February 2012
“Let’s be clear — I am an engineer; I am not telling you we shouldn’t build...”
– Mike Klink, engineer and TransCanada pipeline inspector, calling Keystone XL a potential disaster.
Whistle, blown.
(via onearth)
The next time I interview for a job, I'm going to...
squashed:
Interviewer: What interests you about our company? Me: I hate it and think it should be dismantled. Interviewer: What are your primary qualifications for the job? Me: I would systematically destroy your company. Interviewer: Why do you want to destroy our company? Me: Your company has a successful and diverse market line and a global presence. But when it was incorporated, the...
Panetta admits Iran not developing nukes | The Raw... →
randomactsofchaos:
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta let slip on Sunday the big open secret that Washington war hawks don’t want widely known: Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.
Appearing on CBS’s Face The Nation on Sunday, Panetta admitted despite all the rhetoric, Iran is not pursuing the ability to split atoms with weapons, saying it is instead pursuing “a nuclear capability.”
That...
FDA Warns Pets Being Poisoned by Treats:... →
early-onset-of-night:
The question many are asking is how many dogs will have to die before the products are recalled? It is already estimated that the dead and dying are numbered at more than 500. This number does not count all of the cases that have not made the connection yet between a pet’s illness and the treats. The treats are causing kidney failure and Fanconi syndrome, with some cases...
The Downward Mobility of the American Middle... →
But Romney doesn’t like safety nets to begin with. He’s been accusing President Obama of inviting a culture of dependency. “Over the past three years Barack Obama has been replacing our merit-based society with an entitlement society,” he says over and over, arguing that our economic problems stem from a sharp rise in dependency. Get rid of these benefits and people will work harder.
He and...
Newspaper Editor: Israel Should Consider... →
theamericanbear:
“Yes, you read “three” correctly. Order a hit on a president in order to preserve Israel’s existence. Think about it. If I have thought of this Tom Clancy-type scenario, don’t you think that this almost unfathomable idea has been discussed in Israel’s most inner circles?” - Andrew Adler of The Atlanta Jewish Times
A nervous Adler told me over the phone that he wasn’t...
omchomsky:
US on Russian and Chinese UN Veto: “Disgusting”, “Shameful”, “Deplorable”, “a Travesty” … Really?
zedweiller:
verbalresistance:
A Quick Listing of The United States’ Record of Veto Use at the United Nations (UN): 1972–2011 *
(Including Resolutions against Decades of Atrocities and Violations, Often Supported and/or Bankrolled by the United States)
Year + The UN Resolution...
“Federal and state laws ban discrimination against pregnant women in the...”
– Pregnant, and Pushed Out of a Job - NYTimes.com (via whenrobotsreproduce)
Conservative logic:
Allow pregnant people to safely terminate their pregnancies? NOOOOOO WHAT ABOUT THE BABBIEEZZZ??
OK, give pregnant people rights in the workplace so they can support themselves and a new baby? NOOOOOOO...
FL Senate Passes "Religious Expression" Bill
helvetebrann:
The state Senate passed SB 98 this afternoon by a 31-8 margin, paving the way for public school districts to allow student prayer in school. The bill would allow “student volunteers to deliver inspirational messages, including but not limited to, prayers of invocation or benediction,” according to a legislative summary from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Legislators appear to...
Blast hits Egypt's gas pipeline to Israel →
An explosion hit a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel Sunday, witnesses and state television reported.
The pipeline, which also supplies gas to Jordan, has come under attack at least 12 times since Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was toppled in 2011.
The latest blast took place in the Massaeed area west of the Mediterranean coastal town of al-Arish. Gas pumping was stopped after the...
I think my mouse trouble is in some way related to my firefox troubles — it crashes pretty much every day. It is a bit odd that I can do pretty much anything with the mouse except choose which blog I want to post to — but if things were logical life would be seriously boring.
I am still not sure what the Highlight this post means, but maybe I will just go wild and click that little...
Washington State Bill Would Require Abortion... →
sarahlee310:
Democratic members of the state legislature introduced a bill earlier this month that would maintain or expand abortion coverage. The “Reproductive Parity Act,” set for its first hearings on Thursday, would require private and public insurers that provide maternity coverage to cover abortion services as well. If passed, the law would be the first of its kind in the nation.
...
8,000 instances of abuse alleged in Archdiocese... →
dendroica:
Sealed documents filed in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee bankruptcy identify at least 8,000 instances of child sexual abuse and 100 alleged offenders - 75 of them priests - who have not previously been named by the archdiocese, a victims’ attorney said Thursday.
Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf said she did not have enough information to respond to the assertion, made by...
Dallas boys go on expensive field trip, girls stay... →
sarahlee310:
Top officials with the Dallas Independent School District, who knew about and signed off on the plan, said there wasn’t enough money to send all students to the movie, which depicts Tuskegee Airmen, a group of black male pilots in World War II.
So the district paid about $57,000 to send boys on the field trip while girls remained at school. On some campuses, girls watched ...
Contrary to "Entitlement Society" Rhetoric, Over... →
Some conservative critics of federal social programs, including leading presidential candidates, are sounding an alarm that the United States is rapidly becoming an “entitlement society” in which social programs are undermining the work ethic and creating a large class of Americans who prefer to depend on government benefits rather than work. A new CBPP analysis of budget and Census data,...
“We are not hated because we practice democracy, value freedom, or uphold human...”
– Former US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Robert Bowman, in Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States”.
(via timmytime)
YES YES YES THIS THIS THIS
(via whatsajuthika)
I want this emblazoned on my forehead for all of the American entitlement people out there.
(via baxtavius)
“You know I was married for 23 years to the love of my life, and he died six...”
– Washington State Representative MAUREEN WALSH, Republican, on why she voted to legalize marriage equality in her state.
Dear New Jersey governor Chris Christie and others in the Republican Party who continue to demonize those who want marriage equality: this is what courage, and not cowardice,...
I wonder if the Catholic Church will ever mention...
theworldisconfused:
Why, when the Catholic Church has actually taken numerous admirable stands in history, does the Church decide to stake its moral prestige on something as ridiculous as preventing affordable access to birth control?
For the most part, people will still get birth control. It will just be a bigger hassle and cost them more money. The Catholic Church was never faced with the...
Facebook – The Second Birth of a Mighty Titan or... →
Simply put, with its frontiers all but expanded to their limits, if Facebook wants to keep going it must try to dig deeper into its existing user base in search of profit. To do this it will have to become ever more intrusive in its advertising and marketing methods. Yet this will turn people off the platform and diminish its popularity. So, Facebook finds itself caught between a rock and a hard...
Rep. Bachus faces insider-trading investigation -... →
The Office of Congressional Ethics is investigating the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee over possible violations of insider-trading laws, according to individuals familiar with the case.
Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), who holds one of the most influential positions in the House, has been a frequent trader on Capitol Hill, buying stock options while overseeing the nation’s...
Reuters, NBC, Fox, CBS Renting Tel Aviv Rooftops... →
journalofajournalist:
Interesting link from Globes, Israel’s main business program. News outlets such as Reuters have been renting rooftops in Tel Aviv; television news producers have also been making arrangements for Iran-Israel war coverage. Article’s Hebrew-only, but Google Translate gives the gist.
Really there is no adequate response to this
Students At Catholic Colleges Protest Lack Of...
letterstomycountry:
From HuffPo:
WASHINGTON — Single, 18-year-old female, likes having control over her own body, looking for affordable birth control.
That’s Keely Monroe’s summary of her life at Fordham University, a Jesuit college in New York. “Finding contraception at Fordham was about as easy as finding a good man from a want ad,” Monroe said of her alma mater at a press conference held...
A broken underwater wellhead has been dumping... →
“Although Gingrich attacks Romney for what he’s done to US workers, there’s an...”
– Mitt Romney, ‘welfare queen’ - Opinion - Al Jazeera English (via progressivefriends)
“It’s a Biblical principle. If you double a teacher’s pay scale, you’ll attract...”
– Alabama State Senator thinks raising teacher pay is against the teachings of the Bible (via desertmar)
So we should pay teachers less to make sure only people who really really really want to be teachers become teachers? WHAT THE FUCK. Teaching is one of the hardest jobs out there. Unlike office...
1 tag
Why?
Why can I not chose which blog I want to post to with the mouse? Why must I scroll down and down and down to get to Other Stuff?
What does Highlight this post mean? (Don’t ignore it like all my other posts? What is the point?)
Survey | Majority of Catholics Think Employers... →
A series of CIA memos describes how Israeli Mossad... →
jonathan-cunningham:
mehreenkasana:
“It’s amazing what the Israelis thought they could get away with,” the intelligence officer said. “Their recruitment activities were nearly in the open. They apparently didn’t give a damn what we thought.”
There is no denying that there is a covert, bloody, and ongoing campaign aimed at stopping Iran’s nuclear program, though no evidence has emerged...
“Among the most contested provisions of the bill is the section that would exempt...”
– Kansas Abortion Bill Would Impose Sweeping Restrictions
A wrongful death suit could still be filed, however, if the mother died.
So, a man could sue if his wife died, but a woman wouldn’t be able sue on her own behalf if she is damaged. Gosh, Kansas, it’s almost as if you are saying that women...
Privacy Death Stars Approved By Congress →
Today, it is tricky for governments and corporations to constantly spy on people using drones. By 2015, it wil be much much easier, thanks to a Monday Congressional vote authorizing drones above 400 feet, in the same airspace as commercial airliners.
At last, we can be monitored around the clock by high-altitude Privacy Death Stars.
"The GOP wants to save zygotes so they can later...
leftish:
~ Talyn04
Or put them to work as child janitors.
A brief 3-question survey about American foreign... →
kimjonggoon:
kimjonggoon:
PLEASE ANSWER TRUTHFULLY AND ONLY SELECT ONE ANSWER FOR EACH QUESTION TO ENSURE YOUR RESULTS WILL BE COUNTED!
guys, i need about 250 more people to take the survey in order to get the sample size i want. please help me out, i’m almost there!
Renewables Will Bring Golden Age Of Free Energy →
kp777:
by Susan Kraemer Earth Techling February 8th, 2012
From the article: Most people understand that once solar panels are paid off, the energy they provide is free.
But what about on a national level? Many haven’t really internalized the corresponding fact. The same people worry that government investment in solar, or policies that encourage it, is somehow wasting money. But solar works...
I just figured out that
inothernews:
the (run by men) Catholic Church is so against the policy of having to provide contraceptives to their employees under their health plan because some of those employees who are probably Catholic will actually want said contraceptives and then oh my God, the paperwork when the (run by men) Church has to excommunicate someone, OMG OMG! Also, they’d lose another member (from a Church...
Dire Warnings Over Muslim American Terrorists... →
almaswithinalmas:
A new study of homegrown terrorism involving Muslim Americans suggests that the alarm bells set off by Republicans in Congress over sleeper cells of Islamic extremists may be much too loud.
Despite warnings of a potential wave of violent attacks hatched on U.S. soil, research by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security finds that the number of attacks committed...