http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/29/right-wing-biblical-illiterates-would-be-shocked-by-jesus-teachings-if-they-ever-picked-up-a-bible/http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/12/29/right-wing-biblical-illiterates-would-be-shocked-by-jesus-teachings-if-they-ever-picked-up-a-bible/

Ironically, the Republican Jesus was actually a devout atheist—Ayn Rand—who called the Christian religion “monstrous.” Rand advocated selfishness over charity, and she divided the world into makers versus takers. She also stated that followers of her philosophy had to chose between Jesus and her teachings. When the Christian Right believes it’s channeling Jesus when they say it’s immoral for government to tax billionaires to help pay for healthcare, education and the poor, they’re actually channeling Ayn Rand. When Bill O’Reilly claims the poor are immoral and lazy, that’s not Jesus, it’s Ayn Rand.

Perhaps the most important thing
we bring to another person
is the silence in us,
not the sort of silence that is filled
with unspoken criticism or hard withdrawal.
The sort of silence
that is a place of refuge, of rest,
of acceptance of someone as they are.
~ Rachel Naomi Remen ~

Space Shuttle Atlantis shot from my back yard here in the Orlando area on November 16, 2009, cropped to show the airplane in the picture, that I only noticed when I enlarged the picture quite a bit with out knowing it was even in the picture and all of a sudden it showed up.

Remember when you were little 
and you thought, everything was amazing?
It still is. 
~ Dan O' ~

Another interesting link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/us/records-cite-lavish-gifts-in-navy-bribery-case.html?smid=pl-share

Interesting link

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/business/media/accounts-differ-to-fbi-and-cbs-on-benghazi.html?smid=pl-sharehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/business/media/accounts-differ-to-fbi-and-cbs-on-benghazi.html?smid=pl-sharehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/08/business/media/accounts-differ-to-fbi-and-cbs-on-benghazi.html?smid=pl-share

Indignation Over U.S. Spying Spreads in Europe By ALISON SMALE Published: October 24, 2013 BERLIN — Fury over reports that American intelligence had monitored the cellphone of Chancellor Angela Merkel spread from Germany to much of Europe on Thursday, plunging trans-Atlantic relations to a low and threatening to recast the United States and President Obama from friend and ally to cyberbully. World Twitter Logo. Connect With Us on Twitter Follow @nytimesworld for international breaking news and headlines. Twitter List: Reporters and Editors The subject of American spying dominated a summit meeting of European Union leaders in Brussels. Some European officials suggested stopping or slowing talks aimed at a broad trade agreement with the United States. The German foreign minister summoned the American ambassador in Berlin — a reproach possibly without precedent since the German-American alliance was forged after World War II. The reports related to Ms. Merkel were only the latest in days of disclosures about the extent of the National Security Agency’s surveillance of American allies. This week they have included revelations of American electronic surveillance in France, and a new report due to be published on Friday by the Italian weekly L’Espresso that American and British intelligence services have monitored and are probably still monitoring Italian telecommunication networks. Reactions from European leaders, especially Ms. Merkel and other top German officials, indicated that trust between the allies had been shattered, and would have to be rebuilt nearly from the foundations. “We need the truth now,” Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of Germany said in English after summoning the American ambassador, John Emerson, on Thursday. Just beforehand, Mr. Westerwelle had noted tartly in German that people who trust each other do not listen in on each other. “Anybody who does it anyway really damages the friendship,” he said. The reports, which originated with documents that Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor, had harvested and shared with the journalist Glenn Greenwald, have coincided uncomfortably with visits by American officials to European capitals, sowing discord amid American diplomacy. They have also threatened to further color European views of the United States at a time when Mr. Obama has been having trouble asserting a global agenda. The intensifying diplomatic fallout from the situation has hurt America’s bonds with friendly nations from France and Germany to Mexico and Brazil. At least part of the strong response by European leaders seemed aimed at containing the damage the reports have caused to their own standing at home. In her first statement on the issue, Ms. Merkel told reporters just before the European summit meeting in Brussels that “spying on friends — that just doesn’t work.” Apparently mindful of criticism in Germany accusing her of a lackluster response to earlier disclosures of the large scale of the American surveillance, she insisted that she had always had the interests of citizens, and not herself, in mind. She said nothing about what exactly had convinced her to place an angry call to Mr. Obama on Wednesday night seeking reassurance that her cellphone was not tapped or monitored. The newsmagazine Der Spiegel, which since June has made several disclosures from documents it received from Mr. Snowden, said that a routine inquiry it placed with the government last week had apparently prompted German security officials to investigate. Hans-Christian Ströbele, a Green Party lawmaker and member of the German Parliament’s security committee, said that what he had heard in a meeting of that committee on Thursday afternoon convinced him that the chancellor’s phone had been monitored. In a telephone interview, he declined to discuss details, but noted that the Americans’ hasty pledge that her phone was not being monitored, and would not be, conspicuously lacked a reference to the past. Mr. Ströbele and many commentators said Ms. Merkel should have pursued disclosures of American spying in the summer. The chancellor is often seen in public texting or calling on a cellphone. “It is really revealing that Merkel reacts energetically only now, when she is presumably directly affected,” wrote Ludwig Greven in an online editorial for the weekly Die Zeit. “That should have been her duty when it was a matter of millions of N.S.A. intrusions into the private sphere of German citizens.” Politicians across the spectrum in Europe were indignant at the apparent violation of trust and some urged at least a temporary halt in negotiations on a new trans-Atlantic deal that would create a trading area of 800 million people and that has been touted as a guarantor of future prosperity. “For us, a limit has been reached,” said Martin Schulz, president of the European Parliament. Talks could not be conducted, he said, when you suspect that the other side has spied on you in advance to know your position. Ordinary citizens shared the elected officials’ conclusion that the already tarnished image of the United States had suffered anew because of the spying, which cuts deeply in a country with a Nazi and Communist past. “I have rights guaranteed by our Constitution that are being trampled by the Americans,” said Alexander Müller, 37, a sales manager in Berlin. Prime Minister Enrico Letta of Italy commented in Brussels on Thursday evening on the report in L’Espresso that British and American intelligence agencies had both monitored Italians’ phone calls and e-mails. “It is inconceivable and unacceptable that there should be acts of espionage of this type,” he said. James Kanter contributed reporting from Brussels.

Moo, don't boo: Georgian Britain's theatrical past unveiled Audiences in the 18th century were not as well behaved as today – and if they didn't like the play, they burnt the theatre down. A new British Library exhibition tells all Sandwiched between the great Restoration comedies and the height of Victorian music hall, the theatre of the Georgian era is rarely celebrated, despite the presence of stars like David Garrick and Sarah Siddons – not to mention regular riots over ticket prices. That could be set to change when a selection of rare theatrical memorabilia goes on show at the British Library next month, as part of its Georgians Revealed: Life, Style and the Making of Modern Britain exhibition, which opens on 8 November and runs until March, during which time the 300th anniversary of George I's accession to the throne will be marked. While the exhibition focuses on all aspects of British cultural life in the 18th century and features items including a violin owned by moral philosopher Jeremy Bentham, it will pay particular focus to the theatre of the time. "We're excited to uncover these objects that shed light on daily life in such an exciting time for cultural development," said lead curator Moira Goff. "The parallels we can draw between Georgian Britain and today are astonishing." Stage pin-up: Sarah Siddons as Mrs Haller in August von Kotzebue's The Stranger, painting by an anonymous artist, after 1798. Photograph: Heritage Images/Corbis Among the theatrical items on show are inventories that document the workings of the Covent Garden theatre, which stood where the Royal Opera House's does now, and playbills that give a sense of what plays and actors contemporary audiences were watching. Goff told The Stage that she hopes to demonstrate that "very familiar forms of entertainment that started in this period." She continued: "I also want people to get a sense of how lively things were – it wasn't just straightforward theatre. There were other things happening at the time, and they were creating new forms of theatre and performance, which have come down to us." The exhibition will also document the behaviour of audiences at the time, which was far rowdier than it is today. It was not unheard of for audiences to moo like cows during poor plays, for example, and Drury Lane theatre was destroyed by rioting on six different occasions during the century. "Audiences were much livelier, and one of the reasons is the house lights did not go down when the show began," Goff explained. "The auditorium was illuminated, so people were all in it together, in the same space as the performers onstage, essentially."

CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress

CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress

CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress

CREW's Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Happy Birthday, G.R.

Shaken to the core by the previous episode, Lawrence decides to retreat to British headquarters. Before leaving, he confides in Ali and, much like a trans person might, bemoans the limitations and consequences of his current body. Lawrence: "I've come to the end of myself, I suppose." Ali: "And the end of the Arab Revolt?" Lawrence: "I'm not the Arab Revolt, Ali. I'm not even Arab." Ali: "A man can be whatever he wants. You said." Lawrence: "I'm sorry. I thought it was true." Ali: "You proved it!" "Look, Ali," says Lawrence, pinching his pale flesh. "Look. That's me. ... That's me. And there's nothing I can do about it." Ali: "A man can do whatever he wants. You said." "He can. But he can't want what he wants." Lawrence wistfully looks at his milky flesh again. "This is the stuff that decides what he wants."

Bentley, on a meeting between Lawrence and Allenby] Mr. Dryden: Well, I'll tell you. It's a little clash of temperament that's going on in there. Inevitably, one of them's half-mad...and the other, wholly unscrupulous.

o Bentley, on a meeting between Lawrence and Allenby] Mr. Dryden: Well, I'll tell you. It's a little clash of temperament that's going on in there. Inevitably, one of them's half-mad...and the other, wholly unscrupulous.

Mr. Dryden: If we've told lies, you've told half-lies and a man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth, but a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it. T.E. Lawrence: The truth is I'm an ordinary man. You might have told me that, Dryden, and I want an ordinary job, sir. That's my reason for resigning. It's personal.

Mr. Dryden: Well, now. Mr Sykes is an English civil servant. Monsieur Picot is a French civil servant. Mr Sykes and Monsieur Picot met and they agreed that after the war, France and England would share the Turkish Empire, including Arabia. They signed an agreement, not a treaty, sir. An agreement to that effect. T.E. Lawrence: There may be honor among thieves, but there's none in politicians.

Feisal[edit] I think you are another of these desert-loving English: Doughty, Stanhope, Gordon of Khartoum. No Arab loves the desert. We love water and green trees, there is nothing in the desert. No man needs nothing. Young men make wars, and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men – courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men – mistrust and caution. It must be so.

Lawrence: Sherif Ali, so long as the Arabs fight tribe against tribe, so long will they be a little people, a silly people, greedy, barbarous, and cruel, as you are.

Dryden: When we told lies you told half-lies. And a man who tells lies, like me, merely hides the truth. But a man who tells half-lies has forgotten where he put it.

One in five Americans sickened by listeria died, highlighting food safety issues | bloom.bg/10QdC2p

— Bloomberg News (@BloombergNews) June 5, 2013

Come my sweet child, let me whisper a secret that all people once used to know of fairies right under your nose … Listen my love, you may see fairies fly through the light dancing in from the moon Only at night, when the stars shimmer bright, can you see the Fae dance in your room. Off! Hurry to bed … and right before sleep, with your eyes just a peep, watch their shimmering lights drawing near. Tell Nonna my dear, all you see and hear of the wild, dancing Fae that appear. Wee one on waking, remember the scene … it was not just a magickal dream. If you by chance hear a sound, quickly glance to the ground … Only we two, will know that it’s true … © Carina D

Obama Quietly Signs Repeal of Congressional Insider Trading Ban into Law

Obama Quietly Signs Repeal of Congressional Insider Trading Ban into Law

Obama Quietly Signs Repeal of Congressional Insider Trading Ban into Law

Obama Quietly Signs Repeal of Congressional Insider Trading Ban into Law

Big agra--the pictures they want to make illegal to take---the inhumane treatment of the food we eat --you cannot treat animas and people like car parts on an assembly line--this is inexcusible and we all have the right to know the conditions under which our super market meat is produced. They can make it illegal to take pictures like this, but to make it illegal to sell a real gun which weighs and looks like a toy to kids is perfectly OK no matter if the kid kills his sister and has to live with that knowledge for the rest of his life--that his parents didn't care enough to know at 5 a child doesn't have the judgement call to distinguish between a real gun which looks like a toy and a real toy gun. It's not just the love of money that is the root of all evil. but rule of money that is the root of all evil.

Six-year-old critical after being shot by her 13 year old brother

Six-year-old critical after being shot by her 13 year old brother

Ratatouille and baby Ratatouille, who arrived rather unexpectedly, as Ratatouille was long believed to be a "he"--Due to being one of a litter of feral cats I trapped from a friend's back yard and had all but two neutered or spayed, Ratatouille being one who didn't but who has escaped outside long enough to have had kitten litters before this, so it was finally decided it was because he was a he --Known for his extreme bad disposition with humans--well, mainly me, at whom he would rather hiss than breath, it tickles me how gentle he is with his one kitten, who is practically another appendage, and why he approved of my calling the kitten "Baby Ratatouille", it naturally being a extension of himself--herself.
Thoughts on a April night:
1) Did it ever occur to these people who are concerned about undocumented workers having a pathway to  citizenship because it would out number the European population, that the Latino culture is European too---Latin like in Rome and Hispanic like in Spain? "Black Irish" coming from the defeat of Spanish Armada   by the British in waters near Ireland where the Spanish sailors were supposed to have swum ashore and took up residence in Ireland?
2) Gun registration --Did it ever occur to anyone who doesn't want the government to know they have a gun in case some neo-Nazi took over, that they should be more concerned about a huge defense build up and the return of the draft creating a military that can then be used against it's people instead of some one knowing they have a gun.. The saving grace though, is that our soldiers routinely aren't paid enough to inspire them to go against their own people.

Green Flash Details The index of refraction of air for red is 1.000292 and that for blue is 1.000295. Out of a total refraction of about 0.53°, the dispersion is only 0.006° or about 20 arc seconds, compared to a 120 arc sec resolution for the eye. Thus under normal conditions the eye would not see the separation of red and blue images of the sun. The green or blue would be seen only after the red image is gone, and the passage time for this 20 arc second band is reported by the Meinels to be about 1.4 seconds. The successive red, green, and then blue images can be seen more distinctly by viewing the planets Venus and Jupiter with a telescope as they pass below the horizon. The ease of viewing the colors in these cases has to do with their smaller angular diameters. At right is a rough sketch of the color separation in a photograph of Venus reproduced in Greenler's "Rainbows, Haloes and Glories". It is described as a photograph taken by Raymond F. Newell, Jr. in New York when Venus was 2 to 3 degrees above the horizon. Also displayed there is a photograph taken when Venus was 10 degrees above the horizon which has a very different appearance. At 10 degrees the upper portion is bluegreen, with a thin green region, a white region, a yellow region and then a very thin red edge on the bottom. The Green Flash

Index Atmospheric optics concepts Reference Greenler Plate 7-9

HyperPhysics***** Light and Vision

BREWING COFFEE, TEST LAB RATS AND/OR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

THE OTHER AFTERNOON I WAS LISTENING TO C-SPAN'S AUDIO OF ARGUMENTS BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT ON I THINK THE PROP 8 QUESTION, WHEN THE SHAPE, PHILOSOPHY AND MODUS OPERANDI OF THIS MISTAKEN COURT BEGAN TO COME INTO FOCUS. 

THEY WERE ARGUING (IN THE LEGAL SENSE) ABOUT HOW TO DECIDE THE CASE BEFORE THEM   IF THEY FOUND AGAINST PROP 8, THE COURT EXPRESSING IT'S RELUCTANCE TO MAKE  A "SWEEPING" DECISION, THAT IT WAS FAR MORE SENSIBLE TO  DO INCREMENTAL CHANGES IN REGARDS TO THIS QUESTION--- TO SEE HOW THE COUNTRY WAS  GOING. TO GO ETC. THIS PHILOSOPHY I  HEARD FIRST IN THE DECISION ABOUT GUN RIGHTS--THIS POLICY OF LETTING  THINGS ''PERCOLATE'', AS THEY TERM IT,  FOR A WHILE TO SEE IF OTHER LAWS NEED TO BE CONSIDERED.. INDEED, JUSTICE GINSBURG  OFFERED THE OPINION THAT  CIVIL RIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY "PERCOLATED" FOR 50 YEARS, AS IF 50 YEARS BEFORE THE TURBULENT AND DEADLY 60S, WITH 90 PER CENT OF THE COUNTRY BACKING INTEGRATION, TWO LEGENDARY OPPOSING LAWYERS HAD STOOD BEFORE THE SUPREME COURT AS ONE TOGETHER ARGUING BRILLIANTLY FOR THE CONSTITUTIONAL  RIGHTS OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO. MY JAW DROPPED.

FIRST OFF, IT WAS MUCH LONGER THAN 50 YEARS THAT THE AMERICAN NEGRO HAD BEEN STRIPPED OF THE RIGHTS AFTER THE CIVIL WAR IN SO BLOODY AND PAINFUL A MANNER. AND TO SANITIZE THE JIM CROW SOUTH IN SUCH A WAY AS TO SUGGEST THAT THOSE YEARS WERE NECESSARY AS A  TEST LAB FOR THE SUPREME COURT TO GET INTO FOCUS WHICH CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS IT NEEDED TO UPHOLD AND ENACT IS AN INSULT  TO THOSE WHO DIED, WERE LYNCHED, DENIED THE VOTE, AND TREATED NO BETTER THAN THE RATS IN A TEST LAB.  AND MOST OF ALL TO THOSE WHO DIED, MARCHED, WERE BOMBED AND ATTACKED BY DOGS AND POLICE TO BRING ABOUT THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF THOSE OF COLOR IN THE 60S

. 

BUT WORSE STILL, IS THE POLICY SET FORTH IN THE GUN LAW DECISION THAT USED THE MANY MANY, MANY INNOCENT LIVES  WHO DIED IN HAILS OF BULLETS IN THE PAST  YEARS SINCE THEN AS A TEST LAB TO DETERMINE IF FURTHER LAWS CONCERNING GUN SAFETY WAS NEEDED.. THE LAST TIME I EVER HEARD OF THIS POLICY OF  EXPERIMENTING WITH HUMAN LIVES TO DETERMINE INFORMATION IN THIS COUNTRY  WAS THE EXPERIMENTS DONE  AT THE TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE ON MEN OF COLOR ABOUT SYPHILIS, AND BEFORE THAT IT WAS,TO USE A CLICHE,  NAZI GERMANY AND JUST ABOUT AS COLD BLOODED.

 

THIS COUNTRY IS LEFT WITH THE VERY REAL PROBLEM OF A SUPREME COURT WHOSE JUSTICES WHERE PUT THERE BECAUSE THEY WERE BUSINESS FRIENDLY WHO ARE NOW BEING ASKED TO MAKE PROFOUND HUMAN DECISIONS ABOUT  THE RIGHTS OF THE AMERICAN CITIZEN FOR WHICH THE CONSTITUTION WAS WRITTEN, FOR WHICH A GOVERNMENT IS  DESCRIBED IN IT AND FOR WHICH THE RIGHTS DERIVED FROM OUR CREATOR ARE ENSHRINED, ASSURED AND PROTECTED. INSTEAD, FACED WITH THE REAL FUNCTION OF THE COURT PROTECTING REAL RIGHTS FOR BREATHING "PEOPLE"  THEY ADOPT A POLICY OF LETTING THE COUNTRY "PERCOLATE" AS THEY CLAIM  AT THE TERRIBLE EXPENSIVE OF AMERICAN  LIVES AND AMERICAN DEATHS AND THUS WE WILL BE LEFT IN THE COMING YEAR WITH NO RECOGNITION OF SAME SEX MARRIAGE BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WHICH WILL ONLY STRENGTHEN BIGOTRY BY OMISSION AND WE WILL HAVE NO DECISION CRIMINALIZING VOTER SUPPRESSION, WHICH WILL FURTHER THREATEN DOMESTIC TRANQUILITY  WHILE THIS COURT LETS THE DEADLY AND MISGUIDED POLICY OF CONTROVERSIAL DECISIONS "PERCOLATE"  MEANING DELIBERATELY COME TO A BOIL IN THE COUNTRY AT THE EXPENSE OF HUMAN LIFE AND RIGHTS WHICH ANYWHERE ELSE WOULD BE CONSIDERED CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.  TO PARAPHRASE MARTIN LUTHER KING, GOOD MEN CREATE EVIL ALSO WHEN THEY STAND BY AND DO NOTHING. AND WHEN THOSE ARE THE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COUR,  THE PROTECTORS OF OUR RIGHTS IN THIS COUNTRY, WE INDEED ARE A TEST LAB WITHOUT THE JUSTICE OF A NUREMBERG.

Was trying to remember my history about the South Seas Bubble, which in our classes when i was young anyway, was taught to demonstrate economies that create bubbles are bad economies and the South Sea Bubble was a prime example-unfortunately, along with a dead beat congress, trashed economy, no raises for the average worker, thus far less Social Security in their retirement years and a government that now wants to reduce that, we also have a kind of "free market" world economy that is ripe for bubbles--not to mention the Real Estate Bubble that landed us in this enlightened economy nurtured all the way by supposed college educated brilliant economists--too bad no one up in Washington learned from history--Anyone wanting to experience 1700s deja vu all over again is invited to read this Wikipedia summary of the South Sea Bubble and I am going to order Noel Coward's play---unfortunately, our economy  is still pretty much as it was, and with our dead beat congress won't change much, so all I can say is be very very wary of anyone who asks you to invest in anything which they claim is a sure bet as it's value is rising and will keep rising and pay for itself in your golden years  run the other way--                                                                                                          South Sea Company
                                                                                                         From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"South Sea Bubble" redirects here. For the Noel Coward play, see South Sea Bubble (play).



Hogarthian image of the "South Sea Bubble", by Edward Matthew Ward, Tate Gallery
The Governor and Company of the merchants of Great Britain, trading to the South Seas and other parts of America, and for the encouragement of fishing, commonly called the South Sea Company,[1] was a British joint-stock company founded in 1711, created as a public-private partnership to consolidate and reduce the cost of national debt. The company was also granted a monopoly to trade with South America, hence its name. At the time it was created, Britain was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession and Spain controlled South America. There was no realistic prospect that trade would take place and the company never realised any significant profit from its monopoly. Company stock rose greatly in value as it expanded its operations dealing in government debt, peaking in 1720 before collapsing to little above its original flotation price; this became known as the South Sea Bubble.
A considerable number of persons were ruined by the share collapse, and the national economy greatly reduced as a result. The founders of the scheme engaged in insider trading, using their advance knowledge of when national debt was to be consolidated to make large profits from purchasing debt in advance. Huge bribes were given to politicians to support the Acts of Parliament necessary for the scheme. Company money was used to deal in its own shares, and selected individuals purchasing shares were given loans backed by those same shares to spend on purchasing more shares. The expectation of vast wealth from trade with South America was used to encourage the public to purchase shares, despite the limited likelihood this would ever happen. The only significant trade which did take place was in slaves, but the company failed to manage this profitably.
A parliamentary enquiry was held after the crash to discover its causes. A number of politicians were disgraced and persons found to have profited unlawfully from the company had assets confiscated proportionately to their gains (most had already been rich men and remained comfortably rich). The company was restructured and continued to operate for more than a century after the Bubble. The headquarters were in Threadneedle Street at the centre of the financial district in London, in which street today can be found the Bank of England. At the time of these events this also was a private company dealing in national debt, and the crash of its rival consolidated its position as banker to the British government.[2]
The Bubble Act, which forbade the creation of joint-stock companies without royal charter, was promoted by the South Sea company itself before its collapse. This was an effort to prevent the increasing competition for investors, which it saw from companies springing up around it.

Mickey Newbury : An American Trilogy