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Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Total US troop pull-out raised as Afghan leader balks at security pact (Bullshit)

Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, and Washington may have to resort to the "zero option" of withdrawing all American troops from the strife-torn country next year, as it did in Iraq.

 Afghan President Hamid Karzai listens as United States President Barack Obama speaks during the Enduring Strategic Partnership Agreement signing ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan on 2 May 2012.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ha! 
I call Bullshit on this one. 
The U.S. is making far too much money on Afghanistan's poppy production to withdraw all American troops.
This is more likely a dispute over how the profits are split up.
Karzai want's a bigger cut and he'll get it.
At least that's the way I see it.

Avenged Sevenfold - Hail To The King




Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head
Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid
Children roam the streets now orphans of war
Bodies hanging in the streets to adore

Royal fames will carve a path in chaos,
Bringing daylight to the night
Death is riding into town with armor,
They've come to take all your rights

Hail to the king
Hail to the one
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun
Hail to the king

Blood is spilt while holding keys to the throne
Born again but it's too late to atone
No mercy - from the edge of the blade
Dare escape and learn the price to be paid

Let the water flow with shades of red now
Arrows black out all the light
Death is riding into town with armor
They've come to grant you your rights

Hail to the king
Hail to the one
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun
Hail to the king

(Guitar Solo)

There's a taste of fear
When the henchmen call
Iron fist to tame the land
Iron fist to claim it all

Hail to the king
Hail to the one
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun

Hail to the king
Hail to the one
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun

Hail to the king

IT Expert Proves LG Smart TVs Are Surveillance Devices

By Susanne Posel
Occupy Corporatism


IT Expert Proves LG Smart TVs Are Surveillance Devices
 Jason Huntley, an information technologies consultant in the UK revealed how the LG smart television sends customer surveillance data to LG Electronics Inc.
Huntley explained: “the company continued to collect which channel he was watching even after he disabled the information collection feature. The (LG) server acknowledges the successful receipt of this information back to the TV. The information appeared to be sent to LG unencrypted.”
In a part of the menu called “collection of watching info” Huntley discovered that regardless of turning the option off, data was still being sent to LG computer servers.

...In home ambient activities such as “eating, exercising, laughing, reading, sleeping, talking, singing, humming, cleaning, and playing a musical instrument; as well as cuddling, fighting, participating in a game or sporting event” can be surveilled using this technology. All cellular phones can interact with this device as a separate mode of surveillance.

Full article at here 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Measure to Eliminate Local Pot Penalties Passes by Nearly 70% in Portland Maine

Thursday, 07 November 2013
Maine: Nearly 70 Percent Of Portland Voters Approve Ballot Measure To Eliminate Local Pot Penalties 
Portland, ME: Voters in Maine's largest city overwhelmingly decided in favor of a municipal measure eliminating local penalties for the possession of marijuana by adults.

An estimated 67 percent of Portland voters decided Tuesday in favor of a citywide ballot initiative, Question 1, eliminating penalties for adults who possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis and/or cannabis paraphernalia within city limits.
 Public consumption of the substance remains a punishable offense.

Full story at  norml.org





 



Sunday, November 24, 2013

Seven Volcanoes In Six Different Countries All Start Erupting Within Hours Of Each Other


Seven Volcanoes In Six Different Countries All Start Erupting Within Hours Of Each OtherBy Chris Carrington
The Daily Sheeple

A new island has appeared in the Pacific. A submarine eruption just off Nishino-Shima Island Japan has erupted for the first time in 40 years. The Japanese Navy noticed the explosions as boiling lava met sea water giving rise to plumes of steam and ash.
Almost 7,000 miles away in Mexico, the Colima volcano blew its top after a period of relative calm. A steam and ash cloud rose two miles into the sky and the grumbling of the mountain could be heard in towns a few miles away.
In Guatemala the ‘Fire Mountain’ belched out lava and sent up a moderate ash cloud causing an ash fall over nearby towns. The explosions and shock waves occurring in the volcano can be felt by residents over 6 miles away. Doors and windows are reported to be rattling, but there has been no damage so far
.
In Vanuatu the Yasur volcano is giving some cause for concern. Although the explosions are quite weak the continuous ash that is coming from the mountain is starting to build up on farming land.

Over to Italy, Mount Etna is putting on quite a display. The current eruption started a few days ago and has been getting stronger as time moves on. A massive eruption lit up the sky and disturbed residents yesterday.
More atwhiteowlconspiracy.com 

Brooms for Beer: Amsterdam Enlists Alcoholic Street Cleaners

The deal works as follows: Alcoholics are provided with a broom to go about keeping the streets and parks clean. In return they receive €10 ($13.50) per day, as well as a half a pack of rolling tobacco and up to five cans of beer -- two in the morning, two in the afternoon and one more after they finish the day's work.

Full Story at:
spiegel.de/international

Scientists to try to bring extinct mountain goat back through cloning



ZARAGOZA, Spain, Nov. 22 (UPI) --
Scientists in Spain say they'll attempt to clone an extinct mountain goat using frozen, preserved cells taken from the last living animal before it died.



The species known as a bucardo, or Pyrenean ibex, went extinct in 2000, but cells from the last animal were collected and frozen in liquid nitrogen.



A previous attempt at cloning in 2003 saw a bucardo calf brought to term but it died shortly after birth. Despite that it was considered an an historic event, the first "de-extinction" in which a lost species or sub-species was resurrected.



Now researchers will make another attempt using the 14-year-old preserved cells from the last animal, which was named Celia.


More at breitbart.com



Hepatitis B Vaccine Linked to Onset of Diabetes


WebMD Health News
June 13, 2000 (San Antonio) -- Faced with an ever-growing list of required and recommended vaccinations for children -- as well as occasional reports of safety problems linked to vaccines -- many parents understandably feel confused. 
No doubt adding to that confusion are reports that the vaccine against hepatitis B, a blood-borne illness that can cause liver cancer, may actually lead to the development of type 1 diabetes in children.

Type 1 diabetes is the form where the body doesn't make the insulin it needs. An Italian study presented here at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association suggests that children who get the hepatitis B vaccine are at greater risk for developing type 1 disease than those who have never been vaccinated.

Full article at webmd.com 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know someone who was diagnosed with diabetes shortly after he got his third round of hepatitis shots.

Broken Road - Broken Promises

TravelWithBubba.com
Bad, broken roads, like this one here in Oklahoma, are more common than they need to be.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Earlier this year my automobile insurance shot up almost thirty dollars a month. I hadn’t had an accident, nor had I been cited for a traffic violation. I hadn’t added anyone to my policy, nor had I made a weather-related damage claim. When I called my insurance company, they told me they had to raise my premiums because I live in Oklahoma, that Oklahoma had been designated a hazardous area because of poor road conditions.
It doesn’t stop there. Last month I spent nearly two thousand dollars replacing the struts and shocks on my 2008 Chevrolet HHR. The service tech who worked on my car told me they’ve been getting a lot of suspension work in the last few years. “Those Oklahoma roads,” he said. “Nothing like job security.”
Recently, I’ve been doing some traveling. I drove up to Northern New Mexico, around the Enchanted Circle, through Angel Fire, Red River and Taos. I drove down to Santa Fe, down through Cline’s Corner, along I-40 through Tucumcari and into the Texas Panhandle. All along the way, over 500 miles in total, I never encountered rough roads like I commonly see in Oklahoma. A few weeks after going to New Mexico I took an autumn motorcycle ride through the Arkansas Ozarks. I rode up Route 23, commonly called The Pig Trail, impressed with the good road conditions, thankful I didn’t have to ride my 1600cc Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad on patched asphalt in addition to negotiating some treacherous curves.
During my trips I noticed some peculiar things. The weigh stations in Oklahoma are closed and seem to have been closed for quite some time, causing me to wonder if the bad road conditions in Oklahoma might be caused by excessive loads, and I’ve been concerned about our poorly lighted highways, lines and lines of unlit street lamps, even in heavily traveled areas like the I-40 and I-35 interchanges in Oklahoma City. Another concern: what’s with the closing of our rest stops and rest areas?

 OKHighways.com, Oklahoma has ten turnpikes with more tolled roadway miles than any other state in the nation.

Story continues at reddirtreport.com 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Kaley Cuoco - Now I Really Like Her


Kaley

Kaley has made no secret of her love for her rescue pit pulls, previously telling Ellen DeGeneres, "I love them, I think they're the greatest dogs in the world, They are the friendliest, the sweetest,"
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Wow, I didn't know that about her, she just got hotter!

 Kaley Cuoco's Facebook PageSee?

Why Name Your Broadcasting Company FOX? - A Theory


I don't know how Fox Broadcasting Company picked the name FOX.

I wonder though, if a meeting of the very top executives went something like this:

"Okay guys, it's no secret amongst us, that we've all sold our souls to Satan for success on this Earthy plane."

"Hail Satan."

"So I think that we should name our broadcasting company in his honor."

"We've found a very simple way to do that without upsetting the ignorant masses."

"We will honor Satan with his number, 666.

"There are only three letters in the English alphabet that make 6 in simple numerology."

"F = 6
O = 15(5+1=6)
X = 24 (2+4=6)"

FOX = 666

"Gentlemen, our new broadcasting company will be named FOX."

"And don't worry,  Americans are far too stupid to figure this out."

"Even if someone slaps them in the face with the facts, they will just go into denial and probably criticize the poor fool that figured it out!"

"Hail Satan."

"Hail FOX." 

A - 1
B - 2
C - 3
D - 4
E - 5
F - 6
G - 7
H - 8
I - 9
J - 10
K - 11
L - 12
M - 13
N - 14
O - 15
P - 16
Q - 17
R - 18
S - 19
T - 20
U - 21
V - 22
W - 23
X - 24
Y - 25
Z - 26


Cops Kill 8 Times More Americans Than Terrorists Do



Dave Hodges
Many people have noticed that several of the local police officers, particularly the younger ones are more gruff, rude and even abusive as compared to the past. Many veteran officers attribute the shift towards DHS’ training of local police which focuses on teaching the police that the public is their enemy as opposed to the traditional view that teaches that the local population and the police are partners in keeping the community safe.
Whatever happened to the friendly neighborhood cop who walked a beat, was well-known and respected by the local residents and was seen as the protector of the neighborhood? Far too often, that cop has been replaced by thugs wearing camouflage, bank robber type black ski masks who are armed with automatic weapons and sometimes even break down the doors of people who are innocent.
A Long-Term Trend Towards the Militarization of the Local Police
Americans have long maintained that a man’s home is his castle and that he has the right to stand his ground in defending his property from dangerous interlopers.
Unfortunately, the right to defend one’s own home may be disappearing. America has become SWAT team happy. America has seen a disturbing trend towards militarization of its local civilian law enforcement, along with a dramatic and very disturbing rise in the use of paramilitary police units being used for routine police work. The most common use of SWAT teams today is to serve narcotics warrants, usually with forced, unannounced entry into the home. However, anyone can be SWAT-teamed, even those who default on their student loans have been SWAT-teamed.
Since 9/11, and the subsequent militarization of the police by the Department of Homeland Security, about 5,000 Americans have been killed by US police officers. The civilian death rate is nearly equal to the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq. In fact, you are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist.
Article continues at beforeitsnews.com 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Rand Paul: 'We Want Our Freedoms Back'



On Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released a video to Breitbart News exclusively in which he argued that the surveillance state under President Obama had grown beyond any reasonable proportions.

 “We were once outraged and dismayed and spurred to resist when British soldiers came knocking at our door with illegitimate warrants seeking taxes on our papers.
Today,” Paul continued, “your government responds that there is no expectation of privacy once you consign your records to a third party.
Your government applies that the Fourth Amendment applies not at all to your bank records, your Visa bill, your internet searches or purchases or emails.
If not resistance, shouldn’t there at least be outrage?”
 Paul said,
“Imagine for a moment what information could be gathered from your Visa bill,” mentioning health information, political information, and personal information.

 “Are we so afraid of terrorists that we are willing to give up the very freedoms that separate us from them?” Paul asked.

Full story and video at breitbart.com 

BREAKING NEW HUGE SCANDAL: Obama released “fake” unemployment numbers prior to 2012 election

November 18th, 2013

“The U.S. government in the final months leading up to the 2012 presidential election released “faked” unemployment data ahead of 2012 election.

 

In the home stretch of the 2012
presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate
fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington.

 The decline — from 8.1 percent
in August to 7.8 percent in September — might not have been all it
seemed.
The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated.
And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it.

Read More at investmentwatchblog.com 
and nypost.com 

“The U.S. government in the final months leading up to the 2012 presidential election released “faked” unemployment data, according to a bombshell report from the New York Post.”
In the home stretch of the 2012 presidential campaign, from August to September, the unemployment rate fell sharply — raising eyebrows from Wall Street to Washington.
The decline — from 8.1 percent in August to 7.8 percent in September — might not have been all it seemed. The numbers, according to a reliable source, were manipulated.
And the Census Bureau, which does the unemployment survey, knew it.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Toronto City Council strips crack-smoking mayor of his powers


Toronto Mayor Rob Ford 111813 [CBC]
 I was worried for a minute, but it's okay, they only stripped Mayor Rob Ford of his mayoral powers.

 He can still have more epic nights of drug and alcohol-fueled misbehavior, like on St. Patrick’s Day, 2013.

 The night of frenzied partying allegedly involved Cocaine, OxyContin, Vodka, a Prostitute and Ford telling staffer Olivia Gondek,

 “I want to eat your p*ssy.”

 He can still make apologies like this one:

 “I would never do that,” Ford asserted at the press conference, which was broadcast live over Canadian television networks.

 “I’ve got more than enough to eat at home.”

Those are the powers that I, and probably most Americans, are most concerned about.

 Keep up the news worthy work Mayor Ford!

Source:  rawstory.com 

Panda Poop Might Help Turn Plants Into Fuel

Panda Cub Eating Bamboo
The same organisms that make pandas effective at digesting bamboo may help turn plant waste into biofuels, according to researchers.
Photograph by Keren Su, Corbis


Brian Handwerk
Published September 10, 2013
Can panda poop help power the greener vehicles of tomorrow? It just might, scientists say, by yielding microbes that efficiently turn plant waste into biofuel—and the research just might help protect pandas at the same time. (See related quiz: "What You Don't Know About Biofuel.")
"We have discovered microbes in panda feces might actually be a solution to the search for sustainable new sources of energy," Mississippi State University biochemist Ashli Brown, who led the study, told attendees at a meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Tuesday. "It's amazing that here we have an endangered species that's almost gone from the planet, yet there's still so much we have yet to learn from it. That underscores the importance of saving endangered and threatened animals."
Biofuels made from corn, soybeans, and other edible crops cause concerns over their potential impact on food supply and prices. Some even argue that such biofuels ultimately may produce even more carbon emissions than petroleum. (See related coverage: "Biofuels at a Crossroads.")
Waste plant material, such as corn cobs and discarded stalks, long has been eyed as a rich, renewable source of biofuel feedstock. But in order for cellulosic biofuel to truly go mainstream, it must be transformed into ethanol efficiently and economically. That's where panda stomachs could give producers a valuable head start. (Vote in poll: "Are Biofuels Worth the Investment?")
"These microbes may be very well suited to break down this biomass," said co-researcher Candace Williams, who originally developed the study several years ago while working on her Master's degree. "That's what they are doing in the gut of the panda with all of the bamboo the animal eats."

More at nationalgeographic.com 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

THE HOLLIES-"LONG COOL WOMAN (IN A BLACK DRESS)

Saturday night I was downtown
Working for the FBI
Sitting in a nest of bad men
Whiskey bottles piling high

Bootlegging boozer on the west side
Full of people who are doing wrong
Just about to call up the DA man
When I heard this woman singing a song

A pair of 45's made me open my eyes
My temperature started to rise
She was a long cool woman in a black dress
Just a 5-9 beautiful tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cause that long cool woman had it all
- (musical interlude)-
I saw her heading to the table
Well a tall walking big black cat
When Charlie said I hope that you're able, boy
Well I'm telling you she knows where it's at
Well then suddenly we heard the sirens
And everybody started to run
Jumping under doors and tables
Well I heard somebody shooting a gun

Well the DA was pumping my left hand
And she was holding my right
Well I told her, "Don't get scared
'Cause you're gonna be spared"
Well I'm gonna be forgivin'
If I wanna spend my living
With a long cool woman in a black dress
Just a 5-9 beautiful tall
With just one look I was a bad mess
'Cause that long cool woman had it all
Had it all, had it all, had it all...

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

EVERY DEMOCRAT VOTED TO KEEP THE RULE THAT CANCELS YOUR INSURANCE

Bombshell: Sen. Rand Paul Reveals — Barack Obama Wrote The Regulation To Cancel Your Insurance, And Every Democrat Voted For It!

Monday, November 11, 2013 23:22
B4INREMOTE-aHR0cDovL3NndHJlcG9ydC5jb20vd3AtY29udGVudC91cGxvYWRzLzIwMTEvMDkvYnVsbDEucG5n
by SGT, SGTReport.com:
If you, like I, have brainwashed, intellectually dishonest, “liberal” friends who still insist on giving Barack Obama a pass for every rotten thing he has ever done, you might want to make them aware of this additional fact.
According to Senator Rand Paul, who spoke at a luncheon in Charleston, South Carolina on Monday, November 11, the President of the United States himself wrote the regulation to cancel the health insurance of MILLIONS of Americans. 

The Republicans had a vote to try to cancel that regulation so you COULDN’T BE CANCELLED, to grandfather everybody in.

You know what the vote was?

Straight party line.
  
EVERY DEMOCRAT VOTED TO KEEP THE RULE THAT CANCELS YOUR INSURANCE.

Video and full article here 

Sunday, November 10, 2013

FDA Approves High-Potency Painkiller 10 Times More Powerful Than Heroin

The FDA approved the sale of Zohydro on October 25, 2012.

Vicodin comes in doses of 5, 7.5 and 10 mg of hydrocodone, along with 300 mg of acetaminophen.

 Zohydro will come in six doses: 10, 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50 mg of hydrocodone—and without any acetaminophen.

It is the first hydrocodone-only drug to be made available to the public.

Source: allgov.com

(Personally, I think leaving the acetaminophen out is a smart move. So many people who get addicted to these drugs wind up destroying their liver because of the unnecessary acetaminophen added.)



Saturday, November 09, 2013

Synchronicity or ("I'll take "What freaks Tex out." for $200 Alex.)


Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events as meaningfully related, whereas they are unlikely to be causally related.
 The subject sees it as a meaningful coincidence, although the events need not be exactly simultaneous in time.
The concept of synchronicity was first described by Carl Gustav Jung, a Swiss psychologist, in the 1920s.[1]

The concept does not question, or compete with, the notion of causality. Instead, it maintains that just as events may be connected by a causal line, they may also be connected by meaning.
A grouping of events by meaning need not have an explanation in terms of cause and effect.
In addition to Jung, Arthur Koestler wrote extensively on synchronicity in The Roots of Coincidence.[2]
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

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I just experienced a little synchronicity, which always seems to freak me out a little.

Earlier I posted the song "I will Survive" by Cake.

I turn on the TV, it's an episode of Will and Grace.

Right when I start watching it.

They go into a bar, wondering if it's a gay bar.

The song "I will Survive" starts playing. (By Gloria Gaynor , I think.)  Okay, not by Cake, but still.

They say "Yeah, it's a Gay Bar."

Okay, that made me say "Wow, there's some synchronicity for you!"

But as if that weren't enough...

Will and Grace are in their apartment (same episode) and there's a song playing in the background.

I get close to the TV to make sure I'm hearing it right.

Yep, it's "How's it Going to be?"  by Third Eye Blind!

F**k me a runnin' backwards up a tree! (To use a colloquialism or maybe it's universal, I'm not sure.)

Now that's some major synchronicity for you.

BTW, it was the Will and Grace that came on at 5:00 pm CST Saturday, November 9th, 2013 on We.


I present my evidence;

 cake-i-will-survive

  third-eye blind







My Mind Works in Mysterious Ways - Mysteries of the Subconscious

Replace the chips with beer bottles and the young man with an old fart for a more accurate depiction.

The other night I was sitting on the couch, it was after midnight, I was the only one in the house that was still up.

The TV was on and I was fighting sleep.

A song popped into my head, it was by The Cure.

I really like a lot of their songs, but this one wasn't one of my favorites, odd that this one would be playing in my head.

It was "Let's go to Bed"

A song about two people hooking up. (I guess.)

Then it hit me, like a ton of bricks, my subconscious was saying:

"Hey Tex, it's late, you have to get up early in the morning."

"Let's go to bed!"

So I, make that we, did.


Thursday, November 07, 2013

Legal pot in Oklahoma? Don't hold your breath

 
RDR file photo
 
OKLAHOMA CITY – Quick question: When the State of Oklahoma snap out of its mid-20th century stupor and realize there is a huge market in their midst that they aren’t capitalizing on?
At the current rate, probably never.
But marijuana activists like Norma Sapp remain hopeful. Her recent appearances in local media as of late are, to me, an encouraging sign. But much more must be done to get where we need to be on this issue.
"If Oklahoma's cannabis policies were changed," Sapp said. "We could save this state over $200 million just from the Department of Corrections. And millions more in police and court expenses."
Perhaps the economic angle will start sinking in for a lot of these tough-on-crime politicians we have around here.
A story this week at The Huffington Post reports that legal marijuana is “among the fastest-growing markets in the United States, and it’s growing at a rate poised to outpace the expansion of the global smartphone market.”
Notes The Huffington Post: “Over the course of six months this year, an estimated $1.43 billion worth of legal marijuana will be sold in 2013.”

Continues at reddirtreport.com 

Obama's Military Purge and Boston Bombing Unanswered Questions (Required Viewing)

Required viewing?
Okay, requested viewing.
A security camera clip shows the real Boston Marathon Bomber.
Hint, it's the guy who's pants are blown to shreds.

Colorado voters approve 25 percent taxes on recreational marijuana

By Keith Coffman

DENVER (Reuters) - A Colorado measure to impose sales and excise taxes of 25 percent on newly legalized recreational marijuana and earmark the first $40 million in revenue for public schools was approved by voters on Tuesday, Governor John Hickenlooper said.

 

The move showed a willingness on the part of Colorado voters to tax marijuana for the public benefit even as they roundly defeated a broader tax measure that would have increased state income taxes to raise $1 billion for schools.

Colorado and Washington last year became the first U.S. states to legalize marijuana for recreational purposes. But Colorado, whose constitution requires a statewide vote to approve tax increases, left it to voters to decide how to tax the newly legal drug.

"We are grateful voters approved funding that will allow for a strong regulatory environment, just like liquor is regulated," Hickenlooper said as returns showed 65 percent of voters in favor of the tax and 35 percent against with about a quarter of votes counted.

More at ca.news.yahoo.com 

Obama Administration May Be Guilty Of War Crimes


File:MQ-9 Reaper in flight (2007).jpg

By: Wednesday November 6, 2013 12:15 pm

The Obama Administration’s assassination program, including its use of drones, has already proved controversial around the world. But now questions are being raised as to whether the program violates the laws of war and international human rights law. Outside of Afghanistan, or a “defined conflict zone”, the use of lethal force is subject to international laws protecting human rights. Laws the Obama Administration may have violated in Yemen and Pakistan where they have killed people using drones.
If the United Statesis only involved in an armed conflict in Afghanistan, international human rights law would be the regime that regulates the use of lethal force in Pakistan and Yemen. Therefore, as noted by Amnesty International, the use of lethal force outside of Afghanistan is legal when it can be demonstrated that:
“[It was] only used when strictly unavoidable to protect life, no less harmful means such as capture or non-lethal incapacitation was possible, and the use of force was proportionate in the prevailing circumstances.”
That is a pretty tough standard to meet when the Obama Administration is engaging in “signature strikes” or essentially killing people based on profiling people in a given area.
It is, in essence, killing by algorithm.

Read more at firedoglake.com 

Blockbuster to close all stores

blockbuster

Customers shop at a Blockbuster video store on Jan. 22, 2013.
Scott Olson/Getty
Blockbuster video will close all of its 300 stores and cease its DVD-by-mail operations, its owner, DISH Network, announced Wednesday. The company cited the rise of digital video distribution as the reason for the closure, saying it plans to expand its online offerings.
Stores will close down by January 2014 and Blockbuster-by-Mail will end next month.
Earlier this year, Blockbuster announced another culling of 300 stores. About 3,000 people lost their jobs.

More at america.aljazeera.com

Chris Christie Screams At Another Teacher On Election Eve


Governor Christie Screams At Melissa Tomlinson

Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey has made a name for himself screaming at constituents – from “jerk” to “idiot” to “numbnuts.” He has also, while in re-election mode, tried to tone it down somewhat in hopes of appealing to a broader base of voters. But yesterday was an apparent slip as Governor Christie told a public school teacher that “I Am Tired Of You People!”
The woman he screamed at, Melissa Tomlinson, is a public school teacher who asked Christie why he denigrated public education.
I went to listen to him speak. I stood in the front of the crowd that was standing towards the back. I know he caught sight of me. He stared at me a few times during his speech. I left right as his speech was over to position myself right at the door of the bus. He came out, shaking everyone’s hands as he was getting on the bus. I asked him my question, expecting him to ignore me but he suddenly turned and went off.
I asked him: “Why do you portray our schools as failure factories?” His reply: “Because they are!”  He said: “I am tired of you people. What do you want?”
Story continues at firedoglake.com 

Disarming the Myths Promoted By the Gun Control Lobby

Larry Bell, Contributor
English: BERSA Thunder 380 Concealed Carry
Image via Wikipedia

As much as gun control advocates might wish otherwise, their attacks are running out of ammo. With private firearm ownership at an all-time high and violent crime rates plunging, none of the scary scenarios they advanced have materialized. Abuse of responsibility by armed citizens is rare, while successful defensive interventions against assaults on their lives and property are relatively commonplace.
National violent crime rates that soared for 30 years from the early 1960s began to decrease markedly since 1993. Last December the FBI reported that murder and other violent crime rates fell again by 6.4% during the first half of 2011 compared with the same period in 2010. A Gallup poll indicates that “Americans’ preference regarding gun laws is generally that the government enforce existing laws more strictly and not pass new laws.”

More at forbes.com 

Saturday, November 02, 2013

Friday, November 01, 2013

How easy is it to invent and manufacture a recreational drug that does not break any laws?

By Mike Power, The Guardian
Friday, November 1, 2013 2:48 EDT

File picture of drug capsules and pills. (AFP)
  • 494The reaso
     reaso
  • The
How easy is it to invent and manufacture a recreational drug that does not break any UK drug laws? I just spent the last two months doing exactly that – and the answer might surprise you.
Since 2008, the emergence of legal highs has wrong-footed policymakers, parents and police. These drugs imitate the effects of cocaine, amphetamines, MDMA and cannabis. They are popular, legal to take and supply, and their use is growing. Barely a week goes by without a press or TV report of a death, or major psychological consequences, as a result of using them. These reports often claim that it is a trivial task to take a banned drug and, with a little molecular trickery, get a Chinese lab to produce a new, legal version.


Most stories about legal and illegal drugs in the mass media are at best hysterical and inaccurate, and at worst simply untrue, so I decided to put this particular claim to the test.
The market in legal highs is growing. In 2009, the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction’s early warning system discovered 24 new drugs. In 2010, it found another 41; in 2011, another 49; and in 2012, there were 73 more. By October 2013, a further 56 new compounds had already been identified: a total of 243 new drugs in just four years.
Or rather, make that 244, because as part of a two-month investigation for the online science and technology publisher Matter, I just devised a new, legal drug, had it synthesised in China, and delivered to a PO Box in central London. It is a close chemical cousin of a substance that was well-loved by some of the world’s most famous musicians, and, it’s rumoured, by John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, and Truman Capote – but was banned decades ago.


There’s a bag of it sat in its courier packaging on my desk as I write. There’s also a sample at Cardiff University, where Andrew Westwell, a brilliant chemist at the WEDINOS project, a Welsh government-funded initiative that tracks and identifies new drugs. He has analysed it and proved its authenticity and guessed at its likely effects if taken: a stimulant.
All it took me was a few dozen phone calls to Shanghai, a gmail account, a bank transfer, a PO Box set up in a false name, a few emails to contacts on web forums that gave me the synthesis and the modification and the name of a friendly laboratory, and a bit of reading. Job done....
...
The real issue is this: we are confusing cause and effect. The reason so many new drugs are appearing is precisely because we keep banning them. That approach worked in the 1960s and 1970s, and even perhaps until the 1980s. But in the internet era, it is impossible to control this market. More laws equals more drugs. If I, a journalist who until recently knew nothing of chemistry, can commission a new drug in a matter of weeks, so can many more people. And they will.
Policymakers’ prime concern should not be which drugs are legal or illegal, but which are the most harmful. Their next problem is how to regulate the market in psychoactive chemicals. That will be more complicated than anyone – even those who advocate radical new approaches, including decriminalisation – dare consider.
• You can read Uncontrolled Substances, Mike Power’s investigation into the past, present and future of the designer drugs scene, for $0.99 (60 pence) on the science and technology site MATTER
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News and Media 2013

FULL ARTICLE AT RawStory

Ecstasy Effects

Germany Gets First Prostitution Lobby

Sex Workers Unite

Romanian prostitutes pose in the Pussy Club brothel in Berlin. A new professional association aims to improve the lives of prostitutes working in Germany.
Romanian prostitutes pose in the Pussy Club brothel in Berlin. A new professional association aims to improve the lives of prostitutes working in Germany. 
Johanna Weber has founded Germany's first professional association for sex workers. She tells SPIEGEL ONLINE how she plans to fight for their rights -- and change the notion that all prostitutes are oppressed. Interview Conducted By Jan Guldner more...
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Personally,  I've always thought that prostitution should be legal for adults. Of course I'm one of those way out there people that thinks victimless action shouldn't be crimes. If everybody thought like that our prisons wouldn't be overcrowded with non-violent drug offenders. Prisons would house actual bad guys, murderers, rapists, robbers only you get the picture. Anyway, had to throw in my two cents worth.

New Study Shows Gun Owners More Likely to be Against Gun Control Laws - Duh - I Could Have Told Them That

Older white man with gun via Shutterstock

A study published in the scientific journal forum PLOS ONE found that the presence of firearms in white homes in the U.S. is associated with  stiffer resistance to gun control policies.

According to a press release from the University of Manchester, the study was led by University of Manchester and Monash University professor of Behavioral Studies Dr. Kerry O’Brien.

They also say that gun owners are more racist, not regular racism, but a new special kind called
"symbolic racism", if you are against food stamps for example, then you are a racist.

More at rawstory.com