Jonathan Head of BBC does disingenuous hit piece on Thai conflict.

It was two years ago that the name Julian Assange was skipping over holiday tables, provoking shouts of "traitor" or toasts of tribute in varying degree and vigor. The word "peace" never seemed so far away in 2010, but Assange, in shaking the very norms of government secrecy and duplicity, opened doors to a new, […]

Religion is a weird thing and I'm not comfortable with government getting involved in even recognizing it as legitimate. If people want to worship a sky god or a rock or ancestors or whatever, they should be free to do that-- unless they harm others and commit crimes. Mormonism is obviously nonsense from start to finish but is it any more ridiculous and any more of a hustler tradition than any other religion? Maybe.Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Clark Waddoups, a right-wing Mormon freak who George W.

In this month’s edition of Film, Literature and the New World Order, Tom Secker joins us to talk about Trollhunter, a 2010 Norwegian found footage mockumentary about a secret government agency that is dedicated to disposing of (and concealing evidence of) trolls. We talk about the mockumentary genre, conspiritainment, how socialist societies deal with national security threats, and much more.
For those with limited bandwidth, CLICK HERE to download a smaller, lower file size version of this episode.

by Judith Curry In economics, climate science and public health, computer models help us decide how to act. But can we trust them? – Jon Turney Aeon has a very good article by Jon Turney entitled A model world.   … Continue reading →

by KenThis is a story I've been waiting for for ages.

PAGES2K Arctic introduced a lake sediment d18O series from Kepler Lake, Alaska that hadn’t been used in previous studies. Although O18 data is a workhorse of paleoclimate, O18 data from Alaska (or, for that matter, anywhere in the Arctic hemisphere between 90E and 90W – going east) is very scarce. Thus, the appearance of a new d18O series from Alaska is of considerable interest. I’ll show why by comparing the new data to other O18 information:

OK, back to Syria- chemical weapons and acrimonious UN meetingsThe headline is from Wall Street Journal. It is the usual obfuscation spin from the lying corporate war mongering, zionist media.  Playing  fast and loose with the truth. The report is anything but inconclusive.Obviously, I hold the opinion there are a great many conclusions that can be reached about just who used chemical weapons in Syria. And who was on the receiving end. We can all use our brains. That is what we have them for All one has to do is read. And think.

Over the weekend, NY Times buried its report that NSA bigwigs are considering an amnesty offer to whistleblower Ed Snowden….Click here for free audiobook download, and generate $15 to the PBC Podcast from Audible!

I suspect Sammy Alito, Antonin Scalia, John Roberts, Clarence Thomas and Anthony Kennedy don't read The Nation.

Attacks against Shi'ite pilgrims stole the headlines today in Baghdad and Mosul. Perhaps even more frightening, suicide bombers also attacked government buildings and took hostages north of the capital. Overall, at least 100 people were killed and 183 more were wounded.

By Kevin Ryan | Dig Within | December 16, 2013

DC on BFP #22 | Vivien Lesnik Weisman joins us to discuss her upcoming documentary film, The Hacker Wars. We review Jeremy Hammond's path from Chicago-based activist to enemy of the state and political prisoner, revelations of the Stratfor hack, infiltration of hacktivist groups, Anonymous, and much more.

ED: Of course the other side of all of this is that the Obama IRS, DHS, FBI, NSA are also working to harass and silence groups on the far Left. Democrats are silent.

Episode 2 of Themes and Memes is a continuation of Adam and Aaron's conversation on the movie Elysium. Here they focus on some of the occult and esoteric themes in this film.

This weekend I ran across a random copy of The Wall Street Journal and decided to see what passes for mainstream news these days. Reading it reminded me of the striking amount of terrorism propaganda being foisted upon the U.S. public. The numerous terrorism-related stories painted a confused and contradictory picture that reflects the difficulty in keeping the American public focused on terrorist threats and increasingly suspicious of their fellow citizens.

By Ron Paul
12.16.13
Lew Rockwell

By Yahya Dbouk | Al-Akhbar | December 16, 2013

Israeli political and military leaders of all levels have been issuing almost daily threats against Hezbollah while claiming that the Israeli army stands fully ready to confront – and even crush – Hezbollah. So, why don’t they destroy Hezbollah now?

December 17, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - In August 2011, the Telegraph reported in an article titled, "Libya crisis: Rebel leaders hoping to starve Gaddafi stronghold of Sirte into submission," that:

Google’s racing robots give Amazon’s drones a run for their money
FT
 

I wish I could remember where I read it-- because it was so funny-- but I did come across an assertion that Mitch McConnell doesn't want to be Senate Majority Leader if he has to preside over a bunch of Know Nothing sociopaths that include Steve Stockman (R-TX), Joe Carr (TN), Milton Wol

The United States and Iran

* We are not saying that the shooting in Arapahoe was an “inside job” or a setup… Its just weird that 90% of these shootings coincide with a drill doing something similar, thus occupying or confusing local authorities.
 

John Young of Cryptome.org joins us to discuss the Snowden/NSA affair, and how it is being reported by Glenn Greenwald and others with access to the documents. We discuss the way in which the documents are being released, Greenwald’s new journalist venture with billionaire Pierre Omidyar and major book publishing deal, Sibel Edmonds’ recent series of articles on these connections, and the layers of smoke and mirrors in this ongoing game of cloak and dagger.

USA Today reports on a study published by the Army’s War College that found “U.S. propaganda efforts in Afghanistan have failed” because the military took bad (and expensive) advice from private contractors.

By David Swanson | War is a Crime | December 13, 2013

I’m a huge fan of peace studies as an academic discipline that should be spread into every corner of what we call, with sometimes unclear justification, our education system.  But often peace studies, like other disciplines, manages to study only those far from home, and to study them with a certain bias.

James Corbett joins Joyce Riley on The Power Hour every other Monday to discuss matters financial, economic, geopolitical and social. In this conversation they look past the stories that are grabbing the headlines to some of the issues that might surprise the public in 2014, from the US-China confrontation in the Asia-Pacific to the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.
SHOW NOTES
China paper says US ship harassed China fleet

 
 
Over 80 civilians in a town northwest of the Syrian capital of Damascus have been executed by Islamist rebels, sources within the Syrian military told RT. Many others were kidnapped to be used as human shields.

Russian Information Agency Novosti
December 16, 2013
Russia Confirms Tactical Missile Deployment on NATO Borders
MOSCOW: Russia confirmed Monday that it has deployed tactical ballistic missiles near its borders with NATO but said the move did not violate international agreements.

Our Annual AppealKeep On the Contrary blog online by sending a donation by check or money order from a US Bank in US funds to: Independent History and Research, Box 849, Coeur d’Alene Idaho 83816 or by Paypal to: rarebooks14atmac.com  (substitute @ for “at" in the preceding e-mail address)On the Contrary cannot continue in its present form (with columns by Michael Hoffman) without financial support from the thousands of people who read it and do not assist in ensuring its continuation.[If you have donated to On the Contrary in the past three months, or if you are unemployed, disabled or on

Anything George Bush can do, Barack Obama can do better and here are the pictures to prove it.
Understand that voting just ensures the continuation of one corrupt party or the other. The puppets in charge (So Called Politicians) are just that-puppets. The Republican party and the Democratic party are to heads of the same beast. They continue with the same actions, the same agendas, only the names are changed. The pictures of torture under the Obama adminstration are below. Warning: You maybe offended by some of these pictures, they are very graphic in nature.

By Dr Sarah Marusek | MEMO | December 16, 2013

By Sarah El Sirgany – Al-Akhbar – 2013-12-16

One of America’s best friends and allies is torturing children, even as they continue to receive U.S. aid, weapons, training, and defense guarantees.
Amnesty International:

And perhaps lower gas prices?While the west offers up destabilization.Irish Times

Voice of Russia
December 16, 2013
Western media provides narrow, constricted, biased, unrepresentative view, unlike Russian outlets – Rick Rozoff
John Robles
Audio

Over the weekend, CBS 60 Minutes ran a story about the high profile NSA spying programs revealed by Edward Snowden. It was, to put it plainly, embarrassing.

Over the weekend, David Freedlander did a story for the Daily Beast on The New Politics of Pot: The 2014 Candidates Who Want to Legalize It. "Forget decriminalization or medical marijuana," he wrote in way of introduction.

Voice of Russia
December 15, 2013
NATO’s claims to surround Russia are propaganda – Bruce Gagnon
John Robles
Audio

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Anti-war essays, poems, short stories and literary excerpts
Jaroslav Hašek: Bathe in the blood of the enemy and slaughter them all as Herod did the babies
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Jaroslav Hašek
From The Good Soldier Schweik (1923)
Translated by Paul Selver

Breaking down the barriers of fear and intimidation.December 16, 2013 (Tony Cartalucci) - The Bangkok Post reported today in their article titled, "Reds surround Dem house, burn effigy," that:

Originally posted at TomDispatch. Another week, another revelation about spying by the National Security Agency. This time, it was the NSA’s infiltration of online video games and virtual realms like World of Warcraft and Second Life. And it was hardly a shock. More than a decade ago, TomDispatch began reporting on the U.S. military’s collaborations […]

In March of 2007, former FBI agent and freelance investigator Robert Levinson traveled to the Iranian island of Kish, a resort hangout for smugglers and various dubious characters as well as tourists – and promptly vanished. For years, the US government stoutly maintained Levinson was on a private business trip, but now it turns out […]

Webster G. Tarpley, Ph.D. TARPLEY.net – World Crisis Radio December 15, 2013 [download audio]  

Israel and Ryan, bad for veterans, bad for AmericaAlthough the NRCC has a deal with Steve Israel not to back Republicans who oppose his reelection efforts, Stephen Labate, a straight-shooting 25-year Army officer now in the Army Reserve, is taking him on again.

by Judith Curry Our age reveres the specialist but humans are natural polymaths, at our best when we turn our minds to many things. – Robert Twigger Aeon Magazine has published an interesting article entitled Master of Many Trades.  Some excerpts: … Continue reading →

Up here, in central Canada (and yes, Toronto is not central Canada), the temperatures this time of year have been absolutely unbearable... Right now, we are experiencing temperatures that we usually do not get until mid-January!  Everywhere across the Canadian prairies, we have seen recent record cold temperatures, with daily highs not getting anywhere above -20 degrees Celcius (That's -5 Fahrenheit for those still on the non-metric scale).  Overnight lows have plunged to the -35C mark (-30F) and wind chill values have been in the -40C (-40F) range...

Is Young Johnny McCranky explaining to NY Senators Gillibrand and Schumer about his superior background and experience?"The strongest argument for Senator Gillibrand's approach [to curbing sexual abuse in the military] is that the military's been saying the right things for about thirty years on this, and the problem hasn't been fixed."-- Sen.

Press TV – December 15, 2013

Yemeni MPs have strongly condemned US assassination drone strikes inside the Arab country and the parliament passed a law banning the drone attacks.
“Lawmakers have voted to ban drone strikes in Yemen,” the official Saba news agency reported after the parliament held a session on Sunday.