Sunday, January 20, 2013
The Middle East & Africa:
Al Jazeera: Chomsky on Obama (25 min. video)
"...'If you look at the actual policies, they’re pretty shocking. The drone assassination campaign is a perfectly good example. I mean, that’s just a global assassination campaign.' Critics of the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Yemen worry the practice violates international law and kills civilians. The well-known leftist activist also downplayed Obama’s efforts to block Israel settlements into Palestinian territory. Though the Obama administration has repeatedly criticized Israel’s settlement activity, they had not imposed any actual penalties, unlike previous presidents, Chomsky said..."
Democracy Now! - Senator Asks CIA Pick Brennan to Explain Legal Basis for Targeting U.S. Citizens Overseas
"...Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has asked CIA nominee and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to explain the administration’s legal basis for targeting U.S. citizens overseas. On Monday, Wyden released a letter to Brennan ahead of Brennan’s confirmation hearings to head the CIA. Wyden wrote: 'For the Executive Branch to claim that intelligence agencies have the authority to knowingly kill American citizens, but refuse to provide Congress with any and all legal opinions that explain ... this authority represents an alarming and indefensible assertion of executive prerogative.' Brennan has reportedly overseen the Obama administration’s targeted assassination program, known as the 'disposition matrix,' during his White House stint and could likely continue that role at the helm of the CIA..."
Commercial Revenue Trumps Innovation
The Examiner: 'Best in No': How CBS blocked Dish Hopper with Sling DVR's 'Best in CES' win
"...we were told that CBS objected to Hopper being a finalist because it is in active litigation with Dish Network over the company's Hopper DVRs. Those DVRs have two things that are unique: they automatically record the primetime schedule from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. The more contentious feature, though, is a built-in ad-skipping feature called 'AutoHop.' Unlike manual skip functionality on other DVRs, AutoHop automatically skips ads..."
Al Jazeera: Chomsky on Obama (25 min. video)
"...'If you look at the actual policies, they’re pretty shocking. The drone assassination campaign is a perfectly good example. I mean, that’s just a global assassination campaign.' Critics of the use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists in Pakistan and Yemen worry the practice violates international law and kills civilians. The well-known leftist activist also downplayed Obama’s efforts to block Israel settlements into Palestinian territory. Though the Obama administration has repeatedly criticized Israel’s settlement activity, they had not imposed any actual penalties, unlike previous presidents, Chomsky said..."
Democracy Now! - Senator Asks CIA Pick Brennan to Explain Legal Basis for Targeting U.S. Citizens Overseas
"...Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon has asked CIA nominee and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to explain the administration’s legal basis for targeting U.S. citizens overseas. On Monday, Wyden released a letter to Brennan ahead of Brennan’s confirmation hearings to head the CIA. Wyden wrote: 'For the Executive Branch to claim that intelligence agencies have the authority to knowingly kill American citizens, but refuse to provide Congress with any and all legal opinions that explain ... this authority represents an alarming and indefensible assertion of executive prerogative.' Brennan has reportedly overseen the Obama administration’s targeted assassination program, known as the 'disposition matrix,' during his White House stint and could likely continue that role at the helm of the CIA..."
Commercial Revenue Trumps Innovation
The Examiner: 'Best in No': How CBS blocked Dish Hopper with Sling DVR's 'Best in CES' win
"...we were told that CBS objected to Hopper being a finalist because it is in active litigation with Dish Network over the company's Hopper DVRs. Those DVRs have two things that are unique: they automatically record the primetime schedule from ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox. The more contentious feature, though, is a built-in ad-skipping feature called 'AutoHop.' Unlike manual skip functionality on other DVRs, AutoHop automatically skips ads..."
Friday, January 11, 2013
Technology:
Kurt Gensheimer: The Bicycle – Man’s Most Perfect Invention
"When it comes to advancement as a species, the last 150 years have been the most prolific years in human history. The car, flight, electricity, computer, internet and telephone are just some of the significant inventions that have changed the face of modern society. However, when JK Starley invented the 'safety bicycle' in 1885 as a safer alternative to the dreaded 'boneshaker' high wheel bike, little did he know the impact it would have over the next 127 years. The bicycle has undoubtedly become Man’s Most Perfect Invention. Of course, it should come as no surprise that a bike-obsessed author would make such an absolute statement on a bike-oriented website, but how is this statement quantified? There are dozens of monumental inventions in the last 150 years, why the bicycle? If you proclaimed to someone in Oklahoma that the bicycle is Man’s Most Perfect Invention, they’d probably laugh in your face. But say it to someone in third-world countries such as Ghana or Cambodia or even first-world nations such as the Netherlands or Germany and they’ll likely wholeheartedly agree. A great invention changes the face of society for the better, but a truly great invention like the bicycle changes society without itself changing. For example, JK Starley’s Safety Bicycle of 1885 is essentially the same device we use today; a triangulated structure with two matched pneumatic wheels driven by a chain and cogs. No matter how much the bicycle industry has tried to ‘reinvent the wheel’ over the last 150 years, nothing is more efficient, reliable and cost effective than a chain and cog drivetrain. Although we might use more advanced materials these days to make bikes lighter and stronger, the bicycle is essentially unchanged; simple, efficient and affordable. That fact alone would qualify the bicycle as Man’s Most Perfect Invention. But what really makes the bicycle Man’s Most Perfect Invention is the undeniable impact it has had on society. The bicycle offers an unsurpassed combination of benefits including recreation, mental and physical health, stress relief, reduced traffic congestion, reduced environmental impact, and perhaps the most important aspect, affordability..."
Criminal Cover-up for the Sake of Cherished Football:
When the protection of football players is more important than the prosecution of a crime, something is drastically wrong in society. The adults in this situation deserve to be charged with conspiracy to destroy evidence of the crime.
Democracy Now! - Hacker Group Anonymous Leaks Chilling Video in Case of Alleged Steubenville Rape, Cover-Up
"Following the death of a young rape victim that galvanized tens of thousands of protesters in India, we turn now to a case of sexual violence here in the United States that’s only recently generated national attention, though it happened months ago. That’s the case of Steubenville, Ohio, where members of a high school football team allegedly raped an underage girl, possibly urinated on her unconscious body, over the course of an evening of partying in late August. The young men chronicled their actions on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, using words such as 'drunk girl,' 'rape' in their posts..."
Kurt Gensheimer: The Bicycle – Man’s Most Perfect Invention
"When it comes to advancement as a species, the last 150 years have been the most prolific years in human history. The car, flight, electricity, computer, internet and telephone are just some of the significant inventions that have changed the face of modern society. However, when JK Starley invented the 'safety bicycle' in 1885 as a safer alternative to the dreaded 'boneshaker' high wheel bike, little did he know the impact it would have over the next 127 years. The bicycle has undoubtedly become Man’s Most Perfect Invention. Of course, it should come as no surprise that a bike-obsessed author would make such an absolute statement on a bike-oriented website, but how is this statement quantified? There are dozens of monumental inventions in the last 150 years, why the bicycle? If you proclaimed to someone in Oklahoma that the bicycle is Man’s Most Perfect Invention, they’d probably laugh in your face. But say it to someone in third-world countries such as Ghana or Cambodia or even first-world nations such as the Netherlands or Germany and they’ll likely wholeheartedly agree. A great invention changes the face of society for the better, but a truly great invention like the bicycle changes society without itself changing. For example, JK Starley’s Safety Bicycle of 1885 is essentially the same device we use today; a triangulated structure with two matched pneumatic wheels driven by a chain and cogs. No matter how much the bicycle industry has tried to ‘reinvent the wheel’ over the last 150 years, nothing is more efficient, reliable and cost effective than a chain and cog drivetrain. Although we might use more advanced materials these days to make bikes lighter and stronger, the bicycle is essentially unchanged; simple, efficient and affordable. That fact alone would qualify the bicycle as Man’s Most Perfect Invention. But what really makes the bicycle Man’s Most Perfect Invention is the undeniable impact it has had on society. The bicycle offers an unsurpassed combination of benefits including recreation, mental and physical health, stress relief, reduced traffic congestion, reduced environmental impact, and perhaps the most important aspect, affordability..."
Criminal Cover-up for the Sake of Cherished Football:
When the protection of football players is more important than the prosecution of a crime, something is drastically wrong in society. The adults in this situation deserve to be charged with conspiracy to destroy evidence of the crime.
Democracy Now! - Hacker Group Anonymous Leaks Chilling Video in Case of Alleged Steubenville Rape, Cover-Up
"Following the death of a young rape victim that galvanized tens of thousands of protesters in India, we turn now to a case of sexual violence here in the United States that’s only recently generated national attention, though it happened months ago. That’s the case of Steubenville, Ohio, where members of a high school football team allegedly raped an underage girl, possibly urinated on her unconscious body, over the course of an evening of partying in late August. The young men chronicled their actions on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, using words such as 'drunk girl,' 'rape' in their posts..."
Monday, January 07, 2013
The Middle East:
Noam Chomsy: Gravest Threat to World Peace
"...Establishment of a nuclear weapons-free zone of course requires the cooperation of the nuclear powers: In the Middle East, that would include the United States and Israel, which refuse. The same is true elsewhere. Such zones in Africa and the Pacific await implementation because the U.S. insists on maintaining and upgrading nuclear weapons bases on islands it controls. As the NGO meeting convened in Helsinki, a dinner took place in New York under the auspices of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an offshoot of the Israeli lobby. According to an enthusiastic report on the 'gala' in the Israeli press, Dennis Ross, Elliott Abrams and other 'former top advisers to Obama and Bush' assured the audience that 'the president will strike (Iran) next year if diplomacy doesn’t succeed' – a most attractive holiday gift. Americans can hardly be aware of how diplomacy has once again failed, for a simple reason: Virtually nothing is reported in the United States about the fate of the most obvious way to address 'the gravest threat' – Establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East."
The National Security State:
WIRED Magazine: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Ruling Lets Feds Keep Mum on Targeted-Killing Legal Rationale
Sometimes the repetitive nature of a National Security State justification for acts of war in countries where no explicit declaration of war has been made by Congress forces the judiciary take notice, even if they just go along in the end...
"The President Barack Obama administration does not have to disclose the legal basis for its drone targeted killing program of Americans, according to a Wednesday decision a judge likened to 'Alice in Wonderland'. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon of New York, ruling in lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times, said she was caught in a 'paradoxical situation' (.pdf) of allowing the administration to claim it was legal to kill enemies outside traditional combat zones while keeping the legal rational secret. The opinion comes months after 26 members of Congress asked Obama, in a letter, to consider the consequences of drone killing and to explain the necessity of the program. The use of drones to shoot missiles from afar at vehicles and buildings that the nation’s intelligence agencies believe are being used by suspected terrorists began under the George W. Bush administration and was widened by the Obama administration to allow the targeting of American citizens. Drone strikes by the Pentagon and the CIA have sparked backlashes from foreign governments and populations, as the strikes often kill civilians, including women and children. In the end, however, the government’s claim of national security trumped the Freedom of Information Act..."
Noam Chomsy: Gravest Threat to World Peace
"...Establishment of a nuclear weapons-free zone of course requires the cooperation of the nuclear powers: In the Middle East, that would include the United States and Israel, which refuse. The same is true elsewhere. Such zones in Africa and the Pacific await implementation because the U.S. insists on maintaining and upgrading nuclear weapons bases on islands it controls. As the NGO meeting convened in Helsinki, a dinner took place in New York under the auspices of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an offshoot of the Israeli lobby. According to an enthusiastic report on the 'gala' in the Israeli press, Dennis Ross, Elliott Abrams and other 'former top advisers to Obama and Bush' assured the audience that 'the president will strike (Iran) next year if diplomacy doesn’t succeed' – a most attractive holiday gift. Americans can hardly be aware of how diplomacy has once again failed, for a simple reason: Virtually nothing is reported in the United States about the fate of the most obvious way to address 'the gravest threat' – Establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East."
The National Security State:
WIRED Magazine: ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Ruling Lets Feds Keep Mum on Targeted-Killing Legal Rationale
Sometimes the repetitive nature of a National Security State justification for acts of war in countries where no explicit declaration of war has been made by Congress forces the judiciary take notice, even if they just go along in the end...
"The President Barack Obama administration does not have to disclose the legal basis for its drone targeted killing program of Americans, according to a Wednesday decision a judge likened to 'Alice in Wonderland'. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen McMahon of New York, ruling in lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and The New York Times, said she was caught in a 'paradoxical situation' (.pdf) of allowing the administration to claim it was legal to kill enemies outside traditional combat zones while keeping the legal rational secret. The opinion comes months after 26 members of Congress asked Obama, in a letter, to consider the consequences of drone killing and to explain the necessity of the program. The use of drones to shoot missiles from afar at vehicles and buildings that the nation’s intelligence agencies believe are being used by suspected terrorists began under the George W. Bush administration and was widened by the Obama administration to allow the targeting of American citizens. Drone strikes by the Pentagon and the CIA have sparked backlashes from foreign governments and populations, as the strikes often kill civilians, including women and children. In the end, however, the government’s claim of national security trumped the Freedom of Information Act..."
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
Reaping Profits From Entitlements:
Interesting, to find out that the pro-market cheerleaders on Team Romney are quite fond of making money from billing 'wasteful government entitlement programs' like Medicare, when the opportinity presents itself...
Lee Fang: Tagg Team: The Romney Family Recipe for Crony Capitalism
"Marc Leder, a wealthy investor, played host to Mitt Romney last May at a private fundraiser at his $4 million home in Boca Raton...
..Sun Capital Partners, the fund founded by Leder, is one of at least thirteen Romney-linked firms in Solamere’s network, according to a prospectus circulated among potential investors and uncovered by The Boston Globe last year. Solamere also has an investment relationship with Bain Capital, the pioneering fund founded by Mitt Romney...
...Leder, Romney’s Boca Raton host, whose Sun Capital firm bought a stake in the Scooter Store last year. The company, known for its ubiquitous television ads promising seemingly free motorized wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries, has struggled as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that governs the programs, implements rules to curb rampant billing fraud. As a CMS report noted last year, 80 percent of the claims for scooters and power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare requirements, meaning that $492 million a year is being improperly spent. In 2007, the Scooter Store gave up $13 million in Medicare payments and paid $4 million to settle with the Justice Department over allegations that it had overbilled for its electric wheelchairs. The company, which has been bleeding money over the years as regulators moved to curb waste, still faces challenges that could make or break its business model—challenges that could be mitigated by pressure from the executive branch..."
Taxes:
Paul Buchheit: Ten Numbers the Rich Would Like Fudged
"1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs...
2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us...
3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans...
4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession...
5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year...
6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit...
7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH...
8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD...
9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984...
10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks...
Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S..."
Interesting, to find out that the pro-market cheerleaders on Team Romney are quite fond of making money from billing 'wasteful government entitlement programs' like Medicare, when the opportinity presents itself...
Lee Fang: Tagg Team: The Romney Family Recipe for Crony Capitalism
"Marc Leder, a wealthy investor, played host to Mitt Romney last May at a private fundraiser at his $4 million home in Boca Raton...
..Sun Capital Partners, the fund founded by Leder, is one of at least thirteen Romney-linked firms in Solamere’s network, according to a prospectus circulated among potential investors and uncovered by The Boston Globe last year. Solamere also has an investment relationship with Bain Capital, the pioneering fund founded by Mitt Romney...
...Leder, Romney’s Boca Raton host, whose Sun Capital firm bought a stake in the Scooter Store last year. The company, known for its ubiquitous television ads promising seemingly free motorized wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries, has struggled as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that governs the programs, implements rules to curb rampant billing fraud. As a CMS report noted last year, 80 percent of the claims for scooters and power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare requirements, meaning that $492 million a year is being improperly spent. In 2007, the Scooter Store gave up $13 million in Medicare payments and paid $4 million to settle with the Justice Department over allegations that it had overbilled for its electric wheelchairs. The company, which has been bleeding money over the years as regulators moved to curb waste, still faces challenges that could make or break its business model—challenges that could be mitigated by pressure from the executive branch..."
Taxes:
Paul Buchheit: Ten Numbers the Rich Would Like Fudged
"1. Only THREE PERCENT of the very rich are entrepreneurs...
2. Only FOUR OUT OF 150 countries have more wealth inequality than us...
3. An amount equal to ONE-HALF the GDP is held untaxed overseas by rich Americans...
4. Corporations stopped paying HALF OF THEIR TAXES after the recession...
5. Just TEN Americans made a total of FIFTY BILLION DOLLARS in one year...
6. Tax deductions for the rich could pay off 100 PERCENT of the deficit...
7. The average single black or Hispanic woman has about $100 IN NET WORTH...
8. Elderly and disabled food stamp recipients get $4.30 A DAY FOR FOOD...
9. Young adults have lost TWO-THIRDS OF THEIR NET WORTH since 1984...
10. The American public paid about FOUR TRILLION DOLLARS to bail out the banks...
Bonus for the super-rich: A QUADRILLION DOLLARS in securities trading nets ZERO sales tax revenue for the U.S..."
