Finding A Way

Greed Destroys

FBI Tracks Charter Schools | The Progressive:

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Terrorist Watch List

The US government can brand you a terrorist based on a Facebook post. We can't let them make up the rules | Arjun Sethi | Comment is free | theguardian.com:

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Corporate Personhood

Corporate Personhood | An Introduction:

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Things you won't hear from the US Media

Pro-Israel Terrorist attacks British MP George Galloway.:

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Those Little Things

Gaming Browser Ads

Digitopoly | Baking the Data Layer:

"Online ads also are still pretty crude. Recently I went online and bought flowers for my wedding anniversary and forgot to turn off the cookies. Not an hour later, a bunch of ads for flowers turned up in every online session. Not only were those ads too late to matter, but they flashed later in the evening after my wife returned home and began to browse, ruining what was left of the romantic surprise."

I'm what might be called a tight-wad. So,... I just used my wife's laptop to browse for flower prices. I didn't buy anything but her next few browsing experiences were filled with pretty flower ads. Happy Anniversary dear!

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Israel vs Palestine

The Muses and Death » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names:

‘No normal state can accept being the target of rocket fire’, claimed the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the beginning of the war. He’s quite right. But it should have also been necessary to remind Netanyahu that no normal state could accept that, in its capital, the capital of Jewish people, one-third of its inhabitants should be deprived of sovereignty and lack democratic rights. Equally there are few states that obstinately refuse, for years, to establish definitive borders, in the hope, ill-concealed, of expanding them further. 

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Israel vs Palestine

'NYT' continues using discredited figures suggesting parity between Israeli and Palestinian attacks:

"What in the world do “5,263 targets in Gaza” have to do with 59,973 Israeli strikes, 7000 shells fired into Shija’iya in 24 hours, 1000 shells fired at Rafah in 3 hours, and 32,000 total artillery shells fired?"

A Massacre, Not a war.

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Big Sugar

Big Sugar:

Because of a plunge in U.S. sugar prices amid a hefty crop of sugar beets and cane, the Agriculture Department estimates that it may have to buy 400,000 tons of sugar from processors who might default on $862 million in government loans. Sugar producers have the option of repaying the loans either with cash or with their harvests if prices fall below a certain level. 

…The sugar, by law, would be sold to ethanol refiners, who would pay 10 cents a pound less than the government paid — an inducement needed to get the ethanol industry to use the sugar. Aside from the ridiculousness of piling one ill-advised subsidy atop another, this would produce a loss of $80 million for the U.S. Treasury. Some industry analysts estimate the government may have to buy as much as 800,000 tons of sugar to restore balance to U.S. stockpiles, potentially doubling the loss.
- See more at: http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2014/08/big-sugar.html#sthash.giowfsh9.dpuf

Big Sugar paid for that protection.

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New York Times vs Hamas

How the New York Times Twists Gaza:

 "One could just as easily write a piece about how a terrified and suffering civilian population has found itself facing another round of attacks, with dozens of new deaths in a matter of a couple of days.  But that's not the story the Times wanted to tell. It wanted to let readers know that the new attacks are all Hamas' fault–but that Israel is being especially precise this time around."

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Stealing from the Banks

Stealthy, Razor Thin ATM Insert Skimmers — Krebs on Security:



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For-Profit Schools

For-Profit College Grads Have The Same Shot At A Job Interview As People Who Never Went To College:

"The new findings add to an already-large pile of evidence that for-profit education is a terrible investment relative to the alternatives. A 2011 study found that for-profit students make between $1,800 and $2,000 less per year than they would have attending a different kind of school. The median debt burden for for-profit graduates is almost $13,000 higher than for public school graduates. Roughly six in 10 for-profit students take out loans, compared to just 13 percent of community college students. 

The schools also spend about a billion dollars more per year on recruiting than on educating those they recruit. The parent company of the University of Phoenix paid a $78 million settlement in 2009 after a whistleblower showed that the school linked recruiter pay to the number of students each employee enrolled.  

For-profit schools may fail to deliver on their promises to students, but they keep faith with their executives. For-profit CEOs get paid 26 times more than top officers at traditional colleges and their compensation is determined by corporate profits rather than student achievement or graduate success rates. The money those executives extract from the system is ultimately coming from taxpayers, as the industry gets 90 percent of its revenues from government student lending."

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Dangerous Drugs

Not pot, heroin, cocaine or meth. Alcohol is still the deadliest drug in the United States, and it’s not even close - The Washington Post:

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Robots and your Job

Cops and Ferguson

Gin and Tacos on Cops:  TOY SOLDIERS | Gin and Tacos:

Glenn Greenwald on Cops: The Militarization of U.S. Police

How we'd cover Ferguson if it happened in another country - Vox:

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The Mystery of Lofty Stock Market Elevations

The Mystery of Lofty Stock Market Elevations - NYTimes.com:

It’s possible that bond prices account for today’s stock market valuations. But that raises another question: Why are bond prices so high? There are short-term explanations: the role of central banks, for example. But is there a compelling reason for prices of stocks and bonds (and maybe houses, too) to remain high indefinitely?

I’ve looked for untraditional answers. Perhaps today’s prices have something to do with anxiety about the future. I suspect that after the financial crisis, working people are much more worried about their future pay. Many are concerned that they might lose their jobs to cost-cutting, or that they might eventually be replaced by a computer or robot or website. Such anxiety might push them to try to make up for these potential shortfalls by investing in stocks and bonds — even if they worry that these assets are overvalued.

Extrapolating from a theory of Robert E. Lucas Jr. of the University of Chicago, one might well expect lofty stock prices amid such worries: When there aren’t enough good investing opportunities, people wishing to save more for the future may succeed only in bidding up existing assets even if they think they’re overpriced. Call it the “life preserver on the Titanic” theory.

I'd believe the increased inequality of the last 30 years adds to the Stock market over-valuation and also feeds other investment asset bubbles like antique cars, old guitars, art, farmland, etc.

The is a lot of money ricocheting around the economy. The FED has been priming the pump for several years now. If that money lands in the hands of the lower percentile consumers, the people who need stuff, they buy things with it, cars, TVs, computers, clothes, food, appliances, vacations, etc. driving the overall economy up. However, in our current state of inequality, that money lands in the hands of the top 20%-ers, (10% or 1%ers maybe), and well,... they already have all of the stuff they need so they use it to chase and bid-up the price of investment assets like land, art, antique cars, and stock markets etc.

In short, inequality routes the cash to the people who inflate the investment markets not to those who inflate the overall economy.


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Facts about food

Found at Marginal Revolution: Facts about food:

Jurafsky writes that “every increase of one letter in the average length of words describing a dish is associated with an increase of 69 cents in the price of that dish

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Left or Right wing.....

On Gaza and Israel the leading presidential candidate for the party on the left side of US politics is basically indistinguishable from the right-wing Israeli leader.

Quiz: Who Said This? Hillary Clinton or Benjamin Netanyahu? - The Intercept:

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Gaza: Clarity for US readers

Wednesdays Wars : August 14, 2014:

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Cops

A pretty good percentage of them are just dicks.

In Ferguson, Washington Post reporter Wesley Lowery gives account of his arrest - The Washington Post:

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Asshole on TV

Joe Scarborough- Still an Asshole » Balloon Juice:

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The Assault in Ferguson, Missouri

Our march toward third-world like oppression.

Balkinization: The Assault on Journalism in Ferguson, Missouri:



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Depression

Robin Williams death has the country thinking about depression. Here are a few links from today's blogs ....We should all be depressed.

The De-industrialization of America - PaulCraigRoberts.org:

Disastrous Financial State of American Households. Result of Unemployment, Low Wages

The Death of American Optimism

First Things First

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Israel vs Gaza

The Hateful Likud Charter Calls for Destruction of Any Palestinian State | Informed Comment:

"Too much political discussion in the United States about Israel/Palestine proceeds from the premise that Palestinians have no other interest than to destroy Israel and drive the Jews into the sea. Therefore, it is said, well-intentioned Israel has no viable negotiating partner for peace. The political reality on the ground does not conform to such a simple-minded tale of good vs. evil. Israeli hardliners in power have repeatedly rejected any basis for a viable Palestinian state. Indeed, Prime Minister Netanyahu’s qualified statement in support of a two-state solution in 2009 – which his American apologists repeatedly invoke to demonstrate his “moderate” bona fides – was characterized by a member of his own cabinet as “the spin of our lives.” In fact. Likud leaders have said unequivocally that no two-state deal is possible."

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Hillary Clinton on Israel and Gaza

I will never vote for her. If she's the nominee, I'm going third party, left of the Democrats, even if it helps hand power to the crazies on the right. A poster child of the corrupt American system.

Tough Hillary Clinton says all the pictures of dead women and children make it harder to sort out the truth (Hamas is evil):

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AIPAC

Why the Israel lobby's grip on US politics may be waning | Al Jazeera America:

"In 2013, Pew polling found that 40 percent of Jewish Americans thought God gave the land of Israel to Jews; a full 82 percent of white Christian evangelicals felt the same way."

Thank God I'm an Atheist.

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Rural Poverty

How rural poverty is changing: Your fate is increasingly tied to your town - The Washington Post:

This could be the small town in eastern Indiana that I grew up in. Pretty good in the early 70's,... failing since,.. looks really bad today.

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Federal Aid

Area counties band, seek federal economic development funds:

Right in the heart of Teabagistan, where the people hate the big, bad, Obama-led federal Government, they are trying to grab some of that federal cash.

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Bombing ISIS

The US bombing its own guns perfectly sums up America’s total failure in Iraq - Vox:

Yeah,.... but someone made a lot of money and that's all that really matters. American Capitalism!!

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Gaza: Rewriting the story

'NYT' is rewriting history of Gaza conflict as we speak:

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Bayh Twins

They are now off to Harvard after finishing private school near DC. Someday they'll come back to Indiana to claim their royal titles as Senator, Congressmen, or Governor just like their daddy did.

File this under things that make me want to puke.

Bayh twins off to Harvard:

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Why they launch missles at Israel.

A good example here.

Just a couple of days after the Gaza attack has settled down, Israel takes West bank land from the Palestinians to protect a road that was created to serve an illegal Israeli settlement that was created on even more stolen Palestinian land.

American gun nuts would be marching in the streets with their automatic weapons if the US government uprooted them and gave their land to someone else. Somehow, most think Israel has a right to do this to the Palestinians.

IDF orders West Bank village land seized for settler road - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz:

"IDF orders West Bank village land seized for settler road"

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Gaza

I'd say its safe to assume your on the wrong side of history when you have "To combat the heart-wrenching photographs of dead children"

Civilian or Not? New Fight in Tallying the Dead From the Gaza Conflict - NYTimes.com:

"To combat the heart-wrenching photographs of dead children, Israel has published extensive video images of warplanes aborting missions to avoid collateral damage, and provided summaries of warnings it gave residents before attacking buildings."

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Suing Obama

The best I've seen on the subject.

Frivolous - Adam Zyglis - The Buffalo News:



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anatomy of songs

"beer" needs to be added to the country line.

anatomy of songs | Wrong Hands:



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Gaza: Telling the story

Al Jazeera is probably the best news source in the US today but this headline puts a false spin on the events in Gaza. The Israeli attack on Gaza was more of an invasion than a war. It was basically a pummeling of a small, mostly defenseless, mostly civilian area by a much stronger, well-armed bully.

As Gaza war winds down, who won the strategic contest? | Al Jazeera America:



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Gaza

No More Mister Nice Blog: War aims:

 "First Israel was fighting to rescue the kidnapped Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel, although they knew the boys were already dead, then to punish the Hamas organization for killing them, though they knew the organization hadn't done it. 

Then Israel was fighting to stop firing of thousands of Hamas rockets (which set a kind of record by not even slightly harming a single person during the whole month of attacks), only they didn't know (contrary to their claims) where the rockets were. But they could find some of the tunnels Palestinians had built out of their prison camp to attack their guards on the other side of the border, so they fought to destroy those. 

That one stuck, with a brief interlude in which they were fighting to rescue the "kidnapped" Lt. Hadar Goldin, although they knew he was dead and the IDF itself may indeed have killed him in keeping with the so-called "Hannibal directive". But destroying the tunnels proved to be the best of the ex post facto war aims after all, so that now Gazans are to be allowed to have some peace for three days, maybe for another couple of years, for which everybody needs to be grateful."

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Hillary

Down and Out With Hillary Clinton » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names:

Hillary is the one person that would make me sit this one out. I can't vote crazy republican and won't vote for her.

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Israel spied on Kerry

Report: Israel spied on Kerry during peace talks moderation - Diplomacy and Defense Israel News | Haaretz:

Imagine that...

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Israel vs Gaza

The damage done to Gaza by Israeli rockets, drones, tanks and troops

The damage done to Israel by Hamas Rockets



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Israel, Gaza, and Jeffery Goldberg's questions

Jeffery Goldberg, one of Israel's strongest supporters in the US media, passes along the wrong questions here: The Most Dangerous Moment in Gaza - The Atlantic:

Question 1: What would you do if your neighbor across the street sits down on the balcony, puts his little boy on his lap and starts shooting machine gun fire into your nursery?  

Question 2: What would you do if your neighbor across the street digs a tunnel from his nursery to your nursery in order to blow up your home or in order to kidnap your family? With these two questions I pass the interview to you."

Goldberg is Pro-Israel in everything he does and wants his readers to see the conflict solely from the Israeli side.  I'd like to hear his response to one question from the Palestinian point of view

Question 1:   What would you do if your neighbor built a wall around your house, locked you in and your friends and family out. Blocked or restricted your access the market, your work, and even your own yard. Then bulldozed your garage, garden, and favorite tree. Then,... built his nursery in your back yard. Then,... arrested and jailed anyone who tried to help free you. Then,... arrested and jailed the political leaders you elected. Then,... just for the hell of it,. bombed the shit out of your house, hospital and school every few years?

I think most people would be heading to the balcony with their machine gun.

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Gaza

“Friends don’t let friends kill children.”

I've heard American Media accuse Iran of wanting to wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Israel is actually doing it to the Palestinians

Images of Gaza in ruins. Funny that with all those Hamas rockets, tunnels, and people bent on their destruction. you don't see many images of Israel in ruins. Why? Because those stories are mostly propaganda pointed at the US sheeple.

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Gaza

The changing story.



And,.. bombing them into the stone age.