politics, philosophy, photography, poetry, programming, pitch, particle physics, (motion) pictures, proust & populous p-things... Hudson Valley NY
"The siege has explicitly destroyed serious economic prospects for Palestinians. Most Palestinians are living in relative poverty, relying on food aid for support. While unemployment is over 50%, most Palestinians are living in refugee camps, awaiting economic freedom to improve their living conditions. Population centres in Gaza constitute some of the most over-crowed and densely-populated residential areas in the world."
Gaza under Siege (via azspot)
(via azspot)
We examine the implications of Manning’s trial and speak exclusively to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Bob Dylan - Only a Pawn in Their Game
The Times They Are A-Changin’, 1963.
Next Wednesday will be 50 years since Medgar Evers was shot and killed. It’s strange to me when I hear that lots of people from Signal Mountain say they used to give car rides to Mrs. De La Beckwith, the wife of the man who murdered him.
"Die meisten Sätze und Fragen, welche über philosophische Dinge geschrieben worden sind, sind nicht falsch, sondern unsinnig. Wir können daher Fragen dieser Art überhaupt nicht beantworten, sondern nur ihre Unsinnigkeit feststellen. Die meisten Fragen und Sätze der Philosophen beruhen darauf, daß wir unsere Sprachlogik nicht verstehen.
(Sie sind von der Art der Frage, ob das Gute mehr oder weniger identisch sei als das Schöne.)
Und es ist nicht verwunderlich, daß die tiefsten Probleme eigentlich keine Probleme sind."
Ludwig Wittgenstein // Tractatus (4.003)
(Source: philora)
The National Security Agency (NSA) has used sensitive data on network threats and other classified information as a carrot to gain unprecedented access to information from thousands of companies in technology, telecommunications, financial, and manufacturing companies, according to a report by Michael Riley of Bloomberg. And that data includes information on “zero-day” security threats from Microsoft and other software companies, according to anonymous sources familiar with the data-swapping program.
The NSA isn’t alone in the business of swapping secrets with the corporate world. The FBI, CIA, and Department of Defense (DOD) also have programs enabling them to exchange sensitive government information with corporate “partners” in exchange for access to things like information on cyberattacks, traffic patterns, and other information that relate to network security.
z» via ars technica
Eight Inspiring Moments Since The Newtown Massacre
It has been six months since December 14, 2012: The tragic day when a gunman in Newtown, Connecticut murdered his mother, forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary, and slaughtered 26 people, including 20 children.
In the months since, citizens and senators alike have had passionate responses to the ongoing gun debate. Some moments — like the defeat of a bill that would have expanded background checks — have been nothing but disappointing to those hoping to pass stronger gun laws. But other times, the country has been inspired by the bravery and activism of people dedicated to the cause.
Here’s a look back at some of the most inspiring moments since Newtown:
1. When Obama told the nation that four mass shootings during his first term was too many. “Can we truly say, as a nation, that we are meeting our obligations? Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children – all of them – safe from harm?” Obama asked during his speech at the memorial for those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary. “Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know that they are loved, and teaching them to love in return? Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose? I’ve been reflecting on this the last few days, and if we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is no. We’re not doing enough. And we will have to change.”
2. When gun buybacks swept the country. In a show of solidarity in the weeks following the massacre in Newtown, local law enforcement and state attorneys general called for gun buyback programs. It started right next to Newtown, in Bridgeport, CT, where anonymous donations bankrolled an effort to buy back guns, no questions asked, from anyone who turned one in. Quickly, though, the movement spread as far as Los Angeles, where thousands turned in guns in exchange for groceries. Gun buybacks might not be the most effective way to decrease violence, but the nationwide effort signaled something even bigger.
3. When Gabby Giffords decided it was time to fight. On the day that former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) was gunned down in a parking lot in Tucson, Arizona, no one was sure whether she would make it through the day. But two years later, after she saw the horrific tragedy at Sandy Hook, Giffords — now well on the road to recovery, though with much left to do — decided she’d had enough. She and her husband announced that they were going to launchAmericans for Responsible Solutions. Giffords then testified in favor of expanded background checks:
4. When the Colorado governor signed a gun safety law days after one of his cabinet members was gunned down. Colorado experienced its own horrific mass shooting in 2012, but it wasn’t until after Newtown that the state legislature approved a package of gun laws that includes expanded background checks and limits on ammunition clips. Colorado’s Governor John Hickenlooper (D) signed those bills into law the day after his state’s Chief of the Department of Corrections was gunned down in his home.
Hickenlooper hugs Aurora, CO’s state Rep. (Credit: NYDN)
5. When the families of Newtown victims read off the names of the dead. In 12 hours, a group made up of friends and relatives of those killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, the Newtown Action Alliance, read the names of the 3,300 people killed by guns since the Newtown massacre in front of Edmond Town Hall in Newtown. At the same time, on Capitol Hill, another collection of groups advocating for gun safety — including eight members of Congress — spent 139 hours reading 36,976 names of gun victims. To honor the six-month anniversary, Mayors Against Illegal Guns is launching this Friday a 100-day national tour to read the names of those killed since Newtown in 40 cities.
(Credit: nbc12.com)
6. When Frank Lautenberg cast one of his last votes, and it was for background checks. The late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) spent his career fighting for stronger gun laws. The last major gun law passed in the US, in 1996, was Lautenberg’s amendment to ban domestic abusers from owning guns. The late Senator went out fighting the same fight. Even as he was struggling with illness, Lautenberg made his way to the senate floor in April to cast the one of the final votes of his career for expanded background checks. You can see him being wheeled in by an aide in the bottom left:
7. When a hero from the Tucson shooting shamed the Senate for failing Americans. Patricia Maisch was there when former Giffords (D-AZ) was shot, point blank, in the head, and she was there when the senate failed to pass background checks. She’s the woman who shouted from the galleries, “Shame on you!” when the effort failed.
8. When the daughter of a Newtown victim confronted Sen. Kelly Ayotte. After Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) voted against the Manchin-Toomey effort to expand background checks, the daughter of a Newtown victim confronted her at a town hall. She referenced Kelly Ayotte’s argument against the bill, and asked: “You had mentioned.. the burden on owners of gun stores that the expanded background checks would cause. I’m just wondering why the burden of my mother being gunned down in the halls of her elementary school isn’t as important as that.”
Considering one in nine Americans work in, for or in stores ranging from the corner grocery to big box behemoths, this should be great news. And it would be – if these jobs paid anything resembling a living wage. But all too many of them don’t.
Actor Tom Cruise might have described Wal-Mart as a “role model” at last week’s annual shareholder meeting, but that’s only true if your definition of success is simply keeping people off the unemployment rolls.
If, however, you value things like a middle class salary, the potential for upward growth, or even something as basic as predictable and reliable work hours, the increasing importance of retail positions to our national economy is nothing to cheer about.
This week’s two-day strike by janitors against Target stores near the company’s Minneapolis corporate headquarters is just the latest evidence that that one of the United States’ fastest growing job categories is less than lucrative for a growing number of its workers. Among their issues: they are paid $8.50 an hour.
The Target janitors are not alone. Limited strikes against retailers ranging from Wal-Mart to Simply Fashion have taken place across the country over the past several months. In New York City, a 2012 survey by the Retail Action Project found that half of retail workers – the men and women who stock shelves, fold clothes, assist customers with their questions, ring up the sales and mop the aisles after the doors have closed for the day – earn less than $10 an hour. According to the progressive think tank Demos, the average cashier earns $18,500 a year, while a salesperson brings home a princely $21,000 a year.
If you are wondering how people get by with these wages, there is an easy answer: they all too often don’t. The Retail Action Project’s report discovered that a third of the retail workers they studied were receiving at least some form of public assistance from the government to help them get by. Many lacked health insurance.
(Source: azspot, via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a national organization representing thousands of women’s health experts, has publicly come out against the state-level abortion restrictions that impact the way doctors are allowed to treat their patients. The group’s Executive Board has issued an official statement opposing all laws that “unduly interfere with patient-physician relationships” and compromise patients’ health care for political gain.
“Given the relentless legislative assault on the patient-physician relationship that we’ve seen in the past few years — and unfortunately continue to see — we were compelled to issue a formal Statement of Policy,” the group’s president, Dr. Jeanne A. Conry, explained in a press release. “A disproportionate number of these types of laws are aimed at women’s reproductive rights and the physicians that provide women’s health care services.”
In its formal statement, the doctors’ group criticized specific pieces of anti-abortion legislation that comes between women and their doctors — including forced ultrasound laws that require women seeking abortions to look at an image of their fetus before continuing with the medical procedure, “disclosure” laws that require doctors to tell women about the scientifically disputed link between abortion and breast cancer, and laws that require doctors to use an outdated procedure for administering the abortion pill.
The OB-GYNs point out that these type of laws allow legislators, instead of doctors, to set medical protocol. When doctors aren’t allowed to follow the current accepted medical practice because of a politically-motivated law, they aren’t able to provide their patients with the best quality of care. That dynamic has contributed to a serious shortage of women’s health doctors in states with harsh abortion restrictions, since medical professionals would rather avoid situations in which they may have to choose between providing their patients with the best health care and following a complicated state law.
“We are speaking out not just on behalf of OB-GYNs, but for all physicians and patients,” Dr. Conry noted. “Many of these laws are dangerous to patients’ health and safety. As physicians, we are obligated to offer the best evidence-based care to our patients. Government should stay out of imposing its political agenda on medical practice.”
This isn’t the first time that the College has weighed in on an area of women’s health that has become overly politicized by elected officials. Last fall, the group came out in support of improving women’s access to birth control by allowing them to buy it over the counter. It has repeatedly encouraged doctors to help reduce unintended pregnancies by providing teens with long-lasting contraception like IUDs. And, as the Obama Administration has continued to advocate imposing age restrictions on over-the-counter emergency contraception, OB-GYNs have reiterated that they don’t support preventing young teens from buying Plan B without a prescription.
(via justinspoliticalcorner)
The complaint lists a litany of such horrors, but here are a few highlights: rampant rapes. Placing prisoners in solitary confinement for weeks, months or even years at a time, where the only way to get a guard’s attention in an emergency is to set a fire. Rat infestations so bad that vermin crawl over prisoners; sometimes, the rats are captured, put on leashes and sold as pets to the most severely mentally ill inmates. Many suicide attempts, some successful. The untreated mentally ill throw feces, scream, start fires, electrocute themselves and self-mutilate. Denying or delaying treatment for infections and even cancer. Stabbings, beatings and other acts of violence. Juveniles being housed with adults, including one 16-year-old who was sexually assaulted by his adult cell mate. Malnourishment and chronic hunger. Officers who deal with prisoners by using physical violence.
One prisoner allegedly attempted to hang himself. He was cut down by guards, given oxygen and put on supervision, but wasn’t taken to an emergency room, let alone given psychiatric care during the suicide watch. Without seeing a psychiatrist, his medication dosage was increased.
A severely ill 16-year-old with “a long history of being physically and sexually abused in addition to suffering from a traumatic brain injury, limited intellectual functioning, self-harm, and psychosis” was moved to EMCF from a juvenile detention center. His cell allegedly had a broken lock, and so other prisoners were able to enter. Five or six of them beat him. He was moved to a solitary confinement unit and, when he voiced his suicidal ideations and asked to see a psychiatrist, was deemed “manipulating to be moved”.
(Source: azspot)
"There are better uses of taxpayer dollars than to maintain high levels of incarceration simply to enrich the shareholders of for-profit prisons or to maintain prison jobs. During the 2012 budget talks in Colorado, a proposal was floated to re-appropriate over $5m from private prisons to support child literacy and other programs to help the needy and disabled. Such “radical” ideas are still in the theoretical stage, but at least there are glimmers of hope that mindsets are shifting. Reallocating resources towards other social services would create better jobs that would not rely on the loss of certain people’s liberty and would ultimately be far more beneficial to the public. As long as states keep viewing incarceration as a jobs program, however, there is little hope of meaningful change."
Breaking the hold of corporate welfare on America’s incarceration industry (via azspot)
(via shrinkrants)
"Many people believe that they have nothing to fear from government/corporate surveillance because they have nothing to hide. But every bureaucracy is a solution in search of a problem, and if it can’t find a problem to fit its solution, they will redefine the problem. In the 1960s, the surveillance bureaucracies redefined anti-war and civil rights protests as communist enterprises; today the same bureaucracies redefine anti-war Quakers, environmentalists, and animal rights activists as “terrorists.” So political activists, no matter how benign, have good reasons to fear these bureaucracies. Again, most Americans do not worry, because they are not political activists, reporters, investigating legislators, or crusading attorneys general like Eliot Spitzer. Most Americans are like the Germans who did not fear the secret police because they were not Jews. But all Americans depend on reporters, leakers, and crusading legislators to keep government agencies and private corporations under control. So they should worry about government secrecy, the militarization of surveillance, the privatization of intelligence, and the role of corporate money in elections."
Edward Snowden and the Real Issues (via azspot)
(via truth-has-a-liberal-bias)
"
In April 2008, in a secret meeting with the FBI, the chief prosecutor from the Department of Justice assigned to lead the prosecution said, “How would you like to spend the rest of your life in jail, Mr Drake?” – unless I co-operated with their multi-year, multimillion-dollar criminal leak investigation, launched in 2005 after the explosive New York Times article revealing for the first time the warrantless wiretapping operation. Two years later, they finally charged me with a ten felony count indictment, including five counts under the Espionage Act. I faced upwards of 35 years in prison.
In July 2011, after the government’s case had collapsed under the weight of truth, I plead to a minor misdemeanor for “exceeding authorized use of a computer” under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act – in exchange for the DOJ dropping all ten felony counts. I received as a sentence one year’s probation and 240 hours of community service: I interviewed almost 50 veterans for the Library of Congress veterans history project. This was a rare, almost unprecedented, case of a government prosecution of a whistleblower ending in total defeat and failure.
So, the stakes for whistleblowers are incredibly high. The government has got its knives out: there’s a massive manhunt for Snowden. They will use all their resources to hunt him down and every detail of his life will be turned inside out. They’ll do everything they can to “bring him to justice” – already there are calls for the “traitor” to be “put away for life”.
"Snowden saw what I saw: surveillance criminally subverting the constitution (via jayaprada)
You could soon be eating imported seafood, beef or chicken products that don’t meet even basic U.S. food safety standards.
(Source: thefreelioness, via princessmonsanto)
When things are really bad: Homeless people are forced to live in caves in Britain because of the government’s austerity policies.
ASEAN Community
Katipunan, PhilippinesThe Katipunan was a Philippine revolutionary society founded by anti-Spanish Filipinos in Manila in 1892, whose primary aim was to gain independence from Spain through revolution. The society was initiated by Filipino patriots Andrés Bonifacio, Teodoro Plata, Ladislao Diwa, and others on the night of July 7, when Filipino writer José Rizal was to be banished to Dapitan. Initially, the Katipunan was a secret organization until its discovery in 1896 that led to the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution.
The word “katipunan,” literally means ‘association,’ comes from the root word “tipon,” a Tagalog word meaning “gather together” or “society.” Its official revolutionary name is Kataas-taasan, Kagalang-galang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (English: Highest and Most Honorable Society of the Children of the Nation, Spanish: Suprema y Venerable Asociación de los Hijos del Pueblo). The Katipunan is also known by its acronym, K.K.K.
Being a secret organization, its members were subjected to the utmost secrecy and were expected to abide with the rules established by the society. Aspirant applicants were given standard initiation rites to become members of the society. At first, membership in the Katipunan was only open to male Filipinos; later, women were accepted in the society. The Katipunan had its own publication, Kalayaan (Liberty) that had its first and last print on March 1896. Revolutionary ideals and works flourished within the society, and Philippine literature were expanded by some of its prominent members.
In planning the revolution, Bonifacio contacted Rizal for his full-fledged support for the Katipunan in exchange for a promise of rescuing Rizal from his detainment. On May 1896, a delegation was sent to the Emperor of Japan to solicit funds and military arms. The Katipunan’s existence was revealed to the Spanish authorities after a member named Teodoro Patiño confessed the Katipunan’s illegal activities to his sister, and finally to the mother portress of Mandaluyong Orphanage. Seven days after the Spanish authorities learned of the existence of the secret society, on August 26, 1896, Bonifacio and his men tore their cédulas during the infamous Cry of Balintawak that started the Philippine Revolution.
(via fckyeahfilipinoculture)
