Source = Commondreams

Netanyahu and his government buddies are trying to get out of agreements by hiding behind some deal apparently made with the Bush administration.

"The Israeli government of Benjmain Netanyahu is seeking to deflect Washington's demand for a total settlement freeze by complaining that it ignores secret agreements between his predecessors and the Bush administration that construction in existing Jewish settlements could continue"

I just find it ironic how Israel wants recognition as a country but refuses to recognize a Palestinian state and treats the Palestinian people in the horrible ways Jews have been treated for ages...hypocritical?

Source = Reuters

"The Obama administration opened the way to regulating U.S. greenhouse gas emissions on Friday by declaring climate-warming pollution a danger to human health and welfare, in a sharp policy shift from the Bush administration.

Environmental activists and their supporters in Congress were jubilant and industry groups were wary at the news of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's move. The White House said President Barack Obama would prefer legislation over administrative action to curb greenhouse emissions."

It is about time something started happening in government!

Source = The New York Times

I am happy with any 20% i can get! That is acutally a pretty good percentage of people standing up for ethics...

"When a new crop of future business leaders graduates from the Harvard Business School next week, many of them will be taking a new oath that says, in effect, greed is not good."

"Those graduating today, they say, are far more concerned about how corporations affect the community, the lives of its workers and the environment. And business schools are responding with more courses, new centers specializing in business ethics and, in the case of Harvard, student-lead efforts to bring about a professional code of conduct for M.B.A.’s, not unlike oaths that are taken by lawyers and doctors."

I have seen - from my own business classes - how the curriculum has more focus on ethics now than it used to. Though it all depends on what kind of professor you get that sets the overall tone.

Source = Commondreams.org

"They disclose that the intelligence services were sceptical over the "iffy drafting" of government claims that Saddam Hussein could mount a missile strike on his neighbours within 45 minutes of ordering an attack.

Officials privately mocked assertions that the Iraqi president was covertly trying to develop a nuclear capability and wisecracked that perhaps he had recruited "Dr Frankenstein" to his supposed crack team of nuclear scientists."

The Register

I KNEW IT all along...those many childhood days (some still today!) spent daydreaming...i was learning! Okay, if this is taken seriously it really stands to support those alternative educational systems that lets kids learn at their own pace and what they are interested in.

"The upshot of the research is that, if you're struggling to solve a complex problem, you might be better off switching to something less taxing and letting your mind wander.

Christoff concluded: "When you daydream, you may not be achieving your immediate goal - say reading a book or paying attention in class - but your mind may be taking that time to address more important questions in your life, such as advancing your career or personal relationships.""

"Ecology and culture at stake say environmentalists, as government plans to exploit rainforest for oil, gas and timber"
Source = Commondreams.org

Ya know, I completely understand "sharing the resources" this planet has equally between peoples. However, there is a ENORMOUS imbalance between the upper classes resource usage and the lower classes. Furthermore, the upper classes have control and can keep oppressing the lower classes - no matter what is the ethically right thing to do.

Mainly, it is just sad to see the people that do not have ethics and live irresponsibly and unsustainable (upper classes) - continually exploit the rest of humanity to continue this way of life.

Source = The Register

Security researchers have managed to infiltrate the Torpig botnet, a feat that allowed them to gain important new insights into one of the world's most notorious zombie networks by collecting an astounding 70 GB worth of data stolen in just 10 days.

During that time, Torpig bots stole more than 8,300 credentials used to login to 410 different financial institutions, according to the research team from the University of California at Santa Barbara. More than 21 percent of the accounts belonged to PayPal users. Overall, a total of almost 298,000 unique credentials were intercepted from more than 52,000 infected machines

This is very intriguing. Researchers at University of California, Santa Barbara were able to monitor the data that zombie computers were relaying to a "main" server. They got some good stats.

Link to the Report

Source = NPR

The first major rigorous study of psychedelics and spirituality occurred on Good Friday in 1962. In the basement of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, researchers from Harvard gave 10 divinity students LSD to see if the sacred setting, combined with drugs, would spark a mystical experience. It did. Soon afterward, researchers at other prominent universities began administering psychedelic drugs to volunteers in controlled settings.

By the end of the 1960s, the U.S. government had had enough of Timothy Leary's call to "turn on, tune in, drop out" and were concerned that a generation was conducting its own uncontrolled experiments with drugs and spirituality. In the early '70s, the experiments ended.

Griffiths has now launched other studies that pick up work begun a half-century ago.

This is very interesting stuff. More and more i hear about studies similar to this now that we have brain imaging capabilities and a supply of neuroscientists! Soon the world will realize the answers to some long wondered mysteries...and change dramatically.

Source = Huffington Post
Did I ever say I am proud to have this man as my President? He knows and speaks reality!

He went on to urge the graduating students to get involved in their communities and avoid getting caught up in the trappings of success or risk turning into Bernie Madoffs:

In the face of these challenges, it may be tempting to fall back on the formulas for success that have dominated these recent years. Many of you have been taught to chase after the usual brass rings: being on this "who's who" list or that top 100 list; how much money you make and how big your corner office is; whether you have a fancy enough title or a nice enough car...

I want to highlight two main problems with that old approach. First, it distracts you from what is truly important, and may lead you to compromise your values, principles and commitments. Think about it. It's in chasing titles and status - in worrying about the next election rather than the national interest and the interests of those they represent - that politicians so often lose their way in Washington. It was in pursuit of gaudy short-term profits, and the bonuses that come with them, that so many folks lost their way on Wall Street...