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Netyanyahu's speech to the US Congress means almost literally spitting in the face of President Obama. I don't think there was ever anything like it. The prime minister of a small vassal country, dependent on the US for practically everything, comes to the capital of the US to openly challenge its President, in effect branding him a cheat and a liar. His host is the opposition party.
On February 14, called "The Day of Friendship" in Cuba, there were tens of thousands attending the fair. We were asked to dance at the scenic main stage with Old Havana as a backdrop. Facing thousands of Cubans, our group joined Cubans and took the stage and danced for 10 minutes to the universal song to end violence against women.
This is a look at human behavior in relation to what is instinctive and what is rational.
By David William Pear
Afghanistan War: Forgotten but not over. Instead of Obama ending the Afghanistan War responsibly, he is going to keep it going for another decade.
On Thursday, at the Conservative Political Action Conference, Walker was asked how he would respond to ISIS, and the "radical Islamic terrorism" he had condemned in his speech to the group. Walker told the crowd: "If I can take on 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the globe." That was, by just about every measure, an unsettling statement.
Boris Nemtsov, a Russian dissident politician highly critical of President Vladimir Putin often sounded like an agent of Washington. He was shot and killed today on a street near Red Square. Nemtsov's death will likely be blamed on Putin. The Western media will repeat endlessly, with no evidence, that Putin had his critic killed.
The Baghdad sniper may survive only as the ghost of a faded urban legend. Baghdad itself changed its status from mostly Sunni to mostly Shi'ite -- and its new fears center on the fake ISIS/ISIL/Daesh Caliphate. American Sniper, on the other hand, is touring the planet as a digital celebrity hero, even as US right-wingers loudly complained neither Clint Eastwood's movie nor Bradley Cooper got any Oscars.
President Obama has already called for easing the austerity policies -- through its domination of the IMF. By itself Washington can outvote Germany, the Netherlands, and Finland, and could exert pressure on the two other Troika members to compromise. Will it? Hard to say, but the Americans are certainly a lot more nervous about Greece exiting the Eurozone than Germany.
With great power comes great responsibility. Like, in Liz Warren's case, the responsibility to use her enormous political leverage to defeat the Trans-Pacific Partnership. As in, say, making Hillary Clinton's denouncing the TPP the price of her continuing support. Though largely humorous, this article is dead serious in its plea for readers to contact Warren and pressure her to "exact TPP tribute" from Clinton.
As a secular Jew, I don't do much praying. But this week, as the powerful pro-Israeli government lobby AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) holds its annual policy meeting in Washington DC, I'm praying that this year marks the beginning of the end of the lobby's grip on US foreign policy.
From the ground in this extreme northern part of Antarctica, spectacularly white and blinding ice seems to extend forever. What can't be seen is the battle raging thousands of feet (hundreds of meters) below to re-shape Earth.
How do you grow those roots? In surveying, the surveyor carries a special telescope on a tripod that gives him "The point of true beginning." That's the absolute point where everything originates.
Statistics show that 76ers may be just as good without Michael Carter-Williams
Here's a partial list of actions taken by international government agencies and professional organizations in response to concerns about the health and environmental effects of exposure to radiofrequency radiation.
By William T. Hathaway
Meeting Lila The story of an eight-year-old girl who sparks a world revolution for social justice.
Hours after the news broke that Brian Williams had misrepresented his account of a helicopter trip in Iraq, he issued an on-air apology. NBC News started an investigation, and within days had suspended Mr. Williams, calling his actions "wrong and completely inappropriate."
By Corp Watch
CorpWatch : U.S. Government Buys Surveillance Technology To Track Drivers in Real Time Local government officials have the ability to track individual drivers in the U.S. in real time and take pictures of the occupants of their vehicles, with new "truly Orwellian" technology purchased from companies like Vigilant Solutions, according to new documents uncovered by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
Che was the poster boy for being a rebel, but what brand of watch did he wear?
Central to the project of what we now call capitalism has been the eradication, and marginalization of competing ownership and business models along with the deification of private property and free (if "free" simply means free of democratic oversight) markets.
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali
The Federal CVE program remains cause of concern for civil advocacy groups Civil advocacy organizations and Muslim groups have expressed grave concern about the Federal Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program that was a focus of Feb 17-19 White House summit on terrorism. Many groups are concerned that countering extremism programs that only focus on Muslim communities ignore the real threat of extremists in other communities while increasing negative public sentiment toward American Muslims.
The Fed's own data refutes its chairman's explanation that the decline is explained by the older age group retiring. If it were not for the increased participation rate of those 55 and over, the decline in the labor force participation rate would be worse than it is, because participation of every other group is in decline.
If a person possesses the quality of being honest with strong moral principles or "moral uprightness" they are regarded as having integrity. In American politics, particularly Republican politics, integrity is not only in short supply, it is by all estimations non-existent. Between the preponderance of outright lies and deliberate deception, the hallmark of Republican politics, it is little wonder America's electoral process lacks integrity; particularly in states controlled by Republicans. In fact, despite being a so-called free democratic society with specific constitutional amendments guaranteeing all citizens the right to vote, Democrats have officially endorsed yet another constitutional amendment establishing the right to vote.
The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, a milestone in regulating high-speed Internet service into American homes. Tom Wheeler, the commission chairman, said the F.C.C. was using "all the tools in our toolbox to protect innovators and consumers" and preserve the Internet's role as a "core of free expression and democratic principles." The new rules, approved 3 to 2 along party lines, are intended to ensure that no content is blocked and that the Internet is not divided into pay-to-play fast lanes for Internet and media companies that can afford it and slow lanes for everyone else. Those prohibitions are hallmarks of the net neutrality concept. Explaining the reason for the regulation, Mr. Wheeler, a Democrat, said that Internet access was "too important to let broadband providers be the ones making the rules."
What is the Federal Reserve? Public or private institution or some hybrid?
By Eugene Elander
The Homeland Security Cliff -- and the Disastrous Cliffhanger! The latest crisis in Congress, which risks funding for the vital Department of Homeland Security and its counter-terrorism work, would be ludicrous were it not so serious. Instead of "kicking the can down the road" again, Congress should pass a 'clean bill' which funds homeland security through the end of the fiscal year. Any tie to other issues, such as immigration, must be removed from such legislation.
By Elayne Clift
Vaccines, Crusades & VicariousThrills What do the measles vaccination debacle, the President's speech mentioning Crusades, and Brian William's dismissal have in common?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has to be considered one of the most dangerous men in the world today. In defiance of Pres. Obama, he'll speak before a joint session of Congress next week as well as the AIPAC convention where he intends to drum up support for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities. And he knows he can attack w/ impunity because he'll still have the support of Congress which makes him so dangerous.
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Quebec's main power utility. Hydro-Quebec (H.Q.), presents itself as the mastermind behind its meshed WiFi system of so-called smart meters, for which the state-owned corporation would have have contracted Accenture consulting firm for advice. But the brilliant plot is from the latter.
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Congress managed at the last minute on Friday night to avert a partial shuttering of the Department of Homeland Security, passing a one-week funding measure for the agency. President Obama signed it shortly before the midnight deadline. The deal came together after a whirlwind day of negotiations in which the House Republican leadership suffered a humiliating defeat when its 20-day funding bill was rejected. The arrangement is expected to prolong talks about longer-term DHS funding until at least early next week. After the House bill went down, the Senate sought to pull DHS back from the brink by swiftly passing the one-week bill by a voice vote. The House followed suit shortly thereafter, voting 357 to 60 in favor of it.
Real estate mogul and reality TV personality Donald Trump on Friday sought to paint himself as a Washington outsider ready for the national stage. But in a question-and-answer session with Fox News host Sean Hannity following his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference, he fell back to a familiar pattern: questioning whether President Obama was born in the United States.
A door-to-door killing spree that left eight people dead in a rural Missouri community may have been triggered by the alleged gunman finding his mother dead in her home, the county coroner said Friday. The woman apparently died of natural causes. The suspect was identified as Joseph Jesse Aldridge, 36, of Tyrone, Mo., the son of Alice Aldridge, 74, who was found dead on her couch in the small wood-frame house they shared, Texas County Sheriff James Sigman said Friday. Aldridge was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in adjoining Shannon County, about 15 miles from Tyrone in south-central Missouri. Sigman said the suspect was found in his pickup in the middle of the road. The authorities identified at least four of the victims as Aldridge's cousins.
Beltway Democrats may not deserve good luck, but it looks like they could have plenty in the next presidential race. Heading into the weekend, Scott Walker, a man born to be slaughtered in a general election, is suddenly leading the Republican pack in the Iowa polls. Walker is surging thanks to his performance at this week's Conservative Political Action Conference, where the former union-busting governor inspired raucous applause with his "I was a dick in Wisconsin, and I can be one in Washington, too!" stump speech.
Bill O'Reilly is consistently the most-watched opinion news pundit. But despite bringing in enormous ratings, O'Reilly has gotten himself into a bit of trouble as it appears that he has, on several occasions, blatantly lied about his reporting history. Here's the three big whoppers uncovered so far. He: 1-Lied About How He Covered The Falklands War. 2-Lied About Witnessing The Suicide Of A Man In The JFK Investigation, and 3-Lied About Witnessing The Murder Of Salvadoran Nuns.
According to Steven C. Amstrup, chief scientist for Polar Bears International (PBI), rising temperatures have extended the duration of summer, melting ice in the Hudson Bay and forcing polar bears to live on shore for longer stretches of time. Amstrup says that the solution is to stop the rise in global temperatures. Today, on International Polar Bear Day, PBI hopes to promote public awareness about the need to address the advancing detrimental effects of climate change.
The Senate passed a bill to fund Homeland Security through September and would not touch Obama's immigration directives. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) conceded Friday morning that "Republicans probably have the votes" to pass the bill to keep the department open through March 20. The new measure would fund DHS for three more weeks. If approved, it would continue a standoff between the House and the Senate over longer-term agency funding. The Senate bill to fund DHS through September that would not touch Obama's immigration directives passed on a 68-31 vote Friday morning.
Wonderful video of Leonard Nimoy, posted in his memory. It's so wonderful to hear him chant; Moreover, this video describes the Jewish origin of his famous "Live Long and Prosper"sign. Beyond describing Nimoy's Jewish roots, and the derivation of this sign, it shows the spiritual underpinning of the Star Trek idea, evident in so many episodes.
Amid National Public Education Battle, Massive Turnout for LA Teachers Rally
An estimated 15,000 teachers and their supporters rallied in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday, threatening to strike should union and school district representatives fail to reach an agreement to reduce class sizes, raise teacher pay, and eliminate the existing system for evaluating educators.
Rapid melting of Antarctic ice could push sea levels up 10 feet worldwide within two centuries, "recurving" heavily populated coastlines and essentially reshaping the world, the Associated Press reported Friday. Parts of Antarctica are thawing so quickly, the continent has become "ground zero of global climate change without a doubt," Harvard geophysicist Jerry Mitrovica told AP. The Antarctic Peninsula, including the vulnerable West Antarctic ice sheet, is the region of the continent warming fastest because the land juts out in the warmer ocean. According to NASA, it is losing 49 billion tons of ice each year. And why does that matter? Because, as the AP declares: "The world's fate hangs on the question of how fast the ice melts."
Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut "Star Trek," died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83. His wife, Susan Bay Nimoy, confirmed his death, saying the cause was end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
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