Home · News · News Aug 2016 · Aug 18 2016
Thursday August 18, 2016
News Articles

Louisiana flooding is the country's 'worst natural disaster' since Hurricane Sandy, Red Cross says
WashingtonPost | Emma Brown | 08/17/16

BATON ROUGE -- Five days into this disaster, adrenaline is giving way to exhaustion and -- for many of those who left their homes amid rising water -- a constant, churning anxiety about the future.

Thousands are still holed up in shelters or at friends' houses on high ground, relying on Facebook videos and word-of-mouth for an answer to the question on everyone's tongues: How bad is the damage? ... Read more

'There Will Be A Lot Of Families That Come Home To Nothing'

Southern California Blue Cut Fire Rages Unchecked After Mass Evacuations
HP & Reuters | author | 08/17/16

A Southern California wildfire raged unchecked in thick brush on Wednesday after destroying an unknown number of houses near a highway corridor between Los Angeles and Las Vegas and forcing as many as 80,000 residents to flee their homes, officials said.

The so-called Blue Cut Fire ignited on Tuesday in the mountainous Cajon Pass and quickly ballooned to 30,000 acres (12,140 hectares), putting firefighters on the defensive as they made a stand in front of homes and businesses. ... Read more

*July 2016 Was The Hottest Month Ever Recorded
HP | Chris D'Angelo | 08/17/16

NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ? two leading global authorities on climate ? both say July 2016 was not only the hottest July on record, but the most sizzling month in the history of record-keeping.

NOAA on Wednesday said July's global average temperature was 62.01 degrees, 1.57 degrees above the 20th-century average. NASA, which uses a slightly different methodology, said Monday the average global temperature in July was 1.51 degrees above average. Both agencies pegged July as the hottest month since monitoring began in 1880. ... Read more

Geoengineering?
ge·o·en·gi·neer·ing - the deliberate large-scale manipulation of an environmental process that affects the earth's climate, in an attempt to counteract the effects of global warming.

What's the Deal With Geoengineering?
Slate | Jacob Brogan | older, 01/06/16

Your 101 guide to the maybe-crazy, maybe-sane attempt fix climate change by tinkering with Earth's atmosphere.

At its simplest, "geoengineering" is the active transformation of our planet's climate through human intervention. The field emerged in earnest in the last two-and-a-half decades as a response to global warming and other forms of environmental degradation. It's about using technology to solve crises created by other technologies, everything from filters that pull carbon dioxide out of the air to spraying chemicals that would lower the global temperature. ... Read more

Your Geoengineering Cheat Sheet
Slate | Jacob Brogan | older, 01/06/16

Geoengineering describes the active transformation of our planet's climate through human intervention. Here are some of the key players, major debates, and pop cultural landmarks shaping the ways that we understand this emerging field. ... Read more

The Most Important Topic of Our Time - GeoEngineering (older) [46:02]
GeoengineeringWatch website
A Case for Climate Engineering by David Keith

Climate engineering -- which could slow the pace of global warming by injecting reflective particles into the upper atmosphere -- has emerged in recent years as an extremely controversial technology. And for good reason: it carries unknown risks and it may undermine commitments to conserving energy. Some critics also view it as an immoral human breach of the natural world. The latter objection, David Keith argues in A Scientist's Case for Climate Engineering, is groundless; we have been using technology to alter our environment for years. But he agrees that there are large issues at stake.
A leading scientist long concerned about climate change, Keith offers no naïve proposal for an easy fix to what is perhaps the most challenging question of our time; climate engineering is no silver bullet. But he argues that after decades during which very little progress has been made in reducing carbon emissions we must put this technology on the table and consider it responsibly. That doesn't mean we will deploy it, and it doesn't mean that we can abandon efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But we must understand fully what research needs to be done and how the technology might be designed and used. This book provides a clear and accessible overview of what the costs and risks might be, and how climate engineering might fit into a larger program for managing climate change.
**Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, August 18[11:14] *TRNN | Mark Weisbrot: 'FAILED: What the "Experts" Got Wrong on the Global Economy', Part 3 (08/18/16) [19:39]
TRNN | Climate Change Will Prolong U.S. Mosquito Season, Lead to Spread of Zika Virus (08/18/16) [9:50]
TRNN | Bill Black explains: Few (If Any) Progressives on Clinton's Transition Team (08/18/16) [16:03]
TRNN | Henry Giroux discusses: Neofascism of the Law and Order Candidate (08/18/16) [21:20]
TYT | Hillary's New Hire Reveals Her Pro-Corporate Priorities (08/17/16) [13:07]
TYT | Donald Trump: I Don't Trust US Intelligence (08/17/16) [8:00]
TYT | Bernie Sanders Renews Fight For Public Option (08/17/16) [9:47]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Note: sometimes I have to post my News Page before all the links are available. This happens most noteably for the Diane Rehm Show. If the pop-up links don't work, just go to The Diane Show website and click the links there.
*DR | Major Insurers Pull Back From Obamacare: Who's Affected And What It Could Mean For The Future Of The ACA (08/18/16) [1hr]
Aetna this week joined other health insurers in withdrawing from many states where it offers plans through the Affordable Care Act. The company cited an unsustainable financial situation. But that motive is being questioned: We learned this week that Aetna warned it would reduce its presence in the exchanges if the Justice Department sued to block its deal to acquire Humana, which it did last month. Regardless, this latest pullback from Obamacare leaves a lot of questions about competitive options in the exchanges, how consumers will be affected, and the future of the law. We'll get some answers, and look at how this might affect the presidential campaign.
*DR | What Concealed-Carry Gun Laws Mean for Individual Freedom and Public Safety (08/18/16) [1hr]
Twenty years ago, carrying a concealed weapon in public was strictly controlled or illegal in nearly half of U.S. states. Fewer than five million Americans had a concealed-carry permit. Today, carrying a concealed firearm is legal in all fifty states. And the number of permit holders has risen to nearly 13 million Americans. Most of these cite self-defense as the primary reason for carrying a gun outside the home. But critics of these laws say the latest research shows no clear connection between carrying a gun and preventing violence. Diane and guests discuss the rise of concealed-carry gun laws in the states and what it means for individual freedom and public safety.
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

08.18.2016. 10:04



Special Interest Important stuff
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Lindsey Graham Mashups
Lindsey Graham

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said the quiet part aloud on why he’s still so close to former President Donald Trump: because we can use him for our goals. "President Trump has gotten people who wouldn't give me or Romney or anybody else the time of day. They believe he is on their side," the senator told the America First Agenda Summit crowd on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

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Environment & Climate Change
Environment

The term "climate change" is often used to refer specifically to anthropogenic climate change (also known as global warming). Anthropogenic climate change is caused by human activity, as opposed to changes in climate that may have resulted as part of Earth's natural processes.

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AI - Artificial Intelligence | Machine Learning | Deep Learning
AI - Artificial Intelligence

AIArtificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to the natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. AI research has been defined as the field of study of intelligent agents, which refers to any system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its chance of achieving its goals.

The term "artificial intelligence" had previously been used to describe machines that mimic and display "human" cognitive skills that are associated with the human mind, such as "learning" and "problem-solving". This definition has since been rejected by major AI researchers who now describe AI in terms of rationality and acting rationally, which does not limit how intelligence can be articulated.
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Quantum mechanics | AI - Artificial Intelligence
Quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics is a fundamental theory in physics that provides a description of the physical properties of nature at the scale of atoms and subatomic particles.  It is the foundation of all quantum physics including quantum chemistry, quantum field theory, quantum technology, and quantum information science.
Classical physics, the collection of theories that existed before the advent of quantum mechanics, describes many aspects of nature at an ordinary (macroscopic) scale, but is not sufficient for describing them at small (atomic and subatomic) scales. Most theories in classical physics can be derived from quantum mechanics as an approximation valid at large (macroscopic) scale.
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Economy, Wall Street and Banksters

Wall Street and Banksters

Wall Street is an eight-block-long street running roughly northwest to southeast from Broadway to South Street, at the East River, in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Over time, the term has become a metonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial services industry (even if financial firms are not physically located there), or New York-based financial interests.

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Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

Intelligence Agencies/Deep State?

An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, and foreign policy objectives. Means of information gathering are both overt and covert and may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis,.

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Daniel Ellsberg | Pentagon Papers
Daniel Ellsberg

Daniel Ellsberg and Paul Jay explore Ellsberg's latest book, The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. In the introduction to the book, Ellsberg writes: "No policies in human history have more deserved to be recognized as immoral or insane. The story of how this calamitous predicament came about and how and why it has persisted over a half a century is a chronicle of human madness".

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Nukes
Nukes

Nuclear weapons have come a long way and come in all types of different sizes. Some are relatively small while others are enormous, so big they boggle the mind at what they can be capable of, i.e. the Soviet 'Tsar Bomba' is/was 3,000 times greater than the Hiroshima bomb.

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Rana Foroohar and Fall of American Business
Rana Foroohar

Ms. Foroohar says financialization delivers stagnant wages, inequality and economic crisis; the Financial Times columnist and author of "Makers and Takers" says the financial sector represents only 7 percent of the U.S. economy, but takes around 25 percent of all corporate profit while creating only 4 percent of all jobs.

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The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick

The Untold History of the United States by Oliver Stone & Petere Kuznick | 2014 | 10 Episodes

Oliver Stone and American University historian Peter J. Kuznick began working on the project in 2008. Stone, Kuznick and British screenwriter Matt Graham cowrote the script. It covers "the reasons behind the Cold War with the Soviet Union, U.S. President Harry Truman's decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, and changes in America's global role since the fall of Communism." Stone is the director and narrator of all ten episodes.

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Kuznick Interviews

Kuznick Interviews

Historian Peter Kuznick says Eisenhower called for decreased militarization, then Dulles reversed the policy; the Soviets tried to end the cold war after the death of Stalin; crazy schemes involving nuclear weapons and the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba put the world of the eve of destruction - with host Paul Jay

The Untold History of the United States by Kuznick, Peter.mobi | Book | 6.99 MB

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China Valley of Tunnels

China Valley of Tunnels

A report written by a Georgetown University team led by Phillip Karber conducted a three-year study to map out China’s complex tunnel system, which stretches 5,000 km (3,000 miles). The report determined that the stated Chinese nuclear arsenal is understated and as many as 3,000 nuclear warheads may be stored in the underground tunnel network.

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911
911

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists attacked the Unites States. They hijacked four airplanes in mid-flight. The terrorists flew two of the planes into two skyscrapers at the World Trade Center in New York City. The impact caused the buildings to catch fire and collapse. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon (the U.S. military headquarters) in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane crashed in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Officials believe that the terrorists on that plane intended to destroy either the White House or the U.S. Capitol. Passengers on the plane fought the terrorists and prevented them from reaching their goal. In all, nearly 3,000 people were killed in the 9/11 attacks.

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The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's ten-part, 18-hour documentary series, THE VIETNAM WAR, tells the epic story of one of the most consequential, divisive, and controversial events in American history as it has never before been told on film. Visceral and immersive, the series explores the human dimensions of the war through revelatory testimony of nearly 80 witnesses from all sides--Americans who fought in the war and others who opposed it, as well as combatants and civilians from North and South Vietnam. Ten years in the making, the series includes rarely seen and digitally re-mastered archival footage from sources around the globe, photographs taken by some of the most celebrated photojournalists of the 20th Century, historic television broadcasts, evocative home movies, and secret audio recordings from inside the Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon administrations.

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Trump's Mashups
Trump's Mashups

Donald Trump talks a lot, but what is he actually saying? VICE News' "Trump Talk" mashup series tries to answer that. And, we're happy to say, it was just nominated for two Webby Awards. Now you can watch all the nominated videos.

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Trump's Sexcapades
Trump's Sexcapades.

Jessica Leeds (1980s)
Kristin Anderson (1990s)
E. Jean Carroll (1995 or 1996)
Lisa Boyne (1996)
Cathy Heller (1997)
Temple Taggart McDowell (1997)
Karena Virginia (1998)
Mindy McGillivray (2003)
Jennifer Murphy (2005)
Rachel Crooks (2005)
Natasha Stoynoff (2005)
Juliet Huddy (2005 or 2006)
Jessica Drake (2006)
Ninni Laaksonen (2006)
Cassandra Searles (2013)
Allegations of pageant dressing room visits(1997)
Mariah Billado,
Victoria Hughes,
and three other Miss Teen USA contestants
Bridget Sullivan (2000)
Tasha Dixon (2001)
Unnamed contestants (2001)
Samantha Holvey (2006)

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Trump's Speeches | Rallys |Interviews
Trump's Speeches | Rallys

Donald Trump talks a lot, but what is he actually saying? Watch Trump at some of his rallys and see what you think.

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