and I liked google buzz

"There were no other competing bids, despite reports, to snap up the New York-based hipster blogging..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:13:59 -0400

“There were no other competing bids, despite reports, to snap up the New York-based hipster...

"“Semantic infiltration” is a term coined by the foreign policy expert Fred Ikle and popularized by..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:36:43 -0400

““Semantic infiltration” is a term coined by the foreign policy expert Fred Ikle and...

Invasion Likely, Warns Syrian President

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:36:39 -0400

Invasion Likely, Warns Syrian President: fuckyeahmarxismleninism: Damascus, May 19 (Prensa Latina)...

thepoliticalfreakshow: Hofstra Hazard: Police Admit One of...

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:36:34 -0400

thepoliticalfreakshow:

Hofstra Hazard: Police Admit One of Their Officer’s Shots Accidentally Killed Andrea Rebello

MINEOLA, N.Y. (AP) — A Hofstra University student being held at gunpoint by an intruder was accidently shot and killed by a police officer who had responded to the home invasion at an off-campus home, police said Saturday.

Junior public relations major Andrea Rebello was shot once in the head early Friday morning by an officer who opened fire after the masked intruder pointed a gun at the officer while holding the 21-year-old in a headlock, Nassau County homicide squad Lt. John Azzata said.

In a tense confrontation with the officer, gunman Dalton Smith “menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer,” Azzata said. The officer opened fire, killing Smith and his hostage.

Azzata said the Nassau County police officer fired eight shots at Smith, who police described as having an “extensive” criminal background. Smith was hit by seven times and died. Rebello was shot once in the head.

“He kept saying, ‘I’m going to kill her,’ and then he pointed the gun at the police officer,” Azzata said.

A loaded 9-milimeter handgun with an obliterated serial number was found at the scene, police said.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale said he had traveled to Rebello’s Tarrytown, N.Y., home to explain to Rebello’s parents what happened.

“I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed,” Dale said.

The veteran police officer, who was not identified, has about 12 years of experience on the Nassau County police force and previously spent several years as a New York City police officer, Dale said.

The officer is currently out on sick leave. He will be the focus of an internal police investigation once the criminal investigation is completed, which is standard police procedure in any officer-involved shooting, the commissioner said.

Earlier Saturday, police announced that Smith, 30, had been wanted on a parole violation related to a first-degree robbery conviction and had an arrest history dating back nearly 15 years.

The shooting came just days before the school’s commencement ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place Sunday.

A university spokeswoman said students will be handed white ribbons to wear in memory of Rebello. The shooting, which took place just steps from campus, has cast a pall over the university community as it geared up for commencement on Sunday.

“Today is the last day of finals and this should be a happy day on campus; but it’s not,” Hofstra freshman Scott Aharoni of Great Neck, said Friday as he passed through the area rife with yellow crime-scene tape. “It’s really sad.”

Rebello was in the two-story home with her twin sister Jessica, a third woman and a man when Smith, wearing a ski mask, walked into the house through an open front door, Azzata said. Smith demanded valuables and was told they were upstairs, Azzata said.

Smith, apparently unsatisfied with the valuables upstairs, asked if any of the four had a bank account and could withdraw money, Azzata said. The intruder then allowed the unidentified woman to leave and collect money from an ATM, telling her she had only eight minutes to come back with cash before he killed one of her friends, Azzata said.

The woman left for the bank and called 911, according to Azzata.

Minutes later, two police officers arrived at the home and found Rebello’s twin sister Jessica running out of the front door and the male guest hiding behind a couch on the first floor, Azzata said.

One of the officers entered the home and encountered Smith holding onto Rebello in a headlock, coming down the stairs, Azzata said. Smith pulled Rebello closer and started moving backward toward a rear door of the house, pointing the gun at her head before eventually threatening the officer, Azzata said.

Rebello’s family declined comment Saturday.

The Rev. Osvaldo Franklin, who gave Rebello and her sister Jessica their first communions, on Saturday night told The Associated Press their mother, Nella, couldn’t even speak to him earlier in the day.

“She was so devastated,” said Franklin. “She’s just crying. We have to pray for Andrea, to pray for Jessica because she needs help.”

Franklin said a funeral is scheduled for Wednesday at Teresa of Avila Church in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., and will be in Portuguese.

“The family’s a very good family, they have very good values,” he said. “I gave them first communion to Andrea and Jessica and they started to help me in the mass for many years. They are a very good, very devoted family.”

"Thousands of these prisoners are incarcerated for life or for 20, 10, or 5 years under mandatory..."

Sun, 19 May 2013 13:36:28 -0400

“Thousands of these prisoners are incarcerated for life or for 20, 10, or 5 years under...

mapsontheweb: Desertification of the world

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:36:49 -0400

mapsontheweb:

Desertification of the world

theartgeeks: Antibes, Thunderstorms ~ Paul Signac

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:35:38 -0400

theartgeeks:

Antibes, Thunderstorms ~ Paul Signac

theartgeeks: Le Corne d’Or, Le Pont ~ Paul Signac

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:35:32 -0400

theartgeeks:

Le Corne d’Or, Le Pont ~ Paul Signac

moviesincolor: Request Week 2 - slowerfilmY Tu Mama Tambien,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:21:30 -0400

moviesincolor:

Request Week 2 - slowerfilm
Y Tu Mama Tambien, 2001
Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki

flommus: George Braque, Female Figure, 1910–11. via

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:02:07 -0400

flommus:

George Braque, Female Figure, 1910–11.

via

gabrielsmirror: Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, Ophelia,...

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:15:01 -0400

gabrielsmirror:

Pascal Adolphe Jean Dagnan-Bouveret, Ophelia, 1900.

fleurdulys: Salome - Louis Icart 1920

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:14:14 -0400

fleurdulys:

Salome - Louis Icart

1920

"The idea that Gatsby is a sort of sociological survey of the gilded age, with the characters as..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:07:20 -0400

“The idea that Gatsby is a sort of sociological survey of the gilded age, with the characters...

laboratoryequipment: Great Lakes Still Have Big Problems...

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:07:12 -0400

laboratoryequipment:

Great Lakes Still Have Big Problems Despite Years of Aid

A decades-old effort to nurse the battered Great Lakes to health has made progress toward reducing toxic pollution and slamming the door on invasive species, but the freshwater seas continue to face serious threats, a U.S.-Canadian agency says.

The International Joint Commission, which advises both nations on issues affecting shared waterways, says their governments had compiled a mixed record in restoring the Great Lakes, which for much of the 20th Century were fouled by industrial and household sewage and overrun with exotic fish and mussels.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/05/great-lakes-still-have-big-problems-despite-years-aid

Introducing Ecosocialism: 10 essential articles, 5 essential books

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:07:04 -0400

Introducing Ecosocialism: 10 essential articles, 5 essential books: redplebeian: Ecosocialism is...

"In the past twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent has..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:06:36 -0400

“In the past twenty years, corporate profits have quadrupled while the corporate tax percent...

New Laws Would Make Environmental Protest “Terrorism” | VICE United States

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:06:23 -0400

New Laws Would Make Environmental Protest “Terrorism” | VICE United States: questionall: Most...

descentintotyranny: World Socialst Web Site: The...

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:06:16 -0400

descentintotyranny:

World Socialst Web Site: The criminalization of political dissent in America

May 14 2013

In a series of prosecutions, precedents are being established for the criminalization of political dissent in America.

Last week, Massachusetts high school student Cameron D’Ambrosio was arrested and charged under “terrorism” laws merely for posting lyrics on Facebook that make reference to the Boston Marathon bombings. He faces 20 years in prison. A string of similar “terror” prosecutions around the country take aim at the First Amendment protection of free speech and political expression.

The authorities have already branded select participants in Occupy Wall Street and anti-NATO protests as “terrorists.” Last year, heavily-armed “domestic terrorism” commandos raided Occupy Wall Street protesters’ homes in Washington and Oregon, using battering rams and stun grenades. The commandos were authorized to seize all “anti-government or anarchist literature or material.”

As with freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, also guaranteed under the First Amendment, has not been officially repealed. The reality, however, is that political assembly is already a semi-criminal activity in America. Political protests are routinely met with vastly disproportionate police mobilizations, confinement to oxymoronic “free speech zones,” “kettling” (in which protesters are surrounded and forcibly moved in one direction or prevented from leaving an area), beatings, tear gas, pepper spray, stun grenades or rubber bullets. The standard government response to a political protest is a massive show of force, complete with police snipers on rooftops.

The drive towards the establishment of an American police state, initiated under the Bush administration, has shifted into high gear under Obama. For nearly twelve years, the phony “war on terror” has been used as the overarching pretext for illegal imperialist war abroad and a methodical assault on democratic rights at home. The basic structure of authoritarian rule is now emerging into plain view.

Over the recent period, the government has vastly expanded its warrantless surveillance of the population. The Obama administration has constructed a massive data center in Utah big enough to store the contents of every personal computer in the country. Already at a government agent’s fingertips—without a warrant—are all of a person’s Internet browsing activity, telephone conversations, text messages, credit card transactions, mobile phone GPS location data, travel itineraries, Skype and Facebook data, medical records, criminal records, financial records and surveillance camera footage.

Tens of thousands of drones are slated to be launched over the US mainland in the coming years, with thousands already buzzing overhead. These high-tech aircraft are able to monitor meetings and demonstrations, access wireless networks and record the movements of citizens. Obama’s recent appointee for the position of CIA director, John Brennan, expressly refused at his confirmation hearings to rule out the possibility that these drones could be armed and used for carrying out assassinations within the US.

While schools are being shuttered and teachers fired supposedly for lack of money, local police departments are awash in billions of dollars of military hardware and training provided by the Department of Homeland Security. When local police are mobilized to respond to a political protest, they now do so in coordination with the federal military and intelligence agencies. It is not a rarity for armored vehicles, body armor and military equipment to be deployed.

Under the precedent set by the recent events in Boston, the authorities now have the power to subject an entire city to a military siege, with the population ordered to “shelter in place,” while businesses and transportation are shut down and heavily armed SWAT teams are deployed to conduct warrantless house-to-house searches without regard for basic rights.

The Obama administration, in concert with state and local police departments, has sent untold numbers of “anti-terror” undercover spies into domestic political parties and protest groups. In addition to gathering information, the job of these spies is to divert, disrupt and prevent the emergence of organized social opposition.

A person can be designated a “terrorist” on the secret, unreviewable say-so of the president, without notice and without a trial. Under the “material support” for terrorism laws signed into law as part of the PATRIOT Act of 2001, a person may be jailed simply for offering vaguely-defined “material support” to any person or group labeled as “terrorist.”

Under the National Defense Authorization Acts of 2011 and 2012, as tested in the case of Jose Padilla, the US government asserts the power to subject a designated “terrorist” to arbitrary arrest and detention without trial. In the cases of Padilla and Bradley Manning, and at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp and countless CIA “black sites” around the world, the US government subjects alleged terrorists to torture. Finally, in the cases of Anwar Al-Awlaki, Samir Khan and Abdulrahman Al-Awlaki, the US government tested out its asserted power to murder “terrorists” outright, even if they are US citizens.

Under these precedents, it would not be necessary to officially suspend the Constitution in order for the US government to meet future domestic opposition with military lockdowns, curfews, house-to-house searches, mass arrests, torture and even assassination. With political dissent labeled as “terrorism” or “material support for terrorism,” Congress, the president, the courts, the military, and the so-called “free press” could continue in their present roles.

In the second half of the 20th century, US-backed dictatorships in Argentina and Chile used the supposed struggle against “terrorism” as a political cover for the arrest and murder of tens of thousands of political opponents, youth, workers, intellectuals and other “enemies of the state.” As the World Socialist Web Site warned from the outset, such is the inevitable logic of the American “war on terror.”

Two essential factors are driving the trampling of democratic rights and the shift towards authoritarian rule. The first is the massive growth of social inequality, which in turn is driven by the historic crisis of the world capitalist system. While it robs the population in order to pile up ever greater and more obscene levels of private wealth, the financial aristocracy is terrified of the emergence of social opposition. Not from a position of strength, but out of extreme fear and vulnerability, the billionaires look to police state repression as a means to preserve their status, power and wealth.

Second, just as democracy is incompatible with such levels of social inequality, it is incompatible with imperialist war. The US military and intelligence agencies have for twelve years been wading in blood in a drive to plunder the world’s strategic resources. The dead, wounded and displaced number in the millions.

A professional military, divorced from and hostile to the population and resentful of civilian control, has immensely expanded its size, resources and political power, to the point where it and its intelligence counterpart, in league with Wall Street, dominate the workings of the state.

The ruling class is in the advanced stage of preparations for an inevitable confrontation with the working class. Working people must make their own preparations, central to which is the building of a new, revolutionary leadership. Only a conscious political struggle for a workers’ government and socialism can avert the threat of dictatorship and establish genuine democracy and social equality.

Tom Carter

Shocking IRS Witch Hunt? Actually, It's a Time-Honored Tradition | Mother Jones

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:06:06 -0400

Shocking IRS Witch Hunt? Actually, It's a Time-Honored Tradition | Mother Jones:...

Arresting a Teen Girl for Dozing Off in Class? Why Normal Kid Behavior Is Treated As a Crime or Psychiatric Disorder | Alternet

Sat, 18 May 2013 07:05:54 -0400

Arresting a Teen Girl for Dozing Off in Class? Why Normal Kid Behavior Is Treated As a Crime or...