Blogging is not truth, behavior is truth

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http://www.postandcourier.com/article/2 ... 151029736/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Federal watchdogs need access to agency records

BY MICHAEL E. HOROWITZ
Oct 23 2015 12:01 am

One of the most significant post-Watergate reforms was the passage in 1978 of the Inspector General Act, which has put in place 72 federal inspectors general to serve as agency watchdogs responsible for ensuring the integrity and efficiency of our government’s operations.

An inspector general’s ability to accomplish that ever-challenging mission depends on the bedrock principles enshrined in the IG Act: independence and access to all an agency’s records without interference. I emphasize “all” because unrestricted access to agency records ensures that our essential functions cannot be thwarted.

Over the past 35 years, that access has empowered IGs to root out government corruption and save U.S. taxpayers billions of dollars.

For decades, there was no controversy over what the words “all records” meant. But that changed in 2010 when FBI attorneys suggested, soon after several critical reports by my office as inspector general at the Justice Department, that “all records” might not include some records the FBI was seeking to withhold. This was the first time anyone in the department had asserted that the broad powers of the IG Act did not apply fully to our oversight.

Not surprisingly, once the FBI started raising legal challenges, several other federal agencies challenged their IGs’ independent oversight authority.

For example, when the Peace Corps inspector general sought to review the agency’s response to sexual assaults against corps volunteers — oversight that was mandated by Congress — the agency put in place policies that prevented IG access to key records.

Making matters worse, recently an arm of the Justice Department issued a 68-page opinion that supported the FBI’s position and concluded that IGs do not have the right to independently access certain records involving grand jury testimony, wiretap information and some credit reports, no matter how critical they might be to our oversight.

Indeed, these kinds of records have been central to some of our most significant reviews of FBI and Justice Department programs, and for more than 21 years the department had provided them to us without once accusing us of not properly safeguarding them. As a result of this decision, it is now up to agency officials to decide whether to grant, or refuse, an IG permission to review these types of records.

This leads to the absurd situation where the words “all records” in the IG Act no longer mean “all records.”

Without independent access to agency records, our ability as IGs to conduct the kind of sensitive reviews that have resulted in widespread improvements in the effectiveness of government programs will be significantly compromised.

For example, since 2010, many of my office’s most important reviews, including those affecting public safety, national security, civil liberties and even whistleblower retaliation, have been impeded or delayed.

Allowing officials whose agencies are under review to decide what documents an inspector general can have turns the IG Act on its head and is fundamentally inconsistent with the independence that is necessary for effective and credible oversight.

This safeguard was vital when Congress passed the IG Act in 1978, and it remains vital today. Actions that limit or delay an inspector general’s access can have profoundly negative consequences for our work:

They make us less effective, encourage other agencies to raise similar objections and erode the morale of our dedicated professionals.

As chair of the Council of Inspectors General, I know that inspectors general everywhere are deeply concerned about this attack on our independence.

Thankfully, a substantial bipartisan group in Congress shares our view that the IG Act must not be interpreted in a way that would render it toothless. Pending legislation in the Senate and the House would restore inspectors general independence and empower IGs to conduct the kind of rigorous, independent and thorough oversight that taxpayers expect.

I urge Congress to pass legislation quickly that clarifies that “all records” means “all records” and reject any interpretation that would allow government agencies to shield their misdeeds from inspector

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http://www.stopfbi.net/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Committee to
Stop FBI Repression
Organizing to stop FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists

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http://chicago.suntimes.com/editorials- ... ng-overdue" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

66 arrested at McCormick Place in protests at police conference
written by Mitchell Armentrout posted:

Sixty-six people were arrested Saturday while demonstrating outside the International Association of Chiefs of Police annual conference at McCormick Place, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel and police Supt. Garry McCarthy had spoke

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r Vigil 2015: Building a Culture of Justice and Peace PDF

http://www.soaw.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Saturday morning, 11/21 in Lumpkin, GA

#ShutDownStewart Livestream!


Friday, 11/20 in Columbus, GA (See More Photos Here)

Activists arrived from Mexico, Chile, El Salvador, Venezuela, Panama and around the US to gather for the first workshops in the 2015 Vigil, exploring resistance to US empire. Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition presented Why We Must #ShutDownStewart to get us ready for Saturday’s march to the Stewart Detention Center, discussing the intersections of racism, militarism, and mass incarceration that are embodied at Stewart and other detention centers throughout the US.

National Religious Campaign Against Torture screened Breaking Down the Box, exposing the torture of solitary confinement in the context of mass incarceration in the US. Two of the victims of the right-wing extremist violent attempts to overthrow the democratically-elected government discussed the Struggle Against Impunity in Venezuela. Pax Christi USA hosted a discussion led by youth organizers for the Dream Act in NJ, and SOA Watch activante Jonathan González Quiel spoke on human rights and militarism in Panama.

Two members of the jury of the International Tribunal of Conscience on Mexico on the anniversary of the disappearance of the students from the rural teacher’s school in Ayotzinapa were featured in a workshop on Mexico’s Crimes Against Humanity and the Complicity of the US. And SOA Watch LA screened Testimony: The Maria Guardado Story, shared personal remembrances and also poetry from Maria’s newly released (bilingual) book of poems, Quisiera Escribir Cosas Bellas.

We heard a report-back on the Colombian Peace Process from Witness for Peace, and from organizers in Costa Rica and Mexico about mining, militarization and the disappeared. NETWORK Lobby shared an analysis of 2015 congressional legislation, and another workshop discussed how early Christianity was co-opted and transformed into a violent, patriarchal tool of empire. SOA Watch leaders also led Peacemaker, Legal Observer, Nonviolent Direct Action and Legislative trainings, and packed the house for an exciting opening plenary that closed out the transformative evening.

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http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1 ... e-shooting" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;




Emanuel aide attacked at vigil for victims of police shooting

12/28/2015, 11:08PM



Janet Cooksey, 49, holds up a picture of her son, 19-year-old Quintonio LeGrier, during a news conference outside a West Garfield Park neighborhood home on Dec. 27, 2015. | Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times
One of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s deputy chiefs of staff was attacked Sunday evening while attending a vigil for Bettie Jones and Quintonio LeGrier, who were fatally shot by Chicago Police in West Garfield Park on Saturday.

According to a source, Vance Henry was attending the vigil about 5:50 p.m. at the site of the shooting in the 4700 block of West Erie when he was attacked.




The police department’s Office of News Affairs confirmed that a 50-year-old man was at the vigil when “he was approached by an unknown person who began to make verbal threats which escalated to a physical altercation.”

Strong earthquake rattles central Oklahoma
69 journalists killed while reporting in 2015
Awkward, bland and angry: Your 2015 political Christmas cards

The man was punched with a closed fist, tackled to the ground and kicked repeatedly, according to police. He went to Rush University Medical Center, where he was treated and released.

In an emailed statement Monday night, City Hall spokesman Adam Collins said: “We are aware that on

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http://winnipegcopwatch.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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http://arstechnica.com/security/2016/01 ... ne-hacked/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



US Intelligence director’s personal e-mail, phone hacked
"Crackas With Attitude": We routed Clapper's calls to Free Palestine Movement.

Jan 13, 2016 11:16am EST


Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (far right) with CIA Director John Brennan (center) and FBI Director James Comey (left) before Congress last year. Clapper and Brennan have both now been targeted by hackers calling themselves "Crackas With Attitude". (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The same individual or group claiming to be behind a recent breach of the personal e-mail account of CIA Director John Brennan now claims to be behind the hijacking of the accounts of Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence confirmed to Motherboard that Clapper was targeted and that the case has been forwarded to law enforcement.


Hacker releases new purported personal data for top CIA, DHS officials [Updated]

Alleged hacker tells Ars that the authorities have not contacted him.
Someone going by the moniker "Cracka," claiming to be with a group of "teenage hackers" called "Crackas With Attitude," told Motherboard's Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchiarai that he had gained access to Clapper's Verizon FiOS account and changed the settings for his phone service to forward all calls to the Free Palestine Movement. Cracka also claimed to have gained access to Clapper's personal e-mail account and his wife's Yahoo account.

In October, Crackas With Attitude claimed responsibility for hacking CIA Director Brennan's personal e-mail account and gaining access to a number of work-related documents he had sent through it—including his application for a security clearance and credentials. The group also apparently gained access to a number of government Web portals and applications, including the Joint Automated Booking System (a portal that provides law enforcement with data on any person's arrest records, regardless of whether the cases are ordered sealed by courts) and government employee personnel records. The group published a spreadsheet

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http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/ ... 45561.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Black Lives event urges Unitarians to fight for racial equality
More than 100 people gathered Saturday at First Unitarian Church in Milwaukee for a workshop on the Black Lives Matter movement. Participants were urged to take up the fight for racial equality.



More than 100 people gathered Saturday at First Unitarian Church in Milwaukee for a workshop on the Black Lives Matter movement. Participants were urged to take up the fight for racial equality.




Jan. 16, 2016 4:36 p.m.


Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, shared her experiences as a grieving-mother-turned--activist.

If Maria Hamilton was hoping to make at least a few people uncomfortable in a mostly white crowd on Saturday, chances are she succeeded.

Hamilton became the face of the Black Lives Matter movement in Milwaukee after the 2014 fatal shooting of her son, Dontre, by a white police officer.

On Saturday, she walked to the podium and pulled the hood of her green coat tightly up over her head.

"I'm not a hoodie," Hamilton told the more than 100 people gathered at First Unitarian Church in Milwaukee for a workshop on the Black Lives Matter movement.

"I'm human," she told them. "Our husbands, our babies, our daughters...we're all human."

Hamilton shared her experiences as a grieving-mother-turned-social-justice-activist as part of the gathering aimed at encouraging local Unitarians to mobilize on behalf of the Black Lives Matter movement.

It followed the call by the denomination's 2015 General Assembly for Unitarians to offer "immediate witness" in the fight against police brutality, racism, mass incarceration and other systems that negatively and disproportionately affect people of color.

"This is a critical time," said Mary Devitt, one of the organizers, who was jailed alongside her husband and stepson during a Black Lives Matter protest in December 2014.

"It is a crisis," she said of the inequities faced by black Americans. "And (Unitarian Universalists) can't stand on the fence."

Among the speakers Saturday was the Rev. Julie Taylor, a St. Louis-area Unitarian minister, who told of her work ministering to protesters in Ferguson, Mo., in the wake of the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown.

Taylor said the movement reflects all of the seven tenets of the Unitarian tradition, including the belief in the inherent worth of all people, and the insistence on justice, equity and compassion in human relations.

"This is a spiritual journey," she said. "White supremacy and white privilege is a soul sickness. It keeps us from being the people we were born to be, the people we were created to be."

Devitt is working with Ann Heidkamp of Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield to educate local Unitarians about the movement. The effort, she said, is not about calling people out, but helping them better understand the reality of racial injustice in America and how their faith calls them to act.

"It's about asking people how are you going to challenge yourself, how are you going to witness," said Devitt. "It's finding the line between staying in relationship and helping a person recognize where they need to learn."

The idea of being made uncomfortable — by racism and injustice, by one's own white privilege or sense of guilt — was a recurring theme throughout the event.

"I want everyone in this room to be uncomfortable," Hamilton told the crowd. "It's the only way we're going to get justice in America."

"You should be uncomfortable," said Reggie Jackson, head griot, or oral historian, of the now-online Black Holocaust Museum. "If you...see these things and you are not uncomfortable, something is wrong with you."

Jackson was speaking about the disturbing images archived at the Holocaust Museum, founded by James Cameron, who escaped an attempted lynching as a teenager.

Jackson and others urged the audience to take up the fight for racial equality but noted that they would do so as great risk, if not to their bodies then to their

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http://www.shadowspear.com/vb/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Obituaries
Concepcion Picciotto, who held vigil outside the White House for decades, dies

Concepcion Picciotto protested outside the White House for more than 30 years making the peace vigil the longest-running act of political protest in the U.S. Picciotto died on Jan.25,2016



https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/co ... ge%2Fstory" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;



January 25 at 5:52 PM
Concepcion Picciotto, the protester who maintained a peace vigil outside the White House for more than three decades, a demonstration widely considered to be the longest-running act of political protest in U.S. history, died Jan. 25 at a housing facility operated by N Street Village, a nonprofit that supports homeless women in Washington. She was believed to be 80.

She had recently suffered a fall, but the immediate cause of d

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http://www.spamfighter.com/News-20080-H ... -Miami.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hacker Doxes 80 Police Officers of Miami


A group of hackers revealed the names, email addresses and phone numbers of over 80 police officers of Miami, in what seems to be an effort to "dox" the agents. The hackers seem to be lightly associated with the group of apparent teen hackers known as "Crackas With Attitude" or CWA, who breached the AOL email account of the Director of CIA John Brennan last year, and attacked other high-profile officials of US government during recent weeks.

The group also hacked JABS (Joint Automated Booking System), an application used to document and manage arrested citizens of US, and also blustered for accessing a secret portal of FBI. CWA disclosed the personal details of 2,400 officials of US government in November. Softpedia posted on 22nd January, 2016, stating that Vice reporters verified the claims of hackers and confirmed the authenticity of the data.

It is not clear from where the hackers acquired the data, but seems they got it from a US government database of law enforcement officials which was allegedly breached last

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February 8, 2016
Preserve Do-No-Harm for Military Psychologists: Coalition Responds to Department of Defense Letter to the APA

by Roy Eidelson Trudy Bond, Stephen Soldz, Steven Reisner, Jean Maria Arrigo, Brad Olson, and Bryant Welch



Last July, an independent investigation documented a years-long pattern of secret collusion between senior representatives of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to keep psychologists involved in the DoD’s abusive interrogation and detention program. Following these revelations, in August the APA’s Council of Representatives passed an historic resolution – by a nearly unanimous vote – to ban psychologists from involvement in national security interrogations. The Council further voted to remove psychologists from any involvement in detention operations at Guantánamo Bay and all other facilities operating in violation of international law. The APA assigned the responsibility for determining such violations to the UN Committee Against Torture,

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/02/08/ ... o-the-apa/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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I moved to the US 7 years ago from Finland — here's what Americans don't understand about Nordic countries


http://www.businessinsider.com/what-ame ... ies-2016-3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Mar. 19, 2016
The American Dream is alive and well in Sweden


This is what Americans fail to understand: My taxes in Finland were used to pay for top-notch services for me.

Bernie Sanders is hanging on, still pushing his vision of a Nordic-like socialist utopia for America, and his supporters love him for it. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, is chalking up victories by sounding more sensible. “We are not Denmark,” she said in the first Democratic debate, pointing instead to America’s strengths as a land of freedom for entrepreneurs and businesses.

Commentators repeat endlessly the mantra that Sanders’s Nordic-style policies might sound nice, but they’d never work in the U.S. The upshot is that Sanders, and his supporters, are being treated a bit like children—good-hearted, but hopelessly naive. That’s probably how Nordic people seem to many Americans, too.

A Nordic person myself, I left my native Finland seven years ago and moved to the U.S. Although I’m now a U.S. citizen, I hear these kinds of comments from Americans all the time—at cocktail parties and at panel discussions, in town hall meetings and on the opinion pages. Nordic countries are the way they are, I’m told, because they are small, homogeneous “nanny states” where everyone looks alike, thinks alike, and belongs to a big extended family.

This, in turn, makes Nordic citizens willing to sacrifice their own interests to help their neighbors. Americans don’t feel a similar kinship with other Americans, I’m told, and thus will never sacrifice their own interests for the common good. What this is mostly taken to mean is that Americans will never, ever agree to pay higher taxes to provide universal soc

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What have you done with your life?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Hari_Dass" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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http://commondreams.org/views/2016/05/1 ... -1943-2016" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Published on
Thursday, May 12, 2016
by Common Dreams
Keeping the Light Lit: Michael Ratner (1943-2016)
byCenter for ConstitutionalRights

Michael Ratner, according to CCR's board chair Katherine Franke, "was among the most visionary lawyers of our generation, holding the U.S. government accountable when it went to war illegally, tortured its citizens, withheld state secrets, limited the rights of a free press, persecuted political dissidents and in countless other contexts. There has hardly been a progressive social movement in the last 45 years that Michael hasn’t been part of, contributing his phenomenally creative and cutting edge legal mind. All of us who treasure freedom and oppose oppressive state violence owe a debt of gratitude to Michael Ratner." (Photo: CCR)
Dear CCR Community,

It is with a very heavy heart that we write to tell you of a great loss to our family. On Wednesday, we lost one of the great social justice warriors of our time, Michael Ratner. In July 2015, Michael fell ill. But he fought his illness in the same manner as he did all of the injustices he encountered for the last half century; with clarity, tenacity, good cheer, the support of his loving family and friends, and hope for the best possible outcome against the odds. Sadly, this was one fight that he wasn’t able to win. We send our deepest condolences to his family and to all of those who knew and loved him.

"There is not the same sense of strength in struggle that you can change things, not as there was in the ‘60s and ‘70s. You get to the point where you have a very conservative government and you feel like you are only a flickering light. But we have to keep the light lit."
—Michael Ratner
Family members say Michael was born with the “empathy gene,” which made him a wonderful and loyal friend. While a law student at Columbia University in 1968 this empathy and compassion helped him find his political focus during student protests against the Vietnam War. While participating in a building occupation on campus Michael was pushed to the ground and beaten by the police. Seeing his bloodied classmates who were, like him, standing up for what’s right, he decided he would always stand on the side of the oppressed and against the oppressor. A law student was pushed down; a radical rose up. In his words, “[E]vents like this created the activists of the generation and I never looked back; I declared that I was going to spend my life on the side of justice and non-violence.” And this is exactly what Michael did until his last breath.

After law school Michael was drawn to the Center for Constitutional Rights; it would be his political home for over 40 years. He started as a staff attorney on the same day as another lost CCR hero, Rhonda Copelon, who along with other CCR colleagues, built gender work into the Center’s portfolio in the early 1970s. Through the years, Michael came to embrace international law as a key tool for the Center through the counsel of Rhonda and former CCR Vice President, Peter Weiss. This work, along with Michael’s tenacity and spirit remain the defining features of CCR 50 years after it was founded.

Michael was the organizational bridge between the work of CCR’s founders, from whom he learned how to litigate boldly and work with social movements, and our current generation of lawyers and advocates. He was a mentor and inspiration to generations of law students and lawyers who have come through CCR. Twenty-four years ago, the Center’s current Executive Director, Vince Warren, was one of these students. He shared his thoughts upon first meeting Michael as a CCR Ella Baker Intern:

“He lived the vision for how a radical people’s lawyer could almost literally shift the world for the most precarious in our society, by shifting the ground under the most powerful. But what really shifted, was me. Hearing his stories of representing clients and political movements from every corner of the globe, I came to see how I could use my law degree for something extraordinary and eternal. It was my honor to have later served with him on CCR’s Board and to work in partnership as the Executive Director of the organization we both cherished.”

In accepting the Center’s Relentless Radical Award in 2012, Michael explained why he chose to spend his career in partnership with CCR: “I believed then and I still believe today, that it is the place that will change the world. I am as excited to walk into the Center today as I was that first day. And I still believe it is the place that will change the world.”

Jules Lobel, CCR’s Board President and frequent CCR co-counsel with Michael, shared “Michael was the moral and political compass for me and CCR. He was the spirit of the Center: his approach to litigation and working with communities, his fortitude in waging long running campaigns, and the values he held dear. These will outlive him and continue to impact CCR’s work for generations.”

Michael had the vision to see things on the horizon—things that others barely glimpsed, often dismissed, or were convinced simply didn’t exist. From his work at CCR challenging US imperialism and oppression through policies of brutal militarism from Central America, Iraq and at home, Michael stood for peaceful conflict resolution and accountability for the inevitable abuse that accompanies the use of force. He never shied away from a fight, no matter the odds; indeed, it is likely he specifically selected the cases with the longest odds. After all, those involved in these cases were most in need of solidarity, support and a legal ally. This was obvious in the years he spent dedicated to exposing conditions facing Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank and advocating for adherence to international law and recognition of their human rights.

Katherine Franke, CCR’s Board Chair, reflects on the legacy that Michael has left us with:

“He was among the most visionary lawyers of our generation, holding the U.S. government accountable when it went to war illegally, tortured its citizens, withheld state secrets, limited the rights of a free press, persecuted political dissidents and in countless other contexts. There has hardly been a progressive social movement in the last 45 years that Michael hasn’t been part of, contributing his phenomenally creative and cutting edge legal mind. All of us who treasure freedom and oppose oppressive state violence owe a debt of gratitude to Michael Ratner.”

Michael’s special gift was his ability to turn an urgent problem into a meaningful, hard-hitting lawsuit. He sometimes won in court, but he always won in the court of public opinion; even if it took

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5C_-HLD21hA" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/0 ... ity-divest" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Published on
Wednesday, May 25, 2016
byCommon Dreams
Student Activism Pushes UMass to Become First Major Public University to Divest
University president recognizes power of students to make societal change


Thirty-four University of Massachusetts- Amherst students were arrested in April for occupying a campus building during a nonviolent divestment protest. (Photo: Divest UMass)
University of Massachusetts students—who just over one month ago were arrested for demanding that their school divest from fossil fuels—were validated on Wednesday after it was announced that the school would become the first major

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http://www.americanswhotellthetruth.org/multimedia" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Edwin Jewett is a Massachusetts blogger
who just posted a invaluable data base of links.

Use them wisely
If you go to the original link
seen here you will find all
his website links activated.


http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.c ... -the-news/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


If you are viewing this, I have withdrawn substantially from the World Wide Web and am busy packing up my household. I may return sporadically with excerpts from old blogs (the more things change, the more they remain the same). I will try to keep myself informed but will at least temporarily stop posting what I found.

In my absence, some readers may want some guidance on how to assemble a digest of the day’s global news. If you are a long-term reader of Occurrences, you probably have a solid sense of how I do it, and you probably have developed your very own approach. Wonderful. Every act, expression or experience here is merely a starting point for you, ingredients for your own creations.

When you first enter “the kitchen of your day” to wonder about what you should prepare for dinner, you have to do a couple of things as preliminary steps. The first is to wake up. Make a really good cup of coffee. Take care of your personal ablutions. Eat something. For me, a cup of coffee and some juice or a cold seltzer/lemonade mixture is always at hand. Two basic links you should know about:

http://24timezones.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 

https://liveweatherfeeds.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; 

Think first about what you “ate” yesterday. What are the top issues of the day politically, in terms of foreign interactions and policies, in terms of cultural movements, or in terms of threats? Yesterday’s diet informs today’s meal choices, sometimes in need for follow-up, sometimes in need for avoidance or change. Sometimes there are leftovers. So you look into the pantry and fridge to see what you have to work with. Pay special attention to your choice of both aperitif and digestif.

For me, the news equivalent of this is to check Google News and/or other actively-updating news aggregation services. Your first mental task is to consider the flavors and biases that come with your choices. Maybe the cooking metaphorical equivalent is that you will want to blanch the asparagus in cold water and lemon juice, and then bring it slowly to a low heat and let it sit before you grill it in olive oil. Google is an extension of the US government and the mind control/panopticon but, for sheer volume and timeliness, it’s hard to surpass. These kinds of sites can let you know what is happening, though you will want to use many sites to find their interpretation. There are others beyond Google. In time I will name some of them. My bias is that I live in America and speak English; I also love jazz, love to cook, hate war and violence, and would prefer to empower people, have a dialogue with them, and break bread together. I rarely read foreign press unless it is prepared with an English equivalent; I look for people who understand and can speak to issues and perspectives that are European (and Europe has many shades on its palette), Russian, and Asian. Russia has several windows through which one can peer. Asian countries have far less. Let us not forget Africa, or Eurasia, or the Indian sub-continent. If you are a reader from a non-US location (and I know I have many such readers), then you must add those sources that you know about and I don’t, especially in regards to local issues, news, events, etc. I’d like you to tell me what the best ones are that you’ve found. Quite obviously, everyone’s tastes and preferences are going to be different; to extend the cooking and recipe metaphor, choose ingredients and spices that are going to be attractive and palatable in your community. 

Part of the game here is the degree to which any country allows its citizens free expression, or has set up barriers to the flow of information. Welcome to the kitchen; the linen closet is in the corner. The dishwashing systems and staff are in the back room.

One of the more popular things I have here at Occurrences is this guide to online news. Mine and yours need regular updating.

Fairly quickly, I open a file. I use templates or master files and always have one ready. I create a new blank and start on it immediately right after I post but before I turn in for the night.

A look at a couple of news aggregators will tell you how the news “meal” will shape up for the day. I go then almost immediately to look at what’s available at waynemadsenreport.com. I find Wayne refreshing and highly accurate in many ways. As an investigative journalist, he is not afraid to look into dark corners and speak to what he has found. WMR requires a paid subscription but, with his permission, I sometimes package his reports into pdf’s. I try to be judicious about this so as to not take income away; there’s always more at WMR than I extract. Sometimes the bargains are in the basement, and some of his subscribers provide links and are astute and experienced.

I check my e-mail for feeds from other sources. I subscribe for free to DefenseOne.com/d-brief. I also regularly check out Breaking Defense.com. I believe in taking in as wide a scan of the world as I can, including reading and watching governments, agencies, news outlets, pundits etc. which I find anathema. You are not informed if you do not know where and how they are spending 54 percent of all US federal discretionary spending, if you do not know how and where their resources are being deployed.

I then turn to Kenny’s Sideshow where I can link into his substantial blogroll and that of others. Kenny is dead now but his web site maintains itself neatly. It was through Kenny’s blogroll, which leans heavily towards pro-Palestinian perspectives, that I discovered xymphora.blogspot.com, whose own daily review I rarely miss; it gets to places I don’t, and it offers up seasoned commentary.

I’d known about Kevin Flaherty’s Cryptogon for years. He is a role model for the rest of us. Some of these web sites I make sure are saved as “favorites” separately lest they fail to update on blogrolls. Quickly you come to understand that many people read the same sources but time lets you see that they found things you didn’t know about. There are also independents like Stephen Lendman who at times can be counted on to crank out two, three or even four columns a day.

The Intercept comes up early as I go down my list, Lots of people are pissed off about their particular style and method of journalism, but they tackle tough topics with stellar writing, and I’m a sucker for stellar writing. In time, I reject those who have been ascertained to be “gatekeepers”, especially those who refuse to discuss or entertain controversial topics, or who berate those who do.

One simple test is the degree to which I am treated in making comments at any given site. I’ve long ago refrained from making widespread comments, There is a overwhelming amount of both ego and reactive antipathy on the World Wide Web.

I rarely miss checking out naked capitalism; morning “links” are usually up by 10 AM and the afternoon version (“Water Cooler”) is up by 2 PM, including weekends for “links”, plus or minus additional stories and commentary. I usually focus on the political stuff, but they also watch economic indicators, stats, trends, monetary policy, etc. They draw from a wide readership who send links and these are from a solid variety of mainstream sources. But lately it’s become obvious that the proprietors there don’t have information about the validity and veracity of those sources which they ought to know, and the commentary is beginning to tilt, and the technical standards in links functionality has sliiped. It is today’s example in how our attitudes toward sites change over time. I’m sure the readers I have today are not the readers I had two months ago.

Everyone (including me) disparages the MSM but, underneath the surface of the glossy propaganda and obvious bias, you can find veins of decent and solid journalistic writing.

Joachim Hagopian has unique credentials and an angry voice and he does good research on topics the mainstream media won’t touch with the proverbial vaulter’s pole.

21stcenturywire.com and other sites are always worth a look and some reading. You can’t get poisoned by reading something; an open mind is also one which can cleanse and repair itself. That, in part, is what your glial cells are for.

Places like readersupportednews.org/, courthousenews.com, http://www.t-room.us/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, http://www.rt.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, theinternetpost.net, http://www.legitgov.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, sputniknews.com, snuffysmithsblog.blogspot.com/ and blacklistednews.com are worthwhile news aggregators. http://www.strike-the-root.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; offers a distinct Libertarian focus. But…

As is always the case, caveat lector; recently blacklistednews posted a salacious item whose sourced tracked back to Sorcha Faal. If you don’t know who Sorcha Faal is, you are a newbie or are complicit. Snuffy posts a lot of material that comes in from Establishment, CFR and similar sources; nevertheless, she is intelligent and widely-read and nuggets can be found.

If you are “watching” Russia, then you should consider russia-insider.com/en, fort-russ.com/, pravdareport.com, the Saker, orientalreview.org/ and southfront.org. The Kremlin Stooge is at the top of my list; I receive e-mail feeds; Mark Nesop’s writing is regularly outstanding. And don’t forgot John Helmer. 

Ricefarmer.blogspot.com ought not to be missed, though he can be somewhat irregular; generally, every other day he posts a new, long and well-honed list of links.

Robinwestenra.blogspot.com covers global warming and the end of the world as we know it from New Zealand, as well as other news, dominantly from sources inside the British Commonwealth circle. dutchsinse.com covers weather and plate tectonic issues, HAARP games, et alia. My son-law is a marine biologist active at high levels and he agrees with me that global warming is a tool of those with an agenda.

Mike Rivero’s whatreallyhappened.com is always worth a glance, but my experience is that some of his feeds from “members” need to be cross-checked. Caveat lector. And his site is littered with “auto-run” pop-up ads. I know it’s expensive to live in Hawai’i but I personally find any intersection of news and profit to be at least a difficult challenge; the best example used to be the ironic and humorous juxtaposition of some ads with some news stories. Today the advertisers control the news product. That’s why I don’t take ad income nor solicit donations.

Professor Michel Chussodovsky’s Center for Research on Globalization, on the other hand, is a noted and trustworthy site with some discernible but minimized bias.

wallstreetonparade.com is also an excellent site but, along with Global Research, the two stand as examples of sites for which you should become familiar with their rules on re-posting their material.

The left side of the political aisle is well-covered by counterpunch.org (which is weekend-heavy), dissidentvoice.org/, & space4peace.blogspot.com.

The Corbett Report almost stands alone, though often he stands with Sibel Edmonds.

Catherine Austin Fitts’ Solari.com/blog is not to be missed. (See also jonrappoport.wordpress.com.)

I used to feel the same way about washingtonsblog.com. They are spotty, perhaps because they employ numerous authors. They often have a lot of important and interesting stuff, but …

Information Clearinghouse is solid and always gets a review.

It is difficult to tell at this point who speaks for the Liberty movement or on behalf of the Second Amendment or the Constitution; http://www.oathkeepers.org" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; & sipseystreetirregulars both exist but have been through some tough times and are still transitioning. OathKeepers has written me off several times and in several ways. http://www.alt-market.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; stays stable and offers up good articles. By mid-June, cohesion may have improved. David Codrea, on several sites, intersects and ties in.

It is also difficult to determine the best source of information about 9/11, though research findings, articles and videos appear regularly and haven’t much been refuted by anyone, though there are “arguments” about technologies used; the possibility of infiltration sometimes raises its ugly head in many corners. Watch out for the sayanim. Make sure you have a filter in place to snag the stobor.

News as seen by former military intelligence personnel is covered by several sources; these include moonofalabama.org and turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis, among others.

In that same vein, but decidely different, is chuckspinney.blogspot.com/.

therearenosunglasses.wordpress.com has a focus on the Mideast and Muslim issues and conflicts.

I follow the Twitter feed for Kris Millegan because I’ve read many of the books he’s published at Trine-Day.com/. 

I check jamesfetzer.blogspot.com regularly and

I also get regular e-mail updates from http://www.conspiracyarchive.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, as well as memoryholeblog.com. 

It will serve you well to develop a sense over time as to when and how often these web sites are updated, when they come onto the net with fresh content, etc. You should consider that there is often duplicate posting and coverage.

You should employ a well-maintained “crap detector”. The simplest method is to take a statement or a story and throw it back into a search engine and see who and how it is echoed, was initiated, or if there are counter-claims, and then re-evaluate. I use the old Chinese method: if two sources disagree, you have a diference of opinion; if multiple sources disagree, you have a controversy or maybe a propaganda war; if multiple sources come to the same conclusion over time, you are near the doorway to the truth; keep turning over rocks.

I have often suggested that there be a weekend summit or tele-conference among a small select group of bloggers and alternative media journalists for the purposes of assessing the veracity and validity of sources that are frequently encountered in our system of tubes that, for openers, is heavily controlled and influenced by governments and their paid shills.

I recently encountered James Corbett’s recorded Q&A interview as part of a research project on ‘Mainstream Media Bias and Propaganda’ which, alas, James has seen fit to park behind a paywall. His earlier now-archived podcast episode on “The Myth of Journalistic Objectivity” will have to suffice unless you would like to join his community.

In a similar vein, Bernie Suarez talks with James Tracy [no payment necessary] about “the history and modern dynamics of mass media and propaganda as they relate to government intrigue. James and Bernie also consider how corporate news media function as essentially public relations conduits to present unusual occurrences such as 9/11 and many recent mass shooting events absent any real journalistic inquiry.” “In addition to being a musician, Bernie Suarez is the creator of the Truth and Art TV project, an exciting site combining multimedia with research and analysis of deep issues and events, including geoengineering and the United Nations’ Agenda 21. He is a former US Marine and holds an undergraduate degree in psychology and a doctorate in medicine. Suarez is also the author of a new book, The Art of Overcoming the New World Order.”

If you are reading news and op-ed for yourself, all of this alone is worth some of your time, and takes a lot of it too.

If you are serving news and op-ed to others, then you must take a lesson from some TV cooking shows and think about “presentation” and “plating”. I let the ingredients and the content tell me how to go about this; sometimes I edit for grouping and order. I try to chose main graphics, music and the eventual title almost entirely on what will be included. Sometimes the article has the obvious graphic. I sit down and type out a list of tags for the major articles, then assemble them in order if that isn’t already clearly evident, decide on the lead, fit the music to the lead, and pick the “title” or key word. Somewhere as the process comes to a close for the day, I let serendipity intrude a bit, especially with regard to the choice of featured graphic and musical inserts.

How the blog entry of the day shows up on your computer, android, mobile device, etc. is decided entirely by the WordPress design characteristics which are designed to be mobile-friendly and fit most browsers. I do include a built-in translation widget for foreign readers. I’ve also just added the Feedjit so everyone can monitor the traffic; a good deal of the vistors are bots. Apparently there are a lot of folks doing archival research.

Finally, you will have to address the issues surrounding use of the social media. I tend to go light, as I find most social media to be time-consuming, specious, and bordering on worthlessness. I don’t use sharing buttons or promote the use of most social media platforms since the social media are used to track you or define you for the corporate, advertising and governmental/political interests.

However, if you are going to share and publish what you are doing, you have to pay attention to search engine optimization and you will want to befriend, or at least not reject or offend, those readers who operate as nodes for other communities. It is clear that search engines are used as tools for information management and sometimes downright censorship. Your product design must be mobile-friendly; the extent to which you find success at that is dependent wholly on the open source or proprietary software systems you choose to use.

I hooked up with BlueHost almost three years ago and haven’t been unhappy. WordPress and a veritable army of open source free designers handle the technologies and the aesthetics and they deserve plaudits and cash contributions. The Blue Host package is eminently affordable and is less than the cost of a fancy-schmanzy coffee a day when spread over time. (They do require that you pay it up front.) But the BlueHost/WordPress combo has been effective, helpful, friendly and also stays on top of cybersecurity issues.

By the way, has anyone been watching the Feedjit plug-in I installed that tracks the last 10 viewers by location? It’s clear that I have a global audience. I can’t take the time to identify who these people are, but my best guess is that it reflects a readership that is about 40% interested commoners from many countries, about 20% of people who re-post or mirror some of the links inside their quiet local bulletin boards, about 10% who are connected in some sense with what would be called ‘foreign intelligence’, about 5% from such places as CNN and Google who probably monitor to see what others are looking at, and about 5% from US officials from around the globe, including those in the Beltway, at West Point, perhaps in embassies in foreign countries, probably playing light or semi-serious cyber-security games, or folliwing other leads for counter-intelligence. Folks, I’m not actively part of that. I’m just a news reader, and have been since high school and college. There’s a homemade Inuit fishing spear that once hung ceremoniously behind the desk of my high school AP English teacher that will attest to that, and I was doing rip-and-read newscasts when I was 19. I have a bachelor’s degree in the field.

And given the degree to which everyone is being surveilled and given the degree to which, increasingly, web sites that focus on truth and counter the propaganda and lies are the target for DDOS attacks and malware, if not outright hacking, the jury will remain out on whether or not I continue Occurrences or not.

Frankly, there is serious doubt as to whether I make any difference, given the degree to which governments and extremely-wealthy private entities are engineering the movement toward global war, one-world government and death or impoverishment for the rest of us. See Sullen Bell (“insidiously incremental”) and BoyDownTheLane (“Creativity and Transformation”).



In between packing and practice development of photography skills, I may do mini-data dumps of material gleaned from my old blogs before I switched to BlueHost mixed with the really important current stuff but, sometime around Independence Day, I will likely withdraw to contemplation, writing, photography, cooking, jazz and the last part of my life. I won’t be settled into my new home until close to Labor Day.

Something like Occurences has to be a task for a collaborative team; it takes too much time for an individual to maintain. Millionaires are funding campaigns and news sites, but I do what I have done out of my own pocket, without ads or without holding out a cookie jar for contributions.

This has been my contribution.

Frankly, the maintenance of the flow of information from many points of view and untarnished by propaganda, information engineering and censorship must be a major concern for any society and culture. 

But that fellow Jefferson already said that, didn’t he? And Jeffersonian thinking is seen as a source of poor health in a world run by parasites.

I will be likely without TV or internet for much of the month of July, so take special note of these dates:

Jul 18-21 GOP convention/Cleveland

Jul 25-28 Dem convention/Philly

9/26 1st debate 10/4 VP debate

10/9 2nd debate

10/19 3rd debate

11/8 election

Keep in mind that political conventions are formally designated as “national special security events” so “The State” will be on florid display in those cities and around those events. To what ends remains to be seen.

As more and more governments and private parties become involved in the exercise of news censorship, or news management, the valid sources for news, op-ed and overall situational awareness will be operated like mobile food trucks.

 

http://myexceltemplates.com/wp-content/ ... s-plan.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

image source 

 

Siracha aoli on that, sir?

We will return to the concept of wandering minstrels and mystics.

 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2e2kC-geMI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;  

 

Good luck and God speed.

Buena suerte y la velocidad de Dios.

حظا سعيدا والسرعة الله.

祝你好运，上帝速度。

Bonne chance et vitesse Dieu.

Viel Glück und Gott Geschwindigkeit.

Καλή τύχη και την ταχύτητα του Θεού.

מזל טוב ומהירות אלוהים.

Ádh mór agus Dia luas.

Buona fortuna e Dio velocità.

幸運と神スピード。

행운을 빌어 요 하나님 속도.

Lykke til og Gud hastighet.

Powodzenia i prędkości Bogiem.

Boa sorte e velocidade de Deus.

Удачи и скорость Бог.

Beannachd leat Dia agus luaths.

İyi şanslar ve Tanrı hız.

Успіху і швидкість Бог.

Chúc may mắn và tốc độ của Thiên Chúa.

גוט גליק און גאָט גיכקייַט.

Inhlanhla nesivinini uNkulunkulu.

 

May you have a fair wind and a following sea.

http://www.occurrencesforeigndomestic.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


digesting the news
June 27, 2016 Uncategorized biases, cultural news, economics, foreign policy, global news, government control and influence, infilitration, investigative reporting, journalism, military affairs, monetary policy, politics, social media, writing
digesting the news

If you are viewing this, I have withdrawn substantially from the World Wide Web and am busy packing up my household. I may return sporadically with excerpts from old blogs (the more things change, the more they remain the same). I will try to keep myself informed but will at least temporarily stop posting what I found.

In my absence, some readers may want some guidance on how to assemble a digest of the day’s global news. If you are a long-term reader of Occurrences, you probably have a solid sense of how I do it, and you probably have developed your very own approach. Wonderful. Every act, expression or experience here is merely a starting point for you, ingredients for your own creations.

When you first enter “the kitchen of your day” to wonder about what you should prepare for dinner, you have to do a couple of things as preliminary steps. The first is to wake up. Make a really good cup of coffee. Take care of your personal ablutions. Eat something. For me, a cup of coffee and some juice or a cold seltzer/lemonade mixture is always at hand. Two basic links you should know about:

http://24timezones.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://liveweatherfeeds.wordpress.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Think first about what you “ate” yesterday. What are the top issues of the day politically, in terms of foreign interactions and policies, in terms of cultural movements, or in terms of threats? Yesterday’s diet informs today’s meal choices, sometimes in need for follow-up, sometimes in need for avoidance or change. Sometimes there are leftovers. So you look into the pantry and fridge to see what you have to work with. Pay special attention to your choice of both aperitif and digestif.

For me, the news equivalent of this is to check Google News and/or other actively-updating news aggregation services . Your first mental task is to consider the flavors and biases that come with your choices. Maybe the cooking metaphorical equivalent is that you will want to blanch the asparagus in cold water and lemon juice, and then bring it slowly to a low heat and let it sit before you grill it in olive oil. Google is an extension of the US government and the mind control/panopticon but, for sheer volume and timeliness, it’s hard to surpass. These kinds of sites can let you know what is happening, though you will want to use many sites to find their interpretation. There are others beyond Google. In time I will name some of them. My bias is that I live in America and speak English; I also love jazz, love to cook, hate war and violence, and would prefer to empower people, have a dialogue with them, and break bread together. I rarely read foreign press unless it is prepared with an English equivalent; I look for people who understand and can speak to issues and perspectives that are European (and Europe has many shades on its palette), Russian, and Asian. Russia has several windows through which one can peer. Asian countries have far less. Let us not forget Africa, or Eurasia, or the Indian sub-continent. If you are a reader from a non-US location (and I know I have many such readers), then you must add those sources that you know about and I don’t, especially in regards to local issues, news, events, etc. I’d like you to tell me what the best ones are that you’ve found. Quite obviously, everyone’s tastes and preferences are going to be different; to extend the cooking and recipe metaphor, choose ingredients and spices that are going to be attractive and palatable in your community.

Part of the game here is the degree to which any country allows its citizens free expression, or has set up barriers to the flow of information. Welcome to the kitchen; the linen closet is in the corner. The dishwashing systems and staff are in the back room.

One of the more popular things I have here at Occurrences is this guide to online news . Mine and yours need regular updating.

Fairly quickly, I open a file. I use templates or master files and always have one ready. I create a new blank and start on it immediately right after I post but before I turn in for the night.

A look at a couple of news aggregators will tell you how the news “meal” will shape up for the day. I go then almost immediately to look at what’s available at waynemadsenreport.com. I find Wayne refreshing and highly accurate in many ways. As an investigative journalist, he is not afraid to look into dark corners and speak to what he has found. WMR requires a paid subscription but, with his permission, I sometimes package his reports into pdf’s. I try to be judicious about this so as to not take income away; there’s always more at WMR than I extract. Sometimes the bargains are in the basement, and some of his subscribers provide links and are astute and experienced.

I check my e-mail for feeds from other sources. I subscribe for free to DefenseOne.com/d-brief. I also regularly check out Breaking Defense.com . I believe in taking in as wide a scan of the world as I can, including reading and watching governments, agencies, news outlets, pundits etc. which I find anathema. You are not informed if you do not know where and how they are spending 54 percent of all US federal discretionary spending, if you do not know how and where their resources are being deployed.

I then turn to Kenny’s Sideshow where I can link into his substantial blogroll and that of others. Kenny is dead now but his web site maintains itself neatly. It was through Kenny’s blogroll, which leans heavily towards pro-Palestinian perspectives, that I discovered xymphora.blogspot.com, whose own daily review I rarely miss; it gets to places I don’t, and it offers up seasoned commentary.

I’d known about Kevin Flaherty’s Cryptogon for years. He is a role model for the rest of us. Some of these web sites I make sure are saved as “favorites” separately lest they fail to update on blogrolls. Quickly you come to understand that many people read the same sources but time lets you see that they found things you didn’t know about. There are also independents like Stephen Lendman who at times can be counted on to crank out two, three or even four columns a day.

The Intercept comes up early as I go down my list, Lots of people are pissed off about their particular style and method of journalism, but they tackle tough topics with stellar writing, and I’m a sucker for stellar writing . In time, I reject those who have been ascertained to be “gatekeepers”, especially those who refuse to discuss or entertain controversial topics, or who berate those who do.

[msfreeh]

https://robertscribbler.com/2016/07/15/ ... l-warming/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Clouds of Denial Clear as Rising Storm Tops, Middle Latitude Drying Found to Speed Global Warming
“The data shows major reorganization of the cloud system… I consider this as the most singular of all the things that we have found, because many of us had been thinking the cloud changes might help us out, by having a strong feedback which is going the other way instead of amplifying it.” — climate scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan

“Our results suggest that radiative forcing by a combination of anthropogenic greenhouse gases and volcanic aerosol has produced observed cloud changes during the past several decades that exert positive feedbacks on the climate system. We expect that increasing greenhouse gases will cause these cloud trends to continue in the future, unless offset by unpredictable large volcanic eruptions.” — Evidence for Climate Change in the Cloud Satellite Record (emphasis added).

Scientists now have a satellite record of cloud behavior over the past few decades. What they’ve found is that, in response to Earth warming, cloud tops are rising even as clouds are forming at higher altitudes. This traps even more heat at the Earth’s surface. In addition, storms are moving north toward the poles, which means more sunlight hits the temperate regions near 40 degrees latitude both in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. This northward movement of storms also causes the Earth to warm more rapidly. In the past, scientists had hoped that changes in clouds would shelter the Earth from some of the greenhouse gas warming caused by fossil fuel emissions. What we are finding now is that the opposite is true. The way clouds change as the Earth warms appears to be increasing the intensity of greenhouse gas warming.

Sowing the Clouds With Doubt, Denial and False Hope

Will the impacts of human-caused climate change be as bad or even worse than we feared? Will the Earth warm as rapidly or more rapidly than climate models suggest?

These are critical questions. Ones that revolve around the issue of how sensitive the Earth is to the added heat build-up initiated by a large and growing pulse of human-emitted greenhouse gasses. One whose answer will have lasting consequences for all those currently alive today and for many of the generations to follow. For if the answer to this question is yes, then we have responded too slowly to what is now a swiftly worsening global climate crisis (and, according to a new observational study, that answer appears to be, with growing certainty, YES).



(A new study has found that human forced warming drives the storm track toward the poles. This increases drought risk for places like the US Southwest. It is also a part of a larger cloud feedback that is found to have caused the Earth to warm more rapidly. Image source: LANCE MODIS.)

In relation to these questions is a noted relevant scientific uncertainty over the behavior of clouds in response to warming. Mainstream science has long produced state of the art climate models showing that changes in clouds due to Earth’s warming was likely a heat-enhancing (positive) feedback overall. And paleoclimate studies have tended to support the kinds of Earth System sensitivity to heat forcing that would result. But due to the fact that cloud behavior is difficult to model (and confirm through observation), there was a decent level of uncertainty in the science over the issue. And it is this seeming gap in our physical understanding that has spurred a big controversy circulating among climate change skeptics/deniers and the

[msfreeh]

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainmen ... -1.2723228" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Matt Damon is bigger hero than ‘Jason Bourne’ off screen
BY ETHAN SACKS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: Saturday, July 23, 2016, 8:28 PM

[msfreeh]

Police plan protest of Black Lives Matter banner at Somerville City Hall

July 26 2016


http://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2 ... -city-hall" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


After Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone denied a request from a city police union to remove a Black Lives Matter banner from City Hall, the union announced it will hold a rally to protest the banner’s “disrespectful” message, according to a release from the Somerville Police Employee’s Association.

“In the face of the continuing assassination of innocent police officers across the country as an apparent offshoot of the BLM movement, it is irresponsible of the City to [publicly] declare support for the lives of one secto

[msfreeh]

https://news.vice.com/article/secret-se ... nald-trump" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Details of Investigations into Donald Trump


Vice News and an MIT doctoral student filed suit against the Secret Service on Tuesday in hopes of receiving documents about the agency’s investigation of Donald Trump and his campaign.

The news agency also filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FBI after Trump made two inflammatory statements about Hillary Clinton.

In two separate statements, Trump appeared to suggest violence against Clinton for her position on gun control – one that the Republican candidate has mischaracterize as an attempt to abolish the Second Amendment.

Trump also called on Russia to leak hacked documents of Clinton’s emails.

Vice News wrote:

VICE News and Shapiro submitted a FOIA request to the Secret Service August 18 for records pertaining to its investigation of Trump’s statements, and sought expedited processing. We asked for “disclosure of any and all records that mention or refer to the matter” and “any records compiled as part of any investigation into the referenced matter.” The Secret Service didn’t even acknowledge the request.

[msfreeh]

http://ticklethewire.com/2016/09/26/cia ... mid-1970s/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


CIA Director: I Was a Supporter of Communist Party in Mid-1970s

CIA Director John Brennan

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

CIA Director John Brennan revealed that he was once a communist sympathizer in the mid-1970s because he was disgusted by Watergate and the political landscape that helped produce it.

Brennan was in college at the time and voted for Communist Party nominee Gus Hall, New York Magazine reports. 

By 1980, Brennan said he was no longer a Communist sympathizer and realized that capitalism was a far better system.

Brennan said he “froze” when he was taking a polygraph test when entering the CIA.

“This was back in 1980, and I thought back to a previous election where I voted, and I voted for the Communist Party candidate.”

Brennan added, “I said I was neither Democratic or Republican, but it was my way, as I was go

[msfreeh]

Diary of an Eco-Outlaw
An Unreasonable Woman Breaks the Law for Mother Earth
By Diane Wilson
Foreword by Derrick Jensen


Diane Wilson is an activist, shrimper, and all around hell-raiser whose first book, An Unreasonable Woman, told of her battle to save her bay in Seadrift, Texas. Back then, she was an accidental activist who worked with whistleblowers, organized protests, and eventually sunk her own boat to stop the plastic-manufacturing giant Formosa from releasing dangerous chemicals into water she shrimped in, grew up on, and loved.

But, it turns out, the fight against Formosa was just the beginning. In Diary of an Eco-Outlaw, Diane writes about what happened as she began to fight injustice not just in Seadrift, but around the world-taking on Union Carbide for its failure to compensate those injured in the Bhopal disaster, cofounding tPink to protest the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, attempting a citizens arrest of Dick Cheney, famously covering herself with fake oil and demanding the arrest of then BP CEO Tony Hayward as he testified before Congress, and otherwise becoming a world-class activist against corporate injustice, war, and environmental crimes.

As George Bernard Shaw once said, "all progress depends on unreasonable women." And in the Diary of an Eco-Outlaw, the eminently unreasonable Wilson delivers a no-holds-barred account of how she-a fourth-generation shrimper, former boat captain, and mother of five-took a turn at midlife, unable to stand by quietly as she witnessed abuses of people and the environment. Since then, she has launched legislative campaigns, demonstrations, and hunger strikes-and generally gotten herself in all manner of trouble.

All worth it, says Wilson. Jailed more than 50 times for civil disobedience, Wilson has stood up for environmental justice, and peace, around the world-a fact that has earned her many kudos from environmentalists and peace activists alike, and that has forced progress where progress was hard to come by.