Dharmenizens…..YOU are the BEST!!!!

I’ve just now been actually able to read the wrunnelting that produced this weeks WITR….

And suddenly I realize many of the denizens of my journey did not come out to share the ‘spotlight’…staying hidden by some mischance….

This is an effort to correct that.

it’s very hard for me to know who there was/is in relation to who you are here….

so here are brief descriptions of as many of the inhabitants I can recall….

my hope is that you will recognize your own spirit….

and accept my deepest gratitude for helping me along the way…..



the celtic pixie/leprauchan….urging me to arise

the cream and umber snake with chocolateyrusty eyes….the kiss of hope

the small grey and orange calico…  counting my breaths

the ebony dragon…. keeping me safe

three peregrines circling on the thermals…. crying rheeee-ahhh

the three little girls in pristine white, with cocky grins and wise eyes

two dragonflies, one emerald, one teal…. pricking my eyelids, allowing the tears to run at last

the brownie with a portobello mushroom bowler hat & cloppety boots… keeping my heart beating in time

the faireie dressed in maroon velvet with dark hair & auburn highlights…screaming godfuckingdammit in my ear

the faerie of iceblue weeping cool tears on my forehead

the greybrown hedgepig with black velvet nose, layin across my throat…whose spikes kept tickling… causing me to cough the poisons out

the tiny black kitten that sat on the tip of my nose… keeping any more of the spiders from getting in

the puckish pixie with the sandy brown goatee…. who sang love, love, love….its easy (by the beatles)

the haberdasher with my wondrous hat of light

the tarantula with angry orange eyes…. keeping any more beasties from climbing the granite

the oaktree man… who left me a branch for support

the damselfly of pinkeyplum…who radiated peace

the robyn egg marble… helping me to cool quickly before I slid over the edge

the beads of perfect paisleys (yinyangs?)… turning me to flesh again

the sunflowers marching … their steps releasing waves of heat to warm me

the dozen (or more) faeries fly~dancing in joyous abandon

the huge chorus of lotusii innumerable….each singing a perfect note of clarity, unending

the small white rabbit curled beside me….whiskers tickling my ear

the tiny coqui with the big deep voice….calling notyet, notyet

the rooster who combed my hair

the magpie gathering the sparkley bits of energy for me

the dragonfly made of minimarshmallows with heart shaped eyes

two strawberry roan ponies, with cream manes & tails … waiting to pull the cart

the little yellow pixie with dreadlocks & a huge gold earring, his scimitar at the ready, protecting me

the tortoise of sageygreen…whose moss staunched the wound in my vein

the pintobean pony who gave me a ride to la abuela

the cobalt fish that sat on my earlobe…deciphering all the words so at last I understood

the faerie in raspberry with golden edged wings that brought me dewdrops to drink

the faerie of ochre-sienna with pecantan skin who brought scent back to me

the greenies and brownies who baked such delishamous earthey cookies

the gazillipede shod in converse sneakers, each pair a different colour(!)…who captured my attention, taking it off myself at last and onto something else

the limegreen iguana … who licked the salt from my eyes

the tiny coral coloured snake…who wound around my thumb

the large irridescent greeneypurpleyblack beetle who proffered itself as a stool to rest upon

and the snail of sunrise colours….reminding me to have patience

my gratitude to you all

kisshugs & love,

Ria♥~

You Can’t Be Serious!

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Scientists have found that all our problems can be placed under one heading: “Seriousness”.

Seriousness is the leading cause of everything from Cancer to Reincarnation.

Scientists have already discovered a new source of healing this condition.

It is a psychic energy point located between the heart chakra and the throat chakra.

It is called the Clown Chakra.

If people are feeling miserable, if they have financial problems, if their relationship situation is the pits, if they are in ill health, if they have a need to sue people, if they find fault with their brother, then obviously, their Clown Chakra is closed.

When this happens, the scientists have observed under a high-powered microscope that the cells of every organ display a sad face, and when the Clown Chakra is open and functioning normally, the cells display a happy face.  

The scientists realized that if a person is ill, it is because his mind has projected guilt onto the cells of his body and has forced out the love that is normally found within each cell of the body.  The cells are therefore saying, “I Lack Love,” or “ILL” for short.

The scientists also discovered that all disease is due to the fact that the cells are out of ease or dis-eased.

When the Clown Chakra is opened and working (or rather, playing) properly, the psychic mechanism sucks up misery, pain, anger, resentment, grievances, unhappiness, etc., and converts the energy into tiny red heart-shaped balloons.

The red heart-shaped balloons contain Love and Joy.

These balloons are directed to the dis-eased cell or situation, and a happy face appears instantly. When the light enters the darkness, the darkness is gone. Sometimes these red heart-shaped balloons are called endorphins, due to the fact that when anyone experiences them, the feeling of separation ends.

They experience being back home with All That Is.

Hence they are no longer an orphan. This is the well-known end-orphan effect.

So, if you think someone is attacking you, Clown Scientists recommend that you visualize sending that person red heart-shaped balloons filled with Love and Joy.

Remember to always keep your Clown Chakra open… and remember to keep laughing.


Greenwashing

A few videos and links to provoke thought and raise awareness.

What is Greenwashing?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G…

http://www.sourcewatch.org/ind…


Online Videos by Veoh.com

Join the Yes Men and watch their videos here:

http://www.theyesmen.org/

And last, the Corpwatch Greenwash awards,

http://www.corpwatch.org/artic…

and a video that the very funny Yes Men might enjoy:

Pony Party: Ooops….

I went out and took pictures at a cat show and forgot about the evening pony party.

Oh. And now I am watching the game.

Sorry for the ultra lameness!

I suck.

Weekend News Digest

Weekend News Digest is an Open Thread

From Yahoo News Top Stories

1 Candidates to press Petraeus on Iraq war

By LIZ SIDOTI, Associated Press Writer

1 minute ago

WASHINGTON – When Army Gen. David Petraeus delivers his assessment of the Iraq war next week, the next commander in chief will weigh in as well.

Republican Sen. John McCain will get a chance to argue that last year’s U.S. troop buildup has been a success and withdrawal would be a mistake. Democratic Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama will have an opportunity to ask why the United States is still fighting more than five years after the invasion.

All three presidential contenders serve on Senate panels that will hear and question the top U.S. military commander in Iraq when he testifies Tuesday. McCain and Clinton serve on the Armed Services Committee; Obama is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.

2 Zimbabwe opposition reluctant on runoff

By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press Writer

51 minutes ago

HARARE, Zimbabwe – Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai called Saturday on President Robert Mugabe to step down and accused the country’s longtime ruler of plotting a campaign of violence to bolster his chances of winning an expected runoff.

Amid increasing signs of a government crackdown, armed police barred opposition officials from filing a suit demanding the publication of the results from the March 29 presidential election. The opposition promised to try again Sunday.

“Mugabe must accept that the country needs to move forward. He cannot hold the country to ransom. He is the problem not the solution,” said Tsvangirai, head of the Movement for Democratic Change.

3 Bush, Putin begin farewell talks

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent

39 minutes ago

SOCHI, Russia – President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin opened suspenseful farewell talks Saturday as the White House dropped hopes they would resolve differences on U.S. missile defense plans, one of the most contentious issues in a long list of security disputes.

They opened their meeting with a warm handshake and smiles at Putin’s heavily wooded retreat on the Black Sea. Putin took Bush to the second floor of his guesthouse to show off a tabletop display of the 2014 Winter Olympics that will be held here. “This is your yacht,” he joked to Bush, pointing at a 3-inch white ship on a blue patch representing the water. Bush chuckled.

In a speech in Croatia before arriving, Bush raised a sensitive point by praising the spread of Western-style democracy across Eastern Europe to Russia’s borders. It is matter of considerable concern to the Kremlin as it watches the rapidly growing NATO military alliance push against its door.

4 Bush sees NATO future for Macedonia and all Balkans

By Matt Spetalnick and Igor Ilic, Reuters

Sat Apr 5, 6:22 AM ET

ZAGREB (Reuters) – President George W. Bush reassured Macedonia on Saturday that the United States believed it should join NATO as soon as possible.

The Macedonians walked out of this week’s NATO summit when Greece blocked their invitation because of a long-running dispute over the country’s name, which is that of Greece’s northern province, birthplace of Greek hero Alexander the Great.

In a speech in Croatia, which was invited on Thursday to join the Western military alliance with Albania, Bush said he hoped Macedonia would join NATO, along with former Yugoslav republics Bosnia, Montenegro and perhaps Serbia.

5 France uses Olympics to pressure China on Tibet

by Karl Malakunas, AFP

29 minutes ago

BEIJING (AFP) – France stepped up the pressure on China Saturday over its handling of the Tibet crisis with an apparent warning that President Nicolas Sarkozy may boycott the Olympic opening following fresh violence.

The warning, delivered by one of Sarkozy’s ministers in the Le Monde newspaper, came as International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge said he saw “no momentum” for a boycott of the summer Games.

Sarkozy will only attend the opening ceremony if China opens dialogue with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and frees political prisoners, French Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade was quoted saying.

6 G8 countries weigh up aid promises

by Kyoko Hasegawa, AFP

Sat Apr 5, 8:32 AM ET

TOKYO (AFP) – The Group of Eight industrialised nations on Saturday agreed to send a “strong message” to back growth in poor countries, and cautioned themselves to meet donation pledges, officials said.

G8 development officials began a two-day ministerial meeting here on how to ease suffering in Africa and other impoverished states as well as bolster their efforts in foreign development aid.

They also held a meeting with their counterparts from fast growing economies such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, South Korea and South Africa.

7 Behind the Senate deal on housing relief

By Gail Russell Chaddock, The Christian Science Monitor

Fri Apr 4, 4:00 AM ET

Washington – It took the Federal Reserve just 96 hours to react to the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns. It’s that rescue on Wall Street that’s driving momentum on Capitol Hill for quick relief for the housing crisis on Main Street.

Senators got an earful from constituents over a two-week break, especially the disconnect between the Fed’s $29 billion plan to facilitate the sale of Bear Stearns and the lack of meaningful relief for financially stressed homeowners. Within hours of a return to Washington, Senate leaders on both sides of the aisle put a stalled housing relief bill on the fast track, dropping cherished positions to do so.

The $15 billion housing package includes billions in tax breaks for home builders, block grants and tax breaks for the purchase of foreclosed properties, and $100 million in counseling for homeowners facing foreclosure.

From Yahoo News Most Popular, Most Recommended

8 Deadly ape heart disease puzzles zoos

By TODD LEWAN, AP National Writer

38 minutes ago

Mopie looked the picture of ape fitness: His shoulders were broad and imposing, his silver-haired back sculpted and muscular, his biceps bulging as wide as a wrestler’s thighs when he scratched his head.

He had a healthy appetite (he’d put away 7 pounds of food daily) and Mopie was no couch gorilla, either: He’d nimbly scale the mesh of his enclosures at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., playfully chase the younger gorillas, and perch himself high in an outdoor maple, as if to show the world he was the king of the Great Ape House.

“The unique thing about Mopie was how extremely handsome he was,” says Lisa Stevens, curator of primates and giant pandas at the National Zoo, and whenever the silverback sat, proudly, in the exhibit’s trees, “it just added to his impressiveness.”

From Yahoo News Most Popular, Most Viewed

9 Ballmer sets deadline for Yahoo to accept deal

Reuters

17 minutes ago

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) has three weeks to accept Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT.O) $31 per share cash-and-stock offer or Microsoft will mount a proxy battle to win investor support for the takeover, Microsoft said on Saturday.

Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said in a letter dated April 5 and addressed to Yahoo’s board of directors that “now is the time” to negotiate final terms of a deal, one which would mark the biggest takeover yet in the high-tech industry.

“If we have not concluded an agreement within the next three weeks, we will be compelled to take our case directly to your shareholders, including the initiation of a proxy contest to elect an alternative slate of directors,” Ballmer wrote.

From Yahoo News Most Popular, Most Emailed

10 Huge job losses set off recession alarms

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

2 hours, 56 minutes ago

WASHINGTON – It’s no longer a question of recession or not. Now it’s how deep and how long. Workers’ pink slips stacked ever higher in March as jittery employers slashed 80,000 jobs, the most in five years, and the national unemployment rate climbed to 5.1 percent. Job losses are nearing the staggering level of a quarter-million this year in just three months.

For the third month in a row total U.S. employment rolls shrank – often a telltale sign that the economy has jolted dangerously into reverse.

At the same time, the jobless rate rose three-tenths of a percentage point, a sharp increase usually associated with times of deep economic stress.

From Yahoo News World

11 Nepal prepares for end of monarchy

by MATTHEW ROSENBERG, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 42 minutes ago

KATMANDU, Nepal – It was a surprising sight in a land grown accustomed to surprises: the king at the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz, driving himself and his queen through the crowded streets of Katmandu.

“He was in the front seat! In traffic!” said Krishna Chetri, a 56-year-old shop owner.

“Where’s the majesty?” he asked. “This is something I never would have believed.”

In this Himalayan land, the Shah dynasty of kings reputed to be reincarnated Hindu gods is being pushed to possible extinction by the fallout from a decade-long communist rebellion and King Gyanendra’s own autocratic ways.

12 Russia has first post-Soviet baby boom

By DOUGLAS BIRCH, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 45 minutes ago

MOSCOW – When they decided to have their first child, Alexander Gorlov and Laila Simanova discovered that something new was afoot in post-Soviet Russia: a baby boom.

Simanova, 31, now five months pregnant, said she was surprised by how many of her friends were becoming pregnant as well. When she signed up with the Pre-Natal Medical Center in Moscow, she found it swamped with expectant mothers.

“The doctors said when they opened two years ago, we could have played football in the halls,” she said. “Now there are queues. When you call you can’t get through. The line is always busy.”

13 European unions protest over pay

By Brian Love and Manca Ulcar, Reuters

2 hours, 1 minute ago

LJUBLJANA (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Slovenia’s capital on Saturday to denounce low pay and corporate greed across Europe as politicians and central bankers called for wage restraint to combat inflation.

At a time of surging food and energy prices worldwide, the European Trade Union Confederation organized what it described as a show of anger and determination to improve on the “poverty wages” of more than 30 million workers across the continent.

“This is a protest against the situation in the whole of Europe,” said Reinhard Dombre, head of Germany’s trade union federation. He was one of a crowd that police estimated at 10,000 and organizers at 35,000.

14 Tibet vows trouble-free Olympic torch relay

By Lucy Hornby, Reuters

Sat Apr 5, 10:27 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) – Tibet’s Communist Party chief promised a trouble-free Olympic torch relay through the region, even as security forces struggled to stamp out violence in a nearby ethnic Tibetan area.

Just 125 days before the Olympic Games begin in Beijing, the evening news featured Tibetans saying they were pleased with China’s development policies.

State-run television also ran a long programme on the life of the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader whom China accuses of “splittist” activities.

15 Ecuador says CIA controls part of its intelligence

By Alonso Soto, Reuters

11 minutes ago

QUITO (Reuters) – Ecuador’s leftist president on Saturday accused the CIA of controlling many of his country’s spy agencies and said it had shared Ecuadorean intelligence with U.S. ally Colombia during last month’s regional crisis.

“Many of our intelligence agencies have been taken over by the CIA,” Rafael Correa said during his weekly radio show. “Through the CIA, information found here was passed to Colombia to improve their position” in the dispute.

Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Bogota after Colombian forces attacked a rebel camp inside Ecuadorean territory, killing a top guerrilla leader and more than 20 other people.

16 In a Calmer Baghdad, Maliki Caves

By ABIGAIL HAUSLOHNER/BAGHDAD, Time Magazine

2 hours, 18 minutes ago

But, even on a quiet Friday, Maliki may again be buckling to Mahdi Army pressure. The Prime Minister called for a halt on military raids against militants in Basra and other areas of southern Iraq and in the Mahdi Army strongholds of Baghdad, effectively ending – for the time being – the largest Iraqi government military offensive to date. “All pursuits and raids in all areas will be stopped. Those who take up arms will face the law,” Maliki said in a statement.

From Yahoo News U.S. News

17 Pope will find diverse church in US

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer

2 hours, 37 minutes ago

NEW YORK – In his visit this month to the United States, Pope Benedict XVI will find an American flock wrestling with what it means to be Roman Catholic.

The younger generation considers religion important, but doesn’t equate faith with going to church. Many lay people want a greater say in how their parishes operate, yet today’s seminarians hope to restore the traditional role and authority of priests.

Catholic colleges and universities are trying to balance their religious identity with free expression, catching grief from liberals and conservatives in the process.

18 Old canals concern federal water bosses

By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 59 minutes ago

FERNLEY, Nev. – The failure of an earthen embankment on a century-old irrigation canal that flooded this growing town has federal water managers concerned about the safety of nearly 8,000 miles of similar aging canals across the West.

The January breach of the Truckee Canal flooded nearly 600 homes, making Fernley a state and federal disaster area.

“As a result of this we are taking a look at our canals with a little more scrutiny,” said Jeffrey McCracken, regional spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation in Sacramento.

19 Blackwater contract in Iraq renewed for one year

AFP

Fri Apr 4, 8:44 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US State Department said Friday it is extending its diplomat protection contract for private security firm Blackwater USA, despite the incident last September in which Blackwater guards killed 17 Iraqi civilians.

“I have requested and received approval to have Task Order 6, which Blackwater has to provide personal protective services in Baghdad, renewed for one year,” said Gregory Starr at the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

Blackwater is the most controversial of several private security firms tasked with protecting high-profile US officials and foreign dignitaries visiting Iraq.

20 Democrats slam ‘Bush-McCain’ economics after jobs report

by Stephen Collinson, AFP

Fri Apr 4, 12:53 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton pounced on the worst job loss figures in five years Friday to skewer John McCain over Republican policies they blame for deepening the economic mire.

But the presumptive Republican nominee quickly hit back, warning Democratic “anti-growth” policies would thwart job creation, calling for lower taxes, streamlined regulation and a drive to open markets overseas for US goods.

The figures, showing US firms cut a suprisingly high 80,000 jobs in March, ignited a new phase in the frenetic three-way battle over the feared recession and a housing crisis, a dominant issue, seven months before November elections.

21 A War Machine for the Whole Family

By MARK THOMPSON/WASHINGTON, Time Magazine

Fri Apr 4, 10:40 AM ET

The nation’s top military officer told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday that the U.S. military isn’t planning on sending additional troops to Iraq to deal with the recent surge in violence. While Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, didn’t say as much, the reality is that there aren’t any more U.S. troops to send to Iraq, or anywhere else. Partly to ensure that an overstretched military doesn’t break, Mullen pleased troops in North Carolina on Monday when he told them that the Pentagon soon may begin replacing its Cold War-era assignments to South Korea – one-year tours without family – with three-year deployments with families.

22 The Episcopal Property War

By DAVID VAN BIEMA, Time Magazine

2 hours, 24 minutes ago

In the slow-motion civil war of the Episcopal Church in the U.S., one very worldly question has arisen: who owns the real estate? If a congregation chooses to leave the U.S. Episcopal organization, do they have to vacate the property and the physical church building they have been occupying? That high-stakes question will surely take many more legal battles to resolve, but the first round has been won by the secessionists, in a high-profile fight involving a famous old church.

23 Seeing America Through Muslim Eyes

By SHIREEN KHAN, Time Magazine

2 hours, 24 minutes ago

It was evening rush hour in New York City. 42nd St. was packed, and I was hoping I would make the bus. His voice came out of the crowd.

“Take that rag off!”

Huh?

In my four months of working in New York, that was a first. Actually, that was a first in the seven years since I started wearing a hijab. A lot of people turned to look at me as he shouted those words. I don’t know exactly what I was feeling – some mixture of anger and embarrassment – but I knew I wanted to stop and explain to this man the significance of what he dismissed as a “rag.” He didn’t understand the one thing I cherished most, the thing that I took so much care in making sure I did right – my religion.

From Yahoo News Business

24 Wall Street undergoes big mood change

By JOE BEL BRUNO, AP Business Writer

Sat Apr 5, 6:13 AM ET

NEW YORK – With the start of a new quarter, Wall Street seems to have found something it badly needed: a major shift in sentiment.

Stocks punished during months of sharp losses were scooped up this past week as big investors like hedge funds returned to the market. And there’s a sense that individual investors – who yanked their money from the stock market out of fear – might be on the verge of a comeback as well.

Certainly, worries about the economy and further calamities striking the world’s investment banks haven’t evaporated. What has changed is the way investors are looking at the market – simply, that stocks are more likely to go up than continue their precipitous declines – and that allowed the stocks to hold on to most of their gains this past week. After the Dow Jones industrials rose 391 points on Tuesday alone, the stock market’s best-known indicator ended the week up 393 points.

Idiots.

25 Samsung chief questioned for 11 hours

By KELLY OLSEN, AP Business Writer

Sat Apr 5, 6:24 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea – Special prosecutors probing claims of corruption at Samsung Group took their investigation to the very top, quizzing its chairman in a lengthy interrogation over allegations the conglomerate paid bribes and engaged in other illegalities.

Lee Kun-hee, who has run South Korea’s biggest industrial group for two decades, emerged early Saturday after nearly 11 hours spent in the office of the independent counsel examining the claims raised last year by a former Samsung lawyer.

Surrounded by a throng of waiting reporters, the 66-year-old tycoon appeared to backtrack from the strong denials he made Friday afternoon upon arrival for questioning, when he said he had nothing to do with either directing the setting up of a slush fund or ordering the payment of bribes.

26 Market supplied with enough oil, OPEC official says

Reuters

58 minutes ago

TEHRAN (Reuters) – The oil market is supplied with enough crude and OPEC is not under pressure to raise output, the group’s secretary-general was quoted as saying on Saturday during a visit to Iran.

“Oil supply to the market is enough and high oil prices are not due to a shortage of crude but rather it is because of the decrease in the dollar’s value, shortage of refinery capacity and some political tensions in the world,” OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri was quoted as saying by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

His views were in line with those often voiced by officials in Iran, the second-largest producer in the 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

27 Australian PM sees progress in push for world trade deal

AFP

1 hour, 32 minutes ago

LONDON (AFP) – Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Saturday there had been “real movement” in recent weeks in long-stalled efforts to reach a new global trade deal.

Rudd, on the latest stop of a European tour, was speaking at a summit of centre-left international leaders near London also attended by World Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy and EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson.

“What has been encouraging in terms of our discussions with Pascal Lamy and the EU trade representative is the extent to which there has been real movement in recent days,” Rudd told journalists.

28 Japan’s major banks to suffer sharp profit fall: report

AFP

1 hour, 49 minutes ago

TOKYO (AFP) – Combined net profit at Japan’s six major banks is estimated to have dropped more than 40 percent for the year to March 2008, weighed down by losses related to US subprime mortgages, a daily said Saturday.

The six banks are Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc., Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Resona Holdings Inc., Chuo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. and Sumitomo Trust and Banking Co.

The Nikkei business daily forecast that their aggregate group net profit fell to about 1.5 trillion yen (14.8 billion dollars) for the year ended on Monday from 2.8 trillion yen a year earlier.

Science to come…

From Yahoo News Science

29 Sex and financial risk linked in brain

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

Sat Apr 5, 4:22 AM ET

WASHINGTON – A new brain-scan study may help explain what’s going on in the minds of financial titans when they take risky monetary gambles – sex. When young men were shown erotic pictures, they were more likely to make a larger financial gamble than if they were shown a picture of something scary, such a snake, or something neutral, such as a stapler, university researchers reported.

The arousing pictures lit up the same part of the brain that lights up when financial risks are taken.

“You have a need in an evolutionary sense for both money and women. They trigger the same brain area,” said Camelia Kuhnen, a Northwestern University finance professor who conducted the study with a Stanford University psychologist.

30 Mojave tortoises moved for Army training

AP

Fri Apr 4, 5:51 PM ET

FORT IRWIN, Calif. – Scientists have begun moving the Mojave Desert’s flagship species, the desert tortoise, to make room for tank training at the Army’s Fort Irwin despite protests by some conservationists.

The controversial project, billed as the largest desert tortoise move in California history, involves transferring 770 endangered reptiles from Army land to a dozen public plots overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Fort Irwin has sought to expand its 643,000-acre training site into tortoise territory for two decades. The Army said it needs an extra 131,000 acres to accommodate faster tanks and longer-range weapons used each month to train some 4,000 troops.

31 Dead birds washing up at Great Salt Lake

By DAN BISCHOFF, Associated Press Writer

Fri Apr 4, 5:55 PM ET

SALT LAKE CITY – Thousands of dead birds are washing up on the Great Salt Lake shore. “We’ve received a lot of calls – everybody’s worried about avian influenza,” said Leslie McFarlane, wildlife-disease coordinator at the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources.

But the dead birds are free of bird flu.

Avian cholera killed more than 15,000 birds on the lake last fall, most of them eared grebes, a duck-like bird. The common bacteria can quickly spread through a bird population, McFarlane said.

32 New evidence of earliest North Americans

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer

Fri Apr 4, 5:57 PM ET

WASHINGTON – New evidence shows humans lived in North America more than 14,000 years ago, 1,000 years earlier than had previously been known. Discovered in a cave in Oregon, fossil feces yielded DNA indicating these early residents were related to people living in Siberia and East Asia, according to a report in Thursday’s online edition of the journal Science.

“This is the first time we have been able to get dates that are undeniably human, and they are 1,000 years before Clovis,” said Dennis L. Jenkins, a University of Oregon archaeologist, referring to the Clovis culture, well known for its unique spear-points that have been studied previously.

Humans are widely believed to have arrived in North America from Asia over a land-bridge between Alaska and Siberia during a warmer period. A variety of dates has been proposed and some are in dispute.

33 NASA vision not getting funded, experts find

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor, Reuters

Thu Apr 3, 5:58 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – An ambitious vision to take people to the moon and Mars may fall apart before it even gets off the ground because of uncertain planning and inadequate funding, several experts said on Thursday.

A congressional report said NASA’s replacement for the space shuttle, the Constellation Program, is in jeopardy, and members of Congress as well as at least one former astronaut agreed at a hearing on the issue.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the Constellation program, scheduled to begin by 2015, is troubled by engineering, funding and mechanical issues.

34 Tough road lies ahead for global climate deal

by Shaun Tandon, AFP

Sat Apr 5, 1:44 PM ET

BANGKOK (AFP) – There have been numerous disagreements during a week of intense climate change talks in Bangkok but there is one point all sides agree on — a long, tough road lies ahead.

The five-day negotiations stretched past midnight on Friday before reaching a deal aimed solely at setting up more talks, the eventual goal to draft by the end of next year the most far-reaching treaty yet to battle global warming.

Rich and poor nations were at loggerheads, with developing countries especially suspicious of a Japanese-led proposal on industry standards and demanding greater aid to help them cope with the ravages of climate change.

35 Germany drops plan for auto biofuel

AFP

Fri Apr 4, 9:05 AM ET

BERLIN (AFP) – Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said Friday that Germany would scrap plans to develop auto biofuels because they were not appropriate for millions of vehicles.

“We will not do it,” Gabriel told the television channel ARD.

The VDIK association of foreign automakers said that around 3.3 million vehicles were unable to use the mix of ethanol and traditional petrol that Berlin sought to impose.

36 Spacecraft Eyes Venus for Active Volcanoes

Space.com Staff

Fri Apr 4, 5:16 PM ET

Venus may harbor active volcanoes that produce the high amounts of sulfur dioxide in its atmosphere.

Scientists debate whether the sulfur dioxide detected by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express comes from recent volcanic eruptions, or simply lingers on from eruptions that happened as far back as 10 million years ago.

“Volcanoes are a key part of a climate system,” said Fred Taylor, a Venus Express scientist from Oxford University.

37 Students to Take Command of Saturn Probe

SPACE.com Staff

Fri Apr 4, 4:02 PM ET

NASA will turn control of the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn over to students for a day in a contest aimed at boosting interest in science among today’s youth.

An essay contest for students in grades 5 through 12 will determine which of three science targets Cassini will photograph on June 10, the space agency announced late Thursday. Cassini scientists regularly debate exactly which images of Saturn’s many moons and rings will produce the most science results, a task they are turning over to elementary and high school students for the “Cassini Scientist-for-a-Day” competition, NASA officials said.

“It’s a really fun way for kids to learn about Saturn and what the mission is doing,” said Rachel Zimmerman-Brachman, an education and public outreach specialist with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif., in a statement. “Students have to do their own research to write their essay. That way, they learn how to ask questions about the solar system and what we still need to understand.

38 New Anti-Evolution Film Stirs Controversy

Dave Mosher, LiveScience Staff Writer

Fri Apr 4, 1:40 PM ET

NEW YORK – A handful of journalists filed into a small theater at the Park Avenue Screening Room here last night to see a preview for “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.” The 90-minute documentary-style flick features Ben Stein, a comedian, lawyer, actor and former speechwriter. It is a movie about the so-called debate between supporters of “intelligent design” and Charles Darwin’s scientific theory of evolution.

Filmmakers proclaim in press materials that Stein “discovers an elitist scientific establishment that has traded in its skepticism for dogma” during the course of the movie through interviews with scientists and anti-evolution advocates.

Some scientists, however, are outraged about the conduct of the filmmaker during production and screening and the film’s effort to tie Darwin’s ideas to Hitler. One prominent scientist who is in the movie has since called it shoddy and sinister.

Raise Hell for Molly Ivins

In this video, Molly Ivins speaks about Americans who are slackers, failing to defend the most magnificent political document anyone on this planet has been heir to.

This address was recorded over two years ago. The stakes are higher now: It is the eleventh hour for America.

Here’s a recording of a “Raise Hell for Molly Ivins” memorial service for Molly held in January.

What are YOU doing to help America and save the Constitution? What would Molly do?

Stop waiting. Get out the pots and pans. Raise Hell for Molly Ivins.

http://www.raisehellformollyiv…

“Bring Out Your Pots & Pans!

Help organize an action in you home town! We are just regular folks with jobs and all of life’s pressures, but we feel a need to speak out and do what we can. Please join our Raise Hell campaign by banging pots and pans for peace, and using every peaceful means including the Internet, phone and fax to let the LOCAL office of your Congressional Representative know – on the 3rd Friday of every month – that the war must end NOW and no attacks on Iran!

If you cannot attend a physical protest, please WRITE, TELEPHONE, FAX and EMAIL your LOCAL Congressional Representative’s office on that day!

Network

Network with local organizations and individuals is your area. Let us know about your efforts, and send us your pictures to help inspire others; we will post on the website. We will also help you network with others in your area as well as statewide and nationally. Contact us at: [email protected]

Download Flyers and Signs

Go to our section of print-ready materials for flyers and signs that you can use as is, or modify for your locality,

Send Letters and Emails to Congress

See our Congressional contacts and Sample Letters for complete info.

Volunteer!

We need BLOG and Internet enthusiasts to get the word out; researchers to gather congressional info and more; website content development and programming support; and other assistance to build the campaign.

Donate!

We’re making a difference, with a simple, low-cost approach, but it does take hard cash to make the most of our collective efforts!

RAISE HELL FOR MOLLY IVINS CAMPAIGN

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 1-925-787-3354 ”

Below the fold, a fun video from the Pots and Pans Brigade.  

Blackwater is Special

At first, it sounds like a step in the right direction. And maybe it is. A very small step. According to the New York Times:

The American military has charged a contractor with assault in a case that may emerge as a major test of the military’s legal jurisdiction over civilians who accompany the armed forces into the field, military officials and legal experts said Friday.

And it’s about time. Because, as Jeremy Scahill wrote in Salon, almost a year ago:

Before Paul Bremer, Bush’s viceroy in Baghdad, left Iraq in 2004, he issued an edict, known as Order 17. It immunized contractors from prosecution in Iraq, which, today, is like the wild West, full of roaming Iraqi death squads and scores of unaccountable, heavily armed mercenaries, ex-military men from around the world, working for the occupation. For the community of contractors in Iraq, immunity and impunity are welded together.

And as the Washington Post reported, in November:

That ruling remains in effect.

And as reported in Time Magazine, in February, the State Department and the Pentagon are fighting over whether or not to demand that the supposedly sovereign government of Iraq extend the immunity:

Contractor immunity may be unique to Iraq and difficult to demand of Baghdad, but the Pentagon still wants it. In interagency discussions arranged in preparation for the start of negotiations, the Department of Defense has said it want to ask the Iraqis to maintain status quo. The State Department, however, has argued strongly against that position. “We are just still internally discussing this, and still haven’t really come out with a position,” says the senior Administration official. A State Department official says discussions are underway. Says Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell, “Don’t confuse interagency discussions with disagreement. We’re all trying to achieve a single U.S. position on the way ahead in Iraq.”

Because nothing is greater proof of a nation’s sovereignty than allowing foreign corporations from an occupying foreign power to be immune from local laws. Laws against things like mass murder. So, it’s a good thing that a contractor is finally being charged for an act of violence. As today’s Times report continues:

The contractor in the coming case, Alaa Mohammad Ali, was working as an interpreter at a combat outpost near Hit, a town in Anbar Province. He was accused of stabbing a fellow contractor with a knife in the chest and sternum on Feb. 23. He was detained at Camp Victory, an American military base near the Baghdad airport, later that month. According to military officials, Mr. Ali has Canadian and Iraqi citizenship. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for Thursday, at which an Army officer will determine whether there is sufficient evidence to support the charge.

Isn’t that perfect? An Arab-Canadian contractor is being charged for allegedly having stabbed a fellow contractor. But when Blackwater gassed civlilians? Or when Blackwater massacred 17 civilians? Nothing. Because of that immunity. Because Blackwater’s special. How special? The Associated Press is today reporting:

Amid investigations into fatal shootings of civilians and allegations of tax violations, Blackwater USA’s multimillion-dollar contract to protect diplomats in Baghdad has been renewed, the State Department said Friday.

A final decision about whether the private security company will keep the job is pending, the department said. Moyock, N.C.-based Blackwater is one of the largest private military contractors, receiving nearly $1.25 billion in federal business since 2000, according to a House committee estimate.

And:

The company is also the target of an unrelated investigation into whether its contractors smuggled weapons into Iraq. Lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether Blackwater violated tax laws by classifying employees as independent contractors. The company says the claim is groundless.

But there will now be some level of accountability, right?

The Pentagon and the State Department agreed in December to give the military in Iraq more control over Blackwater Worldwide and other private security contractors.

The agreement spells out rules, standards and guidelines for the use of private security contractors and says contractors will be accountable for criminal acts under U.S. law. That partly clarifies what happens if a contractor breaks the law, but it leaves the details to be worked out with Congress.

More control. Rules, standards and guidelines. Partly clarifies. Details to be worked out. In other words, enough loopholes to drive a  war crime through. Just so Arab-Canadian contractors don’t stab other contractors. That would be bad. That should be punished.

Republicanism At Its Finest: Willfully Imposed Ignorance

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida teens who believe drinking a cap of bleach will prevent HIV and a shot of Mountain Dew will stop pregnancy have prompted lawmakers to push for an overhaul of sex education in the state.

Another myth is that Florida teens also believe that smoking marijuana will prevent a person from getting pregnant, Local 6 reported.

State lawmakers said the myths are spreading because of Florida’s abstinence-only sex education, Local 6 reported.

They are proposing a bill that would require a more comprehensive approach, the report said.

It would still require teaching abstinence but students would also learn about condoms and other methods of birth control and disease prevention.

Republicanism is authoritarianism. Authoritarianism is control. Control is dictating to other Human Beings not only what they can and cannot do…but what they can and cannot know as well. The willful and purposeful imposition of ignorance, superstition, and fear.  

The purpose of this control is to dehumanize human beings into easily manipulated units….units who obey the authoritarians by going to work at an assigned job with no benefit to the worker but subsistence, while the authoritarian boss grows rich off of their labor. Units who hand over a portion of their earnings to support authoritarian wars…and efforts to oppress other units. Units who can be counted on to vote in an assigned way, benefiting authoritarian politician rulers   and keeping them in power. Units who are unequipped and unable to think for themselves and thus believe whatever their authoritarian masters tell them…including who to attack for being “different,” in other words, for not kowtowing to the authoritarians. Where are these units produced? In schools that are kept underfunded and exist more to program that to educate. The willful and purposeful imposition of ignorance, superstition, and fear. The willful and purposeful stripping away of human free will and dignity.

Republicanism.

Where does this authority come from? Who chooses who is a unit and who is a ruler? Why the ultimate authoritarian of course, God. Whose word can only be interpreted by…the authoritarians in charge of the Church.

Nice work, if you can intimidate and subjugate the populace into falling for it. This is the philosophy that has created our current reality. Ad we can see how THAT is working out.

Humans beings are not sheep, but they can be programmed/educated to become sheep.

To become a “lower class” of human being. That is the goal of Republicanism, producing an elite made up of privileged white males ….with a lower class of humans to serve and obey them. Especially females who are subjugated by having control of their bodies, needed to produce more units, placed under the authority of …..Republican Authoritarians.

The willful and purposeful imposition of ignorance, superstition, and fear.  

Prima Materia

 “All things transitory are meant for us as symbols.”

~~Goethe

I look for you

at the back of the wind

in the red thread of dawn

by the Star of the Sea

but you remain hidden

cached between stars

dust of my dust

the old moon wrapped

in the new moon’s arms.

~~kj

Sometimes I hesitate to put a poem as an essay, because the thing about my little pieces is just that, they are little pieces. Most of them are eventually placed within a larger story. So, all you’re getting is a snapshot, an out of context close-up.

But, I am easily inspired, and thankfully, there is no end of essays here that inspire. I can’t resist joining in with a song, even if it’s just a bridge or a chorus.  ðŸ™‚

This poem was written after watching a meteor shower, rolled up in blankets with my honey, at 3:00 one chilly morning. Some of the lines are from old stories and myths, ie. “at the back of the wind,” came from readings on Hibernians and “old moon in new moon’s arms,” a common expression in astronomy (and can be googled for pictures) I happily and most blatantly stole.

Hope you enjoy.  Now go read the essays!  ðŸ™‚

For Your Soul

This is going to be a short essay because my purpose in writing it is to send you on your way to a web site that I think will touch your soul. Its a photographic exhibit, but its so much more than that.

The photographer is Gregory Colbert and here’s how he describes his work:

In exploring the shared language and poetic sensibilities of all animals, I am working towards rediscovering the common ground that once existed when people lived in harmony with animals. The images depict a world that is without beginning or end, here or there, past or present.

The exhibit can be viewed at ashes and snow. I suggest you take a look and follow the “Enhanced Experience” (if your computer will allow it) to the “Explore” option. Your soul will thank you.

And just for a taste of what you’ll find, here’s an example of a photograph (but the experience of the web site goes way beyond just the pictures).

Photobucket

h/t to Nezua at The Unapologetic Mexican for this one!!!

Black Hills & “The (Real) Supreme Law of the Land”

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

…Among the Courts’ cases, 240 of 375 recognized American Indian treaties have been cited 992 times in 342 opinions between the years 1884 and 2004.

Constitution Background


Source

ARTICLE VI


This Constitution, and Laws of the United States which shall be made Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United Stated, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding
.

So, why is Pe Sla in the Black Hills likely to become a “Sea of Houses?”

Crossposted at Native American Netroots

The first reason, is that treaties must not be “the supreme Law of the Land.”


Source

In the 1868 treaty, signed at Fort Laramie and other military posts in Sioux country, the United States recognized the Black Hills as part of the Great Sioux Reservation, set aside for exclusive use by the Sioux people. In 1874, however, General George A. Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills accompanied by miners who were seeking gold. Once gold was found in the Black Hills, miners were soon moving into the Sioux hunting grounds and demanding protection from the United States Army. Soon, the Army was ordered to move against wandering bands of Sioux hunting on the range in accordance with their treaty rights. In 1876, Custer, leading an army detachment, encountered the encampment of Sioux and Cheyenne at the Little Bighorn River. Custer’s detachment was annihilated, but the United States would continue its battle against the Sioux in the Black Hills until the government confiscated the land in 1877. To this day, ownership of the Black Hills remains the subject of a legal dispute between the U.S. government and the Sioux.

A second reason is, the Forest Service and the Pennington County Highway Department are ignoring that fact thatthe Lakota Nation has never accepted any money for the Black Hills; it legally belongs to the Lakota Nation.


Source

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, in the Indian Territory, between D. D. Mitchell, superintendent of Indian affairs, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, Indian agent, commissioners specially appointed and authorized by the President of the United States, of the first part, and the chiefs, headmen, and braves of the following Indian nations, residing south of the Missouri River, east of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the lines of Texas and New Mexico, viz, the Sioux or Dahcotahs, Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Crows, Assinaboines, Gros-Ventre Mandans, and Arrickaras, parties of the second part, on the seventeenth day of September, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. (a)

– snip –

ARTICLE 3. In consideration of the rights and privileges acknowledged in the preceding article, the United States bind themselves to protect the aforesaid Indian nations against the commission of all depredations by the people of the said United States, after the ratification of this treaty.

– snip –

The territory of the Sioux or Dahcotah Nation, commencing the mouth of the White Earth River, on the Missouri River; thence in a southwesterly direction to the forks of the Platte River; thence up the north fork of the Platte River to a point known as the Red Buts, or where the road leaves the river; thence along the range of mountains known as the Black Hills, to the head-waters of Heart River; thence down Heart River to its mouth; and thence down the Missouri River to the place of beginning.

Last of all that I’m mentioning, is that they need to especially adhere with common sense to the first, third, and fourth points made by Judge Elmer Dundy in his decision after the trial of Standing Bear.

(emphasis mine)


“First. That an Indian is a person with the meaning of the laws of the United States,
and has therefore the right to sue out a writ of habeas corpus in a federal court and before a federal judge, in all cases where he may be confined, or in custody under color of authority of the United States, or where he is restrained of liberty in violation of the constitution or laws of the United States.

– snip –

“Third. That no rightful authority exists for removing by force
any of the relators to the Indian Territory, as the respondent has been directed to do.

   “Fourth. That the Indians possess the inherent right of expatriation as well as the more fortunate white race, and have the inalienable right to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’
so long as they obey the laws and do not trespass on forbidden ground.

As I said before.


To conclude and once again, “It is only a matter of time that further abuse and possible desecration will take place so that we must tell the story of this sacred site.  Action must be taken to preserve this prairie for future generations;” and, if they were considering condemning hundreds of churches for the sake of “development” or uranium for that matter, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion.

So, what’s the real “supreme Law of the Land” when it comes to the United States dealing with the American Indian Nations?


Red Cloud

“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land and they took it.”

Pony Party: Your Morning Art

Alright, I suppose you could easily make the argument that not everybody wakes up in the morning and thinks:Wow, I want to see some Bosch. So, I am a bit socially “tone deaf”. Eight years of Bush kind of invokes those images. The limits of bizarre have stretched way beyond those super strong garbage bags they invented so you could mash more of your shit into one bag. Has anybody thought about doing space exploration so we could find new garbage dumps?

Well?

Advice we might want to consider following next week at the girl mash up. Girls plus one brave boy.

I am a cheap drunk. The good news is my hair is short so you won’t have to hold it back.

Please don’t rec pony party, hang out, chit chat and then go read some of the excellent offerings on our recent and rec’d list.

I might try and slip out to take pictures at a local cat show today. When I was holed up on the couch I kept flicking through the channels going: people watch this? You know. Real Supermodels of Housewife County. Or. Plastic Surgery For Kids: The Pre-School Edition. I have a touch of cabin fever.

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