I read the news today oh boy
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew to Beirut on Sunday to meet with Lebanese officials ahead of a critical election that could see a pro-U.S. government ousted by the militant Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and its allies.
One of the US victims of “torturegate”?
US interpreter who witnessed torture in Iraq shot herself with service rifle
It is possible that one of the victims of the United States’ torture policy is a young, devout Mormon woman from Arizona called Alyssa Peterson. She was a soldier who not only saw the rough interrogation methods that the US military used on Iraqi prisoners, but was deeply troubled by them. Some weeks after formally protesting about them to her superiors, and asking to be reassigned, she took her gun and killed herself. The cause of her death was kept secret for two years, and the mystery of what Peterson witnessed, and the content of the notes she made, still goes on.
After the men screwed up in Iceland so soundly, women decided to take over and clean up the financial mess. The Icelander decided it was about time and gave the Prime Minister job to openly gay Johanna Sigurdardottir. Those silly Europeans!
At the Polls, Icelanders Punish Conservatives
It looks like we are stuck in the Iraq quagmire. Thanks for nothing Bush and Cheney.
Is Iraq sliding back into chaos?
The sudden upsurge of violence in Iraq has set the alarm bells ringing and raised many disturbing questions. Does it mean the situation is sliding back out of control, as US troops prepare to leave Iraqi cities by the end of June and quit Iraq as a whole by 2011?
Are we on the verge of a serious pandemic flu?
Fear of pandemic as killer flu strain spreads
Students Fall Ill in New York, and Swine Flu Is Likely Cause
Obama’s first 100 days. Five historians put in in perspective. You make your pick.
Obama at 100 Days: How Does He Compare?
Because I’m a sucker for economics and good business management, this is my favorite:
Brothels cut prices to beat the recession
It has not taken long for the global financial crisis to affect the world’s oldest profession in Germany.
In one of the few countries where prostitution is legal, the industry has responded with an economic stimulus package of its own: modern marketing tools, rebates, discounts and gimmicks to boost falling demand.
Some brothels have cut prices or added free promotions, while others have introduced all-inclusive flat-rate fees. Free shuttle buses, discounts for seniors and taxi drivers, as well as “day passes” are among marketing strategies designed to keep business going.
Tim Geithner tells you what he and his colleagues have been up to:
We must keep at the process of repair and reform
Dominique Strauss Kahn says if they clean up the financial system the stimulus could be enough.
IMF says existing stimulus could suffice
Why you should carefully and wisely design your living- and your work space.
How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood
Architects have long intuited that the places we inhabit can affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Now behavioral scientists are giving their hunches an empirical basis.
Scientists are unearthing tantalizing clues about how to design spaces that promote creativity, keep students focused and alert, and lead to relaxation and social intimacy. The results inform architectural and design decisions such as the height of ceilings, the view from windows, the shape of furniture, and the type and intensity of lighting.
Such efforts are leading to cutting-edge projects such as residences for seniors with dementia in which the building itself is part of the treatment.
When will criminals learn that open fora are actually open?
FBI Arrests Oklahoma Teabagger For Twitter Threats
This is actually funny
‘Ill’ worker fired over Facebook
A Swiss woman has lost her job after her employers spotted she was using the Facebook website when she had claimed to be too ill to use a computer.
And how did I miss this story?
Man pretending to fall off Hwy. 77 bridge actually falls
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Filed under: General
MABlue!!! Welcome to The Confluence! Your links will keep me going all day….
(I think that last one is a story that’s been worrying my family for a couple of days)
Nice collection of reading this very hot Sunday morning. Thanks. I’d like to know what happened to spring myself as we seem to have gone from winter to summer here in Virginia. Time to water the very thirsty plants.
It will be 85 today in Boston!
We’re already at 89 in Northern NJ! WOW
Wow is right!
65 in Italy and raining off and on.
Now that sounds more normal.
wow you know time are tuff when brothels have to cut cost..,hmmmmmmmm i wonder if they have a 2 for 1 deal?
I thought I’d balance out my afternoon with a little sex worker humor. Using those search words, I didn’t really find much:
“Indecent: How I Make It and Fake It as a Girl for Hire” by Sarah Katherine Lewis (August 23, 2006)
“Sex Workers’ Art Show” – “We do lots of college campuses, and several school groups have had to fight with their administrations to get us there,” says Annie Oakley, the show’s Olympia, Washington–based founder and director. “It’s usually women’s studies or queer groups that succeed.”
http://www.kirkread.com/Site/SWAS_interview.html
Oral History Review (Journal) Volume 35, Number 1, Winter/Spring 2008 Review of “Talk Back: Sex Workers in the Maritimes.” By Leslie Ann Jeffrey and Gayle MacDonald. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: University of British Columbia Press, 2007
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/oral_history_review/v035/35.1.rickard.html
ha ha..good one a twofer..
“Man pretending to fall off Hwy. 77 bridge actually falls”
Husband and I were watching one of those shows where young guys do stupid things, like try to leap buildings on a bicycle but wind up kissing the pavement instead. They always ask, so would you try that stunt again? Invariably the answer is usually yes.
So tell me, why do we not have more women in government? LOL, I mean honestly, how much worse could things get? Shouldn’t there be some balance? The other half of the human race generally learns from their mistakes. We attempt to defy the laws of physics once or twice and then move on to other less painful pursuits. We don’t make a career out of it!
Needless to say, husband and son have declined to comment.
“… husband and son have declined to comment.”
LOL! Sounds familiar.
I always laugh when it happens on Reno 911
I had just been reading at noquarter about mountain top removal, and I can’t believe how in the dark the general population is kept about exactly what is going on. Big media certainly seems to be complicit (and that holds for everything from mountain top removal to the financial crisis).
As for the swine flu outbreak, I hope our CDC is in good enough shape to handle a possible outbreak. It’s my understanding that good scientists were leaving in droves due to how the agency was being mismanaged by Bush officials.
As for the teabagger, that particular individual sounds like a loon. However, I can’t find it within myself to label all tea party attendees as right wing nut cases. In truth, I’m pleased that more people are starting to pay attention. In this age of media manipulation, it’s not easy to discern what’s going on. And, although Fox may have promoted them heavily, some of the attendees made it clear that they’re angry with both the Democrats and the Republicans.
Wauw, that’s quite a mouthful, LOL! Good to see you as a front pager MABlue!
And the Icelanders don’t seem to have a problem with people of age. Their PM Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir is 66. Good for them!
… I just realized, that Berlusconi is 72 years old – same as McCain – but don’t recall that being an issue in the Italian election either.
No it wasn’t-though people made fun of his facelifts and hair transplants!
like Biden…lol.
LOL! I remember him wearing a bandana to cover up the “work in progress”!
Meet Mayor “Hurricane”Hazel McCallion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazel_McCallion
Snippet info:
McCallion [ 88 ] has overseen [ for the past 31 yrs ] the growth of Mississauga from a small collection of towns and villages to one of Canada’s largest [ 6th ] cities. Mississauga is one of the few cities in Canada that is debt-free. Due to her popularity, she does not campaign during elections and refuses to accept political donations, instead asking her supporters to donate the money to charity.
At 88, she is sharper than a tack.
Awesome woman.
jsb,
We have a history of outstanding female mayors. Charlotte Whitton is a personal fave.
‘She became well known for her assertiveness and for her vicious wit with which many male colleagues, and once the Lord Mayor of London were attacked. She is famous for the quotation: “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.” ‘
jsb,
We have a history of outstanding female mayors. Charlotte Whitton is a personal fave.
What follows is from wikipedia.
She became well known for her assertiveness and for her vicious wit with which many male colleagues, and once the Lord Mayor of London were attacked. She is famous for the quotation: “Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte_Whitton
S
wow
I love waking up/regaining consciousness with something new to read, especially when it’s good like this one.
(Unless it’s a numberology post cuz then I go back to bed and pull the covers over my head)
Hey, quit picking on Dakinikat! But I agree, this is a nice variety of reading for warm Sunday morning.
Thanks, MABlue!
I like Dakinikat
I just wish she would get a respectable profession
Like serial killer
who says I can’t multitask?
Lecturing your victims to death on economics?
That’s evil
oy
Torturing them with Friedman? Killing them with Keynes?
From the First 100 days link by Roger Morris:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/opinion/26morris.html
(Shudder) Remembering Nixon
The Danish Washington Ambassador on Obama’s first 100 days (after having praised him for working so hard on UHC!):
MABlue, your links got me both crying and laughing…. thanks!
MABlue! wonderful to see you!
ugh, it suddenly got really hot here in the south and today is the CROP walk! are y’all familiar with it? it’s a three mile walk going on all over the world to raise awareness and funds to combat hunger. I’ve done it for several years but this year feels more urgent.
http://www.churchworldservice.org
maybe we’ll get a cool breeze from……somewhere
have a great Sunday, and thanks for all the info MAB!
Hi MABlue!!! Welcome to the front page!!!! I love threads like these because it saves me so much time having to hunt around for intriguing things. Glad to have you here.
thx for all the reading material, mablue.
really enjoyed “How Room Designs Affect Your Work and Mood”.
MABlue-you made it feel like an old fashioned Sunday morning! You know, with those great big Sunday papers flopping thru the door.
(Don’t have Sunday papers over here-sigh…)
There’s one in New Orleans, The Times Picayune, not worth the money you pay for it. Picayune is an apt name.
I’m glad you guys like the selection.
I intend to make it a regular feature here.
great! i was thinking that was one of the things we needed!
I really like the idea — it was so fun to follow your links this morning.
MABlue aren’t you in Berlin? Where they cleanse the toilet water and recycle it as drinking (tap) water! And they say: “Try it, you’ll like it …”.
Oh no!
I ran out of mineral water and just downed a glass of tab water.
Actually the water here has a pretty good quality here, at least so they say.
Terrific!
85 here in OHIO.getting those tomato;s planted later.
Why does it seem like Clinton is doing more important work than Obama who seems to always be on vacation? But we all predicted this would happen a year ago if he were to win and Clinton ended up in his administration.
What shaking hands with dictators and not realizing when you’ve been insulted isn’t hard work?
Plus, there’s all those schmoozings with those bankers so when he wants to purchase the part of the lot he didn’t get from Rezko he can get a special deal like Biden and Dodd.