A theory is a theory is a theory--and none of them perfect. We’re still a mystery
JERUSALEM –
Israeli archaeologists said Monday they may have found the earliest evidence yet for the existence of modern man, and if so, it could upset theories of the origin of humans.
_____________________________________
Poisoning the environment for free and loving it. In praise of turning the Nation over to Business
Thom Hartmann, Berrett-Koehler Publishers: "Cars and trucks produce exhaust, which deteriorates buildings and statues, causes cancers and asthmas, and, when rain catches it on the way down, pollutes waterways and crops, with those poisons ending up in the food chain.... Here in the United States, we allow businesses to externalize those costs and have government or consumers (in the case of cancers and asthma) pay for them, instead of incorporating that cost into the retail price of gas. The first imperative in business is to make a profit, and one of the effective ways to do so is to internalize profits while externalizing costs. The internalizing-profits part is pretty easy to figure out: keep as much money as possible in the company, jack up prices to the maximum the market will bear, reduce expenses like labor and raw materials as much as possible, and increase efficiencies. All of these things constitute 'the way of doing business' that most Americans understand. But it's only half of the equation."
______________________________________________
The power of image making--Mandella hands down for Most Admired Man of the Year and 50 others after him, including Manning and Assange. Obama/Bush/Clinton not even fit to hold their coats.
Twenty-two percent of Americans surveyed said that the president is the person they hold in highest esteem, granting Obama the titled of "Most Admired Man" for the third year in a row in the annual survey.
George W. Bush placed second with 5 percent, and Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Bill Gates rounded out the top five, in that order.
__________________________________
After ten years, Kabul not in control of its own destiny. Petraeus probably said “Tough.”
KABUL (Reuters) – The NATO-led force in Afghanistan disputed Monday an Afghan government accusation that foreign troops had violated a security deal by conducting a night raid in Kabul in which two guards were killed.
"This was an irresponsible way of dealing with an issue within Kabul city and that was clearly conveyed," Omer told a news conference, adding that the security council also said the operation had been "unnecessary."
Dion Nissenbaum and Hashim Shukoor, McClatchy Newspapers: "The international Special Forces military team that targeted a Kabul office complex on Christmas Eve day thought they were thwarting a holiday season plot to bomb the U.S. Embassy. But the pre-dawn raid that left two security guards dead found no explosives, no plot and no evidence that the building's occupants - an Afghan armored car firm that has been working with the U.S. military for nearly a decade - were scheming to attack American diplomats."
________________________________________
SUCCESs--Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all
Chris Hedges, Truthdig: "The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell's '1984' and Aldous Huxley's 'Brave New World.' The debate, between those who watched our descent towards corporate totalitarianism, was who was right. Would we be, as Orwell wrote, dominated by a repressive surveillance and security state that used crude and violent forms of control? Or would we be, as Huxley envisioned, entranced by entertainment and spectacle, captivated by technology and seduced by profligate consumption to embrace our own oppression? It turns out Orwell and Huxley were both right. Huxley saw the first stage of our enslavement. Orwell saw the second."
_________________________________________
If you want the truth, check the UN maps not Robert Gibbs
KABUL (AFP) – Confidential UN maps show a clear deterioration in security in parts of Afghanistan over the course of this year, despite White House claims its strategy is working, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
While the situation in the south -- the fiercest battleground between US-led troops and the Taliban -- remained virtually unchanged at "very high risk", it worsened in 16 districts in the north and east, the paper said.
________________________________________
Not just at Notre Dame where varsity athletes roam the campus like gods
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP)
Notre Dame's president says the university acted with integrity in its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against a football player by a St. Mary's College student who later committed suicide.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Michael Dvorak said the case broke down because of inconsistencies in the statements of various people involved in the case.
"Conflicts exist among the witnesses' accounts of the events given to the police. Subpoenaed cell phone records are inconsistent with parts of the complaint itself," Dvorak said.
Notre Dame President Jenkins said the player and a friend still may face student disciplinary action on accusations of sending Seeberg a text message that said, "Messing with notre dame football is a bad idea."
_____________________________________
Obama gets it right for a change
Obama calls Eagles owner to congraulate him for signing Vick
By Chris Chase
Michael Vick(notes) has been getting support from all sides during his road to redemption. He's now getting it from the leader of the free world.
NBC's Peter King reports that Barack Obama called Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie earlier this week to congratulate him for giving Vick a second chance after his release from prison. According to King, the president said that released prisoners rarely receive a level playing field and that Vick's story could begin to change that.
______________________________________
"...an uprooting of the old order, the introduction of a new kind of society - cooperative, peaceful, egalitarian." -Howard Zinn,
No comments:
Post a Comment