Monday, June 29, 2015

Wanna Watch...

...an hour and a half of gruesomeness?



This is a sympathetic view of what happened to German civilians, primarily in Dresden, during WWII. Illustrates clearly the old adage that war is hell.

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Holy Crappolla

The Useless Nations actually does something right!!!!!

UN Palmer report: blockade of Gaza legal


"The release of the United Nations Palmer report into last year's flotilla incident aboard the Mavi Marmara has vindicated Israel by finding that its naval blockade of the Gaza strip is legal under international law. Moreover, Israel has the right to enforce that blockade - including in international waters. It has also rebutted many of the false claims and assumptions that have been made about the flotilla incident and about the broader situation in Gaza".
Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!!!!!! Must be part of that sea change I've been talking about.

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Sunday, June 28, 2015

Bilingualism



And to top it all off, he had me laughing several times.

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Who Didn't See...

...this coming?

Alberta environment minister faces questions over work on protest book


Wildrose charges NDP energy minister's top staffer was anti-pipeline lobbyist


Wildrose proposes lower small business tax rate

Like that will happen.


Wildrose brings the FUNK in attack on environment minister’s past

"If all goes according to plan, Alberta’s first legislative sitting under an NDP government will wrap up Thursday afternoon.

We will have survived.

The government didn’t nationalize the oilsands or add the hammer and sickle to the province’s coat or arms. MLAs didn’t sing Solidarity Forever at the start of each day and the Alberta Legislature didn’t tilt so far left that it slid into the North Saskatchewan River.

The government’s critics, of course, will say just give it time."
[---]
"It was a remarkably short sitting — eight days — just long enough for the government to put an end to political donations from corporations and unions, increase taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and pass an interim supply bill to keep the lights on until the fall when Finance Minister Joe Ceci will introduce a new budget."

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Good Grief

Great Article...

...about the Middle East conflict:

Colonialist mentality in the Israel-Arab conflict
"We are often baffled that many otherwise sensible people seem to be totally off the mark in their analysis of the Israel / Arab conflict. They say nothing about all the Arab crimes committed against Israel or even against Palestinians, but they are always eager to call Israel a criminal state as soon as she takes any action to defend her security.

Are these people unable to understand the history of the conflict? People who view the conflict in this way do not understand the Middle East. They still have the old colonialist mentality of Western nations occupying territory and “civilizing the savages”, and they feel guilty about it. They project those guilt feelings on Israel, repeating to themselves that the only reason that Israel settles land is to colonize the Arab world.

They are missing two important pieces in their reasoning: First, unlike old colonies of Europe, Israel is not the colony of any Western country; she is a nation that has existed for over three millennia, long before modern European countries. Second, Israel has never had any interest in settling lands that were not part of the traditional Land of Israel; Israel is not in any way interested in taking over the Arab world, and anyone who can read a map can see that Israel is a tiny dot surrounded by a giant Arab world. We support the concept of a two-state solution, and we do not support Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but that is not because we see them as a colonialist enterprise. It is simply because we see a two-state solution as the only viable answer to the conflict, and we see settlements as an excuse used very effectively by Palestinian leaders to refuse peace with Israel.

Those who view the conflict from a colonialist prism are hurting the Palestinians because they make them out to be helpless and uneducated savages who have no control over their future. The reality is that the reason the conflict has not been resolved is because too many Arabs and particularly Palestinians believe that Israel is a foreign entity that will inevitably disappear just as France left Lebanon and Syria, and just as Britain left Mandatory Palestine.

Because of the irrational and extremist approach taken by groups like Hamas, and often by Fatah, Israel feels no obligation to give up on what she sees as her historical right to the Land of Israel. After all, Israel left Gaza, and see what happened! The only way to reach an agreement with Israel that will achieve dignity and provide a state to the Palestinians is to use peaceful diplomacy and not violence, but because of guilt-ridden Westerners encouraging them, Palestinians do not feel the need to compromise. Hamas sees violence as achieving the destruction of Israel, and Fatah sees delays and deception as achieving the same goal."
[---]
"If Palestinian leaders were wise, they would tell those in “aid” ships headed to Gaza to turn around and go drink through their guilt somewhere else. They would also dismantle all terrorist organizations, and they would work for the goal of a Palestinian state using the only means that work: negotiation and diplomacy."

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Oooooo...

...Can't let that happen:

Corals adapting to global warming: Study


Also from the science file:


Continents Rose Above Oceans 3 Billion Years Ago


"The continents may have first risen high above the oceans of the world about 3 billion years ago, researchers say. That's about a billion years earlier than geoscientists had suspected for the emergence of a good chunk of the continents.

Earth is the only known planet whose surface is divided into continents and oceans. Currently, the continents rise an average of about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) above the seafloor."

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The New...

It's No Accident...

...that this bill is the last one to be passed prior to the fall election. It's a good one. Voters will have this one still in mind come the election this fall:

Tory senators take unusual steps to force vote on controversial union bill
"Bill C-377 is a private member’s bill from Conservative MP Russ Hiebert that would force unions to publicly disclose a wide range of financial information including salaries and expenses.

Supporters say it addresses concerns from union members who say they face intimidation if they ask for too much information from their leadership.

Unions strongly oppose the law and argue that only union members should be able to view such information. Critics of the bill warn it will place unions at an unfair disadvantage during collective bargaining because management will have new insight into the financial situation of unions.

The bill was previously blocked by the Senate two years ago and had not received much attention since."

Tories upend Speaker over labour bill
"Segal predicted that the bill will eventually be struck down by the courts as unconstitutional. But in the meantime, he said it could do real political damage to the Conservatives in this fall's election."
All the more reason to open up the constitution and amend it.

Conservatives move to push anti-labour bill through Senate

"The legislation would require unions to publicly disclose details of all expenses over $5,000 and remuneration to anyone totalling over $100,000.

Unions have complained that the measure, backed strongly by a B.C. lobby group that advises companies on how to de-certify unions, is a veiled attempt to tie unions up in costly red tape.

“It’s a bill that’s essentially about attacking unions because Conservatives don’t like unions, they don’t like the equality we bring,” B.C. Federation of Labour President Irene Lanzinger told The Vancouver Sun Friday."

More:

Conservative senators overrule Senate Speaker on union transparency bill
"The bill, which seven provinces, including Ontario, have argued is unconstitutional and would interfere with their jurisdiction over labour relations, is now likely to become the law of the land by Tuesday."




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Saturday, June 27, 2015

Long Overdue

What will it take to fix the UN? Or is it beyond repair? I happen the think it should go the way of the dinosaur.

UN report denies Israel's right of self-defense, advocates arrest of Israelis instead

Related:

Man found decapitated in France terror attack


""The intent was without doubt to cause an explosion. It was a terrorist attack," President Francois Hollande said at a news conference in Belgium.

French Prosecutor Francois Molins said four suspects were in custody, including the suspected attacker, identified as Yassin Salih, 35, his wife, his sister and another person close to him.
"The slain victim's head was found yards away from the body, stuck on a perimeter fence, with Arabic writing on or near it. There were also flags or banners bearing Arabic writing found at the scene."

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Manitoba Gets...

...some of that global warming:

Storm Rips Through South Central Manitoba

"There was golf ball sized hail and crop damage reported near Roseisle."

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And So It Begins

Yeah, Right...

Friday, June 26, 2015

Yikes!!

Sun Headed Into Hibernation, Solar Studies Predict

"Three independent studies of the sun's insides, surface, and upper atmosphere all predict that the next solar cycle will be significantly delayed—if it happens at all. Normally, the next cycle would be expected to start roughly around 2020.

The combined data indicate that we may soon be headed into what's known as a grand minimum, a period of unusually low solar activity.

The predicted solar "sleep" is being compared to the last grand minimum on record, which occurred between 1645 and 1715.

Known as the Maunder Minimum, the roughly 70-year period coincided with the coldest spell of the Little Ice Age, when European canals regularly froze solid and Alpine glaciers encroached on mountain villages."
[---]
"...even if there is a climate link, Pesnell doesn't think another grand minimum is likely to trigger a cold snap.

"With what's happening in current times—we've added considerable amounts of carbon dioxide and methane and other greenhouse gases to the atmosphere," said Pesnell, who wasn't involved in the suite of new sun studies.

"I don't think you'd see the same cooling effects today if the sun went into another Maunder Minimum-type behavior.""
[---]

"Taken together, the three lines of evidence strongly hint that Solar Cycle 25 may be a bust..."
Whew!!


The Sun Is All But Spotless: Are We Headed For An Ice Age?

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I Can't Believe This

Yup

Screen Shot 2015-06-25 at 3.43.24 PM

H/T Pamela Geller

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GRRRRRR!!

Vince Li approved to live at group home in Winnipeg

Bus beheading victim's mother speaks out against killer's move to group home

Sign the petition.

I have an idea that should radically change this nonsense. If people like Li commit another crime, let those responsible for his release be brought up on accessory charges.

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New Rules...

...for Canadian citizenship:

This will have lefties' knickers in a knot, but then again when aren't they in a knot?

The new rules are: "...aimed at safeguarding Canadian citizenship for genuine applicants only, deterring ‘citizens of convenience’, or those who become citizens for the sake of having a Canadian passport."

"In addition to the tightening of rules regarding application, Canadian citizenship can be revoked as well, if attained by means other than birth.

With the introduction of the C-24 Bill, a two-tier system is implemented where non-Canadians gain citizenship on a different basis than citizens born in the country."
RTWT.  Oh, the humanity!!

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Thursday, June 25, 2015

From Twitter

"In the last 2 years, Israelis developed 11 different ways to treat cancer and heart problems and we Arabs developed 7 new execution methods"

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Boycotts, Divestment, Sanction (BDS)

...is running into a bit of trouble:

We must fight BDS in the name of human rights

BDS Has Only One Weapon

Roskam Anti-BDS Provisions Headed to President's Desk

Should be very entertaining watching The One deal with this one.

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Fox News South - On Fire

I Guess They've Run Out Of...

Sex In The Middle East

Ah, Yes

Well, That Didn't Take Long

Alberta environment minister faces questions over work on protest book

NDP will double carbon levy by 2017: By 2017, the Alberta government will require large emitters to reduce greenhouse gases by 20 per cent

Alberta legislature begins session under NDP, and everyone is watching the money

Wildrose brings the FUNK in attack on environment minister’s past

"If all goes according to plan, Alberta’s first legislative sitting under an NDP government will wrap up Thursday afternoon.

We will have survived.

The government didn’t nationalize the oilsands or add the hammer and sickle to the province’s coat or arms. MLAs didn’t sing Solidarity Forever at the start of each day and the Alberta Legislature didn’t tilt so far left that it slid into the North Saskatchewan River."

It may be a case of saving the best for last.

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When I Hear News Like This...

Same As The Below

BEWARE OF THE DOGHOUSE!Buy your lady the wrong gift and this is what could happen.... !

Posted by Wave 105 on Wednesday, May 27, 2015

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No Comment

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Never Saw This Coming

Alberta passes bill banning corporate and union donations

"Corporate" I can understand. After all, they are Dippers. But Union donations???? Unions have to be their biggest funders, bar none. I think I just saw more pigs flying.
"Getting union and corporate donations out of politics is good for democracy, it’s good for Alberta. The NDP even accepted one of our amendments, which shows some progress,” said Jean. “But there is still a horrendous loophole in this legislation; unions can actually pay their employees to volunteer for a political party. We don’t think that’s right.”"
[---]
"Alberta’s NDP has traditionally gained about 10 per cent of its funding from unions, while the PCs have relied heavily on corporate donations."

My guess is, Notley and crew didn't want egg or their faces. Can't make it too obvious, you know.

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I Thought...

...they were going to say Vodka, but I was wrong:

Workers Accidentally Dug Up These Solid-Gold Artifacts, But They Were STUNNED To Find out What They Actually Were

"Workers unearthed these ancient relics in Russia while digging holes to install power lines along with some other precious items including three gold cups, a finger ring, two neck rings, and a gold bracelet. However, they still had to figure out the mystery about what the artifacts were.

There was only one clue: a strange black substance inside of the items. After hiring a criminologist to determine what it was, they had their answer. These ornate, 2,400 year old artifacts are essentially old world “bongs” and the black residue was remnants of opium and cannabis (Emphasis mine).

Shocked? Don’t be. It’s believed that the Scythian tribes, a race of warriors who ruled much of Eurasia for over 1,000 years, were thought to smoke both substances in order to prepare their minds for battle."

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Smokin'

Playing fairy godmother to Quebec not so fun

"Today, let’s have some fun and play fairy godmother to Quebec. Let’s grant the province the wish it articulated in Copenhagen. Wave the magic wand and poof, wish granted. Shut down Alberta’s oilsands, except, since it’s Quebec making the wish, we have to call it tarsands, even though it’s not tar they use to run their Bombardier planes, trains and Skidoos.

Ah, at last! The blight on Canada’s reputation shut down. All those dastardly workers from across Canada living in Fort McMurray, Calgary and Edmonton out of jobs, including those waitresses, truck drivers, nurses, teachers, doctors, pilots, engineers etc. They can all go on employment insurance like Ontario autoworkers and Quebec parts makers!

Today, let’s have some fun and play fairy godmother to Quebec. Let’s grant the province the wish it articulated in Copenhagen. Wave the magic wand and poof, wish granted. Shut down Alberta’s oilsands, except, since it’s Quebec making the wish, we have to call it tarsands, even though it’s not tar they use to run their Bombardier planes, trains and Skidoos.

Ah, at last! The blight on Canada’s reputation shut down. All those dastardly workers from across Canada living in Fort McMurray, Calgary and Edmonton out of jobs, including those waitresses, truck drivers, nurses, teachers, doctors, pilots, engineers etc. They can all go on employment insurance like Ontario autoworkers and Quebec parts makers!"
[---]
"Shutting down the oilsands will reduce Canada’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 38.4 Mt (megatonnes). Hooray! It’s so fun to be a fairy godmother! While that sounds like a lot, Canada only produces two per cent of the world’s man-made GHGs and the oilsands only produce five per cent of Canada’s total emissions or 0.1 per cent of the world’s emissions. By comparison, the U.S. produces 20.2 per cent of the world’s GHG emissions — 27 per cent of which comes from coal-fired electricity.

The 530 sq.-km piece of land currently disturbed by the tarsands (which is smaller than the John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida at 570 sq. km) must be reclaimed by law and will return to Alberta’s 381,000 sq. km of boreal forest, a huge carbon sink. Quebec, of course, has clean hydro power, but more than 13,000 sq. km were drowned for the James Bay hydroelectric project, permanently removing that forest from acting as a carbon sink."
RTWT

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Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Here's What Happens When...

...you boost minimum wage to ridiculous heights:

What Minimum Wage? This New Grocery Store Will Eliminate Low Skill Workers For Good

"Say goodbye to long lines at the grocery store, and possibly your job. Even more robotic systems are coming."

Another Minimum Wage Lesson in Economics: This Time at The Gap

"A little over a year ago The Gap flaunted their progressive ways and raised their minimum wage to $10 per hour. Their employees – 65,000 of them who were effected – were ecstatic. The White House was giggly.

That was in February 2014. It’s now June 2015 and the happy campers are finding out that economics is a nasty handmaiden."
[---]
"Gap will close 140 stores this year and cut 250 jobs at it’s headquarters. For some irony, Gap’s headquarters is in San Francisco, right in the middle of Nancy Pelosi’s Congressional District."

Young adults in Michigan would have a lower minimum wage under bill
"Under current law, employers can pay people under 18 either 85 percent of Michigan's minimum wage, or the federal minimum wage, whichever is greater. The bill would change that to include all employees under 20.

Michigan's minimum wage for those over 18 is currently $8.15, but if the bill were to go into effect today, employers could pay people under 20 the lower federal minimum wage of $7.25.

The bill also bumps up the "training wage," which employers can pay to people under the age of 20 for the first 90 days of employment, from $4.25 to $6.25 an hour. It was up for a hearing in the Senate Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

Bill sponsor Rep. Margaret O'Brien, R-Portage, said it's usually small local businesses who are willing to take a chance on giving somebody their first job. She knows firsthand that when her kids worked their first jobs at a concession stand they made a lot of mistakes.

"There's very few employers who will hire a 15, 16 or 17-year-old," O'Brien said.

Current law provides for a youth training wage of $4.25 for the first 90 days of employment for those under 20. O'Brien said that in talking to local businesses, not many use the training wage."









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Stonehenge Wannabes...

...popping up all over the place:

North American Stonehenge Discovered Under Lake Michigan

Related:

Has this man discovered how Stonehenge was built?

"A retired engineer has developed an incredible technique to move huge rocks without the use of any heavy machinery.

Wally Wallington is capable of moving and lifting huge pieces of stone weighing more than a tonne, using nothing but his own hands and a few clever tricks.

He believes these same technique must have been used by the people who built ancient monuments such as Stonehenge in England and the pyramids of Egypt. Both were built in the era around 3000BC and 2000BC."

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Uh-huh

ISIS Ideology Is Not True To Islam, And These Imams Are Fighting Back

That'll be an uphill battle, if there ever was one:

"Using a twisted version of Islam, the militant group Islamic State, or ISIS, has pushed online campaigns to attract youth to its bloody crusade in Syria and Iraq. Now a group of British imams and scholars is looking to "reclaim the Internet" with a new magazine aimed at shifting the conversation and spreading a message of truth.

Haqiqah, meaning "the truth" or "the reality" in Arabic, is a digital magazine created by Islamic scholars with the purpose of educating young people about the realities of extremism, according to its backers at Imams Online. The goal, they say, is to "drown out" the voices perpetuating violence."

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'Nuff Said

The Big Climbdown...

...must be pretty close to the bottom rung by now:

Keystone follies: Canadian oil sands not a major source of climate change

"Canada’s oil sands seem to attract lies, half truths and sheer nonsense from every corner, including from Canadians themselves. The current hullabaloo regarding the Keystone pipeline and Canadian oil sands is to climate change as a drop of water is to the ocean."
[---]
"If CO2 is the problem policy makers and pundits should focus the most offensive CO2 perpetrators. U.S. coal-fired power plants emit 2000 million tonnes of CO2 per year vs the oil sands which emit 40 million tonnes per year. U.S. coal-fired electricity plants emit 50 times more CO2 per year than oil produced from the Canadian oil sands. If you add China into the global warning equation we are talking about 100 times more CO2 per year as a result of Chinese coal fired plants than Canadian oil sands."

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Okay

If the Aussies do it, why can't we?

Aussie PM Tony Abbott To Deport Convicted Terrorists AND Their Families

Grow a pair, Harper!

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Politically Incorrect Music

I Love The WWII Era...

...music. It always reminds me of my parents - the greatest generation.

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Sunday, June 21, 2015

LOL!!!

It doesn't get any better that this:

If carbon dioxide is so bad for the planet, why do greenhouse growers buy CO2 generators to double plant growth?

"Attacking carbon dioxide is hate speech against Mother Nature"

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More From The...

Saturday, June 20, 2015

One Word...

..."hail".

Ain't no climate change around here.

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From The "You Can't Make This Up File"

Friday, June 19, 2015

Babies

Babies discover they have a shadow for the first time!!

Posted by Tyrese Gibson on Monday, November 3, 2014

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Thursday, June 18, 2015

Yup,

a sea change is in the works in the Middle East:

Famous Egyptian writer says Hamas is “the real enemy,” not Israel

"Egyptian writer and playwright Ali Salem, who has a record of peaceful statements regarding Israel, said Israel is Egypt’s “friend” and Hamas is “the real enemy.”

It is not in Israel’s interest for Egypt to suffer from a lack of security, Salem said on Al-Arabiya TV in an interview Wednesday, the Egyptian El-Watan website reported.

The intellectual said Hamas and Islamic State present the most serious threat to Egypt.

Salem has visited Israel and called for the normalization of relations, drawing strong reactions from critics.

The real enemy is also poverty, ignorance, and disease, he said, adding, “Egypt will defeat terrorism no matter how long it takes.”"

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Monday, June 15, 2015

Lamestream Media...

...on the analyst's couch:


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About Those Moderate Muslims...

Australia: Moderate Muslims receive death threats from radicalized Muslims

Death threat lobbed at Muslim group promoting moderate beliefs

Do You Even Hear Muslims When We Condemn Violence?



6/21/14: UK Muslims gather to promote tolerance


UK Muslims gather to promote tolerance

Moderate Muslims' quandary about IS

Muslim Leaders Worldwide Condemn ISIS

The Muslims who are condemning ISIS

And then there's this:

Hundreds of Millions of Muslims Support Attack on ‘Charlie Hebdo’

After Charlie Hebdo, Moderate Islam Must Speak Out

Here's Why These Muslims Are Refusing To Criticize ISIS

"American Muslim leaders gathered at Washington's National Press Club late last month to release a scathing 17-page letter to the Islamic State that distanced mainstream Muslims from the militant group's actions. But one prominent imam from Northern Virginia refused to give his endorsement.

"It sounded like they were apologizing for something they haven't done, like they were running for cover," Imam Johari Abdul-Malik said in an interview with The Huffington Post."

“Moderate Muslims” Are Irrelevant to America and the World

Stop Saying “Moderate Muslims.” You're Only Empowering Islamophobes.


Conservatives Claim That Moderate Muslims Are "Irrelevant" Because of Extremists. How Ironic.








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Flight MH370

The Mysterious Disappearance Of Flight MH370 May Have Just Been Solved By This Professor
"Dr. Goon Chen of Texas A&M University developed a series of computer reconstructions he contends show the likely trajectory of Flight MH370 during its crash landing into the Indian Ocean.

He reported that “forensics strongly supports that MH370 plunged into the ocean in a nosedive.”

According to his model, the jet entered the water vertically, which would minimize its breakup and account for the lack of debris found near the suspected crash site. In a vertical or near-vertical water entry, less bending upon collision means a higher chance of avoiding “global failure,” another term for fuselage breakup, Chen explained.

Such a scenario would also mean heavier parts of the plane would sink rapidly. This, Chen noted, would explain why no oil was spotted on the ocean surface.

Though his reconstruction solves some of the mysteries surrounding a frustrating search effort, Chen does not claim it will answer all the questions surrounding this continuing saga.

“The true final moments of MH370 are likely to remain a mystery until someday when its black box is finally recovered and decoded,” he concluded."

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Sunday, June 14, 2015

Again, Who Ya Gonna Believe

Friday, June 12, 2015

Yeah, Baby!!!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Heartland Institute...

...prepares to set the Pope straight:



And it's not even the real conference, which began today.

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Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Makes Sense To Me

Tuesday, June 09, 2015

AAAARRRRRGH!!!

Weapons

The Huns

Mongols

Vikings

Saxons

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Monday, June 08, 2015

The Dam Has Broken

Yup Again

Will Wonders Never Cease

Kurdish Party HDP Makes History as Erdoğan’s AKP Suffers Major Below (I'm assuming that should be "Blow")

"In a major obstacle for Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s desire to expand his powers, Turkish voters have stripped his party of its simple majority in parliament, and pro-Kurdish party is the biggest winner, according to preliminary election results.


With 99.9 per cent of the vote counted, Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party, the AKP, had the support of around 41 per cent of voters, state-run TRT television said.


The unexpected setback for AKP likely puts an end, to Erdoğan’s hopes of passing constitutional changes that would have greatly boosted the powers of his office, Instead, AKP will now have to seek a coalition partner to stay in power, with the nationalist MHP the most likely candidate."
(So. Is it Turkish Spring or a temporary blip?)

Related: How Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party HDP could derail Erdogan push for power

Kurdish HDP party provides crucial barrier to Erdogan dictatorship


Turkey election: Erdoğan says no party has mandate to govern alone – live (Unless it's his party. /sarc)

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Saturday, June 06, 2015

What The F@*K!!??

Friday, June 05, 2015

Some Parties Ain't Gonna Like This

Ancient Migration Patterns to North America Are Hidden in Languages Spoken Today
"Languages spoken in North America and Siberia are distantly related. What does that tell us about the first Americans?

A few weeks ago, scientists announced an intriguing finding about the ancestors of today's Native Americans. Previously, genetic analysis had indicated that they'd left Siberia to migrate across ancient Beringia (the strip of land that once connected Asia and what's now Alaska) about 25,000 years ago, but the earliest evidence of human habitation on North America dates to 15,000 years ago.

Now, more evidence for the idea comes from a seemingly unlikely source: languages still spoken in Asia and North America today. A pair of linguistics researchers, Mark Sicoli and Gary Holton, recently analyzed languages from North American Na-Dene family (traditionally spoken in Alaska, Canada and parts of the present-day U.S.) and the Asian Yeneseian family (spoken thousands of miles away, in central Siberia), using similarities and differences between the languages to construct a language family tree.

As they note in an article published today in PLOS ONE, they found that the two language families are indeed related—and both appear to descend from an ancestral language that can be traced to the Beringia region. Both Siberia and North America, it seems, were settled by the descendants of a community that lived in Beringia for some time. In other words, Sicoli says, "this makes it look like Beringia wasn't simply a bridge, but actually a homeland—a refuge, where people could build a life."
[---]
"The researchers collected data on two Yeniseian languages, 37 Na-Dene languages and Haida (a language spoken on Canada's Pacific coast but not believed to be related to Na-Dene, used as a control) from the Alaska Native Language Archive and several other published sources. Then, they used phylogenetic algorithms to create a family tree of the forty languages, determining which were most closely related based on the number of similarities (such as phonemes that serve particular roles in the language's grammar, for instance)."

Related: Gene study adds weight to theory that native people of the Americas arrived in a single main migration across the Bering Strait

Native Americans Hailed From Siberian Highlands, DNA Reveals



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Absolutely Fascinating...

...biography of a musical genius whose personal life was a disaster.

Beethoven

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Inneresting

Meet Your Ancestors (All of Them)

Puts the timelines into understandable terms. For example:
...your greatx550,000 grandfather was a very important monkey and more than 55 million years, when the first primates are thought to have lived—that our great-a-million-times-over-grandparent was the size of a mouse.

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Taking A Stab...

...at the big question:

Cosmology Matters


I have to say, I agree with this. There has to have been something before the Big Bang.

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Thursday, June 04, 2015

One Of The Best...

...historical summary of "Palestine" and Israel I have ever seen.



Another one:

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Wednesday, June 03, 2015

They Think Of Everything...

Yup

Clifton & Rubenstein: Debunking the half-truths and exaggerations in the Truth and Reconciliation report
"As expected from the pre-release sound bites, the Final Report of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission reinforces the many half-truths, exaggerations, and selective reporting about the schools and their mission.

The most incendiary and least credible of these is the assertion by the Commission’s chair, Judge Murray Sinclair, that the 150,000 children who attended these mainly Church-run schools between 1849 and 1996 were considered “sub-human,” a claim belied by their very raison-d’être: to give aboriginal children the chance to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to fully benefit from membership in the new country of Canada."
RTWT

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Tuesday, June 02, 2015

When Will They Ever Learn?

======================UPPERDATE=======================
https://www.facebook.com/EarlDibblesJr/photos/a.305087186244776.75292.225041954249300/649241128496045/?type=1









================UPDATE BEGINS HERE=================
McDonald’s Responds To Protesters Demanding $15 Minimum Wage, They Won’t Be Happy

"It’s simple economics. In order for a business to suddenly increase the wages of its employees, it must either pass on the expense burden to the public by increasing its prices or downsize its pool of employees to match its current revenue stream."
[---]
"In light of the misguided protests by people across America wanting to raise the minimum wage to an arbitrary $15 per hour, McDonald’s is taking the latter approach of downsizing its staff by replacing their once human-operated cashier machines with fully-automated ordering kiosks."


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Lammam and Clemens: Increasing the minimum wage won't reduce poverty

 

"The new NDP government in Alberta has indicated that it will aggressively increase the province’s minimum wage from $10.20 to $15 per hour over the next three years. There are a number of problems with this campaign promise that is now becoming policy. Ignoring experience and pursuing policies based on good intentions and ideology will not solve the province’s pressing problems.


"First, and contrary to some pundits, there is a preponderance of evidence, particularly from Canada, that minimum wage increases adversely affect low-skilled and young workers. A recent comprehensive review of international research led by Prof. David Neumark, one of the world’s foremost experts, concluded that the balance of the research shows that minimum wage hikes negatively affect employment among low-skilled and young workers.


Canada is often used for minimum wage research because of the variation between provinces. In fact, there are over a dozen Canadian studies examining provincial minimum wage increases. The Canadian evidence finds that, on average, a 10 per cent increase in the minimum wage decreases youth employment by between three and six per cent.



Simply put, when governments impose a minimum wage higher than what would otherwise prevail, and without corresponding productivity increases, employers find ways to operate with fewer workers and/or reduced labour costs. While the more productive workers gain through a higher wage, their gain comes at the expense of those who now have fewer employment opportunities. Young and low-skilled workers are most adversely affected because of their dearth of experience and skills."

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Islamosophia Roundup

Bigfoot Lives!!!!

Are We Witnessing A Sea Change...

....in the Arab world?

Witness: Here, here, and here.


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Yup

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Same Can Be Said...

...of Canada. Most of it, anyway:

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Slick Willy Says Something...

...lefties won't like:

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Monday, June 01, 2015

Who Knew??

The Batmobile really exists:

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I Hate This

Hate, hate, hate it. Cruelty to animals:

Crying baby orangutan Budi receives loving care after suffering year of neglect

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Good For Them!!!

I Kept Waiting...

...for Godzilla to come and stomp of the fawn. I'm bad and I know it:

A young fawn is given a second chance with a prospective foster mom, but will she accept the orphan deer?

Posted by Love Nature on Tuesday, April 28, 2015


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Is It Any Wonder...

...I'm afraid WWIII is just around the corner:
Power Politics and Putin

“The only language Russians understand,” asserted Edmundas Jakilaitis during a panel discussion last fall, “is power.” A Lithuanian journalist whose birth certificate bears a hammer and sickle, Jakilaitis knows what he is talking about.
during a panel discussion last fall, “is power.”
[---]
"A combination of plummeting oil prices and international sanctions have sent Russia’s economy into a tailspin. The ruble’s value is collapsing, and the Russian Central Bank has hiked interest rates. Many Russians’ mortgage payments—taken in foreign currency because of the lower interest rates—have skyrocketed as the ruble falls. The Kremlin has launched a $35 billion “anti-crisis” package that seems like it will do more to burn through Russia’s currency reserves than stimulate the economy. Military spending, meanwhile, roars ahead. In his year-end press conference, President Vladimir Putin claimed his country would emerge from the crisis within two years.

That sounds pretty optimistic. But as Russia’s domestic problems grow, Putin employs a tried-and-true strategy: distraction. Moscow sends tanks, weapons, and uniformless fighters into Ukraine and talks of protecting Russian-speaking minorities. Putin’s real aim is to stoke nationalist pride in the face of rising prices and emptying shelves."

Start of WW3? Putin could force the West to use NUCLEAR WEAPONS against Russia, warns NATO

Iran, North Korea forging ballistic, nuclear ties, exiled dissidents say

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That's Okay

Norway Deports 824 Muslims, What Happened Next Should Wake Americans Up

(Violent crime dropped by 30%)


Norway Just Put the Fear of God Into ISIS With Who They Sent to Fight Them


"The Norwegians have sent the “Punishers,” an elite battalion of soldiers who use the Punisher comic book character’s symbol as their logo and whose rallying cry is, “To Valhalla!”"
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Quarter of the world will be Muslim by 2030

They have pissed off the other three quarters so badly they'll be out numbered by 3 to 1.

Related:

Germany is not standing alone in it’s decision to ban all ISIS support as The Netherlands made a similar decision last month.

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And Now Japan!

And Germany.

Japan Shut Down Radical Islam Entirely… And Here’s the Simple Way They Did It
"Out of Japan’s nearly 127 million occupants, only 10,000 of them, less than one hundredth of a percent, are Muslims. Part of that has to do with their ban on Islamic evangelism but perhaps even more so on their ban of Muslim immigrants.

While America and other countries are importing Muslims in droves, Japan discourages their entrance into their country, usually only allowing those in who are there for business purposes.

That being said, most Japanese companies prefer to hire one their own people over an immigrant. The Japanese as a whole are uneasy around Muslims, assigning them all the reputation of radical, closed-minded and less intelligent people with a strange religion."

Related:

Report: 200 Girls, 93 Women Freed From Terrorist Camp by Nigerian Army

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Ain't No Climate Change Around Here

June is usually a pretty rainy month with lots of thunder storms. Right on schedule thunders clouds are rumbling and rain is falling. It always scares me that my house might get struck by lightning. Drat!!!

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