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Monday November 30, 2015
News Articles

Last Chance To Save The World
HP | author | 11/30/15

Todays Headlines
CLIMATE SUMMIT PARIS... Demonstrations Around The World... Hundreds Arrested... Obama 'Optimistic'... Could Redefine 21st Century Economy... GOP Threatens To Derail... 2015 Already Set To Be The Hottest Year On Record... Catastrophic... Melting Glaciers... 'Major Cities Will Be Submerged'... Why Some Conservatives Can't Accept That Climate Change Is Real...

What You Need To Know About The Paris Climate Summit
HP | Nick Visser | 11/29/15

On Nov. 30, more than 100 world leaders will gather in Paris in what many consider one of the last remaining attempts to squelch the growing scourge of climate change. They'll be joined by many of the planet's leading scientists, who for decades have urged countries to scale back the emission of greenhouse gases to stave off a slew of unprecedented consequences.

The meeting -- the 21st Conference of the Parties, or COP21 -- will feature talks from the leaders of the world's worst polluting countries, namely United States President Barack Obama, Russia's Vladimir Putin, China's Xi Jinping and India's Narendra Modi. Environmentalists hope officials will come away from the summit with a sweeping plan to curb emissions and increase investment in renewable energy without any negative economic impacts, because (good news!) climate action is a sound investment. ...

  1. Plant And Animal Habitats Face Dire Threat From Warming Climate
  2. More People Threatened By A Warming Planet
  3. ...
Read more

Planned Parenthood Shooting Suspect Robert Dear Due In Court
AP & HP | author | 11/30/15

The man accused of opening fire at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs was due for his first appearance in court Monday, as speculation continued to mount over what motivated the attack and how authorities would prosecute the suspect.

Robert Lewis Dear, 57, is accused of killing a police officer and two civilians who were accompanying separate friends to the clinic. The rampage touched off an hourslong standoff and shootout Friday that also left nine other people in the hospital. Dear's court appearance will be done by video Monday afternoon in Colorado Springs. ... Read more

The Republican Party Is Now America's Largest Hate Group
AlterNet |Daniel Denvir / Salon | 11/30/15

Led by Donald Trump, the GOP has abandoned its traditional dogwhistles in favor of a more overt approach to racism.

After two Bostonians allegedly beat up a homeless Hispanic man in August, one told police he was inspired by Donald Trump's message that "all these illegals need to be deported." In response, Trump explained "that people who are following me are very passionate. They love this country and they want this country to be great again. They are passionate." Later, he clarified that in no way, of course, does he does condone violence. In June, Trump kicked off his campaign by calling Mexican immigrants "rapists" and drug-trafficking criminals. "Some, I assume, are good people," he added.

Last Monday, five people were shot at a Black Lives Matter protest in Minneapolis. Three white men have been arrested in connection with the incident. It is important to emphasize that the investigation is in its very early stages, and it has not been confirmed who did this, or why. ... Read more

Why the Economic Agenda of the Six Top GOP Candidates Is Truly Frightening
AlterNet | Nomi Prins / Tom Dispatch | 11/29/15

Here is what's grimly fascinating in this year's dystopian carnival of a Republican presidential primary. When it comes to what can be said in America, all bets are off. These days, the concept of "beyond the pale" couldn't look more wan. All of a sudden, there's nothing, no matter how jingoistic or xenophobic, extreme or warlike that can't be expressed in public and with pride by a Republican presidential candidate. You want torture back in the American playbook? You've got it! Just elect Donald Trump or Ben Carson -- and our future torturers don't even need to justify its use in terms of getting crucial information from terror suspects. Employing good old American-style enhanced interrogation techniques to inflict pain on "them" is fine and dandy in itself.

When it comes to refugees from the grim war zones we had such a hand in creating in the Greater Middle East, if you want the Statue of Liberty to hold a "Christians only" sign, welcome to the worlds of Jeb Bush and Ted Cruz. Should you prefer a registry for either Syrian refugees or American Muslims and mosque closings aplenty, you've got it from Donald Trump (and the closing of any facility "where radicals are being inspired" from Marco Rubio) ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, November 30 [11:09]
*DN | Juan González on How Puerto Rico's Economic "Death Spiral" is Tied to Legacy of Colonialism, Part 1 (11/26/15) [16:38]
*DR | World Leaders Meet For The UN Climate Change Summit In Paris (11/30/15) [1hr]
World leaders meet for the UN climate change summit in Paris to discuss plans for reducing carbon emissions. What's at stake for the talks, and prospects for a major agreement.
DR | Debate Over Right-To-Try Laws In The States (11/30/15) [1hr]
More than 15 states have passed laws that give terminally ill patients the right to access experimental drugs not yet approved by the FDA. California Gov. Jerry Brown recently vetoed such a bill. Diane and guests discuss the future of so-called right-to-try legislation.
TRNN | Wilkerson: The Hypocrisy of U.S. Syria Policy, Part 2 (11/29/15) [14:11]
*TYT | UN Report: Weather Disasters Way Up... And Climbing (11/29/15) [3:30]
TYT | Trump: Bring Back Waterboarding "Even If It Doesn't Work" (11/29/15) [6:58]
TYT | O'Reilly Justifies Police Murder By Showing Random Black Crimes (11/29/15) [7:49]
RT | US knows ally Saudi Arabia is the source of terrorism : Disaster Capitalism author (11/29/15) [2:06]
RT | COP21: Putin speaks at Paris Climate Change Conference (11/30/15) [5:25]
RT | CrossTalk: Erdogan's blunder (11/30/15) [24:31]
*RT | Keiser Report: American Way! Bail out Bankers (E842) (11/28/15) [25:48]
RoF | Bloodsucking Wall Street Psychopaths Stealing Billions Of Dollars A Year (11/29/15) [17:09]
RoF | Global Regulators Crack Down On Banks (11/26/15) [10:59]
RoF | Corporate Media Wants You To Be Stupid: Let's Fight Back (11/27/15) [2:41]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Thom Hartmann: "America Was Founded On A Revolt Of Corporate Power!" (10/05/15) [2:57:57]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.30.2015. 11:04

Thursday & Friday November 26 & 27, 2015
News Articles

Right-Wing Hysteria Explodes as American Mosques Face Angry Protests and Hate Over Past Week
AlterNet | Zaid Jilani | 11/24/15

Since the attacks in Paris, Islamophobia has increased in the European Union, with a 300 percent increase in hate attacks against Muslims in the United Kingdom. But this wave of hate is also taking place on the other side of the Atlantic, in the U.S.

... In Virginia: In Fairfax County, a man left a hoax explosive device outside a mosque. And in Spotsylvania, local Muslims presenting a plan for a mosque were met with angry protests, including a muscular man who screamed at the presenters, telling them to shut up. “Every Muslim is a terrorist,” he frothed. ... Read more
WATCH: Virginia town hall meeting descends into chaos as anti-Muslim bigots scream insults (11/19/15) [0:25]

A Massive Climate Summit Is About to Happen in Paris. Here's What You Need to Know.
MotherJones | Tim McDonnell | 11/27/15

On Monday, roughly 40,000 heads of state, diplomats, scientists, activists, policy experts, and journalists will descend on an airport in the northern Paris suburbs for the biggest meeting on climate change since at least 2009—or maybe ever. The summit is organized by the United Nations and is primarily aimed at producing an agreement that will serve as the world's blueprint for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the impacts of global warming. This is a major milestone in the climate change saga, and it has been in the works for years. Here's what you need to know:

What's going on at this summit, exactly? At the heart of the summit are the core negotiations, which are off-limits to the public and journalists. Like any high-stakes diplomatic summit, representatives of national governments will sit in a big room and parse through pages of text, word by word. The final document will actually be a jigsaw puzzle of two separate pieces. The most important part is the Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). These are commitments made individually by each country about how they plan to reduce their carbon footprints. The United States, for example, has committed to cut its greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, mostly by going after carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. Nearly every country on Earth has submitted an INDC, together covering about 95 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. (You can explore them in detail here.) The video above, from Climate Desk partner Grist, has a good rundown of how this all really works. ... Read more
A Massive Climate Summit Is About to Happen in Paris. Here's What You Need to Know.



TRNN | The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Shane Hunt takes CBC's Kim Brunhuber on a tour of the dry bed of Folsom Lake, where 85 per cent of the water has disappeared -- a new record. (11/25/15) [1:47]
TRNN | "Being a Founding White Father Ain't What It Used To Be:" Student Protests on College Campuses (11/25/15) [8:11]
RT | John Pilger: ‘Everything the West has done was to create ISIS’ (11/26/15) [18:25]
RT | CrossTalk: Reckless Turkey (11/27/15) [24:07]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.27.2015. 14:02

Wednesday November 02, 2015
News Articles

Saudi Arabia, an ISIS That Has Made It
NYTimes | Kamel Daoud | 11/20/15

Black Daesh, white Daesh. The former slits throats, kills, stones, cuts off hands, destroys humanity's common heritage and despises archaeology, women and non-Muslims. The latter is better dressed and neater but does the same things. The Islamic State; Saudi Arabia. In its struggle against terrorism, the West wages war on one, but shakes hands with the other. This is a mechanism of denial, and denial has a price: preserving the famous strategic alliance with Saudi Arabia at the risk of forgetting that the kingdom also relies on an alliance with a religious clergy that produces, legitimizes, spreads, preaches and defends Wahhabism, the ultra-puritanical form of Islam that Daesh feeds on.

Wahhabism, a messianic radicalism that arose in the 18th century, hopes to restore a fantasized caliphate centered on a desert, a sacred book, and two holy sites, Mecca and Medina. Born in massacre and blood, it manifests itself in a surreal relationship with women, a prohibition against non-Muslims treading on sacred territory, and ferocious religious laws. That translates into an obsessive hatred of imagery and representation and therefore art, but also of the body, nakedness and freedom. Saudi Arabia is a Daesh that has made it.

The West's denial regarding Saudi Arabia is striking: It salutes the theocracy as its ally but pretends not to notice that it is the world's chief ideological sponsor of Islamist culture. The younger generations of radicals in the so-called Arab world were not born jihadists. They were suckled in the bosom of Fatwa Valley, a kind of Islamist Vatican with a vast industry that produces theologians, religious laws, books, and aggressive editorial policies and media campaigns. ... Read more

An Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind!
Stephen Colbert | The All-Seeing NostraDonald (11/25/15) [7:20]

Just Another Refugee Kid
HP | Paulina Porizkova | 11/25/15

The thin child with the big sad eyes and a braid hanging down her back, the one holding a bag containing all her worldly possessions with one hand, and with the other she clutches her baby brother: that refugee girl was once me.

It was 1973. We had fled communist Czechoslovakia for Sweden. Most people escaping communism really wanted to go to the great land of capitalism -- America -- but Sweden was at the time known as one of the most hospitable countries to refugees. (America was by then already pretty sick of the tired, poor and huddled masses.) The Swedish government would provide us with an apartment, my parents with jobs, and eventually the education to pull themselves up from the original menial crap jobs to highly paid and socially rewarding work. No one went hungry or sick or homeless in Sweden, even if you arrived that way. ... Read more

HBO | John Oliver: Reffugees (11/23/15) [7:02]
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, November 25 [9:30]
*DN | "Nativist Hysteria" Against Syrian Refugees Echoes U.S. Rejection of Jewish Refugees in 1930s (11/24/15) [13:13]
*TRNN | Baris Karaagac explains: Turkey's Intentions Behind the Downing of a Russian Jet (11/25/15) [8:14]
TYT | Jeb Bush Would Love To Save You From ISIS... If You're Christian. (11/25/15) [4:11]
*TYT | Why America Funded Wahhabism In The Eighties (11/25/15) [17:26]
TYT | Ben Carson's End Times Beliefs Are Out There... (11/24/15) [6:54]
RT | CrossTalk: on downing of Russian military jet: Dangerous Skies (11/24/15) [23:59]
RoF & ThomHartmann | Exxon, ALEC, And The Great Climate Cover Up (11/25/15) [5:45]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.25.2015. 20:46

Tuesday November 24, 2015
News Articles
Todays Headlines

POWDER KEG: TURKEY SHOOTS DOWN RUSSIAN FIGHTER... Putin: A 'Stab In The Back,' Accuses Turkey Of Backing ISIS... Cold War Clash... NATO Chief Calls For Calm... Obama: Turkey Has Right To Defend Airspace

Analysts Accuse CENTCOM of Covering Up Cooked ISIS Intelligence
TheDailyBeast | author | 11/23/15

In July, a group of intelligence analysts at the U.S. military's Central Command accused their bosses of distorting and selectively editing intelligence reports about the fight against ISIS in order to portray that campaign as more successful than it really was. As a result of those complaints, the Pentagon's inspector general opened an investigation.

One U.S. official said the alleged activity could amount to obstruction and interference with the inspector general's investigation, which began last summer. He noted that files relevant to the investigation began to disappear from CENTCOM computers after the Pentagon watchdog's staff began their work. ... Read more

The Koch intelligence agency
Politico | Ken Vogel | 11/18/15

The political network helmed by Charles and David Koch has quietly built a secretive operation that conducts surveillance and intelligence gathering on its liberal opponents, viewing it as a key strategic tool in its efforts to reshape American public life. The operation, which is little-known even within the Koch network, gathers what Koch insiders refer to as "competitive intelligence" that is used to try to thwart liberal groups and activists, and to identify potential threats to the expansive network.

The competitive intelligence team has a staff of 25, including one former CIA analyst, and operates from one of the non-descript Koch network offices clustered near the Courthouse metro stop in suburban Arlington, Va. It has provided network officials with documents detailing confidential voter-mobilization plans by major Democrat-aligned groups. ... Read more

Trump On Waterboarding: "You Bet Your Ass I'd Approve It, Even If It Doesn't Work".

"We're Now Just One Big Shock Away From A Global Downturn"
ZeroHedge | author | 11/24/15

The financial news continues to confound and confuse investors. The Fed is telling one story. The world economy is telling another. ... Read more

These 18 Photos of Grizzly Bears Will Make You Want to Get in Your Car and Drive to Yellowstone Right Now
MotherJones | Luke Whelan | 11/21/15

By the end of the year, the federal government will likely propose taking the grizzly bear off the endangered species list. To some, this would mark an unprecedented victory: the resuscitation of perhaps the most iconic large mammal on the continent. In 1975, when it first gained endangered species protection, the grizzly bear population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, one of the few areas grizzly bears still exist in the continental United States, dwindled to 130. Today, the population stands at around 750. But despite this resurgence, many scientists, conservationists, and indigenous people say taking away its protection could spell disaster for the species. ... Read more



Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Tuesday, November 24 [9:46]
*DN | Brussels Is Under High Security Alert, But Will Europe Address Muslims in "Marginalized Ghettos"? (11/24/15) [23:16]
*DN | A Paris Every Day: As 100 Americans Die from Guns Daily, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka Calls for Reform (11/24/15) [5:29]
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Stephen Calls The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line (11/24/15) [6:56]
*TRNN | Larry Wilkerson: The Hypocrisy of U.S. Syria Policy, Part 1 (11/24/15) [8:05]
TRNN | Chris Hedges discusses the militarization of higher education institutions with journalist Alexa Oâ??Brien (11/24/15) [26:21]
*TYT | Pentagon Alters Internal Report Saying No Military Solution In Iraq/Syria (11/23/15) [8:37]
TYT | Glenn Greenwald: CNN Has Basically Become State TV War Propaganda (11/23/15) [12:36]
TYT | Koch Brothers Building Their Own CIA To Spy On Progressives (11/23/15) [14:35]
*TYT | Congressman: Syrian Refugees Just Want Paid Vacations (11/23/15) [6:58]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | Trump Tosses Black Lives Matter Protestor (full) (11/23/15) [57:10]
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.24.2015. 14:27

Monday November 23, 2015
News Articles

WEATHER DISASTERS ALMOST DAILY
HP | Tom Miles | 11/23/15

UN: Weather-Related Disasters Occur Almost Daily
The United Nations report, called "The Human Cost of Weather Related Disasters," found there were an average of 335 weather-related disasters annually between 2005 and August this year, up 14 percent from 1995-2004 and almost twice as many as in the years from 1985 to 1994.

Weather-related disasters such as floods and heatwaves have occurred almost daily in the past decade, almost twice as often as two decades ago, with Asia being the hardest hit region, a U.N. report said on Monday.
While the report authors could not pin the increase wholly on climate change, they did say that the upward trend was likely to continue as extreme weather events increased.
Since 1995, weather disasters have killed 606,000 people, left 4.1 billion injured, homeless or in need of aid, and accounted for 90 percent of all disasters, it said.
A recent peak year was 2002, when drought in India hit 200 million and a sandstorm in China affected 100 million. But the standout mega-disaster was Cyclone Nargis, which killed 138,000 in Myanmar in 2008. ... Read more

Sometimes I look at the articles comment(er)s. I wish all FoxNews views were as in tune as these people!
Article Commenters

Jan Sershen
That may be, what you have to keep in mind is that the One Percenter needs to keep destroying the planet for fun and profit by exploiting every avaiable, non-renewable resource on the planet. So, have mercy on these guys! If they can't have their way with us and planet earth, they probably won't get that billion dollar bonus at the end of the year for a job well done.
Shumo Frances
Greed will always triumph over humanity
Buddy Tumbarello
Shhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't tell FOX News......along with Sean Hannity, they think that since we still have snow in wintertime....there CAN'T be global warming. Plus....since FOX doesn't believe in science or facts, they don't know that the atmosphere is forced to absorb more water since it is warmer (caused by the additional CO2 put in the air from fossil fuels). This is ALL 8th grade science.....which is clearly too advanced for FOX News. FOX News: "Where truth and journalism are dead."
Terry Underwood
Buddy,the viewers of Fox News are not interested in the truth,only ideology...They are the voice of the tea party and to be quite honest with you, I don't care.But they should at least be honest with the public.

Bernie Sanders: "Call Me A Democratic Socialist"!
HP | author | 11/23/15

Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders is running for president, but what does that even mean? Sanders breaks it all down.
Bernie Sanders Meet The Press FULL interview with Chuck Todd HD (11/11/15) [24:46]

Saudi Arabia Sentences Poet To Death For "Renouncing Islam"
ZeroHedge | author | 11/23/15

If ISIS had sentenced an internationally renowned poet to death on trumped up charges of “renouncing Islam,” it would be highlighted endlessly across Western media until the public was sufficiently salivating for war against the latest CIA-invented enemy. When one of America’s closest allies does it…not so much. ... Read more

Gun-Toting Islamophobic Group Protests Outside Texas Mosque

What You Need to Know About the Ongoing Lockdown in Brussels
MotherJones | Inae Oh | 11/23/15

Brussels remains under lockdown for the third straight day as authorities continue to hunt down suspects in connection with the deadly terrorist attacks in Paris. As of Monday morning, a spokesman for the chief Belgian prosecutor said 21 people have been arrested in a series of anti-terror raids since Sunday.

But police officers are still searching for the primary target of these raids--Salah Abdeslam, the 26-year-old suspect believed to have taken part in the Paris attacks. Officials say Abdeslam's brother detonated himself in the Paris attacks. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, November 23 [9:26]
*DN | Exclusive: Air Force Whistleblowers Risk Prosecution to Warn Drone War Kills Civilians, Fuels Terror (11/20/15) [10:29]
*DN | Exclusive: 2 Air Force Vets Speak Out for First Time on Why They Want the Drone War to Stop (11/20/15) [14:21]
*DN | "Numbing & Horrible": Former Drone Operator Brandon Bryant on His Haunting First Kill (11/20/15) [4:58]
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | The GOP Candidates Demand Equal Time (11/21/15) [6:13]
John Oliver
John Oliver | Pennies are not even worth what they're worth. So why do we still make them? (11/22/15) [9:35]
*DR | Globalization, Religious Extremism And Jihad Around The World (11/23/15) [1hr]
*TRNN | Sanders Defines his Social Democracy (11/21/15) [25:12]
*TRNN | History Will Judge America on Syrian Refugee Crisis As "Shameful" (11/22/15) [7:06]
*TYT | Bernie Sanders Speech On Democratic Socialism (11/20/15) [13:04]
TYT | Hillary Clinton Pounding War Drums After Paris Attacks (11/21/15) [11:22]
TYT | Governor Hates Syrian Vetting Process... Isn't Sure Why (11/22/15) [10:05]
RT | CrossTalk: Returning to Growth (11/23/15) [23:59]
RoF | Donald Trump Speaks For The GOP: Bigotry Can Win You The Presidency (11/23/15) [10:50]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.23.2015. 13:38

Friday November 20, 2015
News Articles

Bernie Sanders Channels FDR To Explain What 'Democratic Socialism' Means To Him
HP | Samantha Lachman | 11/19/15

Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sought to contextualize his self-described "democratic socialism" on Thursday by pointing out that many of the programs Americans use today -- such as unemployment insurance, Social Security and Medicare -- were considered radical when they were introduced decades ago.

... Sanders' speech invoked Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1944 State of the Union address, in which the president described "a second Bill of Rights" to provide more economic security for the American people. Sanders quoted Roosevelt, who said that "true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men." ... ... "In other words, real freedom must include economic security," Sanders said. ... Read more

Ex-Drone Operator Says Program Is 'Good At Killing People, Just Not The Right Ones'
HP | Dana Liebelson | 11/19/15

Former U.S. drone operators and technicians spoke out on Thursday about the extensive problems with the Obama administration's lethal program in the Middle East, shedding light on civilian deaths, the callousness of the culture, and the heavy weight of responsibility. The ex-drone program participants outlined their experiences at an event held in New York that was organized to promote the new documentary Drone.

Michael Haas, who is a former senior airman with the U.S. air force and helped guide missiles to their targets, according to the Guardian, discussed his experience serving under the administrations of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, which included working as an instructor. He said over time the quality of personnel rapidly declined, and the mentality under the Obama administration shifted to where, "a meritorious thing to do was to fire a shot, circumstances be damned." ... Read more

The Hunger Game
MotherJones | Shane Bauer | older 12/00/14

When Waed and Hassan fell in love, they were students in a neighborhood of internet cafes and all-night parties. Then the Assad regime turned their world into a medieval hellscape.

... There were many sounds: children playing soccer in the alleys, men advertising the watermelons they pushed around on wooden carts, stereo-projected voices calling the devout to prayer. In between the honking of horns and vrooming of motorcycles there were the coos of pigeons, the dings of bicycle bells, the gossip of neighbors.

The scent of food always beckoned on Yarmouk Street: warm, cheese-filled pastries dripping with sugary syrup; the best falafel in Damascus; pizzalike things called fata'ir that came in 10 different varieties and cast tantalizing scents a block away. People were poor in Yarmouk, more so than in most of Damascus, but there was always much food. Many had large bellies.

Who then could conceive that imams would one day announce it was no longer religiously taboo to eat cats or donkeys? Women and children couldn't yet dream they would soon be sifting through the grass for edible weeds. No one could imagine that on a street outside some apartments, there would be a little pile of cat heads next to men and children flaying the mangy animals and boiling them in a pot. ... Read more

Real American History Neither Ted Cruz Nor the New York Times Will Tell You
AlterNet | Ben Norton | 11/20/15

We talk democracy, then overthrow elected governments and prop up awful regimes. Let's discuss the actual history.

The disant Land of the Free and Home of the Brave has a long and iniquitous history of overthrowing democratically elected leftist governments and propping up right-wing dictators in their place.

In the second Democratic presidential debate, however, candidate Bernie Sanders condemned a long-standing government policy his peers rarely admit exists. "I think we have a disagreement," Sanders said of fellow presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. "And the disagreement is that not only did I vote against the war in Iraq. If you look at history, you will find that regime change -- whether it was in the early '50s in Iran, whether it was toppling Salvador Allende in Chile, or whether it was overthrowing the government of Guatemala way back when -- these invasions, these toppling of governments, regime changes have unintended consequences. I would say that on this issue I'm a little bit more conservative than the secretary." ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Friday, November 20 [8:42]
*DN | Glenn Greenwald: "Shameless" U.S. Officials Exploit Paris Attacks to Defend Spying & Attack Snowden (11/19/15) [16:32]
*DN | Glenn Greenwald: on "Submissive" Media's Drumbeat for War and Anti-Muslim Scapegoating, Part 1 (11/19/15) [10:16]
*DN | Glenn Greenwald: on "Submissive" Media's Drumbeat for War and Anti-Muslim Scapegoating, Part 2 (11/19/15) [15:07]
*DR | Friday News -- Domestic (11/20/15) [1hr]
*DR | Friday News -- International (11/20/15) [1hr]
TRNN | Hypocrisy Dressed Up as "Realism" Justifies American Alliance with Saudi Dictatorship (older) [16:31]
*TYT | Trump Wants Mandatory Badges On Muslim Americans (11/19/15) [9:20]
*TYT | Christian Bullies Muslim At Town Hall (11/19/15) [9:57]
*TYT | Most Americans Would Turn Away Syrian Refugees (11/19/15) [10:11]
TYT | ISIS Terror Cell "Mastermind" Killed In Paris Police Raid (11/19/15) [10:21]
RT | CrossTalk: Talking Syria (11/20/15) [24:26]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E210) - Paris (11/20/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | Who Killed Kennedy? (full) (11/19/15) [56:15]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.20.2015. 15:37

Thursday November 19, 2015
News Articles
Today Headlines

"ARCHITECT" DEAD... Killed In Police Standoff... Unclear If He Blew Himself Up... Woman Killed Confirmed As His Cousin... Believed To Be Behind 4 Thwarted Attacks In France... Whereabouts Of Second Fugitive Still Unknown... AP: ISIS Working On Making Chemical Weapons... Belgium Cracks Down... Suspects Slipped Past Belgian Law Enforcement... French Lawmakers Back Extension of Emergency Law... France Seeks Global Alliance Against ISIS... Obama Wary Of Russia... U.S. Struggles To Track Homegrown Recruits...

U.S. Investigators Struggle to Track Homegrown ISIS Suspects
NYTimes | Michael S. Schmidt | 11/19/15

This year, American counterterrorism officials began focusing their resources on these Americans -- known as homegrown violent extremists -- after the Islamic State altered its tactics. After months of trying to persuade Americans to travel to join it in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, began using social media to urge its sympathizers in the United States to stay put and plot violence here.

... Despite the Islamic State's urging of its followers to stay here, senior counterterrorism officials have so far identified roughly four dozen Americans who have evaded the authorities and traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State since the conflict began there in 2011, about twice the number that officials have said previously. Some of them are known to have died on the battlefield. A small number have returned to the United States but have lost interest in the cause, the officials say. ... Read more

Boko Haram Actually Kills More People In Terror Attacks Than ISIS
Click picture to zoom in
*DN | Desperate Journey: Shocking Video Shows Risks Refugee Families Take to Reach Europe Safely (11/19/15) [9:00]

The Fed-Induced Farce
ZeroHedge | author | 11/19/15

The Fed has created a dead end street for everyone not in their .1% clientele. They have kept rates too low for far too long and with the 99.9% already experiencing a recession, their desire to raise rates will hit a brick wall of reality. Their easy money schemes to enrich their owners has resulted in the issuance of trillions more in debt by the government, corporations and consumers. The $60 trillion of total credit market debt will implode if rates go up by even 1% or 2%. The corporate titans are now facing huge headwinds, as consumers have nothing left to spend, the strengthening dollar is sapping their profits, and higher interest rates will put an end to the faux housing recovery.

The Fed has destroyed the finances of senior citizens, savers and the pension plans of corporations and local governments with their 0% interest rates. The Wall Street bankers and their Fed puppets can surely see the writing on the wall. They will drive stocks as high as possible so they can cash out before the next collapse. They don't care about their clients, the middle class, or the future of the country.

We're all muppets to the banking cabal running this morally and financially bankrupt military empire of debt. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, November 19 [11:33]
*DN | Refugees are Not Terrorists: HRW Decries Efforts to Reject People Fleeing Wars in Syria & Iraq (11/19/15) [11:13]
*DN | Rep. Barbara Lee, Sole Vote Against Unlimited War After 9/11, Demands Debate on New Military Action (11/19/15) [13:14]
*DR | Building A Global Coalition To Defeat ISIS (11/19/15) [1hr]
The hunt continues for those behind the Paris attacks, as a growing number of regional and world powers agree on the need to unite against ISIS. Diane and guests discuss the prospects for an international coalition and the strategies on the table.
TRNN | Journalist Barry Lando explains how French airstrikes on ISIS, its military presence in North Africa, and contentious relationship with its Muslim community planted the seeds for an attack (11/19/15) [8:01]
TRNN | DC Mass Action: Global Citizens, Michael Moore, and an Alpaca Come Together in Protest of TPP (11/19/15) [3:09]
TYT | Boko Haram Kills 49 In Nigeria Suicide Bombings (11/18/15) [4:29]
TYT | Can America Ban A Religion? (11/18/15) [5:47]
TYT | France INCREASES Syrian Refugee Intake After Paris Attacks (11/18/15) [6:25]
RT | Oil on Fire: Russian jets destroy ISIS refineries, trucks and wells (11/19/15) [5:50]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E209) - Rubio's Free Pass (full) (11/19/15) [29:00]
RoF | Ben Carson's Advisers Think He'd Be A Terrible President (11/18/15) [2:16]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | The Big Picture: The Right is Wrong on Economics (full) (11/19/15) [57:36]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.19.2015. 11:06

Wednesday November 18, 2015
News Articles
Of the 784,000 refugees resettled in the U.S. since 9/11, how many have plotted terrorist acts?? 3

This Chart Is The Perfect Rebuttal To Governors Who Won't Take In Syrian Refugees
ThinkProgress.org | Dylan Petrohilos | 11/17/15

Governors from more than half of country are attempting to block refugees fleeing conflict in Syria from being settled in their states citing concerns that they might carry out terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. Experts familiar with the issue say their fears are largely unfounded.

Evidence collected so far suggests that refugees were not involved in carrying out the gun and bomb attacks on the French capital. While hundreds of thousands of migrants have turned up on European shores in the last several months seeking asylum, the U.S. refugee resettlement program vets each person it admits through rigorous background checks that have a nearly flawless record at keeping terrorists out. ... Read more

All Paris Attackers Identified So Far Are European Nationals, According To Top EU Official.

Weapons Companies' Stocks Surge After Paris Attacks
MotherJones | author | date

When the New York Stock Exchange opened Monday morning, less than three days after Islamic State terrorists attacked in Paris, five leading American weapons manufacturers saw their stock prices jump. Fox Business attributed the bump to a "reaction to the attacks in France." Over the weekend, French President Francois Hollande had announced that his country would "lead a war which will be pitiless" against ISIS and launched a "massive" airstrike on its stronghold in Syria.

Shares of Lockheed Martin, known for its Hellfire missiles and its lead role in the troubled $1.5-trillion F-35 project, jumped 3.5 percent. Raytheon, manufacturer of Tomahawk missiles used in air strikes against ISIS, climbed 4.1 percent. Northrop Grumman, which in October landed a $55 billion deal to build the next stealth bomber, saw a 4.4 percent rise. Both General Dynamics, maker of F-16s, and Boeing, whose Small Diameter Bombs and Joint Direct Attack Munitions have been used in the air campaign against ISIS, ended the day with increases of 1.9 and 1.3 percent, respectively. ... Read more
Click picture to zoom in

Hollande: France Will Still Take In 30,000 Refugees In Next 2 Years.

The GOP Clown Car Rolls On
RollingStone | Matt Taibbi | 11/17/15

Not one of them can win, but one must. That's the paradox of the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, fast becoming the signature event in the history of black comedy.

Conventional wisdom says that with the primaries and caucuses rapidly approaching, front-running nuts Donald Trump and Dr. Ben Carson must soon give way to the "real" candidates. But behind Trump and Carson is just more abyss. As I found out on a recent trip to New Hampshire, the rest of the field is either just as crazy or as dangerous as the current poll leaders, or too bumbling to win.

... Instead, HashtagClownCar will almost certainly continue to be the most darkly ridiculous political story since Henry II of Champagne, the 12th-century king of Jerusalem, plunged to his death after falling out of a window with a dwarf. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, November 18 [9:03]
DN | "It is Very Un-American": 27 U.S. Governors Refuse to Accept Refugees Fleeing Violence in Syria (11/17/15) [3:55]
DN | "A Disturbing Increase in Islamophobia": U.S. Mosques Threatened, Canadian Mosque Set on Fire (11/17/15) [2:55]
*DR | Legal Issues, Security Risks, And Politics Surrounding The Resettlement of Syrian Refugees In The U.S. (11/18/15) [1hr]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | Start Getting Used To Saying President Trump (11/18/15) [5:49] TRNN | Loretta Napoleon, author of 'Islamic Phoenix,' discusses how the Islamic State is financed (11/17/15) [12:51]
TRNN | Hamid Khan: The Surveillance-Industrial Complex (11/18/15) [29:08]
TYT | Ben Carson's Intelligence Was Just A Joke: China Not Actually In Syria (11/17/15) [7:57]
TYT | How The US Screens Refugees (11/17/15) [3:55]
TYT | Paris Attack Survivor's Story Teaches A Powerful Lesson (11/17/15) [5:29]
RT | CrossTalk: Terror over Sinai (11/17/15) [23:44]
RT | Keiser Report: Earning by Mirage (E837) (11/17/15) [22:38]
RoF | As College Students Fight Back, Republicans Make Student Debt Crisis Worse (11/18/15) [14:35]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | How Western Militarists Play Into the Hands of Isis (11/18/15) [9:54]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.18.2015. 14:57

Tuesday November 17, 2015
News Articles

HEADLINES FOR TODAY

RUSSIA: IT WAS TERRORISM... Confirms Metrojet Brought Down By Bomb Last Month... Strikes ISIS... Offers $50M For Info On Bombers... 'We Will Find Them Anywhere On The Planet And Punish Them'... Egypt Detains Airport Workers... France Beefs Up War... Yazidis Fear For Relatives Held Captive... Hollande Pushes For More Powers... Le Pen Calls For 'Immediate Halt' To Refugee Flow... All Known Paris Attackers Were From Europe!... Cruz Bringing Bill To Bar Syrian Refugees... 24 Governors Seek To Block... Press Turns Hawkish... THE RETURN OF REPUBLICAN ISLAMOPHOBIA... Backlash Only Helps ISIS... What We Know About The Paris Terrorists... Path From Barkeep To Suicide Bomber...


Huffington Post Morning EMail

Economic Theory Meets Main Street Reality
ZeroHedge | author | 11/17/15

Since the end of the financial crisis, there has been an ongoing debate about the economy. However, the debate I am speaking of is not between investors and Wall Street, but rather between economic theory and "Main Street" reality.

Over the last few months, in particular, economic and media "experts" have become more vocal about the ongoing detachment between economic theory and actual economic activity. The ongoing hope, as point out by Myles Udland recently, is "this time is different:" ... Read more
Click picture to zoom in
Click picture to zoom in

U.S. Airstrikes Destroy 116 Fuel Trucks Used By ISIS In Eastern Syria. Gee what have we been bombing for the last 14 months??

Mothers of ISIS
HP | Julia Ioffe | 11/17/15

In Calgary, between the soccer practices and the hours at her accounting job and the potlucks with the neighbors, Christianne Boudreau spent every spare minute watching Islamic State videos, her nose pressed up against the computer screen.

She sat in the basement of her middle-class home in her middle-class suburb, a bare room that once belonged to her eldest son, Damian, and watched men posturing with big guns like teenagers. She watched firefights. She watched executions. But Boudreau barely registered any of the bloodshed. She was focused on the faces behind the balaclavas, trying to spot her son's eyes. ... Read more
Mothers of ISIS (11/17/15) [7:23]

Look At These Photos Before You Say We Can't Take In Syrian Refugees
HP | Nick Wing | 11/16/15

French authorities are still piecing together information about the terrorist operation that killed at least 129 and wounded hundreds more in Paris last week, but on Monday, a number of American politicians said they'd heard enough to make one immediate conclusion: There's no place for Syrian refugees in the U.S.

The Islamic State claimed credit for the Friday attacks, and a Syrian passport found near one of the suicide bombers sparked concern that the group might be exploiting the migrant crisis to sneak extremists into Western countries. It's still not clear if the document legitimately belonged to the attacker, was stolen or was forged, but conservative politicians in both Europe and the U.S. were quick to push the idea that accepting more Syrian refugees would serve as an invitation to Islamic militants. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Tuesday, November 17 [8:22]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | Colonel Jack Jacobs discusses: The World Is United Against ISIS, So What Do We Do? (11/17/15) [3:13]
Stephen Cobert | We Stand With The People Of France (11/17/15) [4:08]
*DR | The Attacks In Paris and Options To Combat Terrorism (11/16/15) [1hr]
*TRNN | Col. Larry Wilkerson discusses: Paris Evokes 9/11 in State of Fear and Revenge (11/17/15) [12:07]
TRNN | Jeff Cohen discusses: Sanders Puncture Clinton's Foreign Policy Experience Bubble (11/17/15) [9:06]
*TYT | ISIS Threatens To Strike Washington D.C. (11/16/15) [4:06]
*TYT | Peaceful Mosques Terrorized By Right Wing Extremists (11/16/15) [3:00]
*TYT | Muslims Take Stand Against ISIS (11/16/15) [19:42]
RT | CrossTalk: on Paris attacks: Mourning The Victims (11/16/15) [22:54]
RT | VIDEO: Russian strategic bombers on anti-ISIS sorties to Syria (11/17/15) [1:07]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E207) - U.S. Police Lead The Way In Police Violence (11/16/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
*ThomHartmann | Dear Republicans, Stop Helping ISIS! (full) (11/16/15) [57:07]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.17.2015. 10:42

Monday November 16, 2015
News Articles

Democratic Candidates All Want to Destroy ISIS, But Mostly Debate Domestic Issues
AlterNet | Steven Rosenfeld | 11/15/15

A day after the horrific terrorist attacks in Paris, the three Democratic presidential candidates told a national audience that America must be part of an international coalition that uses military force and other tools to destroy ISIS, but gave little insight into their thinking about how they would confront the threat in an increasingly volatile world.

Compared to remarks by the Republican candidates on Saturday (Donald Trump said France's gun control laws worsened the carnage while others said President Obama created ISIS by bringing U.S. troops home from Iraq), the Democratic candidates were less inflammatory, more nuanced and projected some understanding of the region's complexity.

"We have to look at ISIS as the leading threat of an international terror network," former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "It cannot be contained, it must be defeated.... But it cannot be an American fight. And I think what the president has consistently said, which I agree with, is that we will support those who take the fight to ISIS." ... Read more
CBS News | Democratic Presidential Debate -(full) 11/14/15 [1:39:21]

All Paris Attackers Identified So Far Are European Nationals, According To Top EU Official.

Why A Backlash Against Refugees Only Helps ISIS
HP | Robins Early | 11/15/15

Almost immediately after the Islamic State claimed responsibility for killing at least 129 and wounding hundreds more in a series of terror attacks in Paris on Friday night, a number of conservative groups tied European immigration policies to the attacks. But some experts warn that anti-immigration rhetoric could play into the hands of extremists.

The criticism of immigration intensified after French authorities revealed that a Syrian passport was found near the body of one of the attackers. It is currently unclear how the passport got there, and there is mounting evidence it is a fake, as well as the possibility it was stolen. However, someone carrying the document did travel from Turkey, through Greece and the Balkans, to Western Europe. ... Read more

You Can't Understand ISIS If You Don't Know the History of Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia
HP | author | date

Abd al-Wahhab argued that all Muslims must individually pledge their allegiance to a single Muslim leader (a Caliph, if there were one). Those who would not conform to this view should be killed, their wives and daughters violated, and their possessions confiscated, he wrote.

The dramatic arrival of Da'ish (ISIS) on the stage of Iraq has shocked many in the West. Many have been perplexed -- and horrified -- by its violence and its evident magnetism for Sunni youth. But more than this, they find Saudi Arabia's ambivalence in the face of this manifestation both troubling and inexplicable, wondering, "Don't the Saudis understand that ISIS threatens them, too?"

It appears -- even now -- that Saudi Arabia's ruling elite is divided. Some applaud that ISIS is fighting Iranian Shiite "fire" with Sunni "fire"; that a new Sunni state is taking shape at the very heart of what they regard as a historical Sunni patrimony; and they are drawn by Da'ish's strict Salafist ideology. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, November 16 [10:39]
*DN | "We Shouldn't Play into the Hands of ISIS": Vijay Prashad on Danger of Military Escalation in Syria (11/16/15) [8:08]
DN | "We are Scared, We are Grieving": Muslim Activist in Paris Condemns Attacks, Rising Islamophobia (11/16/15) [11:18]
DN | Voices from a City in Mourning: Paris Reels After 129 Killed in Deadliest Attacks in Decades (11/16/15) [9:53]
John Oliver
HBO | John Oliver: Daily Fantasy Sports (11/15/15) [19:02]
HBO | John Oliver: Paris terror attack (11/15/15) [2:49]
*TRNN | Elizabeth Warren Investigation Finds Taxpayers Could Be on the Hook for $10 Trillion in Risky Derivatives (11/16/15) [11:35]
TRNN | France Seeks Revenge Against ISIS in Syria (11/16/15) [9:33]
*TYT | The BIGGEST WINNER Of The CBS Democratic Presidential Debate Was... (11/15/15) [4:59]
TYT | The BIGGEST LOSER Of The CBS Democratic Presidential Debate Was... (11/15/15) [5:06]
RoF | Remember When Jeb's Brother Helped Create More Terrorists? Jeb Cleary Doesn't.(11/16/15) [2:35]
RoF | Military Contractors Already Cashing In On Paris Terrorist Attacks. (11/16/15) [1:52]
RAYTHEON Cashing In On Syria Already (older) [4:18]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | America's Dollar Democracy Exposed (full) (11/15/15) [57:22]
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.16.2015. 18:08

Friday November 13, 2015
News Articles

WaPo: GOP In Panic Mode Over Carson, Trump ...
HP | author | 11/13/15

Less than three months before the kick-off Iowa caucuses, there is growing anxiety bordering on panic among Republican elites about the dominance and durability of Donald Trump and Ben Carson and widespread bewilderment over how to defeat them. ... Read more

The American Way of War in the Twenty-First Century (It's a $cam!)
TomDispatch.com | Tom Engelhardt | 11/12/15

Let's begin with the $12 billion in shrink-wrapped $100 bills, Iraqi oil money held in the U.S. The Bush administration began flying it into Baghdad on C-130s soon after U.S. troops entered that city in April 2003. Essentially dumped into the void that had once been the Iraqi state, at least $1.2 to $1.6 billion of it was stolen and ended up years later in a mysterious bunker in Lebanon. And that's just what happened as the starting gun went off.

It's never ended. In 2011, the final report of the congressionally mandated Commission on Wartime Contracting estimated that somewhere between $31 billion and $60 billion taxpayer dollars had been lost to fraud and waste in the American "reconstruction" of Iraq and Afghanistan. In Iraq, for instance, there was that $75 million police academy, initially hailed "as crucial to U.S. efforts to prepare Iraqis to take control of the country's security." It was, however, so poorly constructed that it proved a health hazard. In 2006, "feces and urine rained from the ceilings in [its] student barracks" and that was only the beginning of its problems. ... Read more

We have an outrageous National Debt, but is because of our excessive spending on our domestic population? No. Look closely at the trillions of dollars the Military squanders on waste and fraud and the Federal Reserve on its Quatitative Easing that it has enslaves us with.
Pentagon
**Daily Ticker | Find the $8.5 Trillion the Pentagon Can't Account For (2014) [5:32]
Federal Reserve
Who Owns our National Debt (Sept 2014)
  1. Foreign - $6.013 trillion (mostly China and Japan)
  2. Federal Reserve - $2.461 trillion
  3. Mutual Funds - $1.033 trillion
  4. State and Local Government, including their pension funds - $818 billion
  5. Private Pension Funds - $506 billion
  6. Banks - $407 billion
  7. Insurance Companies - $269 billion
  8. U.S. Savings Bonds - $177 billion
  9. Other - individuals, government-sponsored enterprises, brokers and dealers, bank personal trusts and estates, corporate and non-corporate businesses, and other investors - $1.115 billion.
CNBC | The Size of the Bank Bailout: $29 Trillion (12/14/11) (article)
$29,000,000,000,000: A Detailed Look at the Fed's Bailout by Funding Facility and Recipient (pdf)
There have been a number of estimates of the total amount of funding provided by the Federal Reserve to bail out the financial system. For example, Bloomberg recently claimed that the cumulative commitment by the Fed (this includes asset purchases plus lending) was $7.77 trillion. As part of the Ford Foundation project "A Research and Policy Dialogue Project on Improving Governance of the Government Safety Net in Financial Crisis," Nicola Matthews and James Felkerson have undertaken an examination of the data on the Fed's bailout of the financial system--the most comprehensive investigation of the raw data to date. This working paper is the first in a series that will report the results of this investigation.
Additional charts that show other problems that have contributed to the National Debt.

Donald Trump's New Book To Debut Behind Ben Carson's On New York Times Bestseller List
BuzzFeed | McKay Coppins | 11/12/15

Trump's new book, Crippled America, will debut on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction bestseller list at #5 -- one spot below Carson's book, A More Perfect Union. The yet-to-be-released list was sent to BuzzFeed News by a publishing industry source, and will appear in the Nov. 22 edition of the New York Times Book Review.

As BuzzFeed News recently reported, the celebrity billionaire's proposal was passed over earlier this year by some publishers, who were skeptical of his staying power in the 2016 race, and then came to regret their decision. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Friday, November 13 [10:03]
*DN | "A Very Big Mistake": Joseph Stiglitz Slams Obama for Pushing the TPP (11/12/15) [11:43]
*DN | Our Economy Is Not Working: Joseph Stiglitz on Widening Income Inequality & the Fight for $15 (11/12/15) [4:23]
*DN | Stiglitz: Sanders is Right - Everybody Has the Right to Healthcare, Sick Days and Family Leave (11/12/15) [7:01]
*DN | "Tomorrow's Battlefield": As U.S. Special Ops Enter Syria, Growing Presence in Africa Goes Unnoticed (11/13/15) [16:19]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | The Next Debate Will Feature Hillary, Bernie and ... (11/13/15) [8:42]
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah: The Rich 'Just Showing Off': On Post-Citizens United Campaign Spending
*DR | Friday News -- Domestic (11/13/15) [1hr]
*DR | Friday News -- International (11/13/15) [1hr]
*TYT | Disgusting Leaked Footage Of Pig Farm (11/12/15) [6:57]
TYT | Trump And Ben Carson Think Black Mizzou Protestors Should Shut Up (11/12/15) [9:17]
TYT | Trump's "Deportation Force" Too Nuts For Even Bill O'Reilly (11/12/15) [8:39]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E206) - Democratic Socialism Works (11/12/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | Another Major Union Endorses Bernie Sanders (full) (11/12/15) [57:16]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.13.2015. 12:38

Thursday November 12, 2015
News Articles

Something Very Strange Is Taking Place Off The Coast Of Galveston, TX
ZeroHedge | author | 11/12/15

Having exposed the world yesterday to the 2-mile long line of tankers-full'o'crude heading from Iraq to the US, several weeks after reporting that China has run out of oil storage space we can now confirm that the global crude "in transit" glut is becoming gargantuan and is starting to have adverse consequences on the price of oil.

While the crude oil tanker backlog in Houston reaches an almost unprecedented 39 (with combined capacity of 28.4 million barrels), as The FT reports that from China to the Gulf of Mexico, the growing flotilla of stationary supertankers is evidence that the oil price crash may still have further to run, as more than 100m barrels of crude oil and heavy fuels are being held on ships at sea (as the year-long supply glut fills up available storage on land). The storage problems are so severe in fact, that traders asking ships to go slow, and that is where we see something very strange occurring off the coast near Galveston, TX. ... Read more

Diabetes Now Kills More Than HIV, Tuberculosis And Malaria Combined

There's a Horrifying Pork Factory Video Going Around. The Story Behind It Is Even Worse.
MotherJones | Ted Genoways | 11/11/15

Earlier today, animal rights organization Compassion Over Killing released a new undercover video shot at the Quality Pork Processors (QPP) plant in Austin, Minnesota. That cut-and-kill operation is part of the Hormel Foods Corporation's flagship complex.

QPP processes between 19,000 and 22,000 hogs per day depending on demand, making it one of the most productive facilities in the country. But the video also suggests that the volume and speed of processing results in shocking mistreatment of animals. Downed hogs are shown being kicked and dragged toward the slaughter area. Some conscious hogs are shown shackled to the conveyor chain, while others, still alive, have their throats slit and are sent to the scalding tank. The video also documents hogs with pus-filled abscesses and what appears to be fecal contamination being processed for food--as well as an employee who seems to be nodding off at his workstation. ... Read more

Sociopaths who once ran the country (mind boggling).
PBS Frontline: The Warning, The Financial Collapse - Brooksley Born [56:17]

Brooksley Born was one of the few that spoke up before 2007 to say that we were heading toward a train wreck. Look at the video and see who was on the other side.




Apple Has Enough Money to Buy Every Major Sports Team in the World
AlterNet | Kali Holloway | 11/12/15

Earlier this year, Apple had the best earnings quarter in history. That means it outdid every company, revenue and profit-wise, ever. It just bested that report last week, when it announced that in the last quarter, revenue hit $51.5 billion and profits rose to $11.1 billion. Obviously, even for the most successful company of all time, that's a pretty good haul. But as BGR notes, Apple is even richer than you probably think. In fact, the company has so much money, it could purchase every major sports team in the world. As of the end of October, Apple's coffers held $206 billion.

The closest competitor to Apple, by the way? That would be Microsoft, which according to Forbes holds a paltry $108 billion. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, November 12 [10:42]
*DN | Cuban-American Candidates Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio Tout Immigrant Narratives Despite Stances on Reform (11/11/15) [12:53]
DN | GOP Candidates Spar on Syria & Immigration, but Agree on One Thing: Don't Raise the Minimum Wage (11/11/15) [11:19]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | The 4th GOP Debate Was A Thing That Happened (11/12/15) [4:20]
DR | The White House Asks For A Supreme Court Ruling On Immigration Reform (11/12/15) [1hr]
TRNN | Dan Zegart discusses: Fossil Fuel Companies Under Investigation for Role in Climate Change Denial (11/12/15) [8:19]
*TYT | How America ACTUALLY Treats Veterans (11/11/15) [9:06]
TYT | Ben Carson: We Shouldn't Raise The Minimum Wage, But It Should Be Higher (11/11/15) [12:21]
RT | Keiser Report: Dead Industries, Zombie Banks & Broken Markets (E835) (11/12/15) [24:57]
R0F | Ring of Fire (E205) - A Dying Party (11/11/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
*ThomHartmann | How Reaganomics Killed America's Middle Class: A Conversation with economist Richard Wolff (full) (11/11/15) [56:30]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.12.2015. 11:51

Wednesday November 11, 2015
News Articles

Republicans Debated For 2 Hours And We’re No Closer To A Nominee
HP | Scot Conroy | 11/11/15

Winners and losers were hard to find, as the defining feature of Tuesday night’s Republican presidential debate was its lack of definition.

In stark contrast to the first three GOP face-offs, each of which carved an underlying narrative that drove subsequent news coverage, Tuesday's forum had many moments that stuck out, but few that appeared likely to have a lasting effect on the contours of the wide-open race. Any Republicans who had hoped that the Fox Business Network debate might thin the still-sprawling GOP field will leave Milwaukee disappointed. All eight competitors on the main stage had their moments -- and so did the four who faced off in the undercard debate beforehand. ... Read more
4th Republican GOP Debate in Milwaukee (full) (11/10/15) [1:54:51]

Everything You Need To Know About The Republican Candidates' Tax Plans
HP | Zach Carter | 11/10/15

The tax proposals from the Republican presidential hopefuls all have two things in common: They would balloon the deficit and shower the wealthy with lots of money. The various candidates' plans all have different details. Some would eliminate all taxes on stock trades and real estate investments, which would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthy, while others would repeal the estate tax, which literally only affects the heirs of millionaires. But the proposals all employ the same broad strategy: Give a small number of very wealthy people massive, hulking piles of money, while giving everyone else much tinier piles. In other words, they're newer, bigger versions of President George W. Bush's tax cuts.

Just how well the rich would make out, and how much the deficit would swell, depends on whether or not big tax cuts for the wealthy will significantly boost the broader economy. Recent history and traditional economic modeling suggest they will not. The Bush tax cuts dramatically boosted the take-home pay of the wealthiest Americans, but did not ultimately increase wages. The resulting inequality, meanwhile, may have exacerbated the housing bubble that consumed the economy and fueled the 2008 banking crash.

Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.)
According to Citizens for Tax Justice:
Rubio's plan would increase the national debt by $11.8 trillion over the next decade, the think tank finds. More than one-third of the plan's tax cuts would flow to the top 1 percent of taxpayers, who would see their incomes go up by an average of $223,783 per year.... Read more

Stunning Images From America's Wars [PHOTOS]
MotherJones | Mark Murrmann | older

Like many photographers, Peter van Agtmael rushed to cover the wars of his generation—in his case, Iraq and Afghanistan. And, like anyone who goes to war, he came back a different man, deeply affected by his experiences, by the events that took place before his camera and, especially, by the people he met in those countries. ... Read more

I saw this article and looked at the pictures. I'm already a beliver that was is just a showcase for the Military Industrial Complex, so I didn't need any convincing. What I found interesting were the Comments.
Michael Stone
War is Hell.... But the generals love it.
psnchz
And arm manufacturing ceos even more.
psnchz
And warhawk politicians up for reelection even more
George Bures
The old declare war and the young fight and die in them.
RudyTwoShoes
"The old greedy and well placed declare war and the young fight and die in them."
elementaryschoolvolunteer
and we who elect them (either by voting or not voting)??
nowhereman
Don't forget all the help we get by the GOPTP gerrymandering, Diebold touch screen voting machines and of course Citizens United. I vote every time but it's like spitting in the wind where I live.
nowhereman
Yup--war is big business.
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, November 11 [8:00]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Colbert | Did Ben Carson Really Try To Stab A Dude? (11/10/15) [4:39]
Stephen Colbert | Baby Hitler Is No Match For Jeb! (11/11/15) 4:17]
DR | The Latest GOP Debate And The Role Of Televised Debates In The Election Process (11/11/15) [1hr]
Note: sometimes News Shows post their videos fast, and some days they seem to lag. If I don't/can't get the exact address of the video, by the time I go to press, hopefully I can get you to the right website and you can find the video yourself. Thanks for your understanding.
DR | A True Story Of Veterans Who Came Home And Found New Ways To Serve (11/11/15) [1hr]
TRNN | Ty Moore explains: Low-Wage Workers to Target Republican Debate in Milwaukee (11/10/15) [11:05]
TYT | Who Won The FBN/WSJ GOP Debate? (11/10/15) [7:18]
*TYT | The Biggest LOSER Of FBN/WSJ GOP Debate Was... (11/10/15) [7:50]
TYT | FBN/WSJ GOP Debate | The Young Turks Summary (11/10/15) [6:30]
*RT | CrossTalk: Syria: Fighting For Peace (11/11/15) [24:20]
*RoF | Ring of Fire (E204) - One Pipeline Down, Many More To Go (11/10/15) [29:00]
RoF | Bernie Sanders Gets The Job Done – A Rarity in American Politics (11/10/15) [2:53]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
*ThomHartmann | Understanding Climate Change: A Conversation with Michael Mann (full) (11/10/15) [57:25]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.11.2015. 10:44

Tuesday November 10, 2015
News Articles

California Could Be the Next Saudi Arabia

MotherJones | Tom Philpott | 11/09/15

In the early 1980s, Saudi Arabia embarked upon a bold project: It began to transform large swaths of desert landscape into wheat farms. Now, "desert agriculture" isn't quite the oxymoron it might sound like. These arid zones offer ample sunlight and cool nights, and harbor few crop-chomping insects, fungal diseases, or weed species. As long as you can strategically add water and fertilizer, you'll generate bin-busting crops. And that's exactly what Saudi Arabia did. As this Bloomberg News piece shows, the oil-producing behemoth grew so much wheat for about two decades that "its exports could feed Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, and Yemen."

But starting in the mid-2000s, Saudi wheat production began to taper off. Soon after, it plunged. This year and from now on, the country will produce virtually no wheat, and instead rely on global markets for the staple grain. What happened? ... Read more

In the historic town of Tayma, which was built atop a desert oasis mentioned several times in the Old Testament, researchers in 2011 found "most wells exsiccated." That's academic speak for "bone dry." The once-verdant Tayma oasis that had sustained human life for millennia--archaeologists have found stone tablets there dating back 2,500 years--was drained in one generation.

Obama Explains Why 'The Greatest Corporate Power Grab In History' Is "The Right Thing For America"
ZeroHedge | author | 11/10/15

While some have called The Trans-Pacific Partnership, "the most brazen corporate power grab in American history," President Obama tells Americans - in an Op-Ed released today - that "it’s the right thing to do for our economy, for working Americans and for our middle class" Despite indepedent analysis that appears to confirm the creeping corporate coup d’état along with the final evisceration of national sovereignty, President Obama explains - in simple words - ObamaTrade is "a trade deal that helps working families get ahead," due, inhis opinion, to the "toughest global labor laws" which will allow American workers to compete on a so-called "level playing field." ... Hey Right ... Read more

Global Stocks Fall For 5th Day On Disturbing Chinese Inflation Data; Renewed Rate Hike Fears; Copper At 6 Year Low
ZeroHedge | author | 11/10/15

The ongoing failure of China to achieve any stabilization in its economy, after already cutting interest rates six times in the past year, and the prospect of a U.S. interest rate hike in December, had made markets increasingly jittery and worried which is not only why the S&P 500 Index had its biggest drop in a month, but thanks to the soaring dollar emerging market stocks are falling for a fourth day - led by China - bringing their decline in that period to almost 4 percent, and the global stock index down for a 5th consecutive day. ... Read more

Noam Chomsky: America's Empire of Chaos

AlterNet | C.J. Polychroniou | 11/09/15

US foreign policy in the 21st century has little to offer other than massive military power. Indeed, gone are the days when military might was used in order to "recreate the world in America's image." In the post-Cold War era, US military interventions take place in the absence of an overall strategic vision and with ideological justifications lacking force and conviction even among the United States' traditional allies. Little wonder then that military interventions, always illegal and unjustifiable, end up accomplishing nothing more than the creation of black holes, while giving rise in turn to new and ever increasing violent terrorist organizations bent on spreading their own vision of social and political order.

In this exclusive interview for Truthout, Noam Chomsky reflects on the dynamics of US foreign policy in the 21st century and the implications of the policy of raining down destruction for world order. Chomsky also assesses the role of Russia's involvement in Syria, the rise of the Islamic State and the apparent attraction it holds for many young Muslims from Europe, and offers a grim view about the future of US foreign policy.... Read more

The Daily Show Nails Ben Carson's Latest Insanity
AlterNet | Adam Johnson | 11/10/15

As studiously documented on Saturday, Ben Carson's web of lies is quickly unraveling. He stabbed a guy, but his victim can't be found. He attended a Yale class that didn't exist. He was offered a scholarship to West Point that was never offered. The Daily Show, with an increasingly steady Trevor Noah, took note. ... Read more
CC | The Daily Show Nails Ben Carson's Latest Insanity (11/10/15) [7:15]

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Tuesday, November 10 [9:03]
DN | Black Student Revolt Against Racism Ousts 2 Top Officials at University of Missouri (11/10/15) [23:30]
Stephen Colbert
Stephen Cobert | Trump And Bush Book It Out (11/05/15) [3:51]
Stephen Cobert | Fear Not, Karate Cops Are Here (11/05/15) [5:43]
DR | Racial Incidents, Student Protests And Resignations At The University of Missouri (11/10/15) [1hr]
*TRNN | Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader analyze Bernie Sanders' campaign, and the role of the two-party system in shutting out third parties. (11/10/15) [25:09]
TYT | Most Of Ben Carson’s Life Is A Lie (11/10/15) [19:41]
*TYT | Trump Says What GOP Thinks: Steal Iraqi Oil (11/09/15) [3:43]
RT | Heavy rains flood Gaza & Israel streets (1/09/15) [2:27]
*RT | Keiser Report: Kilkenomics - Where Comedy Meets Economics (E834) (11/10/15) [25:15]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E203) - We Still Must Tackles The TPP (11/09/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
*ThomHartmann | Greg Grandin - How Kissinger broke up the old national-security state (11/09/15) [12:48]
*ThomHartmann | Full Show: Exposing the Disastrous TPP (11/09/15) [57:18]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.10.2015. 11:21

Monday November 09, 2015
News Articles

Krugman Doesn't Understand Why "Darkness Is Spreading Over Part Of Our Society"
ZeroHedge | author | 11/09/15

Yet there is a darkness spreading over part of our society. And we don't really understand why. There has been a lot of comment, and rightly so, over a new paper by the economists Angus Deaton (who just won a Nobel) and Anne Case, showing that mortality among middle-aged white Americans has been rising since 1999. This deterioration took place while death rates were falling steadily both in other countries and among other groups in our own nation.

Even more striking are the proximate causes of rising mortality. Basically, white Americans are, in increasing numbers, killing themselves, directly or indirectly. Suicide is way up, and so are deaths from drug poisoning and the chronic liver disease that excessive drinking can cause. We've seen this kind of thing in other times and places -- for example, in the plunging life expectancy that afflicted Russia after the fall of Communism. But it's a shock to see it, even in an attenuated form, in America. ... Read more

For one thing, rising mortality is a uniquely American phenomenon -- yet America has both a much weaker welfare state and a much stronger role for traditional religion and values than any other advanced country. Sweden gives its poor far more aid than we do, and a majority of Swedish children are now born out of wedlock, yet Sweden's middle-aged mortality rate is only half of white America's.

Greenhouse Gases Reached Record Highs In 2014
Reuters & HP | author | 11/09/15

Global CO2 levels are now 143 percent of pre-industrial levels.

Greenhouse gas levels in the atmosphere reached a record high in 2014 as the relentless fueling of climate change makes the planet more dangerous for future generations, the World Meteorological Organization said on Monday.

Graphs issued by the United Nations agency showed levels of carbon dioxide, the maingreenhouse gas, climbing steadily towards the 400 parts per million (ppm) level, having hit a new record every year since reliable records began in 1984. ... Read more

World Bank Warns Of Mass Poverty If Climate Change Continues
HP | Laura Barron-Lopez | 11/08/15

100 Million More People Will Be In Poverty By 2030 Without Action On Climate, World Bank Says

If countries fail to sustain policies that combat the impacts of climate change while also providing safety nets for the world's poor, global warming will drive an additional 100 million people into poverty by 2030, a new World Bank report finds.

The report, titled "Shock Waves: Managing the Impacts of Climate Change on Poverty," argues that climate change is a "significant obstacle" to the eradication of poverty. Poor people are more likely to be impacted by climate-related "shocks" such as flooding, drought, crop failure, spikes in food prices, waterborne disease and the long list of extreme weather patterns that scientists have said will increase due to climate change. ... Read more

The Plan to Save the World
MotherJones | Rebecca Leber | 11/09/15

What success at the Paris climate conference looks like.

Already, the effects of climate change are clear and significant. Last year was the hottest in recorded history, and it's all but certain that 2015 will set a new record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Wildfires in the West this year have consumed a massive eight million acres of land and counting, while superstorms like Katrina and Sandy are becoming stronger and more frequent. But that's just the beginning. By the end of the century, the planet will become unrecognizable. The western United States will face Dust Bowl-like conditions that will persist for more than 30 years. As the oceans rise, island nations like the Maldives could disappear completely, while millions of people in Miami, New York, and Bangladesh will be forced from their homes. Looking further out, over the next several hundred years, the melting ice caps could cause sea levels to surge up to 200 feet, high enough to sink a ten-story building. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines fo Monday, November 09 [9:30]
*DN | Full Text of TPP Trade Deal Revealed -- and Critics Say It's Even Worse Than They Thought (11/09/15) [16:08]
*DN | Rejecting U.S. Claims, MSF Details Horrific Bombing of Afghan Hospital & Demands War Crimes Probe (11/09/15) [19:04]
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/
RachelMaddow | Bernie Sanders On How He Differs From Clinton, Democratic Forum (11/06/15) [2:40]
*TRNN | Republicans Push to Privatize Disability Insurance Despite 99.9% Payment Accuracy (11/09/15) [5:14]
TRNN | Netanyahu to Meet With Obama, Appear at Center for American Progress (11/09/15) [16:02]
*TYT | MSNBC Democratic Forum: By The Numbers (11/07/15) [7:38]
TYT | MSNBC's Democratic Forum | The Young Turks Summary (11/07/15) [3:47]
TYT | MSNBC's The Biggest WINNER Of MSNBC's Democratic Forum (11/07/15) [7:50]
*RT | CrossTalk: Chinese wave (11/09/15) [24:33]
*RoF | The Longer Politicians Stay Silent, The Worse Income Inequality Becomes (11/06/15) [9:09]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/

11.09.2015. 13:09

Wed & Thurs November 04 & 05, 2015
News Articles

Shock Report: Doctors Shot Fleeing From Kunduz Hospital
HP | Alana Horowitz Satlin | 11/05/15

The medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders released its internal report on Thursday about the October attack on its hospital in Kunduz, Afghanistan. At least 30 people were killed in the airstrikes, led by U.S. forces, the report said. "Patients burned in their beds," it added, and "medical staff were decapitated and lost limbs."

The organization found that "a patient in a wheelchair attempting to escape from the inpatient department ... was killed by shrapnel from a blast." The report also revealed that pilots shot at staff members fleeing the hospital. ... Read more

*Power Wars: Inside Obama's Post-9/11 Presidency by Charlie Savage

Barack Obama campaigned on a promise of change from George W. Bush's "global war on terror." Yet from indefinite detention and drone strikes to surveillance and military tribunals, Obama ended up continuing-and in some cases expanding-many policies he inherited. What happened?

In Power Wars, Charlie Savage looks inside the Obama administration's national security legal and policy team in a way that no one has before. Based on exclusive interviews with more than 150 current and former officials and access to previously unreported documents, he lays bare their internal deliberations, including emotional debates over the fates of detainees held on torture-tainted evidence and acts of war that lacked congressional authorization. He tells the inside stories of how Obama came to order the killing of an American citizen, preside over an unprecedented crackdown on leaks, and keep a then-secret National Security Agency program that collected records of every American's phone calls.

George H. W. Bush Takes Unexpected Swipes At Cheney, Rumsfeld
Reuters & HP | author | 11/04/15

Former President George H.W. Bush takes some unexpected swipes at Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, key members of his son's administration, over their reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks, in a new biography of the 41st president, Fox News reported on Wednesday. In "Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey Of George Herbert Walker Bush," author Jon Meacham quotes Bush as saying that Cheney and Rumsfeld were too hawkish and that their harsh stance damaged the reputation of the United States, the cable news network said. Speaking of Cheney, who was vice president under President George W. Bush, the senior Bush said: "I don't know, he just became very hard-line and very different from the Dick Cheney I knew and worked with," according to the report. ... Read more

*What to Look for When the Trans-Pacific Partnership Text Is Released
HP | Dave Johnson | 11/04/15

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been completed. The agreement is a big deal. It is said it writes the rules for doing business in the 21st century and covers 40 percent of the world's economy. The agreement will determine whether the giant corporations will increase their domination or if regular people will instead be able to fight back, restore self-governance, and make a decent living in good and safe working conditions.

Unfortunately, TPP was negotiated through a corporate-dominated process, with representatives of labor, environmental, consumer, human rights and other "stakeholder" groups largely kept away from the table. The negotiations were conducted in secret and the results have been kept secret. ... Read more

Saudis Bring Oil War To Europe With Largest Price Discount Since 2009
ZeroHedge | author | 11/05/15

With oil exports to Europe having slipped from 13% of Saudi's total to just 10% in the last six months, The FT reports, the de facto leader of OPEC has slashed its Official Selling Price (OSP) to Europe in an effort to regain market share. Saudi lowered its OSP for its Arab light crude grade in Europe by $1.30 a barrel for December, taking its discount to the weighted average of the North Sea Brent benchmark to $4.75 a barrel - the largest discount since February 2009... directly going after Russia's customer base. ... Read more

The Most Devious Liars In The Room
ZeroHedge | author | 11/05/15

There were a few different stories coming out over the last few days that reveal the true nature of government and the apparatchiks who use disinformation, devious machinations, fraudulent accounting, and taxpayer money to cover up their criminality, lies, and the true state of the American economy. The use of government accounting tricks to obscure the truth about our dire financial straits is designed to keep the masses sedated and confused. ... Read more

Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Wednesday, November 04 [8:22]
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Thursday, November 05 [15:14]
*DN | Power Wars: How Obama Continued Bush's National Security State After Campaigning Against It (11/04/15) [14:14]
*TRNN | Chris Hedges and Ralph Nader trace the advancement of corporate control in the US political system. (11/03/15) [25:00]
TRNN | Patrick Cockburn says: Was Ahmad Chalabi Behind the Fall of Saddam Hussein? (11/04/15) [10:37]
TRNN | PERI's Gerald Epstein discusses: New Research Says Income Inequality Worsened Under Fed's Quantitative Easing Policy (11/05/15) [9:08]
*TYT | Charles Koch Puzzled Everyone Hates Him (11/03/15) [17:24]
TYT | Bernie Sanders Proposes BOLD Climate Change Policy (11/04/15) [3:55]
TYT | Jeb Bush Hits New Low As Bobby Jindal Passes Him In Iowa (11/04/15) [5:20]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E201) - Will The Real Paul Ryan Please Stand Up? (11/04/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
Diane Rehm Show - http://thedianerehmshow.org
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.05.2015. 12:51

Tuesday November 03, 2015
News Articles

Elizabeth Warren Warns Democrats Against Wall Street Defections
HP | Zach Carter | 11/02/15

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday warned House Democrats to oppose a series of GOP-backed bills designed to roll back the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform legislation.

Democrats must stand strong and fight back Republican efforts to weaken oversight," Warren wrote. "Rolling back the rules on our largest and riskiest institutions is a terrible idea for just about everyone except a handful of well-connected financial firms -- and we weren't sent here to work for them." ... Read more

Ben Carson Leads 2016 Republicans In New National Poll
HP | Ariel Edwards-Levy| 11/02/15

Ben Carson leads the Republican presidential primary field in a survey released Monday night by NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, marking the second time since October that the former neurosurgeon has polled ahead of Donald Trump.

The survey, conducted largely before last week's Republican debate, shows Carson with 29 percent, his best showing in any national poll to date. Trump takes second with 23 percent, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) at 11 percent, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) at 10 percent, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) at 8 percent. The remaining candidates each polled at 3 percent or less. ... Read more

Every book I have read on the subject has come to the conclusion, either George Bush knew about 9/11 beforehand or he had to be brain dead.

How Much Is George W. Bush Responsible for 9/11?
HP | Elizabeth Drew | 11/02/15

Poor Jeb. Or I should say, Poor Jeb! It's unfathomable how he thought that he could run for the Republican nomination without having to wrestle with his brother's record as president. Soon enough, he was so entangled in the question of whether he would have gone into Iraq, knowing what we know now, that it took him four tries to come up with the currently politically acceptable answer: No. But while the war in Iraq is widely accepted to have been a disastrous mistake, another crucial event during the George W. Bush administration has long been considered unfit for political discussion: President Bush's conduct, in the face of numerous warnings of a major terrorist plot, in the months leading up to September 11, 2001.

The general consensus seems to have been that the 9/11 attacks were so horrible, so tragic, that to even suggest that the president at the time might bear any responsibility for not taking enough action to try to prevent them is to play "politics," and to upset the public. And so we had a bipartisan commission examine the event and write a report; we built memorials at the spots where the Twin Towers had come down and the Pentagon was attacked; and that was to be that. And then along came Donald Trump, to whom "political correctness" is a relic of an antiquated ... Read more

Iraqi Politician Who Was Leading Voice Behind 2003 Invasion Dies. Ahmed Chalabi Dies Of Heart Attack
Reuters & HP | author | 11/03/15

Ahmed Chalabi, the smooth-talking Iraqi politician who pushed Washington to invade Iraq in 2003 with discredited information on Saddam Hussein's military capabilities, died on Tuesday of an apparent heart attack.

A secular Shi'ite, Chalabi rose to prominence as leader of the then-exiled Iraqi National Congress, which played a major role in encouraging the U.S. administration of former President George W. Bush to invade Iraq and oust Saddam. ... Read more

*DR | The Affordable Care Act: What Consumers Need To Know (11/03/15) [1hr]
*TRNN | Col. Larry Wilkerson discusses: Marco Rubio Rises in the Polls While Promoting Reagan-Style Foreign Policy (11/03/15) [10:33]
TYT | Struggling Jeb Bush Campaign Insists Everything Is Awesome (11/02/15) [3:28]
TYT | Carly Fiorina Even Lies While Admitting Previous Lies (11/02/15) [5:11]
RT | Keiser Report: Violent Market Surrogates (E831) (11/03/15) [25:43]
RoF | Why Hasn't Obama Done Anything About Citizens United? (11/02/15) [3:09]
RoF | Papantonio: Republican Crybabies Still Whining About The CNBC Debate (11/02/15) [3:38]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | Fukushima Can Now Kill You Within 45 minutes (11/03/15) [7:37]
ThomHartmann | The Secret Trade Agreement Exposed (11/03/15) [6:44]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.03.2015. 13:25

Monday November 02, 2015
News Articles

Here's How Much QE Helped Wall Street Steamroll Main Street
Bloomberg | Simon Kennedy | 11/02/15

Wall Street is counting its winnings from seven years of easy money.

In a report sent to clients on Sunday, Bank of America Corp. strategists totted up the results of 606 global interest-rate cuts since the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the $12.4 trillion of central bank asset purchases following the rescue of Bear Stearns Cos.

The results represent a clear victory for Wall Street over Main Street, according to the team of Michael Hartnett, BofA's chief investment strategist.

For every job created in the U.S. this decade, companies spent $296,000 buying back their stocks, according to the New York-based bank.

An investment of $100 in a portfolio of stocks and bonds since the Federal Reserve began quantitative easing would now be worth $205. Over the same time, a wage of $100 has risen to just $114.

For every $100 U.S. venture capital and private equity funds raised at the start of 2010, they are now raising $275, but for every $100 of U.S. mortgage credit extended five years ago, just $61 was extended and accepted this June, BofA said. ...
Read more

The wingnut myth that refuses to die: The one simple reason why there's no "liberal media conspiracy"
Salon | Conor Lynch | 11/02/15

During the third Republican debate, the winning strategy was not in attacking Hillary Clinton or calling out the absurd policy plans of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, but in slamming the mainstream media as a left wing mouthpiece of the Democratic party. And since the debate, the GOP has gone berserk over CNBC -- a business channel, mind you -- and it's supposed liberal bias. The Republican National Committee has even suspended its partnership with NBC News for its February debate, because, as RNC Chairman Reince Priebus writes, "CNBC's moderators engaged in a series of "gotcha" questions, petty and mean-spirited in tone, and designed to embarrass our candidates."

As Charles Pierce puts it in Esquire: I have come to the conclusion that it is very easy to be a Republican presidential candidate. First of all, to paraphrase J.R. Ewing, once you give up truth, the rest is a piece of cake. ... Read more

The Rigging of the American Market
HP | Robert Reich | 11/02/15

Much of the national debate about widening inequality focuses on whether and how much to tax the rich and redistribute their income downward. But this debate ignores the upward redistributions going on every day, from the rest of us to the rich. These redistributions are hidden inside the market.

... Add it up -- the extra money we're paying for pharmaceuticals, Internet communications, home mortgages, student loans, airline tickets, food, and health insurance -- and you get a hefty portion of the average family's budget. ... Read more

Stephen Cobert Asks Donald To Put His Millions Where His Mouth Is (10/30/15) [3:35]

The Curious Case of Ben Carson: How Did a Black Neurosurgeon Soar to the Top of the GOP Polls?
Salon & AlterNet | Chauncey DeVega | 11/01/15

While most campaign coverage has centered on Donald Trump, Carson's rise arguably says much more about the GOP.

In a primary season that has seen the most unlikely of candidates, Donald Trump, surge to the head of the GOP pack, perhaps the least surprising development is the ascendance of another political outsider: Dr. Ben Carson. But to understand why Carson's recent success in Republican polls makes so much sense, one must first take a closer look at the nature of the modern Republican Party.

In the Age of Obama, GOP elites routinely bloviate about their need to expand outreach to people of color, especially Hispanics and Latinos, given the United States' changing ethnic and racial demographics. Yet, the Party has consistently failed to leverage opportunities to that end. This could be a function of incompetence. Alternatively, such a lack of substantive efforts could simply be a reflection of a political party that is dedicated to white racial resentment and white identity politics -- and thus suppressing the votes of non-whites--as its primary electoral strategy. ... Read more

Is It Game Over for Jeb Bush?
AlterNet | Marty Kaplan | 10/31/15

It's the humane thing to do," said a participant following an emergency donor class conference call following the CNBC Republican debate in Boulder, Colo. "After Jeb criticized Rubio's attendance record, and Rubio broke his legs, you could just see it in his eyes," said the billionaire super PAC contributor, who did not want to be named because he never is named. "Poor Jeb's like a thoroughbred begging to be put out of his misery." ... Read more

More News
  1. Baffle with BS: German Bonds Decline Along With Peers as Draghi Cools QE Talk (BBG)
  2. And yet... ECB's Nowotny says low inflation forces ECB to act (Reuters)
  3. Stocks fall on China data, but stronger euro zone lifts gloom (Reuters)
  4. Global factories struggle as stimulus fails to spur (Reuters)
  5. Russian airline rules out technical fault, pilot error in Egypt crash (Reuters)
  6. Turkey returns to single-party rule in boost for Erdogan (Reuters)
Democracy Now! U.S. and World News Headlines for Monday, November 02 [11:52]
*DN | "How the Other Half Banks": Author Says America's Two-Tiered Banking System is a Threat to Democracy (11/02/15) [12:51]
*DN | Andrew Bacevich: Ongoing Wars in Iraq & Syria Continue Decades of Failed U.S. Militarism in Mideast (11/02/15) [13:03]
*DN | The Endless War Grows: Obama Sends U.S. Forces to Syria, Reversing Pledge of No Boots on the Ground (11/02/15) [16:19]
John Oliver
*HBO | John Oliver: Medicaid Gap (11/01/15) [14:04]
*DR | U.S. Plans To Send Special Forces To Syria (11/02/15) [1hr]
The White House plans to send a contingent of special forces to Syria -- the first sustained American ground presence there. We examine what the new deployment means for U.S. involvement in the region and the fight against ISIS.
*TRNN | The Laura Flanders Show: Avi Lewis: Grassroots Movements Are Changing Everything (11/01/15) [26:22]
TYT | American Troops Headed For Syria (10/30/15) [13:01]
TYT | Food Stamps More Effective Than We Knew (11/01/15) [6:44]
RT | CrossTalk: Multipolar World (11/02/15) [24:33]
RoF | In Today's America, Republicans Stand For Absolutely Nothing (10/01/15) [8:15]
RoF | Ring of Fire (E199) - The Republican Party Is Clueless (10/30/15) [29:00]
Thom Hartmann - www.thomhartmann.com/
ThomHartmann | NOAA Defies the GOP McCarthy Witchhunt (10/30/15) [12:51]
NPR (National Public Radio) - www.npr.org/
PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) - www.pbs.org/
MSNBC - Maddow/Hayes - www.msnbc.com/

11.02.2015. 14:43



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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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