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 | Politics: The Anti-Empire Report - February 2010 |
 by William Blum, www.killinghope.org
"In America you can say anything you want — as long as it doesn't have any effect." - Paul Goodman
Progressive activists and writers continually bemoan the fact that the news they generate and the opinions they express are consistently ignored by the mainstream media, and thus kept from the masses of the American people. This disregard of progressive thought is tantamount to a definition of the mainstream media. It doesn't have to be a conspiracy; it's a matter of who owns the mainstream media and the type of journalists they hire — men and women who would like to keep their jobs; so it's more insidious than a conspiracy, it's what's built into the system, it's how the system works. The disregard of the progressive world is of course not total; at times some of that world makes too good copy to ignore, and, on rare occasions, progressive ideas, when they threaten to become very popular, have to be countered.
So it was with Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Saturday, February 06 @ 20:17:00 EST (13 reads)
(Read More... | 17018 bytes more | Comments? | Politics | Score: 0)
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| War News: Big-Hearted or Small-Minded? Americans' Selective Sense of Compassion |
 By Dave Lindorff
About that outpouring of heartfelt sympathy and aid for the poor people of Haiti following their earthquake.
Where is the same outpouring of sympathy and aid for the poor people of Afghanistan or Iraq? We are to be sure at war there, but, at the same time, supposedly we're fighting in those countries because we want to help their people, right?
And have you seen the photos of the city of Fallujah, after the US Marines were through with the place and trashed it in late 2004?
Fallujah, a city of 300,000 before the US Marine assault in November, 2004, was bombed, shelled, and eventually bulldozed until much of the city was simply levelled by US forces. There was never an accurate tally of the number of civilians killed, with estimates ranging from thousands to tens of thousands. Hospitals were bombed, ambulances were shelled and destroyed, fleeing civilians were mowed down as they tried to swim to safety across the river, white phosphorus weapons were illegally used against Iraqi fighters, inevitably also killing and maiming civilians too, and captured Iraqi fighters were executed by Marines. Worse yet, US forces strewed toxic weapons, including massive numbers of depleted uranium shells, all over the city, which is now, according to British reports, experiencing a huge rise in birth defects and infant mortality. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, February 05 @ 19:22:19 EST (15 reads)
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| Spirituality: Would That You Knew The Ways of Peace |
 By Howard Bess
According to the Luke gospel, Jesus and his disciples were approaching Jerusalem about a week from his execution as a trouble maker. In his religious tradition, Jerusalem was a holy city, but Jesus did not see anything holy about the place. According to the account, Jesus began crying and said, “…would that you knew the ways of peace.”
Can a place be called holy and be totally committed to war and violence?
A thousand years earlier, the Children of Israel by force of armed might took the city away from people we now call Palestinians. King David established Jerusalem as the home of God by killing anyone and everyone who stood in his way. Three thousand years later, there is no shortage of people who want the holy city, and they are willing to kill to get it.
And Jesus hovers over the city and with tears in his eyes whispers “…would that you knew the ways of peace.”
This morning I led a small group of people through a funeral of tragic sorrow. Together we claimed the peace of God for a troubled lady. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, February 05 @ 17:05:17 EST (19 reads)
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| Politics: Obama's Budget Calls for Billions in New Spending for Drones |
 by: Jason Leopold, t r u t h o u t | Report
This is how major US defense contractors reacted to the unveiling of President Barack Obama's fiscal year 2011 spending plan for the Pentagon, part of the president's overall $3.8 trillion budget proposal.
Shares of General Dynamics, a maker of military aircraft, submarines and munitions, rose 3.9 percent and closed at $69.43 in trading on the New York Stock Exchange, the uptick due in large part to additional spending on the war in Afghanistan, according to Sanford Bernstein, a financial research firm.
Northrop Grumman Corp., which builds unmanned spy planes and ships, rose 2.3 percent to close at $57.92. Boeing Co., a manufacturer of aircraft carriers, shares increased by 1.8 and closed at $61.70. Lockheed Martin's shares rose 37 cents to close at $74.89. Raytheon Co., a missile supplier, was up by a percentage point to close at $52.96, while shares of L-3 Communications Holdings, a firm that supplies intelligence gathering and monitoring equipment, was up 1.6 percent to close at $84.64. And shares of Harris Corp soared 4.2 percent to close at $44.74. Harris manufactures tactical radios utilizes encryption technology.
All in all, it was a good day for the military-industrial complex. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, February 03 @ 22:05:34 EST (20 reads)
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| Rants: The Kids Are All Right |
by Jennifer Doak
Being a young American today can be discouraging. Things don't look so good for us, even since Bush left office, leaving behind an awful lot of cleaning up for us “Millennials” to do.
BusinessWeek dubbed us a "lost generation," because 18 percent of us can't find work. Those who can are paid less than our counterparts were in earlier decades, and many college grads among us are saddled with thousands of dollars in loans. If the Obama administration’s proposal to federalize and reduce the student loan burden goes through (a big if), that’s a start. But with more than $50,000 in college debt (and that's on the low end), I can confirm it will be a while before I have the cash to buy a home, invest in a retirement fund, or even start a family. Heck, I can barely afford to go home for Christmas.
Our predecessors deregulated industry, thoughtfully ensuring that our food and water aren't as safe as they should be. Of course, in 2007, 13.2 million of us under 35 didn't have health care so there's little to be done if we get sick. Since the Baby Boomers and the oldest Generation Xers refused to seriously research alternative energy, we inherited a nasty oil addiction that led politicians to send thousands of my cohorts to fight an unwinnable war in Iraq. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, February 03 @ 21:07:46 EST (23 reads)
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| History/Culture: Imbolc |
 By Rhiannonbrighid
Imbolc is the Pagan festival that celebrates the coming of spring. Imbolc is also known as Candlemas, Oimealg, Imbolg, Brigantia, Lupercus, Disting, and Lupercalia. The festival is celebrated on February 1st or 2nd, or when the sun is at 15 degrees Aquarius. [In 2010 it falls on February 2nd.]
In Celtic lore, the dark winter months were ruled by a wicked old hag named Cailleach. By the time Imbolc rolls around, she leaves, and the goddess, Brighid, awakens. There is an old myth that the people would pour milk on the ground to put Cailleach to rest and welcome Brighid.
February is a very cold month where food ran low, fire wood was harder to obtain, and hunting usually proved to be unsuccessful. Keeping the hearth was very important to families. Brighid, a fire goddess, was a deity that families paid homage to in hopes that she would protect their hearth and fire. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, February 02 @ 14:03:33 EST (28 reads)
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| History/Culture: Groundhog Day! |
By Sherlyn Meinz
The use of animals to predict the pattern of weather seems to have been brought to the United States, and Pennsylvania in particular, by the Germans. Foretelling the weather by observing the hibernation behavior of bears, badgers and hedgehogs was common throughout Europe. At some point after the German settlers arrived in Pennsylvania, the tradition of using bears’ or badgers’ hibernation activity as a weather indicator changed into our current day predictions based on Groundhog activity.
This may be due to the fact that in 1723 the Delaware Indians set up a campsite in Punxsutawney, PA. The Indian name for the area was “ponksad-uteney” meaning, ‘the town of the sandflies.’ “Wojak the Groundhog” was considered to be an ancestral grandfather by this tribe, and our name ‘woodchuck’ comes from the legends of Wojak. The Delaware Indian’s creation beliefs held that all their forebearers began life as animals and later began to live and hunt as man. German settlers arrived in the area during the 1700’s as well. They also brought with them traditions from the Catholic Church of Candlemas Day on February 2nd. Ancient peoples celebrated on February 1st or 2nd the holiday of Imbolc, this day was at the halfway point between Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Both pagan and Catholic customs honor Brigid on this day, as a Bringer of Light, during this dreary and cold time of year. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Tuesday, February 02 @ 09:00:10 EST (33 reads)
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| Screwed Again: New American Crisis |
 by Ben Manski
Unhinged. Absurd. Outrageous.
That's how you could describe the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission. Unfortunately, the decision was much, much worse than that.
How much worse?
You might have some idea if you've ever found yourself facing foreclosure on your home; or worked at a company that was downsizing and laying people off; or enrolled in a college where the tuition keeps doubling; or faced salary freezes year after year, even while the cost of living rises. Most of us know how those things feel. It's the feeling of losing control over your destiny.
Get used to that feeling. It has just become what it feels like to be a citizen of the United States of America. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Monday, February 01 @ 21:32:40 EST (30 reads)
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| Spirituality: Edgar Allan Poe and the Role of Poetry |
 By Howard Bess
I am writing this column on the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe. Poe comes to my attention for multiple reasons.
I serve on the Board of Directors of Palmer Arts Council. The Council attempts to bring to life artistic endeavors in our community. One of our annual events is the celebration of poetry month each April. We are deep into planning the events. We will be publishing a 50 page anthology of locally written poetry. The theme will be the 75th anniversary of the depression era move of 200 farm families from the Upper Midwest to the valley in which we live.
Poetry in abundance will be read and recited during April. In cooperation with the local school district, there will be poetry slams for local students. Local poets will be featured at evening poetry readings at a downtown Palmer coffee shop. Readers of poetry will be placed in many businesses and will read poetry for any who will listen. I hope to be placed in a local restaurant where I will go from table to table, reciting and reading poetry to willing listeners. My repertoire ranges from Invictus to Psalm 23 to Mary Had a Little Lamb. And my offerings include a rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”
We who live in Alaska live in the land of the raven. The majority of Americans think of the Ravens as a football team from Baltimore. Not so in Alaska. Ravens are a part of our every day life. We watch ravens in abundance and ponder their movements and social behavior. We listen to their speech and wonder about the content of their conversations with one another. A faithful listener knows they have an extensive vocabulary and fine communication skills. Ravens are central to the legends and myths of native Alaskans, whether Eskimo, Indian or Aleute. It is the ravens that bring wisdom and understanding to life. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Saturday, January 30 @ 18:56:26 EST (29 reads)
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| War News: Senate Quietly Passes Iran Sanctions Bill |
by: Grace Huang, t r u t h o u t | Report
The Senate quietly passed legislation Thursday implementing tough new sanctions against Iran that advocacy groups say will cause more pain for the citizens of the country than for the government it's intended to cripple.
The sanctions would target gasoline companies and Iranian imports of refined petroleum products. In addition, the bill includes provisions to ban imports to the US and exports to Iran, with the exception of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid goods. Assets of certain Iranian individuals could also be frozen.
Aside from these direct sanctions, the bill, passed in a voice vote after only five minutes of debate, would also force the US to ban trade with foreign companies which continue to do business with Iran that is subject to sanctions.
Thursday's passage came as a surprise to many, as Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) had implied Tuesday that the bill would not reemerge for weeks.
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Posted by Blue1moon on Saturday, January 30 @ 18:12:58 EST (27 reads)
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| History/Culture: Homeless Often Hidden in Tennessee |
 by: John Mottern, t r u t h o u t| Report
"Tent City" is a place hidden out of sight and historically out of mind. It sprawls over a mud-rutted, brush-tangled acre of landscape nestled under a network of highway bridges along the Cumberland River on the outskirts of downtown Nashville, Tennessee. It is impossible to find unless one is directed or taken there. The camp is surrounded by a variety of chain-link fencing placed in different configurations that appear to have been installed in stages over many years.
This community of homeless men and women, constantly fluctuating in size, has been, to date, largely flying under the city's municipal radar. It appears that the camp has provided an unspoken service for the city as an alternative to municipal shelters, historically catering to a population of homeless, fringe people who might be battling drug and alcohol addiction or suffering from untreated mental illness, or the occasional sex offender avoiding mainstream society.
Recently, there has been a change at Tent City; the population is growing at a staggering rate. One consequence is that more attention is being given to this group of nearly 100 residents and their makeshift dwellings by both the media and advocacy groups. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, January 29 @ 17:25:54 EST (35 reads)
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| Space: Keep Humans Out of Space |
by William A. Collins
Send out robots,
They work fine;
People are,
A waste of time.
President Barack Obama deserves credit for ordering a new study of NASA. The findings of his Augustine Commission review of our plans for human spaceflight are impressive as well. We needed to seriously question our financial will to send humans to Mars. Not every taxpayer is ready to sign on for that expense.
The title of the commission’s report: “Seeking a Human Spaceflight Program Worthy of a Great Nation,” suggests the dilemma. With our sundry wars, economic meltdown, health-care woes, and rogue banking system, Americans are already grappling with the concept that we may not be quite as great a nation as we once thought. Larding onto those self-doubts, a pullback in human space exploration might be too big a pill for our national psyche to swallow. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Friday, January 29 @ 16:31:34 EST (30 reads)
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| Politics: Brain structure predicts ability to learn video games |
 MIT News Office
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Researchers can predict your performance on a video game simply by measuring the volume of specific structures in your brain, a multi-institutional team reports this week.
The new study, in the journal Cerebral Cortex, found that nearly a quarter of the variability in achievement seen among men and women trained on a new video game could be predicted by measuring the volume of parts of the striatum, a collection of brain structures tucked deep inside the cerebral cortex. The study adds to the evidence that the striatum profoundly influences a person’s ability to refine his or her motor skills, learn new procedures, develop useful strategies, and adapt to a quickly changing environment.
“This is the first time that we’ve been able to take a real-world task like a video game and show that the size of specific brain regions is predictive of performance and learning rates,” said Kirk Erickson, a professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh and lead author on the study. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Thursday, January 28 @ 18:48:29 EST (36 reads)
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| Business/Economy: Swine Flu Didn't Fly |
 by: Niko Kyriakou, t r u t h o u t | Report
Wow, what a year 2009 was for makers of the swine flu vaccine. CSL Limited's profits rose 63 percent above 2008 levels, while in the third quarter of 2009 - just about the time H1N1 contracts picked up steam - GlaxoSmithKine enjoyed a 30 percent jump in earnings to $2.19 billion. Roche, the maker of Tamiflu, which prevents H1N1, saw second quarter profits leap to 12 times what they were in that quarter of 2008. But in 2010, drug companies may get their comeuppance.
(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t;
Adapted: MayaEvening, kevindooley, PinkMoose, *Louise**)
On Tuesday, the Council of Europe launched an investigation into whether the World Health Organization (WHO) "faked" the swine flu pandemic to boost profits for vaccine manufacturers. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, January 27 @ 20:04:18 EST (35 reads)
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| Science News: Coal Ash Industry Allowed To Edit EPA Reports |
 Reports to Congress, Brochures, "Fact Sheets" Tailored to Allay Industry Concerns
Washington, DC - For years U.S. Environmental Protection Agency publications and reports about uses and dangers of coal combustion waste have been edited by coal ash industry representatives, according to EPA documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). Not surprisingly, the coal ash industry watered down official reports, brochures and fact-sheets to remove references to potential dangers and play up "environmental benefits" of a wide range of applications for coal combustion wastes - the same materials that EPA is currently deciding whether to classify as hazardous wastes following the disastrous December 2008 coal ash spill in Tennessee.
During the Bush administration, EPA entered into a formal partnership with the coal industry, most prominently, the American Coal Ash Association, to promote coal combustion wastes for industrial, agricultural and consumer product uses. This effort has helped grow a multi-billion dollar market which the industry worries would be crimped by a hazardous waste designation. ...
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Posted by Blue1moon on Wednesday, January 27 @ 19:05:23 EST (30 reads)
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| Tuesday, January 26 | | · | Robbing Grandma to Reward Wall Street |
| · | Focus on Haiti: Washington's Militarized Takeover |
| Monday, January 25 | | · | Corporate Personhood |
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| Friday, January 22 | | · | America, Inc. & ‘Jesus Guns’ - Is this a Horror Movie? |
| Thursday, January 21 | | · | We must amend the Constitution |
| Wednesday, January 20 | | · | How Obama Lost His Way |
| · | Losing Hope, Taking Action |
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| Monday, January 18 | | · | Arming Yemen against al-Qaeda |
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| Friday, January 15 | | · | Researchers develop 'nano cocktail' to target and kill tumors |
| Thursday, January 14 | | · | VT Yankee Lied! |
| · | The State of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream in 2010 |
| Wednesday, January 13 | | · | The Anti-Empire Report - January 2010 |
| Tuesday, January 12 | | · | Want to Stick it to the Banks? Join a Credit Union! |
| Monday, January 11 | | · | Open The Health Care Conference Committee To Public Scrutiny (H.Res.847) |
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