"May You Live in Interesting Times"

'Frozen' US Constitution Losing Appeal Globally

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:21:00 +0000

Sure, it is the nation’s founding document and sacred text. And it is the oldest written constitution still in force anywhere in the world. But its influence is waning.

In 1987, on the Constitution’s bicentennial, Time magazine calculated that “of the 170 countries that exist today, more than 160 have written charters modeled directly or indirectly on the U.S. version.”

A quarter-century later, the picture looks very different. “The U.S. Constitution appears to be losing its appeal as a model for constitutional drafters elsewhere,” according to a new study by David S. Law of Washington University in St. Louis and Mila Versteeg of the University of Virginia

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/we-the-people-loses-appeal-with-people-around-the-world.html?hp

Syria Armed Force Helps Rebels Gain Ground - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 07:39:00 +0000

Syria Armed Force Helps Rebels Gain Ground - NYTimes.com

The growing violence and assertiveness of the loosely organized military force hinted at the expanding role of armed fighters in a movement that began peacefully more than 10 months ago and that now seems to attract more defectors from Syria’s military by the day. After months of a withering government crackdown on the opposition, many protesters have come to welcome the fighters as a bulwark against the security forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

'Why Iowa is Overrated as an Influential Caucus State'

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 17:22:00 +0000

Observations From 20 Years of Iowa Life - Atlantic Mobile

Note: Prof. Bloom received death threats as a result of this article being published.

A Tribute to Hitch 'Rap Video'

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:02:00 +0000

Marines’ Haditha Interviews Found in Iraqi Junkyard - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:33:00 +0000

"The 400 pages of interrogations, once closely guarded as secrets of war, were supposed to have been destroyed as the last American troops prepare to leave Iraq. Instead, they were discovered along with reams of other classified documents, including military maps showing helicopter routes and radar capabilities, by a reporter for The New York Times at a junkyard outside Baghdad. An attendant was burning them as fuel to cook a dinner of smoked carp.

The documents — many marked secret — form part of the military’s internal investigation, and confirm much of what happened at Haditha, a Euphrates River town where Marines killed 24 Iraqis, including a 76-year-old man in a wheelchair, women and children, some just toddlers."

Click link below for more:

Marines’ Haditha Interviews Found in Iraqi Junkyard - NYTimes.com

Chinese Village Locked in Rebellion Against Authorities - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 20:47:00 +0000

Chinese Village Locked in Rebellion Against Authorities - NYTimes.com

Last year, there were as many as 180,000 outbursts of what sociologists here describe as “mass incidents,” strikes, sit-ins, rallies and violent clashes that have mushroomed alongside China’s breakneck economic expansion. Government figures from the mid-1990s put the number of mass incidents at less than 10,000.

“People don’t have sufficient faith in legal procedures or the media and feel they have no redress when bad things are done to them,” said Martin K. Whyte, a Harvard sociologist who studies Chinese social trends.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/world/asia/chinese-village-locked-in-rebellion-against-authorities.html

Amazon Prime Members: Borrow 'Forest of Assasins' for Free

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:02:00 +0000

For Kindle Device Owners

Borrow this book for free, with no due dates, if you are a Kindle owner and Prime member. If you don't own a Kindle, get yours today. If you're not a Prime member, start your one month free trial today. You can borrow this book from your Kindle device.

With Prime, Kindle owners can choose from thousands of books to borrow for free — including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers — as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. Learn more about Kindle Owners' Lending Library.

The true story of the year I spent as a kid in Saigon, Vietnam in 1970, with my parents, roaming the countryside on my Honda motorcycle.

See here for more: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004PLO8OE

"Never, EVER, get out of the boat!"

Willard in the movie 'Apocolypse Now'

Syrian President Assad Denies Any 'Order to Kill' Protesters

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 18:18:00 +0000

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad defiantly denied any suggestion that he has ordered a bloody crackdown against protesters who are demanding that he resign, and claims instead that most of the people who died in the unrest were his supporters and troops.

Assad, whose regime has been condemned by the West, the Arab League and former allies, dismissed suggestions that he step down and scoffed at sanctions being imposed on Syria.

Watch Barbara Walters' interview with President Bashar al-Assad on Newsmakers at Yahoo! News

http://abcnews.go.com/International/defiant-syrian-president-bashar-al-assad-denies-ordering/story?id=15098612#.Tt-tubKVpDm

New American: Senate Bill 1867 Authorizes Arrest, Detention of US Citizens Without Charge or Trial

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 20:46:00 +0000

"In what may be a tale too bizarre to be believed by millions of Americans, the U.S. Senate appears ready to pass a bill that will designate the entire earth, including the United States and its territories, one all-encompassing “battlefield” in the global “war on terror” and authorize the detention of Americans suspected of terrorist ties indefinitely and without trial or even charges being filed that would necessitate a trial."

See below for more:

http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/constitution/9956-senate-bill-to-ok-indefinite-detention-of-us-citizens-without-charge-trial

Americans Elect.org: Pick a Candidate, Not a Party

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 21:40:00 +0000

AP: France Recalls Ambassador from Syria in Wake of Army Crackdown on Protests

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:59:00 +0000

Amateur Video of Syrian Army Crackdown

BEIRUT (AP) — France recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Wednesday as Syrian President Bashar Assad came under increasing pressure from home and abroad, with army defectors killing at least eight soldiers in a daring attack on the military.

French Ambassador Eric Chevallier was ordered home in the wake of recent attacks against diplomatic missions and increasing violence stemming from Syria's 8-month-old uprising.

http://news.yahoo.com/france-recalls-syria-ambassador-violence-grows-154121982.html

Does the Stop Online Piracy Act Make the US a 'Repressive Regime'?

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:54:00 +0000

It does not have the support of digital rights and free speech advocacy groups because it allows law enforcement agencies in the U.S. to unilaterally shut down access to website here and abroad, without due process.

The first House of Representatives hearing devoted to a controversial online copyright bill began in an unusual way: with politicians defending themselves from charges that the bill goes too far.

It's "beyond troubling to hear hyperbolic charges that this bill will open the floodgates to government censorship," Rep. Mel Watt, a North Carolina Democrat, said during a House Judiciary committee hearing this morning.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57325905-281/sopa-bill-wont-make-u.s-a-repressive-regime-democrat-says/?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20

Leonard Pitts: 'Our Black vs Their Blacks'

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 19:40:00 +0000

'Our blacks' vs. 'their blacks'? Why conservatives shouldn't talk about race

Ann Coulter is the latest Republican to demonstrate a tin ear on the subject of race

Do you think it gives Clarence Thomas a warm, fuzzy feeling to know he is one of Ann Coulter's blacks?

That is how Coulter put it on Fox "News" while defending Herman Cain against sexual harassment charges that threatened to engulf his campaign last week. "Liberals," she said, detest black conservatives, but the truth is, "our blacks are so much better than their blacks."

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bs-ed-pitts-race-20111106,0,2652565.story

E.J. Dionne: 'The Politics of Heavenly and Earthly'

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 18:58:00 +0000

WASHINGTON -- We have embarked on yet another presidential campaign in which religion will play an important role without any agreement over what the ground rules for that engagement should be.

If you think we're talking past each other on jobs and budgets, consider the religious divide. One side says "separation of church and state" while the other speaks of "religion's legitimate role in the public square." Each camp then sees the question as closed and can get quite self-righteous in avoiding the other's claims.

See here for more: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/11/07/the_politics_of_the_heavenly_and_unheavenly_111958.html

Syrian Official Quits, Cites Regime's Brutality

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 21:54:00 +0000

Adnan Mohammad al-Bakkour

A Syrian official has released a YouTube video announcing his resignation and accusing President Bashar Assad's regime of killing dozens of unarmed protesters while they were in custody.
In the video, Adnan Mohammad al-Bakkour, the attorney general of the embattled central city of Hama, says he has detailed information on the deaths of scores of anti-government protesters on a single day.
The statement is one of the most detailed accounts of the government's crackdown since the Syrian uprising began in March.

http://www.npr.org/webapp#1001/140119609

Blackberry Hacked for Cooperating with London Police in Riot Investigations

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:31:00 +0000

(CNN) -- After three days of rioting and looting in the streets, London's unrest is moving to the Web.

Research in Motion's Inside BlackBerry blog was hacked Tuesday after the Canadian smartphone maker suggested it would cooperate with London police to help identify rioters who may have used a BlackBerry messenging service to plan mayhem.

A hacking group calling itself TeaMp0isoN took credit for the attack, which involved posting a statement on the BlackBerry blog before RIM removed it.

"Dear Rim; You Will _NOT_ assist the UK Police because if u do innocent members of the public who were at the wrong place at the wrong time and owned a blackberry will get charged for no reason at all," the statement read in part. It then threatened to make public a database of RIM employees' personal information.

LA Times Blog: Michele Bachmann: "It's the Renaissance, Stupid"

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 21:05:00 +0000

The economy is not what ails us today. No, what ails Americans is what Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and their artistic spawn have wrought in the culture, starting 500 years ago. The Renaissance has dragged us all down.

Tea party queen and Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann is convinced that America is sinking into tyranny. Why? In a remarkable profile of the candidate appearing in the Aug. 15 issue of the New Yorker magazine, the artistic flowering of the Italian Renaissance takes a beating for having done away with the god-fearing Dark Ages.

AP: Obama Administration to Tell Syria's Assad He Must Go

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 20:52:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is preparing to explicitly demand the departure of Syrian President Bashar Assad and hit his regime with tough new sanctions, U.S. officials said Tuesday as the State Department signaled for the first time that American efforts to engage the government are finally over.

The White House is expected to lay out the tougher line by the end of this week, possibly on Thursday, according to officials who said the move will be a direct response to Assad's decision to step up the ruthlessness of the crackdown against pro-reform demonstrators by sending tanks into opposition hotbeds. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.

Source:

Interesting Political Ad from the American Right

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 18:56:00 +0000

While I don't agree with the political message here, I thought it was a clever ad.

I used it to practice my Mandarin. :)

Taliban Struggle in Afghan Heartland, Kandahar - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:51:00 +0000

On the other hand..........

Taliban Struggle in Afghan Heartland, Kandahar - NYTimes.com

Taliban Extend Their Reach to North - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 06:16:00 +0000

Taliban Extend Their Reach to North - NYTimes.com

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — This city, once a crossroads in the country’s northeast, is increasingly besieged. The airport closed months ago to commercial flights. The roads heading south to Kabul and east to Tajikistan as well as north and west are no longer safe for Afghans, let alone Westerners.

Mixed Picture on Taliban as Pentagon Reviews War

On Thursday, the Pentagon will release a year-end review of the nearly nine-year war in Afghanistan.

While the review seems certain to emphasize progress that has been made around the important southern city of Kandahar, security in other critical areas of the country continues to deteriorate.

The uneven picture in Afghanistan is raising questions about whether the United States military is gambling too heavily on a strategy aimed at breaking the back of the Taliban in their southern stronghold, at the expense of securing the country over all.

In PISA Test, Top Scores From Shanghai Stun Experts - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:50:00 +0000

In PISA Test, Top Scores From Shanghai Stun Experts - NYTimes.com

“Wow, I’m kind of stunned, I’m thinking Sputnik,” said Chester E. Finn Jr., who served in President Ronald Reagan’s Department of Education, referring to the groundbreaking Soviet satellite launching. Mr. Finn, who has visited schools all across China, said, “I’ve seen how relentless the Chinese are at accomplishing goals, and if they can do this in Shanghai in 2009, they can do it in 10 cities in 2019, and in 50 cities by 2029.”

Opinion: Look who's a judicial activist now - Michael Kinsley - POLITICO.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 20:29:00 +0000

Opinion: Look who's a judicial activist now - Michael Kinsley - POLITICO.com

If there is one thing your typical Republican politician does not care for (I have always been given to understand), it is an “activist judge.” You know the sort of judges I mean. The ones who ignore the Constitution and “legislate from the bench,” arrogating to themselves the power that rightly belongs to the American people. In their “Pledge to America,” published shortly before the midterm elections and listing the principles by which they intend to govern, Republican congressional leaders made reference to “an overreaching judiciary” and declared: “We pledge to honor the Constitution as constructed by its Framers and honor the original intent of those precepts that have been consistently ignored.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46027.html#ixzz17SZN5jDC

Will Today’s Unemployed Become Tomorrow’s Unemployable? - NYTimes.com

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 20:14:00 +0000

The longer people stay out of work, the more trouble they have finding new work.

That is a fact of life that much of Europe, with its underclass of permanently idle workers, knows all too well. But it is a lesson that the United States seems to be just learning.

This country has some of the highest levels of long-term unemployment — or joblessness lasting more than six months — ever recorded. Meanwhile, job growth has been, and looks to remain, disappointingly slow, indicating that those out of work a while are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Even if the government report on Friday shows the expected improvement in hiring by business, it will not be enough to make a real dent in those totals.

Will Today’s Unemployed Become Tomorrow’s Unemployable? - NYTimes.com

Suu Kyi urges freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar - Yahoo! News

noreply@blogger.com (Mike Bear) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 05:06:00 +0000

Suu Kyi urges freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar - Yahoo! News

ANGON (Reuters) – Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Sunday for freedom of speech in army-ruled Myanmar, urged thousands of supporters to stand up for their rights, and indicated she may urge the West to end sanctions.

Suu Kyi's first major speech since being freed from seven years of house arrest a day earlier left little doubt she would resume an influential political role in one of the world's most isolated and oppressive countries.