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What did the West do to succeed?

Niall Ferguson

The economist and historian Niall Ferguson argues that Western civilization came to dominate the world by developing and using six concepts: competition, science, the rule of law, modern medicine, consumerism and the work ethic. As the rest of the world adopts these concepts, the less the west dominates it. Mr. Ferguson discusses the historic power of several western empires and their inevitable decline with author, reporter, and cultural critic Susan Jacoby.
Source: After Words: Niall Ferguson, "Civilization: The West and the Rest," hosted by Susan Jacoby


Stephen Zunes

Stephen Zunes on the Middle East

Stephen Zunes discusses with Scott Horton the Arab Spring as the culmination of decades of peaceful rebellion against tyrannical governments. He explains how violent revolutions tend to breed more violence and result in authoritarian governments. He comments on how the Bush administration helped to bring down a few of Middle East/North African dictators without meaning to.
Source: Scott Horton Interviews Stephen Zunes



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Response to July 16, 2010 E-mail from NJ Sen. Frank Lautenberg on the 9 Marvi Marmara Flotilla Murders

Response to July 16, 2010 E-mail from NJ Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Which Lacked Truth, Integrity, or Merit
Andrew H. Dral ("Janosik" -- "The Rabble")

April 3, 2012

Gateway Center, 23rd Floor
Newark, NJ 07102

Dear Sen. Frank Lautenberg,

In response to your July 16, 2010 e-mail, I found your response completely lacking in any truth, without an ounce of integrity, and completely lacking any merit. It’s clear the United States (U.S.) isn’t your first country of loyalty, it is clearly Israel. From your e-mail, “The Israeli Navy intercepted these ships [Mavi Marmara flotilla] before they reached Gaza and were attacked by a small group of individuals on the lead ship.” The truth, the ships were illegally intercepted by the Israeli Navy in international seas. Second, the Israeli Navy attacked and murdered peaceful activists on the lead ship. In addition, the U.S. congress is the best government money can buy. The U.S. congress is beset by bribery, baksheesh, and wanton immoral greed. The Israelis and their fifth column within the U.S., American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), have corrupted our congress. Congress is scared to death of the Israeli lobby. It has been bribed to follow the Israeli Likud Party line, U.S. Middle-east policy is set by Israel.

Science Friday: Moby Dick Found (sort of) | Ancient 'Wave of Poseidon' Was Real Tsunami | Gobekli Tepe

White Killer Whale Spotted—Only One in the World?

Christine Dell'Amore

    The headline-grabbing all-white adult killer whale spotted off Russia this month may well be one of a kind. But the sighting may not be the first time he's been caught on camera.

Ironically, Hitler stole the idea for the Volkwagen from a Jewish Engineer

The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen

    Finally, the full story behind emergence of Volkswagen, "Hitler's pet project"

    We welcome back our contributing writer Paul Schilperoord, whose book “The Extraordinary Life of Josef Ganz – The Jewish Engineer Behind Hitler’s Volkswagen” has just been released in the US and Canada.

An Expose Of Petroleum Pigs And Finance

Greg Palast presents his investigation of the BP oil spill and talks about the corruption that permeates the oil industry, the financial sector, and government. Greg plays the part of a hard-bitten detective.  He participated in five movies and authored four books including Armed Madhouse and The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.
Source: Vulture's Picnic

The world fears the U.S.

Ex-Senator and former U.S. presidential candidate Mike Gravel says the U.S. is like a drunkard who charges to war with any country who might pose a threat.
Source: 'World fears US as a war-hungry drunk' - ex-Senator


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Wild Weather

2011 has been marked by extreme weather. In the U.S. alone, a record dozen disasters caused more than $1 billion in damage. One area acutely threatened by climate change is food production, where decades of steady gains could be reversed.

Speakers are
Chris Field, Director, Department of Global Ecology, Carnegie Institution for Science
Dave Friedberg, Founder & CEO, The Climate Corporation
Karen O'Brien, Professor of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo
Michael Oppenheimer, Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton
Greg Dalton is the moderator and Vice President of The Commonwealth Club of California and founder of Climate One
Source: Wild Weather

Dahlia Lithwick

An Analysis of the NDAA

What is in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 that President Obama recently signed into law accompanied by a signing statement? Dahlia Lithwick explains the bill’s contents. She is a contributing editor at Newsweek and a senior editor and legal correspondent at Slate, where she specialized in covering the U.S. Supreme Court and judicial issues.
Source: January 4 - The GOP Candidates and God's Plan; The Backlash Against Putin; An Analysis of What is in the NDAA

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MLK’s Lessons for Occupy

Eyes on the Prize: MLK’s Lessons for Occupy

by Valerie Schloredt

    When he was assassinated in April, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. had just begun “The Poor People’s Campaign.” This focus on economic injustice, which included plans for a mass encampment of poor people in Washington, D.C., was remarkably similar to that of today’s Occupy movement. The connection is clear to present-day activists Kazu Haga and Jonathan Lewis, who are promoting King’s philosophy of nonviolence to Occupy groups, both for moral guidance and practical strategy.

Missouri police greet Nobel Peace Prize nominee with riot gear

It's hypnotic and shocking at the same time. And seems so out of place from the standpoint of what we've been told our whole lives about the US standing for free speech

via boingboing

Occupy lawyer: Pepper spray report confirms police engaged in 'brutality'

The 190-page UC Davis Pepper Spray Report released at noon Wednesday concluded that the incident shouldn’t have taken place – and questions why pepper spray was used on students peacefully protesting in the student quad last November.

“The overriding conclusion can be stated briefly and explicitly. The pepper spraying incident that took place on November 18, 2011 should and could have been prevented,” the report stated.

In the immediate aftermath of the UC Davis incident, University of California President Mark G. Yudof announced the appointment of former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso to chair the 12-member Task Force that released the report today.

The report blasted the breakdown in communication that occurred between Chancellor Linda Katehi, Police Chief Annette Spicuzza, and police officers throughout the pepper spray incident.

The report said Katehi failed "to express in any meaningful way her expectation that the police operation was to be sharply limited so that no use of force would be employed by police officers other than their demand that the tents be taken down."

Native Americans protest Obama approval of pipeline's south end

Obama 'celebrates' World Water Day by fast-tracking polluting pipeline

by Dan Bacher

After rejecting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline proposal in January, President Barack Obama today announced his plan to fast- track the construction of the pipeline's southern end at a speech in Cushing, Oklahoma.

As Native American activists protested the pipeline on the motorcade route miles from the President’s pro-oil event, Obama explained that the TransCanada company has applied to build a new pipeline to "speed more oil" from Cushing to state-of-the-art refineries down on the Gulf Coast.

"And today, I'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project a priority, to go ahead and get it done," said Obama.

Ironically, Obama announced his plan on March 22, International World Water Day. The day is commemorated annually as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

Glenn Greenwald on America's lawless elite

Glenn Greenwald

Tom Ashbrook interviews Glenn Greenwald

From Watergate to Gitmo to Occupy, we will hear from Glenn Greenwald on what he calls the rise of an American's lawless elite.
Source: Glenn Greenwald On “America’s Lawless Elite”

Glenn Greenwald talks to Bob McChesney

Greenwald was named by The Atlantic as one of the 25 most influential political commentators in the nation. He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, and is the winner of the 2010 Online Journalism Association Award for his investigative work on the arrest and oppressive detention of Bradley Manning.
Source: Glenn Greenwald, former Constitutional and Civil Rights Litigator joins McChesney on Sunday




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Occupy, social justice groups blockade entrance to Monsanto

Monsanto has closed its facility in Davis after 150 occupiers from throughout the state blocked the entrances to Monsanto's Davis facility on 1910 5th Street.

The occupiers reported they have "shut down" the corporate giant, which produces genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and is notorious for its inordinate influence over the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the Obama administration. Police are now on the scene.

You can see the protest live at sacmedia.tv.

The protest is part of a "Global Days of Action to Shut Down Monsanto" in dozens of U.S. cities and several countries. Occupy groups from Sacramento, Davis, Woodland and even Los Angeles are expected to participate, as well as labor, environmental, veterans and social justice groups.

"We are calling for a 'global class-action' against Monsanto," said Steven Payan, one of the Davis protest organizers. "We are joining the world in solidarity to demand a ban on all GMO foods and hold Monsanto accountable for its actions throughout history from Agent Orange to Deforestation to current and past deaths to preying on small farmers through a broken court system and also through International Free Trade Agreements."

Legal Experts Destroy Rationale for Obama’s Assassination Policy … And Slam Democrats for Supporting It

Legal Experts Destroy Rationale for Obama’s Assassination Policy … And Slam Democrats for Supporting It

Obama Expanding Program Started by Cheney

    Attorney General Eric Holder announced at Northwestern University law school that the U.S. can assassinate U.S. citizens without any without disclosure of why they are even alleged to be baddies and without any review of any nature whatsoever by any judge, Congress or the American people.

    Northwestern University’s law school professor Joseph Margulies said:

      I defy anyone to read [Holder's] speech and show any differences between Obama and Bush on these issues, They both say we are in a war not confined to particular battlefield. … Both say we can target citizens without judicial oversight and that can happen anywhere in the world.

    Columbia law school professor Scott Horton notes that this assassination strategy was created by Dick Cheney, and is being carried out by the Obama administration:

      A lot of this seems to have been put in place under the tutelage of Dick Cheney. So here we see one of Dick Cheney’s ideas being ratified by Barack Obama and his Attorney General Eric Holder.