Category Archives: Landmark

Shiny New Obama Meme Starting to Take Shape

by Monique62 Posted on November 4, 2013

Mother Jones

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Given the disastrous rollout of the Obamacare website, it was only a matter of time until it became the poster boy for President Obama’s poor management style:

A year after his reelection triumph, President Obama is facing an awkward question from friends and foes alike: Why can’t he run the government as well as he ran his campaign?

What with the IRS targeting of tea party groups; the poor security at the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya; the eavesdropping on close allies; and the botched rollout of the landmark healthcare law, Obama increasingly seems to be battling top-level management failures as much as policy or political problems.

On each of these controversies, Obama has claimed ignorance before the fact and outrage afterward, leaving even some Democrats to see him as asleep at the wheel.

Oh please. The IRS didn’t target tea party groups, and eavesdropping on close allies wasn’t a result of poor management. It was a deliberate policy choice. Benghazi does indeed seem to have exposed some weak management practices, but let’s be honest: they were the kinds of things that are routinely found in every audit ever done of a government agency.

In any case, you’re really stretching things if the best you can do is find one example from over a year ago to help make your case. The plain truth is that Obama’s management style is about as good as any other president’s. Obamacare obviously shows him at his worst, but it doesn’t demonstrate some kind of cosmic management deficiency.

As for Obama’s campaign prowess, that’s easily explained. First, compared to rolling out Obamacare, a presidential campaign is a small, uncomplicated operation—and it’s one that can be run dictatorially without regard for federal purchasing and bidding rules. Second, who says it was it all that great? As near as I can tell, it was run perfectly well, but it’s not as if it was a model of campaign efficiency. It was just an ordinary well-run campaign. The fact that Obama won—thanks mostly to improving economic fundamentals and a poor opponent—doesn’t really change that.

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Shiny New Obama Meme Starting to Take Shape

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The Most Isolated Tree in the World Was Killed by a (Probably Drunk) Driver

by JaimeLockett Posted on October 24, 2013

The Tree of Ténéré, circa 1961. Photo: Michel Mazeau

For around 300 years, the Tree of Ténéré was fabled to be the most isolated tree on the planet. The acacia was the only tree for 250 miles in Niger’s Sahara desert, and was used as a landmark by travelers and caravans passing through the hostile terrain. The tree sprouted when the desert was a slightly more hospitable place, and for years was the sole testament to a once-greener Sahara.

In the 1930s, the tree was featured on official maps for European military campaigners, and a French ethnologist Henri Lhote called it, ”an Acacia with a degenerative trunk, sick or ill in aspect.” But he noted, as well, that “nevertheless, the tree has nice green leaves, and some yellow flowers.” The hardy tree, a nearby well showed, had reached its roots more than 100 feet underground to drink from the water table.

But then, in 1973, the centuries-old survivor met its match. A guy ran the tree over with his truck. The Libyan driver was “following a roadway that traced the old caravan route, collided with the tree, snapping its trunk,” TreeHugger reports. The driver’s name never surfaced, but rumors abound that he was drunk at the moment that he plowed into the only obstacle for miles—the tree.

Today, the tree’s dried trunk rests in the Niger National Museum, and a spindly metal sculpture has been erected in the place it once stood. The loneliest tree in the world is now this sad spruce on New Zealand’s subantarctic Campbell Island.

More from Smithsonian.com:

Things Are Looking Up for Niger’s Wild Giraffes
Born Into Bondage

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The Most Isolated Tree in the World Was Killed by a (Probably Drunk) Driver

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Elizabeth Warren to Wall Street Regulators: Put Big Bank CEOs in Jail

by JIGAlyciajpbd Posted on October 23, 2013

Mother Jones

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This past weekend, the Department of Justice slapped a record fine on JPMorgan Chase for packaging and selling the mortgage-backed financial products that helped cause the financial meltdown. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wants the administration to know that fines are not enough. On Wednesday, she called on Wall Street regulators to hold all those responsible for the 2008 crisis accountable.

In a letter to the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Officer of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Warren lauded the overseer of the TARP bailout program for cracking down on financial industry players who wasted, stole, or abused the federal emergency funds doled out to banks during the financial crisis, and implied that the three banking regulators should also punish individuals who helped cause the financial meltdown.

Although the budget for TARP’s inspector general was “a small fraction of the size of the budgets and staffs at your agencies,” Warren pointed out, the program’s watchdog has brought criminal charges against nearly 100 senior executives; obtained criminal convictions on 107 defendants, including 51 jail sentences; and suspended or banned 37 people from working in the banking industry.

How about you guys, Warren asked. She called on the Fed, the SEC, and the OCC to provide records on the number of people the agencies have charged criminally and civilly, the number of convictions and prison sentences they have obtained, the number of people banned or suspended from working in the industry, and the total amount of fines leveled against Wall Street ne’er-do-wells.

Warren knows the answer to most of these questions, but wants to shame the agencies into action. Yes, big banks have been forking over billions of dollars in civil settlements for bad behavior in the lead up to the crisis. There have been prosecutions of various smaller mortgage brokers, and some civil charges and settlements against executives who helped cause the crisis. But zero Wall Street CEOs are in jail for bringing down the economy, and no CEOs have faced criminal charges.

Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder seemed to concede that some banks are “too big to jail.” But Warren doesn’t buy it. “There have been some landmark settlements in recent weeks for which your agencies and others deserve substantial credit,” Warren said in the letter. “However, a great deal of work remains to be done to hold institutions and individuals accountable for breaking the rules and to protect consumers and taxpayers from future violations.”

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Elizabeth Warren to Wall Street Regulators: Put Big Bank CEOs in Jail

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Environmental and animal-rights advocates decry farm bill amendment

by roz3edl Posted on October 14, 2013

green4us

Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw […]

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Codex: Adepta Sororitas – Games Workshop

The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]

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Index Chaotica: Garden of Nurgle – Games Workshop

The Plague Father’s realm within the Warp includes the nauseating putrescent of the Garden of Nurgle. A tangled forest of noxious plants and rotting souls the garden is crisscrossed with winding paths and stinking bogs, each one leading to another terrible part of Nurgle’s personal domain. About This Series: Though the Chaos Space Marines were once heroic de […]

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Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 – J.D. Lenzen

Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 2 (PFT-V2) is the second installment in the paracord fusion ties book series and another stunning achievement by author J.D. Lenzen. Like Paracord Fusion Ties – Volume 1, PFT-V2 reveals innovative and stylish ways of storing paracord for later use. So once again you’ll find crisp, clear, full-color photographs (over 1,000 i […]

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Warlords of the Dark Millennium: Ahriman – Games Workshop

Once a favoured sorcerer of the Thousand Sons Legion, Ahriman was responsible for the Rubric, an powerful spell that turned almost every Space Marine in his Legion to dust, trapped forever in their animated suit of power armour. Now, Ahriman seeks knowledge above all else, and has spent his lifetime seeking out the entrance to the mysterious Black Library. A […]

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Warhammer 40,000: The Rules – Games Workshop

There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only WAR. In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of destruction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man is beset on all sides by ravening aliens and threatened from within by Warp-spawned entities and heretical plots. Only the strength of the immortal […]

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Codex: Adepta Sororitas (eBook Edition) – Games Workshop

The Adepta Sororitas, also known as the Sisters of Battle, are an elite sisterhood of warriors raised from infancy to adore the Emperor of Mankind. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bulwark against corruption, heresy and alien attack, and once battle has been joined they will stop at nothing until their enemies are utterly crushed In this b […]

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Codex: Space Marines (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

The Space Marines are the chosen warriors of the Emperor, and the greatest fighting force of the Imperium. Each Space Marine is a genetically enhanced super soldier, easily a match for a dozen lesser men, armed with some of the deadliest weapons in the galaxy and encased in formidable power armour. This codex explores the formations and Chapters of the Space […]

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Munitorum: Rail Rifles – Games Workshop

The Tau are masters of advanced technologies and weapons system, like their fearsome rail technology that can accelerate rounds to supersonic speeds. Against attacks from a rail weapon even the heaviest armours are little protection, the shots punching through plasteel and ferrocrete with equal ease. About this Series: Weapons are the tools of war and with t […]

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes, […]

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Environmental and animal-rights advocates decry farm bill amendment

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Landmark, Monterey, ONA, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Environmental and animal-rights advocates decry farm bill amendment

WATCH LIVE: Have the Media Failed Us on Climate Change?

by Myrna Posted on October 8, 2013

Journalists from Slate, the Guardian, the Atlantic Cities, the Huffington Post, and Mother Jones meet up at SXSW Eco in Austin, Texas, to hold the press to account. Climate Desk’s SXSW Eco panel will examine the media’s coverage of climate change. Watch it live here at 4:30 pm Central Time on October 8. This past month should have been the biggest month for climate change journalism in six years. With the release of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fifth Assessment Report in Stockholm, there were a wealth stories for journalists to pursue. Scientists are now more certain than ever that humans are causing global warming. Sea level rise projections have been increased—extremely bad news for coastal mega-cities. And researchers have given a stark warning about the irreversibility of much of global warming, and how it will literally play out over a millennium. But in recent weeks, we’ve seen a flood of media coverage advancing dubious claims pushed by global warming skeptics, including: * A large number of news article headlines framed around an alleged global warming “pause” that scientists have dismissed as statistically meaningless and insignificant. * A British tabloid, The Mail on Sunday, portraying the sixth lowest Artic sea ice level on record as a “rebound” that undermines climate science—a claim that then reverberated in conservative media and even made its way to the halls of Congress. *Contrarian opeds in major papers minimizing the dangers of climate change and even suggesting that it might be beneficial. Granted, this problem isn’t new: There’s a long history of the press relying on phony “balanced” coverage to cast doubt on what scientists know about the climate. That was the case even before the major cutbacks in science and environmental reporting at many media outlets over the past decade. At SXSW Eco, the acclaimed environment and sustainability conference, Climate Desk is convening a panel of top climate journalists to diagnose and address the media’s chronic failings in covering this issue. The event, part of our Climate Desk Live series, will be at 4:30 pm Central Time on October 8, 2013, at the Austin Convention Center, and will feature journalists Kiera Butler from Mother Jones, Suzanne Goldenberg from The Guardian, John Metcalfe from The Atlantic Cities, Phil Plait (aka the “Bad Astronomer“) from Slate, and Kate Sheppard from The Huffington Post. It will be hosted by Climate Desk’s Chris Mooney (me). The conversation will focus on why the media at large has struggled when it comes to reporting on climate change, and on why there is so little apparent interest—from the media, politicians, and public—in understanding and addressing the climate crisis. The panelists will also cite examples of good climate journalism and explain how the media can do a better job in reporting climate change. This panel will be live streamed on sxsweco.com, motherjones.com, and climatedesk.org. Check back here on October 8 to watch it live! This post has been updated since publication. Continue at source:   WATCH LIVE: Have the Media Failed Us on Climate Change? ; ;Related ArticlesCampaign Against Fossil Fuels Growing, Says StudyWhy Big Coal’s Export Terminals Could be Even Worse Than the Keystone XL PipelineSplitsville for Obama and His Chief Climate Adviser ;

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WATCH LIVE: Have the Media Failed Us on Climate Change?

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, For Dummies, G & F, GE, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, LAI, Landmark, Monterey, ONA, OXO, PUR, solar, solar power, The Atlantic, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on WATCH LIVE: Have the Media Failed Us on Climate Change?

What the Scopes Trial Teaches Us About Climate-Change Denial

by Myrna Posted on October 2, 2013

The Tennessee courtroom battle showed what can happen when big business joins forces with religious faith. William Jennings Bryant, 1915. BuyEnlarge/ZUMA America has largely forgotten Ray Ginger, the mid-20th century historian whose tenure as a professor at Harvard University ended badly during the McCarthy era when the college, to its eternal discredit, demanded that he and his wife swear loyalty oaths. Afterward, Ginger wrote two excellent books, including Six Days or Forever, which remains one of the most colorful and definitive accounts of the 1925 Scopes “Monkey Trial” and the iconic courtroom clash between Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan.* Ironically, Six Days now reads like the Book of Revelations (which Darrow grandly mocked before, during, and after the trial). Indeed, it is revelatory to see how the forces that animated the run-up to the Scopes trial 90 years ago are still present today. We see their work mostly in the dogged renewal of the fight to teach creationism to our children and in the rancor over the truth about the human causes of global warming. To call these forces anti-science is accurate but not the entire story. It’s something broader than that. To keep reading, click here. View post: What the Scopes Trial Teaches Us About Climate-Change Denial Related Articles What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA Live from Stockholm: Global Science Panel Releases Landmark Climate Report World Scientists Put Finishing Touches on Major Climate Report

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What the Scopes Trial Teaches Us About Climate-Change Denial

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, Eureka, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Landmark, Monterey, ONA, OXO, solar, solar power, The Atlantic, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What the Scopes Trial Teaches Us About Climate-Change Denial

What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA

by Myrna Posted on October 2, 2013

Most of the government workers monitoring your air quality, water, and chemical spills got sent home. What now? R. Gino Santa Maria/Shutterstock Tuesday morning, 94 percent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 16,000 workers were furloughed due to the government shutdown. “They basically lock things up, batten things down, which takes a few hours, then a vast majority of people are sent home,” says consultant Dina Kruger, who worked at the EPA during the 1996 government shutdown. To make sense of what it means that over 15,000 EPA employees are now sitting at home instead of working, consider how many facets of the environment the agency has its hands in: The EPA monitors air quality, regulates pesticides and waste, cleans up hazardous chemical spills, and ensures that people have safe drinking water, among other things. Now, according to the plan it laid out for the shutdown, only some workers will be on hand to respond to emergencies and to monitor labs and property. That means the EPA will temporarily halt cleanup at 507 superfund sites across the country, the agency told the Huffington Post. Sites where the EPA was cleaning up hazardous chemicals are shuttered in any situation where closing them down won’t be an immediate threat to the surroundings. This will slow down cleanups and tack on additional costs that will accrue as these contaminated sites are left to their own devices, says Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the National Resources Defense Council and a former EPA employee. “The only sites that would be exempted would be those that, if they stopped working tomorrow, contaminants will immediately get into the drinking water,” Slesinger says. Rules and regulations that the EPA usually makes could be delayed, too. But President Obama’s recent proposal for stricter regulations for power plants could stay on track, according to Kruger. “For something that’s very early in its process, it’s certainly possible that the agency could stay on schedule. It’s a complicated rule and there’s a lot to be done,” she says. Other government activities related to the environment will be affected as well, such as areas that have experienced recent natural disasters. FEMA, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, will reduce the number of people sent to help with flood recovery in Colorado, but the agency says it won’t cause any setbacks to recovery efforts, officials toldABC7 Newsin Denver. SuperstormSandy recovery efforts are also expected to continue. Work stabilizing and repairing Yosemite National Park and the surrounding Stanislaus National Forest, which were hit by a devastating wildfire last August that is still not completely contained, will continue, though the firefighters who remain on the job could become strained for the resources they need. “It will be difficult for teams to purchase supplies and equipment,” Jerry Snyder, public affairs officer for the Stanislaus National Forest, told Fox News. More here: What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA Related Articles What the Scopes Trial Teaches Us About Climate-Change Denial Live from Stockholm: Global Science Panel Releases Landmark Climate Report World Scientists Put Finishing Touches on Major Climate Report

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What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, Eureka, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Landmark, Monterey, ONA, OXO, PUR, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Vintage | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on What Happens When The Government Shuts Down 94 Percent of the EPA

Government shutdown would close EPA, too

by Peggy Mason Posted on September 30, 2013

Government shutdown would close EPA, too

By

John Boehner’s

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Republican House Speaker John Boehner loves America as much as he loves a styrofoam cup full of coffee.

The chief aim of the congressional Republicans who are poised to shut down the U.S. government over the next 24 hours or so is to block the implementation of President Obama’s health plan. But if they do live out their fantasy of paralyzing the federal government, there will be plenty of other consequences — including the effective shuttering of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here’s the latest from Reuters on the looming government blackout:

The Republican-controlled House of Representatives early on Sunday passed a measure that ties government funding to a one-year delay of President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare restructuring law. Senate Democrats have vowed to quash it.

If a stop-gap spending bill for the new fiscal year is not passed before midnight on Monday, government agencies and programs deemed non-essential will begin closing their doors for the first time in 17 years. …

The high-stakes chess match in Congress will resume on Monday when the Democratic-controlled Senate reconvenes at 2 p.m. Senate Democrats will then attempt to strip two Republican amendments from the spending bill: the one that delays the 2010 healthcare law known as Obamacare and another to repeal a medical device tax that would help pay for the program.

And here’s some details from a story in The Hill last week that explained how the government shutdown would cripple the EPA:

Speaking at a breakfast sponsored by The Christian Science Monitor, EPA chief Gina McCarthy said that a potential government shutdown “will mean that EPA effectively shuts down.”

“The vast majority of people at EPA will not be working,” she said. “I think it’s safe to say that I will be, but beyond that I don’t have the details.” …

McCarthy said that a small group of EPA officials would stay on the job “to keep the lights on and to respond in the event of a significant emergency,” but that most of the agency’s 17,000 employees would be sent home.

The Hill reported that the EPA’s efforts to clamp down on carbon pollution from power plants could be delayed by the shutdown. A fact that is surely not lost on the gleeful politicians behind this mess.

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Politics

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Government shutdown would close EPA, too

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Watch: Behind the NRA’s Phony UN Conspiracy Theory

by ncf01r Posted on September 27, 2013

Mother Jones

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The National Rifle Association went on the attack this week over a landmark international arms treaty signed by the United States, claiming it will jeopardize Americans’ right to bear arms and even lead to mass confiscation of their guns. Mother Jones senior editor Mark Follman spoke with MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell about how the influential gun lobby hypes misinformation to protect the $12 billion a year gun industry. Watch:

Read our full special report on gun laws and the rise of mass shootings in America.

Mark Follman is a senior editor at Mother Jones. Read more of his stories and follow him on Twitter.

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Watch: Behind the NRA’s Phony UN Conspiracy Theory

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Why More Climate Science Hasn’t Led to More Climate Policy – Yet

by Myrna Posted on September 27, 2013

Why there’s a gap between climate science and climate policy. Read original article:  Why More Climate Science Hasn’t Led to More Climate Policy – Yet ; ;Related ArticlesClimate Panel’s Fifth Report Clarifies Humanity’s ChoicesEconomix Blog: The Cost of Climate ChangeWill Hurricane Lull Blunt Coastal Shifts? ;

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Why More Climate Science Hasn’t Led to More Climate Policy – Yet

Posted in alternative energy, Casio, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, Instructables.com, LAI, Landmark, Monterey, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Why More Climate Science Hasn’t Led to More Climate Policy – Yet