Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Electronic Frontier Foundation
From the Internet to the iPod, technologies are transforming our society and empowering us as speakers, citizens, creators, and consumers. When our freedoms in the networked world come under attack, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is the first line of defense. EFF broke new ground when it was founded in 1990 — well before the Internet was on most people's radar — and continues to confront cutting-edge issues defending free speech, privacy, innovation, and consumer rights today. From the beginning, EFF has championed the public interest in every critical battle affecting digital rights.
Blending the expertise of lawyers, policy analysts, activists, and technologists, EFF achieves significant victories on behalf of consumers and the general public. EFF fights for freedom primarily in the courts, bringing and defending lawsuits even when that means taking on the US government or large corporations. By mobilizing more than 61,000 concerned citizens through our Action Center, EFF beats back bad legislation. In addition to advising policymakers, EFF educates the press and public.
EFF is a donor-funded nonprofit and depends on your support to continue successfully defending your digital rights. Litigation is particularly expensive; because two-thirds of our budget comes from individual donors, every contribution is critical to helping EFF fight — and win — more cases. (read more)
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Wild Wild Angels
Don't talk to me of shattered dreams,
Of course you don't know what it means,
To live for someone else, you can't just take,
And when you're bitten by the truth,
You blame it on your mis-spent youth,
You never seem to learn by your mistakes.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
And I ain't hangin' round to see,
You turn on someone else like me,
I'm still alive and you know the way I live,
But baby that's one way you'll never be,
Such simple things you fail to see,
You take back everything you ever give.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
Of course you don't know what it means,
To live for someone else, you can't just take,
And when you're bitten by the truth,
You blame it on your mis-spent youth,
You never seem to learn by your mistakes.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
And I ain't hangin' round to see,
You turn on someone else like me,
I'm still alive and you know the way I live,
But baby that's one way you'll never be,
Such simple things you fail to see,
You take back everything you ever give.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
So don't talk to me of wild wild angels,
Wild wild angels on the skyways,
Those wild wild angels on the highways of your life,
'Cos it's people like you who never knew,
What wild wild angels have to face.
December 7, 1941
USS Arizona (BB-39) was a Pennsylvania-class battleship of the United States Navy and the first to be named "Arizona". On March 4, 1913, Congress authorized the construction of Arizona, named to honor the 48th state's admission into the union on 14 February 1912. The ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships.
She is most remembered because of her sinking, with the loss of 1,177 lives, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the event that goaded the US into World War II. Unlike most of the other ships sunk or damaged that day, the Arizona could not be salvaged, although the U.S. Navy removed several elements of the ship that were reused. The wreck still lies at the bottom of Pearl Harbor and was established as a memorial to all those who died during the Pearl Harbor attack. (read more)
British Jewry goes 'off-message' over Israel
British Jewry’s relationship with Israel is undergoing seismic change. The monolithic “Israel right or wrong” support of the mainstream suddenly cracked when one of the community’s most senior leaders went dramatically off-message.
As the Jewish Chronicle reported Mick Davis, chairman of the pre-eminent Anglo-Israel charity, the UJIA, and the executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, “shattered a longstanding taboo by publicly criticising the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the peace process, voicing moral reservations about some of Israel’s policies and calling for criticism of Israel to be voiced freely throughout the community.”
What followed was an “I am Spartacus” moment. As the Israeli embassy and their cohort of diehard loyalists within Anglo-Jewry looked on aghast, one heavyweight community player after another voiced support for Mr Davis.
They included figures who have worked tirelessly throughout their professional lives to defend Jewish rights, promote Israel’s right to peace and security and neutralise the ugly sisters of anti-Zionist/anti-Semitism. Nobody could ever accuse the likes of Jon Mendelson, Gordon Brown’s chief fundraiser and former Labour Friends of Israel chairman, or Bicom chairman Poju Zabludowicz, of possessing an iota of “self-hatred”.
Monday, December 6, 2010
hero or villain ?
Julian Paul Assange (born 3 July 1971) is an Australian journalist, publisher and Internet activist. He is best known as the spokesperson and editor in chief for WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website. Before working with the website, he was a physics and mathematics student as well as a computer programmer. He has lived in several countries and has told reporters he is constantly on the move. He makes irregular public appearances to speak about freedom of the press, censorship, and investigative reporting; he has also won three journalism awards for his work with WikiLeaks.
Assange founded the controversial WikiLeaks website in 2006 and serves on its advisory board. In this capacity, he has been involved in the publication of material documenting extrajudicial killings in Kenya, a report of toxic waste dumping on the African coast, Church of Scientology manuals, Guantanamo Bay procedures, and material involving large banks such as Kaupthing and Julius Baer among other documents. He has recently received widespread public attention for the publication of classified material from WikiLeaks documenting details about the involvement of the United States in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. On 28 November 2010, WikiLeaks and its five media partners began publishing the United States diplomatic cables leak. According to The Guardian, this has placed Assange "at the centre of intense media speculation and a hate campaign against him in America".
On 30 November 2010, Interpol placed Assange on its red notice list of wanted persons; concomitantly, a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him. He is wanted for questioning on suspicion of "sex crimes"; it is reported that while having consensual sex his condom broke and he either did not disclose the breakage to his partner or continued after his partner asked him to stop. He has not been formally charged with any crime. (read more)
No Snow in Paradise
So exciting,
All the lighting
Decked-out boats
And Christmas floats
Steel Pan soundtrack
Riding bare-back
Twinkling palm tree
Christmastime novelty
Sand between toes
But nobody knows
Dreams of snowfall,
Beer, and football
Brothers on the sofa
I’m sipping on a mocha
Waking up to frost
Reminding me of time I’ve lost
Queuing up for Boat Parade
This year feels like a charade
Calling Daddy on the phone
Is not the same as being home
Little sis decorates the tree
Wonder if they think of me?
On the beach for Christmas Day
For once I wish I were away
Holidays in Paradise
Still smell of pumpkin spice
But waves crashing on the sand
Don’t sound like Winter Wonderland
All the lighting
Decked-out boats
And Christmas floats
Steel Pan soundtrack
Riding bare-back
Twinkling palm tree
Christmastime novelty
Sand between toes
But nobody knows
Dreams of snowfall,
Beer, and football
Brothers on the sofa
I’m sipping on a mocha
Waking up to frost
Reminding me of time I’ve lost
Queuing up for Boat Parade
This year feels like a charade
Calling Daddy on the phone
Is not the same as being home
Little sis decorates the tree
Wonder if they think of me?
On the beach for Christmas Day
For once I wish I were away
Holidays in Paradise
Still smell of pumpkin spice
But waves crashing on the sand
Don’t sound like Winter Wonderland
Banks braced as King Eric's day of reckoning arrives
It all began two months ago with a muddled interview on a French regional newspaper website by Eric Cantona, the footballer turned film actor. Cantona, 44, suggested that it was time for a "bloodless" revolt against capitalism. "If 20 million people withdraw their money, the system collapses, no need for weapons, blood, or anything," he said. Was this a joke? Had Eric, the sardine philosopher, become a cod revolutionary?
More than 34,000 people around the world, mainly in France, Italy and Britain, have taken Cantona's big idea seriously. They have pledged their support to internet sites which have called for a co-ordinated "bank run" tomorrow. Another 27,000 are said to be "considering" joining in.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Concern for the Future
Politics seems to have devolved into a game played only by and essentially for the benefit of those with wealth and power. Theoretically, politics is the medium through which all of the people’s business is conducted in a reasoned, orderly and respectful fashion. Theoretically, politics is the medium through which civil societies progress. This is the way it is supposed to be in a democracy. But democracies cannot function if governments are corrupted by wealth and its influences and the population remains pathetically uneducated, for an ignorant people can be readily duped into believing that which is patently not true. Such a population is primed for the fearsome manipulation that is the hallmark of demagoguery.
The fact that this nation is rapidly sinking should be no great surprise. America was founded on blood, on slavery, on forced labor. The vast majority of Americans live on stolen land. We have built an economy based on the endless exploitation of foreign labor while allowing the domestic work force to fester. We have allowed our infrastructure to undergo a steady and inexorable collapse from persistent neglect. We have turned over many of the essential aspects of the Commons, such as healthcare, over to the practices of those who live for profit. As a result tens of millions of human beings have been knowingly deprived of access to health care so that a certain few can make hundreds of millions of dollars. These dollars have been built upon needless suffering and unnecessary death. We have placed profit above all else allowing for the sanctioned production of such toxic products as tobacco, Agent Orange, depleted uranium weaponry and napalm. This is a kind of brutality and butchery that is not essentially different than the practices of so-called “organized crime.”
We have failed at educating our people so abysmally that superstition and crazed religious beliefs have trumped science. As a result, the plundering of the planet continues since the threat of climate change is seen as a nasty little hoax perpetrated by godless scientists. We have become a people that are essentially asleep and numb to our own supreme foolishness.
America has been conducting a foreign policy based upon the bankrupt concept of exceptionalism i.e. that we, as a nation, are somehow inherently allowed to behave in regards to other nations anyway we choose regardless of how criminal that behavior might be. As a result, tens of millions of human beings, mostly of different color, have been literally crushed under the weight of massive and brutal military power.
The cumulative weight of our past has left its indelible imprint on character of the nation. We should fear for the future. This fear is misplaced, however, if we focus on the national debt or the supposed threat of socialism or unemployment, for example. We should be concerned, instead, for the people that we have become. If we wish to change the future, we must change ourselves.
The fact that this nation is rapidly sinking should be no great surprise. America was founded on blood, on slavery, on forced labor. The vast majority of Americans live on stolen land. We have built an economy based on the endless exploitation of foreign labor while allowing the domestic work force to fester. We have allowed our infrastructure to undergo a steady and inexorable collapse from persistent neglect. We have turned over many of the essential aspects of the Commons, such as healthcare, over to the practices of those who live for profit. As a result tens of millions of human beings have been knowingly deprived of access to health care so that a certain few can make hundreds of millions of dollars. These dollars have been built upon needless suffering and unnecessary death. We have placed profit above all else allowing for the sanctioned production of such toxic products as tobacco, Agent Orange, depleted uranium weaponry and napalm. This is a kind of brutality and butchery that is not essentially different than the practices of so-called “organized crime.”
We have failed at educating our people so abysmally that superstition and crazed religious beliefs have trumped science. As a result, the plundering of the planet continues since the threat of climate change is seen as a nasty little hoax perpetrated by godless scientists. We have become a people that are essentially asleep and numb to our own supreme foolishness.
America has been conducting a foreign policy based upon the bankrupt concept of exceptionalism i.e. that we, as a nation, are somehow inherently allowed to behave in regards to other nations anyway we choose regardless of how criminal that behavior might be. As a result, tens of millions of human beings, mostly of different color, have been literally crushed under the weight of massive and brutal military power.
The cumulative weight of our past has left its indelible imprint on character of the nation. We should fear for the future. This fear is misplaced, however, if we focus on the national debt or the supposed threat of socialism or unemployment, for example. We should be concerned, instead, for the people that we have become. If we wish to change the future, we must change ourselves.
Friday, December 3, 2010
"The Bard"
William Shakespeare (baptised 26 April 1564; died 23 April 1616) was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive, and there has been considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, sexuality, religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were mainly comedies and histories, genres he raised to the peak of sophistication and artistry by the end of the 16th century. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth, considered some of the finest works in the English language. In his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. In 1623, two of his former theatrical colleagues published the First Folio, a collected edition of his dramatic works that included all but two of the plays now recognised as Shakespeare's.
Shakespeare was a respected poet and playwright in his own day, but his reputation did not rise to its present heights until the 19th century. The Romantics, in particular, acclaimed Shakespeare's genius, and the Victorians worshipped Shakespeare with a reverence that George Bernard Shaw called "bardolatry". In the 20th century, his work was repeatedly adopted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world. (read more)
Look To The Skies
Look at the United Kingdom of Great Britain, covered, very neatly under a blanket of snow, it’s white and crisp, children are having time off school and a new concept has come into the workplace, “Snow days” in the temperate climate that we enjoy in the UK have we ever before experience such a universal coving in snow? We are a long island, facing the Atlantic, our weather is variable up and down the country, Scotland very often does see snow, and the south coast, with unique micro climates very seldom enjoys the universal blanket that we have at the moment.
Perhaps, grounds for suspicion in these days of Chemical trails and HAARP weather changing technology, certainly it has been a long time since clear blue skies we seen over our green and pleasant land. However for the past five days I have seen no sky at all, a blanket of low lying white obscures any sight of the sky, I have not seen the sun or the moon for nearly a week, and I look, there is zero visibility, and yet planes still fly overhead to and from Heathrow airport. I miss both the sun and the moon; perhaps many others do without realising it. (read more...)
"charlie"
Charles Bernard "Charlie" Rangel (born June 11, 1930) is the U.S. Representative for New York's 15th congressional district, serving since 1971. He is a member of the Democratic Party. As the most senior member, he is the Dean of New York's congressional delegation. In January 2007, Rangel became Chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the first African-American to do so. He is also a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Rangel enlisted in the United States Army, and served from 1948 to 1952. During the Korean War, he was a member of the all-black 503rd Field Artillery Battalion in the 2nd Infantry Division.
In late November 1950, this unit was caught up in heavy fighting in North Korea as part of the U.N. forces retreat from the Yalu River. In the Battle of Kunu-ri, Rangel was part of a vehicle column that was trapped and attacked by the Chinese Army. In the subzero cold, Rangel was injured by shrapnel from a Chinese shell. Some U.S. soldiers were being taken prisoner, but others looked to Rangel, who though only a private first class had a reputation for leadership in the unit. Rangel led some 40 men from his unit, during three days of freezing weather, out of the Chinese encirclement. Nearly half of the battalion was killed in the overall battle.
Rangel was awarded a Purple Heart for his wounds and the Bronze Star with Valor for his actions in the face of death. His Army unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, and three battle stars. In 2000, Rangel reflected with CBS News that
"Since Kunu Ri – and I mean it with all my heart, I have never, never had a bad day."
Rangel later viewed his time in the Army, away from the poverty of his youth, as a major turning point in his life: "When I was exposed to a different life, even if that life was just the Army, I knew damn well I couldn't get back to the same life I had left." After an honorable discharge from the Army with the rank of staff sergeant, he returned home to headlines in The New York Amsterdam News.
Rangel finished high school, completing two years of studies in one year and graduating in 1953. Rangel then received a Bachelor of Science degree from the New York University School of Commerce in 1957, where he made the dean's list. Then, on full scholarship, he obtained his law degree from the St. John's University School of Law in 1960.
Rangel is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African-Americans. He is also a member of the fraternity's World Policy Council, a think tank whose purpose is to expand Alpha Phi Alpha's involvement in politics and social and current policy to encompass international concerns. (read more)
"Charlie"
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Dear Santa . . . a letter from Ireland
WE KNOW it’s been a very long time since we last wrote to you and indeed, we wouldnt be bothering you now, at a time when you are so hectically busy, if we didnt truly believe that you were our last hope. As youre probably well aware, given that the NPN (North Pole News) covered the story in graphic detail, things haven’t been great in Ireland for some time now, but of late, we’ve reached an all-time low.
Firstly however, we feel we must point out that although you saw fit to give us nothing but coal in our Christmas stockings for the last couple of years, we assure you that unlike Portugal, Spain and Greece, the Irish people were most grateful for your gift as without it, we may not even have survived the last few bitter winters of discontent.
Of course, you of all people, will know if we’ve been naughty or nice over the past 12 months but we beg you to be particularly forgiving and understanding this Christmas, given that our nerves are somewhat frayed and frazzled after three years of austerity, hardship and deprivation.
Now, just to be crystal clear about this Santa, where we are beseeching you to look on us favourably, this is not a begging letter as such, as we no longer covet luxury goods such as private jets, helicopters, four-wheel drives, minimalist mansions and designer clothes. In fact, weve gone clean off all of that stuff of late.
Indeed, if we had one magic Christmas wish, it would be to turn back the clock to 2005 (a year before things got completely out of control) where we would auction off every single square inch of our little island to the highest international bidders and convert the sale proceeds into gold bars, which we’d then hide under the beds in our (rented) homes. Needless to say, we’d also have astutely avoided investing in bank shares, pension funds and property syndicates. But since it’s unlikely that even you, Santa Claus, can turn back the clock, we ask instead for the following:
If you could possible spell it out clearly to the Irish Government, the IMF, EU and the ECB that our national economic mess and our bank crash are two separate and distinct problems and should not be bundled together for the sake of saving the euro.
You might also remind them that there are limits to how much pain we can take, all in the name of saving our corrupt lending institutions. And forcing us to pay 5.8 per cent interest on our loan in the hope that such a punitive fee will put off other countries from following our lead is simply ridiculous, as no sovereign state in its right mind would purposely choose to go down this rocky route.......read more
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Biomimicry
Notes from Bioengineering Conference, Nov 25, Long Beach, CA
I like to follow developments that that are the result of ‘biomimicry’. Then again, I’m weird like that. However, I think it’s something that merits attention. Biomimicry is the practice of overcoming obstacles by seeing what works in nature. Naturalistic observation is just as valid as ‘laboratory observation’ in science. According to the speakers today, discovering how things work in nature has inspired breakthroughs in computer technology, renewable energy and regenerative medicine, just to name three.
Renewable energy: Biologists observing the motion of humpback whales have found more efficient ways to capture energy from the wind. They noticed how the saw-tooth bumps (tubercles) that line the edge of a whale’s fin help them perform better in slow-moving water. When they line the edge of blades on a wind-turbine with similar bumps; the blades rotate faster in response to slow-moving wind. This has led to the installation of more efficient and lower-profile ‘wind-mills’ in the desert outside of Palm Springs.
Regenerative medicine: Psychologists observing the natural development of language have made contributions to the field of regenerative medicine. They saw how children learn grammar as a result of social interaction ..with little or no coaching. When they simulate the social environment of early childhood; stroke victims make faster progress toward recovering language skills. This has led to the design of training-programs, hosted as video games ..that are more interactive and engaging. Results can be seen in speech performance as well as on MRI scans of the brain.
Closing remarks: Geoffrey Spedding, an engineer from USC, talked about limits to what we can learn from nature. He says “… the designs that come through evolution are just good enough to survive, that’s all. Nature has yet to come up with a decent wheel.” I had to disagree. In my humble opinion, evolution did produce an information-processing device capable of infinitely more ..the human brain. So, however indirect ..nature did invent the wheel.
Rosa
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress later called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement".
On December 1, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Parks, age 42, refused to obey bus driver James Blake's order that she give up her seat to make room for a white passenger. Her action was not the first of its kind. Irene Morgan in 1946, and Sarah Louise Keys in 1955, had won rulings before the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Interstate Commerce Commission, respectively, in the area of interstate bus travel. Nine months before Parks refused to give up her seat, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to move from her seat on the same bus system. In New York City, in 1854, Lizzie Jennings engaged in similar activity, leading to the desegregation of the horsecars and horse-drawn omnibuses of that city. But unlike these previous individual actions of civil disobedience, Parks' action sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Parks' act of defiance became an important symbol of the modern Civil Rights Movement and Parks became an international icon of resistance to racial segregation. She organized and collaborated with civil rights leaders, including boycott leader Martin Luther King, Jr., helping to launch him to national prominence in the civil rights movement.
At the time of her action, Parks was secretary of the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and had recently attended the Highlander Folk School, a Tennessee center for workers' rights and racial equality. Nonetheless, she took her action as a private citizen "tired of giving in". Although widely honored in later years for her action, she suffered for it, losing her job as a seamstress in a local department store. Eventually, she moved to Detroit, Michigan, where she found similar work. From 1965 to 1988 she served as secretary and receptionist to African-American U.S. Representative John Conyers. After retirement from this position, she wrote an autobiography and lived a largely private life in Detroit. In her final years she suffered from dementia and became embroiled in a lawsuit filed on her behalf against American hip-hop duo OutKast.
Parks eventually received many honors ranging from the 1979 Spingarn Medal to the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Medal and a posthumous statue in the United States Capitol's National Statuary Hall. Her death in 2005 was a major story in the United States' leading newspapers. She was granted the posthumous honor of lying in state at the Capitol Rotunda. (read more)
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