---

01-03-09

• Beyond Bailouts: On the Politics of Education After Neoliberalism (truthout) What did Ronald Reagan unleash on the world by pandering to his greedy plutocrat base? Possibly far worse than any of us have yet envisioned. It's far from over.
• One activist CAN make a difference: 27-yr-old student land-auction meddler has a new plan (commondreams). University of Utah student Tim DeChristopher explains how he “bought” 22,000 acres of land in an attempt to save the property from drilling (democracynow video).
• Project Censored's # 3 story for 2009: InfraGard: The FBI Deputizes Business (projectcensored). Thousands of businessmen are spying on fellow Americans for the FBI and DHS (Homeland Security). In return they receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public gets them, and even before some elected officials. One of the various perks: members have permission to shoot to kill with legal impunity in the event of martial law. That's just great! How many of the internet-based companies we routinely do business with are eagerly passing on our information to Big Brother? Local businesses where we shop and talk? When will it be our next-door neighbor? The mailman (zdnet)? The fireman (watchdog)? Bush's and Rove's Nazi family connections are bleeding through, I fear (commondreams). Rotten apples truly do fall close to the tree.
• Some researchers are now hypothesizing that an asteroid impact 12,900 years ago could explain the extinction of North America's giant ice age mammals and even the Clovis people, who then were established in parts of North America. (iht). It's gratifying to see IHT correctly using the term hypothesis to describe this notion, rather than the commonly misused term theory. In science the two terms have distinct meanings that the general public usually does not appreciate, thus creating considerable confusion among creationists and those undecideds casually looking at their bronze-age arguments. In common usage, people say theory when what they really mean is notion, or unproven idea. To a scientist, however, it is the hypothesis that is the unproven idea, and it often takes a lot of experimenting to finally determine the correctness of an hypothesis. Moreover, it takes a lot of tested and proven hypotheses to finally establish a theory. For the scientist a theory is the organized structure where everything that is finally known, understood and settled about a matter is housed. Quite a difference, huh? - Oh, and by the way, you talk funny. I've got a theory about you, pal.
• Flashback--Slavery Is Alive and Well in the U.S. (alternet)
• Alaskans passionately lust for their own permafrost socialism (mcclatchydc). Remember Republicans' and Theocratia Palin's hypocritical whining about Obama's "socialist" (or was it "Marxist") plans to redistribute wealth downward--that is, when there still was some wealth available to redistribute? (Olbermann, youtube)
• Wall Street Up on First Trading Day of 2009 (reuters). You want market directional indicators? Ok. First day. First week. First month. - Economists who use obviously flawed models to find reasons to be optimistic, saying the worst may soon be over (iht). Oh the other hand, Nouriel Roubini at New York University, who called the 2008 collapse correctly, expects "a deep and protracted contraction lasting at least through the end of 2009," adding that in 2010 the recovery may be so weak "that it will feel terrible even if the recession is technically over." I'll trust the guy who's been right, rather than a bunch of economists who are paid to be optimistic and have been wrong.
• The 111th Congress will convene next week (ap). Will they be as destructive to the foundations of our democracy as prior congresses? Can a congressman really smell money a mile away, hermetically sealed and buried 100 feet underground?
• Israel's righteous fury and its victims in Gaza (electronicintifada). Is Israel gradually becoming like its former Nazi oppressors? The victim becomes the abuser. - Israel launches ground invasion of Gaza (guardian.co.uk) (cnn) - Civilians take brunt of 7th day of Gaza offensive (malaysiastar)
• Thousands of shoes litter Miami freeway (mcclatchydc). Beginning of a movement? With more Republicans now leaving Congress and the Bush Crime Gang leaving the White House on January 20, I guess one could happily conclude that this January the world is indeed having a desperately needed bowel movement.
• Double Open Star Cluster in Perseus (apod)

---

01-02-09

• Crawford shops marking down Bush memorabilia (theaustralian). Is it time to pick up a few Bush gewgaws for the long term? Maybe they'll become collectors items like Nazi trinkets are now. Don't forget to include a Turd Blossom bobblehead or two.
• Portland, Oregon now the largest US city with an openly gay mayor (oregonlive). Way to go, Sam!
• Crescent Moon and Brilliant Venus (apod)

---

01-01-09

• One year in 40 seconds (youtube)
• Having handed Bush since 2001 nearly everything he ever wanted for dismantling what might have still been left of our dying Democratic form of government, Democrat leaders now act tough and bloviate about not seating tainted Illinois governor's choice, Roland Burris, to fill Obama's vacated seat (latimes). Rather than consider Burris on his merits, senate leaders have armed police standing ready to bar him from the senate floor. Give me a break! These preposterous milquetoast Democrats look completely ridiculous in this spectacle of their own making now that Blagojevich has called their bluff. These light bulbs would rather force a special election in Illinois--one that they just might lose--than accept a Democrat appointed by Blagojevich now that Bush-appointed Republican prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has held up Blago's dirty linen for the whole world to snicker at.
• Chalmers Johnson discussing his three books on the overreach and decline of the American military empire--Blowback, Sorrows of Empire, Nemesis (video.google). Johnson, a professor emeritus of the University of California, San Diego, remarks that if you have a little money, it probably wouldn't be a terrible idea to invest in a home away from home up in Canada.
• Palestinian Massacre in 6th Day - Israel destroys Palestinian government buildings in Gaza (reuters) - 4 Israeli and Israeli-Arabs dead. - 400 Palestinians dead. Anything out of balance here? Israel rationalizes that if it takes out 30 nearby innocents while successfully killing one target, everything is fine and dandy--fully justified. Somewhat similar to US military thinking in its modern-day massacres of innocents from high flying bombers. Therefore, 4,221 US troops dead, 100,000+ innocent Iraqis killed as collateral damage. This in no way accounts for the remainder of the nearly 1,500,000 Iraqis killed in all ways as a result of George W. Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq. Israeli troops dance as they await the ground invasion of Gaza (mcclatchydc). Whatever became of the thundering drumbeat? Q: What helped the rise of Hamas? A: US and Israel policies (mcclatchydc)
• Glenn Greenwald, 2008 Another brutal year for liberty (salon)
• Annie (1982) - "It's A Hard Knock Life" (youtube) - "Tomorrow" (youtube)

---

12-31-08

• "Auld Lang Syne" - Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston (youtube)
• Researchers unlock secrets of 1918 flu pandemic - a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia (reuters). Four licensed drugs can fight flu but the viruses regularly mutate into resistant forms -- just as bacteria evolve into forms that evade antibiotics.
• Pueblo, Colorado smoking ban lowers heart attacks by 41% (reuters)
• Episcopal Church Splits Over Gay Equality (thenation). Enough already! This has been going on for years. Get on with the split and get on with life. Let the knuckle draggers join Chief Knuckle Dragger Peter Akinola (nothing racial implied) of Nigeria and wallow joyously in their hate and self-righteousness. Let those left behind breathe deeply a little fresh air for once without their departed brethren.
• Project Censored's # 2 story for 2009: Security and Prosperity Partnership: Militarized NAFTA (projectcensored). The Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP)—headquartered in Washington—aims to integrate the three nations into a single political, economic, and security bloc. This is the North American Union (NAU) that is being set up with little media coverage and no public debate. Some opponents fear the three nations could eventually be folded together similarly to the European Union, with a common currency, the Amero. Ron Paul has advanced this scenario (youtube). Obama denies it is happening (youtube). Will the US be forced into this marriage by Bush's profligacy, driving the value of the dollar so low the people have no recourse but to accept the change? With eight years to go, will Obama be the usher?
• New Year spectacular in Sydney (guardian.co.uk)
• So Help Me God: Northern California Atheist Targets Inauguration (msnbc) (politicalticker). California plaintiff wants equality for all by getting religious mythology out of The People's inauguration ceremony. Sam Harris eloquently articulates his case for not being a theist (video.google 1hr10min). Atheist comedian Pat Condell sounds off (youtube 6min).
• No Furnaces but Heat Aplenty in ‘Passive Houses (nyt)
• Israel rejects 48-Hour Cease-Fire Plan (guardian.co.uk), Ah, so many Palestinians yet to murder, so little time. 390 Palestinians dead since Saturday. Oh, but I guess they were all militant rocketeers, right? Wrong, falling bombs don't discriminate. - Israel prohibits Palestinian students from studying either in the West Bank or abroad, then bombs Gaza's leading university (counterpunch). Presidents of American colleges and universities remain notably silent. - Israel's War Crimes (thenation). The Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip represent severe and massive violations of international humanitarian law as defined in the Geneva Conventions - Cynthia McKinney to Obama: “Say Something” About Gaza Humanitarian Crisis (blackagendareport) Israel has a history of very short wars. Maybe if Obama waits a few more days, the murdering will be finished -- for now. It just wouldn't do to say anything that might upset our companion Israel. Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy (democracynow on youtube). Jimmy Carter pounds Israel on Palestinian apartheid (youtube)
• The Sky in Motion (apod video) Position cursor over image, right-click the start-pause button to enlarge it to full-screen or to later reduce it.

---

12-30-08

• US government still investigating the 2003 Columbia space shuttle disaster (nyt). Where are the continuing government investigations of the 9/11 coup d'état?
• Obama takes time out from his vacation to condemn Illinois governor for filling his vacant senate seat, but has no comment on Israel's barbaric ongoing attacks on Gaza's general population.. Now, that's change we can believe in! But maybe he's just thinking it all over for awhile before making some very humane, judicious remarks later. Does anyone remember that Obama rushed directly from his nomination in Denver to speak next morning at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington?
• Fuel Efficiency Standards by Country Table from An Inconvenient Truth - US automakers should be forced to improve mileage efficiency drastically or be sold to foreign automakers who will. And auto-industry-shill Congressman John Dingell should be unceremoniously kicked out of the halls of congress for fighting improved fuel efficiency standards in congress for so many years. The damage he has done to this country and the planet is immeasurable.
• Bush was as ignorant of foreign affairs as Sarah Palin (ap) - More White House oral history (vanityfair) - Republicans have tragically proven themselves too criminally irresponsible to ever hold political power in this country again -- at ANY level. (IMHO)
• Over One Million Violent Iraqi Deaths Caused by US Occupation (projectcensored), (orb) surpassing the Rwandan genocide of 1994. (Project Censored's #1 Censored Story for 2009) These one million deaths, along with those of the fallen soldiers of the so-called "coalition of the willing" are on the heads of every one of the five proactive Republican supreme court justices/operatives who placed George W. Bush on the throne, and every neocon and willing or frightened politician who aided and abetted Bush in the criminal actions that shoved this nation into such an unholy misadventure. Bush says he sleeps very well at night. Would he if his life were hanging in the balance in a trial for his heinous abuse of power?
• Project Censored's Top 25 Censored Stories for 2009 (projectcensored)
• Scientific American's 10 Biggest Science Stories of 2008 (sciam)
• Pakistan says India moves troops toward shared border (cbcnews)
• Palestinian Lives for Israeli Votes (Tariq Ali, guardian.co.uk) - George Washington's warnings and U.S. policy towards Israel (Glenn Greenwald, salon) Beltway orthodoxy: whatever Israel does is absolutely right and the US must fully and unconditionally support them. 70% of Americans reject this viewpoint. Congress ignores this fact just as they did similarly high numbers of Americans who wanted us out of Iraq. George Washington: "The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave" producing "a variety of evils." Glenn's one must-read article on the Israeli-Gaza conflict: Gaza the logic of colonial power (guardian.co.uk) - Why Are Palestinians Expected to Do What Americans Would Never Do? (firedoglake)
• Obama is considering another cash stimulus of $140 billion (ap), going to US workers who actually still have jobs, even though history shows such giveaways do NOT stimulate the economy, because the money more often than not goes to purposes other than buying new 'stuff'. Also, since so much of our new 'stuff' is imported from 3rd-world countries where workers earn pennies for their labor, much of the money that is spent on our new 'stuff' actually goes to foreign businesses and to wealthy US owners of foreign businesses, not generally to US workers, thus effectively exporting the stimulus money while further enriching some retail owners such as Walmart's Walton family, who already collectively have as much money as the US's poorest 120 million people combined. The middle class has indeed been financing the plutocrats who pull our strings in almost every significant way. Since that oligarchy also pulls the strings of government, they have also engineered the tax code through Republican and Democratic administration alike to favor themselves and shift to everyone else the financial burden of running our country and maintaining our bloated and very expensive military empire. Obama promised repeatedly to change Bush's tax pampering of the rich. Now, he has already indicated he plans to renege on part of that promise by allowing Bush's misbegotten tax giveaways to continue undisturbed, rather than end them as he promised and use the money for sorely needed domestic programs. This $140 billion will not produce many new desperately needed jobs. It will add pocket money to those Americans lucky enough to still have payroll deductions in their lives. On the other hand, give financial relief to ALL lower-middle-class and poor Americans - YES. They will spend it immediately on the necessities of life. Start turning the tax code back against those well-heeled oligarches who have raped the middle class and the US Treasury for decades - YES. Make the tax code equitable for all - YES. Will Obama's handlers ever allow him to do that? Do T-Rexes still eat dogs in San Diego?
• AC/DC Levi's 501 Ads (youtube Straight - youtube Gay)
• Earth view from the ISS (apod)

---

12-29-08

• Bush's one-time best choice to lead Homeland Security, Bernie Kerik, just can't stay out of trouble. He would have fit into the Bush regime so well. (nyt)
• In service to their uber-rich paymasters, Bush regime has stripped workers of basic protections and slowed OSHA (lasvegassun)
  
• Chinese tainted toys, the tainted milk, the tainted pet food, the tainted food products, the tainted pharmaceuticals, the tainted furniture, the generally low quality products and now the tainted drywall (tcpalm) Emitting dangerous fumes
• Christopher Hitchens has such a way with words Rick Warren's Role in the Inauguration (slate)
• Republican Obstructionist Games Mitch McConnell Puts the Brakes on Stimulus Plan (wapo)
• Mayday Over Ohio Another Rove Enemy [Mike Connell] Goes Down in Flames (bloggernewsnetwork) (rawstory) - Rove's IT Guru Warned of Sabotage Before Fatal Plane Crash; Was Set to Testify (democracynow video) (youtube) (velvetrevolution) (computerworld)
• Another cave-in to his elite handlers Obama was wrong to scuttle his windfall oil-profits tax plan (Wayne Madsen, grandforksherald)
• MoveOn members moved by basic survival fears over need for full civil rights and the rule of law (politico) (yglesias) Members chose universal health care, economic recovery and job creation, building a green economy/stopping climate change, and end the war in Iraq over holding the Bush administration accountable, fighting for gay rights and LGBT equality, and reforming campaigns and elections. Who's listening to whom?
• Broadcast networks have stopped sending full-time correspondents to Iraq (nyt) (thinkprogress)
• Reaffirmed yet one more time Premarital abstinence pledges are ineffective and harmful (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health) (wapo) (thinkprogress) - Teenagers Who Make Such Promises Are Just as Likely to Have Sex, and Less Likely to Use Protection. [This finding has been around for years.]
• From the biggest brother country in the West, Internet Censorship?- Websites could get cinema-style ratings (reuters) - "to better police the Internet and protect children from harmful and offensive material"
• Chile says Chaiten volcano still poses danger (reuters) - Chile has the second largest and most active chain of volcanoes in the world after Indonesia.
• Bird flu found in poultry in northern Vietnam (reuters) - The H5N1 strain has killed 247 people globally among the 391 confirmed cases of infection since 2003, according to the World Health Organization. Vietnam has 106 infections, the second highest number of cases among 15 countries with known human cases after Indonesia. Very high risk of bird flu returning during the winter and spring in northern Vietnam. The H5N1 strain seems to thrive best in low temperature.
• Wal-Mart to start selling 4 ($197) and 8 gigabyte ($297) iPhones (reuters) - Plus 2-year contract with AT&T
• Obama looks to ease 46-year-old sanctions a little against Cuba (reuters)
• Pakistan urges "de-escalation" with India (reuters)
• Israeli Attacks Kill Over 310 in Gaza in One of Israel’s Bloodiest Attacks on Palestinians Since 1948 (democracynow video) - Protests throughout Europe and Middle East against Israeli Blitzkrieg against Gaza population (afp) - A Hundred Eyes for an Eye (Norman Solomon, afterdowningstreet) - Why to they fight? (Map of shrinking Palestinian borders) - Qumsiyeh A Human Rights Web (Links Page)
• The mamas and the papas - California dreamin (youtube)
  
• NGC 1569 Starburst in a Dwarf Irregular Galaxy (apod)