."

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/immigrationnaturalizatio/a/caillegals.htm

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Originally posted:
http://samsedershow.com/node/5925#comment-413529

AUGUST 2, 2010
Microsoft Quashed Effort to Boost Online Privacy
By Nick Wingfield

The online habits of most people who use the world's dominant Web browser are an open book to advertisers. That wasn't the plan at first.

In early 2008, Microsoft Corp.'s product planners for the Internet Explorer 8.0 browser intended to give users a simple, effective way to avoid being tracked online. They wanted to design the software to automatically thwart common tracking tools, unless a user deliberately switched to settings affording less privacy.

That triggered heated debate inside Microsoft. As the leading maker of Web browsers, the gateway software to the Internet, Microsoft must balance conflicting interests: helping people surf the Web with its browser to keep their mouse clicks private, and helping advertisers who want to see those clicks.

In the end, the product planners lost a key part of the debate. The winners: executives who argued that giving automatic privacy to consumers would make it tougher for Microsoft to profit from selling online ads. Microsoft built its browser so that users must deliberately turn on privacy settings every time they start up the software.
Continue reading here:
For charts and to continue reading:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870346730457538353043983856...

...and what their customers (constituency)want and the very ideals that put them in that profitable position no longer matter?

Yes, Sam, that is Bull****!

GoogleTV's Next Frontier: Google's DirecTV Partnership
Published: Wednesday, 11 Aug 2010 | 2:26 PM ET Text Size By: Julia Boorstin
CNBC Correspondent

Today's news that Google is partnering with DirecTV to sell ads for cable networks could have far-reaching implications for Google and the ad business. This could be a win-win-win for Google, DirecTV [DTV 38.38 -0.42 (-1.08%) ], as well as advertisers, and it has the potential to shake up Madison Avenue.

Google [GOOG 489.17 -2.57 (-0.52%) ] will use its ad tools to sell inventory on 11 channels, including TV Guide [LGF 6.36 -0.01 (-0.16%) ], Bloomberg, Fox Business [NWS 14.60 -0.23 (-1.55%) ], Sleuth and Chiller [GE 15.519 -0.181 (-1.15%) ]. (Note, Comcast is in the midst of buying CNBC's parent company NBC Universal in a $30 billion deal)

They're diving right in — Google TV ads will be selling inventory from throughout the day, include those key primetime spots.

For Google, it's a key step in diversifying and expanding Google's reach beyond the web — 96 percent of Google revenue came from Internet ads last quarter. DirecTV is a key partner for Google, the largest satellite provider in the US, with 18.7 million TV households, and the second largest TV distributor, behind Comcast [CMCSA 17.76 -0.25 (-1.39%) ]. This deal gives Google's ad network access to 30 million satellite households, building on a deal it made with Dish [DISH 17.85 -0.25 (-1.38%) ] in 2007 and another it made with NBC Universal in 2008.

The more TV ad inventory Google can offer, the more advertisers it can lure in. This deal should secure Google a critical mass of advertising to make its Google TV ad model robust. This is a key foothold in TV as Google readies to launch its TV ad platform this fall, to allow viewers to access Internet content on their TVs.

DirecTV will benefit as Google will brings new advertisers onto the cable space: about a third of Google's TV advertisers haven't used the medium before. Google TV ads can be narrowly targeted to reach certain demographics, which should grow advertisers' return on investment and convince them to spend more.

And this could really transform the TV ad business by enabling demographic targeting on a national scale.

Marketers have been shifting ad spending away from TV to the web because its much easier to narrowly target online ads and measure their success. The growth of Google TV provides more reason to look to cable. The fact that GoogleTV is a self-service, automated model, should also ultimately save advertisers money. If this works we can expect DirecTV to roll out GoogleTV ads to many more channels.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38661657

...(could it be)corral the corporations?
...unseat Murdoch?

Obviously, the media is in control? or out of control?

Internet Content Syndication Council Propose Content Guidelines
Aug 11, 2010

-By Mike Shields

A group of Web content syndicators, which include the Associated Press, The Tribune Company and Procter & Gamble, believe that content quality—not to mention the actual utility of the Internet—is being seriously threatened. So they're working together to do something about it.

The Internet Content Syndication Council, whose members also includes Reuters, Turner and CBS, have released a proposed set of guidelines for content syndication for their membership—and ultimately the online media industry to review. The group held a meeting in early July to discuss the possibility of issuing such guidelines, during which members deemed the issues serious enough to proceed on producing a formal document. “The feeling was we need to grapple this,” said ICSC executive director Tim Duncan.

The guidelines are aimed at countering the effect that the group sees as a growing and dangerous trend on the Web—the rise of shoddy, poorly sourced and edited content, often produced solely with gaming search engines in mind. While not naming these companies directly, the ICSC’s push seems clearly aimed at companies such as Demand Media, Yahoo’s Associated Content and AOL’s Seed.com. Each churns out a large amount of enterprise or general interest service content—mostly produced by low paid freelancers.

The ICSC sees the stakes as being high. Not only is lousy content devaluing professional content in their eyes, it is making the Web experience worse for the average user. “The ICSC believes that content creators and publishers should work to preserve the utility of the Internet for users and advertisers alike,” reads the report.

To do so, the ICSC guidelines—geared toward informational content, not opinion or entertainment—are focused on the importance of journalistic principles. For example, the guidelines encourage that formal editorial processes be adhered to whether articles are produced by staff writers or freelancers. All Web articles should be date stamped, and all corrections be clearly labeled. Plus, perhaps most controversially—the ICSC believes that a writer's credentials should be prominently displayed alongside their work.

“We know we needed to come at this in a way that we could avoid subjective judgments of quality,” said Duncan. “Therefore we focused on process. If you follow responsible editorial processes, that should help ensure quality.”

Duncan said that the ICSC guidelines will be e-mailed to more than 80 members, who will be encouraged to weigh in and recommend any changes or refinements. “These are just a starting point,” he said. The plan is to also reach out to search engines, including Google, to help solicit their support on this issue. Demand Media has also been contacted directly about the guidelines, added Duncan.
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broad...

make stuff,build up the middle class and utilize the modern technologies to improve our country's well being.

India rejects UK scientists' 'superbug' claim
By Geeta PandeyBBC News, Delhi
India has rejected a claim by British scientists that a new superbug, resistant to even the most powerful antibiotics, has entered UK from India.
The health ministry said it was unfair to link the bug to India and officials described it as "malicious propaganda".
Several Indian MPs raised the issue in parliament, calling it a conspiracy.
Scientists say patients who went to India and Pakistan for treatments such as cosmetic surgery have come back with bacteria that make NDM-1 enzyme.
Health experts say NDM-1 can exist inside different bacteria, like E.coli, and it makes them resistant to most antibiotics.
About 50 cases have been identified in the UK so far, but scientists said it could spread globally, medical publication Lancet Infectious Diseases said.
The Indian health ministry has described the report as "sensational".
An official told the BBC it was "unfair" to link the bug to India and create a scare.
The "plasmid", associated with drug resistance to antibiotics, is present "in the environment, may be in the intestines of humans and animals universally", the health ministry said in a press release.
'Wrong propaganda'
Officials said a person could become infected with the drug-resistant bacteria anywhere in the world and it was "preventable by sound infection-prevention strategies which are followed in any good hospital".
"We strongly refute the naming of this enzyme as New Delhi metallo beta lactamase," the ministry said.
"We also refute that hospitals in India are not safe for treatment, including medical tourism," it added.
The issue was also raised in India's parliament, with angry MPs questioning the Lancet study, saying it was funded by pharmaceutical multi-national companies.
"When India is emerging as a medical tourism destination, this type of news is unfortunate and may be a sinister design of multi-national companies," MP SS Ahluwalia of the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said.
Congress party's Jayanthi Natarajan said the report of the superbug was a "wrong propaganda against the country".
Indian medical tourism industry is growing rapidly and is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Damn straight.
What's My Name, Fool
http://www.edgeofsports.com/product/Whats-My-Name-Fool/index.html

Here's another example of where sports and politics collide.
Unhappy to see this, since I volunteered for Jerry Brown's campaign decades ago:

By David Siders
dsiders@sacbee.com

Alex Spanos, one of the nation's foremost Republican benefactors, has
contributed $20,000 to Democratic Attorney General Jerry Brown's
gubernatorial campaign – two years after Brown immersed himself in
land-use policies in Spanos' hometown.

Brown opposed Spanos in a dispute in 2008 that caused the developer
to alter plans for a massive subdivision in Stockton. Through a
settlement, Brown's office continues to monitor environmental policies
affecting Spanos and other developers in that city.

The donation from Spanos, an owner of the San Diego Chargers, remains
unusual.

He has given millions of dollars to Republican causes, and he was a
top fundraiser for President George W. Bush and former presidential
candidate John McCain.........

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/11/2950735/gop-stalwart-puts-money-on-brow...

http://timelines.com/1965/2/21/malcolm-x-assassinated-in-manhattans-audu...
------
Ghettodefender I like how you keep the ball rolling. with your last post . Take care of yourself because you are a threat to the out of control "machine"
Nomaste

August 12, 2010 | ISSUE 46•32

BALTIMORE — After being questioned about the thing he had just made up in conversation Tuesday, 37-year-old Paul Rosada explained to those around him that, not only was his fabrication true, but he had recently read somewhere that it had been definitively proven. "You didn't hear about that?" asked Rosada, saying he probably still had the article at home, though he might have thrown it out. "It's probably online. I'll send you a link." Rosada added he was particularly surprised no one knew about the thing he had completely invented because he heard on the radio that they were making a documentary about it.

I'm OK with pretending. I just don't wanna imagine it.

aren't we spozedta be thinking about our futures or something?

-----
They die hard, I guess. I hear something like that somewheres.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fci7iz4IKhQ

Princess didn't make it over this past night. :(

You know how it is when you start to cry about one thing and then you just start crying about everything?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvxrwjyQxqg

Yeah, yeah. I know just what you mean... :(

It's a fun picture though. Unless you are saying it made you start crying about the Gulf.

Yeah, no Kerouac-ing off for me right now. Maybe later. I got no lotion here. Only the hand. Ah...I don't know. It's growing on me.

He sure did like saying/writing knee-gro. He shoulda worked for the 2010 census.

Feel better Alice...

Man, I am slow. When did that happen?

-He sure did like saying/writing knee-gro. He shoulda worked for the 2010 census.-

and thank you...I'm not going to stop crying until I'm empty...once things are the worst they can only get better.. I guess...

but can't find it again. only the pic of the goats fucking.

In his speech pattern. Harry doesn't take big risks but he could make a good movie if he wanted.

Kerouac died in my hometown area Huntington/Northport Long Island.

---------
Alice so sorry about your loss.

-----------
Gloryoski all I do is think about the future. That way I don't have to think about the present condition. actually
that is not living up to "be here Now' .
-----------
Leah you are going to have success today. It is showing up all over my crystal ball that helps me see the future.

---------

My crystal ball is not going to be affected by net neutrality because verizon and Google aren't going to get control of the operating codes if I can help it.

------
Now I must move along to the world of commerce

because the mayor wouldn't allow a mic permit for the 99 er's who are protesting down in Wall street.

Ed earns a little more respect for using his position to
help fight for the serf's rights for a better division of the world's resources. He aint perfect but He is more of a brother than most public speakers.

"Ayúdame a no pedir ayuda."

-A.P."Figuras y silencios"

in Colombia, South America" This was actually back in 2006...? The blog may be mostly dead, but still gives the current date.

Happy 15 seconds. Yariguíes Brush-Finch

You have plumage like "Sweet Dreams" hair so you make me smile.

http://www.wildbirds.com/AboutUs/Interviews/NewBirdDiscovered/tabid/947/...

"Big Ed Calls Bloomie a Jerk."

And Bloomie defended the "mosque" building two weeks ago.

Hate to follow a baby picture with this:

Russia fires ignite radiation fears

Wildfires are threatening to stir radioactive particles left over from the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster back into the air over western Russia, authorities have said....

Radioactive elements

The most dangerous radioactive elements left by the Chernobyl accident are cesium and strontium, which with repeated exposure could raise the risks of cancers and genetic disorders.

Hundreds of wildfires sparked by the hottest summer ever recorded in Russia have engulfed large areas of the country's west.

The mortality rate in Moscow has doubled recently as wildfires blanketed the capital with toxic smoke.

Morgues have been overflowing, and residents have been desperately seeking ways to stay cool amid soaring temperatures and air pollution.

About 165,000 workers and 39 firefighting aircraft were battling more than 600 blazes nationwide on Wednesday over 220,000 acres, according to the Emergency Situations Ministry.
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/08/201081212410915125.html

Business Relation Entertainment Google Technology Verizon
Laura Flanders
Google's corporate motto, it's been noted, is “Don't Be Evil.” They're going to be sorry they ever said it. By siding with Verizon vs. those fighting for a free and equal Internet -- that may be exactly what they're doing.

The Internet and telecom giants Verizon and Google have reportedly reached an agreement that sells out net neutrality. They make it sound like a victory for fairness -- they'll stand by equal access for everyone on the wired web. But the arrangement, not yet public and arrived at in closed door meetings between the behemoths, would enable Verizon to impose tiers and charge for quicker access over wireless devices.That's the future they're talking about.

The deal comes just as the Federal Communications Commission and major telecom giants are crafting new regulations that could last a generation. As we've been rehashing the Constitution lately, maybe it bears reminding that we learned years ago that separate's not equal.

Offering freedom but not for wireless users is tantamount to telling independent producers we are free to communicate and do business -- but only by tin-can or pony express, while the big boys rule the mobile superhighway.
http://www.thenation.com/blog/153984/evil-inequality-works-web?rel=email...

Sonny Liston
Submitted by taozen on Thu, 08/12/2010 - 12:15pm.
lost to Ali and then went on to use his money for a youth center in Texas. It made him Bankrupt. He embraced religion and he thought those things would make all our lives better. Poor guy ended up dead from an over dose.
---
I think you mean George Foreman, the Sonny Liston of his (first) era. Sonny got involved with gangsters and ended up dying under mysterious circumstances. There is a book about Sonny called "Night Train". I believe the author argues that Sonny took falls, at the insistence of the Mafia, in both his fights with Ali. Like Foreman, Liston was a great fighter-- and a thug. However, unlike Liston, Foreman did mend his ways and became the lovable character we know today.

Read Reviews for Night Train: A Biography of So...

Night Train: A Biography of Sonny Liston - Nick Tosches: Outlaw (1618 words)
by Jake Speed - written on 01/10/08 (Very useful, 300 readings)
Rating:
In the early sixties Charles 'Sonny' Liston was the most feared boxer in the world. Mike Tyson before Mike Tyson, but scarier. An ex-con who was seemingly always in trouble with the law, Liston was linked to shadowy mob figures who still flitted around the boxing world in the sixties. When the uneducated, outwardly surly Liston blasted out liberal media darling Floyd Patterson in one round to become world heavyweight champion, no one - even black people - seemed very happy to have Sonny as champion. The hulking Liston was considered an unstoppable force but quickly lost his title to a gyrating young upstart called Cassius Clay in two deeply controversial fights. He faded ... Read the complete review

I must have meant George Forman was the the one who started a youth center and got more religious. And Sonny was the mobbed up guy who fell to dope. thanks for the correction. thanks Leah

Even if Bloomie did the right thing and spoke up for the rights of the Muslims to worship in a Mosque near Ground zero it is still not enough to balance off all his other failures. I think he knows that his people could potentially lose their rights to worship if the Sarah palin/ tea party types got into a stronger position. As the mayor he knows that the more disrespect the Muslims are given the more angry and dangerous they will become.

North Korea has offered to pay off part of its dept to a former communist state with a consignment of ginseng, according to press reports.
Czech officials yesterday confirmed that the regime in Pyongyang had offered the equivalent of $500,000 of ginseng to settle 5 per cent of its $10m debt.

Ginseng is a root used in supplements and some drinks, typically taken to enhance stamina and reduce feelings of fatigue and physical stress. It is also believed to have an anti-cancer function and has been reported to normalize blood glucose levels, improve insulin sensitivity and reduce the risk of obesity.

According to comments in the Czech Republic’s MF Dnes newspaper, the nation’s deputy finance minister, Tomas Zidek, said that zinc would be more useful than ginseng as a commodity payment.

http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/Industry-drivers/North-Korea-offers-to-...

got you to look!

In fact the Blue root ginseng from Appalachia and the Adirondack mountain areas is fast becoming the preferred ginseng in many herbalists opinion.
Maybe the US should trade blueroot ginseng for nuclear materials that the North Koreans have ?sounds better than a war to me.

Ground Zero mosque plans 'fuelling anti-Muslim protests across US'

Religious leaders warn of Islamophobia surge with hate speech and opposition to new Islamic centres across America

...Religious leaders and civil rights activists warn that a tide of Islamophobia that has swept the country since the destruction of the twin towers is being heightened by political exploitation of the New York dispute before nationwide elections and is increasingly bound up with hostility to immigrants and other forms of racism.

They say the outpouring of condemnation at the "outrage" of a mosque close to the "hallowed ground" of the World Trade Centre site also goes hand in hand with the increasing acceptability of what they describe as hate speech.

A Florida church, Dove World Outreach Centre, is planning a "burn the Qur'an" day on September 11 and has already outraged Muslims by planting a sign on its front lawn that reads: Islam is the Devil.

The church's senior pastor, Terry Jones, has said he is "exposing Islam for what it is".

"It is a violent and oppressive religion that is trying to masquerade itself as a religion of peace, seeking to deceive our society," the church said. "Islam is a lie based upon lies and deceptions and fear. In Muslim countries, if you preach the gospel or convert to Christianity – you will be killed. That is the type of religion it is."

...ohn Esposito, director of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, said many Americans shared Jones's views. He said the dispute over the proposed mosque had given cover for more open hostility unleashed after the 9/11 attacks that was evident during the last presidential election when some of Barack Obama's opponents attempted to portray him as a Muslim.

"The World Trade Centre thing has shown that what has been up to now seen as a local issue has gone global and provided an umbrella so that suddenly people feel freer to go public with their objections to Muslims," he said...

...In New York, a group called the American Freedom Defence Initiative is placing adverts on New York buses showing a plane flying into one of the World Trade Centre towers and what it calls a "Mega Mosque" and asking "Why There?".

Azeem Khan, of the Islamic Circle of North America, said the bus adverts promoted fear and hatred. "People want Islam and Muslims to be the boogieman right now," he said.

The issue is increasingly being exploited by politicians in the run-up to November's mid-term elections. Opposition to a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, intensified after Republican candidates for Congress and state governor made opposition part of their campaigns.

Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, has been a vocal opponent of the controversial New York mosque...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/12/ground-zero-mosque-islamopho...

What a mistake:
On this date: 1966 John Lennon apologized at a news conference in Chicago for saying "the Beatles are more popular than Jesus."

The greatness of --Muhammad-- Ali
"I ain't got no quarrel with the Vietcong. No Vietcong ever called me Nigger."

...Appearing shortly thereafter for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967 in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called. As a result, he was arrested and on the same day the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit.

At the trial on June 20, 1967, after only 21 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Ali guilty. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. During this time, the public began turning against the war and support for Ali began to grow. Ali supported himself by speaking at colleges and universities across the country, where opposition to the war was especially strong. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction for refusing induction by unanimous decision in Clay v. United States...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muhammad_Ali#Vietnam_War

(This SCOTUS would never reverse that decision.)

Stabbing spree suspect nabbed before Israel flight

Elias Abuelazam was about to board a plane for Israel when police arrested him in connection with a three-month stabbing spree that left five men dead, 13 others wounded and a Michigan city in terror....

The Israeli citizen and legal U.S. resident was charged Thursday in just one case out of Flint, Mich., the battered industrial city where most of the stabbings occurred, but authorities said more charges are expected there and in Ohio and Virginia. At least 15 of the 18 victims were black but it was unclear whether the attacks were racially motivated.

Flint residents hope the arrest ends their summer of fear. Roughly every four days since late May on average, the killer approached men on lonely roads at night, asking for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then he'd pull out a knife, plunge it into his victim and speed away; in one case he used a hammer. The youngest victim was 15; the oldest 67....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9218093

The better he stands up in my opinion

http://www.alicenter.org/Pages/default.aspx

I wonder who could fill his shoes in the contemporary arena of public consciousness?

-------
https://alicenter.orderport.net/productimages/alicenter/88889345-255_60_...

http://globalgrind.com/channel/news/content/1736809/thousands-of-dead-fi...

It seems like a major news item to me.

(or read this)

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/science-updates/fish-kill-in-delaware-b...

was trying to embed something new and different that didn't work.

Will take my slight offline thank you.

[I think John Lennon was a better musician the Jesus ever was]

Pea sprout plucked from Cape man's lung
August 12, 2010 12:42 PM
By L. Finch, Globe Correspondent

It wasn’t cancer that doctors discovered growing inside a 75-year-old Brewster man’s lung in May after an x-ray of his chest showed a small dark spot.

Doctors feared the worst when Ron Sveden, already suffering from emphysema, was rushed to Cape Cod Hospital, coughing with a collapsed left lung and pneumonia. But after multiple biopsies, doctors discovered not a tumor -- but a pea seed germinating inside Sveden’s collapsed lung.

They removed the sprout, about a half of an inch tall, and Sveden has recovered.

“I must have ate something and it went down the wrong way, that’s all they could tell,” Sveden said in a telephone interview today. "It was too big to get through" from coughing.

Though it is fairly common for food particles to become stuck in a person’s airway, it is a strange case for anything to grow in that environment, said Dr. Scott Slater, Sveden’s pulmonologist.

Sveden’s lung was swollen and inflamed around the pea, making it difficult to diagnose at first, he said.

“He thought he was going to have lung cancer, and this would have been his last six months, but instead he has this new lease on life,” said Slater, who practices out of a private office in Hyannis. “It’s not often that things end so happy like this.”

Sveden first sought help for what turned out to be the pea on Memorial Day. “But I’m doing fine now, not only am I happy but the family is happy,''' said Sveden, whose moment in medical history was first reported by the Cape Cod Times.

Last year, doctors discovered a fig tree, measuring 5 centimeters, growing inside the lung of a 28-year-old Russian man, according to news reports.

Meanwhile, Sveden said he hasn’t lost his appetite for peas. “One of my first meals in the hospital after the pea came out, the vegetable was peas,” Sveden said. “It all turned out very positive.”
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2010/08/by_l_finch_glob.h...

...plants not waiting for us to be six feet under.

Funny {haha} freshly brew'd TeaCheers

"we have a saying in Aqua Buddhaism

Give us $100 and we'll forgive you anything."

Aqua Buddha

did a good expose on the private prison racket in Arizona and the connection with the anti-immigration movement. There's your fascism at work for you.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 12, 2010

Back in UC Classroom, Berkeley Law Professor Draws Protest

EVENT: Press Conference and Protest Action:
WHERE: UC Berkeley Law (Boalt Hall) steps
WHEN: Monday August 16, 2010
Press Conference 12 Noon
Procession Against Torture and Complicity begins 12:30

On this first day of Fall 2010 classes at Boalt Hall, John Yoo is expected to return to the classroom to teach Constitutional Law and other courses. Protesters have frequently challenged Yoo’s presence on the UC Berkeley Law faculty, pointing to his Office of Legal Counsel stay under the Bush administration. At OLC, Yoo authored legal memos which were instrumental in the development of military and CIA “harsh interrogation” techniques that many label as torture.

NEWS FLASH: The fall semester Boalt Hall course schedule has listed John Yoo’s courses, including a Constitutional Law class, but withheld classroom location information. This continues a “secret classes” policy invented last semester when Yoo’s classes were held in classrooms unidentified to anyone except students registered for those classes. In addition, as of yesterday Aug. 11, an unexplained change on UC’s website removed Yoo’s name from his previously listed Constitutional Law class, replaced with an “instructor to be announced” note.

“Right now we don’t know if Yoo will actually teach Constitutional Law but just stay ‘hidden’ from public view, or whether he is being replaced or has withdrawn himself from that class to avoid more controversy over his legal work supporting torture, unlimited presidential powers in so-called wartime. But until Yoo is removed from teaching and prosecuted, we’ll be here and these protests will continue,” said Stephanie Tang of World Can’t Wait today.

The press conference will feature prominent attorneys representing several generations of University of California law school alumni. They will mark the first day of Berkeley Law classes with demands for John Yoo to be removed from his teaching post, disbarred and prosecuted for war crimes. They will announce upcoming events, on and off campus, which will pursue these demands over the coming school year, notably, the “BERKELEY SAYS NO TO TORTURE” WEEK of protests, programs, and events this October.

Participants in the press conference and protest include World Can’t Wait, Fire John Yoo.org, Progressive Democrats of America, the National Lawyers Guild’s Committee Against Torture, Meiklejohn Civil Liberties Institute, the National Accountability Network, Code Pink, and other human rights and legal community representatives.

_ _ _ _ _ _
|

“Excellent Perseid Meteor Shower Expected Aug. 11-13″

perfect weather too! can’t wait!

from Catchoo:

According to the best estimates, in 2010 the Earth is predicted to cut through the densest part of the Perseid stream sometime around 8:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday.

The best window of opportunity to see the shower will be the late-night hours of Wednesday on through the first light of dawn on the morning of Thursday, and then again during the late-night hours of Aug. 12 into the predawn hours of Aug. 13.

The Moon, whose bright light almost totally wrecked last year’s shower, will have zero impact this year; unlike last year when it was just a few days past full, this year it will be new on Monday, Aug. 9, meaning that there will be absolutely no interference from it at all.

-edit-

* ;)

A very sad passing worthy of note.

with Little Feat

is still one of my all-time favorite bands..
And,as I'm sure they are favorites with alot of folks here..

Such a talented dude..

Still so sad even 31 years later..

**

Now it's time for a tasty tune,fellow campers..

Little Feat - All That You Dream

**

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

;)

Came from my Methodology professor.

He collects that kind of stuff.

...and we've got more complaining about racism than ever. I think that's hilarious."
Dr. Laura
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/12/dr-lauras-n-word-rant-rad_n_680...

Campaigners fight for death row Briton

Campaigners in the UK are making a last ditch attempt to stop the execution of a British woman on death row in the United States.

Linda Carty is due to be executed by lethal injection in Texas for the murder of a woman nine years ago.

Carty has always protested her innocence and campaigners say there were severe problems with the trial that convicted her.
http://english.aljazeera.net/video/americas/2010/08/2010812185014294970....

Linda Anita Carty (born 5 October 1958) is a grandmother and former primary school teacher who was convicted and sentenced to death for the abduction and murder of 25-year-old Joana Rodriguez, apparently in order to steal her four-day-old son.....

She stands to become the first Black British woman to be executed in more than a century.[1] Carty, her lawyers and supporters contend that she has been unjustly sentenced to death by the State of Texas for a murder that she did not commit and that was inadequately investigated, noting that, among other things, no forensic evidence exists that places her at the scene of the crime.[2][3] Carty had an appeal pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, in which the British government has filed a brief as a friend of the Court. [4][2] The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal....

...Carty has claimed that she was framed by three men for her work as an informant with the Drug Enforcement Administration.[8][3] Anderson, Robinson, and Williams, the others co-defendants in the kidnapping and murder, were given prison terms but none received the death penalty after testifying against Carty.[3] If she is not granted clemency, she faces execution by lethal injection.[9] Carty was convicted in Harris County, Texas, a county that has alone executed more convicted murderers than 49 of the 50 U.S. states.[10]

Carty's case received media attention in September 2009 when her image was placed on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square by her British supporters.[8][11] However, there has been little media coverage in the U.S. of the issues concerning this case, including the claims of inadequate representation, interrogation without counsel, and the fact that she had worked for twenty years as a drug informant for the same government now intending to execute her on the testimony of those allegedly involved with drug traffickers...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Carty

AUGUST 13, 2010
Investigators Question Attendant's Tale
By SEAN GARDINER And TAMER EL-GHOBASHY

Investigators probing the circumstances surrounding a JetBlue flight attendant's outburst and exit from a plane at Kennedy Airport are beginning to question the narrative that he was provoked by an injury suffered during a confrontation with an unruly passenger, according to Port Authority officials with knowledge of the investigation.

The officials said Steven Slater's assertion that he was hit in the head by luggage or an overhead bin door while trying to assist an abusive passenger with her oversize bag isn't being corroborated by other passengers. Investigators believe such a passenger may not exist and that he could have received the gash on his forehead before he boarded the flight in Pittsburgh.

"There's certainly a decent amount of doubt at this point," said a Port Authority official familiar with the investigation.

JetBlue is also in the dark. The Wall Street Journal reviewed a memo to employees that says, "Was there an altercation on the flight that precipitated or motivated Mr. Slater's action? It's unclear."

Port Authority police have been interviewing passengers since the incident Monday when Mr. Slater delivered an expletive-laced resignation from his job on the flight's public-address system before leaving the jet on the inflatable emergency chute in the back of the plane, officials said. So far, none of the passengers interviewed told police that they witnessed Mr. Slater being injured, said a law-enforcement official with knowledge of the
Continue here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425923145773264.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLENexttoWhatsNewsThird&om_rid=NFw2$z&om_mid=_BMZUKPB8STPUYc&

...and so it begins for Mr. Slater.

This from back in May.

It says that Obama promised 12 million to expand the Community College system but it got slahsed to 2m.

It says (not an exact quote but I did just finish listening to it): "So if Obama wants to keep his promise that America lead the world in college graduations again by 2020, he is going to have to rely on private universities. Interviewed guy then says: It is going to get to a point they are too big to fail. there would just be too many students out on the street."

It is on netflix and here.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/view/?utm_campaign=ho...

It looks as though they were able to be fairly honest because they were granted access to Arne on the condition that cast everyone else as the bad guy.

Anyhow, this rooms too small to throw things. "And the walls are much too thin..."

Watch it if you haven't already and throw some shit for me.

The only reason Obama didn’t annihilate McCain in 2008 by a historical landslide and the only reason the GOP can have a likely chance of a revival that focuses on the above three issues is because the Democrats are on their side. There’s a class war going on and both parties consist of gunslingers but that isn’t to say the Democrats sling iron for the working poor – this is often the fatal mistake liberals make; the naïvely assume the Democrats are on their side. The Democrats will not bother standing up for truth and decency because they don’t want to trap themselves in a corner
=========

All Guns and No Butter; Economy, Taxes and Deficit
By Michael McGehee

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I start this piece from the position that our economy is based on the guiding principle of “all guns and no butter.” It’s a testament to the class war being waged in this country. And like Warren Buffett said, his side of the class war is winning. The “guns” can be literal but are often metaphorical – i.e. spending or taxing in favor of the rich are the metaphorical guns for our class war. The “butter” follows a similar vein. We in the working class are getting less and less butter and are being told to eat cake instead.

I would also like to say it is unbelievable that the GOP wants to make the economy, taxes and the deficit their platform in upcoming elections considering the fact they have no legs to stand on. And the reason I would like to say that it is "unbelievable" is because apparently there is some residue of liberal partisan politics in me that foolishly thinks the Democratic Party has the will or the desire to stand up for the working class. (If I would have fully internalized how our political and economic systems really work – the latter are the Lords of Capital and the former hooks for them –then this should not only be believable but predictable and expected.)

Let’s be clear: they don’t. The Democrats rely on campaign funds from particular blocs of investors so they can wage PR stunts to hoodwink voters into voting for them just like the GOP does. It’s Tom Ferguson’s Investment Theory of Politics. The political parties will hire PR firms to craft empty slogans and brand themselves as something they’re not. They will saturate the media with their advertisements so that any third party candidate is virtually unknown (see the Ellsberg paradox for a better understanding of how people have a natural aversion to ambiguity or just consider the old wisdom that a devil we know is better than the devil we don’t know).

The only reason Obama didn’t annihilate McCain in 2008 by a historical landslide and the only reason the GOP can have a likely chance of a revival that focuses on the above three issues is because the Democrats are on their side. There’s a class war going on and both parties consist of gunslingers but that isn’t to say the Democrats sling iron for the working poor – this is often the fatal mistake liberals make; the naïvely assume the Democrats are on their side. The Democrats will not bother standing up for truth and decency because they don’t want to trap themselves in a corner. You see, that’s what the general population is to a political party that represents the only true political interests (the Lords of Capital): a corner to get trapped in. Sure, they like to play with populism, for PR reasons, but they won’t go too far unless they’re pressured to because that might alarm their campaign financiers. When Obama spoke out too loudly on CEO bonuses Chase Bank told him to chill out or they would take their campaign donations elsewhere. Obama responded with apologies. George W Bush did something similar during his reign. His second term was noticeably different than the first and it was obvious that the reason is because he was upsetting the ruling class. We are not the voice of this country. Lawyers, oil companies, bankers and so on. They, the ones who control our economy, are the political voice of this country. A last example, President Obama is in my hometown today for a private dinner at some lawyer’s house. He wants to raise money for the upcoming elections. He is not here for the public so they can participate in determining policy. He is here to kiss the asses of some rich mafahs and to get their blessings.

You will not see the Democratic Party line up behind a platform that says the economy is tanking because we are catering to the rich and we need to cut the corporate welfare and fix the tax code so the burden of paying for necessities is no longer pushed off on to the working class (not to mention the threat of their elimination). No, their economic stimulus packages were too weak and ineffective because to beef them up and to make them effective would require putting some pressure on the business community and that’s unacceptable. The mantra of our politicians is “Bail out Wall Street, bail on Main Street.” Same with their healthcare and financial reform. The private institutions were left in place and in power. We can just eat cake.
http://www.zcommunications.org/all-guns-and-no-butter-economy-taxes-and-...

University of California demands DNA samples of incoming Freshmen and transfer students, but will not share data with them. What the...?

The ugly kind of social/eugenics(?) engineering -- where the UC administrators expected no questions to be asked -- increases its grip:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/13/BAAE1ET4LJ.D...

[excerpt]

UC Berkeley will not send students DNA results

Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
...

Under pressure from state public health officials, the professors behind UC Berkeley's controversial plan to genetically test incoming freshmen and transfer students said Thursday they will scale back the program so that participants will not receive personal results from their DNA samples.

The university raised the ire of genetic watchdog and privacy groups in May when it first launched "Bring Your Genes to Cal." The voluntary program is believed to be the largest genetic testing project at a U.S. university.

The 5,500 incoming freshman and transfer students for the fall semester received testing kits in the mail and were asked to submit cheek swabs of their DNA to kick off a yearly exercise to involve the new students in a common educational experience centered on a theme. This year's theme is personalized medicine.

Students were to receive personal information about three of their genes - those related to the ability to break down lactose, metabolize alcohol and absorb folates. This information was to be the basis of lectures and discussions on such topics as the ethical, social and legal interpretations of genetic testing.

But what was meant to be a group educational exercise turned into a lesson for the university on the politics and policy of medical testing.

Assembly hearing
The program was the subject of a state Assembly committee hearing on Tuesday in Sacramento. On Wednesday, officials from the state Department of Public Health said the university must use certified laboratories that meet specific standards, rather than the campus labs, if the school planned to release individualized test results, identified only by barcodes, to students.

"The California Department of Public Health made the determination that what we're doing isn't really actual research or education; that what we're doing is providing medical information, conducting a test," said Dr. Mark Schlissel, dean of biological sciences at UC Berkeley's College of Letters & Science and a professor of molecular and cell biology.

Schlissel said he disagreed with that assessment, but said the university will comply with state regulators. UC officials have asked the Department of Public Health to provide legal authority for its interpretation.

The university still plans to analyze the DNA samples in a campus research lab, but students will not have access to their personal results. Instead, the test results will be presented in aggregate to students during lectures and panel discussions this fall.

Schlissel said the controversy and intervention by state regulators has raised interesting questions for the discussions. "Who has authority to tell an individual what they're allowed to know about themselves?" he said. "I don't know the answer to that."

...[more at link]

Water rate hikes up to 40 percent expected if sanity does not prevail.

What is a utility supposed to provide but something one cannot live without -- like water. It's not that this is just a lousy economy, but that this unacceptable in ANY circumstance. Water is a necessity that should not be in the hands of PROFITEERS!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/13/BAV11ET9RR.D...

The Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent arm of the California Public Utilities Commission, this week filed a formal protest against a request by California American Water Co. to raise prices for more than 600,000 customers across the state.

In its July 1 rate-increase application, the investor-owned utility says the adjustments are needed to pay for new, tiered water rate systems, interest and infrastructure. But state regulators insist the company must justify the "massive" price jump at a time when many consumers face financial hardships.

"Asking for rate increases as high as 40 percent in this difficult economy is cause for serious concern," said Joe Como, acting head of the ratepayer division. He said the agency will "aggressively investigate Cal-Am's rationale for these huge hikes in order to protect consumers."

Analysis by the ratepayer division found that California American is seeking to raise rates in eight districts, by less than 10 percent in some cases to almost 100 percent in others. Cumulatively, the rate increases amount to a nearly 40 percent rise statewide between now and 2012, analysts said.

For about 2,400 households in Sonoma County, rates would increase about 37 percent over the next two years. The average bill would go from just under $51 per month to nearly $70 per month.

The rate increases would affect California American-served households in Los Angeles, Monterey, Sacramento, San Diego, Sonoma and Ventura counties.

[more at link]

Turns out SmartMeters are just a Big Brother tool and have nothing to do with saving energy, but use MORE energy--

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/08/12/49255/comment-smart...

Comment: Smart meter rules will waste power
Steve Bush
Thursday 12 August 2010 11:31

Lax Government smart meter rules could waste over 20MW through in-home displays.

That is the continuous output of seven or more wind turbines, and ignores additional wastage from the electricity meter and in-home communication hub.

At the heart of the issue lies requirements in a document published by Ofgem and the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Appendix 1.43 of Smart Metering Implementation Programme: Statement of Design Requirements, states that "The IHD shall support mains power operation", and that: "The average IHD power consumption shall be less than 0.6W."

0.6W average power dissipation is an over-generous allowance for equipment that will be installed by the million and may run for 20 years.

This could be cut to 100mW and still be generous, providing manufacturers use today's technology, rather than that of two years ago.

Mains power no-longer needs to squander energy.

Next year, following an EU code of conduct signed by Nokia and Samsung amongst others, mains chargers for most phones will dissipate less than 30mW no-load to win five stars.

"In our experience the market is fully signing up for five star designs, not only for higher end products but as the new standard for the volume market," v-p marketing at mains power chip firm CamSemi Mark Muegge told Electronics Weekly. "Within the next year we would expect <30mW to become the norm."

And these deliver several Watts of power to the load.

From 100mW, even at a conservative 70% efficiency, a five star power supply will still deliver 50mW.

Surely 50mW is more than enough for the IHD microcontroller, crypto engine, LCD, and home area network interface, as well as occasional backlight use.

A saving of 500mW across 40 million IHDs is 20MW average.

And these back-of-an envelope calculations ignore the rest of the power DECC/Ofgem has allocated for each smart meter installation.

"We propose a functional requirement to limit the average power consumption of any mandated equipment in the consumer premise to 2.6W total," said the statement of design requirements. "This has been set in line with the values used in the updated impact assessment and is intended to ensure that the energy savings attributable to the installation of smart meters are not outweighed by the additional 'smart' burden."

There could be 1-2W of saving there - up to 80MW worth of carbon not going up chimneys every second.

Smart meter systems installed in the next few years are going to be there for many years.

Rather than give hardware designers easy targets now, and sign-up for at two decades of multi-MW extravagance; why not challenge them now and reap the benefits later.

[more at link]

it double posted :D

It was a response to an article about rising depression coinciding with unemployment. I know, suprise suprise right

anyhoo, here it is, hope you enjoy :)

********

Yes, especially with society's expectations of what being perfect is or normal. I think thats a huge contributor in leading to suicide. Japan has the highest suicide rate I believe, probably having to do with such high expectations, unrealistic and inflexible rigid standards.

Some people just do not fit into the machine. Instead of shunning this, the humane and even productive thing to do IMO would be to harness what unique attributes we do have. However, I can see issues arising with the power structure losing control of the masses in such a scenario. But I can also it leading to greater Human liberty and dignity.

There is always a stay in line type groupthink of whats acceptable and what's not. Indeed some of this develops from the populace itself as a form of guidance and protection etc. The other type is manufactured and instilled in us for the purpose of control. ie the idea that all authority is to be respected for instance, that questioning authority, asking for justification, or elaboration is equal to non compliance or even treasonous revolt (like being tased for asking for a cops badge number or why they are roughing you up, or even what you have done), the icon of the suit and tie as a symbol of legitimate authority and wisdom and legitimacy.

I think that more and more people are realizing the game is rigged. This can be very very depressing and disheartening for many. Also, more and more are simply being left behind through no real fault of their own, such as the unemployed. Yet society wants us to believe that somehow it is our inadequacy that has led to our being unemployed or debt ridden or ill. We are conditioned to believe that somehow we are so spoiled that our benevolent corporate overseers had no choice but to outsource. I even remember some right wingers spouting off how Katrina was our own fault for our sinful ways.

This is an endless downward spiral of self persecution and we must just say fuck it and set ourselves free if we are to ever be sane. We are what we are and we must build around that reality. Instead we push and push and try to squeeze blood from a turnip. Its as if you are not a wall street crook, a doctor or a lawyer, you are nothing, and sentiment such as this allows them to justify paying non living wages. The system wants you to think you will never be good enough. I think at first this idea was indoctrinated as a way of constant self improvement and to promote humility; the idea that you can always be better, but it has gotten warped and has become a monster, a mind destroying monster no longer about self improvement but about beating back dignity and spirit and molding compliance. And we wonder why our murder rate is sky high, depression and anxiety are rampant and people have simply lost faith in the system.

Fear is a big one too. "Worker Uncertainty", meaning being scared you will lose your job is considered a good thing among the elites. It means the labor force will be less likely to get uppity and demand safer workplaces or benefits or better wages. It also means they will do more and more for less and less.

Probably only news to me...

Article: How Private Prison Corporations Hope Arizona's SB1070 Will Lead To Internment Camps For Illegals

For OpEdNews: Kevin Gosztola

Reverend Billy Talent and the Church of Life After Shopping protest the Correction Centers of America building, a commercial immigrant detention center (privately-owned prison) by Reverend Billy and the Church of Life After Shopping (link)

Reports reveal that private prison corporations with interests and operations in Arizona stand to benefit and profit greatly as a result of immigration laws like SB1070. And, that isn't altogether surprising because these same reports are indicating these corporations played a role in influencing the law, which is proof that border politics and the private prison businesses are tied...

http://www.opednews.com/articles/How-Private-Prison-Corpora-by-Kevin-Gos...

I noticed that Bob Cesca is censoring his site in the same Stalinist manner that Huffington employs.

It's amazing that many of these "liberal" sites are from liberal.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

(An email from Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street)

Beginning again.

Asked to write a short piece on the topic of beginning again recently, I reflected on the possibility of direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians re-starting in the coming days and weeks:
http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=1184

I wrote that – when it comes to trying something again – there's often a little too much "can't" in the world, and not enough "why not?"

It's just my nature, but I find little else as frustrating as being told a problem isn't solvable, or a goal unattainable.

I never understood why, in law school, professors rewarded students for spotting issues and problems – rather than for coming up with solutions.

Nor do I understand why bold, new thinking so often meets out-of-hand rejection. I just point to my friend who pitched several companies fifteen years ago with the design of a slim machine on which you could read books without paper. They laughed.

Coming up with reasons not to take chances is easy. Passing the buck, pinning the blame on someone else, saying you can't – all easy.

But, in my book, trying and failing is no excuse for not starting again.

We tell our children to get back in the saddle when they fall off a bike and to get back in the batter's box when they swing and miss.

Why do we accept anything less as adults – in matters as important as life and death, war and peace?

Sure, we've all heard why Middle East peace can't happen. How there are no partners. How everything was tried ten years ago and it failed. We've been told that those of us who believe are few and far between and that our limited
power can't have an impact.

But why not?

That's my thought for Mahmoud Abbas this weekend as he ponders whether to say yes or no to starting direct talks with Israel. Click here to read J Street's statement last week urging Abbas to enter direct negotiations:
http://www.jstreet.org/blog/?p=1182

Beginning anew means refusing to accept things as they are. It means believing that, with effort, the power of good, of hope and of peace can and will overcome the daunting power of the status quo.

New beginnings demand that we dream a better future and relentlessly ask why not.

Resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will require President Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu and, yes, President Obama to lead, to take risks, to defy the
naysayers … and to begin again.

Why not?

Shabbat Shalom, and have a great weekend,

Jeremy Ben-Ami
President
J Street
August 13, 2010

J Street is the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.

Dissatisfied with ineffective or failed healthcare, Chinese take matter into their own hands and attack doctors and others....

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/12/world/asia/12hospital.html

[excerpt]

Chinese Hospitals Are Battlegrounds of Discontent

...In 2006, the last year the Health Ministry published statistics on hospital violence, attacks by patients or their relatives injured more than 5,500 medical workers.

“I think the police should have a permanent base here,” said a neurosurgeon at Shengjing Hospital. “I always feel this element of danger.”

In June alone, a doctor was stabbed to death in Shandong Province by the son of a patient who had died of liver cancer. Three doctors were severely burned in Shanxi Province when a patient set fire to a hospital office. A pediatrician in Fujian Province was also injured after leaping out a fifth-floor window to escape angry relatives of a newborn who had died under his care.

Over the past year, families of deceased patients have forced doctors to don mourning clothes as a sign of atonement for poor care, and organized protests to bar hospital entrances. Four years ago, 2,000 people rioted at a hospital after reports that a 3-year-old was refused treatment because his grandfather could not pay $82 in upfront fees. The child died.

Such episodes are to some extent standard fare in China, where protests over myriad issues have been on the rise. Officials at all levels of government are on guard against unrest that could spiral and threaten the Communist Party’s power.

Doctors and nurses say the strains in the relations between them and patients’ relatives are often the result of unrealistic expectations by poor families who, having traveled far and exhausted their savings on care, expect medical miracles.

But the violence also reflects much wider discontent with China’s public health care system. Although the government, under Communist leadership, once offered rudimentary health care at nominal prices, it pulled back in the 1990s, leaving hospitals largely to fend for themselves in the new market economy.

By 2000, the World Health Organization ranked China’s health system as one of the world’s most inequitable, 188th among 191 nations. Nearly two of every five sick people went untreated. Only one in 10 had health insurance.

Over the past seven years, the state has intervened anew, with notable results. It has narrowed if not eliminated the gap in public health care spending with other developing nations of similar income levels, health experts say, pouring tens of billions of dollars into government insurance plans and hospital construction.

The World Bank estimates that more than three in four Chinese are now insured, although coverage is often basic. And far more people are getting care: the World Bank says hospital admissions in rural counties have doubled in five years.

“That is a steep, steep increase,” said Jack Langenbrunner, human development coordinator at the World Bank’s Beijing office. “We haven’t seen that in any other country.”

Still, across much of China, the quality of care remains low. Almost half the nation’s doctors have no better than a high school degree, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Many village doctors did not make it past junior high school.

Primary care is scarce, so public hospitals — notorious for excessive fees — are typically patients’ first stop in cities, even for minor ailments. One survey estimated that a fifth of hospital patients suffer from no more than a cold or flu. Chinese health experts estimate that a third to a half of patients are hospitalized for no good reason.

Once admitted, patients are at risk of needless surgery; for instance, one of every two Chinese newborns is delivered by Caesarean sections, a rate three times higher than health experts recommend.

Patients appear to be even more likely to get useless prescriptions. Drug sales are hospitals’ second biggest source of revenue, and many offer incentives that can lead doctors to overprescribe or link doctors’ salaries to the money they generate from prescriptions and costly diagnostic tests. Some pharmaceutical companies offer additional under-the-table inducements for prescribing drugs, doctors and experts say.

An article in November in The Guangzhou Daily in southeastern China cited one particularly egregious example of unnecessary treatment: a patient paid roughly $95 for a checkup, several injections and a dozen different drugs, including pills for liver disease. He had a cold.
...
[more at link]

If Google keeps this up, the word 'googled' will be synonomous with f------, no?

And they created such a fun word with that "google". Too good to last? Too bad the Corporate Profiteers seem to want to ruin it with uncontrolled greed.

Thanks for theheads up about the petition site, Sam.

...taking a break :D

If I were to say "Ladies and gentlemen, witness the death of the American middle class" I would pull back a curtain to reveal a few Wall Street bastards who all resembled Alan Greenspan AND (as in "the second cause") I would play this clip:

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

Please post. Thanks

Subject: URGENT APPEAL: KEEP PALESTINIAN FILM IN NEW YORK CINEMAS - Support Opening Weekend, "Salt of This Sea" with Suheir Hammad

Please forward widely!

SALT OF THIS SEA (Milh Hadha al-Bahr), OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, IN NEW YORK CITY!

Exclusive Engagement at the Quad Cinema (34 West 13th St, near Union Square)

** SUHEIR HAMMAD IN PERSON FRIDAY AT 7:30! **

DAILY SHOWTIMES: 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:50

TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yMAWXLaEyA

PURCHASE ADVANCE TICKETS: Call (212) 777-FILM (212-777-3456) or visit MOVIETICKETS.COM http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=216&rdate=8%2F13%2...

QUAD CINEMA WEBSITE: http://www.quadcinema.com/

PRESS RELEASE: Follows below this email

Dear Friends of Palestine:

Are you tired of derogatory images of Palestinians, sick of obfuscating media narrative that tells less than half the story? Have you been waiting for a Hollywood-style film to reach out to the American voting public and tell a true story from Palestine? To describe from a personal point of view the History of dispossession, then bring it into the present with clear and unflinching images of the current reality of ongoing occupation set in a romantic adventure? This film has has arrived! Even if you can't attend, PURCHASE A TICKET NOW TO SUPPORT "SALT OF THIS SEA!"

Just saw this beautiful and powerful film from Palestine tonight, and what a treat to see our amazing sister, longtime revolutionary poet, activist, supporter of Mumia and so much else that is important, on the screen. In addition to everything else she's done, Suheir turns out to be a very nuanced, multi-faceted, and exciting actress. Support Palestine! Go see this very evocative and inspiring film! If at all possible, see it this weekend.

Suzanne Ross

Opening in New York Friday, August 13, Salt of This Sea (Milh Hadha al-Bahr), is a beautifully shot film from Palestine, produced by Hollywood strongman Danny Glover, directed by Tony-Award winning Palestinian-American filmmaker Anna Marie Jacir, starring Brooklyn's own Suheir Hammad, and Saleh Bakri (son of Mohammed Bakri, acclaimed Palestinian actor and director of Jenin, Jenin). Now is the moment to support mainstreaming cinematic images of Palestine in America.

Why is this appeal reaching you less than 24 hours before the film's opening? Because a peace with justice organization I work with received a phone call just yesterday from Salt of This Sea's distributor, asking us to partner with them for group sales -- far too late for effective outreach for most films -- and we've just been informed by the Quad Cinema that NOT ONE GROUP BLOCK OR ADVANCE TICKET HAS BEEN SOLD! Given the caliber of this film, we don't know why this oversight occurred. But we must act now to remedy this missed opportunity to avoid losing the powerful educational outreach potential of this rare Palestinian film.

WHY IT'S CRITICAL TO SUPPORT THIS FILM AT THE BOX OFFICE OPENING WEEKEND

Because Monday morning after reviewing weekend box office sales, cinemas decide which films to keep in the theatre, and which to drop from the marquee. If Salt of This Sea does not sell more tickets that the other films at the Quad this weekend, it will be gone from the theatre.

WHY DOES IT MATTER WHETHER A FILM FROM PALESTINE STAYS IN CINEMAS ANOTHER WEEK?

- It's the difference between distributors viewing films from Palestine as "box office deficits" and "passing" on these films in the future; vs. distributors viewing films from Palestine as commercially viable for American audiences, and seeking them out for future distribution in the US.

- It's the difference between dissemination of more negative stereotypes and false narratives reaching the American voting public; vs. dissemination of true stories from Palestine, by Palestinian directors, portraying whole characters.

WHY DO MEDIA-INFLUENCED PERCEPTIONS OF PALESTINE MATTER IN AMERICA?

Because images form concepts, concept influence voting habits, and voting habits influence American foreign policy, in support of Palestine - or not. I think we all know how the record stands now. Let's take steps to change that now!

HOW YOU CAN HELP KEEP SALT OF THIS SEA IN THE CINEMA:

1. Even if you can't attend the screening, PURCHASE A TICKET RIGHT NOW for this film by calling MovieTickets.com (212) 777-FILM (212-777-3456), or purchase online:

http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=216&rdate=8%2F13%2....

Consider it a $12.50 donation to promoting media from Palestine, about Palestine, and for Palestine.

2. If you can attend a screening this weekend, we have a deal with the Quad Cinema for "Mainstreaming Palestine" for $8 tickets once we sell the first block of 10. Contact me at norfilm@gmail.com if you'd like to be included in the first block to get that ball rolling.

3. Forward this email to every individual and organization you know who is concerned about American media images of Palestine. (Press release follows below.)

4. Write Kino-Lorber Films and thank them for distributing Salt of This Sea. Ask them to bring more films from, about, and for Palestine. Remind them you're voting for the media you want with your film ticket purchase.

TICKET PURCHASING GOAL: SELL OUT FIVE SHOWS DAILY ON OPENING WEEKEND

The Quad Cinema hosts five screenings per day. Each screening holds 139 seats. To sell out every show this weekend we need to purchase 2085 tickets in total. With this email reaching over 3000 individuals, we can! If the USA to Gaza Flotilla fundraiser could sell out; if 1000s of people can sail on boats to Gaza with the goal of ending the blockade; if activists worldwide stand up to IDF bullets in the West Bank to defy landgrabs and occupation, certainly we can sit in the comfort of our own homes and click "Purchase ticket" to sell out Salt of This Sea opening weekend.

Salt of This Sea is a rare theatrical release with great potential to educate American public. The battle for Palestine begins with the media. Start now!

Kind regards and solidarity,

Nora Malone

Brooklyn For Peace Israel-Palestine Committee

American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights, New York Chapter

M.F.A., Film and Media Arts Temple University 2003
www.noramalone.net
www.TinyUrl.com/ChangingMyMind
Cell (267) 241 0405

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Martin Luther King

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
- Archbishop Desmond Tutu

__________________________________________________________

PRESS RELEASE: SALT OF THIS SEA, DISTRIBUTED BY KINO-LORBER FILMS, USA

SALT OF THIS SEA (Milh Hadha al-Bahr), OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 13, IN NEW YORK CITY!

Exclusive Engagement at the Quad Cinema (34 West 13th St, near Union Square)

SUHEIR HAMMAD IN PERSON FRIDAY AT 7:30!

DAILY SHOWTIMES: 1:00, 3:10, 5:20, 7:30, 9:50

TRAILER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yMAWXLaEyA

PURCHASE ADVANCE TICKETS AT MOVIETICKETS.COM: http://www.movietickets.com/house_detail.asp?house_id=216&rdate=8%2F13%2...

SYNOPSIS: SALT OF THIS SEA

Annemarie Jacir's politically charged feature debut is the story of Soraya (Tony Award winner Suheir Hammad), a Brooklyn-born woman who travels to Palestine to retrieve her grandfather's savings, frozen in a Jaffa bank account after his 1948 exile. Struggling to feel at home in the land of her ancestors — and rebuffed by the country's financial institutions — she meets Emad, a young Palestinian whose ambition, contrary to hers, is to leave forever. Tired of the constraints that dictate their lives, they devise a plan to reclaim what is theirs — whatever the consequences may be.

"Brilliant, emotional, intense and fresh... the kind of powerful film that stays with you long after you leave the theater. It profoundly moved me." — Michael Moore

"Realized with verve, sincerity, and an unusual blend of documentary texture and theatrical energy." — Richard Brody, The New Yorker

--
Marian Feinberg
Environmental Health and Justice
mrf948@gmail.com
917-569-0992 cell
718-884-2462 home office
Our lives are touched by those who lived centuries ago, and we hope that our lives will mean something to those who will live centuries from now. It's a great 'chain of being,' someone once told me, and I think our job is to hope, to dream and to do the best we can to hold up our small segment of that chain.
-- Dorothy Day

--
Vicente "Panama' Alba
panama.alba@gmail.com
Tel # 917 626 5847

"Lets Be Realistic
Lets Do The Imposible"
Ernesto "Che" Guevara

__._,_.___

because the "anchor babies" are entitled to the same pathetic, shittily enforced labor protection as everyone else here, whereas their parents are not. Meanwhile the employers continue to be allowed, without fear of meaningful sanctions, to hire people that they can treat and pay even more like shit than the rest of us, because those people are not citizens. And THAT is the part of this that is helping to
destroy the middle class.

Also, during the first of the worst of the recession, plenty of people (Mexicans, Central Americans) went back home. It is going to get worse again, and so that will happen again. The middle class will still be in deeper shit than now, as far as jobs. Then who will you blame?

Submitted by gloryoski on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 8:36am

I read somewhere that last year in California so many Mexicans were either forcibly deported or returned to their homeland or moved to a different state

that white people became the slim majority again here. lol

The same article stated, as you stated, that the moves (forced or otherwise) were caused by economic destruction, to which they, ironically, contributed.

The facts are these: in Los Angeles alone, by the government's own measure, more than one billion worth of welfare, food stamps, education costs, etc. are given to illegal immigrants. The man who keeps track of the budget here says that the situation continues to become more dire as the costs continue to increase by more than one million per month.

As I posted here, the immigrants benefit a small group of wealthy people. The rest-- California's middle class- is getting the hell out of state at a staggering pace.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

"a $4,700 procedure that doesn't cost her a dime"

...because Elliott will likely grow up to be a loving, hard-working productive citizen, respectful of the opportunities of his birthright more so than say...

Dick Cheney - how much has it cost US for his medical care and the lives that he has negatively-effected or extinguished, personally and policy-wise; and/or,

George Bush - who had to be rescued from eating snacks, and collected a paycheck for partying, vacationing and wearing the official seal of the president; and/or,

their co-horts--members of the Party of No, the Blue Dogs, the Corporate Media, Wall Street, Military Industrial Complex, etc.

All of them use or allow death and destruction in their quest for power and wealth. (Yes, even you, Katie)

Elliott, his mom, me, all of us are just collateral damage who hold no meaning for them and are nothing more than props for the scenarios they create for their "projections" in their schemes.

Identify the pattern.

Submitted by CeeCee on Sat, 08/14/2010 - 10:30am.

Well, it's up to you. The majority of people would disagree with you.
But as I wrote a while ago, I have for the most part, stopped trying to convince people about things.
I present facts then move out of the way.

I continue to believe that the rich fucks harm us much more than any illegals, actually, as I stated earlier-- and Obama facilitates them.

Fuck Obama.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

I will get links so you will have to as well.

Questions that occur to me, perhaps out of ignorance, in the meantime:

1. What do anchor babies have to do with any these public assistance costs for illegal immigrants? Where is your proof that enough of the babies born here are serving effectively as anchors right now that they have anything significantly to do with the number of undocumented people who are here, collecting state benefits or not? I never heard anything except that people are being deported and/or sent to detention centers regardless of the age/status of their children (or regardless of their status AS children in some cases). Maybe the so-called anchor babies get benefits, get a free education, etc, and maybe that costs money but that was not the point you made.

2 In the beginning, most of the people (not all, yeah there are criminals, etc) came here to work. They came knowing they'd get hired and could stay on (and some were counting on being able to collect public assistance as well). Sanctions against employers who hire people other than citizens still would have cut down on all that.

3. What does whether a state is majority "white" (whatever that means) or not have to do with the economy?

4. California is a very populous state with a huge economy. It still isn't the whole country. Therefore, you can't generalize about the US middle class using CA, which you do, all the time.

I agree with your assessment of the situation as far as undocumented workers in the economy being a benefit only to the upper classes and a detriment, in terms of depressed wages and fewer jobs, to others (starts with unskilled workers and, depending on the size of the immigrant population and how long there has been one, moves up). I just continue to blame those who benefit the most (people who hire undocumented people to provide services, people who hire them for any kind of job, so they can pay less) rather than those (undocumented immigrants) who are doing what they have to do, for the most part.

...maybe they are here to reap "our" benefits (what little there are) that we derived from allowing the corporate and imperialistic subjugation of their nations' resources.

1. Watch the video. It's detailed there.

I was going to answer the other questions, but I need a nap. I woke up too early.

"You look so tired-unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us"
-Radiohead.
www.sigzone.blogspot.com

http://truefoodnow.org/

Order Bans Planting or Sale of Controversial Crop. Court Denies Monsanto Request to Allow Continued Planting.
Today Judge Jeffrey White, federal district judge for the Northern District of California, issued a ruling granting the request of plaintiffs Center for Food Safety, Organic Seed Alliance, High Mowing Organic Seeds, and the Sierra Club to rescind the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) approval of genetically engineered “Roundup Ready” sugar beets. In September 2009, the Court had found that the USDA had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by approving the Monsanto-engineered biotech crop without first preparing an Environmental Impact Statement. The crop was engineered to resist the effects of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide, which it sells to farmers together with the patented seed. Similar Roundup Ready crops have led to increased use of herbicides, proliferation of herbicide resistant weeds, and contamination of conventional and organic crops.
In today’s ruling the Court officially “vacated” the USDA “deregulation” of Monsanto’s biotech sugar beets and prohibited any future planting and sale pending the agency’s compliance with NEPA and all other relevant laws. USDA has estimated that an EIS may be ready by 2012.

(more info)
http://truefoodnow.org/

David Bender had that fraud Elie Wiesel on Ring of Fire today.
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2000/08/30/finkelstein

I mean, politically. But whatever, it's an open fourm.

Just wondering...

The pic is just unrelated snark. Unrelated to anything but my mood.

I can't imagine people coming back here because they are interested in the primaries. I mean...

I mean what I mean.

OK "A fresh and warm sample." The wording of that surprised me somewhat. That made me laugh. That's all there is anymore.

about things that matter as though they matter.

I didn't even see the Yoo post till just now.

So it's probably just me.

probably only to me...that when you are a messy person the only time when you get a temporary dwelling back to where it seems like it might be a nice place for a human to live is when you are about to leave.

Probably only to me.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/arts/music/15lincoln.html?_r=1

By Noam Chomsky

Source: The New York Times Syndicate
Friday, August 13, 2010

The War Logs—a six-year archive of classified military documents about the war in Afghanistan, released on the Internet by the organization WikiLeaks—documents a grim struggle becoming grimmer, from the U.S. perspective. And for the Afghans, a mounting horror.

The War Logs, however valuable, may contribute to the unfortunate and prevailing doctrine that wars are wrong only if they aren’t successful—rather like the Nazis felt after Stalingrad.

Last month came the fiasco of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, forced to retire as commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and replaced by his superior, Gen. David H. Petraeus.

A plausible consequence is a relaxation of the rules of engagement so that it becomes easier to kill civilians, and an extension of the war well into the future as Petraeus uses his clout in Congress to achieve this result.

Afghanistan is President Obama’s principal current war. The official goal is to protect ourselves from al-Qaida, a virtual organization, with no specific base — a “network of networks” and “leaderless resistance,” as it’s been called in the professional literature. Now, even more so than before, al-Qaida consists of relatively independent factions, loosely associated throughout the world.

The CIA estimates that 50 to 100 al-Qaeda activists may now be in Afghanistan, and there is no indication that the Taliban want to repeat the mistake of offering sanctuary to al-Qaeda.

By contrast, the Taliban appear to be well-established in their vast forbidding landscape, a large part of the Pashtun territories.

In February, in the first exercise of Obama’s new strategy, U.S. Marines conquered Marja, a minor district in Helmand province, the main center of the insurgency.

There, reported The New York Times’ Richard A. Oppel Jr., “The Marines have collided with a Taliban identity so dominant that the movement appears more akin to the only political organization in a one-party town, with an influence that touches everyone.”

“‘We’ve got to re-evaluate our definition of the word `enemy,’ said Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson, commander of the Marine expeditionary brigade in Helmand Province. `Most people here identify themselves as Taliban. We have to readjust our thinking so we’re not trying to chase the Taliban out of Marja, we’re trying to chase the enemy out.’”
http://www.zcommunications.org/why-wikileaks-won-t-stop-the-war-by-noam-...

Dear Alice,

Recently I have started snorting Ritalin and Adderall (not at the same time though). I have found that the effects closely resemble that of snorting cocaine, but are not quite as intense. I really like doing this, because it's much cheaper than buying coke. However, I was wondering exactly how dangerous this might be, if even at all, considering it's a prescribed drug and I never snort more than the average dose that you would take orally. If you could tell me what the danger in doing this is and what I might possibly be doing to my body, that would be great.

Thanks,
Adderall Addict

Dear Adderall Addict,
Ritalin and Adderall are two of the most prevalent prescription drugs used in the treatment of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Both of these medications are classified as Schedule II drugs in the amphetamine class. Even though they are stimulants, when prescribed as directed by a medical provider in standard doses for people with ADHD and ADD, these prescription drugs assist people with AD(H)D to sustain their attention for a longer amount of time. This allows them to study or complete tasks at hand much more effectively minus the feelings associated with the medications' "speed-like" effects.

Schedule II drugs, such as Ritalin and Adderall, however, have a high propensity for misuse, abuse, and dependence. Widely prescribed for school-age children by medical professionals, many adolescents and young adults snort Ritalin and Adderall as they believe that they are safe alternatives to cocaine. This could not be further from the truth. First, both the potency of Ritalin and Adderall are increased when they are snorted or injected because they enter the bloodstream in a more concentrated manner compared to swallowing a pill. Second, prescription medications, especially when they are not prescribed for the user, as with illicit drugs, do not diminish their potential for harm. These actions make the misuse/abuses of these substances as or more harmful than cocaine, since the user may believe snorting Adderall and Ritalin is safe.

Dangerous side effects from inhaling Ritalin and Adderall include:

respiratory problems, such as destruction of the nasal and sinus cavities and lung tissue
irregular heartbeat (heart arrhythmia)
problems with circulation
psychotic episodes
increased aggression
toxic shock
death, in extreme cases
As Adderall is similar in its chemical makeup to methamphetamine, it poses additional dangers. Extended, continuous abuse can result in developmental problems concerning the brain and negative changes in brain wave activity. If someone misuses/abuses Ritalin, Adderall, or both, help is necessary to stop using, not only to prevent further harm, but also to keep the person safe during withdrawal. Once one has become addicted to these substances, stopping could cause withdrawal symptoms similar to those with cocaine, such as:

severe depression
psychosis
restlessness
extreme feelings of agitation
You may think that you are safer and more frugal by snorting Ritalin and Adderall, rather than cocaine, but you are harming yourself in similar ways. You also run the risk of arrest for having and using these substances without a prescription.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/3703.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-super-salmon-20100814,0,1584315.st...

______________
naishkarma at 2:15 PM August 14, 2010
Eating genetically modified foods and taking many FDA approved drugs will help in the depopulation of the planet. So if you are interested in this as a way to solve humanity's problems then go for it.

We can all become beta testers for Monsanto (not that they are really interested in the actual sciece of side effects of GMO foods) and in the meantime we'll be helping all these ungodly companies to become even more wealthy.

I wonder if Monsanto execs eat the poisons that they are dishing out to others? I'll bet not...

Really.

So there. That's a surprise. Issue number one resolved.

Caves, still, not so much.

I had to reread a few times since I am so used to WTP {We The People} losing. :):(

* ;):(

Kosovo/Serbia, Palestine/Israel, Tibet/China
By Noam Chomsky at Mar 25, 2008

A sustainer recently asked Noam the below question on the ZNet chat board, where Noam hosts a forum:

Sustainer: Professor Chomsky, Are there parallels between the situation unfolding in Kosovo/Serbia and the recent history (since 1948) of Palestine/Israel?

Noam Chomsky: I doubt that there is much in the way of useful analogies, in this case. Maybe I'm missing something.

Seems to me there is a much closer analogy between the Palestinian occupied territories and Tibet right now. There are dissimilarities too. Thus, rightly or wrongly, Tibet is internationally recognized (by the US too) as part of China, so what is happening there is internal. In contrast, outside of Israel (and in practice, the US), no one recognizes the OT as part of Israel, and in an authoritative judgment, confirming early Security Council resolutions, the International Court of Justice determined that the Geneva Conventions apply to the OT, so all settlement activity is in violation of international law, as are all measures (like the "separation wall") to protect settlers (the US Justice concurred). However, despite the sharp legal distinction, there are some instructive parallels that can be explored.

Take the recent US-backed Israeli violence in the OT and Chinese violence inTibet. The former is far greater, and the justifications far weaker. Just imagine how the US and Israel would react if Palestinians in illegally annexed East Jerusalem were to burn down a bank and Jewish stores, attack Jews, etc., as in Tibet We can then compare the actual reactions. In the case of US-backed Israeli violence and illegal actions in the OT, overwhelming support for embattled Israel. In the case of Chinese violence in Tibet, much grandstanding, as when Nancy Pelosi -- an enthusiastic supporter of Israeli violence -- declares passionately that if we don't stand up for Tibet we will lose our "moral authority" (she didn't explain on what that authority rests).

One can proceed -- that is, if one is interested in truth and justice and immune to shrieks of horror and a deluge of brickbats.

NC
http://www.zcommunications.org/kosovo-serbia-palestine-israel-tibet-chin...

it somehow works...(not for me).

The entrance is too big though. Defeats the purpose.

Any cave there is an actual picture of is not one for living in.

I was hoping you would. Some things transcend...

Whatever...

Yes, the implication was completely baseless. Utterly full of shit.

Jesus...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/08/13/social-security-keeps-20_n_6815...

ONA MOVE AND LONG LIVE JOHN AFRICA'S REVOLUTION!

August 8, 2010 marks thirty-two years of unjust imprisonment for the MOVE 9. Each of the MOVE 9 was sentenced to 30 to 100 years for a murder they did not commit. After serving their 30 year minimum sentence in 2008, our family members were interviewed by the parole board, denied parole and each given a 1 year setback. This means that they would not see the parole board again for 1 year. Our family saw the parole board again in 2009 and they each got another 1 year setback except Eddie, who received a 2 year setback for no apparent reason. This year, 2010, five MOVE family members have had their parole board interviews and have again been denied parole. Debbie Africa got a 1 year setback; Janine Africa got a 2 year setback; Janet Africa got a 3 year setback; Mike Africa got an 18 month setback and Delbert Africa got a 1year setback (Chuck and Phil see the parole board later this year and Eddie doesn't see the parole board until next year). Before speaking to the issue of parole, it should be clearly understood that our MOVE family is innocent and have spent 32 years in prison when they should never have gone to prison in the first place. What the parole board needs to explain is how they can increase these setbacks (for example, from 1 year to three years) with no legitimate cause. Absolutely nothing changed between the first setback and this third one. There have been no misconducts, no fights, no withdrawal of prison recommendations for parole, nothing. The parole board cannot explain these setbacks, the parole board also cannot explain giving Janet Africa a 3 year setback when there was never any evidence that Janet or any of the MOVE women did anything on Aug. 8th except hold babies, while giving Delbert Africa a 1 year setback when cops beat Delbert almost to death on Aug. 8th implying that he was threatening. This is a clear example of the parole board carrying on the railroad of our family that started back in 1978. The parole board denied The MOVE 9 parole three times because they won't lie and say they're guilty, they call it "taking responsibility". In the mid eighties through the early nineties, the parole board refused to parole MOVE people if we wouldn't agree to their "special condition" that we sever all ties with our MOVE family and have no contact with them at all. We would not agree, we stood firm and it is the parole board that had to give ground. That "special condition" was an illegal attempt to break MOVE, the same applies to this demand that MOVE "take responsibility" for something we didn't do and say we're guilty. It is crystal clear that parole board officials have absolutely no interest in justice or their own legality, particularly when it comes to people like MOVE that refuse to accept injustice and confront these officials on their wrong-doing. What they're doing to MOVE, and countless other prisoners, is contrary to their legality and the principle of justice. We will never stop fighting against wrong and confronting this rotten system, whether it's on a prison block or a street block.

Contact us at: 215 387-4107 or onamovellja@aol.com

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

President Dwight D. Eisenhower, l952-----

I've read an interpretation of S510 like this before, but somehow, this warning is particularly spooky tonight:

http://www.theworldsprophecy.com/senate-bill-s510-makes-it-illegal-to-gr...

[excerpt]

Senate Bill S510 Makes it illegal to Grow, Share, Trade or Sell Homegrown Food

Update:
Since the story first broke, a lot has happened. One reason for this could be that food is being poisoned. Collecting rainwater is now illegal in many states. Your intake is being controlled. For more information, visit the following articles as well:

Raiding organic food stores. A sign of new times?

Collecting rainwater now illegal in many states as Big Government claims ownership over our water

Why do people in America refuse to take active interest in their future?

[main article]

S 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2010, may be the most dangerous bill in the history of the US. It is to our food what the bailout was to our economy, only we can live without money.

“If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes. It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one’s choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.” ~Dr. Shiv Chopra, Canada Health whistleblower

It is similar to what India faced with imposition of the salt tax during British rule, only S 510 extends control over all food in the US, violating the fundamental human right to food.

Monsanto says it has no interest in the bill and would not benefit from it, but Monsanto’s Michael Taylor who gave us rBGH and unregulated genetically modified (GM) organisms, appears to have designed it and is waiting as an appointed Food Czar to the FDA (a position unapproved by Congress) to administer the agency it would create — without judicial review — if it passes. S 510 would give Monsanto unlimited power over all US seed, food supplements, food and farming.

History
In the 1990s, Bill Clinton introduced HACCP (Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Points) purportedly to deal with contamination in the meat industry. Clinton’s HACCP delighted the offending corporate (World Trade Organization “WTO”) meat packers since it allowed them to inspect themselves, eliminated thousands of local food processors (with no history of contamination), and centralized meat into their control. Monsanto promoted HACCP.

In 2008, Hillary Clinton, urged a powerful centralized food safety agency as part of her campaign for president. Her advisor was Mark Penn, CEO of Burson Marsteller*, a giant PR firm representing Monsanto. Clinton lost, but Clinton friends such as Rosa DeLauro, whose husband’s firm lists Monsanto as a progressive client and globalization as an area of expertise, introduced early versions of S 510.

S 510 fails on moral, social, economic, political, constitutional, and human survival grounds.
1. It puts all US food and all US farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, in the event of contamination or an ill-defined emergency. It resembles the Kissinger Plan.
...

[more at link]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russians-fear-worst-as-fi...

[excerpt]

Russians fear worst as fires reach Chernobyl fallout zone

Scepticism as officials try to play down threat of radioactive residue in smog

By Miriam Elder

Thursday, 12 August 2010

Firefighters tackle flames near the village of Kustaryovka in the Ryazan region of Russia yesterday as the wildfires continued to fan out across the country and head towards the contaminated Chernobyl nuclear plant

Radiation levels near Chernobyl could rise and pose long-term health dangers as deadly forest fires spread to land contaminated by the world's largest nuclear-reactor disaster, Russian environmentalists said yesterday.

Activists said that the effect of the flames, fanned by the hottest weather in the region in 1,000 years, is bound to be serious. "This is radiation that will be dangerous for the local population living near the fires and firefighters managing the fires," said Vladimir Chuprov, head of Greenpeace Russia's energy unit. "What is not clear is what could be the danger of the combined radiation effect and toxic effect of the smog. No one knows how these effects multiply each other."
...

[more at link]

Almond growers are being forced to either steam and chemically treat almonds, that is, turning tree nuts into yet another PROCESSED FOOD. Sheesh.

http://www.thereporter.com/business/ci_15777489

[excerpt]

...

The almond producers, not all of whom are organic, said the rules have sabotaged their businesses by not allowing them to compete with foreign-produced raw almonds.

They also objected to requirements that they steam the nuts or spray them with propylene oxide, which is widely used but concerns some farmers because it has been identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a probable carcinogen. The EPA allows the use of PPO, as it is known, in small amounts not believed to harm human health.

Michael Jarvis, a spokes-man for the USDA's Agricul-tural Marketing Services, said the federal government is reviewing the Aug. 3 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Jarvis declined to comment further.

The Modesto-based Almond Board, the trade group that recommended the rules, defended the regulations.

"The food quality and safety program, including pasteurization, went into effect in 2007, and was developed after an extended, transparent process involving all segments of the almond industry," the board said in a statement.

Anderson said he is able to continue producing his almonds naturally -- for now -- because he is a small business and often sells directly to consumers. But other farmers said the rule has hurt them and left many customers agitated.
...

Some public health experts said even if raw organic almond producers don't subject their almonds to pasteurization, the nuts might be safer than conventionally produced almonds because the organic farms don't use pesticides and often are careful about exposing their crop to contaminants such as animal waste because that could threaten their organic certification.

Dr. Robert S. Lawrence, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, said studies have shown that under 1 percent of almonds are contaminated by a variety of salmonella strains. He compares that to much higher percentages in some meats.

"If the rest of our food supply were that safe, we'd be shouting for joy, so I can appreciate and sympathize with the producers who are asking to be relieved of this burden," said Lawrence.

[more at link]

insensitive to build an Islamic center near ground zero?

Say is anybody having trouble posting? Like click SUBMIT and get a blank screen? If you go back and try to re-post you get DOUBLE posts? Just a heads-up for the mods.
Or I'm crazy!

You can get yer Sunday Professional Right guest list at
Brick TeeVee Professional Left Special!
http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5946
http://filthy-rich.blogspot.com/2010/08/brick-teevee-professional-left-s...

Here's a few items you WILL NOT SEE on Sunday CorporoMedia.
The Digital Surveillance State: Vast, Secret, and Dangerous
AND Corn byproduct fructose literally fuels cancer cell growth, study finds, about High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS)

I solve it by just clicking on the Seder thingee on my bookmark menu after I post and going back to the homepage.

Then you get to see your own comment as a new comment. Kinda meta...

Just tryin' to be positive...

in Spanish what you said about Googlear=Chingar.

They didn't get it at all.

So I guess I am stuck here. Out there it only gets worse.

...I too have to go through "that Seder cycle" to post.
;)

OK, a person. I can't say who. It would violate certain norms of conduct. And far be it from me...

Plus...too busy snorting adderall.

( Pink lines...)

:)

---
If I were really snorting adderall I'd have this floor clean by now.
---
I dunno though. With me, and cleaning, and time...

ahhhhhh "snorting adds..." is the secret to floors. LOL hahaha

It looks as though Christopher Hitchens isn't going to live too much longer. Incurable cancer. I myself will miss his writings. True, he went to "the neocon camp" in recent years. I found that was more for foreign policy reasons, and not for domestic ones. One common element of neocon ideology is strong support for Israel. Many find the roots of the neocons in the policies of Senator Henry Jackson, Democratic Senator from Washington. Jackson was big on coalitions across the spectrum, and supported the New Deal. Nixon, another politician linked to the neocons was, domestically, our last liberal president--if you don't count Jerry Ford. Hitchens found Islamic fundamentalism to be a problem that will require drastic measures to combat.
Hitchens is a journalist who deals with facts. Unlike many others who are apologists and propagandists for power. He used to write a column for The Nation that alternated with Alexander Cockburn's column. (Cockburn has always been a critic of Hitchens.) Hitchens knew the facts in the case of Mumia abu Jamal, and called for a retrial. He does have flaws, some of them maddening. But I did not consider him an enemy. I believe he recently called on Israel to comply with international law by withdrawing from the occupied territories and allow the Palestinians to create a state.

(Mumia Abu-Jamal)

by Christopher Hitchens

The Nation magazine, April 14, 1997

In my column in the March 31 issue, about the First Amendment aspects of the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, I suspended judgment on whether he was guilty or innocent as charged. I wish I had been completely true to this self-denying ordinance, because in a too-brief summary of the case I made one important error. Although Abu Jamal was carrying a legally registered gun on the night of the crime (he was a taxi driver in a rough neighborhood of Philadelphia), the prosecution did not succeed in showing that he had fired it. More over, the caliber of his gun was .38, while that of the bullet recovered from the dead police officer was .44. A bullet from Officer Daniel Faulkner's revolver had taken Abu-Jamal in the chest and lodged near his spinal cord.

The argument about what happened in the early hours of December 9, 1981, begins with that morning. According to Officer Faulkner's best friend and former partner, Abu-Jamal confessed to the shooting while he was in the hospital waiting room, shouting that he had indeed shot officer Faulkner and that he hoped he had killed him. So, at any rate, Officer Garry Bell told the court in 1982. But his log for the night records no such confession. And a second officer, Gary Wakshul, who accompanied Abu-Jamal from the crime scene, and who stayed with him until he was treated by physicians, reported that "during this time the Negro male made no comment." At the time of the trial, officer Wakshul was improperly given vacation leave by the Philadelphia Police Department, and never testified.

Doesn't sound like much of a trial, you say. Well, Abu-Jamal elected to conduct his own defense. But Judge Albert Sabo -- who, incidentally, has handed out more than twice as many death sentences as any other judge in the nation -- ruled that he was taking too much time about it. He appointed an attorney who by his own admission did not relish the task. For protesting this, Abu-Jamal was excluded from the court for large portions of the trial. Since July 1982 he has been on death row.

Hasty and shabby trials are not exactly a novelty in cases involving "underclass" crime. But two witnesses have now come forward with staggering new evidence. You may have read of the recent federal investigations of the Philadelphia Police Department, which resulted in the conviction of six officers for the grossest corruption, extortion and perjury, involving several major cases of false imprisonment. The chief government witness and informant in this probe, Pamela Jenkins, has now furnished a sworn statement to Abu-Jamal's legal defense team. She says she was pressed very hard by police officers to give false testimony against Abu-Jamal. She further alleges that another witness, Cynthia White, was threatened with death to elicit the same kind of testimony.
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Third_World_US/Mumia_Hitchens.html

Hitchens as Model Apostate

By NORMAN FINKELSTEIN
SEPT 10. 2003
...
I'm occasionally asked whether I still consider myself a Marxist. Even if my "faith" had lapsed, I wouldn't advertise it, not from shame at having been wrong (although admittedly this would be a factor) but rather from fear of arousing even a faint suspicion of opportunism. To borrow from the lingo of a former academic fad, if, in public life, the "signifier" is "I'm no longer a Marxist," then the "signified" usually is, "I'm selling out." No doubt one can, in light of further study and life experience, come to repudiate past convictions. One might also decide that youthful ideals, especially when the responsibilities of family kick in and the prospects for radical change dim while the certainty of one's finitude sharpens, are too heavy a burden to bear; although it might be hoped that this accommodation, however understandable (if disappointing), were accomplished with candor and an appropriate degree of humility rather than, what's usually the case, scorn for those who keep plugging away. It is when the phenomenon of political apostasy is accompanied by fanfare and fireworks that it becomes truly repellent.

Depending on where along the political spectrum power is situated, apostates almost always make their corrective leap in that direction, discovering the virtues of the status quo. "The last thing you can be accused of is having turned your coat," Thomas Mann wrote a convert to National Socialism right after Hitler's seizure of power. "You always wore it the 'right' way around." If apostasy weren't conditioned by power considerations, one would anticipate roughly equal movements in both directions. But that's never been the case. The would-be apostate almost always pulls towards power's magnetic field, rarely away. [..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein09102003.html

September 26, 2001

By Tariq Ali

When Christopher Hitchens supports a Western war he usually concentrates his fire on the 'enemy'. During the Falklands escapade he wasn't bothered by the sinking of the Belgrano or other such trivia that 'liberal twits' were questioning. For him Galtieri was a fascist and Mrs Thatcher was right. During the Balkan wars he decided that the Serbs were the enemy, Milosevic was a fascist and NATO was right to wage war. He slipped up on the Gulf War, which he opposed despite the fact that Saddam, in the eyes of many who supported that war, was a fascist as well.

Perhaps Hitchens should re-think his position on that war, to make his overall posture slightly more consistent. Everyone would understand. What is odd about the current crisis is that his targets in this war seem to be Pilger, Chomsky, Finkelstein, Pinter, et al. This list too is incomplete. For some reason he excludes Susan Sontag whose excellent New Yorker piece warning against crude revenge has been reprinted all over the world. The position adopted by all those under attack is fairly straightforward. The terrorist attacks were appalling and unjustifiable, but to explain is not to justify. Explanations are desperately needed to avoid a repetition anywhere in the world.[..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/tariqhitch.html

Says Sheehan "Not a LaRouchie"!

Hitchens Backs Down

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN
August 24, 2005

Just to remind you, before you read his letter to CounterPunch, here's what I wrote about Christopher Hitchens in my CounterPunch Diary last weekend.

You can tell in five-minutes channel surfing how Cindy Sheehan frightens the pro-war crowd. One bereaved mom from Vacaville, camped outside Bush's home in Crawford, reproaching the vacationing President for sending her son to a pointless death in Iraq has got the hellhounds of the right barking in venomous unison.

Christopher Hitchens attacked Cindy Sheehan, of course. Called her a LaRouchie! Why? No reason given. He obviously reckons "LaRouchie" is one of those let-her-deny-it slurs, like "anti-Semite". Let's suppose Hitchens was writing in similarly nasty terms about Hitchens. He'd probably remember that in 1999 Edward Jay Epstein publicly recalled a dinner in the Royalton Hotel in New York where Epstein said Hitchens had doubted the Holocaust was quite what it's cracked up to be. In Epstein's memory Hitchens belittled the idea that six million Jews died, said the number was much less.

So, under Hitchens' rules of polemical engagement, was does that make Hitchens? A holocaust denier, a guy who has Faurisson and David Irving's books under his pillow. A Jew hater, or if you believe his sudden discovery (privately denied by his own brother on at least one occasion) at a mature age that his mother was Jewish a Jewish self-hater. Of course Hitchens revels in Cindy Sheehan's denial that she said in an email that her son died in a war for Israel. Hitchens writes that this denial makes her "a shifty fantasist". What would Hitchens, who's an on-the-record admirer ("a great historian") of the work of Nazi chronicler David Irving say about Hitchens' shifty denial of Epstein's recollection? What fun he would have with the witnesses the panic-stricken Hitchens, well aware that "holocaust denier" is not part of the resume of a Vanity Fair columnist, hastily mustered for his defense, a woman and a man present at that famous dinner in the Royalton. One his close friend, Anna Wintour, the present editor of Vogue and the other, Brian McNally, a longtime friend and business associate.[..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/cockburn08252005.html

October 22, 2002

Drunken, Opportunistic, Cynical Contrarian (AKA C. Hitchens)

by JACK McCARTHY

Hitchens, you fucking fat-assed drunken slut.

You lying sack of shit.

Sir, have you no sense of personal integrity whatsoever?

Mother Theresa might have been in the "Missionary Position," but you are taking it every which way from people who make poor old Charles Keating look like Kris Kringle.

But I digress--already.

I just read your latest, self-serving Orwellian rewriting and distortion of recent history published in last Sunday's Washington Post, "So Long, Fellow Travelers."

First observation: It appears to be modeled on David Horowitz's and Peter Collier's treacherous, "Lefties for Reagan," published in the early 80s on those same pages. And for good reason.[..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/mccarthy1022.html

"'Okay,' I said, giving him a chance to rationalize his snitching, which all informants have to do when they start out."

J. Wambaugh, Blue Night

Many people go through life rehearsing a role they feel that the fates have in store for them, and we've long thought that Christopher Hitchens has been asking himself for years how it would feel to plant the Judas kiss. Indeed an attempted physical embrace has often been part of the rehearsal. Many's the time male friends have had to push Hitchens' mouth, fragrant with martinis away, as, amid the welcomes and good-byes, he seeks their cheek or lips.

And now, as a Judas and a snitch, Hitchens has made the big time. On February 5, amid the embers of the impeachment trial, he trotted along to Congress and swore out an affidavit that he and his wife, Carol Blue, had lunch with White House aide Sidney Blumenthal last March 19 and that Blumenthal had described Monica Lewinsky as a stalker. Since Blumenthal had just claimed in his deposition to the House impeachment managers that he had no idea how this linking of the White House stalker stories had started, Hitchens' affidavit was about as flat a statement as anyone could want that Blumenthal has perjured himself, thus exposing himself to a sentence of up to five years in prison. At the very least, Hitchens has probably cost Blumenthal about $100,000 in fresh legal expenses on top of the $200,000 tab he's already facing. Some friend.

And we are indeed talking about friendship here. They've been pals for years and Hitchens has not been shy about trumpeting the fact. Last spring, when it looked as though Blumenthal was going to be subpoenaed by prosecutor Starr for his journalistic contacts, Hitchens blared his readiness to stand shoulder to shoulder with his comrade: "...together we have soldiered against the neoconservative ratbags," Hitchens wrote in The Nation last spring. "Our life a deux has been, and remains an open book. Do your worst. Nothing will prevent me from gnawing a future bone at his table or, I trust, him from gnawing in return." This was in an edition of The Nation dated March 30, 1998, a fact which means -- given The Nation's scheduling practices-- that Hitchens just writing these loyal lines immediately before the lunch -- Hitchens now says he thinks it was on March 17, at the Occidental Restaurant near the White House -- whose conversational menu Hitchens would be sharing with these same neo-conservative, right-wing ratbags ten months later.

The surest way to get a secret into mass circulation is to tell it to Hitchens, swearing him to silence as one does so. His friends have known this for years. As a compulsive tattler and gossip Hitchens gets a frisson we'd guess to be quasi-sexual in psychological orientation out of the act of tattling or betrayal.

This brings us to Hitchens' snitch psychology, and the years of psychic preparation that launched him into the affidavit against his friend Blumenthal. Like those who question themselves about the imagined future role -- "would I really leap through fire to save my friend", "would I stay silent if threatened with torture" -- Hitchens has, we feel certain, brooded constantly about the conditions under which he might snitch, or inform. A good many years ago we were discussing the German Baader-Meinhof gang, some of whose members were on the run at the time. Hitchens, as is his wont, stirred himself into a grand little typhoon of moral outrage against the gang, whose reckless ultra-leftism was, he said, only doing good to the right. "If one of them came to my front door seeking shelter," Hitchens cried, "I would call the police in an instant and turn him in!" Would you just, we remember thinking at the time. We've often thought about that outburst since, and whether in fact Christopher was at some level already in the snitch business.
http://www.counterpunch.org/snitch.html

June 27, 2001

Hitchens v. Kissinger

Don't Sue Henry!

Christopher Hitchens writes in Harper's, and in his new book The Trial of Henry Kissinger, that Kissinger is a war criminal. Kissinger responds to a Detroit radio talk show host, Mitch Albom, that Hitchens had "denied the Holocaust ever took place." Does that mean that Kissinger accepts he's a war criminal? Now Hitchens tells the New York Post that he and his wife Carol are Jewish and that "Mr. Kissinger will be hearing from my attorney, who will tell him two things he already knows -- what he said is false, malicious and defamatory, and if he says it again, we will proceed against him in court."

That's a mistake, surely. It makes Hitchens sound defensive. It also changes the subject from Kissinger's blood-stained rampages through the late twentieth century to what precisely Hitchens wrote about David Irving, and what he may have said to Edward J. Epstein. (Back in Clintontime Epstein (partisan of Sidney Blumenthal in the latter's face off with Hitchens) told the New York Observer that during dinner at Elaine's Hitchens had told him and boon companions that actual evidence of six million Jews dead in gas ovens was in short supply. Hitchens adamantly denied Epstein's recollection.)
http://www.counterpunch.org/hitchhenry.html

I am naiive. Hitchens has always been a self-serving jerk--even when he was a lefty. Sort of reminds me of Bill Maher.

Submitted by Leah on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 1:10pm.

I feel the the same way and I am not critical of all the work your do in the search for some answers.

When people get sick it is hard to remain mad at them for their process.

I enjoyed the articles you gathered for us to review today.

http://flaginc.org/

new report from the Farmers Legal Action Group (FLAG)
confirms that current federal policies
discourage farmers from growing and marketing fruits and vegetables.
Their legal analysis of the 2008 Farm Bill found that fruit and
vegetable farmers don't have access to the same safety net that
growers of commodity crops (like corn and soybeans) receive, and that
crop insurance and disaster assistance programs are not designed to
serve the unique needs of fruit and vegetable growers.

To read the report, including their full analysis of the farm bill as
well as their policy recommendations, click here
http://flaginc.org/topics/pubs/farmbill.php

---------------------
The good food is now hitting the nyc farmer's markets in large quanities.

Unwaxed,naturally rippened and from the hands of good kind people .

Yesterday I got raw milk cheese and tomatos and lettuce picked the night before.What a pleasure to enjoy my salad last night. The veggies had a sweet taste. who knew celery didn't have a bitter after taste .I forget what good is because In NYC everything is a week old and mostly nuked and waxed and over refrigerated/.. Sometimes we just have to admit the old ways are better.

"...Death and the Maidens
new
Submitted by Leah on Sun, 08/15/2010 - 12:12pm.

(Mumia Abu-Jamal)

by Christopher Hitchens

The Nation magazine, April 14, 1997

In my column in the March 31 issue, about the First Amendment aspects of the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, I suspended judgment on whether he was guilty or innocent as charged. I wish I had been completely true to this self-denying ordinance, because in a too-brief summary of the case I made one important error. Although Abu Jamal was carrying a legally registered gun on the night of the crime (he was a taxi driver in a rough neighborhood of Philadelphia), the prosecution did not succeed in showing that he had fired it. More over, the caliber of his gun was .38, while that of the bullet recovered from the dead police officer was .44. A bullet from Officer Daniel Faulkner's revolver had taken Abu-Jamal in the chest and lodged near his spinal cord. ... more at above "POST"

...yet I need 2 brew more
Sea Ya *Poof*

been a while. :)

this place always feelswelcoming though. Like an ol blanky or slippers or hot cocoa

I was glad to see O mention not letting SS be privatized, but I dont think he said anything about cuts or raising the ret age. That dang axing commission scares me

So how has everyone been :)

I am having a pretty good day myself :)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&add...

will it get fixed? Eventually?
Or is this it?

taozen,
I wanted to ask you a v. important question but now that I am here it completely left my mind. I think all those Hitchens articles gives me the heebie jeebies.

Same happened after I saw all those Alan M. Dershowitz stuff the other week.
I Never Never read those Narcissists who totally lack integrity and wouldn't know truth if it bit them.
----

I do Hope everyone here is well!

I suggest don't waste a minute with the mainstream servant news. Its the job of the servant press on TV and radio to bamboozle and brainwash you.
I know many don't get it. I should probably stop posting this way ... but what can I say, I can't help it. I care.

Make plans. Be self-sufficient.
Time is achanging. Only the strong will survive.

see ya

xo

Change That's Not: 'Obama On Bush Route'

John Pilger: Wikileaks Should Teach Journalists to Question 'Official Statements', US Foreign Policy

Recent sanctions against Iran are an attempt by the US to return the country to its sphere of influence, claims veteran journalist John Pilger. "Iran was a pillar of the American empire in the Middle East. That was swept away in 1979 by the Islamic revolution, and it has been American foreign policy to get that back," he said. "It has absolutely nothing to do with so-called nuclear weapons.

The nuclear power in the Middle East is the fourth biggest military power in the world and that is Israel. It has something like 500 or more nuclear warheads. It is never discussed." Pilger added that Barack Obama has failed to change the trajectory of US foreign policy and following George W. Bush's line.

clip ....

"For the first time in US presidential history -- it has not happened before -- a president has taken the entire defense department bureaucracy, and the Secretary of State for Defense, from a previous discredited administration. We have basically Robert Gates and the same generals running American foreign policy with a lot of help from people of like mind."

Posted August 11, 2010

V I D E O

John Pilger interview

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26137.htm

http://bigthink.com/ideas/15094

Why Obama Sucks—The definitive Inventory, and other stories

...

Only when we realize we're fighting a self-contained system in which most of the would-be questioners have been shut out, do we get closer to asking the real questions.

Americans have to understand that the lack of political choices and the putrid candidates and leaders we get every 2 and 4 years is no aberration to an otherwise healthy system but the inevitable result of its internal iron dynamics. Bush, Clinton, Reagan, and now Obama were all vetted carefully by the reigning capitalist plutocracy before being allowed "to serve" in the highest office through a process that is as subtlle as it is tacit. In the overwhelming majority of cases, by the time we get to the polling places the fix is already in and it doesn't matter who we "choose." It's a very costly illusion that neither us nor the world can continue to afford. Which brings us, again, to Barack Obama.

Tales of a pathetic administration

This edition leads with David Michael Green's essay on Obama and his pathetically inept and corrupt White House team. Green sets out to put press hack Bob Gibbs in his place for openly insulting the left, not a difficult task per se considering the huge flank presented by these insulated buffoons and traitors to the public interest—literally betrayers of the res publica—, but the article soon veers off into a full and very comprehensive "bill of attainder" on Obama & Co. Hope you block off some time to read it.

http://www.greanvillepost.com/?p=7529

Sorry to hear about Princess..

**

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

And,yep Gloryoski is funny..
She's been cracking me up here for a long time.. :)

We need humor or we can go crazy..
Duh !
Not a great insight
but,so true..

I hope everyone here is doing well.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

Is anyone else getting a Error Message after they enter
a post here,or is it just me ?

And,if everyone is getting that Error Message thang,
has anyone emailed Sam about it ?

I noticed it a couple of days ago too
when I posted something here..

Thanks.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

without a roof over their heads. I don't think there has ever been a situation this bad . It looks like global warming is causing the floods and where is the president? doesn't he feel like helping people rather than the military/oil
machine. I think he is not up to the job.

test for MMrules . Lets see how hard it is to post this.

-----------
well I can post and come back and edit for mistakes but I have to re- enter the blog each time. . it doesnt automatically "return' as it had in the past. . This has been the norm for awhile
-----------
Gate s just said he is retiring next year in a recent interview.

Um..
new
Submitted by MMRules on Mon, 08/16/2010 - 9:50am.
Is anyone else getting a Error Message after they enter
a post here,or is it just me ?

And,if everyone is getting that Error Message thang,
has anyone emailed Sam about it ?

...I did email Sam but I just got the robo response so I didn't know whether it was just me or even if he saw it.

...I did email Sam but I just got the robo response so I didn't know whether it was just me or even if he saw it.

*******
He might just be real busy..Let's hope so..

How long ago did you email him ?
**
I just emailed him too..

I always put something like," FYI-Sam..Your blogs going crackers " ,in the subject line so it will ketch his eye..

Hopefully,he will fix it soon..
He usually doesn't let it go this long..

Thanks.. :)

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

How long ago did you email him ?

...about a week or so ago.

http://www.pressherald.com/opinion/suit-against-clean-election-law-an-ef...

If Bopp's name sounds familiar, it should. Bopp represents the National Organization for Marriage in its suit to overturn Maine's campaign finance disclosure laws. Bopp represented national right-to-life groups in the late 1990s in their attempt to overturn the Maine Clean Election Act, too.

And that's just Maine. Bopp is behind similar legal actions in states across the country.

This new lawsuit is part of a well-financed assault on the nation's campaign finance laws. Wherever voters and legislatures pass laws that attempt to level the playing field, deter corruption and limit the influence of moneyed special interests, Bopp is never far behind.

In lawsuit after lawsuit, Bopp and his allies go to bat for those with the fattest wallets. Remember Citizens United? That's the U.S. Supreme Court decision that rolled back 100 years of federal campaign finance reforms and guaranteed the right to unlimited political spending for corporations. Bopp was behind that one, too.

Here at Maine Citizens for Clean Elections, we believe in the promise of government "of the people, by the people, and for the people."

We're proud that the Maine Clean Election Act is the nation's first public funding system, and we're proud that Maine people – candidates and voters alike, from across the political spectrum – have embraced it and made it a success. We are halfway through our sixth cycle of Clean Elections now, and it's clear the system works.

But James Bopp and his allies are in court to ensure that campaign finance laws – or the lack thereof – give Maine people the best government that money can buy. Their complaint asks the court to halt the payment of matching funds in all races this year – races that are already under way! The candidates who have already qualified for Clean Elections are bound by its modest spending limits with no ability to raise additional funds or spend their own money.

The lawsuit also seeks to lift the $750 contribution limit to privately funded candidates in the gubernatorial election. Why? Because one plaintiff wants to give more than the current limit of $750 to his favorite gubernatorial candidate, Republican Paul LePage.

At first glance, this lawsuit might look like an overt attempt to advantage a privately funded Republican over a publicly funded Democrat in the race for governor. But its impact is much bigger than that.

Hundreds of legislative candidates, including Republicans, Democrats, Greens and independents, are participating in Clean Elections this year. Changing the rules in the middle of the game would deny these candidates the dollar-for-dollar matching funds to which they are entitled if they are outspent by a privately funded opponent or by independent expenditures.

The total disruption of the ongoing election seems a very high price for Mainers to pay, especially since the facts do not support the plaintiffs' complaints.

Take the gubernatorial contribution limit. Last year the Legislature raised the limit from $500 to $750, and we held a vigorous primary election in June. Several privately funded candidates raised significant sums under the limit and ran vigorous and competitive campaigns. There is no evidence that the limit kept candidates from raising the money they needed.

Similarly, the June primary showed that matching funds do not "chill speech." In both the Republican and Democratic contests, high-spending candidates spent well more than the Clean Election candidates' spending limit.

Reports were filed, matching funds were distributed and those high-spending candidates kept right on spending. Every election cycle under Clean Elections has pointed to the same thing: Matching funds enable more speech.

Maine's campaign finance laws protect First Amendment rights by allowing unlimited expenditures by privately funded candidates and unlimited independent expenditures.

They enhance First Amendment rights by providing resources to publicly funded candidates so that voters hear from all sides, not just from those with unlimited money to spend.

They protect the public interest by calling for disclosure so that voters know who is behind the ads they see and hear.

Clean Elections means that citizens come first, and that our government is not for sale.

There's nothing unconstitutional about that.

Karzai to scrap foreign security firms in Afghanistan within four months
Afghan president brings forward deadline for handover of many security duties from foreign security firms to national police

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/16/karzai-ends-private-security

http://www.hindustantimes.com/No-rapid-Afghan-pullout/Article1-587745.as...

Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and NATO forces, began a campaign on Sunday to convince an increasingly skeptical public that the American-led coalition can still succeed here despite months of setbacks, saying he had not come to Afghanistan to preside over a “graceful

The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has ordered an immediate inquiry into the potential destruction of the world's oldest seed bank following a court case and a Twitter campaign by Guardian readers and others.
The fate of the station appeared to be sealed last week when a court ruled in favour of the Pavlovsk research station and its surrounding farmland being turned into private housing. It holds the world's largest fruit collections and was protected by 12 Russian scientists during the second world war who chose to starve to death rather than eat the unique collection of seeds and plants which they were guarding during the 900-day siege of Leningrad.
More than 90% of the plants are found in no other research collection or seed bank. Its seeds and berries are thought to posess traits that could be crucial to maintaining productive fruit harvests in many parts of the world as climate change and a rising tide of disease, pests and drought weaken the varieties farmers now grow. At stake, say campaigners for the station, are more than 5,000 varieties of seeds and berries from dozens of countries, including more than 100 varieties each of gooseberries and raspberries.
As it is predominantly a field collection, Pavlovsk cannot be moved. Experts estimate that even if another site were available nearby, it would take many years to relocate the plants.
The court ruling was instantly appealed, giving the station one month before development plans for a housing estate that would destroy the station can move forward. This judgment means the order can only be revoked through a direct command of the president or rime minister, Vladimir Putin.
The Civic Chamber, a Russian state institution with a remit to monitor parliament and the government, then sent a telegram to Medvedev to request a formal appeal to protect the collection. And numerous supporters of the research station have made their feelings felt on Twitter (using the #pavlovsk hashtag). On Friday, following a week of lobbying Medvedev tweeted back: "Received the Civic Chamber's appeal over the Pavlov Experimental Station. Gave the instruction for this issue to be scrutinised."
The campaign may have already achieved more than the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation which last year appealed unsuccessfully to the Russian government to include Pavlovsk in the global network of gene banks.
However, the ongoing heatwave is thought to have also put pressure on the government. Russian agricultural minister, Elena Borisovna Skrynnik, had fought for the station to be saved on the grounds that its heritage was crucial for food security as climate change grew more serious.
Much of the Russian wheat harvest has been destroyed in the last month by the heatwave, which has been linked to climate change.
Yesterday, the Crop Diversity Trust, which has been leading western attempts to save the station, urged people to continue to petition the Russian authorities. A statement on the trust's website said: "Over the next four weeks, we will continue our fight to save Pavlovsk, and we need your help. We need to persuade the political authorities of the importance of the irreplaceable crop diversity growing at Pavlovsk station, and request that the judgment be revoked."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/aug/16/russia-president-pavol...

This week a Russian court ruled that the world’s first seed bank outside of St. Petersburg, Russia may be destroyed in order to make way for a housing development. If allowed to stand, this decision will have a catastrophic impact on global plant diversity. Called a “Living Library”, the Pavlovsk Experimental Station [1] is widely considered the "crown jewel" of agricultural biodiversity, since 90% of the collection’s varieties are not found anywhere else on the planet. [2]

Scientists around the world are calling the decision an assault against biodiversity and the memory of the bitter struggle that kept this renowned seed bank alive during the darkest days of World War II. Founded in 1926 by Russian agricultural scientist Nikolai Vavilov, the Pavlovsk Experimental Station, became an icon of human perseverance when 12 Soviet scientists made a stand, choosing to starve to death rather than eat the precious seed and plant collection [3] as Nazi soldiers killed more than 1.5 million Russian soldiers and citizens during the grueling 900-day siege of Leningrad between 1941 and 1943. [4]

Besides this rich history, the Pavlovsk Station contains more than 5,000 rare varieties of fruits and berries from dozens of countries, up to 90% of which are in no other collection. [5] Unlike the majority of seed banks around the world today, the Pavlovsk Station is a field collection, meaning that most of the rare seeds are planted on the agricultural plot outside of St. Petersburg and moving the plants would take many years and most likely destroy much of the collection in the process. [6]

Now, Russia's Supreme Arbitration Court in Moscow wants to turn this priceless treasure of biodiversity into a “private housing estate”. [7] In an age of climate change and dwindling biodiversity, such a decision poses a direct threat to humanity and the future sustainability of our planet.

Tell Russia’s President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin to stop this senseless destruction of the world’s seed heritage and stand up for biodiversity and the world’s future. Clicking on the link below will automatically sign your name to a petition calling for the Kremlin to halt the destruction of the world’s first seed bank.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/save_the_worlds_first_seed_bank_ac...

With more than 986 species of strawberries and 634 varieties of apples, the Pavlovsk Station contains one of the world’s largest collections of rare fruits and berries. [8] Gathered over 84 years, during lean years and hard times, the Russian seed bank is where the future to agricultural solutions may be found, but only if it is allowed to survive. Once a seed is lost, its rich genetic history is gone forever.

In an age where the impacts of climate change are only beginning to grow more pronounced, allowing the destruction of this collection rises to a threat against humanity as great as that faced by Russians as they battled for their survival during the siege of Leningrad. The future of our planet and our species rests not in the development of land for real estate, but in the wise management of the dwindling natural resources that are still available to us.

Today, droughts, floods, extreme heat and water shortages are ravaging the major food producing regions of the world, including California’s Central Valley, Australia and Russia’s own wheat belt. Just last week, the real threat of climate change shook Russia and the world, when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin banned the export of the nation’s wheat due to the severe drought as Russia withers under the worst heat-wave in more than 130 years. [9]

Plant scientists around the globe regularly use plants and seed stock from the Pavlovsk collection as “raw material for developing new varieties that are more productive, for example, or better adapted to a warming climate.” [10] To combat the growing instability brought on by climate change, the invaluable genetic legacy contained in these rare seeds must be maintained.

Allowing the destruction of this priceless seed bank will take away one of the leading tools that scientists have in combating climate change. Destroying these seeds is literally eradicating one of nature’s most precious resources at a time when farmers and society need it the most in order to meet the growing problem of feeding a planet in the face of rapidly changing weather patterns.

While the decision this week was immediately appealed, scientists in Russia and concerned citizens around the world have only 30 days to organize as the decision was immediately appealed before the Supreme Arbitration Court of Russia. Already, groups are organizing to call attention to this terrible decision, including the Global Crop Diversity Trust and scientists at the Pavlovsk Experiment Station. [11]

Food Democracy Now! asks you to join us in this urgent plea to protect biodiversity and the rich biological and historical legacy that these seeds and this collection represents. We may not have much time or even much hope at this point, but this planet will not go down in flames without a fight!

Tell Russia’s President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin to stop this senseless destruction of the world’s seed heritage and stand up for biodiversity and the world’s future. Clicking on the link below will automatically sign your name to a petition calling for the Kremlin to halt the destruction of the world’s first seed bank.

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/go/save_the_worlds_first_seed_bank_ac...

is terrific on the radio. I heard a rerun of her pinch-hitting for Ed Schultz last week, while he attended a Wall Street protest. Today I happened upon her today, as well. She certainly has a knack for it--and damned humorous.

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Hei, MMRules...
new
Submitted by CeeCee on Mon, 08/16/2010 - 11:55am.
How long ago did you email him ?

...about a week or so ago.

*******

A week ago ? Jeebus !

We might need to just keep forwarding our email's
back to him until he takes notice/sees them..
Just about every 4 hrs or so,I guess..

Just a idea..

"Hello to our friends and fans in domestic surveillance."

MMRules

August 16, 2010

Hopes Dimming

By RALPH NADER

The Obama Administration’s treatment of its current majority ownership of bailed out General Motors and its standoffishness toward the pioneering but troubled ShoreBank, a community bank based in Chicago, are lessons in how the Big/Bad fare in Washington, D.C., as compared with the Good/Small.

Having shed its bad assets and abandoned its common shareholders, the new GM emerged from bankruptcy in 2009 with a clean balance sheet and lots of taxpayer cash. For the first two quarters of 2010, it has signaled a comeback by reporting over $2 billion in profits.

In return for a federal infusion of well over $50 billion, the government took a 61 percent ownership stake. The Canadian government received 10 percent ownership for its financial assistance, and the United Auto Workers received 17.5 percent ownership in return for major concessions and a two-tier salary scale starting at $14 an hour.

The Obama administration exercises its trust duties on behalf of the taxpayers by repeatedly saying it would not use any powers of majority ownership at all. The Obama administration is urging GM is issue stock sooner than later so that the government can sell its stock and get out of the company completely.

GM’s CEO Edward E. Whitacre Jr., former CEO of AT&T, agrees. In recent weeks, he has been telling the press that GM is losing sales because of its moniker “Government Motors.” Not known for his graciousness, he did not add that without the government a bankrupt General Motors would not have any sales at all.

There are serious consequences for Obama’s absentee management style. First, he did not prohibit GM from lobbying, as was required for the bailouts of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As a major member of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, GM has been part of a lobbying force that seeks to weaken auto safety legislation now moving through the House and the Senate. Historically, GM has been the most strident in its opposition to mandatory pollution control, fuel efficiency and safety standards. The company’s strategy for decades has been to defeat, delay or weaken efforts to clean your air, safeguard your motor vehicle and get you more miles per gallon of gasoline.[..]
http://www.counterpunch.org/nader08162010.html

DeLay 'knew this day would come'
By: Josh Gerstein and Mike Allen
August 16, 2010 08:55 AM EDT

After almost six years of investigation, the Justice Department has decided not to bring corruption charges against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay over his involvement with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other ethics issues, DeLay and his attorneys said Monday.

“I always knew this day would come. My only hope was that it would come much sooner than the six years we’ve been doing this,” DeLay said Monday during a conference call with reporters. “While I will never understand why it took so long for the Justice Department to conclude that I was innocent, I am nevertheless pleased that they have made their determination.”

The investigation lasted through two presidents and four attorneys general. Federal prosecutors’ decision not to pursue the Texas Republican in court provides a stark footnote to the lobbying scandals that helped Democrats in 2006 regain the House majority they lost in the “Republican revolution” of 1994. That GOP sweep, during former President Bill Clinton’s first term, eventually made the pugnacious DeLay — nicknamed “The Hammer” — one of Washington’s top power brokers.

DeLay vigorously defended his conduct and insisted that the flurry of inquiries that drove him from office were entirely the product of his political enemies.

“The new politics is, it’s no longer good enough to beat you on policy, they have to completely drown you and put you in prison and destroy your family and your reputation [and] your finances and, then, dance on your grave,” DeLay said. “I hope that people will look at my case and decide that the criminalization of politics and the politics of personal is not beneficial to the country and our system, and hopefully it will stop.”
Continue reading:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41104.html?om_rid=NFw2$z&om_mid=_BMaZV9B8SXq5bU&

...but this bastard dances. WT*! This just makes me sick.

Stanley McChrystal to Yale
By: Gordon Lubold
August 16, 2010 08:22 AM EDT

Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was forced to retire in July after an embarrassing Rolling Stone article quoted him and his staff making disparaging remarks about top White House officials, is taking a job at Yale, POLITICO has learned.

McChrystal will teach grad students a course in leadership at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs in New Haven, which is opening this fall. He’ll be in good company: McChrystal will join John Negroponte, the former U.S. ambassador and former deputy secretary of state, as well as former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at the institute.

McChrystal had been considering a number of opportunities from a wide range of places, from large corporations to nongovernmental organizations and even some wounded warrior groups seeking his leadership, sources said. And he will undoubtedly have a future on the speaker’s circuit.

But he's taking a different tack, at least for now, in agreeing to be a lecturer at an Ivy League school such as Yale, which seems as far away from the world McChrystal has known as a terrorist-killing Special Forces operator. (See: Petraeus downplays July 2011)

Many retired four-stars become consultants to the defense industry, mentors to the military or members of a variety of defense-related corporate boards. And McChrystal’s high profile most likely prompted curiosity if not fear within the White House that he would align himself with a Republican running in the midterms who would denigrate the White House’s execution of the war or its judgment in national security. (See: Petraeus: Iraq needs new gov't soon)

But that doesn’t appear to be McChrystal’s plan. The Institute for Global Affairs was just created last year after a $50 million gift from John and Susan Jackson. According to the Yale website, the institute will offer courses for students at Yale who are interested in global affairs and provide career counseling and placement services for students interested in careers in diplomatic service or with international agencies. McChrystal appears to be one of four senior fellows appointed to teach there; four more tenured faculty members are assigned there as well. (See: Morning Defense: McChrystal's new gig)

Yale University’s public affairs department was not available early Monday morning to comment on the hire.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0810/41101.html

...obviously where they can teach more of the devil's spawn.

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Energy investment specialist, oil insider Matt Simmons reportedly found dead in spa in his home.

Hard to fathom someone this high up the foodchain can die and there is so little coverage of it.

Posted some videos/audios of Simmons giving his critical views of the BP Oil Spewage over the past few months, so that is why I was surprised to hear of his sudeen death.

Simmons' questioned the veracity of 'official' reports on the location of the BP "leak", and the use of the 24/7 videostream and whether it was really showing the the leak at BP's Deepwater Horizon.

=======================

[excerpt]

Prominent oil investor Matt Simmons died of a heart attack last night at his home in North Haven, Maine, according to police reports.

The famed energy banker was a prominent proponent of peak oil theory, and most recently got attention for his dire calls about the fate of the Gulf of Mexico.

The debate about the effect of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill -- he thought it would be cataclysmic -- lead him to split with his old firm, Simmons & Co., of which he was the chairman emeritus.

His legacy will no doubt be his work on peak oil and resource scarcity.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/matt-simmons-dies-2010-8#ixzz0wpBVw7CU

======================

A business page obit.:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7146548.html

=====================

Blogger discussion:

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=183095.0

[excerpt]

Simmons has made contributions to the films *PEAK OIL - Imposed by NatureThe Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil (2006), The End of Suburbia, Crude Impact, and Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, and appeared on *World Energy Television World Energy Video Interview, August 2008
[edit] Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Conjectures

Simmons has made several controversial comments and predictions regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and BP's solvency, including:

* During a June 9th, 2010, interview with Fortune[5], Simmons claimed that BP would "have about a month before they claim Chapter 11". The comment initially contributed to a precipitous drop in BP's market capitalization. However, subsequent events, including BP's establishment of a $20 billion claim fund, have shown Simmons' claim to be highly unlikely, and BP's stock price has begun to recover.

* During a July 7th, 2010, interview on CNBC[6] (which was around the date Simmons originally predicted BP would be filing for bankruptcy), Simmons claimed that scientists were reporting the flow rate from the oil spill was "spewing 120,000 barrels a day into the Gulf" and that there have been estimates that we have "lost oxygen for 40% of the Gulf of Mexico". He further claimed that the relief wells will not stop the oil spill.

* A week later, during a July 15th, 2010 interview with KPFK - Pacifica Los Angeles [7], Simmons asserted that the relief wells and the capping process on the Macondo wellhead are publicity stunts and that the real vent is up to ten miles away. He said that an enormous pool of crude is accumulating below the sea floor, releasing poisonous gases and waiting to be whipped up by a hurricane.

* Also, previously, on May 26, 2010, Matthew Simmons was a guest on 'The Dylan Ratigan Show' on MSNBC, where he explained his reasons for believing that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill involved not only the leak being monitored by BP's video-camera-equipped ROVs [remotely operated vehicles], but another, much bigger leak, several miles away:

SIMMONS: ...when you look at the riser [on the live BP video], you realize that you're looking at a twenty-one-and-a-half inch circumference riser, and there looks like somewhere between a six and seven inch rip on the top. So the stuff coming out -- it looks like a lot, but I actually saw a white fish go through it and come out white. So I said, this isn't the same as this brown, gooey, orange stuff that they found in the plume seven miles away. And I still believe that what happened is that the riser blew off the wellhead, and it's hooked onto the rig; so you've got a mile of oil inside that that's pretty light concentrate. So that's what they're actually trying to get out. So it's not sure that -- luckily they placed the top kill correctly. But now they have to see if it will take mud. It probably will take mud. But then they shouldn't delude themselves that they've stopped the spill; they should now go and say, 'Let's figure out what the plume was all about,' because if THAT'S the hole, and the casing blew out, we have an enormous problem.

RATIGAN: ...so you're saying that the video we're all now looking at right now is not the only leak, is that what you're saying?

SIMMONS: That's a tiny leak, and what the scientists are saying watching this stain spread -- it's now bigger, I gather, than Maryland and Delaware, and several hundred feet thick, and it's gooey stuff -- that's NOT coming out of there; they think that it's flowing at 120,000 barrels a day. It would almost have to be that big to flow that wide.

RATIGAN: And where do you believe the second outlet is relative to what we're seeing on the video, Matt?

SIMMONS: What the research vessel found a week ago Sunday [referring to news reports of May 16, 2010] was this giant plume about six miles away, and then this huge layer of goo on the ocean floor... that's almost certain- I mean, maybe it's a natural fracture -- I think that's where the wellhead is.

[end excerpt]

=====================

Karel interviewed Matt Simmons on the BP Spewage. Links--

http://www.samsedershow.com/node/5902#comment-412566

Tea Partier, Action Figure, Green Partier
Will Jim DeMint, Alvin Greene or Tom Clements win the SC Senate Seat?
By Tom Turnipseed

Monday, August 16, 2010

South Carolina’s US Senate race is a media extravaganza. Jim DeMint, the radical right Republican incumbent and tea partier and Alvin Greene, a mysterious Democrat and action figure enthusiast are joined by Tom Clements, a peace and environmental activist. Newcomer Clements is the Green Party nominee and a life-long activist involved with vital public interest issues affecting South Carolina, the United States and the world. Clements excels in political research and advocacy.

DeMint, a former paper salesman and ad executive, is the hero of the far right. Media is drawn to the enigmatic Greene, giving him more coverage than any candidate in America according to the Pew Research Center. DeMint is the most ultra-conservative Senator in Congress. Greene would stimulate the economy by selling action figures of himself. But Clements’ record of public service and activism gives him the credibility to be a Senator for all the people.

I don’t know Jim DeMint or Alvin Greene personally. I do know Tom Clements. The candidates should have debates on critical issues such as war and peace, jobs with a living wage, economic and social justice, climate change, clean green energy, conservation of natural resources, health care, education, immigration reform, regulation of the finance industry and the national debt. The media has let us know plenty about DeMint and Greene. South Carolinians need to see and hear Tom Clements on these issues and understand why he will be a great senator.

The State in Columbia, SC reported that Clements has worked for Greenpeace International for 13 years. He has challenged leaders on nuclear issues in Russia, Japan, South Korea, and Europe. In South Carolina Clements led the environmental organization’s nuclear weapons watchdog efforts on operations at the Savannah River Site (SRS).

South Carolina has the most nuclear industry activity per capita of any state. This includes making nuclear weapons and electric power generation. Clements has led efforts to clean up deadly radioactive waste at the “bomb plant” aka SRS. He led the organizing of our demonstrations there which drew positive media coverage. Tom opposes bringing more nuclear waste to South Carolina and advocates a clean energy park at SRS that would help develop offshore wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable technologies and would create new jobs in our economy.
http://www.zcommunications.org/tea-partier-action-figure-green-partier-b...

Good to hear.

----
In the Poconos on Rt 209 E Stroudsburg PA. At Value Inn. 60 bucks for a clean room with refri, micro, tv (if one cares) and patchy wifi (have to turn compu towards office and keep "repairing.").

Highly recommend if you are ever here.

Tonight I should be home.

----
Alice I sure hope you feel better soon. Remember, we are your friends, so we don't really count as humans.

Guess where your fluoride comes from? China!
by David Gutierrez, staff writer

(NaturalNews) Much of the fluoride added to municipal water supplies across the United States is imported from China, and is contaminated with heavy metals, according to a warning by Bernard Miltenberger, president of the Pure Water Committee of Western Maryland.

In a letter published in the Cumberland Times-News, Miltenberger notes that he first became aware of the issue in an engineering report for the city of Boulder, Colo. The report noted that the fluoridation chemicals used for the city's water had been evaluated, and were found to contain lead levels of 40 milligrams per bag and arsenic levels of 50 milligrams per bag. The bags were being imported from China under no regulatory monitoring of acid or salt content.

Miltenberger then visited the Frostburg Water Filtration Plant in Maryland and noticed that the fluoride bags were not labeled with any importation information. He contacted the plant's chemical supplier, Univar USA, and was then referred to Sovay fluorides. Sovay informed him that the fluoride had been manufactured by Shanghai Minthchem Development in China.

"This type of trade from a country with a track record of lead paint on toys to antifreeze in cough syrup medicine is completely unacceptable," Miltenberger writes.

Heavy metal contamination is only the latest concern to emerge over the practice of water fluoridation, which has been controversial since its inception. Fluoride is a well-known toxic chemical, as Miltenberger notes:

"The material safety data sheets from Solvay fluorides show that a teaspoon amount of five grams of sodium fluoride can be fatal to an average size man of 70kg. ... chronic toxicity by oral route may cause skeletal and dental fluorosis, thyroid, testes, kidney, liver, ambiguous carcinogenic and mutagenic effects, fetotoxic and fertility effects."

Miltenberger also notes that fluoride toothpaste contains a warning that anyone who consumes more than a pea-size amount should contact a poison control center at once. This amount of toothpaste contains as much fluoride as just eight ounces of fluoridated water. A prescription-strength fluoride supplement marketed by Colgate warns that children under the age of six should not consume doses regularly added to municipal water.

Sources for this story include:
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert....

http://www.naturalnews.com/z029477_fluoride_China.html

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has instructed two US-based executive to cease their association with a nonprofit organisation selling resveratrol supplements.

Cristoph Westphal and Michelle Dipp, formerly of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and now GSK executives, were both involved in establishing the Healthy Lifespan Institute, a non-profit organisation that was selling resveratrol dietary supplements at $540 for a one-year supply.

A spokesperson for GSK told NutraIngredients: “GSK is aware that the non-profit Healthy Lifespan Institute was started by GSK/Sirtris employees Michelle Dipp and Christoph Westphal last year. The employees told the company about their involvement, and their support of the non-profit is unrelated to their roles at GSK.

“However until today, GSK was not aware that the Health Lifespan Institute was selling a resveratrol formulation on the internet. The Company has instructed the GSK employees to cease their association with this activity and Michelle Dipp and Christoph Westphal will be resigning their positions on the Board of Healthy Lifespan.”

The pair’s involvement in the Institute was voluntary, and the company confirmed that both remain executives of GSK.

Neither Westphal nor Dipp were available for comment prior to publication, but the Xconomy website quotes Dipp as saying: “Our main business is bringing new drugs to patients through our work at Longwood and (Glaxo). But there was so much demand for (resveratrol).”

The GSK spokesperson added that the Healthy Institute resveratrol is different than GSK’s resveratrol-based drugs. “The two products – resveratrol and SRT501 – are different formulations. The resveratrol is a 250 mg powder capsule. SRT 501 is a 5g liquid suspension. SRT501 is a formulation of resveratrol with higher bioavailability than the chemical alone,” she said.

more good info

http://www.nutraingredients-usa.com/Industry/GSK-cracks-down-on-resverat...

If drug companies are making their own version they see that it is a powerful nutrient and a good business. Like the fish oil that is produced in a "special way" for three times the cost this is a prime example of drug companies being out of control and greedy to the nth degree.

I hate this crap.

to use the mosque issue to get elected in Nevada.

is also wrong to try and get the mosque built somewhere else.

leaking at the ports, listing to the left, and the one oar in the water will result in a turn to the right.

a beauty of a toon.

how you all doin?

feeling better

up here.

yay!

test

This is from a recent Media Matters podcast:

http://daetwg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pS_ybdCT2n5KHaPDEP0a-q9d6tceWf8TIs...