June 2011
2 posts
Jimmy Carter calls for end to global War on Drugs →
Most underrated president ever
TY Wikileaks
TY wikileaks for this one:
“Contractors for Fruit of the Loom, Hanes and Levi’s worked in close concert with the US Embassy when they aggressively moved to block a minimum wage increase for Haitian assembly zone workers, the lowest-paid in the hemisphere, according to secret State Department cables.
”...the factory owners refused to pay 62 cents per hour, or $5 per day, as a measure...
May 2011
2 posts
WikiLeaks: Osama bin Laden killing: Information... →
mikehudack:
bah-humbug:
mikehudack:
Damning evidence that Wikileaks really can damage American and international security in a meaningful way. For those of you who consider Wikileaks an unambiguous force for good, consider this. It could have led to bin Laden getting away again.
This document could not have provided any actionable information about Bin Laden’s whereabouts. Let’s not go...
WikiLeaks: Osama bin Laden killing: Information... →
mikehudack:
Damning evidence that Wikileaks really can damage American and international security in a meaningful way. For those of you who consider Wikileaks an unambiguous force for good, consider this. It could have led to bin Laden getting away again.
This document could not have provided any actionable information about Bin Laden’s whereabouts. Let’s not go overboard...
March 2011
1 post
February 2011
1 post
Egypt
It is a good thing Obama backed the protracted transition plan for Mubarak, what with him stepping down and all. Sometimes I feel like this whole everyone’s playing checkers while Obama is playing chess thing is 99.9% mythology and .1% hope.
January 2011
1 post
On Daley
The comments section on the NYT Caucus blog’s post about Daley becoming Obama’s new Chief of Staff is spot on:
I have been very concerned that the interests of investment banks have not been sufficiently represented in this administration. The appointment of a current executive from JP Morgan Chase can redress this imbalance.
David H. Rockville, MD
…ad infinitum.
November 2010
3 posts
Colorado Prepares Tough Regulations on Medical... →
continuum:
DENVER—Colorado state regulators are putting the final touches on a fat stack of rules aimed at monitoring, recording and tracking every aspect of the booming medical-marijuana industry, from seed to sale.
On the one hand, it legitimizes medical marijuana in Colorado. On the other, it is incredibly intrusive into the lives of patients, overstepping the boundaries of medical...
“Americans can no longer afford to underwrite a government that does not work. A...”
– Andrew Bacevich, The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism.
August 2010
25 posts
Gulf Oil Spill News Recap
I’ve been meaning to post a lot of the stories that broke regarding the Gulf oil spill but time got away from me, so I figured I’d do so now while I still have the time. Even though other more important stories like a certain community center have captured the public’s attention and the spill is now ranked 5th in news coverage (see photo), some of the most explosive developments...
“Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of...”
– Winston Churchill (via bushranger) (via nathanielpaul) (via lrn2liberty) (via thedailyfiona) (via continuum)
“The unnatural and increasingly rapid growth of the Feeble-Minded and Insane classes, coupled as it is with a steady restriction among all the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks,...
BP Oil Spill: Kindra Arnesen Venice LA Needs to... →
Kindra Arnesen is a southern Louisiana resident turned activist we saw at the town hall meeting a few weeks ago with Secretary Mabus. She has the unique distinction of being one of the few members of the public to be given full security clearance from BP to observe the oil spill response firsthand, making her perspective incredibly valuable. She confirms in this video suspicion about the...
What happened to Gulf oil spill? Rosy portrait was... →
University researchers estimate 79% of the oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster remains in the Gulf of Mexico, defying official estimates by the federal government. I can think of no way of handling this crisis any worse than trying to sweep it under the rug. Waters were reopened for shrimping yesterday.
“Public employees and their unions have contributed more money to the 2010...”
– -K Street Editor Timothy P. Carney (via washingtonexaminer) (via nomosshere) (via ducksqueak) (via continuum)
Somehow I feel all like the number of federal, state, municipal, and local government employees, including people in their unions > oil company employees. But I can’t back that...
“Prior to World War II, the Nazis practiced eugenics with the open approval of...”
– Edwin Black, War Against the Weak. Proving already to be a chilling read.
2 tags
2 tags
Nowhere to run in Pakistan →
After being exposed humanitarian crises in the Gulf, both the oil spill and the still raw scars of Katrina, it is hard not to pay attention now to disasters occurring the world over. There is currently serious flooding in Pakistan, and the situation has prompted large-scale evacuations. It was one thing to witness the aftermath of a natural disaster in the heavily developed United States, I...
1 tag
2 tags
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July 2010
4 posts
1 tag
Scientists find oil/dispersant mix making its way... →
Marine biologists started finding orange blobs under the translucent shells of crab larvae in May, and have continued to find them “in almost all” of the larvae they collect, all the way from Grand Isle, Louisiana, to Pensacola, Fla. — more than 300 miles of coastline — said Harriet Perry, a biologist with the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast...
2 tags
Gorillaz in Damascus
NPR has a stream of the Gorillaz playing the several centuries-old Citadel in Damascus in an East meets West all-star event.
Oil Spill Crisis
Next week I will be embarking on a trip to the Gulf of Mexico to volunteer and help gather stories about how the BP spill has affected the people of Louisiana. Throughout the week, I will be posting pictures and snippits about my time there here on my tumblr. Feel free to also follow my twitter account, where I’ll be providing more regular updates via tweets. The entire trip is made...
“People ask: ‘What are we doing there?’” Gorbachev observed....”
– Moscow, November 1986, from Steve Coll’s Ghost Wars.
It is simply stunning the degree to which the United States’ experience in Afghanistan mirrors the Soviet Union’s just over two decades ago. Ironically, if it weren’t for the outpouring of clandestine funding and weapons...
June 2010
1 post
WatchJimmy Buffet came into the store the yesterday, it was p. sweet.
May 2010
1 post
“We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as...”
– FDR, 1936
April 2010
7 posts
For the Trees (Return) — Matmos
Naughty by Nature — Hip Hop Hooray
March 2010
9 posts
Name of detainee that froze to death in CIA black... →
The name of detainee who died in the famed secret CIA prison, “the Salt Pit,” near Kabul, Afghanistan, has finally been disclosed by the AP, who has confirmed the name with “several other former and current officials” familiar with the case. Gul Rahman was captured by US agents and Pakistani security forces during a midnight raid on October 29, 2002, and was eventually...