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Commentopia
Best Comments from Top News Sites and Blogs
Storm clouds hang over the White House in Washington, DC, June 9, 2009.
(Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
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Bombs and Barbarism in Syrian Civil War
Bombed-out vehicles in Aleppo October 2012 Scott Bobb/VOA Some bits of film can end up defining a war in the public imagination, like that South Vietnamese police general shooting the Viet Cong prisoner in the head with a pistol after the Tet Offensive. The rebels and their supporters will have to hope this doesn't end up doing the same for the Syrian Civil War. 'Cameron for Cannibals!' isn't the the most attractive of rallying cries for UK support for the rebels. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Syria video ‘appears to show rebel mutilating corpse’, says Human Rights Watch <> Shameful and barbaric act of one Syrian unto another. If ever the Arab and Muslim world needed to unite it is now. They have allowed themselves to be pitted against each other instead of collectively resisting the geopolitical madness that murders their populations and steals their resources. Whilst the west lights and fuels the fires that consume their world they turn on each other leaving the door open for the arsonists to pick up the spoils. When they eventually do unite to stop the madness, the west will pay heavily for its vicious greed. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Syria video ‘appears to show rebel mutilating corpse’, says Human Rights Watch <> The worst thing about this heart eating commander Abu Sakkar is that he is part of the "moderate" opposition the West speaks of. How on earth can the West justify increasing support for the rebels when loonies like Abu Sakkar are heavily embedded in the FSA (he is a commander of an entire unit, not just a lone rebel!)? How many other bad apples are there? And what other war crimes have the rebels committed which have remained hitherto hidden from the public? The opposition are yet to bring to justice the rebels responsible for executing the Berri family in broad daylight in Aleppo last year, or bring justice to those rebels who forced a 12 year old to behead captured soldiers, why should we have faith that they will now all of a sudden bring Abu Sakkar to justice? I'm sorry to say this but the opposition is an absolute shambles, no wonder the majority of Syrian people prefer stability with "dictator" Assad. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Syria video ‘appears to show rebel mutilating corpse’, says Human Rights Watch <> I noticed many comments arguing about American, UK and Russian involvement - What about Islamic countries coming together and acting as a single voice? Why are Muslim countries not getting involved to stop Muslim killing Muslims? Muslim need to stop Muslims from putting Islam in danger Muslim countries need to stop depending on the West and then turn around and blame the West for problems in the Middle East. Syria is a majority Islamic country with a civil war that has turned into a religious war. It’s time that the OIC, GCC and others get involved; use their money, and resources to bring about peace in the region. All benefit from this. The fundamentals of running a country with diverse population are available so Muslims need to learn from their history when Bagdad was great - Mosque, Churches and Synagogues stood side by side. Stop blaming the West for Syria's problem and start looking at regional solution. Read the article/Join the conversation FOREIGN POLICY/Is This the Most Disgusting Atrocity Filmed in the Syrian Civil War? <> The Arab league chart forbid military intervention in purpose B/C these people hold centuries old grudges and revenge is part of Islam. Syria is the land where ALL Islam conflicts started, Its under the Umayyad Caliphate in Syria (founded by Muawiyah I, the 5th Caliph) that the wars between Sunni and Shia started and the defeat of the Byzantine Empire (current Turkey). The world has been able to over come WW2 and make peace while the Muslims are reviving 14 centuries old conflicts and seek revenge. Now you understand why the most active in this war are the Wahhabi states (Qatar & Saudi Arabia), Iran and Hizbollah (Shia) and Turkey. Read the article/Join the conversation FOREIGN POLICY/Is This the Most Disgusting Atrocity Filmed in the Syrian Civil War? <> The recommendations presented at the end of this article would be pitifully comical in their complete, total, and utter inadequacy, were this situation not so singularly tragic and truly horrible. The FSA--as several experts on the Syrian insurgency have pointed out--doesn't exist, beyond a branding operation and media shorthand. Even the General Staff faction around Brig. Gen. Salim Idriss doesn't really exercise any control over insurgent groups and their leaderships on the ground that supposedly answer to its command. It certainly isn't in a position to reign endemic human rights abuses even among the minority groups that it nominally does control, let alone the majority of the insurgency, ranging from independent brigades to the SILF and SIF Islamist coalitions and the Jabhat al-Nusra jihadists. As to the SNC, it has even less influence on the ground then the nominal FSA command structure. Exiles like George Sabra, Ghassan Hitto, etc., have no powerbase and zero influence on the ground, and are little more then cloistered puppets of the GCC powers and Turkey, occasionally trundled out in front of the media cameras to make pointless and irrelevant statements while real powers are fighting on the ground in Syria The soft, well-intentioned bureaucrats of the ICC have absolutely no chance of reigning in men like Abu Sakkar, and this is not due to Russia and China's cynical realpolitik, but to the situation on the ground in Syria. Human rights abuses are rapidly becoming as endemic among insurgency as in Assad's forces, and frontline insurgent commanders like Abu Sakkar--the men with the guns, the fighters, and the local support and powerbase--are certainly not about to let some blue-beret ICC police squad wander into the fighting and arrest them, regardless of international jurisdiction. The future of Syria doesn't belong to the soft, liberal exiles of SNC, the irrelevant cabal of the military defectors of the FSA leadership, or the photogenic, Twittering, youths so beloved by the media in 2011, but to monsters like Abu Sakkar. As Joseph Conrad put it, Syria has become a place of darkness. Read the article/Join the conversation FOREIGN POLICY/Is This the Most Disgusting Atrocity Filmed in the Syrian Civil War?
Aftermath of the Bangladesh Garment Factory Collapse
Savar Building Collapse 2013, Bangladesh Photo: Sharat Chowdhury via Wikipedia Clear and simple. It is only because companies like Walmart do such a thorough job in looking at production costs that they are so involved in the production of products both overseas and here in the US. One could readily see and understand if a company asked for bids on the production (Supply) of a product that the company might not even know where and how a product is produced. Walmart has been at the forefront of oversight on product production. That oversight has been used to help them gain the best possible prices on the products they sell. Read the article/Join the conversation CBS NEWS/Bangladesh factory disaster: How culpable are Western companies? <> 'I just feel that the companies using these factories should at least be pressuring the owners into improving pay and conditions, if they have any morals that is.' I think you will find that morals in regard to industrial production are pretty thin on the ground in the developing world. Companies want to be competitive in the market and they need to keep costs down . The Chinese have cornered the market in regard to textiles and the price of their goods squeezes the garment manufacturers just as prices in the West for finished goods does. This is not a simple issue. But, the design and building of places of work rests entirely with the government of the country involved. Where there is corruption, inadequate building standards, no proper standards regarding the health and welfare of people, expect more of the same. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Bangladeshi workers need more than boycotts
Missing in the Savar Building Collapse 2013 Photo by Sharat Chowdhury via Wikipedia <> I live and work in China. The reasons that western countries go to these places is that they shortcut all standards used in the west to produce goods for a cheaper price. They know damn well that wages are only a portion of the price they are paying. Other things are health and safety, pollution standards, etc. Tell me Union Carbide didn't know of their own country's requirement to build a double walled factory with a void in between to act as a containment void when they built a factory in Bhopal with a single wall. Tell me Nike doesn't know the price of shoe production when they submit a time study of all components along with the price they will pay for each step. Tell me Apple doesn't know the effects of the gasses and solvents used and the regulations governing their use in their own country when contracting with Foxcon, a Taiwan owned factory in China employing 2 MILLION people. These companies and our government all know the reason product is so much cheaper to manufacture in developing nations. It all amounts to unfair subsidies that make our own health and safety concern a disadvantage and it costs lives. This is why there was a strong Union presence in the west because when things like this happened, labour governments once applied tariffs to equalize costs and make foreign countries or manufacturers refuse to deal with these death peddlers because they would have to meet the costs of UK manufacturing anyway. We currently have legislation in place that enables the trial of sex tourists who go to the exact same countries and do illegal things with the indigenous populations. Why don't we have the same types of legislation in place governing the implementation and use of foreign factories? Similar types of abuses occur only in these cases the result is often death or dismemberment. What this does is improve the lot of the factory worker on both sides of the ocean. Why should the UK or the USA be penalized because they care more about the conditions of the workers through legislation? Would we howl if we found the factories in some of these places were employing slaves and would you praise them by stating that "At least slaves are fed because a dead slave can't work"? The world DOES get involved in things like this. Think of apartheid in South Africa. Should we have avoided interference there too? Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Bangladeshi workers need more than boycott <> Don't agree with demonizing either the foreign businesses or the consumers buying the products. This is neither their responsibility nor can they do much about it. There are people whose have specific responsibility, though. Like the Bangladeshi govt and police and building inspectors. Please do not confuse this with an accident. Mr Rana, the owner of the collapsed building Rana Plaza, was a thug of the ruling Awami league party. The land on which the building was built was appropriated with force from someone else. no permit was obtained to put up the building. Permission was only given for 5 floors and not 8 floors erected. The building was condemned and banks and other businesses evacuated but the workers were forced to enter the building. there were already cracks appearing the building. Doesn't matter how many rules and regulations you have, if there are crooks like current PM and cronies, running the show and overseeing implementation of such rules and regulations, these things will happen. NOT the businesses and consumers, but the govt and PM of Bangladesh Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Bangladeshi workers need more than boycott Is Congress Anti-Science or Antri-Waste?
Photo by David Iliff via Wikipedia So the real issue is that the scientific community might be more accountable now? They won't have a strangle hold on what paradigms get funding? That a small interest group won't be able to dictate who can join their little group of people who qualify for research grants? The only people worried about this are ones who know their ideas aren't robust enough to stand up to challenge Read the article/Join the conversation .POPSCI/Dear Congress: Why are you so anti-science? <> "The only people worried about this are ones who know their ideas aren't robust enough to stand up to challenge." Challenge? By who? Congress?! That's laughable. Congress can't even challenge their bookkeepers, let alone scientists. No, congress can't challenge, they can only endorse, and that's a big difference. If the only science that can get funding is the science that congress endorses, the quest for truth will be sullied by political agendas and religious agendas. Read the article/Join the conversation .POPSCI/Dear Congress: Why are you so anti-science? <> From what I'm reading in this story, it seems to me that those people proposing this change aren't anti-science, they're looking to focus our public dollars on the items that will make the most difference for all of us. There are an infinite number of questions that can be asked of science, but not an infinite number of resources in the world to pay people to just study them. I, for one, would be happy to see all science funding go towards the MOST useful items for everyone in our country. Who gets to decide that is another question altogether. If I had to choose between paying people to study duck penises and find potential earth-endangering asteroids, I'd choose the latter in a heartbeat. I am also very disappointed by the labeling going on in this story that purports to support science. Labeling people as anti-science just because they have a different moral opinion about who should be paying for what doesn't make anyone anti-science. But it does mean that the author is using non-scientific, emotionally inflammatory name-calling to try and make some person or group look bad. Seems to me that leaves science behind for mudslinging, which is definitely more political than scientific. The real fact is that science itself cannot be the only component of government. Science is great, and can tell us many things. But governing in all forms is basically just a selection of a moral direction. The author's morals clearly indicate that she believes the government should fund more science. That is a moral choice she is free to make, not a scientific conclusion. For example, science tells us there are stars in the sky at night. Moral choices then have to be made by governments whether or not to force all their people to pay for research into those stars. Government is at its very core an attempt to control groups of people in one way or another. And when it attempts to do so by granting freedoms, you have the whole sticky mess of dealing with everybody's differing morals rather than just the morals of 1 dictator or a small group of control-wielding individuals. Just because some people don't want to force everyone to pay for certain "lesser" science studies to be done at the point of a gun (no, seriously, try not paying your taxes for a while and see if they don't come get you with guns drawn) and under threat of imprisonment, doesn't make them evil or anti-science. It just means they have a different viewpoint about who should pay for it and how. So get over it and get off your high horse, because right now you just look like a spoiled 7-year old crying, "me, me, me! I want, I want, I want!" Read the article/Join the conversation .POPSCI/Dear Congress: Why are you so anti-science? <> I agree that the best science should be funded, however I do not believe that politicians should be deciding who gets funded, unless they have some kind of research experience or science credentials. I believe that is what this article is trying to comment on. Sure any congressman/woman or senator can gauge what are important questions to ask, however they likely cannot determine which group has the best methods to study or answer the question at hand. Someone without extensive science knowledge can also likely not not determine applications of a specific study or field. Scientists are the most qualified people to review science. This is how many fields operate. No one pays a mechanic for legal advice and no one pays a lawyer to repair a car. I am also curious if people commenting on this have research experience. As a molecular biology researcher I know there are many problems with the way biology approaches publication and grant reviews, however many of these problems stem from the overall lack of funding in this day and age (people become more cut throat and shady when money is tight). I find i difficult to believe that people not heavily involved in science would know if the "peer review [system] is a sad and sorry broken system". Read the article/Join the conversation .POPSCI/Dear Congress: Why are you so anti-science?
The Cool Stuff: Commander Hadfield's Excellent Enterprise
Obviously the coolest person to ever enter space. He connected to (and with) more people that any astronaut had ever done before. H is being credited with saving the Canadian space program and it won't take long for Americans to ride that wave and resurrect their faltering program as well. It makes you proud to be Canadian and see what we are all capable of. Read the article/Join the conversation THE STAR/Astronaut Chris Hadfield returns to Earth <> Chris Hadfield has, using his communications skills, shown people around the World what space is like and the value of space exploration to human and scientific progress. He should be congratulated and honoured for his achievements. Kids and adults alike think he is the greatest astronaut since Gagarin and Armstrong, and he can sing too! Read the article/Join the conversation GLOBE & MAIL/'Pop astronaut' Hadfield back on Earth after 5-month space mission <> You are right to some degree. AND I am certainly NO fan of things like Twitter, Facebook, etcetera. HOWEVER, with over 6 Million views on YouTube, and nearly every comment positive, I think Chris Hadfield's video did something for space exploration that hasn't been done for many years. Made it cool. Back when I was growing up---almost every child's first "what do you want to be- when you grow up" answer was Astronaut, along with Fireman or nurse. It would be fantastic if this video, and Chris Hadfield's appealing presence brought some of that excitement back to our school age children. <> I am not part of the cult or a regular follower but I do think he has done more for the future of space exploration than anyone has in a long time. My five year old loved watching while he answered school children's questions. We would have to pause the video when he moved on to another topic to answer some of her questions his answers and demonstrations inspired. Isn't that the point of space exploration and much of science? Wonder? That is what many of us took from his videos and communications and that is why I think he deserves his following. <> Mr. Hadfield will have to live with celebrity for the rest of his life - a mixed blessing for him and his family, I suppose - but I thank him for making space fun again. (If I were Canadian rather than American, of course, I would also thank him for the great PR!) Personally I thought covering "Space Oddity" was jumping the shark a bit, but a lot of people loved it, and that's important. Space exploration of necessity must be ultra rational and impersonal, but there must be love and laughter, too. If we are to survive out there and colonize other worlds, we *must* bring our souls along with us, as well as keep up the two-way communication with home. Chris Hadfield definitely brought his soul along with him, and lifted ours as well, just by being himself. We need that interesting combination of Kirk-Spock-Bones-Scotty in all spacefarers. Who's next? World Wide Web is 20 Years Old - A Look Back at the First Page
Screenshot of the Original NeXT browser CERN I was working on "the Internet" before 1991, running molecular calculations on Georgia Tech's computers from FAU in Florida. At that time there were plenty of "websites" but they weren't on the www, they were sections of AOL and Compuserve. There were dial-up BBS systems too. I remember designing a killer BBS for the South Florida Greenpeace org, and throwing it away because the web was a better place to park content. You didn't need to wait for the phone line to be open - multiple people could retrieve the info at once! At the time I was an analytical chemist and I naively believed the web was only going to be used by scientists. Hah! Read the article/Join the conversation MASHABLE/The World's First Website Gets Its Original Web Address Back "Simon Says,,," -- Could This Phone App Hijack a Plane?
HACK IN THE BOX SECURITY SUMMIT He could possibly send a new flight plan (i.e. navigation routing) but current production model airliners require the pilot to pull a knob or push a button to change altitude or airspeed. Even the change of a navigation route requires approval from the pilots via a button push. Also, he is implying that he can manipulate the systems and air data information (altitude, airspeed, heading) displayed to the pilot in the cockpit. Neither of these are possible even with maintenance test equipment plugged into the avionics on the ground. This guy did all this on his 'virtual airplane' that he designed to accommodate his proving run. He did it for the attention and notoriety and he accomplished his goal. Now, hacking drones is a different story. That is completely do-able and rather easy apparently. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Hacker says phone app could hijack plane <> You're all missing the point horribly. Who cares where airline pilots get their navigation instructions prior to plugging them into the navigation system? His software bypasses the pilots and accesses the nav system directly, which in modern airliners are capable of flying the aircraft without pilot involvement. Even if the pilots could get manual control back, it's not something you want happening...especially if, say, it happens on approach. This guy isn't stupid. He knows what he's talking about. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Hacker says phone app could hijack plane <> What matters is what that button push triggers. Just because the button is mechanical doesn't mean anything at all. If that button push merely triggers a command to the navigation software that could otherwise be mimicked by the software, then it's not a failsafe at all. Think of it like pressing a button on a phone. When you press that button, you think you are dialing a number. In reality, though, it's the TONE generated by that button that makes a call go through. If the tone is generated without the button, it still works. I used to live in a building where I had to push a button on my hard-line phone to unlock the main door for a visitor. When I got locked out, all I had to do was put my cell phone in speaker mode and hold it up to the door mic, and press that same button on my cell to generate the appropriate sound...bingo, door opened. Now, in the airplane scenario, imagine that this app sent the same signal to the navigation software that the button you mention normally sends. The mechanism by which a command is sent to software doesn't mean diddly-squat if the software isn't explicitly written to audit the source. This is EXACTLY what this guys is saying. Read the article again: "Current security systems don't have strong enough authentication methods to make sure the commands are coming from a legitimate source". People have no idea how vulnerable modern software-driven systems are... Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Hacker says phone app could hijack plane <> This was a great PoC (proof of concept), but the amount of work required Some important bits of information; they did not test The aviation industry has known about this particular presentation for a while now. Other things to consider are that the pilots would quickly realize All in all this makes for some great headlines and talking point for bobbing heads and arm chair experts, that's about all. That being said, both ADS-B and ACARS could use some protocol strengthening up though. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Hacker says phone app could hijack plane
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Controversies Storm the White House
President Barack Obama waits for a heavy rain to pass before crossing from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the West Wing March 12, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) I'm sorry- what was the impropriety? How is it that political organizations contribute to social welfare? What is the purpose of American Crossroads but to donate to conservative causes? Why NOT target "Tea Party" and"Patriot"? Perhaps it's "Alice's Tea Party", and provides toys to homeless children, or "Patriots' Home for Wandering Vets". If so, and the org. is legitimate, what harm has been done? God knows I was audited twice when my income was below poverty level. The IRS is not the world's most efficient organization. Any organization that applies for tax free status should indeed be investigated before exempt status is granted. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> There's nothing wrong with nonpartisan investigating of groups, whether chosen randomly, or on the basis of size, or number of donations, or other non-politicized criteria. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> Imagine if people in Washington were this focused on fixing the country! But I guess the press needs a scandal to make up for it's drop in readership following the election. Read the article/Join the conversation POLITICO/DC Turns on Obama <> What's so damn confusing is the President's talking points on the current scandals plaguing his Presidency. He obviously feels that the Benghazi tragedy should not have been investigated and views it as a "side show", even though he blamed an obscure anti-Muslim video for the terrorist attack for 2 weeks following the attack. Did he really not know the night of September 11th that the 7 hour attack was not attributable to Islamic extremists. Where in the hell was he? He rightfully promises an investigation into the IRS scandal, but claimed didn't know anything about it until the news broke on Friday. This investigation had been going on for well over a year, but he didn't know about? The question is why does he not know what's going on in plain sight, right under his nose? Is it his choice to not know, or have his advisers chosen to keep him out of the loop? If that's the case, why would they do that. Read the article/Join the conversation DAILY BEAST/“Imagine the Story on Fox”–Jay Carney Holds on as Winds Buffet White House <> I'm confused. Did we ever get investigations or a media circus when the IRS under Bush was caught targeting left leaning groups, including Greenpeace and the NAACP? Those groups had existed for decades. The Tea party was brand new and their groups were brand new so trying to figure out if they had the right to be tax exempt actually seems kind of appropriate. You can hardly make that argument against groups that have existed for decades. Why is the right and the media so outraged now, but wasn't when this happened under Bush? Read the article/Join the conversation DAILY BEAST/“Imagine the Story on Fox”–Jay Carney Holds on as Winds Buffet White House <> Whatever the reasons for this occurring, it's outrageous, it's just plain wrong. The administration should simply investigate, get rid of these kinds of tactics, and take disciplinary actions where applicable.
Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/IRS Inquiries Crossed The Line, Tea Party Groups Say <> A Gary Davis is quoted as saying "I've never heard of a tea party organization doing anything other than political advocacy." This goes to the part of the tax code that says 501(c)4 groups can be politically active, but it can't be their 'primary' activity (which is supposed to be 'social welfare') Since I don't belong to the Tea Party, all I know is what I read about them, and that is pretty much all political. But I don't really know what these groups do on a day-to-day basis, meaning the stuff that doesn't make the news, and I wonder if Mr. Davis does either. It reminds me of people saying that churches who participate in anti-gay marriage campaigns should lose their tax exemption because 'all they do is politics'. I'm also not a churchgoer, but I'd bet that if you add up everything a church does during the year--religious services, youth activities, clubs, charitable work, etc--it would probably turn out that it's political activities do not actually add up to a 'substantial' part of it's activities mathematically. It's just that the political part makes the news, while volunteering at a homeless shelter or having a Bible study probably won't. Read the article/Join the conversation LOS ANGELES TIMES/Outraged over IRS snooping scandal? readers aren't <> Why are political groups ...liberal and conservative getting tax exempt status. They aren't feeding the poor or helping other people...other than to cater to their political ideology. Just because people get together to discuss their political views doesn't mean they are charitable groups. What's the whole purpose of "non profit". If you take money in and use it for political purposes is that really the same as feeding the poor or teaching kids how to read. Non profit means the group is helping people in general...not just their own members. The same goes for Churches. As long as they are clothing to poor or feeding the hungry...they are non profits in my book. As soon as they turn inward and start promoting their own religious beliefs or using the money for evangelism....that' doesn't qualify for non profit status Read the article/Join the conversation LOS ANGELES TIMES/Outraged over IRS snooping scandal? readers aren't
The Rocky Road to Immigration Reform
La Border (Tijuana/San Diego) Photo: ProtoplasmKid via Wikipedia Despite commonly held views, "immigration" isn't just about itinerant Mexican laborers you might see sitting outside the local Quik Stop. It also encompasses a broken, senseless visa system that creates needless red tape for thousands of skilled workers who want to work, marry, and live in the U.S. Throwing around terms like "amnesty" and constantly focusing only on the plight of predominantly Hispanic immigrants and illegal immigration to the U.S. distracts from the big-picture need to do something serious about our antiquated system on the whole. Read the article/Join the conversation WASHINGTON POST/Rubio: Immigration bill probably won’t pass the House <> We do not need this bill passed. We need current laws enforced, mandatory e-verify and mandatory proof of legal residency of a parent registering their child for public school. We need more job openings available to college and high school students. The last thing we need is another 20 million people applying for and receiving entitlements. Illegal aliens already, through their anchor babies, receive welfare, food stamps, section 8 housing, wic . This entire discussion about amnesty for illegal immigrants is a travesty on the party of our Congress who should be more concerned with how to create jobs, get the economy moving and the wellbeing of American citizens and legal immigrants. Any Congress person voting for amnesty needs to be voted out of office next election. Read the article/Join the conversation WASHINGTON POST/Rubio: Immigration bill probably won’t pass the House <> From what I've read there are a lot of good parts to this bill. However I believe the amnesty provisions are a big mistake because: Read the article/Join the conversation WASHINGTON POST/Rubio: Immigration bill probably won’t pass the House
The Brothers Tsarnaev - Two Faces of Pure Evil
THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT AGAINS TDZHOKHAR TAERNAEV
It's amazing how much so many think they know of what was done when and how and by whom? We don't know trash about when and how things went down, maybe they check his dorm that night. You don't know and we don't need to know all the info immediately. The authorities tell us only what they want us to know so they don't tip off anything if there are others involved. Some say mirandize and some say don't mirandize...it's not our decision and the authorities do this everyday so who do we think we are telling them how to do their job. I am sure there are hundreds of things the military, state and Feds know that we have no business even offering suggestions. It is so funny listening to all these "know it all's" telling them what to do. Chill out everyone and have patience and we will learn in time all the info because if you rush them and they tell us wrong then you are going to be on their backs about getting it wrong. Just chill! Read the article/Join the conversation NBC NEWS/New details on investigation: 'Did you hear about the Boston explosion? I did that' <> Some of what you say is true and some of it is naive. But - the bombings at the Boston Massacre were not the work of a wounded people striking out at an oppressor. They were purely acts of terrorism, destruction, aimed to maim, kill, and frighten. There was no higher order thinking around justice or even around a (sick?) ideology. There was just hate, carried about by two sick people. There is no room in the world for this kind of violence anymore, there are no excuses, and the people of the world need to reject it, not justify it as you do here (though I don't think that is your full intention). Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> Where and how did these guys get their guns, grenades and bomb ingredients? Over the internet? Without background checks? Perhaps those senators who voted against stricter gun control should be asked to reconsider. The irony is unbearable. Let them say today what some of them were saying just yesterday, that there is no connection between violence in our society and our streets and easy access to weapons of war. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> I agree that we should exercise more care in who we legally allow into the country. But the flip side of that is that if an individual or group of individuals want to get into the country to conduct mayhem, they can always get here illegally (and in many cases, far easier than going through the legal process). No matter how in-depth the intake interviews and background checks might be, training and motivation can allow the system to be manipulated. No easy answers there, I'm afraid.
Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> The evil in the hearts of these brothers is incomprehensible, but it has nothing to do with immigration, just as the illness of the Newtown shooters has nothing to do with his citizenship–the only thing common to both incidents is the evil that sick hearts exude. To argue that evil in the hearts of men is synonymous to geography or accident of births or conceptions is to ignore the stories from the Holy Bible, it’s to ignore the teachings of the great prophets, the great sufis, Siddhartha Gautama, Daoism, and others. Read the article/Join the conversation REUTERS/Boston suspect's web page venerates Islam, Chechen independence <> “The evil in the hearts of these brothers…has nothing to do with immigration, just as the illness of the Newtown shooters has nothing to do with his citizenship…”. I disagree. You lock your car and house and take the keys with you to protect them from the evil and financial loss probable if you don’t. It is a simple fact that there IS evil in the hearts of enough all too many of the earth’s SEVEN BILLION plus humans. The prudent person is best advised to “trust, but verify “…the stories from the Holy Bible (sic)…the teachings of the great prophets, the great sufis, Siddhartha Gautama, Daoism, and others.” Those who would steal or do other harm do not follow those teachings. So what’s the “bottom line”? Ask yourself this: Could these Muslim terrorists have carried off their attack in Israel? Israel has walls and mines that comprise a SERIOUS and effective border. Their entire society is “on alert” for the “out of place, the unusual, the suspicious” in everyday life. If the United States is not to see more of this sort of thing, we absolutely have to get serious about countering the physical and economic threat to our society from those “outside”. Look to the attitudes and practices of Israel for America’s future (if it wants one). Read the article/Join the conversation REUTERS/Boston suspect's web page venerates Islam, Chechen independence <> "Dragnet for One Man Paralyzes Boston...." smacks of inconvenience to citizens. That is appalling to me and I would hope millions of other Americans who are grateful we have the ability to mobilize men and women to defend freedom and an open society for all. Diane Sawyer was busy this morning with telephone interviews to "inconvenienced" citizens stuck in their homes while law enforcement groups risk their lives to find an alleged terrorist. I am old enough to have been "inconvenienced" during World War II with black curtains at nightfall, gas, tire and food restrictions, shoe restrictions and on and on. I believe the victims of the alleged bombers are the only persons who truly have been "inconvenienced." Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> I once talked to an Israeli and his advice was, when you have an act of terror, or of war (as of missiles coming down on you, for example) what you need to do is, no matter your heavy heart, show the terrorists that society is stronger and not shut down society. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> We need to look at who we let into this country. Most refugees come from primitive cultures and feel uncomfortable in modern American society. By the looks of it, these people were economic refugees. The father seems to be back in Russia which speaks volumes about whether they were real political refugees. Why US immigration cannot see the shams I don't know. US immigration needs to look at their screening process and also develop a program of cultural integration for all immigrants funded by a tax on the immigrants. Those who don't want to integrate should be denied entry. And I am immigrant who has always loved America and integrated well into this society, but there many who just create enclaves without making any effort to mix. This is the type we don't need and represent a potential problem as we have now discovered. Read the article/Join the conversation LOS ANGELES TIMES/Boston manhunt: Uncle pleads for suspect to give up <> What do any of these mindless discussions matter? What does it matter if these two guys are black or white, conservative or liberal, or Christian or Muslim? They're two homicidal psychopaths who show absolutely no compunction against killing innocent women and children in cold blood. That's all I need to know! All this tit for tat bickering with people you disagree with is stupid. Do you know what you people are doing here? You're inadvertently giving a voice to the reasoning of two homicidal psychopaths! That's exactly what they want people to do, and most of you are playing right along with their wishes without even realizing it. What does any of this endless speculation matter? You should be more concerned with the "who" instead of the "why". Anything else is backwards thinking! Read the article/Join the conversation LOS ANGELES TIMES/Boston manhunt: Uncle pleads for suspect to give up
Angelina Jolie's Brave Decision Encourages Informed Choice
Angelina Jolie Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikipedia As someone who has had breast cancer and a double mastectomy, I beg all of those who suggest that The China Diet or some form thereof will prevent much less cure breast cancer to cease and desist. You are ignorant and therefore dangerous. Two of my friends were diagnosed in the past with breast cancer and they each decided to take that nutrition-only path to treatment and they are both dead now. If they would have opted for the standard medical treatment, the odds are high that they both would still be alive. They listened to their friends instead of the scientists, and they paid for those choices with their lives. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> Your discussion leaves out the elephant in the living room; the cost of the preventative breast removal. What Ms. Jolie points out in her disclosure is that the cost of the testing for BRCA mutations is $3,000.00 in the U.S.. That is $3,000.00 out of pocket because most insurance companies do not pay for explorations of possible future problems, but only pay for treatment of existing conditions. She also discusses her surgeries, which involved three months of medical procedures that the prophylactic mastectomies involved. Ms. Jolie, who is famously wealthy, could afford the out of pocket cost of prophylactic surgery, and the surgeries to preserve her nipples that most other women could not afford. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> A lot of people are making assumptions about what research Jolie did or did not do before deciding to remove her breasts. That decision was likely not made without consideration of other (limited) options. Do you know what 87% risk of breast cancer means? It means she almost definitely would develop the disease, and not in her 60s or 70s, but in her 40s or 50s (the age at which BRCA-related cancer generally appears). I know more than one woman who went in for prophylactic mastectomy or oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) because of testing BRCA+ who learned she already had cancer in the body part being removed. These are women in their 30s and 40s. And though the cancer was caught early in each of the cases, it didn't prevent metastases for all these women. These cancers are aggressive and deadly. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> This kind of blind faith in "science" scares me. I don't know, because I haven't been there, but to have both breasts removed because of fallible scientific evidence, seems to be a very extreme move. Read the article/Join the conversation GLOBE & MAIL/Angelina Jolie's awareness-raising revelation (mostly) praised, cancer experts say The Illusion of the Gifted Child
Gulliver School students via Wikipedia While I agree that there's obviously no huge difference between the child in the 96th percentile and the one in the 97th, and while I also agree that obviously family wealth and background have an impact on education and the appearance of "giftedness", I think this article is on the edge of ignoring something rather important. And that's that, to those of us who have been in the top 1% of students for their entire lives, there's a big difference between a "gifted" class and a "regular" (or even "accelerated") one. Frankly, I was bored stiff through all of elementary/middle/high school. I was never challenged. Neither were my sisters, nor a few of my friends. School was simple, and frankly very boring. Lots of busywork, while I waited for the other students to catch up to what I already knew or what I found simple and self-evident. And while, again, I realize economics has an impact, that's not enough to explain why my sisters and I found school so different than maybe 95% of our classmates. I mean, it's not that we spent a lot of time studying or anything, to get good grades and do well on standardized tests. In fact, none of us EVER studied or prepared for a standardized test (frankly, I still can't figure out how you'd do that!), and while we all did our homework and paid attention in class, the only things I remember studying for at all in school were spelling and history exams: i.e.: things where rote memorizing was as important than understanding. <> I was a "gifted" child. "Gifted" is a label, like any other label, and there are good things about being labeled gifted, and bad things. I did not grow up in NYC but the "enrichment" options I had access to, through my gifted program, did nothing to enhance my education. The label did do a lot to separate me, and my fellow gifted students, from our peers and make us the targets of bullying. My husband had the same experience as a "gifted" kid growing up in a completely different city hundreds of miles away. Now, my mother is pressing me to get my son tested to see if he is "gifted." No thanks. He is plenty smart. He is in a good charter school with lots of enriched curriculum. We do a lot to enhance his school learning in our family time. I don't need my ego boosted by getting my kid labeled as gifted. And most of the time, I really think assigning the label to the child is really done for the benefit of the parent. Be careful what you wish for. <> The leading predictor of what material will be presented to a child in school is not her or his giftedness, or social status, or mother's educational level, or sex, or race, or attitude, or aptitude, nor any of the other things that SHOULD matter — it's the kid's birthday. As long as American education continues to operate in the lockstep conveyor-belt mode of the industrial age, in which pupils are viewed as products rather than customers, distinguishable from each other only on the basis of how old they are, we'll continue to have problems with the increasingly large proportions of outliers who just don't fit in the standard mold. Fortunately, the same information technology that's created so many more opportunities FOR outliers contains the seeds of the solution: IEPs (individualized educational plans) for EVERYBODY. Time to get crackin'. Read the article/Join the conversation TIME/The Illusion of the Gifted Child Vaccination - Twitter Spreads Bad News Like Contagion
Prepping a Flu Shot - U.S. Navy Photo by Photographer's Mate Airman Philip A. McDaniel The Dynamics of Health Behavior Sentiments on a Large Online Social Network (Abstract) I work in local public health communication, and I think I can give you at least one reason for the asymmetry here. It's the same reason why it's so difficult to get almost any public health message through to the masses: It's very, very tough to prove and show what does not happen. A firefighter can prove he saved a life when he pulls a person from a burning building. Preventing disease or death that never occurs in the first place because of a vaccine is much, much harder.
Read the article/Join the conversation Ars Technica/When it comes to vaccination, bad news is contagious <> So frustrating. I'm pro-vaccine for children. My wife believes the hype and is anti. We don't have kids yet, so we've postponed the argument, but still frustrating. Not looking forward to revisiting that when the time comes. Apparently some people have forgotten about polio, thus the complacency.
Read the article/Join the conversation Ars Technica/When it comes to vaccination, bad news is contagious <> This is America, the land of conspiracy. If someone says something plausible, but then is proven wrong by the people in charge, it must be because the people in charge are part of some global left/right/up/down network of evil doers. Read the article/Join the conversation Ars Technica/When it comes to vaccination, bad news is contagious <> Two principal causes for the spread of negative "information" about vaccines, both fueled by ignorance: Read the article/Join the conversation Ars Technica/When it comes to vaccination, bad news is contagious <> There's an older, more likely hypothesis. Read the article/Join the conversation Ars Technica/When it comes to vaccination, bad news is contagious Vietnamese Smugglers Driving East Asian Trade in Rhino Horn
Photo; Nick Roux via Wikipedia What's being done to elephants is deplorable, but since the ban on ivory trade in the 90s, at least the sub-Saharan species are not really endangered (not too long ago, they were being culled in our national parks (contrary to popular belief in the West, large, wild animals live in nature reserves in Africa & do not roam freely, trampling & devouring the natives), because their sheer number was threatening the balance of the eco-system... baby steps, right?). I've been reading shocking statistics from other parts of Africa, however. What rangers in some national parks have started doing in South Africa (could be in other countries in southern African but I'm not clued up enough to know), is to dye elephants tusks -- is stains the ivory (devaluing it), but doesn't hurt the elephant at all. That it's come to this is awful. The White & Black Rhinos, however, will be gone soon (you're right... probably by 2030 at the very latest!) if nothing is done. This INFURIATES me! The only thing I can think of is a drive to educate the masses in the East (where I live now), BUT the situation is *critical*... there's no time for that... But the crack-down by authorities has resulted in more loss of human life than anything else (the deaths of national park rangers, policemen, & the poachers who are so desperate to keep rooves over their families' heads & food on the table, that they allow themselves to be exploited by faceless "kingpins", who seem to be above the law. This whole situation makes me incredibly angry... What gets me, though, is that none of them are safe, even in awful places like zoos (that's a personal feeling about those places -- visits to the zoo have reduced me to tears since childhood)... If that's the only place they end up being found (Heaven forbid!), the demand would probably drive people to venture into places like the "San Diego Wild Animal Park". FYI: To stay up-to-date with efforts to protect the rhino in South Africa, keep an eye on "RAGE" (Rhino Action Group Effort) at rhinorage-dot-org. Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa <> Easy way to stop this is to artificially produce Rhino horn--just like we produce all kinds of things in like ears now. This should be economically feasible for $1400 an ounce--after all its mostly just keratin which can already be reproduced into certain forms, molds, etc. by special labs. Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa <> Listen to the game reserves... Poison the horns. When enough people become ill and/or die from using illegally poached rhino horn, the market will dry up. Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa <> What will it take to persuade the Vietnamese, in particular and the nouveau-rich of Asia, in general to stop purchasing rhino-horn? Sure; there's an educational initiative, underway debunking the myths of rhino-horn as an aphrodisiac, as well as a general palliative. As important as such initiatives are, they're not enough, in-and-of-themselves. "Rhino-horn" has become a status symbol, in the Orient. The American Economist, Thorstein Veblen called such symbols "conspicuous consumption". It doesn't matter how many learned websites are posted; nor does it matter how many heart-wrenching "U-Tube" documentaries there are showing Rhinos getting slaughtered, so their horns can be harvested. The only thing which will work is to foster a sense-of-shame on those who traffic in such "goods". Poachers are motivated by economics; consumers are motivated by status. Aside from the total decimation of the Rhino, the poaching and consumption will cease only when owning such contraband is no longer chic. Opprobrium and shame must be heaped on those who use Rhino-horn as "rungs" on the social ladder. The "Asian mind" is particularly susceptible to shame; so, that cultural bias needs to be exploited to it's fullest. Otherwise, it'll be some other species getting slaughtered so it's teeth, or glands, or whatever can be harvested for human status. Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/Vietnam's Appetite For Rhino Horn Drives Poaching In Africa Cleaning the Air for the Bees of Europe
It really is "victory for bees" day today. Well done Europe for passing this ban & in the process listening to the stark facts, while resisting the heavy handed & ruthless pressure from pesticide manufacturers. Britain's Tory Govt have shown their true colours over neonicotinoid pesticides, by taking the side of their big business pals. Cameron’s ministers have been lobbying behind the scenes furiously opposing any ban. Cameron & his fellow Tories are more interested in making quick profits ahead of the long term damage done to bee populations. Remember Cameron's true colours when he or his ministers attempt make noises about their pro-green credentials. April 29th a day when power went to the bees! Read the article/Join the conversation INDEPENDENT/'Victory for bees' as Europe bans neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for destroying bee population <> The UK Government is an utter disgrace - what a spineless, cowardly bunch of pesticide industry-appeasers. Of 55 peer-reviewed-studies - 96% point to neonicotinoids as the primary cause of bee and pollinator declines. Science-based policy decisions? This government only looks at the science when it supports the Poison Industry's profits. They do not give a damn about bees, birds, wildlife or human health.
Read the article/Join the conversation INDEPENDENT/'Victory for bees' as Europe bans neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for destroying bee population <> The Bees have got environmentalists lobbying for them, but the chemical companies with vested interest have got more money to put into their campaigns and lab research to "persuade" politicians. Surely common sense dictates that if there's a reasonable suspicion neonicotinoids are harmful to bees their use should be suspended as a matter of precaution! Because in the long term we need pollinators more than pesticides and crops can be very successfully grown without chemicals. It's only Big Business interests that are making this anything other than a "no brainer". The government scientists say its more likely to do with the change in the weather. However its also been happening in the USA since 2005 and their weather system differs from ours, while they also use neonicotinoids. http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/apr/5/bees-are-dying-alarming-rates/ This is not the time for governments to listen to lobbyists from big business who only give a damn about their profit margins, its about time they thought about the long-term implications about pollinators and food supply. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Bee deaths: Should the EU ban neonicotinoids?
Can You Imagine Central Park Without Horse-Drawn Carriages?
Central Park, New York Kevin Bowman/Wikipedia Horses that don't have gainful employment (i.e. serve some useful purpose) end up in the knackers yard or being fed to humans as "beef" burgers. I so wish the animal rights enthusiasts could grasp the basic reality of these particular animals lives. If they succeed in their campaign and the horse drawn carriage era comes to an end, these horses lives are basically over. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Can you imagine Central Park without horse-drawn carriages? <> Having been to NY on many occasions and seen the horses in question, I would have to say that they appear to be better looked after than some of the two legged inhabitants of that city. They also have horse drawn carriages in Chicago and those equines are similarly well cared for. Seeing as the animal rights crowd enjoy nothing more than a general outbreak of hysterics I reckon this will provide lots of column inches. Maybe they could "liberate" a horse, like they do with other animals who usually wind up distressed at being taken away from their normal environment by loonies in balaclavas. I predict another own goal for the animal rights mob. I would also caution them against being on the wrong side of the teamsters union, unless they fancy ending up as part of the infrastructure. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Can you imagine Central Park without horse-drawn carriages? <> Having lived in NYC for three years I can certainly imagine it without horse-drawn carriages, yes. Although I worked near Central Park and went into it many times I never used the horse-drawn carriages. My American colleagues and friends who lived and worked in the city dismissed the rides as mere tourist traps. To suggest that they are a vital part of the identity of the city is just silly. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Can you imagine Central Park without horse-drawn carriages? <> I once went on those poor donkeys up the hill from the ferry in Mykonos. We refused to go back down on them, as they were hardly given a rest, and many not allowed to drink at the top. Mine was a steady beast who was obviously grateful that I patted his head, did not slap him, and weighed under 8 stone. Mind you, walking down, trying to avoid all the asses riding them was perilous in itself. I hear they have chair lifts now so I hope the donks are retired or used for lighter work. As for the NYC horses, I think it depends on their working hours, and the facilities they get for resting, and all the rest of it. I find the idea of NYC for horses as inappropriate as circuses for elephants and lions. I do advise people to keep a look out for animals in fields, and if they do look neglected, report it to the appropriate authorities. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Can you imagine Central Park without horse-drawn carriages?
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Eurozone Austerity Grinds On
5 Euro Note via Wikipedia
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost so she reduced The man below replied: "You're in a hot air balloon hovering Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Eurozone jobless rate hits record high as inflation falls and Spanish recession deepens
<> Almost everyone I know wants a job, and needs one. The companies need workers. Both need an environment in which, if not to thrive, to survive. That environment is determined in large part by political decisions, I suggest. In Spain now, the economic environment is clearly not one in which companies can survive. The direction of Spain's economy was set by others, agreed. But that direction is clearly not working. I am simply suggesting it is time for a change. To continue in the current direction with the failed old policies does make politicians culpable, in my view. It also makes those outside Spain who may insist on the old policy being maintained are also at fault. I realise there can be no criminal sanction, nor should there be. But I do wonder if there is a need for a democratic process that can force policies to be altered when they are causing such distress to so many. It would need to be legally based and have a very high threshold for any legal action to succeed. The events in Spain just make me wonder if there is such a need now. If the politicians are not acting for the good of their county's citizens, then we are all in trouble. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Eurozone jobless rate hits record high as inflation falls and Spanish recession deepens <> Where will it all end ? Will the central banks simply print the money, buy the debt and then write it off - that would be my guess ? It's hard to see the Western world getting out of this mire without something radical happening. The US is in an equally precarious position, it has more public debt per head than the Euro Zone and has barely begun to do anything about it. The UK has more combined debt (corporate, public and private) per head than any other developed country in the world ! When you look at the numbers it's quite scary. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/Eurozone jobless rate hits record high as inflation falls and Spanish recession deepens
Ringing Up Change with Bitcoin
Bitcoin-based coin via Wikipedia All of Bitcoin's "competitors" have the same fatal flaw. There is no physical protection from debasement. Each is controlled by some entity that is ultimately controlled by human beings. Bitcoin, by contrast, is self-administered by its open-source algorithm. As for promises and incentives never to over-create currency? Promises to repay debt has been broken time and again by solemn governments. Central banks being private is supposed to be the incentive not to debase, and what do we have now? Paper money has been tried from at least a thousand years ago and has never ended well. It seems that human weakness and the power to create currency units are a dangerous (if not cancerous) mix. Read the article/Join the conversation THE ECONOMIST/Mining Digital Gold <> All fiat currencies are based on faith. In the beginning they were 100% commodity based warehouse receipts. They were based on the integrity of the issuing agent (goldsmith, private banks) and by the last century that became a sovereign monopoly of national central banks, and they are based on faith in their roles as units of exchange and a store of value. Bitcoin is simply a digital version of a fiat currency and will stand or fall for the same reasons that other fiat currencies stand or fall. Being digital may give it cost and transaction anonymity advantages but those are insignificant compared to the risks associated with it. Even the supply amounts being bandied about for Bitcoin and other contenders are meaningless. I have 260 trillion Zimbabwe dollars sitting on my desk. They were "minted" in 2008 and quickly would not buy what one Zimbabwe dollar bought in early 2007, and today, as currency, will not buy a cup of coffee. Even an idea whose time has come, if badly executed, is a formula for a disaster. Those in to Bitcoin early and who bail out before the fall will make speculative gains. The rest, the majority, will simply get hurt. Read the article/Join the conversation THE ECONOMIST/Mining Digital Gold <> When you have a known upper limit of 21 million Bitcoin that can ever be introduced into the market (inherent to the concept of Bitcoin) there is a heavy risk of widespread hoarding of the currency for the sake of speculation. This obviously already happens with existing currencies, as your example with China and the dollar explains. But unlike the dollar, you don't need the Bitcoin to eat or top up your gas tank or pay your bills. That necessity limits the extent to how much China's speculation can affect the American family's life. As it stands, if the Bitcoin is growing at an outstanding rate, why should you buy a book from amazon worth 2 Bitcoin if in a couple of weeks you can buy 10 for the same amount? or possibly a car in a month? The Bitcoin's volatility and exposure to speculation kill its use as a means of trade for goods and services. Read the article/Join the conversation THE ECONOMIST/Mining Digital Gold
Dr. Joyce Brothers, the "Mother of Television Psychology"
Dr. Joyce Brothers,1957, via Wikipedia Photo: Phylis Twachtman/NY World Telegram
What a uniquely talented woman! So many diverse interests, aptitudes and endeavors during her long life and career. The fact that she managed to have a sense of humor about herself and her profession, and even about the silliness of pop culture, is commendable. I remember Dr. Joyce Brothers being just about everywhere when I was growing up; she was a fixture on television, from the news to sitcoms to game shows. Even when she was in parody settings, she maintained a classy, elegant, approachable image. A lovely, accomplished person who should be held up as a role model, for sure. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> Dr. Joyce Brothers did not invent herself as a celebrity like the other ersatz psychologists to whom she is being compared. She was made into a celebrity because the country liked and trusted her. Comparing Dr. Brothers to impostors like "Doctor" Phil and others is not only inaccurate, it's factually incorrect. She was a real psychologist, and she knew her stuff. She appeared on Game Shows and Talk Shows because the public loved her. She never said or did anything to betray her profession or to turn a buck, and she never tried to lure in viewers or listeners with salacious or lurid stories. Her opinions about modern psychology and social issues were always spot on. Dr. Joyce Brothers was a sincere and dignified professional who also happened to be a celebrity -- we'll never see that again. Read the article/Join the conversation NEW YORK TIMES/
<> Dr. Brothers was one of a kind in her field. She was a smart, classy doctor with a sense of humor. I loved the episode of Frazier in which she did the "nut" commercial that he refused because of his professional scruples. Dr. Brothers changed the image of psychology and therapy, making it more accessible and less intimidating to millions of people. RIP, wonderful lady. Read the article/Join the conversation DAILY BEAST/TV Personality Joyce Brothers Dies Netherlands Welcomes First King in 120 Years
King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, April 2013 © RVD, Koos Breukel
The Netherlands is one of the most egalitarian Nations in the world. For example, it was the first country in the world to support same-sex marriage. The monarchy is a symbol with no real power. If it were anything else the Dutch would reject them; but the house of Orange-Nassau has been very pragmatic and willingly handed over their powers whenever the Parliament asked them to. In a country with generally weak coalition governments -due to a strong tradition of concensus-based policy ("The Polder Model"), the house of Orange has been a symbol of stability. I, as a Dutch citizen, don't have strong feeling about having either a monarchy or republic, but like most Dutch citizens I don't have a problem with our monarchs and they generally do a good job. They have been preparing all their lives to serve as a moral symbol and maintain many foreign connections, useful for a trading nation like ours. Why would we instead opt for a weak (the Dutch would never allow centralized power) president that won't be able to cultivate long-term relationships? So yeah, I tend to favor the Monarchy because I don't see advantages in any alternatives. The Monarchy makes our country color Orange for one thing, and in addition Kingsday (formerly Queensday) is simply a whole lot of fun! Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Willem-Alexander takes Dutch throne after mother abdicates <> Long live the King and former Queen! You would be uninformed if your opinion is not based on experience. So unless you are Dutch and have lived for some years in The Netherlands you don't know how important and wonderful the Royal Family is here. It is definitely not like in the Middle Ages, it is a modern set and is a family of well educated people, as well all the necessary checks and balances are in place. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/Willem-Alexander takes Dutch throne after mother abdicates <> All negative comments are made by people who don't know a thing about Dutch history and our feelings for the House of Orange. Totally different from most other royal families in Europe. We have a common past , every generation still alive has it's own memories of our royal family. Even the national anthem (yes, the oldest in the world ) tells you what it is all about : true to my country I will be until death ) is sung by the king or queen . Even here in Belgium they love our Royals ,because they are so human and every one feels they can identify with them. The Royals are fantastic for promoting the Netherlands abroad and are worth every penny compared with politicians. We wish our King and family a long and happy reign . It is our choice to have a monarchy over a republic with presidents that come and go. Read the article/Join the conversation DAILY MAIL/The Netherlands welcomes its first King for more than 120 years but it's the girls in royal blue who steal the show <> A few ago on a working visit to Amsterdam, I was sitting in a square having a cup of coffee, reading a newspaper. I was joined at my table by a very pleasantly spoken man who was interested as to what I was doing in his city. It turned out he was Prince Friso, who happened, at the time to be 2nd in line to the throne. Could you imagine any of our cossetted Royal family doing such a thing, The Dutch Royal family are truly men and women of the ordinary people. In fact, Queen Beatrix has been seen in her local supermarket near to her country home. Our royals could learn a great deal from people like this. Royalty is not all about pomp and ceremony yo know Read the article/Join the conversation DAILY MAIL/The Netherlands welcomes its first King for more than 120 years but it's the girls in royal blue who steal the show
David Beckham, Lion of English Football, Calls it Quits
David Beckham, 2012 Photo: Kunal Shah /Wikipeida It is not often that you will find me commenting positively about large scale sports personalities as on the whole I put them up there with politicians in terms of moral integrity (yes you Tiger!) but this chap is different. I have rarely seen him lose his temper he is actually a great football player who can be compared with players of yesteryear. He leads his private life in a dignified manner and has represented our country well on the global arena. So hats off to you David, you have managed to still be pretty humble even though you are a media and sports icon. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/David Beckham Retires from Football <> Underrated Because of looks many overlooked his skill. You cannot get into a Ferguson or Capello side without holding up your end. At his best he could send a 50 yard cross onto your laces and that is right or left depending on your preference. Love big data. Plug in champion of 4 different leagues, 100 caps, and champions league winner: see what you get. No one else!!! A unique talent. Thank you for playing in the USA. You made the league better. Read the article/Join the conversation CNN/David Beckham Retires from Football <> It is pathetic the amount of stick Beckham gets from some armchair experts. He has been a consummate professional, and I have masses of respect for what he has achieved. Also one of the few players over the last 20 years who has truly understood what it means to play for, and captain England, never giving less than 100%. There have been better players, but few better role models in the sport. Read the article/Join the conversation BBC SPORTS/David Beckham to retire from football at end of season <> 1/ Took one of the game's skills, crossing the ball, and became a genius at it. 2/ Established telepathic communication with Gary Neville. 3/ Tidy free-kick taker. 4/ Modeled underwear with great panache. 5/ Great at timing his career moves to chime with others' success. Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/David Beckham to retire from football after turning down new PSG deal <> Salute you Becks!
Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/David Beckham to retire from football after turning down new PSG deal <> David Beckham, Wonderful football player, proud Englishman, super dad, globetrotter and fashion icon. What an amazing twenty years he has experienced, what a remarkable role model for all aspiring young football players both male and female. Well done Mr Beckham, the boy from Leytonstone done well! Read the article/Join the conversation GUARDIAN/David Beckham to retire from football after turning down new PSG deal
"I'm Gay" - Jason Collins Starts the Conversation
Jason Collins - Marissa Gawel via Wikipedia It is interesting that a current athlete would come out as gay. There was a time not long ago where this would have been a total shock, rather than a typical news story. Good to see Jason garnering the support from his peers. Now time to move on. Read the article/Join the conversation ESPN/Jason Collins: Support "incredible" <> I don't care about him being gay. What I do care about is the media and the public wanting to push there ideals on those of us that don't believe it is biblical or morally right. For this very reason he decided to come out and make the statement he is gay. He could have just as well done what he wanted without stating that to the public. When a person is ridiculed for stating his Christian belief is against homosexuality behavior but yet throwing this out there as being acceptable is idiotic. You have a right to be what you want and to have any belief or none belief you want. However, you shouldn't have the right to throw those belief on others as a socially acceptable to everyone. Judgement day is coming and we all have to be held accountable and you have the choice not to believe that too. Read the article/Join the conversation ESPN/Jason Collins: Support "incredible" <> If you wanna be gay, be gay but please do not compare a choice Collins made to Jackie Robinson not even close. Robinson tried playing in a era where Black people were, hung in trees, sprayed by fire hoses, and beat up all over something they had zero control of and that being that they were black. Collins had a choice to be gay and for goodness sakes has the support of the president and the country. I don't see Collins fearing for his life anytime soon. Read the article/Join the conversation ESPN/Jason Collins: Support "incredible" <> “Thank you Mr. Collins”! Thank you for being the Rosa Parks of this decade. This will be one huge step towards all humans to have equal rights. And for those of you that do not believe in all human rights that continue to ridicule people that might be different than you – SHAME on you. Understand, the same people you judge and try to put down and discriminate are to your neighbors – your friends and in most cases your family. I can guarantee you that someone in your family or close to you is one of us too, so think before you speak and know that you’re not only hurting those you “think” you know but you are also hurting the ones that are close to you. Read the article/Join the conversation ABC NEWS/Jason Collins Says 'Huge Weight' Lifted After Becoming First Openly Gay Major Pro Athlete <> Hopefully one day it won't be a big deal. The current reality is that athletes like Jason Collins have spent their entire lives actively hiding their sexuality for fear it would jeopardize their career. Another reality is that we don't live in a society where Collins could stop hiding his sexuality without clarifying and expect everyone to calmly say, "Oh, I didn't know he was gay." and then continue with business as usual. The media would make a bigger deal out of that. Young gay athletes need to see that being openly gay will not prevent them from making it to the pros. If they do not have any examples of this they will continue to feel they must hide their sexuality the way Jason Collins did. The hope here is that as more professional athletes come out fewer young gay athletes will feel the need to stay in the closet until they're 34... they'll arrive at the pros openly gay and no one will care. Read the article/Join the conversation NPR/NBA's Jason Collins Is First Active Player To Come Out As Gay
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