Michele Obama, Refugee Somali Farmers, and Urban Farming = Win, win, win!

clipped from www.theirc.org Refugees Plant New Roots at Community Farm First Lady Michelle Obama calls the IRC-supported farm a model for building healthy communities The farm, a 2.3-acre strip of city-owned land, is tended by some 80 farmers, including Bilali Muya, a refugee from Somalia who works with the IRC as a part-time farm educator. First Lady Michelle Obama praised an IRC-supported urban farm in San Diego as "a model for the nation, for the world" during an April 15 visit to promote building healthy communities.

No Surprise - Hate Group Lawyer Involved with Arizona Usurpation of US Constitution

clipped from www.splcenter.org Hate Group Lawyer Drafted Arizona’s Anti-Immigrant Law Arizona’s controversial anti-immigrant law was written by a lawyer at the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which the Southern Poverty Law Center has listed as an anti-immigrant hate group since 2007. The law, a recipe for racial profiling, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. (See statement by SPLC Legal Director Mary Bauer.) Given Kobach’s history with racial profiling, it is particularly alarming that he was tapped by Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio in February to train his officers.

An Eco-Village in Heart of LA? Believe it dude- outstanding!

clipped from switchboard.nrdc.org LA’s Eco-Village: a venture in intentional community and sustainability Kaid Benfield Director Los Angeles’s Eco-Village is a two-block, 11-acre community dedicated to intentional,  ‘whole-systems’ sustainable living in  the heart of the city.  Its area eccompasses about 500 residents in the city’s East Hollywood and Koreatown special planning districts.

Healthcare Reform Realities Again - Good for Hospitals and You!

No cracked cups of tea here just good analysis of what Congress passed and the President signed.

clipped from takingnote.tcf.org Myths & Facts About HealthCare Reform: The Impact on Hospital Care by Maggie Mahar Fear-mongers fret that cuts in Medicare spending will threaten the financial health of the nation’s hospitals: they argue that hospitals already lose money on Medicare patients. The truth is that, today, more efficient hospitals make money or break even on Medicare beneficiaries. Hospitals that run a tight ship save money and offer better care. Unfortunately, waste remains an enormous problem in many U.S. hospitals, and waste and poor quality care go hand in hand. Medicaid’s expansion also will help hospitals. True, Medicaid payments to hospital are low, but in the past, hospitals were treating many patients who didn’t qualify for Medicaid, but were too poor to pay their bills. Low payment beats no payment.

Oiga Arizona! Listen Up Arizona!

Viva Los Estados Unidos!

clipped from myradio.batanga.com Lo He Decidido by AK-7 Siempre Baja California Station more » Added so far Siempre Baja California DeleteSaveEditPlay

Become an Afghan war expert in 5 minutes!

A sure hit for journalist wannabes who want to become famous and rich/powerful writing for fake online journals like Examiner.com. Free extra: You can become a wannabe-expert on any conflict using the methods described here - you just have to be careful not to take any of it seriously like many journalists do without saying that they took ten minutes to become an expert about whatever they just got assigned to - grin.

clipped from www.registan.net How to Write About Afghanistan Joshua Foust Always use the word ‘war-torn’ in your title. Subtitles may include the words ‘tribal,’ ‘Taliban,’ ‘corrupt,’ and ‘Sharia.’ Also useful are words such as ‘shuras,’ ‘fighters,’ ‘refugees’ and ‘insurgency.’ Never have a picture of a well-adjusted Afghan accompanying your article. In your text, treat Afghanistan as if it were one indistinct mass. Make sure you show how Afghans have violence and xenophobia deep in their souls Avoid having the Afghan characters laugh, or struggle to educate their kids, or just make do in mundane circumstances. Always end your book with an obscure Soviet or British general saying something about how Afghanistan is a land of ferocious, fanatical, crafty people capable of fighting forever.

Drill Baby Drill - No More - See the Risk President Obama!

clipped from blog.skytruth.org Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Getting Worse Yesterday the Coast Guard reported that the damaged well on the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico is leaking oil again, at a rate estimated to be 42,000 gallons (1,000 barrels) per day. This is bad news - it means the blowout preventer on that well is not doing its job, and that several attempts by BP, Transocean and the Coast Guard to operate a shutoff valve on the well using a robotic ROV have failed. The oil slick has grown rapidly and now covers 400 square miles. If the blowout and spill off Australia last year offer any lessons, it could be months before this well can be brought under control and the spill really and truly stopped.

Rig Sinks, Spill Stinks - Time to Rethink Offshore Drilling President Obama!?

The employees who died should be mourned and company should answer why? Same as coal miner's I fear - they died for stockholder profit.

clipped from blog.skytruth.org Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - Technology Fails Oil slicks surround the burning Deepwater Horizon drill rig on April 21. AP photo by Gerald Herbert, courtesy Christian Science Monitor. Oil slicks and sheen over the site of the now-sunken rig on April 22. Containment booms and skimmer vessels are being deployed to corral the oil. Coast Guard photo courtesy MSNBC.

New Offshore Drilling Risks - Pres. Obama - You Watching This Rig Burn in the US Gulf of Mexico?

Hang on to this photo - it could be off Virginia, Alaska and where else? Proven safety records and you can always trust the oil companies - NOT!

clipped from blog.skytruth.org Explosion and Fire at Deepwater Drilling Rig in the Gulf of Mexico Firefighters working to control blaze at the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Photograph courtesy of Rigzone. We've just begun seeing news reports of an explosion and fire last night that has forced the evacuation of 126 workers from an oil rig that was drilling an exploration well 41 miles off the Louisiana coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The Deepwater Horizon is a massive semisubmersible drill rig built in 2001. It's owned and operated by Transocean Ltd, the world's largest offshore drilling contractor, with a global fleet of more than 140 rigs. Transocean operates 14 rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

Dengue (Breakbone) Fever, Globalization and Climate Change Converge in Key West

No US case for 50 years - that's significant. Now cases are being reported in Key West. The way goods and people travel without being well checked for what insects they might be carrying may mean that in conjunction with climate change Dengue Fever, Yellow Fever and Malaria may again be a scourge in the southern US that they were 1800s and early 1900s.

clipped from www.keysnet.com Denge fever reappears in Key West With the first case of the mosquito-borne illness dengue fever reported in the Keys since mid-October, Monroe County health officials are warning Key West residents to take precautions. The most recent case, reported in a 41-year-old member of the U.S. Navy, was confirmed through lab tests in Miami after the man initially sought treatment from military doctors on April 6. Officials believe the case was contracted locally, as the man reported no out-of-country travel in the past year.

Freedom of Speech, Google and World's Governments

The map does not show what governments were interested in getting information on or why they wanted certain removals - so all it tells us that there is a good bit of activity - wish I had time to research the more complete picture.

clipped from www.google.com Government requests directed to Google and YouTube Like other technology and communications companies, we regularly receive requests from government agencies around the world to remove content from our services, or provide information about users of our services and products. The map shows the number of requests that we received between July 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009, with certain limitations.

Earthquake in Tibet - Not China - Help Needed

Major news services all bowing down to China's claims over Tibet. If you read any of the news - it mostly said quake in China and did not mention Tibet. Shameful kowtowing.

clipped from www.savetibet.org Hundreds killed in earthquake in Kyigundo Hundreds have been killed in the Tibetan area of Yushu, Kham (Tibetan: Kyigundo, also known as Jyekundo) in present-day Qinghai, when a series of strong earthquakes measured at magnitude 6.9 hit the region this morning. Reports in the state media say that at least 400 people have been killed and thousands of others injured, and it is not known how many are still buried in the rubble. Read the complete ICT report >

Leaked Israel Defense Force Docs Linked to Concern Over Possible War Crimes

clipped from www.richardsilverstein.com Kamm Leaked Secret IDF Documents to Expose ‘War Crimes’ Finally, we have a evidence supporting Anat Kamm’s motives in leaking hundreds of secret IDF documents to the Israeli press.  Until now, we’ve been forced to speculate on those motives and the theories have been all over the place.  But Haaretz, which appealed to the court to release police files related to the case, reports that her own testimony to the Israeli police explains her motivation: In the newly released material documenting court hearings surrounding Kam’s arrest, the journalist and former IDF soldier said that the motivation behind her removal of sensitive military material was to expose “certain aspects of the IDF’s conduct in the West Bank that I thought were of interest to the public.” Kam added that her thinking behind taking the top secret papers was to ensure that “if and when the war crime the IDF was and is committing in the West Bank would be investigated, then I would have evidence to present.”

Scoring Political Points Attempt More Important Than Reading Facts?

clipped from www.ipsnews.net Guantanamo Detainee Ordered Freed After nine years in captivity, a U.S. federal court has ordered the release of a Guantanamo prisoner once described as the "highest-value detainee at the facility" - and set off a firestorm of protest from Republican lawmakers. "Salahi's case is a national disgrace - rendition, brutal torture, and eight years of arbitrary detention without charge or any reliable or credible evidence. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Stuart Couch told his supervisors that he was "morally opposed" to Salahi's treatment and refused to participate in the prosecution. In his decision, Judge Robertson wrote that there is "ample evidence in this record that Salahi was subjected to extensive and severe mistreatment at Guantánamo". Congressional Republicans expressed outrage over the decision. The Hill newspaper reported that Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri

American Dream Tarnished - Confident in ourselves but not institutions

clipped from politicsandtheamericandream.blogspot.com Fear and Grieving on the Protest Trail The recent State of the American Dream Survey by Xavier University's Institute for Politics and the American Dream shows a predictable overall decline of faith that the American Dream can be achieved in our time. 68% of us doubting the possibility of American Dream achievement for our descendants. 74% believe the world doesn't look up to America the way it used to. A majority of Americans (52%) now believe that the world looks elsewhere for the creation of the future. While Americans remain confident in themselves, there is deep disappointment in the institutions entrusted with the job of steering our future course. Institutional failures are seen across the board. Political institutions. Corporate and religious institutions as well.

NYC led in immigration issues for 200+ years; California's turn now

And California in a turnaround, says let's get on with reform that works for everyone!

clipped from www.mercurynews.com New poll shows 'sea change' in Californians' attitudes toward illegal immigration In a dramatic turnaround from 16 years ago, Californians now overwhelmingly favor giving illegal immigrants a "path to legalization" rather than punishing them by denying them a public education and social services, according to a poll unveiled Monday. The survey of 1,515 registered voters showed that 67 percent of Californians support a two-pronged approach to solving the illegal immigration problem: implementing stronger enforcement at the border while setting up a legalization path for undocumented immigrants who admit they broke the law, perform community service, learn English and pay fines and back taxes.

Bloggers in Israel can (and do) say what reporters fear to say

One of the casualties of extended war, occupation, and self-delusion is the freedom and democracy that people say they are trying to keep.

clipped from www.richardsilverstein.com Anat Kam: the Story That Dare Not Speak Her Name Anat Kam is under house arrest for allegedly leaking up to 1,000 top secret IDF documents to Haaretz reporter Uri Blau, Blau is in self-imposed exile in London aware that the police want him for questioning in the case You know that there is a prosecution-requested gag order on the fact that she was arrested and the reason for her arrest, which makes her the most widely known “disappeared” person possibly in the world. You know that Kam faces an espionage charge, and up to 14 years in prison. also what you can’t breathe a word of to your readers. Israeli bloggers They have stepped up to the plate.  They are reporting this story.  Anat Kam’s is the tragedy of an individual, while the documents she leaked reveal the tragedy of an entire nation whose democracy has been eviscerated.