WASHINGTON -- All right, now can we talk about climate change? After a year when the lower 48 states suffered the warmest temperatures, and the second-craziest weather, since record-keeping began? Apparently not. The climate change denialists -- especially those who manipulate the data in transparently bogus ways to claim that warming has halted or even reversed course … [Read more...] about Hot Enough for You?
What to Expect from a Post-Chavez Venezuela (Guest Voice)
What to Expect from a Post-Chavez Venezuela by Daniel J. Graeber It's unlikely that ailing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will return to power after missing his Thursday inauguration because of ongoing cancer treatment in Cuba. That leaves Vice President Nicolas Maduro in de facto power of a country that has moved further away from Washington and closer to rogue regimes … [Read more...] about What to Expect from a Post-Chavez Venezuela (Guest Voice)
JSTOR Issues Statement About Aaron Swartz’ Suicide
Jstor is the company that Aaron was alleged to have stolen thousands of pages of files from. Aaron took his life this week. He was 26 years old, in the bloom of youth. He'd suffered from depression for a long time. He was going to go to trial on several allegations of illegal activity in April. JSTOR aggregates literally hundreds of journal literary and research articles and … [Read more...] about JSTOR Issues Statement About Aaron Swartz’ Suicide
MIT President Issues Statement about Suicide of Aaron Swartz: Orders Review of MIT’s Role
MIT's President has issued a statement in the wake of the suicide of renowed programmer and web activist Aaron Swartz, who killed himself last week awaiting federal trial on 13 felony counts. To the members of the MIT community: Yesterday we received the shocking and terrible news that on Friday in New York, Aaron Swartz, a gifted young man well known and admired by … [Read more...] about MIT President Issues Statement about Suicide of Aaron Swartz: Orders Review of MIT’s Role
The Battle for Gun Control Rages On (Guest Cartoonist)
The battle for gun control rates on. Two cartoons: Of related interest: Sweeping new gun laws proposed by influential liberal think tank NRA President: Americans Are Buying Firearms Because They Fear Obama Like Obama, Emanuel pivots on guns Guns Don't Kill People, Gun Culture Does Mike Peters is recognized as one of our nation's most prominent cartoon artists … [Read more...] about The Battle for Gun Control Rages On (Guest Cartoonist)
U.S. Military Bets $20 Million On 500 Electric Vehicles For EV-To-Grid Initiative (Guest Voice)
U.S. Military Bets $20 Million On 500 Electric Vehicles For EV-To-Grid Initiative (via Clean Technica) Among the many (many, many) sustainable energy programs recently launched by the U.S. military, the Defense Department’s new military electric-vehicles-to-grid initiative is especially worth noting. With the announcement of a $20 million, 500-vehicle leasing … [Read more...] about U.S. Military Bets $20 Million On 500 Electric Vehicles For EV-To-Grid Initiative (Guest Voice)
India Arrests Six in New Bus Gang-Rape Case
India arrests six in new bus gang-rape case (via AFP) Six men have been arrested over the rape of a passenger on a coach in India, police said Sunday, weeks after the gang-rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi sparked nationwide protests. The victim had boarded the service to her in-laws' home in the northern state of Punjab when she was… … [Read more...] about India Arrests Six in New Bus Gang-Rape Case
Anger at Suicide of Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Grows
Anger at suicide of US Internet activist (via AFP) The death of prominent Internet freedom fighter Aaron Swartz, who took his own life at the age of 26 weeks before he faced trial, sparked grief and anger Sunday from online rights advocates. "Aaron did more than almost anyone to make the Internet a thriving ecosystem for open knowledge, and to keep… … [Read more...] about Anger at Suicide of Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Grows
More on RFK Jr’s JFK Assassination Comments
Yesterday we did this post about RFK, Jr. detailing his father's suspicions about who killed JFK. Two links: GO HERE to read about the coverage this got across the political spectrum. Then GO HERE to the main website on this -- one I suspect will be increasingly visited as we head to November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of JFK's murder. (VERY strange code appeared … [Read more...] about More on RFK Jr’s JFK Assassination Comments
Senator Barney Frank?
With it looking like Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts is going to leaving the Senate in order to become the new Secretary of State for the 2nd Obama administration, recently-retired Congressman Barney Frank is openly expressing interest in the job, with a number of progressive groups strongly supporting the move. For the progressive/liberal wing of the Democratic party, … [Read more...] about Senator Barney Frank?
Colin Powell: GOP Needs to do Political Soul Searching on “Deep Strain of Intolerance” (With Video)
I've often said and written that the views of former Secretary of State Colin Powell are dismissed at the political dismissers' peril because he does represent the views of many moderates -- polls show it, and when you talk to people who are moderates, centrists or independents his name frequently comes up. In fact, I've often said that Powell winds up saying what I've written … [Read more...] about Colin Powell: GOP Needs to do Political Soul Searching on “Deep Strain of Intolerance” (With Video)
NRA President: US Gun Lobby will ‘Defeat’ Assault Weapons Ban
US gun lobby will 'defeat' assault weapons ban (via AFP) The president of the top US firearms lobby said on Sunday that his organization has enough backing from lawmakers to defeat a plan to outlaw assault weapons and sales of high-capacity ammunition clips. David Keene, president of the National Rifle Association, told CNN's "State of the Union," such … [Read more...] about NRA President: US Gun Lobby will ‘Defeat’ Assault Weapons Ban
The Same Story With A New Twist
In his book, Hegemony Or Survival, Noam Chomsky argued that George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq was merely the next step in an imperial grand strategy which was drawn up in Washington at the end of World War II: The imperial grand strategy asserts the right of the United States to undertake "preventative war" at will: Preventative not preemptive. Preemptive war might … [Read more...] about The Same Story With A New Twist
JSTOR, the Biz Aaron Swartz Allegedly Hacked
Firstly, may Aaron rest in peace and may his family and friends be comforted regarding his passing from this world --he was such a young man [age 26] who had such strong ideas for this new world of digital everything everywhere. He had struggled with depression for many years. And as I was reading about his life at the New York Times, I saw that he was accused of "stealing … [Read more...] about JSTOR, the Biz Aaron Swartz Allegedly Hacked
Seeking Justice In A World That Has Lost Its Way
I spent much of Saturday trying to reconcile two very different approaches to justice meted out by the Obama Administration. The first is old (mid-December) news: British bank HSBC launders money for at least a decade and is fined four weeks earnings. I learned about it Friday from The Daily Show. Too big to indict: ... for years, HSBC had also moved tainted money … [Read more...] about Seeking Justice In A World That Has Lost Its Way
Suicide: Falling After A Valiant Struggle to Live
TEMPORARY GENERAL DEPRESSION NOT THE SAME AS DEEP DEPRESSION WHICH TAKES UP LONG TERM RESIDENCE Sometimes people feel depressed because their team did not win. Or because they gained weight. Or because they're going through a divorce. Or because they lost a promotion. Sometime we might feel melancholy to varying degrees, and in a way, it is a mist carried by many a modern … [Read more...] about Suicide: Falling After A Valiant Struggle to Live
Official Statement of Aaron Swartz’s Family and Partner
Here's the official statement of Aaron Swartz' family and partner: Official Statement from the family and partner of Aaron Swartz: Our beloved brother, son, friend, and partner Aaron Swartz hanged himself on Friday in his Brooklyn apartment. We are in shock, and have not yet come to terms with his passing. Aaron’s insatiable curiosity, creativity, and brilliance; … [Read more...] about Official Statement of Aaron Swartz’s Family and Partner
Aaron Swartz Video Shows What We Lost: “F2C2012: Aaron Swartz Keynote – “How we stopped SOPA”
Talk about loss -- a loss of someone who was beloved as a human being, a generation loss (exactly how many changes could he have nudged along if he had lived?), and a cyberspace loss. Websites are filled with remembrances of Aaron Swartz, who we learned committed suicide weeks before going on trial in what is considered a highly controversial case that Swartz's friends and … [Read more...] about Aaron Swartz Video Shows What We Lost: “F2C2012: Aaron Swartz Keynote – “How we stopped SOPA”
Gallup Poll: Congress’ 2012 Rating the Lowest in History
In looking at the latest Gallup Poll, you might say the 2012 Congress was flush with victory -- if you mean flush as in a flushing toilet. It got the lowest ranking. Ever. In history. Americans give Congress a 14% job approval rating as the new year begins, the lowest since September of last year and down from 18% in November and December. The disapproval rating for … [Read more...] about Gallup Poll: Congress’ 2012 Rating the Lowest in History
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Says Evidence Strong JFK Killed By More than Lone Gunman
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has now said what many Americans have suspected and some historians have at times hinted: his father Robert F. Kennedy had serious doubts about whether President John F. Kennedy was killed by a lone gunman -- and suspected the possible involvement of organized crime. The Daily Mail reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is convinced that a lone gunman … [Read more...] about Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Says Evidence Strong JFK Killed By More than Lone Gunman