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Thursday, March 31, 2016

U.S. Troops on Russia’s Borders

https://consortiumnews.com/2016/03/31/u-s-troops-on-russias-borders/

U.S. Troops on Russia’s Borders

March 31, 2016
Official Washington’s hype about “Russian aggression” has cloaked a U.S. military buildup on Russia’s borders, possibly increasing risks of escalation and even world war, explains ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

The United States shouldn’t take sides in the Sunni-Shiite struggle

The United States shouldn’t take sides in the Sunni-Shiite struggle



https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-united-states-shouldnt-take-sides-in-the-sunni-shiite-struggle/2016/01/07/a992713c-b56f-11e5-a842-0feb51d1d124_story.html?postshare=6611452257000586&tid=ss_mail

Marshall Auerback: Donald Trump Understands the Nexus Between Trade and Immigration | naked capitalism

Marshall Auerback: Donald Trump Understands the Nexus Between Trade and Immigration | naked capitalism

One-Third Of All Americans Don’t Make Enough Money To Even Cover The Basic Necessities

One-Third Of All Americans Don’t Make Enough Money To Even Cover The Basic Necessities

The Disappearance of Hillary Clinton's Healthcare Platform


The Disappearance of Hillary Clinton's Healthcare Platform

What would happen if the media lifted the curtain on Clinton's healthcare platform and introduced any level of scrutiny to her proposed improvements on the Affordable Care Act?

http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/30/disappearance-hillary-clintons-healthcare-platform

Paul Ryan Sorry for Calling Americans “Takers." Let's Talk About the Real Takers. | naked capitalism

Paul Ryan Sorry for Calling Americans “Takers." Let's Talk About the Real Takers. | naked capitalism

Gaius Publius: The Rebellion Will Not Go Away | naked capitalism

Gaius Publius: The Rebellion Will Not Go Away | naked capitalism

Time to Test the Presidential Candidates

http://lobelog.com/time-to-test-the-presidential-candidates/#more-33654

Time to Test the Presidential Candidates

by Henry Precht
There is a school of political scientists that argues candidates for high office ought to be selected by examination rather than ballot. It’s not a very significant or noisy school, to be sure. But it’s a thesis that bears examination.
Let’s say that those in the presidential contest were sat down behind desks for an essay exam. Let’s say that the subject was a frequently discussed one: How would you, dear candidate, deal with the terrorist Islamic State (ISIS or IS)? 
The following sound-bite answers (unidentified as to author) are taken from their many pronouncements. The comments are my red pencil notes thereon.http://lobelog.com/time-to-test-the-presidential-candidates/#more-33654

The CIA and the Pentagon Are Shooting at Each Other

William Rivers Pitt, Truthout: The CIA and the Pentagon are funding and training two Syrian militias that are actively trying to annihilate each other. In short, the US government is in a shooting war with itself. It is a frictionless machine lubricated with blood.

Europe should study the Saudis’ example in fighting terror

Europe should study the Saudis’ example in fighting terror

‘The power to create a new world is… in our hands’ | Frontline

‘The power to create a new world is… in our hands’ | Frontline

Iranians Losing Confidence in U.S. Compliance with JCPOA

http://lobelog.com/iranians-losing-confidence-in-u-s-compliance-with-jcpoa/#more-33657

Iranians Losing Confidence in U.S. Compliance with JCPOA

by Jim Lobe
The Iranian public is losing confidence that the United States will abide by the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), according to the latest in a series of polls undertaken by the Center for International and Security Studies (CISSM) at the University of Maryland.
The new poll, the first taken by CISSM since last month’s parliamentary elections, found widespread and broad-based support for President Hassan Rouhani. Sixty-three percent of respondents said that they voted for candidates who support Rouhani, while only 22% said that they voted for his critics.
The survey was conducted among a representative sample of 1,005 Iranians contacted by telephone between March 3 and March 13. It followed an earlier poll conducted February 15-24 on the eve of the first round of election. The telephone calls, which included some 30 questions, were placed from Toronto. They both had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.2%.http://lobelog.com/iranians-losing-confidence-in-u-s-compliance-with-jcpoa/#more-33657

Why Clarence Thomas Rarely Speaks from the Supreme Court Bench - US News

Why Clarence Thomas Rarely Speaks from the Supreme Court Bench - US News

The Clinton investigation enters a dangerous phase

The Clinton investigation enters a dangerous phase


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016/03/31/clinton-investigation-enters-dangerous-phase.html

Exclusive: 21 Generals Lead ISIS War the U.S. Denies Fighting


Exclusive: 21 Generals Lead ISIS War the U.S. Denies Fighting

http://thebea.st/1qkOEZ3

Hillary Clinton: AIPAC's Panderer-in-Chief

Hillary Clinton: AIPAC's Panderer-in-Chief


http://nationalinterest.org/feature/hillary-clinton-aipacs-panderer-chief-15622

China to the US: Hey, mind your own business in the South China Sea - Business Insider

China to the US: Hey, mind your own business in the South China Sea - Business Insider

1 billion Asians will face severe water shortages by 2050

1 billion Asians will face severe water shortages by 2050


http://www.businessinsider.com/1-bilion-asians-face-water-shortage-by-2050-2016-3?utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=post_email_list

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Trump, Obama, and the Future of American Leadership

http://lobelog.com/trump-obama-and-the-future-of-american-leadership/#more-33648

Trump, Obama, and the Future of American Leadership

by John Feffer
He wants to cut back on U.S. military commitments overseas. He calls the Iraq War “one of the worst decisions ever made in the history of our country.” He promises to make deals with America’s adversaries. He’s comfortable with the détente with Cuba.
And he really pisses off the stuffed shirts at The Washington Post.
So, what’s not to like about Donald Trump?http://lobelog.com/trump-obama-and-the-future-of-american-leadership/#more-33648

The Pernicious Myth Of The Oppressed European Muslim | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD

The Pernicious Myth Of The Oppressed European Muslim | Stock News & Stock Market Analysis - IBD

Europe’s Muslims hate the West

 

Europe’s Muslims hate the West

Young men like the perpetrators of the Brussels attacks refuse to embrace the social codes of Belgian life.
http://www.politico.eu/article/brussels-attacks-terrorism-europe-muslims-brussels-attacks-airport-metro/

Why we have a wage inequality problem


Why we have a wage inequality problem

https://ourfiniteworld.com/2016/03/29/why-we-have-a-wage-inequality-problem/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29

Federal Court Hearing Scheduled for Thursday, March 31 in Judicial Watch FOIA Case on Benghazi, Clinton Emails

Judicial Watch - Because no one is above the law!
 
Federal Court Hearing Scheduled for Thursday, March 31 in Judicial Watch FOIA Case on Benghazi, Clinton Emails

Judicial Watch announces that a hearing is to be held in the District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday, March 31, 2016, on a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit. The hearing is in a Judicial Watch case against the Department of State.

On May 8, 2015, the U.S. District Court reopened a FOIA lawsuit seeking documents regarding the State Department's production and dissemination of an advertisement intended to air in Pakistan titled "A Message from the President of the United States Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton" (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:12-cv-02034)). Judicial Watch initially filed suit in December 2012, after the State Department failed to respond to a September 24, 2012, FOIA request for all records concerning the advertisement produced by the U.S. embassy in Islamabad. The advertisement was seen as an apology for the Internet video that President Obama, then-Secretary of State Clinton, and other administration officials falsely blamed for inspiring "spontaneous demonstrations" resulting in the attack on the U.S. Special Mission Compound in Benghazi, Libya. The lawsuit was reopened because of the Clinton email revelations.

Through this lawsuit, Judicial Watch released Obama administration correspondence containing a letter from Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick F. Kennedy asking Hillary Clinton's lawyer to destroy all electronic copies of a classified email found in records Clinton decided to turn over to the State Department six months before. Clinton's attorney, David Kendall, rejected the request, as Congress and other investigators had demanded electronic records be preserved. The correspondence, added as an attachment to the filing arguing against a protective order in the litigation, also shows Hillary Clinton ignored a demand to turn over all electronic copies of the approximately 55,000 pages of emails she previously returned in paper form.

The hearing before Judge Reggie B. Walton is scheduled for:

Time: 10:45 am ET
Location: Courtroom 16
U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
333 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20001


Sincerely,
The Judicial Watch Team
 

 
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Visit JudicialWatch.org
425 3rd St, SW Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20024


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This is what it looks like when an ISIS IED factory gets blown to smithereens - Business Insider

This is what it looks like when an ISIS IED factory gets blown to smithereens - Business Insider

US won't recognize exclusion zone in the South China Sea - Business Insider

US won't recognize exclusion zone in the South China Sea - Business Insider

Why Israelis are defending IDF soldier who shot Palestinian attacker

 

Why Israelis are defending IDF soldier who shot Palestinian attacker

Ben Caspit
March 28, 2016
A short video filmed by a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron March 24 has been shaking Israel’s political, public and military foundations for four days now. The video ignited a battle between the Israeli right and the left, inflamed much of the Israeli public against the top brass of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), set six government ministers against Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and generated another down-and-dirty confrontation between Education Minister Naftali Bennett and Defense Minister Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Outside this inner circle, Yisrael Beitenu chair Avigdor Liberman mocked them both.
Above the fray hovers an emotional storm among millions of Israelis who refuse to accept international conventions while they trample on the rule of law and moral values. They defend an isolated soldier who shot a neutralized attacker in the head in Hebron and is now being indicted for murder.
This is not only a war between right and left, but between emotions and reason, between one’s boiling blood and political correctness.http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/03/israel-public-idf-soldier-new-hero-hebron-palestinian-shot.html

The Occupation of the American Mind


http://occupationmovie.com/


Israel's ongoing military occupation of Palestinian territory and its repeated invasions of the Gaza strip have triggered a fierce backlash against Israeli policies virtually everywhere in the world — except the United States. The Occupation of the American Mind takes an eye-opening look at this critical exception, zeroing in on pro-Israel public relations efforts within the U.S. Narrated by Roger Waters and featuring leading observers of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the film explores how the Israeli government, the U.S. government, and the pro-Israel lobby have joined forces, often with very different motives, to shape American media coverage of the conflict in Israel's favor. The Occupation of the American Mind provides a sweeping analysis of Israel's decades-long battle for the hearts, minds, and tax dollars of the American people — a battle that has only intensified over the past few years in the face of widening international condemnation of Israel's increasingly right-wing policies.


FEATURING

ROGER WATERS, the narrator of The Occupation of the American Mind, is an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, and composer. He is best known as the bass player, co-lead vocalist, lyricist, and principal songwriter in the rock band Pink Floyd. Over the last few years, he has emerged as a prominent advocate for Palestinian human rights.

AMIRA HASS is the correspondent for the Occupied Territories for Haaretz, Israel's oldest daily newspaper. As the correspondent for the territories, Hass spent three years living in Gaza, which served as the basis for her widely acclaimed book Drinking the Sea at Gaza. She has lived in the West Bank city of Ramallah since 1997.

M.J. ROSENBERG was a Congressional aide for 15 years and worked on the staff of the America Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the largest pro-Israel lobbying group in the United States, before becoming a fierce critic of U.S. policy in the Middle East. He has worked for the media watchdog group Media Matters, writes a weekly column for the Huffington Post, and runs a popular blog that looks at issues related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.

STEPHEN M. WALT is Professor of International Affairs at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and the author of numerous books on U.S. politics and international affairs, most notably The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy. He has also been a Resident Associate of the Carnegie Endowment for Peace, a Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution, and has served as a consultant for the Institute of Defense Analyses, the Center for Naval Analyses, and the National Defense University.

NOAM CHOMSKY is a leading U.S. political theorist and activist, and institute professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology. He is the author of dozens of books on political propaganda and U.S. policy in the Middle East, including Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media and Hegemony or Survival: America’s Quest for Global Dominance. The New York Times has called him "the most important intellectual alive."

RULA JEBREAL is a foreign policy analyst, journalist, novelist, and screenwriter with both Israeli and Italian citizenship. Jebreal became the first foreign anchorwoman in the history of Italian television, winning a Media Watch award for her coverage of the Iraq war, and by age 33 earned the highest European journalism award, the International Ischia Award for Best Journalist of the Year. She was also a commentator for MSNBC.

HENRY SIEGMAN is a research professor in the Middle East Program at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, a Senior Fellow on the Middle East at the Council on Foreign Relations, and former national director of the American Jewish Congress. He was ordained as an Orthodox Rabbi, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart for his service as a chaplain during the Korean War.

RASHID KHALIDI is one of the world’s foremost scholars on modern Middle East history. He is currently Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University, and the author of numerous acclaimed books on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood and, most recently, Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. has Undermined Peace in the Middle East.

RAMI KHOURI is the Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, as well as a columnist at the Beirut-based Daily Star newspaper. He is a Palestinian–Jordanian and U.S. citizen and resides with his family in Beirut and Nazareth.

YOUSEF MUNAYYER, a political analyst and writer, is Executive Director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. Previously he was the Executive Director of the Jerusalem Fund and Palestine Center, and served as a policy analyst for the American–Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). He writes on matters of foreign policy in the Arab and Muslim world and civil rights and civil liberties in the United States, and is a frequent commentator on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, NBC, CBS, Al-Jazeera English, and C-Span.

NORMAN FINKELSTEIN is an American political scientist, activist, and author of numerous books on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, including The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering and Image and Reality of the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict. He was also the subject of the critically acclaimed 2009 documentary American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein.

MAX BLUMENTHAL is an award-winning journalist for The Nation magazine and New York Timesbestselling author of several books on right-wing politics and the Middle East conflict, including Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party, Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel, and, most recently, The 51-Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza. His on-the-ground video reports about right-wing pro-Israel sentiment within the U.S. and Israel have generated millions of hits on YouTube.

PHYLLIS BENNIS is a writer, activist, and policy analyst on Middle East and UN issues. She is currently the Director of the New Internationalism Project at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington D.C., and helped found the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation. She writes and speaks widely in the U.S. and around the world, is a frequent commentator on the conflict in U.S. news media, and is the author of several books, including Understanding the Palestinian–Israeli Conflict: A Primer and Ending the War in Afghanistan: A Primer.

NORMAN SOLOMON is a journalist, media critic, and the author of more than a dozen books on U.S. news media and political propaganda, including War Made Easy: How Presidents & Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death and Unreliable Sources: A Guide to Detecting Bias in News Media. He also founded the alternative news source The Institute for Public Accuracy and the online activist group RootsAction.org, and in 2012 was a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in California.

MARK CRISPIN MILLER is professor of media studies at New York University and one of America’s foremost authorities on advertising, public relations, and political propaganda. He has made frequent appearances in documentaries about U.S. media culture, and is the author of several books, including Boxed In: The Culture of TV and Cruel and Unusual: Bush/Cheney's New World Order.

PETER HART is the communications director for the National Coalition Against Censorship. Previously he was the activism director for the media watchdog group Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a writer for FAIR's magazine Extra!, and was a co-host and producer of FAIR's syndicated radio show CounterSpin. He is also the author of The Oh Really? Factor: Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly.

SUT JHALLY is professor of Communication at the University of Massachusetts, a leading scholar on advertising, public relations, and political propaganda, and the author of several books, including The Codes of Advertising and Enlightened Racism. He is also the founder and Executive Director of the Media Education Foundation, a documentary film company that looks at issues related to U.S. media and public attitudes. He is the producer and director of dozens of documentaries about U.S. politics and media culture, including Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: U.S. Media & the Israeli–Palestinian Conflict.
http://occupationmovie.com/

The Salman Doctrine: the Saudi Reply to Obama's Weakness | The National Interest

The Salman Doctrine: the Saudi Reply to Obama's Weakness | The National Interest

What's On Obama's Agenda for the Saudi Arabia Summit? | Saudi Arabia Uncovered | FRONTLINE | PBS

What's On Obama's Agenda for the Saudi Arabia Summit? | Saudi Arabia Uncovered | FRONTLINE | PBS

Saudi Discord Grows

As President Obama prepares to visit Saudi Arabia, US and Saudi perspectives on recent events and trends continue to diverge. 

Two American experts on Iran and the Persian Gulf outline their expectations here: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/whats-on-obamas-agenda-for-the-saudi-arabia-summit/

The Saudi nationalist perspective is expressed by Nawaf Obaid here:  http://nationalinterest.org/feature/the-salman-doctrine-the-saudi-reply-obamas-weakness-15623

America must revolutionize its understanding of the Middle East

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/foreign-policy/274205-america-must-revolutionize-its-understanding-of-the-middle#disqus_thread

America must revolutionize its understanding of the Middle East

By Avi Melamed
For the past generation, America’s Middle East policy has primarily been a chronology of failures.  The proactive promotion of democratization in Iraq, Egypt, and the Palestinian arena resulted in catastrophes.  Leading from behind appears to have failed too, as chaos in the Middle East deepens, and U.S. outreach to Iran raises tensions and creates instability in the region.  Moreover, U.S. intelligence didn’t foresee significant developments in the Middle East such as the Arab Spring, the downfall of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or the severe deterioration in Yemen.  These failures and many others certainly do not stem from a lack of resources, capacity, or gifted individuals.  They stem from a more fundamental flaw.
The foreign policies of Western governments are largely shaped by five major circles: academics; corporations; media; non-governmental or non-profit organizations; and politicians.  The concepts, conversations, information, knowledge, narratives and thinking exchanged within and between these circles, play a significant role in the shaping of policy.
An examination of the process through which information and knowledge about the Middle East is conveyed and assimilated within these circles in the United States reveals two major weaknesses.  One has to do with the mediating of information and the other has to do with the processing of information.

Saudi Arabia Looks to African Allies During Gulf Crises

Saudi Arabia Looks to African Allies During Gulf Crises


http://www.voanews.com/content/saudi-arabia-african-allies-gulf-crisis/3260218.html

A Puzzling Order in Zubik v. Burwell - The Atlantic

A Puzzling Order in Zubik v. Burwell - The Atlantic

American Cities Are Booming for Rich Young College Grads Without Kids - The Atlantic

American Cities Are Booming for Rich Young College Grads Without Kids - The Atlantic

With Brexit, Britons Would Lose Out

With Brexit, Britons Would Lose Out


https://global.handelsblatt.com/edition/398/ressort/opinion/article/with-brexit-britons-would-lose-out

Unions Win Big in Supreme Court Split Decision

Unions Win Big in Supreme Court Split Decision

The Trump-Sanders China Syndrome


The Trump-Sanders China Syndrome

The charge of currency manipulation was always off-base, but now it’s starting to look ludicrous.


http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-trump-sanders-china-syndrome-1459291205

CBO Misses Its Obamacare Projection by 24 Million People | The Weekly Standard

CBO Misses Its Obamacare Projection by 24 Million People | The Weekly Standard

Yes, Donald Could Beat Hillary - WSJ

Yes, Donald Could Beat Hillary - WSJ

Second judge opens door to depositions in Clinton email case


Second judge opens door to depositions in Clinton email case

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/274574-second-judge-opens-door-to-depositions-in-clinton-email-case

Children Pay ‘Highest Price’ as Yemen Falls Apart, U.N. Says

Children Pay ‘Highest Price’ as Yemen Falls Apart, U.N. Says


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/world/middleeast/yemen-conflict-unicef.html?_r=0

Probe of Exxon's climate change disclosures expands | Reuters

Probe of Exxon's climate change disclosures expands | Reuters

Hillary Clinton's Email Hairball Summarized in 11 Points (a Test of Presidential Character) | naked capitalism

Hillary Clinton's Email Hairball Summarized in 11 Points (a Test of Presidential Character) | naked capitalism

America could be making more: Another view

America could be making more: Another view


http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/03/27/economic-strategy-institute-editorials-debates/82236764/?utm_source=feedblitz&utm_medium=FeedBlitzRss&utm_campaign=news-opinion

Hard choices in Honduras


Hard choices in Honduras

By Stephen Kinzer   Boston Globe - MARCH 30, 2016

Before dawn one morning last month, gunmen burst into the home of Berta Caceres, the most outspoken environmentalist in Honduras, and murdered her in her bed. It was a tragedy on many levels, but also something more. This killing brings into sharp focus the horror that has been inflicted on Honduras since an American-approved coup there seven years ago. Because the American who approved that coup was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, it also shadows — or should shadow — the American presidential campaign.

Many countries in the world are suffering the effects of American intervention. Those effects are vivid in places like Iraq and Libya, where most people lived reasonably secure lives before the United States attacked and unleashed the forces of terror and anarchy. Invasions and missile attacks, however, are not the only ways to shatter societies. In Honduras, we did it without firing a shot.https://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2016/03/29/hard-choices-honduras/sLI9xnEw6TWXQgGb9ZVTZO/story.html

The Past, Present, and Future of America and the Islamic World


The Past, Present, and Future of America and the Islamic World


http://blog.yupnet.org/2016/03/24/america-and-the-islamic-world/

Tarek Osman | 30 March 2016

In 1801, the rulers of Tripoli, in today’s Libya, declared war on the US, after the republic had attacked North African corsairs who had repeatedly pirated American ships in the western Mediterranean. American politicians were not particularly worried about the impact of the Libyan threat on their republic, though Thomas Jefferson did meet a Libyan envoy to explain the American position. These historical eccentricities apart, America’s earliest real involvement in the Arab and Islamic worlds was neither militaristic nor political. In the second half of the nineteenth century, many American engineers, some veterans of the civil war, found opportunities to make their fortunes in helping Middle Eastern rulers, for example Egypt’s Khedive Ismail, modernize and industrialize their economies. By the turn of the century, American missionaries founded the region’s first modern universities: The Syrian Protestant College (which later became the American University in Beirut) and the American University in Cairo.

Reports: Beaches full of bodies… Countless carcasses — Official: We want to know if it’s related to Fukushima (VIDEO)

“Mind Blowing”: Die-off in Pacific far worse than anything ever seen before — Expert: Alarm over what’s happening in ocean — Deaths puzzling gov’t scientists, “I’ve never heard of such a thing anywhere in world” — Reports: Beaches full of bodies… Countless carcasses — Official: We want to know if it’s related to Fukushima (VIDEO)

Published: March 29th, 2016 at 1:13 pm ET
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AP, Mar 24, 2016 (emphasis added): Alaska’s massive seabird die-off spreads… Federal biologists last week walked… Katmai National Park and counted 2,000 dead seabirds… “[That's only] a hint of what probably was there… every beach we looked at had dead birds” [US Fish & Wildlife Service's Robb Kaler said]… “if we had rakes we would have found a lot more,” [said retired USGS biologist Tony DeGange]… [Officials surveyed the area] in 2009 and 2012 [and] counted zero and 14 common murres… Last week [they] counted hundreds.
AP, Mar 24, 2016: Seabird die-off takes twist… thousands of common murres were found dead [in an Alaskan] lakeexperts were puzzled. “We’ve talked about unprecedented things about this die off. That’s another one,” said [USGS biologist] John Piatt… “6,000, 8,000 birds in the lake is pretty mind-blowing, reallyI’ve never heard of any such a thing anywhere in the world.”… [F]ederal agencies are trying to determine if the murre deaths are connected to lack of food… or something else…”This is the thing about this die-off,” Piatt said. “We don’t even know what we don’t know.”
KTVF, Mar 18, 2016: Thousands of Alaska birds dying mysteriously — The massive die-offcontinues to surprise federal scientists. The latest twist was the discovery of thousands of carcasses of common murres along a freshwater Alaska lake… [USGS's John Piatt said] to have more than 6,000 in a lake mind-blowing.
KTUU, Mar 19, 2016: According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the Common Murre [spends] winter at sea, making inland discoveries… that much more alarming.
AP, Mar 15, 2016: Alaska scientists continue researching seabird death mysteryDie-offs have occurred before but not on this magnitude… Numbers spiked to alarming levels in early winter. The confirmed carcass count is now up to 36,000, [USGS wildlife biologist Sarah Schoen] said. That’s far higher than previous common murre die-offs and many beaches have not been surveyed… Though the murres appear to have starved, researchers wonder if something caused them to quit eating or to be less successful funding food… Some details are emerging… The sampled birds also were heavier than birds sampled in a 1993 die-off… “So it doesn’t look like just starvation is killing them,” Schoen said. “It looks like there’s something else that could be tipping them over the edge.”
KTVA, Mar 9, 2016: It’s one of the biggest mysteries Alaska has seen for some time… Scientists say the die-off of Murres was the biggest they’ve ever seen [and] 500,000 Murres may have died… “they actually have empty stomachs, so we aren’t finding any food,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist Elizabeth Labunski. Scientists say something is keeping the birds from reaching their food source, which suggests there could be a bigger problem with the ocean itself. “I think an alarm bell should go off because these are indicator species about what’s going on in the ocean”… said Fish and Wildlife biologist Kathy Kuletz. Kuletz said the bird die-off could have implications for other species… And she doesn’t think the die-off is over.
Naomi McMullen, Environmental Coordinator Native Village of Port Graham (Alaska), Jan 6, 2016: [Community members] have seen more dead murres… [One] said there was a beach full of dead birds. We have seen some that looked very sick and unaware.
Arlene Shimanek & Alice Julius, Native Village of Goodnews Bay (Alaska), Aug 21, 2015: [A] resident had observed countless dead seagulls and other sea birds that were found dead. The amount she had seen was countless… birds were acting weird, sick… too weak to fly.
Nancy Yeaton, Nanwalek IRA Council (Alaska), Aug 17, 2015: Dead Birds (Murres)… We want to be kept appraised of these impacts whether it is an algae bloom/PSP related event or potentially related to the Fukushima Power plant (earth quake) disaster?
Broadcasts: KTVA | NPR
Published: March 29th, 2016 at 1:13 pm ET
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Related Posts

  1. “Countless” dead birds reported in Pacific off US coast, nothing will eat the bodies — “There are no seals present” — Expert: “The fish are not there… all of them are starving” — Animals “acting weird, sick and weak, too weak to fly, too weak to run” — Resident: We want to know if it’s from Fukushima (VIDEO) September 15, 2015
  2. NOAA: Beaches full of dead baby sea lions off California, many aborted fetuses — Garbage bags filled with animals along coast — Carts in freezer overflowing with bodies — Official: Pollution may well have had an effect… We deliberately didn’t test for it (VIDEO) June 8, 2015
  3. TV: “Carcasses littering beaches for miles” on Pacific coast of Alaska — “Complete reproductive failure” — “Horrifying… Horrid… Mind-boggling… Off the charts” — Unprecedented die-off “has potential to be biggest mortality event in state history” — “The most extreme I’ve ever seen” (VIDEOS) January 13, 2016
  4. Official: “Thousands of Millions” of fish wash up dead in Alaska — Piles of them… I have never seen anything like it… First time we’ve ever heard of this (VIDEO) August 18, 2015
  5. Unprecedented: ‘Cataclysmic’ die-off of birds on entire West Coast — Beaches covered with dead bodies — Professor: It’s tragic… never seen anything like this… We ignore it at our peril… Canary in the coalmine for us… Scrambling to figure out what’s going on with ecosystem (VIDEOS) January 8, 2015

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion | Word On Fire

The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion | Word On Fire

The 7 Habits of People Who Place Radical Trust in God


The 7 Habits of People Who Place Radical Trust in God

http://jenniferfulwiler.com/2011/04/7-habits-trust-god/

Here's the U.S. Earthquake Forecast, Now Including the Quakes We Cause - Bloomberg Business

Here's the U.S. Earthquake Forecast, Now Including the Quakes We Cause - Bloomberg Business

Ocean temps predict U.S. heat waves 50 days out, study finds | UCAR - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ocean temps predict U.S. heat waves 50 days out, study finds | UCAR - University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

“The Battle for VA Healthcare and Its Funding” | naked capitalism

“The Battle for VA Healthcare and Its Funding” | naked capitalism

Frontline: Saudi Arabia Uncovered - Watch Tonight



The Saudi Arabia we usually see is a country of wealth and luxury shopping malls. 

But tonight, in Saudi Arabia Uncovered, FRONTLINE reveals stunning undercover footage depicting a different side of the country: stark poverty, violence against women, religious police in action -- and citizens fighting back.

The documentary is a rare and surprising look at a Saudi Arabia that's rarely seen. 

Watch Saudi Arabia Uncovered tonight o
n your local PBS station, stream it online beginning at 10 p.m. ET, and tweet along with us using #SaudiArabia. 

PLUS: Have questions about the making of this documentary? Join filmmaker James Jones for a live Q&A tomorrow (Wednesday, Mar. 30) at 2 p.m. ET on FRONTLINE's Facebook page.

Noam Chomsky: The Republican Base Is "Out of Control"

Noam Chomsky: The Republican Base Is "Out of Control"

Noam Chomsky: The Republican Base Is "Out of Control"

C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout: In this exclusive interview with Truthout, Noam Chomsky sheds light on the connections between political ideology, money in politics and the 2016 US presidential election. With candidates' political views spanning a range that is broader than usual, Chomsky discusses whether the US is really changing.

One-Third Of Nuclear Reactors Are Near Mandatory Retirement | The Daily Caller

One-Third Of Nuclear Reactors Are Near Mandatory Retirement | The Daily Caller

Litany of the Saints John Becker



Litany of the Saints John Becker

Minor Brothers of Charity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kId0NBvNiCk&feature=em-subs_digest-vrecs

Daughters of St. Paul Easter Strength for Your Week

Strength for Your Week
Just as Jesus didn't allow the women who discovered the Easter Tomb to stay there in awe and joy, but sent them out to tell others, we too are sent forth immediately with the astounding news, "The tomb is empty!"

There is a lovely empty tomb in our chapel made by the novices, and I have spent much time reflecting on it. The tomb is empty! OUR tomb is empty! 

No matter what happens, no matter the danger, the uncertainty, the persecution...we are assured that the tomb is empty! OUR tomb is empty! 

Death cannot hold us and eternal bliss is ours beginning today.

Enjoy the video: Of Tender Mercies
May you have 
a joy-filled Easter Season!

Daughters of St. Paul
The tomb of the Risen Jesus in our motherhouse chapel

We'd love for you to share this news!
© Daughters of St. Paul. All Rights Reserved.

How Putin’s Leverage Shaped the Syrian Ceasefire

How Putin’s Leverage Shaped the Syrian Ceasefire

On Syria, Russia’s President Putin is having his way not just vis-à-vis Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but also the United States.
By , March 29, 2016 | http://www.theglobalist.com/putin-kerry-syria-ceasefire-united-states/

Takeaways

  • Putin is having his way not just vis-à-vis Turkey and Saudi Arabia, but also the United States.
  • Putin has leverage over the US policy in Syria, while Kerry has no similar leverage over Russian policy.
  • Kerry asked Obama to carry out attacks on Assad forces, so he could have “leverage” in negotiations with Russia.
  • Russia’s on-the-ground success gave Putin an advantage in negotiations with US over a Syrian ceasefire.
  • US as part of the ceasefire deal pledged to “enforce the cessation of the flow of weapons” into Syria.
  • Russia has ruled out any requirement for Assad to resign but Iran fears that assurance is not ironclad.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S Secretary of State John Kerry have clearly been the primary drivers of their respective governments’ policies toward Syria. http://www.theglobalist.com/putin-kerry-syria-ceasefire-united-states/

Why humanitarian intervention goes horribly wrong

Why humanitarian intervention goes horribly wrong


https://aeon.co/opinions/why-humanitarian-intervention-goes-horribly-wrong

United States: The End of Establishment Orthodoxy

United States: The End of Establishment Orthodoxy
Democratic and Republican Party elites have failed to produce outcomes U.S. voters expect.
By , March 28, 2016 | http://www.theglobalist.com/united-states-end-of-establishment-orthodoxy-elections/

Takeaways

  • Cruz is merely Trump without the flexibility Trump promises when he touts his deal-making prowess.
  • Insanely, Cruz is the last best hope for the GOP to get back on a sane course!
  • Because Clinton isn’t outright saying that she stands for status quo, she seems to stand for nothing.
  • Bernie, the only candidate so far that is actually “likeable” – is the anti-Trump in many respects.
  • Like Trump, Sanders says what he believes. But unlike Trump, what he believes is devoid of malice.
Last summer, American politics was set to embark on the most boring election season since George Washington accepted the Presidency. The battle of the great American political dynasties was about to begin: the Bushes versus the Clintons.
Then someone came down an escalator in New York City and broke wind, loudly and extravagantly. Today, the sonic repercussions of Donald Trump’s arrival on the political stage reverberate through the entirety of the U.S. politics and beyond. http://www.theglobalist.com/united-states-end-of-establishment-orthodoxy-elections/

Modi in Europe: Relaunching the EU-India Strategic Partnership

Modi in Europe: Relaunching the EU-India Strategic Partnership


Europe as a collective has long been a missing link in India’s engagement with the world. Brussels too has found it hard to raise its profile in New Delhi, despite the growth in India’s economic and political salience in the twenty-first century. It was not surprising, therefore, that the two sides have had considerable difficulty in implementing a 2004 declaration on building a bilateral strategic partnership.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Europe on March 29 to inject a measure of pragmatism into the bilateral relationship and widen its scope and depth. As a leader with sharp political acumen, Modi also understands the current traumatic moment in Europe after the March 22 terror attacks in Brussels and the November 13, 2015, attacks in Paris. As Brussels copes with an unprecedented threat enveloping it, Modi will hope that Europe can better appreciate the terrorist challenge that India has continued to endure since the late 1980s.
Modi’s talks in Europe are likely to produce a joint declaration on the shared interests between New Delhi and Brussels in combating terrorism and the need to develop stronger institutional cooperation to address the challenge of violent extremism. http://carnegieeurope.eu/strategiceurope/?fa=63153&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRonvKXNZKXonjHpfsX57uQsW6Sg38431UFwdcjKPmjr1YIGRcR0aPyQAgobGp5I5FEIQ7XYTLB2t60MWA%3D%3D

Time for Maturity in the White House Attitude to Iran

http://lobelog.com/time-for-maturity-in-the-white-house-attitude-to-iran/#more-33625

Time for Maturity in the White House Attitude to Iran

by Peter Jenkins
The article “The Obama Doctrine in the April issue of The Atlantic lays bare a striking contrast in the White House’s attitude to two states that pose a challenge to US interests: Iran and China.
This is what Susan Rice says about Iran to the author of the piece, Jeffrey Goldberg:
The Iran deal was never primarily about trying to open a new era of relations between the U.S. and Iran. It was far more pragmatic and minimalist. The aim was very simply to make a dangerous country substantially less dangerous. No one had any expectation that Iran would be a more benign actor.
And this is how President Barack Obama responds to a question about the challenge that China poses:
In terms of traditional great-state relations, I do believe that the relationship between the United States and China is going to be the most critical. If we get that right and China continues on a peaceful rise, then we have a partner that is growing in capability and sharing with us the burdens and responsibilities of maintaining an international order. If China fails; if it is not able to maintain a trajectory that satisfies its population and has to resort to nationalism as an organizing principle; if it feels so overwhelmed that it never takes on the responsibilities of a country its size in maintaining the international order; if it views the world only in terms of regional spheres of influence—then not only do we see the potential for conflict with China, but we will find ourselves having more difficulty dealing with these other challenges that are going to come.
The formula for dealing with China—engagement with a view to managing Chinese nationalism and encouraging Chinese commitment to global norms of behavior and responsibilities—is wise. The minimalist formula being applied to Iran is misguided.
Engagement can result in influence, and influence can produce changes of behavior; the odds are stacked against anything good coming from minimalism.http://lobelog.com/time-for-maturity-in-the-white-house-attitude-to-iran/#more-33625

ISIS Planning Attack on Jewish Children in Turkey — Report


ISIS Planning Attack on Jewish Children in Turkey — Report


http://forward.com/news/breaking-news/337190/isis-planning-attack-on-jewish-children-in-turkey-report/?utm_content=daily_Newsletter_BreakingNews_Position-1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Daily%202016-03-29&utm_term=The%20Forward%20Today%20Monday-Friday

The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger | Foreign Affairs

The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger | Foreign Affairs

The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger It's Time to Take the Threat Seriously

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-03-29/coming-isis-al-qaeda-merger?cid=nlc-fatoday-20160329&sp_mid=51025873&sp_rid=cm1lYXl1QGNvbWNhc3QubmV0S0&spMailingID=51025873&spUserID=NTA0ODM0MjY1MDkS1&spJobID=883727088&spReportId=ODgzNzI3MDg4S0

The Coming ISIS–al Qaeda Merger

It's Time to Take the Threat Seriously

“You are pitiful, isolated individuals! You are bankrupts. Your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the dustbin of history!”
Thus in 1917 Leon Trotsky consigned the Mensheviks, the non-Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Workers’ Party, to perennial insignificance—a fate from which they never recovered. Only five years ago, al Qaeda’s downfall appeared similarly imminent. Its founder and leader was dead. A succession of key lieutenants had been eliminated. And the region was transformed by the Arab Spring. Civil protest, it seemed, had achieved what terrorism had manifestly failed to deliver—and al Qaeda was the biggest loser. As John O. Brennan, then deputy national security advisor for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and assistant to the president, told an audience gathered at a DC think tank in April 2012, “For the first time since this fight began, we can look ahead and envision a world in which the al Qaeda core is simply no longer relevant.” Less than a month later, on the first anniversary of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s killing, U.S. President Barack Obama proudly proclaimed that, “The goal that I set—to defeat al Qaeda and deny it a chance to rebuild—is now within our reach.” https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2016-03-29/coming-isis-al-qaeda-merger?cid=nlc-fatoday-20160329&sp_mid=51025873&sp_rid=cm1lYXl1QGNvbWNhc3QubmV0S0&spMailingID=51025873&spUserID=NTA0ODM0MjY1MDkS1&spJobID=883727088&spReportId=ODgzNzI3MDg4S0