December 2010
happy new year everybody. signing off to join the...
“Because of the bad road conditions the Almighty has made, any gay activities...”
– Pat Robertson, who claims that God created the blizzard currently battering the Northeast “to punish Americans who were planning to drive to do something gay.” (via ryanedwardmiller)
vruz: if he really did that, the almighty is a total bastard.
New Post: What we talk about when we talk about... →
vruz: alright. got around polishing this write-up a bit. it’s still a bit messy but I’m always willing to take constructive input and help to straighten the wrongs.
“The first thing we need to recover is the knowledge that peace is a result and...”
– Scot McKnight (via azspot)
“On one side are the people and organizations who want to use the information in...”
– Dave Winer
Minimalism is not a viable intellectual strategy →
by Vivek Haldar
There is a wave sweeping through the Internet cognoscenti – minimalism. The juggernaut of technology has brought us to a place where our minds are forced to march to the un-human rhythms of the global machine, our brains sizzling with pellets and factoids, with nary a clean break for a clear thought.
The answer to this, the minimalist pundits claim, is to retreat. Retreat...
The Year of the Big Lie: 6 Outrageous Falsehoods... →
by Adele M. Stan, TruthOut
The Big Lie
The Big Lie theory goes like this: A gigantic, audacious lie is more likely to be believed by the masses than a small one if it is repeated often enough. First articulated in the pages of Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler (who attributed the practice, of course, to Jews) and deployed as a tactic by Nazi master propagandist Joseph Goebbels, the Big Lie went ...
“Because the Big Lie relies not on facts for its impact, but the counter-factual,...”
– Adele M. Stan, TruthOut
FDL Manning-Lamo-Wikileaks Interview Transcripts... →
vruz: because sunlight, scrutiny, etc…
Justice Department Refuses Cooperation With Polish... →
by Scott Horton, Harpers
vruz: happy new year from the ministry of accountability.
Polish prosecutors looking into the torture (including waterboarding) of prisoners held at the former CIA black site in northeastern Poland near Szymany air base turned to the U.S. Department of Justice with a request for help in collecting information relevant to the case. Polish Radio reports:
The U.S....
The Kinks: ‘All Day And All Of the Night’
...
"OpenSecrets.org's Top 10 Money-in-Politics... →
vruz: hey politics… say you don’t need no diamond ring and I’ll be satisfied / tell me that you want the kind of thing that money just can’t buy
[PDF] Appointment of Honorable Scott M. Matheson,... →
Chief Judge Mary Beck Briscoe of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit announced today the appointment of the Honorable Scott M. Matheson, Jr. to the Court. Judge Matheson’s nomination was confirmed by the Senate on December 22. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Stephen H. Anderson administered the oath of office today in Salt Lake City, Utah. President Obama nominated...
Affidavit Details FBI "Operation Payback" Probe →
firelily sez: and the information war of the 21st century over the Internet rages on.
“To recap “Obama justice”: if you create an illegal worldwide torture regime,...”
– Glenn Greenwald (via jonathan-cunningham)
Pink Floyd have won a court battle stopping their... →
vruz: artistic integrity won. die, EMI, die… and apple inc. now to pay up!
Pink Floyd initially won the case at Britain’s High Court in March, although it was appealed by the record label, which is currently facing huge financial trouble. However, the Court Of Appeal ruled again ruled in the band’s favour on Tuesday (14.12.10). During the court case, much of Pink...
“Police in Delaware may soon be unable to use global positioning systems (GPS) to...”
– Judge warns of ‘Orwellian state’ in warrantless GPS tracking case (via ryking)
“Would you be upset if the dominating belief system in your country was...”
– From the threads of /r/atheism on Reddit, argument given to a Christian trying to say God is not the issue, it’s organized religion. This is how atheists are treated in America. I myself have never been treated this way for my lack of belief, but I know it’s waiting for me. (via bulletproofcupid)
...
Son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: "My Parents... →
DemocracyNow.org
As the Justice Department considers charging WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange under the Espionage Act of 1917, we speak with Robert Meeropol, the son of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg—the only U.S. citizens to be executed under the Espionage Act in what’s been described as the most controversial death sentence in U.S. history. This week, Meeropol released a widely read...
Abracadabra →
vruz: see the money? now you don’t see it anymore!
BofA Tries To Foreclose On Home Despite Not A... →
—via undercovernun:
The TL:DR version: BofA screwed up and ruined a couple’s (previously fine) credit rating, destroyed their plans for a mortgage refinance, and then after apologizing and promising to fix everything, decided to foreclose on the couple’s house despite the fact that they’d never been late on a single payment.
vruz: an institution with this track record...
Vestigial/Useless Body Parts In Humans →
vruz: I would like to make an addition to this interesting list: the modern brain of conservative types. roughly half of the population of the united states don’t use it and vote republican against their best interest.
—via brain-trauma:tumblrpigeon:
Here’s a partial list of some of the vestigial/useless organs found in humans today. These features are evidence that we did not...
“We are working with the leaders in many different fields to encourage peace in...”
– Clooney, Google team up to help Sudan
minorjive sez: My buddy and former colleague Nathaniel Raymond talking about his new gig with the Clooney-funded Satellite Sentinel.
War Hero
vruz: work in progress, audio for an...
Does Amazon Have Too Much Power? →
Amazon’s Kindle has changed the worlds of reading, writing, and publishing. Although the change has been largely for the good — more books are being sold (and hopefully read) — there is also a dark side to the Kindle world. The dark side begins with a proprietary format that is designed to lock the average consumer into buying books only at Amazon. (Yes, I know that one can strip Amazon’s DRM...
“Filled with rapture, his soul yearned for freedom, space, vastness. Over him the...”
– Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (via liquidnight)
Clooney, Google team up to help Sudan. →
George Clooney launches satellite project to monitor Sudan and prevent civil war.
George Clooney has initiated a cutting-edge human rights project that combines satellite photographs, field reports and Google technology to help prevent the resumption of a deadly civil war in Sudan.
To launch Wednesday, the Satellite Sentinel Project analyzes satellite images and on-the-ground reporting to...
End-of-year interviews: John Maynard Keynes →
by Paul Mason, BBC. h/t @pkedrosky
So who would you say are the great Keynesians of today?
“Hu Jin-Tao, for definite. Lula, obviously. Mervyn King - unlikely contender but a superb practitioner of undeclared currency manipulation and monetary stimulus - and Goh Chok Tong of course…”
I look blank.
“Central bank boss of Singapore, ran the country in the nineties. ...
Wired.com: Lamo/Manning Wikileaks chat logs... →
vruz: keep trying Pentagon. after all there’s no accountability whatsoever, why would you stop torturing in a lawless system?
I'm gonna make an app and call it Instapoop. poop...
A Special Supplement: The Responsibility of... →
by Noam Chomsky, The New York Review of Books
[…]
With respect to the responsibility of intellectuals, there are still other, equally disturbing questions. Intellectuals are in a position to expose the lies of governments, to analyze actions according to their causes and motives and often hidden intentions. In the Western world, at least, they have the power that comes from political...
