by John Jensen / November 27th, 2009 ()
Several decades ago when differences between right and left brain thinking were first explored, a story was told to illustrate.
During World War II, many harbors in Hawaii were blocked by sunken warships, one important channel in particular. After the war, engineers puzzled over how to move them out of way. As they found themselves stumped, someone said, “I know a captain who has a reputation as a good problem solver. Let’s invite him in.”
…
by John Walsh / November 27th, 2009 ()
As I was leaving China in September, a well-travelled, heavy-set Australian woman plopped herself down at a table in the Shanghai airport where we were having our last cup of tea in the Middle Kingdom. She immediately volunteered that China is not a poor country any more – not like India, she said. She was also quick to maintain that the Chinese were not as intelligent as the Indians, because the latter “speak English better.” And she felt that India was more “charming” than China once one got beyond India’s “squalor.” If one can take …
by Alan Hart / November 27th, 2009 ()
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu described his offer to temporarily restrict construction of all-new Jewish settlements on the West Bank excluding Arab East Jerusalem as a “far-reaching and painful step”, which was part of a policy he hoped would give a new impetus to peace talks.
Netanyahu is not stupid. He knows that some of us know he is not remotely interested in peace on terms the Palestinians could accept. So what then is his real game plan of the moment? Simple. He is seeking to make peace with the Obama administration. And its response suggests that with the help of the …
by Stephen Lendman / November 27th, 2009 ()
On November 18, Jalil Muntaqim (formerly Anthony Bottom) was refused parole a day after his November 17 hearing. The board called his record exemplary, but still denied him. Muntaqim thanked everyone who wrote letters of support and said he’ll appeal the decision. Failing that, his next scheduled hearing is in June 2010. His earlier 2002, 2004 and 2006 hearings were also unsuccessful.
In a November 19 letter to supporters, he wrote as follows:
The parole board ignored the overwhelming support from the community for my release, and denied me parole. I have come to the conclusion after this, my fourth parole appearance… …
by Joshua Frank / November 26th, 2009 ()
So you thought smoking cigarettes was bad for your health? Try living next to a coal-fired power plant.
That’s the diagnosis Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) relayed to the public in a comprehensive medical study released on November 18 called Coal’s Assault of Human Health. In it, the organization, comprised of physicians and public health experts, claims that coal pollutants damage every major organ in the human body and contribute to four of the top five leading causes of death in the United States.
Not since NASA’s James Hansen rang the global warming alarm about coal’s major contribution …
by Don Monkerud / November 26th, 2009 ()
Forget about kicking back and enjoying an American beer; a massive wave of consolidation is transforming the industry.
According to a recent report by the Marin Institute, a California-based alcohol industry watchdog, a rush of buyouts and mergers in the last years of the Bush Administration has left two overseas giants in control of 80 percent of American beer consumption.
“How beer is marketed and sold in this country will never be the same,” said Charisse Lebron, corporate responsibility & advocacy manager at the Marin Institute. “Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors, controlled by parent companies SABMiller and Molson Coors Brewing Company, are …
by Greg Moses / November 26th, 2009 ()
Crawling down below Meauan Mountain, where ground meets sea level, the first grandson of America whispers a plot that will bury a bad god forever. The crawling insurrectionist is Hunahpu, Jr. and there on the whiteness of a giant pyramid stone at Mirador, Guatemala you can see the young genius at work, with the head of his father strapped tight to his sash.
If Hunahpu, Jr. does not get the words exactly right, if the crab that he conjures from flagstone and bromeliad does not obey precisely, then the arrogant clan of old gods will persist one day …
by Mikel Weisser / November 26th, 2009 ()
I kid you not, at the recent quarterly meeting of the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP, as the in-crowd affectionately abbreviates it) held in our own fair Kingman, AZ this last weekend (11/20-11-22/09), I was asked to join in singing the following lyrics written by retired music teacher/longtime Dem party member, Del Bohlmeyer to the tune of “Zip-pediddie Doo-Dah:
“Democrats Rising, we’ve had our say/Washington’s changing, what a great day/With Obama in the White House, all the world is praying/ that for eight years he’s staying ….”
At this time when the national GOP requiring “purity tests” and loyalty oaths, it seemed …
by Alan Hart / November 25th, 2009 ()
It’s not often that stories about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict make me laugh but one by Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East editor, did. Because he is the corporation’s correspondent supporters of Israel right or wrong most love to hate – from time to time they pressure the BBC to fire him – I imagine he enjoyed writing it.
In a vivid background report for From Our Own Correspondent, headlined ‘Tough Lessons for Obama on Mid-East peace,” Jeremy recalled some of the “false dawns” of previous presidential peace efforts.
One was a trip by President Clinton to Gaza in 1998 when Netanyahu …
by Phillip Faruggio / November 25th, 2009 ()
So, here we have all of us suckers, saps and lollipops running around to celebrate another Thanksgiving Day. Call me negative, call me fatalistic. Or call me … Candid! Each and every year there is not much to give thanks for. Unless, of course, you are one of the 1 % of us who is Super Rich. So, to all you mega millionaires out there…. Have another piece of turkey on we turkeys. To all you Wall Street top execs and CEOs, and top salespeople, enjoy those million-dollar and multi-million-dollar bonuses and salaries. On us, the turkeys. To all you …
