The Kennedy's should be ashamed, but I don't think they have any

By Ari Rutenberg

Once again the only organization willing to speak truth to power in America has exposed the incredible selfishness and hypocrisy of the elite in America. Last night on the Daily Show, correspondent Jason Jones did a hilarious piece on the Cape Cod wind farm, a proposed 25 square mile site 5 miles of the coast of Nantucket, and on the horizon of the view from the Kennedy compound. To paraphrase Mr. Jones what you learn is that the Kennedy's aren't just rich, they're really, really rich.. Whats so ridiculous is that the both Robert F. Kennedy jr. and his uncle,, Sen. Ted Kennedy are both staunch proponents of the environment, and yet they object to this project because its in their view. This is unacceptable and outrageous behavior by a senator and a man who sits on the board of the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Though the Kennedys are often granted a lot of leeway by the left because of their history, behavior like this should be called out no matter who is doing it. This is a case of NIMBYism (Not In My Back Yard)at is absolute worst. The Kennedys are attempting to use their stature and environmental credentials to protect personal and financial interest in a vacation home from which you can barely see the windmills.

Though this does not quite rise to the level of outright corruption, it is far to close for comfort, as well as becoming ammunition for Republicans who want to destroy the credibility of these men.

I am ashamed for them.

They should be ashamed too.

Then they need to apologize for their shortsightedness and help get the wind farm approved. This would be a very public demonstration of their commitment to the environment, which is the most significant and challenging issue of our time.

But I think the will fight to the bitter end, and they will lose. But it doesn't matter because they have no shame. Read more!

I suppose you think your shit don't stink?!?!

by Nick Lang.

There I was, busting for a piss, with nothing but the smug, stubborn look of a locked door in front of me, smiling its “occupied” smile. For minutes I waited, as the pain grew in my bladder – as did the sense of gloom that comes from the realisation that you are waiting for someone to finish something quite evil, of which the aftermath you must now bear witness to. When suddenly, out comes none other than the company Director himself; an honest and friendly man who has no such luxury as an en-suite toilet. He smiles and walks away swiftly to return to his important duties, leaving me to have to wade in amongst the vapours of his foul droppings, doing my best to hold my breath whilst trying to enjoy a painstakingly long urination session. But as I approach the scene of the crime, I realise that something isn’t quite right; something is, missing. I can, breath. A moment or two of quiet contemplation is interrupted sharply by a shocking revelation – the Director’s shit actually does not stink.
I guess some people actually are just better than the rest of us. Read more!

Here and no further

by Ari Rutenberg

Once again, for the umpteenth time in the past year the Democrats in congress have demonstrated their complete lack of connection with the American people as well as the feature that Republicans love to talk about, and are unfortunately right about: their spinelessness. Have they not heard us? Have they not listened to the cry of the people for genuine change? With the passage of the "temporary" FISA-destroying electronic surveillance bill last week the Democrats showed us that they were more interested in going on vacation on time than getting the work done right. As several Democrats have said they "do not want to go on vacation without passing an intelligence reform bill" because they fear that if an attack occurs they will be politically vulnerable. This to me is simply unacceptable. They were elected to run the country, not to protect their own careers.
It is a genuine indictment of this Congress that they cannot see past their own vacations. They believe that it is better to keep their vacation schedule and force through another poorly written and half-baked law like the PATRIOT Act and the Military Commissions Act of 2006. The would rather go on vacation and give Alberto Gonzales, who aside from his obvious political problems is clearly not competent to run the Justice Department, the power to OK domestic wiretapping with no oversight what so ever.
Now this is not a power any attorney general should have as it completely eliminated any process of checks and balances for domestic wiretapping. That being said it seems especially egregious to give such carte blanche for spying to Alberto Gonzales, who in both a political and professional sense is in no way qualified to use such a power wisely and for the purpose it was intended.
It would seem from this episode that the Democrats simply have not learned from the past 8 months. This is not about Republicans, or George Bush changing his demands after legislation had been agreed to. Instead this time the Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. This is about putting image and job ahead of reason and country. Instead of staying to uphold their oaths and write a bill that addresses the so-called problems (read here warrants and due process) with domestic wiretapping, they simply gave Bush everything he wanted and then said "well its only temporary and we'll deal with it in six months." That six months more of eroding freedoms. Six months more of Bush and Gonzo having powers that no one should have in our system of government. Six months more of no accountability in government.
In the end this is about the Democrats being more afraid of the media and what they might be called by Republicans then actually doing what is in the interest of the security of the commonwealth. When will the Democrats start standing up for the American people and the constitution? When will they say enough with political games and empty rhetoric? When will they say the only thing the American public wants to hear: here, and no further. Read more!

It's time to wake up

By Peter Bauer

In the United States, media serves the function of alerting Americans to the world around them without leaving the their homes. It provides people with the illusion of a shared cultural political experiences that would otherwise be impossible due to geographic constraints. Demographics are bought and sold like cattle between major advertising and media corporations as people stay glued to the tube to find out how to think next.

The media are also deliver normative cues about how society allegedly should be. Leave It To Beaver conveyed the false hopes of America in the 1950’s. In our generation, Reality TV does the same thing, not reflecting reality, but rather to deceiving the masses like a funhouse mirror.....

The combination of these two functions of media allows it to be the single most influential part of our daily lives. The media becomes downright dangerous, when they become more interested in celebrity gossip and the fantasy of fame. Headlines aren’t of substance: ‘If it Bleeds, it Leads.’

With the blossoming of 24 hour news channels in the late 1990’s, political punditry and talking heads have become more lucrative and appealing than traditional once a day print and news journalists. The constant access to content of these news channels advertise do nothing to truly inform the population.

What’s worse, as entertainment value supersedes truly newsworthy journalism, the media machine becomes more interested in higher ratings, advertising dollars, and access to “information” than really serving the good of the public at large.

And who provides the information anyway? Do we really trust these people who hypnotized us into war with their terror alerts and in-depth interviews with four star generals and chicken-hawk politicians who skipped out on our nation’s last quagmire?

As more and more journalists are becoming members of America’s elite professional class, they grow out of touch with their constituents: the public at large. What is more troubling than the infotainment they report are the major stories that they leave out… questions that remain unanswered because they go unasked.

Take for example the Valeria Plame leak scandal, which as suppressed by NBC, or the secret wiretapping story that was suppressed by The New York Times. Who are the media here to represent? These stories were reported over a year after they were initially discovered in the fall of 2005. In both instances, two major media outlets chose to not report on major stories.

Both of these events happened during an election year, and it can be hypothesized that they could potentially have an impact on the outcome of the election. Why? Who are the media here to represent?

We’re being lulled to sleep, slowly and softly, with the televised war hissing in the background.

The rhetoric of the centers of power are irrelevant.

The major media message is irrelevant.

The cards are stacked.

It’s a fixed game.

Wake Up. Read more!

Good news for slackers: Working too hard makes you depressed

This article was published on www.guardian.co.uk


Stressful jobs double risk of depression for young workers

* Ian Sample, science correspondent
* The Guardian
* Thursday August 2 2007

High-stress jobs make young workers twice as likely to suffer from major depression and anxiety disorders, according to a British study of mental health in the workplace.

Psychiatric assessments of nearly 1,000 people in the early stages of their careers revealed that one in 20 can expect to experience serious depression or anxiety every year as a direct result of work.

The study is the first of its kind to establish a firm link between stressful working conditions and poor mental health among people who had no previous history of the disorders before their career began.

Previous studies across Europe and the US have found that cases of depression have risen in the past two decades, mirroring increases in reported work stress.

Researchers at the institute of psychiatry at King's College London, who conducted the study, called on employers to be vigilant for signs of chronic stress in their workplace. In Britain, lost productivity due to depression and anxiety is estimated to cost companies £12bn a year.

The psychiatrists interviewed 972 employed men and women from the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, who have been enrolled in a long-term medical study since birth. All of the volunteers were aged 32 and held a variety of jobs, from politician and police officer to brain surgeon and dustbin collector. The study revealed a marked increase in cases of major depressive disorder and generalised anxiety disorder among people in highly demanding jobs, with 14% of women affected and 10% of men. Of these, 45% were directly attributed to stress in the workplace.

"Work stress appears to bring on diagnosable forms of depression and anxiety in previously healthy young workers; in fact the occurrence is two times higher than among workers whose jobs are less demanding," said Dr Maria Melchior, an epidemiologist and lead author of the study, to be published in the journal Psychological Medicine later this month.

Research consistently shows a greater prevalence of depression among women, though the risk appears to be higher only in women of reproductive age, suggesting that the female sex hormone oestrogen may play a role, said Professor Terrie Moffitt, a co-author on the study.

The most high-pressured jobs were not necessarily held by white-collar workers in city firms, the researchers found. Head chefs in large restaurants were among the most highly stressed, probably because they had to cope with constant inflexible deadlines, and very public failure for any mistakes they made.. Read more!

An alternative to the i-Phone

By Ben Cohen

Calling all tech geeks- there is a new open source phone called the 'Neo 1973' soon to be on the market that rivals the i-Phone. This basically means it is a phone that allows the owner to download different types of open source software applications onto their phone. Read more to check it out.


This article originally appeared on www.blog.wired.com

The $300 Linux-Powered 'iPhone Killer' Arrives
By Michael Calore EmailJuly 09, 2007 | 1:41:33 PMCategories: Linux, iPhone

Ficneo1973_small After seemingly endless delays, the OpenMoko phone is here. The first version of the NEO 1973 mobile phone, which carries the Linux kernel inside and is not locked to a specific network, is available for purchase from OpenMoko.com. It's not as jaw-droppingly pretty as the iPhone, but it shares a design philosophy -- no buttons, just a screen -- and it's ready to be loaded with any number of open-source software applications. (Though, according to Gadget Lab, so is the iPhone).

The base version of the NEO sells for $300. It has a 2.8" VGA touch screen, a micro SD card slot, a USB port and 2.5G GSM quad band capability.

Keep in mind that this unit (the GTA01) was pushed out early so developers could begin writing device drivers, custom GUIs and some cool apps for the phone. The next revision (GTA02), which will be available starting at $450 in October, will be ready for the mass market. It will have wi-fi, 3-D motion sensors and added graphics accelerators. So this phone isn't exactly an iPhone killer -- the next one will be a contender. AptUsTech has a nice comparison of the NEO 1973 and the iPhone.

When it comes to devices, more choice is almost always "a good thing." But will consumers respond to the NEO? We all know developers are going to dig this phone. But what's more important to consumers -- a super-sexy status item that's locked to one carrier and one set of functions, or a less sexy look-alike with a fully free and open software system?
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Chris Dodd confronts O'Reilly over liberal website

By Ben Cohen

Bill O'Reilly is a favourite target for the left, and rightly so. A mouth piece for the Republican party and corporate America (which is now the same thing), O'Reilly would be laughable if so many people didn't tune in to watch his show. He has enormous influence in America, and deserves intense scrutiny to monitor his semi-fascist rantings.

Here he is, smearing the liberal site DailyKos.com in his usual belligerent manner. This time, Senator and presidential candidate Chris Dodd confronts O'Reilly calling him out on his ridiculous assertions.




Read more!

Obama loses the plot

By Ben Cohen

Barack Obama's dismissal of the standard 'We Don't talk to our enemies' foreign policy stance was something of a revelation. No mainstream Democratic candidate in recent times has had to guts to go against the party line, but Obama, true to his word was offering a 'different type of politics'.

However, in one swift move, Obama has destroyed his credibility on the topic by announcing he would invade Pakistan if they didn't follow Washington's orders.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets and President Musharraf won't act, we will" said Obama in his foreign policy speech on August 1st.

"There must be no safe-haven for terrorists who threaten America. We cannot fail to act because action is hard."

It appears that Obama has fallen into the same ideological trap that has infected American politicians for the past 60 years, believing that U.S interests supersede international law and the national sovereignty of other countries.

To put this in perspective, let us imagine the situation in reverse. Let's say President Musharraf announced he would be sending Pakistani forces to the U.S if they did not clamp down on extreme neo con elements in the White House.

"If we have actionable intelligence about high-value neo-con targets, and President Bush won't act, we will".

Given America's track record in killing people in the middle east, Musharraf probably has a better case than Obama. But not in the world of American hegemony, where it is one rule for the U.S, and another for everyone else.

The Pakistani government was also unsurprisingly unimpressed with Obama's bluster.

In an interview with AFP Pakistan's Minister of State for Information Tariq Azeem said,"Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance."

"They are not fully apprised about the ground realities and not aware of the efforts by Pakistan," he continued.

"We have said before that we will not allow anyone to infringe our sovereignty."

Clearly an attempt to out muscle other Democrats on foreign policy, Obama has sold himself shockingly short of the 'politics of hope' he preached at the beginning of his campaign. If Democrats and people around the world expected something different from Obama, they have been let down badly.

Far from the outsider he has portrayed himself as, it is politics as usual from the Obama campaign.END

Full text. Read more!

An incredible medical break through

By Ben Cohen

I recently watched an incredibly sad documentary on HBO about people suffering from severe brain injuries. In one of the top hospitals in the world, the prospects of those in a vegetative or 'minimally conscious' state are virtually non existent. Even for those patients with less severe damage, the rehabilitation is painfully slow and terribly upsetting for the families involved. It made for intriguing but heart wrenching watching, and I was left with little sense of hope for the victims.

In an amazing break through however, doctors have managed to successfully treat a man who was in a near vegetative state for more than 6 years by stimulating his brain with electrical impulses. It's a serious advancement, and will bring hope for the many people suffering from severe brain damage. Check this incredible story from 'The Guardian'

Pioneer brain implants allow minimally conscious patient to eat, drink and talk

· Astonishing reaction to electrical stimulation
· Hope for others previously considered untreatable

* Ian Sample, science correspondent
* The Guardian
* Thursday August 2 2007

A man who spent more than six years in a near-vegetative state after a horrific assault has made a dramatic recovery following a pioneering treatment to stimulate his brain with electrical pulses.

The 38-year-old American suffered devastating brain damage during a street robbery in 1999, leaving him almost completely unconscious and in need of round-the-clock care. Doctors who performed emergency surgery on the man told his parents that if he survived the operation, his chances of recovery were zero.

The man, who was confined to a bed in a specialised nursing home, very rarely opened his eyes, occasionally tried to mouth words and move his head, but was otherwise unable to communicate and had to be fed through a tube. Following the new treatment the patient, who cannot be named, is able to recognise and talk to his doctors and family, eat and drink normally and perform basic movements, such as brushing his hair.

It is the first time the technique, called deep brain stimulation, has been used to treat a patient in what neuroscientists refer to as a minimally conscious state. It is also the first clear sign that it may be possible to rehabilitate people with such severe brain damage that they have previously been considered untreatable by modern medicine. "He was beaten and kicked around his head, his skull was completely crushed and he was left for dead," the man's mother told a press conference by telephone. "The doctors said if your son pulls out of this in the next 72 hours, and we don't know if he will, he will be a vegetable for the rest of his life. You need to make a decision about what you want to do." The patient spent five years in a nursing home and his parents gave permission for him not to be resuscitated should his condition suddenly deteriorate.

In August 2005, a team of doctors from three hospitals in the US asked the family if they wished their son to join an experimental study to test the new technique, which involves implanting 1mm-wide electrodes into the two regions of the brain closely linked to consciousness. The technique is already used to stimulate other areas of the brain to control tremors in people with Parkinson's disease. Several trials are under way to test its effectiveness at treating severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, and epilepsy.

With the parents' agreement, the man was fitted with brain electrodes that fed into twin regions of the central thalamus and hooked up to a pacemaker implanted under the skin of the chest during a 10-hour operation. He was then treated with electrical pulses for 480 days.

The surgeons hoped that the electrical pulses might kickstart activity in his brain and reawaken intact brain circuits. The results, reported in the journal Nature, were rapid and astonishing.

"After deep brain stimulation, we immediately saw some changes, literally within the first day," said neurophysiologist Joseph Giacino, who led the post surgical team at the JFK Johnson Rehabilitation Institute in Edison, New Jersey.

At first, the man opened his eyes and was able to track people as they moved around the room. Later, he regained the ability to speak a few words at a time and make careful, intentional limb movements. He is now fitted with implants that stimulate his brain every 12 hours.

"My son can now speak, watch a movie without falling asleep, drink from a cup, express pain, he can cry and laugh ... He can say 'I love you mum'. I still cry every time I see my son, but they're tears of joy," his mother said.

Doctors expect to see continuing improvements in his recovery.

Ali Rezai, a neurosurgeon at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, who led the team to place the electrodes, said: "When we first activated the pacemakers ... we looked at each other, the team humbled in many ways, but at the same time excited about the prospects and the potential of what can be done for these patients."

The team emphasise that the treatment might not work for all patients in a minimally conscious state. Estimates suggest up to 280,000 brain-damaged people may be in minimally conscious states in the US alone. Adrian Owen, who has studied patients in a vegetative state at the MRC cognition and brain sciences unit in Cambridge, said the case study was a "major step" toward treatment for others. "Clearly this suggests a possible treatment for some patients with MCS," he said.
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What is wrong with Michael Savage?

By Ari Rutenberg

A few days ago, upon hearing the news that Chief Justice Roberts had had a seizure and been taken to the hospital, popular right-wing radio host Michael Savage (whose middle name is very appropriately, as Keith Olbermann likes to point out, Weiner) did not express his concern, or his support for the Chief Justice, but instead immediately began to accuse the Democrats in general, and NY Senator Chuck Schumer specifically, of having caused it. What the hell is wrong with this man? First that is absurd. I do not like many Republicans but I have not accused them of attempting to have Bill Clinton assassinated. Second Mr. Savage, it is people like you who believe that violence is the solution to every problem. We did not start a war for no reason. We are not trying to threaten any country who disagrees with us with wanton destruction. We do not feel the need to threaten people with the death penalty for expressing their political beliefs. All those things are the modus operandi of anti-intellectual, fear- hate-, and war- mongering, non-reality based, non-thinking, lying, dissembling, fascist propagandizing jingoistic neocon sons of bitches like you and your ilk. Oh yeah...thats because the other thing you people are famous for is accusing others of committing your crimes and misdeeds. We believe in peaceful, reasonable discussion and due process of the law. We believe in the use of reason and justice as our guiding moral principles. We believe in having compassion for your fellow humans and demonstrating it with actions. We believe that you do not have to murder your enemies to defeat them. We believe in living our highest moral standards, not simply paying them lip service. And most of all, we (which by the way is most of the world, as outside this country people like Mr. Savage are not generally given air time) believe in knowledge, understanding, compassion and social justice in our society. Those are the thing we care about. So please Mr. Savage when your ready to have a civilized discussion we can talk, but until then, as my dear friend Ben said yesterday of another jackass, please shut up. Read more!