News Commentary

UN 'to Seek' End to CIA Drone Raids

U.N. Biodiversity Plan Demands Voice for Women :: "Women provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food and produce up to 80 percent of food in most developing countries, and yet they are almost completely ignored when policy decisions are made about agriculture and biodiversity."

Who's In Charge, China or Nigeria? :: "For some, the rapid growth of China's presence in Africa has been disquieting. Beijing is not always helpful where it has political influence. It occasionally colludes with corrupt and abusive governments, and its thirst for natural resources has raised the specter of a second “scramble for Africa.”"

Why Talking to Yourself Might be The Highest Form of Intelligence

Fast-tracking: Alternatives to college. How Zoho's internal program finds talent outside universities. :: "Sridhar's efforts at Zoho and their development center in Madras tell us something about how to develop a 21st century workforce by tapping into those who would not normally go to college. In short, his answer is not to prepare them for college but to prepare them to be productive in the workplace -- and to do that preparation in the workplace."

FTC: Scammers Stole Millions Using Micro Charges to Credit Cards

An Unexpected Apple Ally: Porn Industry to Drop Flash :: HTML5 is the new standard...bye bye Flash?

The secret life of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange

Tiny dot speeds hi-tech future: 7-atom transistor

'Artificial life' breakthrough announced by scientists: Scientists in the US have succeeded in developing the first living cell to be controlled entirely by synthetic DNA.

Quantum teleportation achieved over 16 km

Read the note here - Wikinews

"My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling [sic] from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done."

"The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself."

Campaign Case May Have Set Course for Supreme Court - by Joan Biskupic
WASHINGTON - As the Supreme Court nears the midpoint of its annual term and prepares to hear several momentous cases, one question looms: Will the justices' split decision reversing past rulings and allowing new corporate spending in political races set the tone for the term, or will Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission be an exception?
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Noam Chomsky: Iran Pursuing Nuclear Weapons Out of Fear
Scholar assails U.S. for hypocritical application of Non-Proliferation Treaty
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Why The US Occupation Makes Iraqi Women Miss Saddam - by Abdu Rahman and Dahr Jamail
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FCC loses key ruling on Internet `neutrality'
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Federal IT pros say U.S. at high risk for cyberattack

Source = Reuters

ROFL - Somebody forgot to hide that charge!

Obama meets with Republicans :: Watch the 66min video toward the bottom of the page

It is just sickening how our political system works. I really hope Obama can reform some of this BS. For crying out load, even when he goes to meet them *specifically in person* to answer questions, nearly ALL of the questions were as Obama said, "talking points." Nothing legitimate.

The so called "questions" were a bunch of BS (NOT FACTS) about this issue, that issue, and blaming Dems for this and that...oh, and i have a "question." Legitimate issues that need to be discussed, but NO FACTUAL DEBATE! There are plenty of Dems at fault too! Too much corruption and money electing these uneducated yahoos. Get out of my government!!!

Grow up, America, before it is too late.

I so respect Obama for all the BS he has to take and deal with and still tries to work with the facts and deal with the ignorant.

NPR - Rare Earthquake Rattles Northern Illinois :: cool!

BBC - Greece hit by nationwide strike over austerity measures :: Greece is in trouble...as are other EU nations.

WSJ - Secretive Culture Led Toyota Astray :: I can imagine ALL car manufactures will start to suffer problems like Toyota as we transition to electronics and computer controlled vehicles.

CS Monitor - Blackwater security contractors ordered out of Iraq :: YAY!

CNET - Gmail blocked in Iran ahead of protests? :: Iran to control electronic communication like China...

OCI - Peak Oil More an “Immediate Threat” Than Climate Change :: Now this would be interesting!

All these things are tied together. Here are two articles to help you follow the story:

"both Rick Warren and C. Peter Wagner have called on their followers to take dominion over the globe, and Rick Warren's efforts in Uganda closely parallel those of his academic mentor Peter Wagner. Mainstream media has glossed over Rick Warren's political extremism but, as shown in a video at the end of this post, in April 2005, before thousands of his church members assembled at California's Anaheim Angels sport stadium, Rick Warren described a "stealth" program for global Christian dominion and encouraged his supporters to embrace the level of dedication shown by followers of Hitler, Lenin, and Mao." -- Alternet

Ok, now we have the National Prayer Breakfast (hello Christians) which is actually a front for fund-raising and recruiting for the Fellowship Foundation. A group that of course has a specific agenda which in my opinon is less about values and more about pushing the agenda of the groups and corporations that fund it. These people live in the infamous 'C Street House' which has housed many individuals (Senators) that have been found guilty of adultery, falsifying all types of evidence and "scientific" reports to mislead the public and congressional members, killing gays, and much more.

"Members of the Fellowship also have been involved with legislation in Uganda calling for the death penalty for gays. The president and members of Congress should not legitimatize this cult-like group – the head of which has praised the organizing abilities of Hitler and Bin Laden – by attending the breakfast" -- Citizens for Ethics .org

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MoveOn.org - petition

"In his dissent, Justice John Paul Stevens accused the majority of judicial activism and attacked the use of corporate personhood in the case: "The conceit that corporations must be treated identically to natural persons in the political sphere is not only inaccurate but also inadequate to justify the Court's disposition of this case."

Republicans offered measured praise for the decision, but progressive good-government groups and Democrats responded angrily and vowed to fight back with legislation."

This is outrageous, wow! The fact that the Supreme Court is making one of the holes put in the Constitution worse...means that they are failing to protect the Constitution of this country. They are EXPLOITING the Constitution to make an excuse for their actions. The argument here is that since corporations are now technically "persons" and people have free speech rights, you cannot restrict a corporation's "free speech"::advertising and lobbying propaganda that does not even represent the actual *people* that keep that corporation running.

Who else is siding with CORPORATIONS ... Republicans?!, really?! no way! Republicans support the same bastards that brought this financial depression on all of us?! Yes, Joe the Plumber, now you see the truth!

Justice Kennedy’s majority opinion was joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Alito, Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Justice Stevens’s dissent was joined by Justices Stephen G. Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

The Supreme Court just restricted the Freedoms of the American People.

Source = NPR

"A Kansas judge refused again on Tuesday to block confessed killer Scott Roeder from arguing at trial his belief that the shooting death of an abortion provider was a justified act aimed at saving unborn children."

Someone needs to strip this judge of his position! This killer walks up to a man in a church, puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger. This type of person SHOULD NOT BE WANDERING AROUND MY SOCIETY! It does not matter what your "rationale" is...

"But what had been expected to be a simple trial was altered when Wilbert refused to bar Roeder's lawyers from building a defense case calling for a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter because Roeder sincerely believed the killing would save unborn children. A conviction for voluntary manslaughter could bring a prison sentence closer to five years, instead of a life term for first-degree murder."

Maybe we can all choose to be like Dexter! His killing is truly justified, right? Yay! Part of the problem here is that: "Kansas law defines voluntary manslaughter as 'an unreasonable but honest belief that circumstances existed that justified deadly force.'"

So Kansas law is seriously ff'ed up apparently. Figures. We should all become residents and waste all the CEOs of these big corporations and wall street bastards that have and continue to destroy this country. Come on, people...this is a JUDGE! A JUDGE thinks it is okay to allow this defense!!! What is wrong with this country?!? Oh, wait, too many things to get into. How about we just touch on guns for a minute.

ALL THOSE YAHOOS THAT THINK just anyone should be allowed to have a gun have no idea of the consequences. Check out this article: Shocking: Concealed Handgun Permit Holders Have Killed 9 Law Enforcement Officers and 108 Citizens Since May 2007

Oh, and that is not near a complete list: "These numbers may actually be a lowball estimate because many states that allow concealed firearms aren’t exactly forthcoming with data about incidents involving them. “It is likely that the actual number of fatal criminal incidents involving concealed handgun permit holders is far higher,” according to Mandy Wimmer at the VPC."