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May 26, 2012

RayFltr --- MemorialDay - GlobalFoodSecurity - Science - Cuba/Disasters - Change - Poverty - FBI/OCCUPY/SupremacyGroups - DerivativeEconomy - SandFracking - KeystonePipeline/GasPrices - China - France/Monsanto - USembassy/Pakistan

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"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul." 

~ Joseph Addison

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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<
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Memorial day - what is it? - forgetting? - whistling past the graveyard of Empires? - start of summer? - barbeque cookouts? - surely it must be more important - Tom Engelhardt ---
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Good story - Americans more optimistic - emotional health better than anytime since January 2008 ---
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Good story - President speaks to Symposium on Global Agriculture and Food Security - hopefully this will help turnaround the more recent decline in support for global food security - thanks D... ---
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Good story - seeing the glass as half-full rather than half-empty - leads to a richer life ---
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Good story - global maternal deaths reduced in half over the past 20 years ---
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Good story - science - improvement in solar cell technology ---
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Cuba - a very disaster-prone country - but - has one of the best disaster preparedness/mitigation/response systems - very low death rates for natural disasters - a model for other countries ---
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Change - uncertainty - certainty - science - religion - mystery ---
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"All truth is manipulated, because the universe is chaotic. What we divine from it is the superimposition of some kind of order, whether it's religion, superstition, story and art, literature, science — all of them are an attempt to keep the wolf from the door. And that wolf is the panic of chaos."
--- Ken Burns, The Writer's Almanac
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The poor as piggy bank - these United States - exceptualism - more debtor's prisons - vicious cycle of poverty - will the people caught in the 'education debts' join this cycle? - related to my theory that we've become the new 'feudal society' - the working class/poor provide the base economy for the 'nobility' to 'harvest/scam' the low-hanging fruit - solution? - not with our motto of - can't ---
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And then - is there a difference between who the FBI puts its full weight on? - OCCUPY protesters? - or - white supremacy groups? - why the difference in how stings/entrapments are handled now? - v-a-v - how they were handled in the 70s? - interesting - frightening ---
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The Derivative Economy - The 1% sow the wind and the 99% reap the whirlwind. ---
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Sand fracking - mining sand for hydraulic oil-shale fracking - destroying communities - environmental effects? - silicosis? - aquifer recharge? - not important - cost of 'progress'!! ---
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Ten dumbest Congresspersons - no comment ---
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Played for 'suckers' - once again - the Keystone pipeline will increase gasoline prices by 10/20 cents per gallon - how? - decrease supply to upper Midwest refineries and increase supply to coastal refineries - for export ---
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China - economy not as precarious as many think - The Economist ---
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EU says France cannot ban Monsanto's maize - huhhh!!!??? - why? - US involvement? ---
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Expand US embassy in Pakistan - rival to Baghdad - why? - Pakistan objects ---
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Borowitz
Aid to fledging democracy ---
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Cartoons:
The way it used to be - diversifying of America - return to the 'good ole days' ---
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Government by Bain ---
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Spending - Reagan > Obama ---
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Failure ---
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Domestic spying ---
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Arizona Presidential ballot ---
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<<<>>>>
The World is my country, all humankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.
--- Thomas Paine, thanks L...
zzzzzzzzz
60s/70s/80s - some nice rains - enjoy the holiday weekend

May 26, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 20, 2012

RayFltr --- Elephants/HumanDeath - NDAA - PressFreedom - ThrowawayPeople - Investment/Science - Poverty - Austerity - Campaign - SS - Israel - Bahrain/US - MiddleClass - Occupy

"Losing an illusion makes you wiser than finding a truth."
~Ludwig Börne, daily zen
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<
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Good story - elephants trek to pay homage to the death of their 'savior' the elephant whisperer - huh??? - what to think? - quantum teleporting? ---
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Good story - judge ruled that indefinite detention of NDAA is unconstitutional - major initial victory for due process and rule of law - but will be appealed ---
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International Press Freedom Day - yesterday - the US? - ranks 22nd - 22nd? - 75 jounalists have been arrested since OCCUPY last September - transparency in 1st amendment freedom? - not now - but - there is hope - Justice Department is taking some notice ---
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Another exceptualism - US ranks 25th - 25th - as best country in which to be a mother - lowest of most developed countries ---
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America's 'throwaway people' - our justice system - justice? - values? ---
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More on 'throwaways' - wouldn't snitch - received worst sentence - even though only indirectly involved - justice? - senseless drug war? ---
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More throwaway people - Wells Fargo - Corporate Banking - own us - home loan fraud - foreclosure mistreatment - causes suicide - criminal - will the Bank be indicted? - don't hold your breath ---
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Texas - executed innocent person in 1989 - sloppy investigation, prosecution - guilty person was maybe a police informant - so prosecute a 'look alike' - another 'throwaway'? ---
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Investment - Big Science - more aircraft carriers, B-2s? - James Webb space telescope? - the directive to invest in basic science should be a no brainer to any country that intends to either remain in, or climb to, a position of world leadership. - priorities - choices - ignorance - are we a declining empire? ---
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Science advance? - highest resolution photo of earth - Russia - investment? ---
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Science - quantum teleporting - China - what next? - and US declining 'belief' in science? ---
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Mind reading - really - wonder how long before it becomes the favorite form of 'intelligence' interrogation? - no more water-boarding? ---
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Disaster mitigation - Colombia - river basin - in my opinion, the nexus between mitigation of potential hazards/disasters and development is the key to sustainability ---
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Lower priority spending - poverty - not 'defense' - shameful! - DoD's budget is known for having the most corruption and fraud particularly with contractor spending - they should be cut every year until they can provide an auditable accounting which they haven't been able to do for years ---
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Austerity - Joseph Stiglitz - there is no example of a large economy – and Europe is the world’s largest – recovering as a result of austerity. ---
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Middle class - only solution to the economy - the 99% - Nick Hanauer - wealthy - says wealthy don't make jobs - TED talks wouldn't publish his speech - excellent reading - much like my favorite example - the $20 billion bonus shared by a handful of Wall Street Casino players didn't have the economic multiplier effect that $20 billion would have if shared by 1 million workers - why doesn't he get more media? ---
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Campaign 2012 - winner will be - US Security State - militarism - Lt. Col. Astore explains ---
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The political tactics of division and slander are not our values. They are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice them in the name of religion or in the name of the Republican Party or in the name of America shame our faith, our party and our country.
 
Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance.
--- Sen John McCain in 2000, What happened?
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Social Security - again - I think it deserves a repeat - the major reason for cutting it - in my view - is to not having to repay the excess revenues paid in over the last 30 years - and often they ignore the interest due on the excess receipts ---
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Israel - delegitimization - new power? - what next? - thanks A... ---
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US arms sale to Bahrain - Arab Spring? - not if we have military interests i.e. large military base in country - do as we say NOT as we do ---
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May the gods help us ---
I can't name a single Romney foreign policy adviser who believes the Iraq War was a mistake.
---Christopher Preble, Cato Institute, The Nation
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OCCUPY - Nurses - financial transaction tax - Robin Hood tax - strongest union today - activist union - interesting - Bill Moyers ---
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"Truth has a power of its own... // A poem can inspire a movement. // A pamphlet can spark a revolution. Civil disobedience can arouse people and provoke us to think."
- Howard Zinn
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Federal and White House coordination against OCCUPY - Fusion Centers - a means to get around legal constraints such as CIA domestic spying and domestic military activity under Posse Comitatus Act ---
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Is Koch Industries 'Big Oil'? - who do you believe? - actions speak louder than words ---
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Russia Today - RT America - better than US media? - are the US media and Russia media more alike than most people think/realize? - is the audience acceptance for RT America, Al Jazeera et.al. an indication of the decline of US media? ---
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Media failure - JPMorgan/Dimon - Meet the Press - what wasn't asked - I thought this helped clarify some of the 'mistake' for me ---
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Support the troops? - yes - but not if they're gay or lesbian - listen to the advice of military commanders? - yes - but not if I disagree - don't load down defense bills with social agenda? - yes - unless it's my social agenda - what's with these people? - and they're the country's 'leaders' - what arrogance - how sad ---
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State - marriage/weddings - I thought this the most lucid and rational commentary on the issue and emblematic of the discussion that should be taking place rather than the shrill, vitriolic rhetoric that is too common - thanks P... ---
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We are not returning to the days of back-room abortions, when countless women died or were maimed. The decision about abortion must remain a decision for the woman, her family and physician to make, not the government. We are not going back to the days when women could not have full access to birth control.
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We are not going back to the days of wide-scale domestic violence, even if 31 Republican men in the Senate recently voted against the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act because it expanded coverage to the gay community and Native Americans.
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We are not going back to the days when it was legal for women to be paid less for doing the same work as men, even if the governor of Wisconsin recently signed a bill to repeal that state's pay-equity law.
--- Sen Bernie Sanders
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Borowitz ---
JPMorgan - AlQueda ---
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Facebook ---
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Cartoons:
JPMorgan - regulations ---
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Build infrastructure? - can't --
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Haircut ---
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<<<>>>
Fear, hatred, and suspicion narrow your mind – compassion opens it.
--- Dalai Lama
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s - sunny - enjoy the weekend

May 20, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 14, 2012

RayFltr --- GoodStories - Republican? - SouthernPovertyLawCtr - Realists/ForeignPolicyWConsensus - VietNam - Plutonomy - Migration - WomenHumanRights - Prisons - War/Iran

We refuse to be//What you wanted us to be;//We are what we are://That's the way it's going to be.
--- Bob Marley (thanks L...)
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>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<
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Good story - two girls safe - but two dead ---
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Good story - Rescue dog - anticipates owner's seizures - no training - sensory communication? ---
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Good story - Kentucky Supreme Court upholds Southern Poverty Law Center judgement against KKK leader for beating teenager ---
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Good story - Schwarzenegger - OpEd - what is a Republican? - moderate Republicans - big tent - solutions - we have to fix the center in both parties to achieve anything ---
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And Sen. Lugar's statement - sad - what is a Republican? - whose orthodoxy must be followed? ---
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"Dick Lugar may be a statesman, but he's not a conservative."
--- Club for Growth (How sad is that? or maybe scary)
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And that's why I can't go home - Kansas - UN takeover? - what idiocy ---
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Children's Defense Fund - Southern Poverty Law Center - people who don't condone bigotry and hatred must speak up - their voices must be heard ---
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I liked this - if realists were in foreign policy - what might have been different? - thanks B... ---
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Is the Washington Consensus ending? - a financial Copernican revolution? - interesting possibility perspective - what will the economic future be? ---
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VietNam - a development success story - meeting MDGs for 2015 - world's second largest rice exporter - but -climate change threatens - 40% of Mekong Delta could be flooded - would have major global food impact ---
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Commentary - Noam Chomsky - past<>future - Plutonomy<>Precariat ---
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Plutonomy? - renouncing US citizenship - taxless - stateless - rootless - outside society - 'me' ---
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Plutonomy? ---
No one has counted the millions of hours and thousands of lives given for the entertainment of the rich.  This is a  sad fact that does not amuse me.
--- Muhammad, Wise Thoughts - Leo Tolstoy
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Manifest Destiny - immigrants - all migrations created equally? - a little reality? - Luis Alberto Urrea -  “Yeah, my family was immigrants, too, but we came here legally.” ------- “Who stamped their visas, Crazy Horse or Geronimo?” ---
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Women in human rights - Nobel Laureates -"The future is not a gift; it is an achievement." (Robert Kennedy) ---
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Mobile communications revolution - key to economic growth in Africa - skipping lunch to have a mobile phone ---
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These United States - border human rights abuses - can we get our country back? ---
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Private prisons - profitability - keep the prisons full - if Corporations own the prison - do they 'own' the people in them? - very analogous to former slave system - money drives everything - private prisons will set up a system
similar to the military-industrial complex ---
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Prisons - privatization - Mississippi - judge - ... “has allowed a cesspool of unconstitutional and inhuman acts and conditions to germinate.” - this is our country - where is our humanity? ---
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War!! - against Iran? - major US military buildup - where is the MSM? - energy disputes - assets - access - around the world - Mid East - Asia - SAmerica - “It’s the oil heartlands of the planet, stupid.” - TomDispatch/Micheal Klare ---
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Cartoons:
Iran - attack ---
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Dissidence - lonely ---
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Suspect - trial ---
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Holy Matrimony - NC style ---
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And don't 'marry' flavors ---
<<>>
“Love is the absence of judgment.”
― Dalai Lama XIV
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s - nice rains - cool again - good weekend

May 14, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

May 06, 2012

RayFltr --- Scholarships/WarMaterial - Ecuador - Women'sWork - ScientismSciencePhilosophy - Life - CongressExtremism - America - Homophobic - Financialization - Violence - OCCUPY

As individuals and nations become increasingly interdependent, we have no choice but to develop a sense of universal responsibility.
-- Dalai Lama
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>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
Good story - save Grandma's house - 12 year old - there is goodness ---
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Good story - cut waste - 100 million pounds - Ford - corporations aren't all bad ---
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Good story - AID's $13.5 million scholarship program in Lebanon - much more effective for stability than - $1.3 billion in tanks and planes to Egypt - one is for 'making people' - the other for killing people - 'win friends'? ---
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Good story - Time names only woman (Elinor Ostrom) Nobelist in economics to - 100 most influential list -"A conversation about economics solely between men is not a conversation: it's a frat party." ---
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Good story - Obamacare - 2 years worth - thanks J... ---
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Interesting - Ecuador - progress - low unemployment - coming out from recession - I thought there were more problems with the economy in Ecuador - maybe Carrera is good ---
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I thought this really good - women's work - when is stay at home work the most important? - if you're married have money? - but it's the lowest paying job if you pay for it i.e. teenagers, elderly, undocumented apparently can do much of it? - but it's idleness if you're unmarried on welfare? ---
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Life - science - 'know' > knowledge > power > new secular religion? > scientism - faith > life is richer than science? - think ---
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Science and Philosophy - physics -philosophy - religion? - why is there something? - not nothing? ---
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I thought this is 'life' today ---
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way ..."
--- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, The Writer's Almanac
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And to Dickens - SCOTUS > Arizona/Immigration - regardless of the final decision, I thought this a good analysis of reality - depressing - human rights? - basic humanity? - not even important enough to consider ---
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It's even worse than it looks - extremism in Congress - one of the authors is from AEI - but still blames the Republicans - do I have to modify my feelings about AEI? - thanks D... ---
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... however awkward it may be for the traditional press and nonpartisan analysts to acknowledge, one of the two major parties, the Republican Party, has become an insurgent outlier — ideologically extreme; contemptuous of the inherited social and economic policy regime; scornful of compromise; unpersuaded by conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition. When one party moves this far from the center of American politics, it is extremely difficult to enact policies responsive to the country's most pressing challenges.
--- It's Even Worse Than It Looks
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Productivity - median compensation growth - improved living standards - are they linked? - they used to be but not for the past several decades ---
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This isn't new but noone pays any attention - jobs - infrastructure - we can do it - we've done it before - where is the American initiative? - where is its 'can do' spirit? - we need to invest in the future ---
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"When you look at America, you have to concede that we have failed. Most Americans today are worse off than they were fifteen years ago. A full-time worker in the US is worse off today than he or she was 44 years ago. That is astounding – half a century of stagnation. The economic system is not delivering. It does not matter whether a few people at the top benefited tremendously – when the majority of citizens are not better off, the economic system is not working."
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Is IBM an example of Stiglitz quote? - interesting article - couple of interesting Steve Jobs' quotes - IBM cutting people in US and increasing with more but cheaper outside - I liked the line it's 'like getting 9 women to make a baby in one month' - about what some of the goals look like ---
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"If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising then they wouldn't have to advertise them."
-- Will Rogers, Evolving Excellence
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Did half a million Americans die and noone noticed? - sharp increase in American deaths when Vioxx was introduced and sharp decrease when it was removed - where was the media? - asleep? - or - are American lives just cheap? ---
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Homophobic - maybe you're gay - interesting - I've long thought there was a little of 'methinks thou doth protest too much' in some antigay protests ---
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More on 'methinks' - sex hypocrites - not new but listed in one place ---
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Arizona again - imaginary agendas - conspiracies - wonder when we'll start burning people at the stake again? ---
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Gas prices - financialization of the industry - or when metastastasized maybe casinolization is a better term - I thought this a good descriptive piece ---
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Financialization is a process whereby financial markets, financial institutions, and financial elites gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes…..Its principal impacts are to (1) elevate the significance of the financial sector relative to the real sector, (2) transfer income from the real sector to the financial sector, and (3) increase income inequality and contribute to wage stagnation.
--- Thomas Palley
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"Speculators may do no harm as bubbles on a steady stream of enterprise. But the position is serious when enterprise becomes the bubble on a whirlpool of speculation. When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. The measure of success attained by Wall Street, regarded as an institution of which the proper social purpose is to direct new investment into the most profitable channels in terms of future yield, cannot be claimed as one of the outstanding triumphs of laissez-faire capitalism…."
--- John Maynard Keynes, 75 years ago
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NYPD tactics - no longer just against persons of color or Muslims ---
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Violent America - another rampage of death - Arizona - militia/hate group - when will we make as much effort to really work on the hate groups rather than on teaching muslim wannabes how to become terrorists? - when will we recognize that hate groups have many people that are mentally unstable? - when will we accept that many of these are the result of 'war' experience ---
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Spring offensive - OCCUPY ---
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Cartoons:
What kind of name? ---
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Problem solving ---
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God and taxes ---
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Political theater ---
<<<>>>
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.”
--- Charles Darwin, daily zen
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s/80s - tree pollen - grass pollen - Spring

May 06, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 28, 2012

RayFltr --- SocialSecurity - ClimateChange - WarAgainstWomen - BigBrother/NSA - Accountability/Military/BorderControl/LawEnforcement/CorporationsWalmart - America/Religion - Israel - Cuba

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, this is to have succeeded.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Tiny Buddha
>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
Good story - the innate value/worth of every human being - the ability, determination, will, capacity, of basic humanity - national penmanship award - born without hands - tragic? - beautiful ---
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Increase Social Security benefits - this was a more common viewpoint several years ago - now it's a contrarian viewpoint - I'm glad someone is bringing it back - we need to get more of the elderly out of the workforce to decrease unemployment - SS needs to be taken completely off budget to decrease misrepresentation - make it stand by itself - it is against current law for SS to add to the deficit so why is it a continual part of the deficit rhetoric? ---
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Climate change - migration - conflict - NW Africa - Nigeria > Niger > Algeria > Morocco > Europe - interesting - depressing - increasing populations - decreasing economic opportunity - US support? - at risk because of 'austerity' ---
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"Wisdom is the reward you get for a lifetime of listening when you'd have preferred to talk."
— Doug Larson, the daily zen
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Is the war against women - a war against the working class? - guerilla campaign of harassment and attrition? - Stephanie Coontz - working class has made little progress over past 50+ years ---
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Women of the world unite for justice - progress? - yes and no - fight must continue ---
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Violence against women - why is there even a question about renewal? ---
We really have to look at the values that guide us. We have to work toward an ethic that respects every individual, to be physically and emotionally safe. No one, regardless of age, color, gender, background, any other factor, deserves to be physically or emotionally unsafe. In a just society, we pledge to act together to ensure that each individual is safe from harm. In a just society -- I think we have to say this over and over and over -- we are not going to tolerate the violence.
--- Sheila Wellstone, Sen Al Franken broke down while repeating these words in advocating for renewal of the Violence against Women Act
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Big brother - NSA is watching - a career intelligence person - a film maker - a hacker - Bill of Rights? - are you kidding? ---
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Occupy - May day - a month - call for action - how many will respond? ---
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Accountability??
“I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that there would have been no crime here except the government instigated it, planned it and brought it to fruition…That does not mean there was no crime."
--- US District Judge Collen McMahon, Sentencing 4 men in a FBI sting operation
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Accountability - military - why have there been so few Generals held accountable for the atrocities that have occurred in Iraq and Afghanistan? - used to be that an officer was responsible for anything in his unit - Andrew Bacevich - I like him, partly I'm sure, because he provides support for my biases ---
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Accountability - Border Patrol - extrajudicial killings - rogue groups? - apparently murder is OK - shown on PBS Need to Know ---
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Accountability? - Oklahoma City revisited - what was missed - other militia groups? - hate groups? - can we expect more McVeighs resulting from Iraq and Afghanistan 'wars'? --- not paranoia - why do we focus on Muslims rather than native groups? ---
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Memory failure at Pentagon - war of attrition - are we using the wrong metrics? - tactical gains/losses for us? - symbolic gains/losses for the Taliban? - have the guerrilas learned more from the Tet offensive than the Pentagon? - can a trillion dollar military's territorial 'gains' overcome a ragtag opposition's 'futility' gains? - I think there is a lot of 'reality' here - Nick Turse/TomDispatch - does it well ---
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Our Corporatocracy - WalMart - Mexico - corporate ethics? - what's that? - criminal? - we'll see ---
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Romney - job creator? - job killer - no respect for people below him - American parasite - skim profits - let government pick up pieces - transfer of taxpayer funds to the oligarchy - thanks D... ---
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America's religious/Christian hypocrisy - why aren't we more like GBritain? - religious values conflate with liberal values - can we go back to our heritage? - hope - thanks P... ---
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This may be too much about religion but it seems to be out there - the right's War on the religion of Secular Humanism - really? - this is going to be an interesting election campaign - take notes for history ---
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Israel - retroactive legalization of settlements - thumbing their nose again - apparently - "lives of individuals" doesn't refer to Palestinians ---
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Israel - Palestine - Christians - if you missed the CBS 60 minutes program - it has become very controversial - apparently it wasn't vetted with the Israeli ambassador first - there were complaints about it before it was even produced - rather unusual - thanks A... ---
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Cuba - this isn't recent but more detailed than before - thanks P... - Gross apparently isn't as innocent as much of the rhetoric says - we wouldn't accept his type of activities by an outsider in this country - if we want to do this - remove the sanctions - do it transparently under diplomatic agreements ---
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Cartoons:
Obama's 'context' ---
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Patriot - but - banks ---
The border ---
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Knowledge - too much? ---
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Pot >> kettle?? ---
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Campaign - too true ---
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Gingrich - Churchill? ---
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Take and give ---
<<<>>>
“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.”
~Carl Rogers, The Tiny Buddha
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s - still really enjoyable - great weekend - flowers are still blooming - trees are in leaf - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming

April 28, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 21, 2012

RayFltr --- CEOethical behavior - RuleOfLaw - WarWomen - TheRich - AusterityReligion - BigBrother - Justice - Peru

 

The United States is getting accustomed to a completely crazy level of inequality."
--- Thomas Piketty, French economist, NYT
>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
Good story - CEO rehires workers when conditions changed so they could cash in on their options - ethical behavior - good to see examples ---
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Good story - rule of law - can the UN start toward a global agreement - hope - international rule of law - national rule of law - can we at least agree on some minimal basic agreements? - common basis? - stateless children - silenced websites - racial profiliing - law should apply equally to all ---
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Protect children - not guns ---
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"It is possible that the world will not warm over the coming years. It is possible that the impacts will be small. It is possible that a miraculous technology will be invented that can suck CO2 out of the atmosphere at low cost. But in view of the evidence we now have, it would be foolish to bet on these outcomes just because they are possible."
--- William Nordhaus, Cosmos and Culture
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War against women - incarcerate the victim ---
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The rich are different - Bill Moyers - they even get a tax break for private jets - just say they need it for security ---
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And they hold the cards - latest SEC/Goldman Sachs deal is worst ever - felonies and they get a pat on the arm - 'we won't do it again - again' - where/when will there be accountability? - I'm about ready to simply vote against any incumbent politician ---
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Whattt? - shareholders reject CEO compensation at Citigroup - benefit of Dodd-Frank - may it increase - Citigroup has a terrible record ---
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“C.E.O.’s deserve good pay but there’s good pay and there’s obscene pay”
--- Brian Wenzinger, a principal at Aronson Johnson Ortiz
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Austerity religion - 'suicide by economic crisis' - suicide rates climbing rapidly in Europe - what will happen here if the Republican 'austerity' policies are implemented? - use of religious language - 'cleansing' - 'virtue' - 'sacrifice' - 'suffering to cleanse the soul' - how many will die? ---
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Romney picks his senior economist advisor in the mold of the economists who have caused the economic debris for the past decades - an economist who was key during the recovery and investigations of the Savings and Loan debacle says we need to get better economists who are for the 99% ---
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In combination, deregulation and perverse compensation are so criminogenic that they can produce green slime in such massive amounts that it dominates massive aspects of finance. --- Economists who apologize for elite fraud and support the wreckage of our financial system should be driven out of the public sphere.
--- William K. Black
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Big brother is watching - and ... - moving toward fascism - Naomi Wolf - how does one separate paranoia from real concerns? ---
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Justice? - pre-emptive prosecution - is our justice system being changed - does it depend on who you are? - Chris Hedges ---
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“I was unprepared for the fact that the government would put together a case that was just one lie piled up on top of another lie, and when you pointed it out to them they didn’t care. They didn’t refute it. They knew that it was a lie. The facts of most of these pre-emptive cases don’t support the charges. But the facts are irrelevant. The government has decided to target these people. It wants to take them down for ideological reasons.”
--- Stephen Downs, attorney
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The good ol' days? - Carter - when murder wasn't made acceptable with torturous legal reasoning/rhetoric - spin ---
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Israel - well-being of its children and grandchildren - Israel cannot be like America - thanks I... ---
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The Amazon Gold Rush - Peru - disastrous - illegal - destroying rainforests - toxics into the rivers - bubble? - too late ---
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The American Dream - I don't generally put videos on the Fltr as I assume you don't have that kind of time but I think this is one of the best Bill Moyer's interviews - a vision - optimism in these times of social and economic distress - race - opportunity - California is already a state with a majority of minorities - as is Fairfax County - why don't we invest in that diversity as an opportunity? - having such a diverse skilled workforce would be more able to connect with cultures around the world - a real opportunity to lead in the globalization construct - but we aren't investing in the education necessary to achieve this - California used to be the world envy in education - now it is at the bottom in many criteria - the future is in that 7 year old Latino or black child - will we meet it? - Angela Glover Blackwell ---
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And so this country, as a democracy, really cannot expect to continue to be proud on the world stage, competitive in the global economy, or having a democracy it can put forward as working in a multi-racial society if we don’t invest in the people who are the future.”
--- Angela Glover Blackwell, Moyers & Company
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Cartoons:
Stand your ground ---
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Stand your ground 2 ---
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Meltdown ---
<<<>>>
"My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither but just enjoy your ice cream while it's on your plate."
--- Thornton Wilder, The Writer's Almanac
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s - still really enjoyable - great weekend - flowers are still blooming - trees are in leaf - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming

April 21, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 13, 2012

RayFltr --- ObamaAchievements - ParticipatoryDemocracy/SDS/Occupy - SocialDarwinism - HigherEd - CEOs - MilitaryCommissions - Iran - War/Women - Peru - Roma - CorporateIntelligence - Speculators - TaxAvoidance

Opinions are flexible prejudices."
— Gerald Horton Bath, daily zen
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>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
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Good story - jobs for military spouses - Michelle Obama/Jill Biden ---
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Good story - Obama - 50 achievements - remember these when the campaign gets dirty against him ---
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Participatory Democracy - participate in own destiny - 50 yrs ago - SDS - today - OCCUPY - many similarities - but differences - assassinations defeated SDS future - 2 Kennedys - King - Malcolm X - SDS became radicalized - surveillance by Military Intelligence, FBI - but progress - civil and voting rights laws - end of draft and Vietnam - War Powers Resolution - Freedom of Information Act - Nixon's environmental laws - amnesty for war resisters, 2 presidents forced from office - 18 year old vote - disability rights - great history - can progress come out of the current chaos? - will the current social media help - hope? - deja vu? - Tom Hayden ---
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"I am often asked whether I am optimistic for the future of humanity. My simple answer is yes."
--- Dalai Lama
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Social Darwinism - valid? - what is it? - some explanation ---
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Higher education under siege - adjuncts - temporaries - indication of national 'decline' - empire is more important? - very short-term thinking ---
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Great CEOs? - not!! - abuse of workers - Steve Jobs/Apple? - abuse of Chinese workers - Jeff Bezo/Amazon? - abuse of US workers - Jack Welch/GE - what!!?? - apparently 'success' doesn't mean respect for people ---
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Military Commissions - justice? - I think we need to read this sort of commentary again - and not forget what is said ---
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Pakistani drone strike lawyer - can't get a visa to speak at meeting in DC - transparency? - silencing 'truth'? - of what is the US afraid? - that real figures of civilian deaths by drone strikes will come out? ---
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Iran - I thought this by an Iranian-American was good - level-headed - do sanctions work? - who knows - sanctions against Iraq estimated to have killed hundreds of thousands children - how many will we kill in Iran? - no one talks about it - the MSM is complicit ---
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War against women - India - 53 sterilized in 2 hrs - unqualified medical assistance - no running water - disastrous ---
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War?- violence against women - acid attacks - Pakistan - is there hope for legal support for future victims? - maybe ---
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War against women - Texas - do by regulations what can't be passed into law ---
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Environmental risks - abandoned oil wells - Peru - fossil energy addiction - who pays? - people ---
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More Peru environment - US still importing illegal timber - why? - because they can ---
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Discrimination against ROMA (Gypsy) in Europe - since ancient times - racism - ROMA - Muslims - ?? ---
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US supports/trains State Department named terrorist groups - JSOC - in Nevada - source of Iranian nuclear scientist assassinations? - if you, and particularly if you're a Muslim, support an Islamic group's charity efforts - you're 'done' - stick a fork in you - duplicity? - transparency? - hypocrisy? - well nooo - it's good policy ---
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Corporatization of US Intelligence complex - outsourcing federal spy functions to corporations - whose interests? - anything-goes ethic - who profits? - hint - not the taxpayer - not us - Jim Hightower ---
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Four years ago Wall Street crashed the economy - 2 yrs ago Dodd-Frank bill was a feeble attempt to partially 'fix' the cause - now lobbyists are gutting the Dodd-Frank - particularly the Volcker rule portion - incredible - and Congress? - aaaahhh!! - welllll - seee - 'they' have money 'needs' - Bill Moyers ---
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Speculators - something must be done - we need a tax on all financial transactions - and a higher tax if you don't have actual product in the game ---
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Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes genius to move in the opposite direction."
---Einstein, daily zen
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Tax avoidance - who takes the gold? - Boeing ---
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Origen of life - current work - for those of you interested in science and philosophy ---
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Supporting mayhem and murder in the name of religion? - Hagee ---
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Cartoons:
Individual rights are important - but - depends ---
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Beer buddy ---
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First they ... ---
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No discrimination ---
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Bogus issue? - women? ---
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Lucky Ducky - pink slime ---
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Entitlements - how true ---
<<<<>>>
"Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth."
--- Buddha, daily zen
zzzzzzzzz
40s/50s/60s/70s - Wow!!! - 2 wks now - really enjoyable - great weekend - flowers are blooming - trees are greening - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming
 

April 13, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 06, 2012

RayFltr --- ForestEcosystem - Tax/Speculators - Healthcare - WorkerAbuse - Homelessness/Poverty - Earthquakes/Manmade - CorporatePower - NAFTA/Obesity - StripSearches - Climate/Agriculture - Energy/Africa

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. "
-Steve Jobs, daily zen
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>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
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Good story - man plants forest ecosystem by himself - never underestimate what one person's endeavor can achieve - a lesson for all of us ---
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Good story - a tax on financial trades - errr.. - speculators - France - will it happen here? - one can always hope ---
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High gas prices - speculators ---
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Healthcare - the insurance rabbit hole - penury for life - 'life'? ---
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Worker abuse - where? - China/Apple? - no - here - Amazon - Kentucky - corporate power ---
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Homelessness - poverty - 17% of NCarolina below poverty scale - seems hopeless - don't become complacent - it doesn't have to be ---
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“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
― Mahatma Gandhi, daily zen
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Earthquakes - man-made - drilling - wait for it - earthquake deniers are getting ready ---
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Sustainable prosperity - possible? - not on the current path - WorldwatchInstitute's - State of the World 2012 - interesting topics ---
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Corporate power - Monsanto - GMO food - Vermont - labeling - open/'free' market? - not so much - we want to 'hide' - however - we don't define differing 'GMO' food - GMO is broader than just Bt pesticide incorporation ---
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Whatttt??? - NAFTA causes obesity? - in Mexico - another of our great exports ---
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Strip searches - privacy is over - be careful and don't 'jaywalk' - another Big Brother 'tool' - protesters disincentive - TSA groping? - ahh yes - those were the good ol' days ---
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Corporations - from Producers - to - Predators - dividends - buy backs - this is good for a better understanding of the 99% being thrown 'under the bus' ---
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"I see in the future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of the war."
- Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864 (letter to Col. William F. Elkins)
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A fable - the ending is up to us - Robert Reich ---
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The Snellings' story - Alzheimer's - love story? - but - can't predict the future - what is 'life'? - relationships ---
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Climate-smart agriculture - change is needed - we have much of the necessary information - but - difficult to implement ---
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Energy - major oil finds in E Africa - who will exploit it? - will the natives benefit? ---
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Cartoons:
Voter fraud? - not anymore ---
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Overreach - Obamacare ---
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All's fair in ..... ---
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Budget - Etch-a-Sketch ---
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Science - Math - all the same - unbelief ---
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Science - undercover ---
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Socialism ---
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Health insurance - broccoli ---
<<<>>>

"What you are basically, deep, deep down, far, far in, is simply the fabric and structure of existence itself." -Alan Watts, daily zen

zzzzzzzzz

40s/50s/60s/70s - this is better - really enjoyable - great weekend - flowers are blooming - trees are greening - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming

April 06, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

April 02, 2012

RayFltr --- SolitaryConfinement - WindEnergy - GayFamily - Science/Life - PostalService - GasBlowout - Climate - Guns - ScreeningTechnology - Women'sWar - Education - BigMedia - Budget

daily zen ---
“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”
― Jimi Hendrix
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>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
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Good story - rethinking solitary confinement - Mississippi of all places - closed section permanently - it works ---
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Good story - wind energy - world's first 6 MW turbine - this thing is huge - Netherlands - off-shore ---]
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Good story - family - gay - I thought this was a great story - simply humanity ---
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Science and the meaning of life - is there more than just the technology? - the mechanics? ---
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Meaning in life comes from our connection to all that's around us. We create meaning by actively participating in life in a conscious and caring manner.
--- Jodi I.
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More prison isolation - for non-violent crime - cruel and unusual punishment - for what - personal interest? - Congressperson? ---
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US Postal Service - a bargain - sabotaged by Bush et.al. - prepay health care for 75 years - 75 years - overcharge by 80 billion - Postal Service has made a profit without the absurd charges - excess charges drains funds from service - Jim Hightower - something for society? - why? ---
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Another blowout - gas - North Sea - could be worse than 'Deepwater' - will we ever learn when we don't 'know' - drill baby drill!! ---
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Climate - controversy - I thought this a rather good commentary ---
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Marian Wright Edelman - 'Protect Children Not Guns' - the Children's Defense Fund - has just released the study ---
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We often talk about moral values, justice and trust, but the important thing is to put them into effect in our everyday lives.
--- Dalai Lama
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Freedom? - Homeland Security - new program FAST - Future Attribute Screening Technology - 'pre-crime' personal identification - innocent until proven guilty? - use of biological metrics including physiological and behavior sensor technology with algorithms - your next security screening for a job? - coming soon to an airport near you? - the next public gathering? - Occupy demonstrations? - speech? - what's that? - no Personally-Identifiable Information (PII) stored? - yeah!! - we know how fast that can change - or - be hidden - thanks M... - I think ---
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Again - men making decisions affecting women particularly - SCOTUS ---
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War against women - today's absurdity - Wisconsin lawmaker - spousal abuse? - don't leave ---
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Education - testing - today's 'system' - a letter from a teacher to her 8th grade students ---
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Outsourced - political party? - Republicans? - interesting commentary - what will happen? - I'd read before how Justice Powell had started the process before he was on the court ---
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Big media's bad behavior - greed - journalism? - broadcasters? - they 'own' the airwaves ---
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Moderate politicians? - you have to go 'down-under' - conservatives and liberals in NZ would both fit within the US Democratic Party - not anti-science - not focussed on 'social/religious' issues - interesting ---
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The more educated conservatives are the more likely they are to be the strongest 'climate change deniers' - huhhh!!! - interesting - certainty? - truth? - change resistance? ---
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Interest rate swaps - major grief for local governments - another sliced/diced paper like derivatives - I don't understand all of this but you economists must - another example of the greed of the major banks and financial institutions like GoldmanSachs causing major losses to the rest of us ---
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What an obscenity - disgusting - NRA - capitalizing on a tragedy - hoodie with concealed weapon pockets ---
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The whole damned history of the world is a story of the struggle between the selfish and the unselfish! . . . All the bad around us is bred by selfishness. Sometimes selfishness even gets to be a cause, an organized force, even a government. Then it’s called Fascism.
—Garson Kanin, Born Yesterday
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Budget comparison - Obama - Ryan - Progressive Caucus ---
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Moral crisis? - in America? - yes - but - what is it? ---
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Cartoons:
Wheelchairs or--- martini bars? ---
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Voter fraud - Texas ---
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Healthcare insurance - not necessary ---
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Memory loss ---
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Open mic ---
...
<<>>

"The meaning of life cannot be told; it has to happen to a person." — Ira Progoff, daily zen

zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s - it's still March - flowers are blooming - trees are greening - plants are emerging - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming

April 02, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

March 24, 2012

RayFltr --- ConnectingHumanity/Adoption/Church/Israel - Women - Guns - UniversityCampus - Haiti - Honduras - FarmStuff

The most powerful force ever known on this planet is human cooperation — a force for construction and destruction.”
--- Jonathan Haidt
*************
>>>>>>> 'news' you may have missed <<<<<<<
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Good story - connecting humanity - open adoption - birth parents - adoptive parents - not always easy - but generally more satisfactory ---
...
Good story - connecting humanity at church - I thought this was a really good story - with all that we have currently with using religion to separate us - to denigrate 'others' - for violence - this story illustrates that maybe there is hope - that it costs nothing to use religion for good - it costs nothing to 'help' those in need - that it can be a unifying force - may it be the 'future' ---
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Good story - another connecting humanity - Israel/Iran - people-to-people - the solution - a similar action by women in N Ireland was effective ---
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Good story - women - Hillary Clinton - impressive - I agree - one of the best decisions Obama has made ---
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"Those who advocate for expanding the circle of human rights were and are on the right side of history, and history honors them. Those who tried to constrict human rights were wrong, and history reflects that as well."
--- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, December 6, 2011 (thanks T...)
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Good story - stray dog - saves woman and child from man with knife - 'life' connection - good ending ---
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Guns - everywhere - neighborhood watch - another senseless killing - this was an early piece and much more has come out although it is still not clear how much was due to - racism - vigilantism - machismo - stupidity - probably all involved - and the killer was a candidate for a 'justice' role? - incredible - but Florida's new 'self-defense' law will make it problematic to do something ---
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More guns - sales soaring - multimillions sold - what a sad commentary ---
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Marian Wright Edelman of the Children's Defense Fund gives a good commentary of the above - 'walking while black' ---
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War against women - attempted suicide is a mental issue for most people - if you're pregnant it's a crime and you may be charged with murder - WHAT???!!! - one law for pregnant women - another for everyone else - equal treatment under the law? - forget it - miscarriage or other issue? - you may be charged - 60 in Alabama - are we becoming a theocracy like some Islamic countries? - what next? ---
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"A woman's a woman until the day she dies, but a man's only a man as long as he can."
--- Jackie Mabley, The Writer's Almanac
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Incredible - how can this be? - take infants from their mother/parents? - civil rights? - human rights? - basic compassion? - respect for humanity? - who appointed them 'god'? - subterfuge to gain access ---
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War against women - GA legislator considers pregnant women equivalent to pregnant cows/pigs - carry stillborn fetuses to term - and we consider ourselves an advanced civilization? - with people like this as our so-called leaders no wonder the rest of the world considers us 'nuts' - a really good exposition from an angry woman - the wrong people are in institutions - Solidarity ---
...
Dailyzen
“Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds.”

― Albert Einstein

...

The new University Campus - swat teams - spies - pepper spray - 'less lethal weapons' - big brother? - fascism? - money is speech - but students' demonstrations? - not if we can prevent them - go to Egypt or someplace where we like them ---
 
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Haiti - Aristide - democracy - US government plans - we don't have a very good record of our actions there - what's our problem? ---
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Honduras - dirty war - Obama/Clinton? - nothing - Biden visits - increase in military 'gifts' - what gives? ---
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I liked this - a farmer's law suit for growing wheat might be the basis for a decision in the health care case before SCOTUS - what a strange web we weave ---
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More farm stuff - tax benefits for the 1% - if there are cows, donkeys, bees - surely there must be a way to 'fix' these types of flagrant abuse - but that would involve ethics or even morality ---
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Illegal logging - is criminal - go after the kingpins behind the activity - World Bank - should we call it terrorism? - naahhh!! - it's only terrorism if you're trying to prevent the logging (in US) or to save the forests ---
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Is Obama keeping a Yemeni journalist in prison? - why? - aggressive reporting? - or same as going after whistleblowers? ---
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Senators warn about use of the Patriot Act - finally - turning citizens into suspects - will there be any change? - doubtful ---
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Cartoons:
Only too true - veteran abuse ---
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Gas prices ---
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A well-regulated militia? ---
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Learning? or definition of stupidity i.e. doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result ---
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Dream? - nightmare!! ---
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Who fought for a 40 hr week? - unions - where's the gratitude? ---
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Deficit reduction - Ryan plan ---
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~~~~~~~~
Addicted to electronic media even when with others?
If we are not fully ourselves, truly in the present moment, we miss everything.”
~~Thich Nhat Hanh
zzzzzzzzz
50s/60s/70s/80 - it's still March - but - flowers are blooming - Spring - enjoy - summer is coming

March 24, 2012 | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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