My views on the sinkhole in Assumption parish (county) Louisiana sinkhole have evolved. I still regard it as a monumental disaster in the making exacerbated by federal planning. That area has tremendous salt deposits which are commercially mined by drilling and sending water in to subsequently draw out brine. Afterwards the empty salt caverns (about twice the size of the Empire state building) are leased out for storage.
Press TV – July 27, 2013
Brazilians have taken to the streets of the two megacities of Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo to protest the costly week-long visit of Pope Francis to the country.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators faced off with 1.5 million Catholic pilgrims in Rio’s Copacabana beach, where visiting Pope was wrapping up a massive ceremony marking World Youth Day.
Saudi Arabia signs deal with Israeli army to buy weapons for militants fighting Syria govt.’
Credit Image: islamicinvitationturkey.com
Press TV
Saudi Arabia reportedly reaches a deal with Israeli army to buy Israeli weapons for militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.
Party allegiances apparently mean little in the U.S. when it comes to the debate over domestic government surveillance. A study released this morning by the Pew Research Center, a major U.S. polling agency, revealed that 57 percent of Democrats approve of government spying, along with 44 percent of Republicans. “There is a real division within [...]
Webster G. Tarpley on INN World Report Radio with Tom Kiely I.N.N. World Report July 26, 2013 [download audio]
Leon Fleisher plays a piece we've heard a lot (most recently endorsed by mezzo Susan Graham!),"Clair de lune" ("Moonlight") from Debussy's Suite bergamasque, from this July 1956 Epic Debussy-Ravel LP.by KenNo, no, Fleisher hasn't died -- at least not that I know.
The prayer day provided a respite from the current surge in violence. Overall, at least eight people were killed and three more were wounded. One of the casualties was a Sudanese man.
By Cora Currier | ProPublica | July 26, 2013
In a major national security speech this spring, President Obama said again and again that the U.S. is at war with “Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and their associated forces.”
So who exactly are those associated forces? It’s a secret.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie recently trashed Sen. Rand Paul, and other members of the more freedom-friendly corner of the GOP (like Rep. Justin Amash and his noble effort to reign in the NSA).
Lighthouse Park at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island -- we'll be there tomorrow evening for the Municipal Art Society's walking tour, Roosevelt Island: The Northern Route.by KenI haven't been writing much about my late-spring and summer wanderings, but after my enforced decommissioning in late April and May, I've been getting my rhythm back, and having some especially good times outside Manhattan.
Egyptians did what Germans should’ve done long ago
By Dr. Ashraf Ezzat
What happened on June 30 in Egypt, whom the Egyptians proudly insist on calling the second wave of their revolution, was not a thing that erupted on the spur of the moment; rather it was due to a snowballing buildup of collective dissatisfaction and fear over the last year.
By ALISON WEIR | CounterPunch | July 26, 2013
The New York Times recently published a news brief, reporting that Israel is going to re-investigate an incident in which an American citizen, Tristan Anderson, was permanently maimed.
United States European Command
July 26, 2013
Aviation Detachment Deployment to Poland Shows U.S. Commitment to Europe
General Philip Breedlove
As many readers have already surmised, the “GCM-Q” model that visually out-performed the Met Office CMIP5 contribution (HadGEM2) originated with Guy Callendar, and, in particular, Callendar 1938 (QJRMS).
By Cory Doctorow | boingboing | July 25, 2013
Back in June, the Independent broke a huge story about a scandal whereby the UK Serious Organised Crime Agency sat on evidence of widespread use of phone-hacking and other dirty tricks by rich people, top-flight law-firms, telecoms companies and blue-chip firms.
There are a number of garden variety Democrats-- and worse-- running for Ed Markey's old House seat (MA-05), but there is only one strong progressive in the race: state Rep. Carl Sciortino, who was endorsed by Blue America last February.
International Solidarity Movement | July 26, 2013
Hebron, Occupied Palestine – Last night at 10 pm, a live ammunition bullet was fired at the headquarters of the human rights organisation Youth Against Settlements (YAS) in Hebron.
The Jewish control over our governments and the media is indeed supreme, and it does makes one wonder what ever happens to those who openly either criticize or oppose this control...For this article, I want to present the following very important piece that comes from the "Tomato Bubble website, at www.tomatobubble.com.
WorldTribune | July 25, 2013
WASHINGTON — The United States has been paying thousands of Syrian police officers who deserted the regime of President Bashar Assad.
Polish Radio
July 25, 2013
Joint US-Polish military training to continue
US budget cuts will not affect the joint American-Polish military training programme, the US’s highest-ranking general insisted on Wednesday.
Peter King, Steve Israel-- Princesses: Long IslandMonday, Steve Benen, set out to define exactly what progressives mean when they say Republicans are sabotaging the Affordable Health Act. Their nihilism and class war are unlike anything since the Civil War.
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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Roger Martin du Gard: Selections on war
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Roger Martin du Gard
From Summer 1914 (1936)
Translated by Stuart Gilbert
MEMO | July 26, 2013
Netanyahu hopes that his “Marshall Plan” would see the emergence of a new Arab middle class.
RT | July 26, 2013
An arrest order has been issued for ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi over suspected links to Hamas. State media reports the Muslim Brotherhood leader has already been questioned and confronted with the evidence.
Thousands of Syrian police who joined the rebels are on U.S. payroll
Syrian police armored vehicle in Homs. /AFP/Anwar Amro
Special to WorldTribune.com
WASHINGTON — The United States has been paying thousands of Syrian
police officers who deserted the regime of President Bashar Assad.
It’s now painfully clear that the president has put out a contract on the Fourth Amendment. And at the Capitol, the hierarchies of both parties are stuffing it into the trunks of their limousines, so each provision can be neatly fitted with cement shoes and delivered to the bottom of the Potomac. Some other Americans [...]
No one knows if President Morsi is dead or alive. His family hasn't heard from him since he was arrested by the military in the coup. There have been rumors that he will be tried on various charges but he hasn't been charged with anything yet and the fascist dictatorship claims its holding him for "his own protection"-- if he's alive.As soon as I heard the Egyptian military was likely to take the side of the anti-Morsi protesters, I sensed a set-up. And sure enough, the day after the coup, the impossible long lines at Cairo gas stations that were driving people insane just disappeared.
At least 55 people were killed and 89 more were wounded in today's attacks. Coffee shops were a focus of the violence.
by KenWhen I looked this morning at Aaron Blake and Ruth Tam's "The best Carlos Danger tweets" on washingtonpost.com's "The Fix" blog, I swear there was on
Nasrallah: EU giving “legal cover” for an Israeli war on Lebanon
(Al-Akhbar)
( Beirut, Lebanon) The European Union is paving the way for Israel to justify a war on Lebanon, Hezbollah’s secretary general said late Wednesday, two days after the 28 member states issued a decision to put Hezbollah’s military wing on its terror list.
Stars and Stripes
July 25, 2013
Contract awarded for missile interceptor site in Romania
By Steven Beardsley
Standard Missile-3
Do you ever go to congressional town halls? I actually do. 3 summers ago I reported on one I went to in Alhambra, which turned into one of the first of the crazy Tea Party anti-healthcare set-ups. It was Adam Schiff's town hall and the local crackpot right was determined to disrupt it.
Robert Golan-Vilella at The National Interest notes that the government has a long list of dangerous enemies threatening America, all of whom fit under the language of the 2001 AUMF. But…that list is classified.
US Navy fleet in Asia-Pacific
One of the predictable consequences of Obama’s Asia-Pivot is that, by boosting support to all of China’s U.S.-allied neighbors, those countries are emboldened to stand up to China as an enemy and China is likewise emboldened to counter the onslaught. Needless to say, this makes conflict more likely.
By JAMES ROTHENBERG | CounterPunch | July 25, 2013
Whatever our opinion of Edward Snowden, if we’re fair we see it being formed from a neutral perspective. This is because he was, until recently, a complete unknown. Snowden’s antagonist, the United States Government (USG), occupies the established part of this relationship in our minds.
In the aftermath of the Amash Rebellion, there are two new parties in Congress: the authoritarians and the Americans. The vote on Rep. Justin Amash’s LIBERT-E Act, which would have gutted the National Security Agency’s phone records dragnet, drew a clear line of demarcation that will only widen in the coming months as civil libertarians [...]
When the Democrats controlled the White House, the House and, briefly, the Senate, did they raise the minimum wage to the point where someone could call it a living wage? Not that I recall. But now that they know it's impossible to do because of an obstructionist Republican Congress-- and with the midterm election campaigns kicking off-- they're making a loud ruckus.
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North Atlantic Treaty Organization
July 25, 2013
Opening remarks
by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the joint press point with the Minister of Defence of Italy, Mr. Mario Mauro
Allied Joint Forces Command Naples
Minister, thank you very much for your hospitality and for the excellent discussion today.
Al-Akhbar | July 25, 2013
Israel revealed on Wednesday plans for a sprawling railway system across occupied Palestinian territories, a move which has been rejected by the Palestinian Authority, local media reported.
Several months back, I watched and listened with absolute disgust as several individuals in what is supposed to be this "truth movement" do their utmost to destroy another individual, Zander.. aka.. Zioncrimefactory....
