New NASA Map Shows Where You Are Most Likely To Die From Air Pollution (via Planetsave) Each year millions of premature deaths world-wide result from various forms of air pollution. According to a new atmospheric pollution model designed by earth scientist Jason West of the University of North Carolina (data from which informs the NASA… … [Read more...] about New NASA Map Shows Where You Are Most Likely To Die From Air Pollution
(UPDATED) Washington Navy Yard Killings – The Aftermath
UPDATE: The New York Times this morning echoed the helpless, sickening Groundhog Day feeling many Americans have after yet another mass gun tragedy. Reporting on the president’s remarks at yesterday’s memorial service for the Navy Yard shooting victims, the Times says: But the president appeared exasperated with the political system that he leads, admitting that … [Read more...] about (UPDATED) Washington Navy Yard Killings – The Aftermath
Book Review: ‘Lawrence In Arabia.’ How The British Double-Crossed The Arabs & Guaranteed Endless Regional Turmoil
History, one might presume, is an assemblage of facts, and the longer and more complex a particular history is the more facts there are. But facts are malleable, and it took me many years of history reading to come to understand that they too often are merely reflections of historians' perspectives -- the political axes they happen to grind. This may be no truer than in the … [Read more...] about Book Review: ‘Lawrence In Arabia.’ How The British Double-Crossed The Arabs & Guaranteed Endless Regional Turmoil
Immigration Reform – Plane Wreck at Los Gatos
For those who missed it, PBS ran a tribute to Woody Guthrie to celebrate his 100th birthday. Among the highlights was Ani DiFranco singing Deportee. The alternate title to the song is Plane Wreck at Los Gatos. It was written by Guthrie following the crash of a plane carrying 4 Americans and 28 Mexican deportees in Los Gatos Canyon, California. News media of the day, 1948, … [Read more...] about Immigration Reform – Plane Wreck at Los Gatos
Syria: Russian Embassy in Damascus Shelled
CBS News reports that a mortar round landed inside the Russian Embassy compound in Damascus today. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s response -- while accusing the rebels of the attack -- was surprisingly restrained saying that three workers were injured in the attack, but that the injuries were not life-threatening and providing no additional details, according to … [Read more...] about Syria: Russian Embassy in Damascus Shelled
(UPDATE)Terrorist Attack at Upscale Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya
UPDATE: The Washington Post reports that most of the hostages in the Nairobi mall standoff have been released, according to a Kenyan military spokesman: Kenyan security forces have swept into an upscale Nairobi mall in an effort to end a two-day standoff with heavily armed assailants that left 68 dead, and most of the hostages were rescued, according to … [Read more...] about (UPDATE)Terrorist Attack at Upscale Shopping Mall in Nairobi, Kenya
Video: Priest shocks wedding by berating videographer during vows
Once in a while you see a video that makes you wonder, "What planet is this guy FROM" -- and so we have one here. The scene: wedding. The event: right in the middle of the wedding vows a priest decides to chew out the videographer for -- shooting his video. Watch the bride and groom's faces. It's truly dismaying. Videographers are present at most wedding, bar mitzvahs, … [Read more...] about Video: Priest shocks wedding by berating videographer during vows
The Nairobi Mall terrorist attack: could it happen here?
I've long feared that malls are an easy target for a terrorist group, even with mall security in place at many malls. In my nonwriting incarnation I have done many events at malls and it's clear some have better security than others. The Daily Beast raises the issue of why Americans should be following and seriously pondering the attack in Kenya by a group affiliated with Al … [Read more...] about The Nairobi Mall terrorist attack: could it happen here?
Merkel wins in Germany, ‘grand coalition’ likely: exit polls
Merkel wins in Germany, 'grand coalition' likely: exit polls (via AFP) Chancellor Angela Merkel clinched a third term in German elections Sunday but will be forced to form an awkward coalition with her chief rivals to govern Europe's top economy, exit polls indicated. Voters rewarded Merkel, often called the world's most… … [Read more...] about Merkel wins in Germany, ‘grand coalition’ likely: exit polls
Knotty Republicans (Cartoon)
See great cartoons by all the top political cartoonists at http://cagle.com. To license this cartoon for your own site, visit http://politicalcartoons.com … [Read more...] about Knotty Republicans (Cartoon)
Grocery store at the top of the world
Grocery store at the top of the world (via GlobalPost) Enlarge TASIILAQ, Greenland — You can buy almost anything in Pilersuisoq, a modern two-story supermarket in this town of 2,000 people on the rugged east coast of the world's largest island. Past the glass doors plastered with posters advertising the… … [Read more...] about Grocery store at the top of the world
NRA’s La Pierre: there “weren’t enough good guys with guns” at Navy Yard
The carnage at the Navy Yard by gunman Aaron Alexis who shot to death 12 people has one lesson, according to NRA leader Wayne LaPierre: there "weren't enough good guys with guns." National Rifle Association leader Wayne LaPierre argued on NBC’s Meet the Press that “there weren’t enough good guys with guns" to confront the shooter responsible for last week's Washington … [Read more...] about NRA’s La Pierre: there “weren’t enough good guys with guns” at Navy Yard
59 murdered so far: Gunfire as Kenya forces battle to end mall siege
Gunfire as Kenya forces battle to end mall siege (via AFP) Kenyan troops backed by Israeli agents battled Sunday to end a siege in an upmarket shopping mall and free hostages held by Somali militants in an attack that has killed at least 59 people. Sporadic gunfire rang out as Kenyan security officials said… … [Read more...] about 59 murdered so far: Gunfire as Kenya forces battle to end mall siege
CNN’s John Avlon: GOP Trying to ‘Extort the President’
CNN's John Avlon cut away the nicities and just said it: the GOP is trying to extort the President. May I say "ditto?" (actually I have my take HERE about some of what is going on..). Watch for yourself HERE as Avlon, a leading voice for centrists, independents and moderates tells it like it is, … [Read more...] about CNN’s John Avlon: GOP Trying to ‘Extort the President’
Why terrorists struck at upscale Kenyan mall
Why terrorists struck at upscale Kenyan mall (+video) (via The Christian Science Monitor) A police officer takes cover outside a mall in Nairobi, Kenya, as gunmen attack the mall.(Ben Curtis/AP) Kenyan officials said Saturday they had tightened security across the country in the wake of a terrorist attack that has underscored the challenges… … [Read more...] about Why terrorists struck at upscale Kenyan mall
University of Alabama Removes a ‘Final Barrier’ in Nine Days
A link on Facebook posted by my sister who lives in Alabama took me the web site of The Crimson White (CW), the University of Alabama’s student newspaper. Once at the site, I could hardly believe the title of the story that was staring me in the face in the Year of Our Lord 2013: “The Final Barrier: 50 years later, segregation still exists.” In the story that starts with … [Read more...] about University of Alabama Removes a ‘Final Barrier’ in Nine Days
The GOP Endgame on Welfare “Reform”
Alex Pareene on Salon points out that the $40,000,000,000 in cuts to SNAP that the House GOP passed is just the logical continuation of the GOP view of the "welfare reform" of 1996. The events of that time have been examined and here's part of what has been found. The Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison published a report in 2006 on the … [Read more...] about The GOP Endgame on Welfare “Reform”
The Pope Makes the GOP Look Medieval
Primal prejudices are intractable, but American liberals are put to the test with a new Pope professing a large-hearted vision of the Catholic faith even as the Tea Party hunkers down in Washington to defend to the death its deep belief that the poor and the sick are unlovable and evil. Religion and politics collide in a spiritual train wreck. Those of rational bent are … [Read more...] about The Pope Makes the GOP Look Medieval
Hi-Tech Harvest
Hi-Tech Harvest by Peter Funt SALINAS, Calif. — It's possible that the weapons of choice to combat illegal immigration will turn out to be drones and robots. We're not talking about patrolling the borders with Mexico — although, in fact, drones are being tested there. The real breakthrough is in the fields, here in the Salinas Valley and elsewhere across the Salad Bowl … [Read more...] about Hi-Tech Harvest
What Are the Motives Behind Iran’s ‘Charm Offensive’? (Guest Voice)
What Are the Motives Behind Iran's 'Charm Offensive'? (via PBS News Hour) GWEN IFILL: So, what do President Rouhani's overtures to the United States mean? And how much change is actually happening inside Iran? For those answers, I'm joined by Haleh Esfandiari, director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center, and… … [Read more...] about What Are the Motives Behind Iran’s ‘Charm Offensive’? (Guest Voice)