New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise Gizmag (Chuck L). I am skeptical because: 1. This messes with your liver function. 2. It elevates the patient’s metabolism, which is the opposite of the apparent mechanism in underfeeding experiments (where animals who ate 60% of normal caloric intake had longer lifespans as a result of apparent slower aging, as in they were old, lean, and frisky). So it might well improve the quality of obese people’s lives but I’m not sure it will increase longevity (they are also suggesting short-term uses which sound a lot less troubling).
Facebook Removes March Against Monsanto Event NationofChange (furzy mouse)
World Bank sees $1 trillion bill for rising seas MacroBusiness
‘Crude Solution’ – The Truth About The Gulf Oil Spill 60 Minutes Australia (Deontos)
Japan raising Fukushima leak alert BBC (Lambert)
Greenpeace’s Arctic Sunrise Vessel Blocked From Northern Sea Route By Russian Authorities Huffington Post (furzy mouse)
EUROZONE RECOVERY GATHERS SPEED: Flash PMI Report Is Best In Over Two Years Clusterstock. Wonders never cease. When exactly is the German polling date? Before the next PMI report?
Cyprus Bank’s Bailout Hands Ownership to Russian Plutocrats New York Times (furzy mouse)
Israel, Anti-Semitism, and Negotiations Without End Real News Network
Syria: Another False Flag “Chemical Weapon” Attack Moon of Alabama
Big Brother is Watching You Watch:
US military tested using Twitter to profile civilians in anti-terror scheme Financial Times
‘Sending a message’: what the US and UK are attempting to do Glenn Greenwald
NSA collected thousands of US communications Associated Press (Lambert). More pointed: Court Slams NSA for “Third Instance in Less Than Three Years” of Substantial Misrepresentation Kevin Drum
Olympic Fact-Checking of the NSA Marcy Wheeler
LEAKED: German Government Warns Key Entities Not To Use Windows 8 – Links The NSA Wolf Richter
Obama administration asks Supreme Court to allow warrantless cellphone searches Washington Post. I’m liking my “so old it’s an antique” cellphone more with each passing day.
Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick Introduces Bill To Smack The NSA In The Wallet For Each Data Collection Violation TechDirt (Deontos)
Bradley Manning’s Excessive Sentence New York Times editorial
Buzzfeed reporter Michael Hastings’ autopsy reveals traces of drugs Guardian. Well, of course, that means everything is settled.
Newly Released Tapes Show Nixon Maneuvering as Watergate Unfolds New York Times
DeMint: Republicans who oppose Defund Obamacare ‘need to be replaced’ Washington Post (furzy mouse)
EXCLUSIVE: Feds are building a detective squad to target consumers and companies that don’t follow Obamacare’s rules Daily Mail (Chuck L)
Detroit Institute of Art Collection–Available to Creditors? Adam Levitin, Credit Slips
Unionized SF strip club closing its curtains Associated Press (Lambert) :-(
Goldman Sachs Makes Bad Trades, Wants Money Back DSWright, Firedoglake
KQED Forum: Richmond, California looks to eminent domain (me: but is there a who there?) Corrente
Wanted: A Boring Leader for the Fed Amar Bhide, New York Times
Fed contemplates creating “overnight reverse repo facility” Walter Kurtz
Measuring the Complexity of the Law: The United States Code Patrick Durusau
Antidote du jour (furzy mouse):
129 comments
Comments are closed.
it may be that the reason caloric restriction slows aging and extends lifespan is not so much the limitation on the total number of calories taken in, but that sugar is essentially eliminated from the diet.
(also, wheat is essentially sugar, at least as far as insulin levels are concerned)
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/08/13/safe-sugar-levels-in-humans-are-toxic-to-mice/
For their experiment, scientists in the United States split 156 mice into two groups — one fed a normal, healthy diet while the other had naturally-occurring carbohydrates comprising a quarter of their diet replaced by added sugar.
By the end of the experiment, 35 percent of the female mice fed the high-sugar diet died — double the 17-percent death rate for the other group.
Males on the sugary diet sired 25 percent fewer offspring than those on a healthier diet, and controlled 26 percent less territory.
“We have shown that levels of sugar that people typically consume — and that are considered safe by regulatory agencies — impair the health of mice,” said biologist James Ruff of the University of Utah, who co-authored the study.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
the bbc has a second article on fukushima today:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23779561#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
Fukushima leak is ‘much worse than we were led to believe’
This was an acknowledgement that the power station was in its greatest crisis since the reactors melted down after the tsunami in 2011.
But some nuclear experts are concerned that the problem is a good deal worse than either Tepco or the Japanese government are willing to admit.
The storage problems are compounded by the ingress of ground water, running down from the surrounding hills. It mixes with radioactive water leaking out of the basements of the reactors and then some of it leaches into the sea, despite the best efforts of Tepco to stem the flow.
(similar, i’m sure, to wells/jpmorgan’s ‘best efforts’ to resolve the mortgage crisis)
The question should be;
Why is it that everyone desperately wants to live an extra few years?
even with evil people in charge, the world is a beautiful place full of interesting things to see, do and learn about.
some of us never lose the enthusiasm for these experiences.
Not necessarily ‘extra.’
Just what is due him or her.
Him, her or it.
Please, you first, show me the way and perhaps I’ll follow.
Everyone wants to go to heaven, nobody wants to die.
More Modern Medicine Marvels, NOW!
addressing nutrition, aside from longevity, also improves the quality of life.
fewer cancers/strokes, more 60 year olds who have as much energy/drive as they did when they were 30, that’s a worthy goal, yes?
one way to get there: if monsanto makes it, don’t eat it.
I’ll stick with this:
The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the years of the wicked will be shortened. Proverbs 10:27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Not that I haven’t been wicked but in principle I have hope of not being so.
Re: Fukushima
As an antidote to the fear, I offer this piece from The Register, which seems to think that journalistic hysteria preying on ignorance – rather than scientific justification – is behind the most recent headlines:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/08/21/omg_new_crisis_disaster_at_fukushima_oh_wait_its_nothing_again/
..and I agree with the Reg on this: Fear based on ignorance sells newspapers, I guess. But it serves the public ill, not well.
And as to chemical weapons and their alleged use in the Syrian civil war, and what the USA ought to do about it, this article from UPI indicates to me that at least some of the Officers of the US Armed Forces are more to be trusted in their thinking as to war & peace, and that they display a better grasp of what is – and isn’t – in the interests of the USA, than those civilian politicians presently entrusted and charged with the oversight of those Generals:
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/08/22/Dempsey-No-armed-role-in-Syria-rebels-dont-back-US/UPI-69601377153000/
Although my reading of the political history of US involvement in wars abroad shows that that fact ought not to really be a complete surprise, as there has been indications – more like hints, to be honest – of some wisdom in a few elements of the US military leadership since at least WW 2.
But iI would nevertheless be much much better if we could see more such wisdom demonstrated by those very politicians, who seem so very eager to “send in the troops and the bombers” – and who then seek to turn this promotion of violent & expensive agression to their own advantage, by being loud & proud of their role in fomenting war and conflict abroad, as they perform for the TV cameras on the campaign trail.
hmmm…interesting. Trying to suss out why climate denialist Lewis Page at the Tech-Tabloid The Register would wish to downplay an ongoing nuclear catastrophe. Are not fossil fuelies and nuclear enthusiasts adversarial?
“Catastrophe”?
With no directly attributable deaths – or even injuries – occurring from release of radiation at Fukushima (that is, resulting from the nuclear accident itself, and not from the simultaneous tsunami & earthquake) I think your ‘bar’ for the use of that word is set a little too low.
Oh, one other thing: I think that you would get closer to the truth by examining evidence – and I do NOT mean the “evidence”, however THAT is obtained, concerning a writer’s “motivation”.
In other words, forget the ACTUAL evidence arising from a situation: let’s instead judge of situations based ONLY upon our unevidenced & unexamined SUSPICIONS as to the “motivations” of other people discussing that situation, shall we?
No.
No.
A thousand times no!
It’s not foolproof, but it’s often a pretty reliable shortcut. If a climate change denier is being financed by the Kochs, um what’s more reasonable really, looking at all their evidence or looking at their financing?
Follow the money…pretty much works every time.
yes follow the money actually distributed to scientists from government research funding – it dwarfs whatever the Kochs can come up with – billions goes to human climate change research and virtually none goes to scientists who don’t espoouse human caused climate change.
aet
Is there any point to reading past: “…(this is the nuclear industry, there is always a backup)…?
The article you posted is propaganda hogwash.
BTW, On the strength of the technical claims in the article do you FEEL it is safe to ingest (inhale) alpha emitters? Interested in demonstrating that personally?
http://laboratorysafetyandmanagement.blogspot.com/2011/12/hazards-of-alpha-and-beta-particles-and.html
“..When inside the body, beta particles enter directly into the tissue, causing alteration of cell function, thereby affecting DNA in the cells. With a deeper penetration power, beta particles are able to cause more diverse cellular damage, and can be more hazardous than alpha particles.
Beta particles radiation can result in both acute and chronic health effects. Acute effects are presented when an individual is exposed to a concentrated source of beta particles. Chronic effects are more often observed with a long-term exposure to fairly low levels of beta particles. Exposure to beta particles often cause cancer, dependent on the location where the beta particles accumulate in the body. For example, accumulation of beta particles in the bone or teeth can lead to bone cancer…”
From the memory hole: Japan declared the Fukushima Daiichi crisis a Level 7 event on the international system for rating nuclear accidents Tuesday,
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/12/japan.nuclear.reactors/index.html
Tokyo (CNN) — Japan’s prime minister vowed to wind down the month-long crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant “at all costs” Tuesday after his government officially designated the situation there a Chernobyl-level nuclear accident.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he wants the plant’s owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, to produce a timetable for bringing the disaster to an end, “and they will be doing that soon.” And a day after his government warned that thousands more people would need to be evacuated from the surrounding region, he pledged to provide jobs, housing and education for those uprooted by the accident.
Japanese leader invokes WWII to urge quake recovery
“The government will not forsake the people who are suffering because of the nuclear accident,” Kan told reporters in a Tuesday evening news conference.
Japan declared the Fukushima Daiichi crisis a Level 7 event on the international system for rating nuclear accidents Tuesday, putting it on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union. The top-scale designation was based on the massive release of radioactivity since the accident began, particularly in its early days, and classifies Fukushima Daiichi a “major accident” requiring long-term countermeasures.
“At all costs, all the reactors and the spent nuclear fuel pools must be brought under control so that we can prevent a further expansion of the damage,” Kan said.
Tetsunari Iida, a former nuclear engineer-turned-industry critic, told CNN the declaration has no immediate practical impact on the crisis. But it’s a sign that Japanese regulators have rethought their earlier assessments of the disaster, said Iida, who now runs an alternative energy think-tank in Tokyo.
Analysis: Fukushima and the ‘nuclear renaissance’ that wasn’t
Tokyo Electric’s president, Masataka Shimizu, issued a new apology for the disaster and the “enormous anxiety” it has caused after the Level 7 designation Tuesday.
The “propaganda hogwash” you refer to is the entirely contained in the articles you cite, all of which date from prior to the examination taking place now, after the public has been whipped into a frenzied panic – which panic itself was not without health consequnces for the Japanese public.
No; what the author referred to was the Laws & Regulations already in place which govern nuclear power: which do indeed require, by law, that all systems be backed up – and which usually tertiary back-ups, too. And with legal penalties in place, too, for failure to follow such law & regulation.
Fukushima happened because of the size of the tsunami, not due to a general lack of prudential regulation in and of the Nuclear Power industry. A one-off….like 9-11. And thus a poor model upon which base general public policy.
And beta radiation does require physical ingestion & contact, like household cleaners do, before they can hurt you.
That’s not propaganda, that’s fact.
Umm, I think the concern over nuclear accidents is that they are potentially catastrophic. Fukushima is a perfect example of “best layed plans” (regulations, preventive measures) being inadequate to real world events.
No person has died (yet) of radiation exposure, but life certainly may be shortened for some (estimates range from 200-1400, some higher). Japan surely isn’t enamored with monitoring the the reactor site and suroundings for several more generations.
It’s pretty clear: nuclear energy is expensive—to build,—to dismatle,— and to decontaminate.
Energy conservation is cheaper.
Beware of the Atomic Energy Trap (AET).
aet: American Enterprise Troll?
One can only conserve so much and I suspect much of the low hanging fruit has long been picked.
Not All has been picked.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/bric-yard/brazil-putting-the-penis-passion-fruit
(sssshhhhh this is where im expatin to…for long term investment reasons’))
beard—we have not begun to conserve. we have tried to use more and more energy every year.
until everyone is using a clothesline outside and not turning on their dryer, until everyone is avoiding the AC unless their health is at risk from heat prostration, until everyone can WALK to the grocery store and back, we haven’t even begun on an individual level to conserve.
let’s not even get into the fact that aluminum for soda cans is shipped around the world 3 times from mining to processing to filling. trivial use of vital resources. we have not begun to conserve. let’s not get into the fact that massive wearhouse retailers use constant air-driven heat while the electric doors constantly open and close to let in customers to spaces with 40 foot ceilings. we have not begun to conserve.
surely, there are many other examples.
Ha, ha!
Non-totalitarian me never even considered those things because I’d rather chop at the root than flail at the branches of evil.
But hey, let’s leave a pristine world for the bankers and their children to inherit instead?
Amazing post..
But thank you for clarifying that critical elements in complex systems, like a nuclear power-plant, require redundancy by Laws & Regulations! That’s a helpful clarification and indeed a comforting insight on the Inherent Safety of the Fukushima Nuclear Plant.
You must have a background in The Assurance Sciences?
1.) “Fukushima happened because of the size of the tsunami”.
No, Fukushima “happened” due to the size of the earthquake (it being located a geologically active geography that fatally damaged the reactor and it’s various systems, including the cooling system.
The Tsunami that followed was the coup de grâce, when it breeched the undersized seawall and flooded critical systems that were located below sea-level. To add insult to a catastrophe, the Operator elected to pump in seawater in lieu of have an emergency supply of freshwater.
Now help me out on your thought process, do alleged “redundant systems” that are rendered inoperative along with the “primary systems”, fufill the minimum definition “redundant system? Does that actually make sense to you?
Does a fire truck (that quickly failed) as an adhoc “tertiary system” strike you as a robust “redundancy system”?
2.) What element of frenzied panic do you FEEL was most egregious?
3.) “And with legal penalties in place, too, for failure to follow such law & regulation.”
Ah!.. legal penalties! How are those coming along?
Help me with this, how do “legal penalties” how will “legal penalties” remediate this disaster??
4.)“..And beta radiation does require physical ingestion & contact, like household cleaners do, before they can hurt you.”
Actually you are backpedaling on the hogwash article w/your broader term “physical ingestion”, but maybe you’re catching on.? I guess pathways for “ingestion” go beyond “drinking it, like household cleaners”? LIKE MAYBE INHALING AN AEROSOL or VAPOR??
5.)“Tepco is pumping all the water back into another tank pending purification…”
I believe this is a reference to a prototype system referred to as “ALPS”, which is also leaking.
So “pending purification”… Can you explain how to remove Tritium from contaminated water? Thanks, and email Tepco on that.
6.)“So this is a pretty minor industrial-waste spill; thousands of more serious accidents occur every single day.”
WTF!?! Absurd hyperbole.
7.) “..all systems be backed up – and which usually tertiary back-ups, too.”
The Ocean is the Tertiary backup system, right?
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201308220060
TEPCO: Contaminated water from leaking tank likely reached ocean
There is so much wrong with this article and your post that I still haven’t figured out if you are just ignorant or have an agenda?
I think this discussion on Radio 4 last night about the use of the elites, shows how far the elite media can be from getting it. There is an understanding of how much is wrong but they only occasionally hit a seam and then they never really mine it for the logical follow on.
Then again they are themselves part of the village.
What’s the Point of an Elite?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038hgr0
“‘They caused this’ was the common cry against the bankers and the politicians who presided over the crisis of 2008. So have we let our political, financial and cultural elites off the hook? And can we trust those who apparently let us down again. Evan Davis asks who the elite are, how they operate and what, if anything, should be done to check the behaviour of those who continue to enjoy the greatest share of wealth and power in society.”
I have to hand it to what passes for establishment media in Britain. At least unlike ours, they are proactively questioning the roles of the people with the real power.
Our elites that own the media infrastructure would not allow such a debate that questions their legitimacy.
re: “Micahel Hastings…”
I don’t claim to know what happened to Michael Hastings, still an lots of questions.
This Berkeley Daily Planet article has a good rundown on hacking modern cars computing systems.
http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2013-08-09/article/41312
Here is the Forbes Youtube of the professional car hackers showing what can happen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqe6S6m73Zw#t=198
Daily Mail link missing the leading “h” ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2399612/Feds-building-detective-squad-target-consumers-companies-dont-follow-Obamacares-rules.html
Fixed, thanks.
@ “Israel, Anti-Semitism, and Negotiations Without End”
The most logical conclusion would be that the vast majority and most vehement anti-Jewish bigots in the world at this particular moment, given all the warring going on between the two groups in the Middle East, would be Muslims. But no, Blumenthal tells us – now get this! – the problem is those Islamophobes. Imagine that. It’s those right-wingers, the “anti-liberals” who hail from the God, Guns and Gays crowd, and who hate everybody and everything that isn’t white, straight, Protestant and conservative, including Jews and Muslims.
But there’s quite a bit missing from this highly simplified picture.
One glaring hole is the Christian Zionists, a significant proportion of the God, Guns and Gays crowd which makes nice with the Jewish Zionists. As Andrew Bacevich explains:
And there’s at least one other important piece missing from Blumenthal’s blinkered view of the world. Ideologically speaking, in addition to that part of the God, Guns and Gays crowd which hates both Muslims and Jews, there’s another group that has reason to harbor negative sentiments towards both Muslims and Jews. They hail from a fringe, extremist group of atheists — the New Atheists (e.g., Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet and Sam Harris and the now deceased Christopher Hitchens) – and have pronounced a sweeping condemnation of all religions, whether they be Jewish, Muslim, Christian, or whatever.
A voice from the sewer (me)! I hope your rant against Max Blumenthal encourages readers to consult today’s interview on the RealNews and read the transcription as well. (There are also three earlier interviews.) To paraphrase something you’ve written before — ” from Mexico, methinks you’re strawmanning!”
@ “ ‘Crude Solution’ – The Truth About The Gulf Oil Spill”
The lead-up to the BP Gulf spill provides yet one more example of how the US police state has completely taken leave of its senses.
Fish and Wildlife agents all but gave carte blanche to deepwater drillers in the Gulf of Mexico. Here’s how a New York Times reporter put it:
Now compare the treatment Fish and Wildlife agents gave the deepwater drillers in the Gulf of Mexico to the treatment it gave a small manufacturer in Tennessee:
Excellent comparison. As we used to say in the law, res ipsa loquitur. Each branch of government has examples of this double standard, and, if you look at the cases of the inspectors general, you’ll see the same pattern repeated: overzealous persecution of smalltime offenders, more government subsidies for monstrous violators. Even though many of us understand that we live in a global kleptocracy, every example helps drive the point home.
In the video in the Reason article Andrea Johnson of the Environmental Investigative Agency comes of as a caricature of the malevolent government bureaucrat. She has thinly disguised smirk the whole time she is talking about Gibson Guitars and the “rule of law”.
Of course the DHS was involved in the raid.
RE: Michael Hastings’ death:
I’ve said before I’m sure he was killed by military/NSA/CIA higher ups due to his writing being seen as the “cause” of Generla McCrystal’s disgrace.
With the level of sophisticated gadgetry as their disposal, and the fact that Hastings was away from home a lot, they could have laced everything in his kitchen with various drugs, even re-addicted him that way without his knowing it. All he would know is that his cravings came back and were overwhelming.
Rigging the car crash would also have been a cinch.
I consider the blogger posting as Moon Over Alabama so overtly anti-Islamist that the commentary provided is worthless, or worse, form an analytical or evidentiary standpoint. I won’t say that I have a convinced view on the source or nature of chemical weapons usage in Syria in particular, or on the fine details of anti-military agitation or insurrections in several countries there in general. But I know I _won’t_ find anything useful at Moon Over Alabama.
I don’t think I could disagree with you more about b, specifically. I read the post yesterday… again after your comment. The substance of the post has nothing to do with Islam. I can find zero connection between that post and your comment.
Now the comment section is another thing entirely… always all over the map.
What, shoot the messenger and avoid the debate?
Here is another website that lays out the motivation behind a false flag attack very convincingly; linked from Ron Paul’s website, hopefully libertarian doesn’t mean “has nothing to offer” to you:
http://shadesofthomaspaine.blogexec.com/index.php/entry/false-flag-nerve-gas-attack-in-syria
I don’t see Islamophobia at Moon of Alabama.
Chemical weapons as a false flag attack is all but self-evident. The timing, just as UN inspectors are arriving, would be laughably absurd for Assad, so beyond stupid it’s quite inconceivable, especially given that Assad is already handily whipping CIA/Mossad-backed al-Qaeda forces as it is. There is plainly no reason at all, tactical or political, to use desperate measures and especially not now.
The obvious suspect is the CIA of course, but this is too amateur even for the CIA, and certainly too bungled for Mossad Neocons. It’s far more likely staged by the tactically-outmatched al-Qaeda rebels themselves using pesticides or something less potent than military-grade as indicated by the type of symptoms revealed. Saddam used the chemical weapons we sold him on Iran and his own Kurdish population, but this doesn’t appear to be anything close to US-caliber WMDs.
Of course any journalist with an ounce of integrity or sense would point out something so obvious immediately, so don’t expect to see it on MSM Pravda, and certainly not on MSDNC.
It would be an astonishingly stupid thing for Assad to do right now. The timing really stinks.
The URL for the Daily Mail link is missing the initial “h”…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2399612/Feds-building-detective-squad-target-consumers-companies-dont-follow-Obamacare.html
Fixed, thanks.
Gosh, I figure reading “War and Peace” 10 times over would take less time and effort than going through Title 42 of the United States Code just once …
So, U.S.C. Title 42 “Public Health and Wealthfare” comes to 2400 pages. On page 41 of the pdf file, I find this, rather amusing:
§89. Quarantine warehouses; erection
I tried to sign up for the PRSM sharing program, but when I clicked the “sign up now” button I got this message:
Nice work from EFF. Keep up the mockery.
Click on the next button and it will take you to their site.
Yeah, I figured that out. I love that this kind of humor is being used against the PTB. Here’s another good NSA-mocking site:
http://summonthensa.com/
Clicking the button will automatically perform a google search for all of the DHS monitoring key words. Everybody give a click, let’s give the spooks a bunch of “garbage in”.
‘Sending a message’: what the US and UK are attempting to do Glenn Greenwald
“But for state-loyal journalists, protesting thuggish and aggressive behavior from the state is out of the question. It’s only when aggressive challenges come from those who are bringing transparency and accountability to the state do they get upset and take notice. As Digby wrote last night: “many elite journalists seem to be joining the government repression of the free press instead of being defiant and protecting their own prerogatives.” That’s because they believe in subservient journalism, not adversarial journalism.”
I was wondering why so many “journalists” seem to want to defend the government – and than I remembered, they’re not journalists, they’re stenographers, and exposing the lies of the government only exposes that most US “journalism” is on par with Pravda…
Excellent comment to the New York Times editorial.
m.a.
braun
..
I keep remembering the Vietnam war. The NYTimes of that era aided in spreading the Pentagon Papers, even as the DOD and WH demanded that they were “top secret” and their publication would hurt the US. Exactly the same excuses were used then, as now: “No other government would trust America with it’s secrets”, if we proved that our free press and free and “independent” judiciary were as powerful as our military and executive.
The excuse that this could never happen in Russia or China and that we were “at war” with the communists, That it was a military necessity to behave like them, too. If we didn’t, the NATO Europeans and British, Africans and South Americans would jump ship to the more powerful and muscular USSR which was always willing to kill to silence it’s own critics. This was hollow.
The Times came up smelling like roses. No leaker went to jail nor was even tried.
I recall the Calley fiasco: In ’68, Lt Calley took “C” company, Americal division, into My Lai, in Vietnam where, in violation of Geneva conventions and protocols since the19th century, murdered the children and women of the village. He ordered his soldiers to participate, but had to begin shooting himself.
Calley was feted by many soldiers and conservatives, including Gov. Jimmy Carter of Georgia, future President of the USA! Found guilty, sentenced to life in prison; President Nixon pardoned him in ’73. He served four years of house arrest.
Who invented this awful twist upon justice?
Sgt Bales got life without parole yesterday. But then again, he’s just a seargent.
And let me add, this is not to say I don’t agree with this verdict in case there is any confusion.
But what do you expect? A (former?) member of the New England Patriots was a character witness. Is this the best you can do? Bringing someone from a criminal organization?
What Was Really Behind President Obama’s Meeting With Wall Street Regulators
The White House issued a statement yesterday on the President’s meeting with the federal agencies that regulate Wall Street. Curiously, the phrase used to describe the agencies was “independent regulators.” The President’s Deputy Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, held a press briefing with reporters yesterday, taking questions on the meeting. In that briefing, Earnest referred to the regulators as “independent” seven times.
If the President now finds it necessary to attempt to brainwash the American public through endless repetition of the word “independent” to shore up sagging public doubt that there are any real cops on the beat when it comes to policing Wall Street, he has no one to blame but himself.
When President Obama appointed Mary Jo White to head the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jack Lew for U.S. Treasury Secretary, and has floated the idea for weeks that Larry Summers could become Chairman of the Federal Reserve, he critically undermined the already low disregard the public holds toward Wall Street’s regulators.
White came to the SEC in April from the Wall Street legal powerhouse, Debevoise & Plimpton. She wasn’t just any lawyer there; she chaired the Litigation Department where she led a team of more than 200 lawyers defending Wall Street’s too-big-to-fail banks. It was understood that in most of the ongoing cases against the largest Wall Street firms, White would have to recuse herself at the SEC. Can you really call that an “independent” regulator?
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2013/08/what-was-really-behind-president-obama%E2%80%99s-meeting-with-wall-street-regulators/
SEC Whistleblower, Gary Aguirre on the Fake Crackdown on Wall Street
After a little digging, it became apparent that the soon-to-be CEO of Morgan Stanley, John Mack, was involved. Mack also happened to be a major campaign contributor to George W. Bush. Mr. Aguirre’s supervisor warned him that Mack was untouchable due to his political connections. So Pequot’s attorneys met with the SEC Director of Enforcement. The result? The case would be — first “narrowed” — then Mack’s testimony was delayed. The statute of limitations for Mack eventually ran out, and Mr. Aguirre complained about Mack’s “political clout.” Big mistake. Because he was promptly fired. Bob speaks with Gary Aguirre about his experience at the SEC.
http://youtu.be/WjN1_SM50yw
Thanks for that. Somehow, the real truth that Obeyme has lost the American people, especially the young (anecdotally my young tenants who were ardent Obomba supporters, now say “Obama is useless”) has started to penetrate the ether that Dear Leader has surrounded himself with.
That this was his first move after his vacation (actually, just a change of venue to play golf with his rich buddies, as always) was trumpeted by NPR’s “Marketplace.” The spin being “poor dear, he really, really cares. Look at the first task, redolently unpleasant, that he planned for himself.”
I always find myself wanting to give notes to that program, like “go deeper,” “why?,” “what evidence can you cite?” It’s like an exercise in my first year journalism class, except the program’s sponsor list answers all the questions before they are asked.
Obeyme is screwed. And finally, like fine incense slowly penetrating the perfumed air in his bubble, he is starting to smell the coffee. Delightful to behold.
“The Lilliputians face off with Gulliver II … “
found this somewhere
http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/08/22/advocate-of-secret-infiltration-cass-sunstein-on-obamas-committee-to-make-us-trust-the-dragnet/
NSA collected thousands of US communications:
It should be clear now that collecting phone data is not the primary mission of the NSA mission rather its creating a world wide app to filter imput into the internet. The endless discussion regarding phone taps misses the bigger picture and shows why NSA security agents are so heavy handed in there approach to further leaks.
interesting bit in CNN today: Headline: (CNN) — The National Security Agency has built a network that can access as much as 75% of all U.S. Web traffic — a larger amount than has been publicly announced — according to a new report.
link:http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/21/tech/web/nsa-spying-75-percent/index.html
Sooner or later the real mission for NSA will come dribbling out!
“New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise”
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of eating live, healthy food!!!
I’m a bit skeptical
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of community!!
I’m a bit skeptical
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of giving!!
I’m a bit skeptical
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of positive experiences!!
I’m a bit skeptical
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of Loveing and being loved!!!
I’m a bit skeptical
New drug mimics the effect of gullibility!
You’d better get some, quick!
FTW!!!!
It’s the journey, and not the destination with any drug.
Maybe marijuana is faster, but chanting or drumming – you can’t replace the journey that might also include fasting, cleansing and abstaining.
The same with zazen – you can’t replace that journey with a pair of speakers playing some music.
The real journey beforehand, not the one you go on after taking a hit.
New drug mimics the effect of old drug!!
I’m a Patent Assertion Entity.
Is it legal to practice “juju spells” in the US? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juju
I don’t know, but it’s a fun fantasy …
I am somewhat concerned that Lambert and Yves or someone else are having to sit there monitoring the comment threads for spam.
Since the spam box is outfoxed, what about using those scrambled letters that you have to verify before an article or email is forwarded. I suppose you have to license the software, but I know you two have infinitely more important things to do, and selfishly, I want you to freed up to do them.
Other solutions are being worked on, thanks.
It’s called Captcha. Stupid dyslexia makes it nigh impossible for me :(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAPTCHA
I often have to use the sound accessibility option. The worst is when you have to fill out a long form 2-3 times before it’ll be accepted.
I often start from the end. My vision is poor but if I’ve got something to say I’ll solve the thing!
1.) An alpha-numeric matrix key from which you type in the alphabetic element corresponding to a random number string of sevweral digits — along the line of what Treasury Direct uses.
2.) Three tick box choice to best describe the critter on the daily Antidote De jour.
Doggy, Kitty, Toad
A mountain lion wandered into Ft Collins, CO recently.
It was tranquilized and and then a day or two later released into the wilds far into the mountains.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sMDOFGDGjM
—“This year and a half old female was tranquilized at Timberline and Prospect in Fort Collins after following a drainage ditch into town. It is always gratifying when we are able to return wildlife to their proper habitat away from humans.”—
There is a habitat wildlife can return to?
What’s a Blue Moon?
My grade 7 teacher once told me that a Blue Moon is what happens when the naked truth is revealed.
“New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise”
The only clear benefit of mass use will be to increase the profits of Big Pharma and to increase the bonuses of the CEOs. Any and all other benefits, if any, are purely secondary.
New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise
If they actually come to market, these new ‘muscle meds’ will be more popular than hillbilly heroin. Every cube rat, programmer, sofa surfer, video gamer and bowling team in the country will want theirs, at any price.
Even professional athletes — starting with A-Rod. Aw, hell — he probably has an inside supplier at Scripps’ laboratory already. Better check your inventory, stat!
Just imagine! One little pill with your donuts and Pop-Tarts every morning, yet you build muscle mass through a regular day of washing down all the fast food you please with Mountain Dew and Red Bull, and you’re still guilt-free as you belly up to the bar after work — with no belly! It’s like paradise!
An entire demographic of Americans will abandon their electric scooters, see their toes for the first time in years, be able to wipe their own bottoms, and fit into a standard size bathtub without getting stuck.
Yes, there will inevitably be abusers — people who want to be stronger, larger — ripped from head to toe.
Fortunately, their 46″ biceps, tree trunk legs and necks so thick they cannot turn their heads will make such addicts easy to spot. Some tranquilizer darts and a team of 15 or 20 Marines should be sufficient to wrestle an abuser into a reinforced holding cell, where they’ll have nothing but HBO, a Barcalounger and Cheetos by the bucketful. That should return them to normal human proportions in a month or two.
But let’s not kid ourselves. The consequences of this medicine will be far more serious than that.
It will divide our species, for openers. Those of us who don’t partake, who prefer our Mediterranean diet, our jogging, bicycling, yoga and elliptical trainers will appear like little stick figures beside the newly enhanced muscle monsters dominating the planet. We’ll have to live in protected colonies, kept safe from contact with these metabolically enhanced creatures who were once our friends and families, these bipedal mastodons who can inadvertently maim us with a simple handshake.
In the name of Baron von Fronkensteen, what have we done?!?
RE: Facebook Removes March Against Monsanto Event
Um… to be fair, Facebook has a user based system where users can complain about an event. Enough users complain, and it’s blocked. If that happens… you get the message in the article.
There is a plethora of stories about people getting their stuff blocked on FB when it shouldn’t have been…. usually because someone simply disagrees or dislikes them. I personally know 3 people who have dealt with this.
Probably the best game in town to stabilize money markets but this could make the Feds balance sheet even more interesting..
Fed contemplates creating “overnight reverse repo facility” Walter Kurtz
By allowing non-banks to participate, the Fed creates a deposit account that is free of counterparty risk (currently the only way to achieve this is by purchasing treasury bills).
3. By accepting broader deposits, the Fed can effectively “soak up” excess liquidity and “sterilize” some of its securities holdings. And by adjusting these rates, the central bank could fine-tune how much liquidity these accounts attract. This reduces the need to sell securities in order to drain liquidity from the system.
Maybe this title is for a real book, I’m not quite sure: “Good as Gold: Newton’s Alchemy of Matter and Mind”, e.g. mentioned here: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi967.htm
Re: Goldman Sachs
This is ridiculous. How is it that when Goldman’s computers make “mistakes” they get a do-over but a random retail investor who enters a price by mistake has to live by his error?
If the orders were placed on the exchange and successfully fulfilled, then I see absolutely no reason why the exchange should break the trade. The only time when breaking a trade is fair, IMHO, is when the exchange itself is faulty. Otherwise, why should the exchange care how the price was determined?
I’m curious, for those who are more familiar with the regulations: can I as a retail investor ask for the same treatment? Who would I call to request a trade be unwound when I make a “mistake”?
“Oligarchy (Greek Ὀλιγαρχία, Oligarkhía, from óligon, “few,” and arkho, “rule” ) is a form of government in which political power effectively rests with a small, elite segment of society. The term was used by Aristotle to refer to despotic power exercised by a small and privileged group for often corrupt or selfish purposes. In most classic oligarchies, governing elites were recruited exclusively from a hereditary ruling caste, whose members tended to exercise power in the interests of their own class.
Oligarchies have sometimes been synonymous with aristocracies, which were ruled by members of a noble class, or with plutocracies, ruled by the wealthy members of a community. However, neither wealth nor noble birth are necessary conditions for belonging to the privileged group which rules an oligarchy. Historically, there have been organized oligarchies, and unofficial oligarchies in which a group of “advisers” dictated the policies of an official ruler. In practice, almost all governments, whatever their form, are run by a small minority of members of society, and it is necessary to further examine the ways in which these individuals acquire and retain power in order to correctly understand whether a system of government is a oligarchy.”
The Confidential Memo at the Heart of the Global Financial Crisis
When a little birdie dropped the End Game memo through my window, its content was so explosive, so sick and plain evil, I just couldn’t believe it.
The Memo confirmed every conspiracy freak’s fantasy: that in the late 1990s, the top US Treasury officials secretly conspired with a small cabal of banker big-shots to rip apart financial regulation across the planet. When you see 26.3 percent unemployment in Spain, desperation and hunger in Greece, riots in Indonesia and Detroit in bankruptcy, go back to this End Game memo, the genesis of the blood and tears.
The Treasury official playing the bankers’ secret End Game was Larry Summers. Today, Summers is Barack Obama’s leading choice for Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, the world’s central bank. If the confidential memo is authentic, then Summers shouldn’t be serving on the Fed, he should be serving hard time in some dungeon reserved for the criminally insane of the finance world.
The memo is authentic.
The new FSA pulled the lid off the Pandora’s box of worldwide derivatives trade. Among the notorious transactions legalised: Goldman Sachs (where Treasury Secretary Rubin had been co-chairman) worked a secret euro-derivatives swap with Greece which, ultimately, destroyed that nation. Ecuador, its own banking sector de-regulated and demolished, exploded into riots. Argentina had to sell off its oil companies (to the Spanish) and water systems (to Enron) while its teachers hunted for food in garbage cans. Then, Bankers Gone Wild in the Eurozone dove head-first into derivatives pools without knowing how to swim – and the continent is now being sold off in tiny, cheap pieces to Germany.
Of course, it was not just threats that sold the FSA, but temptation as well. After all, every evil starts with one bite of an apple offered by a snake. The apple: the gleaming piles of lucre hidden in the FSA for local elites. The snake was named Larry.
Does all this evil and pain flow from a single memo? Of course not: the evil was The Game itself, as played by the banker clique. The memo only revealed their game-plan for checkmate.
And the memo reveals a lot about Summers and Obama.
http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/larry-summers-and-the-secret-end-game-memo
Did the Germans luck out or was Germany an active participant?
Real bads, brought to you by international trade agreement:
Who knew? Thanks, Larry. Thanks, Timmy.
The world is quite different ever since the financial uprising of the late 90s.
The golden boys sure know how to use their money. Sure, they’re stupid but us down-troddeners are even dumber, at least by THEIR standards.
I feal a disturbance in the force:
Nasdaq Market Halts Trading
feal=feel
My duh.
Goldman Sachs must have been losing money again
Thanks for the heads up.
Glad to help.
I know raw political courage when I see it: White House Comes Out Against Dog Breed Bans.
I think I just saw a lame duck jump a shark?
My new favorite dog http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Czechoslovakian_wolfdog
yowza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Czechoslovakian_Wolfdog_pair.jpg
They’re bridge partners.
And you scoffed, lambert—scoffed!—at those who urged the re-election of President Obama. Feeling a bit remorseful now?
I guess the rich do need their hounds:
Release the Hounds
Viva la Chelsea Manning
is this for real? i couldn’t believe that this would be an effective strategy for anything by his lawyer.
what is the goal? more humane treatment while in custody? excuse or explanation for Manning’s actions?
i’m not outraged from any moral sensibility. it just seems a puzzling way to begin 35 years in military prison. as if the circumstances surrounding this whole case were not lamentable enough.
many idiots are going to take this as a “gee, no wonder he turned traitor!” moment and further conflate mental/moral pathology with transgenderism.
Smash The Printing Presses (with Crowbars and Bats)
Published on Aug 21, 2013
Smash all printing presses and then replace fact with delusional to eliminate all dissent “.in a deserted basement of the Guardian’s King’s Cross offices, a senior editor and a Guardian computer expert used angle grinders and other tools to pulverize the hard drives and memory chips on which the encrypted files had been stored.”
As they worked they were watched by technicians from Government Communications Headquarters
http://youtu.be/gKz4g8ckpJc
Re: Greenwald’s Guardian article. When the Nazis burned books, they knew they weren’t eliminating all copies. Likewise, their English Poodle imitators know that tactic is even less effective today. Of course, the real purpose is intimidation. (From the picture of the scorched electronics, it appears they may have actually been thrown in a real fire. Accompanied by dancing and whooping?) Like a dog that fetches in anticipation of its Master’s command, the British Bulldog (pardon the mixed metaphors) makes a great pet.
As from Mexico notes above, that Max Blumenthal interview begins with a very strange and out of place discussion of anti-semitic criticism of Israel. This is unfortunate because it obscures the more substantive content of the piece. Blumenthal echoes many of the points I have made here that the two state solution is dead. Indeed Blumenthal goes further than I do. I mark its final demise to the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin by a Jewish extremist in 1995. Blumenthal holds it was never in the cards. Both Blumenthal and I look on present day Israel as a racist state practising apartheid against Palestinians.
Although favorably predisposed to Blumenthal’s views, I felt the need to re-listen (and read the text) because I also thought it odd. Upon review and considering it was an interview, my main concern was that it would be misinterpreted and used as an excuse for an attack (eg, see from Mexico’s reply above). The 3rd Part I found very moving and demonstrative of Blumenthal’s good heart.
Charles sereno said:
Yes, I’m sure any Israeli, or any Jew for that matter, listening to Blumenthal can feel the love exuding from his “good heart.”
Take this exchange from the interview, for instance:
The way content is being manipulated here is called “spotlight”: Assuming an observation from a small sample size (one’s own anecdotal observations) applies to a whole group.
Every member of an out-group such as myself, being part of a gay minority, has experienced the sting of this rhetorical strategy being used against them. And this is especially true if one was involved in grassroots activism such as I was in the LGBT community. The rhetorical strategy is used in order to demonize the entire group to which a person is a member of.
What makes Blumenthal’s offense so egregious, and his bias and prejudice so apparent, is the existence of opinion polls which for years have consistently shown Blumenthal’s assertion to be false, such as this recent one:
But as this reporter, commenting on similar results from an earlier poll, says:
So just to put this in perspective, everyone raise their hand who believes the US government pays attention to the opinions of a majority of Americans.
@ from Mexico: Would you kindly tell us who the founder and editor of the Times of Israel (the polling outfit) is so that we might determine if he’s of “good heart?” You have unlimited space (I think).
Is it possible for you to make an argument that is not ad hominem?
The poll which the Times of Israel cited was not conducted by the paper, but by the Hebrew University’s Truman Institute and the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research.
And anyway, if you doubt the legitimacy of the poll the Times of Israel cites, there are many other polls, and they all show essentially the same thing.
You’re right! Thanks for correcting me. The newspaper merely reported on poll results. For context, the latest JIPP poll showed that 65% of Israelis (including Arab Israelis) supported negotiations with the Palestinians. Sounds good. However, 69% opposed negotiations if Israel was required to freeze settlements to open talks. Not so good. To answer my own question, David Horovitz (not to be confused with David Horowitz) is the editor of The Times of Israel.
Could we return to your point about Blumenthal’s “bias and prejudice?” Here are 2 quotes from John Mearsheimer’s “The Future of Palestine: Righteous Jews vs. the New Afrikaners” —
“Israel is not going to allow the Palestinians to have a viable state of their own in Gaza and the West Bank. Instead, those territories will be incorporated into a “Greater Israel,” which will be an apartheid state…
“… most Israelis are opposed to making the sacrifices that would be necessary to create a viable Palestinian state.”
May I remind you of one of your recent comments? —
from Mexico says:
August 20, 2013 at 9:59 pm
You know, charles sereno, there are people in the world who have knowledge of that which they speak, and don’t just make up stuff to fit their preconceived notions.
Morgenthau, along with almost all realists in the United States – except for Henry Kissinger – opposed the Vietnam war. Their opposition came early, long before it became clear that the war was a lost cause; in fact Morgenthau was warning against American military involvement in Vietnam in the late 1950s.
Equally, almost all realists in the United States – except for Henry Kissinger – opposed the war against Iraq. Many supporters of that war are now having second thoughts, since it is becoming increasingly clear that American troops are stuck in an open-ended conflict from which there seems to be no exit. The realists, however, anticipated big problems before the war began; in this, they have been proved largely correct.
–John J Mearsheimer, “Hans Morgenthau and the Iraq war: realism versus neo-conservatism”
Obviously, you think Mearsheimer is someone who has “knowledge of that which they speak.” Is he biased and prejudiced as well?
I also noticed that you ended a previous comment (August 20, 2013 at 6:00 pm), as follows —
“Niehbur, along with almost all realists in the United States except for Henry Kissinger, opposed the Vietnam War.
Equally, almost all realists in the United States — except for Henry Kissinger — opposed the war against Iraq.
Max Blumenthal equates Niebuhr’s realism with Bush’s, Obama’s and Brooks’ neoconservatism. This is an empirical claim, one which is demonstrably and patently false.”
Now, two of your sentences are lifted without attribution from Mearsheimer, whom you later quote. I can accept that might have just been carelessness. I’m trying to avoid any further ad hominem accusations. :)
The About page; the backer.
@ Hugh
I don’t know what Blumenthal is up to. I can tell you one thing for sure, though, and that is that if I were Palestenian, I would not want him advocating for me. He makes entirely too many mistakes, with the bottom line being he inflicts more harm on his putative cause than he helps it.
To begin with, as I have demonstrated on this thread, he makes empirical claims which are all too easily demonstrated to be false.
And if that were not bad enough, underlying those claims seems to be a good deal of bias and prejudice.
These rob Blumenthal of the kind of credibility he would need in order to be an effective advocate.
And his attack on Reinhold Niebuhr does his cause no favors either. Sure, both Bush and Obama have trotted Niebuhr out in defense of their criminality. So maybe Blumenthal feels he must then mount an attack on Niebuhr for this reason. But I don’t see how anyone could believe this to be a sound strategy.
Conflating Niebuhr with the neoconservatives is an empircal claim that, as are so many of Blumenthal’s empirical claims, at best a distortion or half-truth, and at worst an outright lie. Blumenthal merely seconds the lies being told by the neocons that they are operating in the tradition of Niebuhr. It seems to me a far more effective strategy, and one which does not play so fast and loose with the truth, would be to point out that what Bush, Obama and Brooks advocate is the antithesis of what a realist like Niebuhr would advocate.
John J. Mearsheimer hails from the same school of political philsophy that Niebuhr did, which is the Realist school. In 2007 he co-authored with Stephen Walt the New York Times Best Seller The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy, for which he was roundly condemned by the Israeli Lobby.
The book discusses the power of the Israel lobby in shaping the foreign policy of the United States. Mearsheimer and Walt define the Israel lobby as “a loose coalition of individuals and organizations who actively work to steer US foreign policy in a pro-Israel direction”. They emphasize that it is not appropriate to label it a “Jewish lobby”, because not all Jews feel a strong attachment to Israel and because some of the individuals and groups who work to foster U.S. support for Israel are not Jewish; according to Mearsheimer and Walt, Christian Zionists play an important role. Finally, they emphasize that the lobby is not a cabal or a conspiracy but simply a powerful interest group like the National Rifle Association or the farm lobby. Their core argument is that the policies that the lobby pushes are not in the United States’ national interest, nor ultimately that of Israel.
As Wikipedia explains:
I agree with Mearsheimer that the term “Jewish lobby” is totally inappropiate. I also think that the majority of American Jews would not approve of an apartheid “Greater Israel.” I believe Norman Finkelstein and Max Blumenthal share this opinion as well.
http://warisacrime.org/content/obama-doj-asks-court-grant-immunity-george-w-bush-iraq-war
“In court papers filed today (PDF), the United States Department of Justice requested that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz be granted procedural immunity in a case alleging that they planned and waged the Iraq War in violation of international law.
Plaintiff Sundus Shaker Saleh, an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, filed a complaint in March 2013 in San Francisco federal court alleging that the planning and waging of the war constituted a “crime of aggression” against Iraq, a legal theory that was used by the Nuremberg Tribunal to convict Nazi war criminals after World War II.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNi_1pbSqGY
Procedural immunity? Pffft!! newer ewer heard of it.
Going Galt – Scenes from the neofuedal world order:
1 of world’s largest private yachts ties up on Elliott Bay
Seattle, WA: One of the biggest yachts in the world is moored in Elliott Bay.
The Serene, a $330 million, 440-foot private yacht belonging to a wealthy Russian vodka distributor, pulled into Seattle’s Pier 90 over the weekend, right by the Interbay neighborhood.
The yacht’s owner, Yuri Scheffler, controls SPI Group, which distributes Stolichnaya vodka internationally.
The Serene has two helicopter-landing platforms and a hangar, along with a storage area for a submarine that can dive to 300 feet. It’s longer than a football field and has more than 48,000 square feet of covered space on its seven decks.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2021652428_sereneyachtxml.html
doubt you get all that just from selling hooch.
that thing is no yacht. it’s a cruise ship.
I wonder if they compost?
Koyaanisqatsi. In the Hopi language, the word Koyaanisqatsi means “unbalanced life”.
It seems that the whole world is out of wack. Extreme poverty and obscene wealth. It doesn’t have to be this way. It makes me sad.
Wonder if that’s because Dan Savage of The Stranger paper here in Seattle has called for a boycott of Stoli because of Putin’s homophobic laws.
This is well worth the time to view/listen
Full Extended Interview With Manning’s Attorney After 35-Year Sentence
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2013/8/22/watch_full_extended_interview_with_mannings_attorney_after_35_year_sentence
Here are the top 10 American corporations profiting from Egypt’s military
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/130816/top-10-american-corporations-egypt-military-us-aid
i have to admit Deloitte thru me
(that brazilian fruit thru me again…i posted the 10 corps on the wrong pg bahahahaaa)
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/bric-yard/brazil-putting-the-penis-passion-fruit
Nixon tapes:
HI Ronnie
Well well Mr prez
Prez: you know raygun differences between faiths thingy
raygun: sure… sure… me and Nancy be a praying all the time for you…
Prez: well raygun… we need to bring about world peace pronto
Raygun: yep
skippy… a couple of days later divinity struck….
Moneyball Campaigns, Stasi 2.0 and the Death of Democracy in America
Forgive me if this is old news here at NC, as I haven’t been lurking much recently. The author connects the dots in a way I’ve yet to see re. use of big data by political campaigns and by incumbents in the White House and the inevitability that the two will “cross-pollinate” (my term; also emphases are mine):
“So maybe the campaign is off the hook for the use of the Dashboard app, but what about individuals within the campaign and [their] use of the data? Who else is going to access that data? Can that bring a violation of the CFAA?
It isn’t too much of a stretch to believe that what [former Obama campaign manager Jim] Messina and his team learned about “big data” is but a campaign version of what the NSA is doing on the stealth side. Afterall, Messina and David Axelrod had access to the full suite of NSA information and briefings, being the Prez’s right-hand men in the oval office for years.
That is to say, that *Messina’s team employed methods that were born in the skunkworks of the nation’s intelligence industry and its contractors. And as we have no disclosure on where a campaign gets all of its data, we are left to trust that the campaign, born out of the backrooms of the White House somehow built a moat around their campaign and didn’t allow any leakage from the massive “Bumblehive.”*
Conceptually, [“Bumblehive”–NSA’s Utah complex] isn’t much different from Dashboard & Narwhal (the campaign’s data design strategy). What’s to keep a backroom op from interfacing the two, ala Facebook style app?
How about if Karl Rove or one of his proteges were to get back in the White House? Imagine them having access to Bumblehive and a Dashboard-style proboscis poking around in social networking sites around the world.
Moneyball campaigns are the future, obviously — because they win. But they are the future in the same way the the Bumblehive is the future of NSA spying. *We are on an intersection of big data in campaigns with big data of the spy industry with little to no laws and regulation to protect our rights to privacy in either sphere*.
There is a huge potential for misuse of data by campaigns either through overt data mining techniques like Facebook and Dashboard, or by campaigns potentially digging into the Bumblehive’s treasure trove to augment the Narwhal — or whatever the successor to the Obama campaign’s or a republican’s campaign’s data extraction will be called.
Big data needs to be regulated, and regulated hard, whether it is Facebook’s Terms of Service, a campaign’s overt sweeping up of any and all data it can get, and the spy industry’s vacuuming of the internet. *A firewall needs to be built in law between the work of campaigns and of the back rooms of the White House, as the same players move in the shadows between the two.*”
link for the “Moneyball” article above (formatting lost to the ether….)
https://4and20blackbirds.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/moneyball-campaigns-stasi-2-0-and-the-death-of-democracy-in-america/#more-24696
The “Bumblehive” link in the blog post links to a (very polished) spoof site, but the links on the site’s left side are legit and extremely eye-opening, esp. the fourth link from the bottom to the Utah DC construction timeline. It’s on line 99 of the spreadsheet; if you check it out, be sure to note line 98 as well. Maryland “High Performance Computing Center” slated for completion in 2015 whose budget, at nearly $565 *billion* dwarfs the “Bumblehive.”
an old essay for all you news-battered PTSDers:
http://dobelli.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Avoid_News_Part1_TEXT.pdf
Toxic Nanoparticles Might Be Entering Human Food Supply
TSA Horror Story:
Don’t Fly During Ramadan ~chimera coder
Detained without charges and had his house broken into. That’s taking airport security to a whole new level [shudder].
Re: World Bank sees $1 trillion bill for rising seas
Well I recently read that the damages when the methane around the Arctic escapes will be more like USD 60 trillion, give or take a few trillion.
http://www.google.com.br/?gws_rd=cr#fp=f3ef8c240dc62f81&q=methane+arctic+60+trillion
While it is somewhat encouraging to see banker types finally putting a dollar value (in the trillions) on the damages due to global warming, in the end these dollar-based values are pretty meaningless.
If this video is correct:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pznsPkJy2x8
then by year 2300 there will be NOTHING alive on the planet (except maybe some thermophilic bacteria and such).
Someone needs to tie these figures together into a sick joke ending with the punchline of the MasterCard commecial: “Priceless”.
The true-blooded capitalists will make million-year plans; they might escape to outerspace in search of new worlds to spread Freedom across as much of the galaxy as possible. New strategic problems with the Alien Wars of 2666-2776 (known in the Far Future as “The second Hundred years war”) will mean guaranteed growth for the high-tech and banking sectors. What happens to earth’s peasants is not altogether clear, unfortunately.
In the years of yore on the Island of Rain and More Rain, the meek subject sayeth upon his Lord-Master “My Lord,” but the wicked abject pisseth-off subject sayeth upon his Lord-Master “My Slum Lord,” .