Category Archives: Fail!

Almonds Are Sucking the Life Out of California – The Wire

There is an eco-cost to every “industrialization” of agriculture – But even as the almond business booms, California ecology is heading toward a bust. In San Joaquin Valley, the ground has been sinking by an average of 11 inches per year, thanks to over-pumping of aquifers. Worse, groundwater depletion has been making the Sierra Nevada and Coast Mountain ranges slowly rise, which could potentially trigger earthquakes. And finally, honeybee colonies could be on the brink of collapse, as a whopping 60 percent of the nation’s managed honeybees devote their efforts to California’s almond orchards.

via Almonds Are Sucking the Life Out of California – The Wire.

A knock on the roof, then another Gaza home destroyed by Israeli missile | World | The Guardian

{Two things are clear here. I. That Israeli military either has infiltrated a number of “spies” into Gaza to gather information and “tag” buildings slated for attack and destruction whenever Israel decided the time was right, or 2. They paid for a lot of information, which like purchased information in Afghanistan by the CIA, turned out to be bad or based, in part, on people who wanted to get even with personal enemies. What is really clear is that a plan has been in place to destroy a number of targets for months and the claim would be self-protection against Hamas and places where rockets were stored. The claims in many cases are false and based on bad information, or just being made up!}

He says he had just returned to his family on Sunday night after working a week straight at an overwhelmed hospital short of resources. “We’ve had tens of deaths and hundreds of injured. I needed to be at the hospital,” he says. “It was just after the time for breaking the Ramadan fast at 7.50pm.

“The IDF called my nephew with a 10-minute warning saying that they planned to destroy my house. Because it took him several minutes to find me, it was less than 10 minutes. I got my family out quickly and warned my neighbours to take care. Then they hit my house with a rocket and then a second.”

He walks through the destruction, picking up a book left on his consulting desk now covered in dust, and examines the tangled crater at the centre of his gutted home.

“I’m at a loss to explain why they did this,” says Tatar, 59. “I have been a doctor for 30 years. First I was a cardiologist, then head of cardiology, then director general. I have tried to reach out through channels to find out why this happened, but I’ve had no reply.”

via A knock on the roof, then another Gaza home destroyed by Israeli missile | World | The Guardian.

Israel’s far right spreads from the fringes | Middle East | DW.DE | 14.07.2014

According to Rachel Elior, a professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, these are dangerous statements that should be banned.

“There are certain circles that want to deny the fact that Palestinians are people just like us. No more, no less,” she said on Israeli radio. “Unfortunately, many think that we are a holy people, and that non-Jews can be defined as unclean and worthy of death.”

The rabbis base their views on ancient and traditional Jewish texts, said Elior, adding that this doesn’t, however, legitimize racism.

The Jewish people have a long history that stretches back more than 3,000 years, she added. The collective memory is shaped by texts, which resulted, in part, from Jews living as a persecuted minority among other peoples, said Elior.

There are written sources over 3,000 years old, and it’s clear “that over such a long period of time there are all sorts of beliefs that are no longer acceptable today,” she said. “Just as we no longer have slaves or maidservants, although there are religious laws that permit doing so, you cannot allow racist comments based on these Israeli sources.”

via Israel’s far right spreads from the fringes | Middle East | DW.DE | 14.07.2014.

No Love for Veterans – NYTimes.com

When Republican opponents of federal jobless benefits say that aid to the unemployed encourages idleness, that includes veterans.

When they say that the nation can’t afford to pay for federal jobless benefits, that includes veterans. They are also, not incidentally, dissembling, because the Senate-passed extension was paid for with offsets. Besides, even if the money to pay for jobless benefits were borrowed, it would be more than worth it.

There is no doubt that federal unemployment benefits are still needed. Even with recent improvements in job growth, nearly a third of the nation’s 9.5 million unemployed people have been out of work for six months or longer, a level that is far higher than at any time before the Great Recession in records going back to 1948.

In addition, no previous Congress has ever let federal benefits expire when long-term joblessness has been as bad as it is today.

That’s not love and gratitude. It’s disdain and thanklessness.

via No Love for Veterans – NYTimes.com.

Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Tattoo Ink, Tattoo Needles, Tattoo kits Due to Microbial Contamination

July 11, 2014 – July 11, 2014- White & Blue Lion, Inc. in the City of Industry, CA is recalling all lots of tattoo Inks and tattoo needles due to pathogenic bacterial contamination. Use of these products may cause bacterial infection and can lead to sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection. The recall includes all tattoo inks, tattoo needles, and tattoo kits distributed by White & Blue Lion including the ones specifically listed below:

via Recalls, Market Withdrawals, & Safety Alerts > Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Tattoo Ink, Tattoo Needles, Tattoo kits Due to Microbial Contamination.

Names of the Victims in Gaza – Continuously Updated | Hummus For Thought

Nour al-Najdi 2004-2014

Relatives and friends carry the body of Nour al-Najdi, 10-years-old, during her funeral in Rafah after being killed by an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 11, 2014. (Photo: AFP – Said Khatib – retrieved from Al Akhbar)

They will try their best to dehumanize the civilians slaughtered by the terrorist government of Israel, but the Internet allows us to, at least, know their names. Here are the names of the first 100 Gazans murdered by the Occupying force in the past 4 days. The list will be updated daily. I’m dedicating the blog’s Facebook page to reporting on Gaza. I apologize for the disproportionate attention given to Palestine, but international pressure is the only way to stop Israel’s government from continuing the ongoing massacre (despite Netanyahu pretending otherwise.) I’m still sharing Middle East-related links of course, not just on Palestine.

via Names of the Victims in Gaza – Continuously Updated | Hummus For Thought.

Israeli PM vows there will be more air strikes on Gaza | World | The Guardian

“Mr. Tough Guy; who do you think you are? The UN’s top human rights official has called for an investigation into Israeli air strikes on Gaza, on the grounds that the targeting of Palestinian homes – resulting in a high death toll among civilians, particularly children – could violate international law.

via Israeli PM vows there will be more air strikes on Gaza | World | The Guardian.

Indigenous Resistance: Whistleblower: US erased records of Native American remains

A combination of budget cuts and the low priority assigned by Reclamation managers caused NAGPRA responsibilities to fall by the wayside, according to Patrick Williams, a former Museum Specialist in Archeology at the Mid-Pacific Regional Office in Sacramento, California, PEER said.

As a result, Reclamation –

Ceased detailed cataloging of new remains and death rite relics discovered, leaving collections boxed up in storage;

Did not keep track of collections on loan to museums and universities; and

Routinely failed to notify tribes of ancestral recoveries, thus blocking any chance of repatriating ancestral remains, one of the main purposes of NAGPRA.

via Indigenous Resistance: Whistleblower: US erased records of Native American remains.