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The return of COINTELPRO: spying on dissenters in the name of freedom
A truly creepy story. An anti-death-penalty activist (and sportswriter) describes how his group was infiltrated by an undercover agent who described members as "anarchist" and "socialist,...
bad_news, civil_rights, commentary, domestic_spying, gwot saved by: nbr more details ...
http://ny.metro.us/metro/blog/my_view/entry/In_the_eye_of_homeland_security/13075.html
"Fusion centers": another step on the road to the "total surveillance society"
A "fusion center" is a domestic intelligence-gathering facility which involves police, federal agencies, the military, and in some cases also private contractors in gathering as much data...
bad_news, civil_rights, commentary, domestic_spying, gwot, law, politics saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.progressive.org/node/6685
Bob Herbert - Madness and Shame - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
bad_news, gwot, iraq, law, opinion, politics saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ex=1374465600
Watch your back, the "seed police" are on patrol
On Monsanto's private security force and its anti-farmer tactics.
agriculture, bad_news, business, farming, food, monsanto saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/05/monsanto200805
Suicide bomber attacks Indian Embassy in Kabul
If India is drawn into direct or proxy conflict with the Taliban (and by extension Pakistan's ISI), the results could be very explosive.
afghanistan, bad_news, gwot, india, middle_east, news, south_asia saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JG09Df02.html
Food allergies as a weapon for school bullies
A very disturbing story -- some school bullies have been using peanut butter as a weapon to terrorize peanut-allergic kids. Consequences are potentially fatal. Archived: http://www.webcit...
bad_news, children, food, health, news, parenting, schools, violence saved by: nbr more details ...
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/AllergiesNews/story?id=4659705
Dan Froomkin - General Accuses WH of War Crimes - washingtonpost.com
Notes on retired Gen. Taguba's preface to the recent Physicians for Human Rights report on detainee torture.
bad_news, gwot, iraq, military, news, torture, viamento.info, violence, war saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/06/18/BL2008061801546.html
Rising jellyfish populations indicate disturbed marine ecosystems
As worldwide fish populations collapse, jellyfish numbers have grown to take their place. Experts worry that once the new situation is established, it will be very difficult to reverse th...
bad_news, climate_change, environment, ocean, science saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.physorg.com/news132993420.html
The Obama "White" House? -- button spotted at Texas GOP convention
Speaks for itself, if it's genuine.
african_american, bad_news, conservatives, obama, presidential_campaign_2008, race, racism, republicans saved by: nbr more details ...
http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/06/stick-a-pin-in-it.html
Commodity speculation and the cost of living
As high-tech stocks and real-estate investments have started to look less promising, financial speculators have turned to commodities. This is why energy and food prices have shot up so d...
bad_news, economics, economy, energy, food, global, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,559550,00.html
Food rationing at large U.S. retailers
Some major national retail chains have begin instituting purchasing caps for bulk rice and grains.
bad_news, economics, food, money, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994
You might want to start stockpiling food, says WSJ
Food prices are going up faster than any of your investments are gaining value... so you might want to invest in, say, rice, or dried pasta. "Wheat prices have roughly tripled in the last...
bad_news, economics, food, international, money, news, opinion saved by: nbr more details ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
Carbon Output Must Near Zero To Avert Danger, New Studies Say - washingtonpost.com
The task of cutting greenhouse gas emissions enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures may be far more difficult than previous research suggested, say scientists who have ju...
bad_news, climage_change, global_warming, news, science saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/09/AR2008030901867.html
Google Health, HIPAA, and privacy
A short post from Profy.com reminding us that Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault are not covered by HIPAA privacy regulations. Sure, they have strict privacy policies, but -- as the ...
bad_news, blogclip, google, health, insurance, microsoft, privacy, web saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.profy.com/2008/03/02/google-health-microsoft-healthvault-hipaa
School-lunch beef supplier found violating health regs
Nasty news about the U.S. beef business. Animal rights activists find employees of a major California operation forcing "downer" cows into the slaughterhouse, sometimes using a forklift t...
agriculture, bad_news, food, health, lax_regulatory_regimes, meat, regulation saved by: nbr more details ...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ib5V7z9A-ocCTOvoaRCq9Ohbl9SAD8USD92G0
Did you know: half of all U.S. teachers quit within five years?
I didn't know this, but it doesn't surprise me. Citing salaries too low to repay student loans (needed to get the master's degrees now required in many jurisdictions), as well as hostile ...
bad_news, education, teaching saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/08/AR2006050801344.html
Telegraph | Money | US 'could be going bankrupt'
Exceedingly pessimistic projections from an official at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Quite scary. Not that most of us haven't heard this kind of thing before... US 'could be g...
bad_news, economics, international, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/07/14/cnusa14.xml&menuId=242&sSh...
Why Huckabee scares me: "We need to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards"
Yesterday in Michigan: "What we need to do is amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than trying to change God's standards..." Someone explain to me how this is not Chri...
bad_news, christianity, conservatives, evangelicalism, politics, presidential_campaign_2008, religion saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/1/15/143054/151
With friends like these ... Tom Hodgkinson on the politics of the people behind Facebook | Technology | The Guardian
A very detailed and well put together article on Facebook.
2.0, bad_news, business, facebook, news, politics, privacy, radar, social, technology, More... saved by: rjbirkin and 3 people more details ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/jan/14/facebook
Global Warming 'Past the Point of No Return'
We are in serious trouble folks
bad_news, environment, science saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0916-09.htm
How to Prepare for One Really Quick Getaway - New York Times
bad_news, howto, personal saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/01/business/01docs.ready.html
CBC News: Civil war forecast in Iraq
Head of Arab League says that Iraq is on the verge of total breakdown and civil war, and that people are "playing games ... there is no clear leadership."
bad_news, international, iraq, news, violence saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2005/10/08/IraqCivilwar20051008.html
CBC News: Civil war forecast in Iraq
Head of Arab League says that Iraq is on the verge of total breakdown and civil war, and that people are "playing games ... there is no clear leadership."
bad_news, international, iraq, news, violence saved by: nbr more details ...
http://del.icio.us/doc/dangerous#file:///D:/My%20Documents/Slogger%20logs/data/2005-10-09/20...
Week of Milestones Fails to Reassure Frustrated Iraqis
Reports from the street in Iraq suggest that citizens are underwhelmed by the U.S. rhetoric about "democracy," since they can't get the necessities of daily life and still have to deal wi...
bad_news, international, iraq, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/21/AR2005102101936.html?referre...
Andrew Moroz's Blog: Scientific Savvy? In U.S., Not Much (**)
Americans don't know anything about science. One in five believe that the earth revolves around the sun. Yikes. Originally from the NYT (URL, no longer functioning: www.nytimes.com/2005/0...
bad_news, science, u.s.-news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.princeton.edu/~amoroz/2005/09/scientific-savvy-in-us-not-much.html
Emergency Go Bag
How to make a go bag for emergencies
bad_news, print_and_read saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.thegallos.com/gobag.htm
American Red Cross
Like the more laid-back NYT article. This one has more specific instructions for what to do when instructed to "shelter-in-place" and what kinds of supplies you'll need to have on hand. A...
bad_news, howto, personal saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_3_,00.html
The New York Times > International > Middle East > Insurgents Wage Precise Attacks on Baghdad Fuel
bad_news, iraq saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/international/middleeast/21sabotage.html?ex=1266728400&en=...
RollingStone.com: The Long Emergency : Politics
James Howard Kunstler, anti-sprawl activist, on the likely future on the other side of the oil-production peak. It's not pretty - not pretty at all.
bad_news, environment, politics saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/_/id/7203633?rnd=1133750305783&has-player=true&versio...
LSU AgCenter . Formosan Subterranean Termites Portal
Regarding the dangers of spreading a particularly nasty strain of termite via cheap Louisiana mulch.
bad_news, gardening, personal, print_and_read saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.agctr.lsu.edu/en/environment/insects/Termites/formosan_termites
Nieman Watchdog > Commentary > Iraq through the prism of Vietnam
Retired Gen. William Odom, head of the NSA in the 80s and former head intelligence officer for the Army, on the striking similarities between the Iraq situation and Vietnam.
bad_news, commentary, iraq, military saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=0078--
Orion > Orion Magazine > March | April 2006 > Mike Davis> Slum Ecology
The slumification of the whole wide world. Yuck.
bad_news, environment, print_and_read, social_justice saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/om/06-2om/Davis.html
Orion > Current Wisdom > James Howard Kunstler
James Howard Kunstler's five-part video series (short - about 40 minutes total?) on how deep in the sh!t we already are. This guy is smart.
bad_news, environment saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.oriononline.org/pages/oo/curwis/index_kunstler.html
KRT Wire | 06/19/2006 | 3 U.S. soldiers charged with murder in Iraqi detainee deaths
A more detailed piece on the three US soldiers charged with murdering several detainees while in custody and threatening to kill another soldier who witnessed the event.
bad_news, international, iraq, military, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/14855658.htm
Murder Charges for 3 G.I.'s in Iraq - New York Times
A little news on the three US soldiers recently charged with murdering three detainees in Iraq and threatening a fellow soldier with murder if he told anyone what happened.
bad_news, international, iraq, military, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/20/world/middleeast/20iraq.html?ex=1308456000&en=6fe78cb23e05...
RBA warning of 'meltdown' (from The Australian, May 2005)
A reprinted article from The Australian from May 2005, stating that the Australian central bank fears that a worldwide financial collapse is imminent.
bad_news, economics, international, latoc, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.eldoradogold.net/pdf/September%202005/RBA_meltdown.pdf
The Chronicle: Daily news: 06/02/2006 -- 03
I had almost managed to forget about the Pennsylvania version of the Academic Bill of Rights. Silly me.
academe, bad_news, conservatives, outrage, print_and_read saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.chronicle.com/daily/2006/06/2006060203n.htm
The Coming Anarchy (R. Kaplan, The Atlantic, Feb. 1994)
Not directly related to oil; this classic 1994 article by Robert Kaplan talks about the way scarce resources lead to specific types of social disintegration and violence. As Africa goes, ...
bad_news, journalism, latoc, print_and_read saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.theatlantic.com/ideastour/archive/kaplan.mhtml
t r u t h o u t - Stirling Newberry | American Thermidor
Stirling Newberry on the interrelationship between trade deficits, budget deficits, "energy deficits", and "wage and wealth deficits" -- and why it means we're screwed, more or less.
bad_news, commentary, economics, energy, politics, print_and_read saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/040305A.shtml
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Water shortage 'a global problem'
As if we didn't have enough to be upset about, now they say we're going to run out of fresh water.
bad_news, environment, international, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4796909.stm
NPR : Grocery-Cart TV for Kids of Shoppers
Insane ... A NZ company has developed a shopping cart for toddlers to ride in that has a built-in TV screen. Wow! Via serotoninrain.blogspot.com.
bad_news, consumerism, media, news, u.s.-news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5738235
Afghan Symbol for Change Becomes a Symbol of Failure - New York Times
A truly depressing article, on how disastrously the U.S. effort in Afghanistan (remember Afghanistan?) has failed.
afghanistan, bad_news, international, middle_east, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/world/asia/05afghan.html?ex=1315108800&en=3c5dce293cc0b7ca...
Why Iraq is such a disaster (inter alia): political favoritism in the early days [8]
A truly depressing piece from the Washington Post on one of the many reasons Iraq is such a disaster today: the Coalition Provisional Authority was staffed by people chosen for their poli...
bad_news, bushies, iraq, politics saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193_pf.html
Why Iraq is such a disaster (inter alia): political favoritism in the early days
A truly depressing piece from the Washington Post on one of the many reasons Iraq is such a disaster today: the Coalition Provisional Authority was staffed by people chosen for their poli...
bad_news, bushies, iraq, politics saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600193.html
'NYT' War Reporter: 'Anarchy' Curtails Reporting in Iraq
NYT war reporter: "98% of Iraq, and most of Baghdad, are now off-limits to reporters... Even getting out of a vehicle to report would expose a Western journalist to mob attacks and kidnap...
bad_news, international, iraq, journalism, news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003122985
Difficulty of getting new recruits is changing the US military for the worse, statistics show
From the article: "US ground forces are increasingly made up of a motley mix of under-age teens, old-timers, foreign fighters, gang-bangers, neo-Nazis, ex-cons, inferior officers and a ho...
bad_news, military, news, u.s.-news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.clipmarks.com/clipmark/A86CA1B2-0FDE-464E-8BF4-93B18E2E4835
Difficulty of getting new recruits is changing the US military for the worse, statistics show
Even with a renewed combination of hard-sell tactics to teenagers, lowering standards for promotion, and loosening rules against gang members, ex-cons, neo-Nazis and foreigners, the milit...
bad_news, military, news, u.s.-news saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Front_Page/HI16Aa03.html
The Middle Class on the Precipice - Harvard Magazine (January-February 2006)
Elizabeth Warren on the destruction of middle-class economic security over the past generation or so. Fairly chilling.
bad_news, economics, finance, personal, politics, viareddit saved by: nbr more details ...
http://www.harvard-magazine.com/on-line/010682.html