Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sunday 4 January 2015


 Daily Headlines
We leave things out. Sometimes it's an innocent, unintentional omission.

Firefighters, social workers, and teachers earn on average less than $50,000 a year--about 1% of what the UMich new football coach will earn as minimum salary his first year. That tells us what the nation'[s priorities are.
Many are trying to reduce meat eating because the industry contributes to global warming, water pollution and fish kills, appalling and often underreported worker and animal abuse and even harms the economy.

Guns don't kill people; dogs with guns kill people--or so it would seem from the recent rash of gun owners who have been accidentally shot by their dogs.
The Catholic Pope has garnered nothing but serious opposition and pushback from America's evangelical and Catholic Republican movement, and now the Koch brothers and their dirty energy cabal have joined what is developing into a dirty oil-evangelical war against Pope Francis. The Pope may not be an environmental champion yet, especially in America, but because he is the first Pope in generations to actually espouse the teachings of Jesus Christ, it is highly likely his war on global climate change will garner widespread support from the estimated 1.2 billion Catholic devotees around the world.
The TPP follows in the footsteps of other unfettered free trade agreements like NAFTA, CAFTA and the Permanent Normalized Trade Agreement with China (PNTR). These treaties have forced American workers to compete against desperate and low-wage labor around the world. The result has been massive job losses in the United States and the shutting down of tens of thousands of factories.
President Obama has been credited with "ending" and "drawing down" this war [in Afghanistan] not only while expanding it to triple the size but also for a longer period of time than various other major wars combined.The catch is that this war is not over or ending. This year was more deadly than any of the previous 12. War is optional, that it is not imposed on us, that we have the responsibility to scale it back or to end it.
The New York City police have begun a work slowdown. They are angry over what they say is lack of public respect and Mayor de Blasio's lack of moral support in the wake of the choke hold killing of Eric Garner.
Heading into the last quarter of his presidency, Barack Obama must decide whether he will let the neocons keep pulling his strings or finally break loose and pursue a realistic foreign policy seeking practical solutions to world problems, including the crisis with Russia over Ukraine, says ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern.
By Greg Palast
A Tale of Two Cuomos
It is the harsh and uncomforting work of a journalist to reveal the unforgiving facts when history is falsified. It's a task I would rather avoid, especially now that The Governor's great, golden voice, the voice that spoke for the working person, is silenced forever. Now, may you rest in peace, Mario Cuomo. Both of you.
If something is inconvenient, it causes someone trouble or creates difficulties that annoy them and worse, could interfere with their lust for wealth and power. This is particularly the case if verified or indisputable facts destroy an assertion or idea held by profit-driven cretins selling something founded on lies and misinformation. For the past two decades, at least, so-called "education reformers" in the Republican privatization movement, and recently the Obama Administration Education Department, have criticized the American public school system as an abject failure. Obviously, there is huge money driving the "education reform" movement's drive to shift public school funding to the technology industry, religious private schools, and particularly the grossly underperforming corporate-run charter schools. .............

IPCC report: Climate change threatens irreversible and dangerous impacts, but options exist to limit its effects -- Scie
Human influence on the climate system is clear and growing, with impacts observed on all continents, according to a new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. If left unchecked, experts warn, climate change will increase the likelihood of severe, pervasive and irreversible impacts for people and ecosystems. However, options are available to adapt to climate change and implementing stringent mitigations activities can ensure that the impacts of climate change remain within a manageable range, creating a brighter and more sustainable future.
It's been a long time since I've been so excited about reading a non-fiction book, let alone a text book. But this one has captivated my interest by pulling together so many ideas and threads of scientific knowledge and wisdom.

Pope Francis, the people's pope, has been a revelation and a one-man revolution within an organization that has been entrenched in dogma and shielded by ceremony for centuries.
"'This surprising discovery reflects how incomplete our understanding of biology is,' says first author Peter Shen, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry at the University of Utah. 'Nature is capable of more than we realize.' To put the new finding into perspective, it might help to think of the cell as a well-run factory. Ribosomes are machines on a protein assembly line, linking together amino acids in an order specified by the genetic code. When something goes wrong, the ribosome can stall, and a quality control crew is summoned to the site. To clean up the mess, the ribosome is disassembled, the blueprint is discarded, and the partly made protein is recycled. Yet this study reveals a surprising role for one member of the quality control team, a protein conserved from yeast to man named Rqc2."
December Darkness Across the Universe - Out There
During the darkest days of December, it makes me feel better to think about all the other, more profound darknesses out there in the universe. A little dose of the old perspective, you know. And boy, there are a lot of them--not just a lot of dark places, but a lot of different forms of darkness out there. In fact, there's a lot more darkness than most of us realize, for an obvious if easily overlooked reason: Space images are calibrated to highlight faint or even invisible detail, making the universe seem like a much brighter place than it really is.
"Cosmologists celebrated the new year by launching a new experiment on a balloon in Antarctica to investigate the Big Seed. A set of six telescopes known as Spider, for Suborbital Polarimeter for Inflation, Dust and the Epoch of Reionization, will circle the continent for the next 20 days, observing a haze of faint microwave radio waves that envelop space and are thought to be the fading remnants of the primordial seed from which the universe sprouted 13.8 billion years ago. The telescopes are designed to detect faint curlicues in the polarization of the microwaves. According to a widely held theory known as inflation, such curls would have been caused by violent disruptions of space-time when the universe as we know it began expanding, a sliver of a moment after time as we understand it began."
Israel is looking at ways to prosecute senior Palestinians for war crimes in the United States and elsewhere in response to Palestinian steps to join the International Criminal Court, an Israeli official said on Saturday. The Palestinians delivered to U.N. headquarters in New York on Friday documents on joining the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and other global treaties, saying they hoped to achieve "justice for all the victims that have been killed by Israel, the occupying power."

Under the circumstances that exist in Iraq and Syria, the most rational response to IS's military successes would have been to avoid US military action altogether. But Obama had powerful incentives to adopt a military campaign that it could sell to key political constituencies. It makes no sense strategically, but avoids the perils that really matter to American politicians.
By Justin Raimondo
The Sony Hack Fraud
The technical "evidence" supporting the narrative woven by those geniuses in Washington is rubbish. Yet they are still sticking by it -- because, after all, government officials can never admit they were wrong. Especially since the President of the United States went out on a very thin limb and vowed to retaliate against North Korea -- a pledge apparently carried out a few days ago.
Suspected al-Qaida operative Abu Anas al Libi, accused in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Africa, died Saturday. His was to stand trial on January 12. al Libi, 50, once one of the FBI's most wanted, died of complications from liver surgery in a New York hospital.
The new Republican-run Congress convenes Tuesday eager to pursue a dream the party's been chasing for six years: Dilute, dismantle or defang key Obama administration policies on immigration, environment, health care and more. There's lots more. Many Republicans plan to grill and possibly stall Obama's defense secretary and attorney general nominees, try to block the president's new Cuba policy and chip away at the 2010 health care law.
The founding father, Theodor Herzl, did not think about Palestine when he invented what became known as Zionism. He hated Palestine and its climate. Especially he hated Jerusalem, which to him was a foul and dirty town. In his founding book, Der Judenstaat ("the Jewish State"), the relevant chapter is less than a page long and entitled "Palestine or Argentina." The Arab population is not mentioned at all.
Citing Next Generations, Lawsuits Demand Courts Recognize 'Mind-Blowing' Climate Impacts
By caving to industry pressures, environmental regulatory agencies are failing to uphold their obligation to future generations, declared Mary Christina Wood, the author pushing a new legal framework to fight global warming, on the final episode of Moyers & Company.
As 2015 unfolds, we sit in a crumbing America at the seat of global inequality, fastened to violence and cruel and punishing wars.

By Zin Linn
After the 67th Anniversary of Independence, Burma has still lost her choice
But people continue doubtful of political transformation under President Thein Sein who claims his regime as a reformist government. The reason is that the regime just changes its uniform rather than its high-handed stance. People believe country's independence has been crushed as several natural resources of the country have been sold out on cut-rate to China by the successive military-backed regimes.
By David Swanson
The Atlantic Can't Figure Out Why U.S. Loses Wars
The cover of the January-February 2015 The Atlantic asks "Why Do The Best Soldiers in the World Keep Losing?" which leads to an article that fails to answer the question.
By carol wolman, MD
Israel's Choices
The world hovers on the brink of nuclear war, and the Holy Land is central. If peace can be made there, it can spread. This article looks at the situation from Israel's point of view, and puts a new solution on the table- God's Peace Plan for the Holy Land. You can help prevent nuclear war by signing: click here

 Latest Articles
Unfortunately, just like a passenger on an airplane, most Americans carry "baggage" into the New Year. Emotional baggage! They lug it to the airport, toss it onto the conveyer belt and pick it up at their new destination. Regrettably, if you carry your emotional baggage into 2015, you face a repeat of your frustrations, failures and disappointments.

Green Party Goals for PA Electoral Reform
Green Party of Philadelphia submits to governor-elect Tom Wolf six reforms that will make PA elections more just and that will increase the participation of eligible voters.
A study shows children who ate fast food more than three times a week had lower test scores than those eating little to no fast food.

We have an immediate challenge in 2015 that threatens our progress. Obama and Congress are pushing to finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership. If we don't stop it, our struggles will be set back and social, economic and environmental justice will be more difficult to achieve. But we can defeat the corporate powers that exploit our communities if we unite and work together and doing so will strengthen us greatly.
Look who's tuning in to Putin's inner thoughts and schemes.
Thanks to the NRA no one blinked when a 2-year-old fatally shot someone in a Walmart last week.
The "failure," as liberal Zionists and right-wing Zionists alike, do not want to admit, was that the Hamas government defeated an Israel/U.S. trained and financed Fatah army. Unable to gain the control the Palestinian voters in 2006 refused to give them, Israel sealed off its Gaza barbed-wire prison and jailed most of the legislators chosen to run a unified government in Gaza and the West Bank.
The House has voted in the past to approve the pipeline and appears poised to do so again -- so quickly, in fact, that three Democrats sent a letter to Speaker John Boehner this week, urging that the House follow the full process of vetting a bill. They asked Boehner not to bypass the committee process to bring an immediate floor vote.
Russia Says Ukrainian Nazis Pay Blackwater for Training
Tass says that the Bush-Obama nazis are now training Ukraine's nazis.
Each New Year we take time to look back over the old year to understand what we've learned and then look forward to the possibilities for this new year. With the Cancer Full Moon,we take a look at how well our society(Capricorn Sun) supports our needs(Cancer Moon). Let go of the rules which no longer serve you. It's time to tell a new story--one that isn't centered around money or the economy, but around love and community.

The upcoming 2015 year will be all about further moves towards the integration of Eurasia as the US is progressively squeezed out of Eurasia. We will see a complex geostrategic interplay progressively undermining the hegemony of the US dollar as a reserve currency and, most of all, the petrodollar.
Long after he left office, Cuomo remained consistently outspoken in his opposition to the death penalty, and it can he argued that this consistency played a role in shifting Democrats and the country as a whole toward a more enlightened view. But even if he had been required to stand alone on the issue, Mario Cuomo would have done so.
It takes about forty minutes for Polish airplanes Lot to arrive from Warsaw to Lviv. It takes exactly the same time to recharge the Ukrainian political competition by black money. The question is how the Ukrainian economy and Polish airlines are connected. The answer is simple. Lot Polish airlines deliver a great deal of cash from Europe to Ukraine.
What tactics must we use, how can we UNITE to rescue our Human Rights.
Dr. Olle Johansson, noted Swedish researcher at the Karolinka Institute in Stockholm, recently compiled this list of studies that show how ants, bees and children respond to exposure to electromagnetic radiation emitted by wireless technologies.
Contemplating the Zen of fun.
Selma got it Right about Johnson, the FBI and King
The debate is sharp over whether the movie Selma got it right about Lyndon Johnson and his relationship with and to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A counter argument challenges the film's depiction of Johnson as at best wary of King and his mass street action campaigns in Selma in 1965 and the South for the passage of a voting rights bill, and at worst outright hostile to King's actions. This debate will likely rage for years to
Whether ED, HSSD (hypoactive sexual desire disorder) or PE, there is clearly money to made in sex enhancement drugs. Less clear is whether the drugs work, are safe or will save a troubled relationship.

Five Presidential Candidates
Happy New Year! Welcome to the start of the presidential campaign marathon. For your consideration are five likely candidates, each representing a distinct segment of the US political spectrum.

 Best News Links from the Web
Iran denied on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the United States to ship its surplus enriched uranium to Russia under new concessions aimed at clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal with six world powers. Iran's foreign ministry spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham said "no agreement on any nuclear topic" had been reached. "Such news is spread out of political motives and its goal is to tarnish the climate of the talks and make it more complicated to reach a settlement," the state IRNA news agency quoted her as saying.

Israeli settlers have stoned two cars belonging to the staff of the US consulate in Jerusalem during an angry stand-off in which US security guards -- according to conflicting accounts -- reportedly unholstered their weapons. The US diplomats -- accompanied by a security team -- had been in the area after being invited by Palestinian farmers from the village of Turmus Aya, north-east of Ramallah, to examine olive saplings that had been uprooted overnight on Thursday by settlers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday urged the International Criminal Court to reject the Palestinians' request to join the ICC because they did not rank as a state. "We expect the ICC to reject the hypocritical request by the Palestinian Authority, which is not a state but an entity linked to a terrorist organization," he said in a statement, referring to the Islamist movement Hamas.
The Obama administration doubled down on Friday on its allegation that North Korea's leadership was behind the hacking of Sony Pictures as it announced new sanctions on 10 senior North Korean officials and several organizations. Administration officials said the action was part of what President Obama promised would be a "proportional response" against the country. "It's a first step," one of the officials said. "The administration felt that it had to do something to stay on point. This is certainly not the end for them."
This time, Bill Moyers really means it. After 43 years as public television's most visible intellectual and its most unabashed liberal, he's done. As of Friday, he's officially retiring from TV. Yes, he's said that before. Twice, actually. And both times (in 2010 and 2013) he reversed course, returning to TV to pursue his varied passions and crusades -- against the corrupting influence of money in politics, for the environment and civil rights, against growing economic inequality -- in familiar style, avuncular and Texas-inflected. The last time he retired he was on the sidelines for all of 17 days.
"Frank Hilliker stood inside a henhouse at his Lakeside ranch this week surrounded by 8,000 chickens milling about as they pleased. 'I call this Chicken Disneyland,' Hilliker said, surveying the open space inside the 30-by-190 foot building where the birds -- previously kept in small cages -- now roam freely. The changes at Hilliker's Ranch Fresh Egg are being echoed up and down the state as a new law takes effect that essentially abolishes confining farm animals in cramped spaces. Voters approved the new regulations under a 2008 citizens' initiative known as Proposition 2. It is predicted that egg producers around the country will soon change their practices in order to be able to sell to the whole market. 'I knew what chickens would do. They like to scratch and they like to jump up and down and what not, but in cages they can't do that.'"
Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada), the leader of his chamber's Democratic caucus, sustained serious injuries on Thursday after his exercise equipment malfunctioned, according to a statement from his office. "On Thursday, Senator Reid received treatment at University Medical Center in Las Vegas for injuries sustained in an accident he suffered while exercising at home in Henderson. A piece of equipment Senator Reid was using to exercise broke, causing him to fall and break a number of ribs and bones in his face," the statement said.
"We are the 99%," goes the familiar slogan of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Community bankers may be surprised to find that they, too, are the 99% in a game that is rigged in favor of large banks. Community banks go against their own interests when they oppose regulations that mainly affect big banks and leave smaller institutions unscathed (video from the link under the image for this quicklink too).
Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 18:36