Category Archives: Uncategorized

Beirut Drive-by Shooting: Electricite Du Liban

Beirut Drive-by Shooting: Electricite Du Liban.

Additional demands have caused further disruptions to Lebanon’s already overloaded power production capacity. Supplemental power provided by private generators may soon be the only Electricity Of Lebanon. Zina says “God Bless The Moteur” and Sareen asks if this is romantic or not?  Most people are asking where’s the Government?

Polish Solidarity distances itself from Romney visit | Reuters

Polish Solidarity distances itself from Romney visit | Reuters.

Solidarity, the trade union movement which led the Polish struggle against communist rule, distanced itself on Monday from a visit to Poland by U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney, saying he supported attacks on unions in his own country.

Romney was in Poland on the third and final leg of a tour aimed at burnishing his foreign policy credentials and demonstrating that he would be a viable alternative to President Barack Obama on the world stage.

Romney visited the Baltic port of Gdansk, cradle of Solidarity which toppled Poland’s communist government in the late 1980s, where he met Lech Walesa, the shipyard electrician who led the union movement during the struggle seen as the start of the end of Soviet domination of eastern Europe.

“Regretfully, we were informed by our friends from the American headquarters of (trade union federation) AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million employees … that Mitt Romney supported attacks on trade unions and employees’ rights,” Solidarity said in a statement.

“Solidarity was not involved in organizing Romney’s meeting with Walesa and did not invite him to visit Poland.”

German Media Slams Mitt Romney’s Tour Abroad – SPIEGEL ONLINE

German Media Slams Mitt Romney’s Tour Abroad – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Center-left daily Süddeutsche Zeitung writes:

“Travel educates. As a result one should assume that Mitt Romney, the Republican challenger of Barack Obama, wants to learn something during his visit to Israel. Wrong! Almost everything that the candidate organized in Jerusalem fuels the impression that he doesn’t want to try understanding how complicated the Middle East situation is. Instead, Romney paints the crisis region in black and white: Israel is good and the rest — the Palestinians and the mullahs in Iran — are lumped together.”

“This one-sided world view is less dumb than it is coldly calculated. Romney is soliciting campaign donations in Jerusalem (the minimum price for two plates at breakfast is $50,000.) And he is ensnaring Jewish voters at home.”

“The trip to Israel may help Romney in the short-term. But in the long-term the Republican has done damage. The Middle East needs the US as a mediator. As such, the presidential hopeful has already disqualified himself.”

— Renuka Rayasam

Hoop House Training Garden

Hoop House Training Garden.

Voting ends August 3rd, 2012. Please vote for this project today – thanks! Ned

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JFK #1 U.S. Airport For Diseases Looking To Go Viral, Says Science: Gothamist

JFK #1 U.S. Airport For Diseases Looking To Go Viral, Says Science: Gothamist.

To come to their conclusions, researchers looked at each airport’s location, its links to other airports and how many passengers fly through it, combined with their overall travel patterns. Other major factors included how well-connected locations connecting airports were and how long travelers stayed in a place. You can see the full paper here.

Nations agree to impose UN sanctions against 7 countries over lax wildlife trade rules, data

Nations agree to impose UN sanctions against 7 countries over lax wildlife trade rules, data.

Seven nations may lose their ability to legally trade tens of thousands of wildlife species after U.N. conservation delegates agreed Thursday to penalize them for lacking tough regulations or failing to report on their wildlife trade.

The suspensions against the seven nations — Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Paraguay, Nepal, Rwanda, Solomon Islands and Syria — were approved by consensus among the delegates and would take effect Oct. 1.

They would prevent the countries from legally trading in any of the 35,000 species regulated by the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said Juan Carlos Vasquez, a spokesman for the U.N. office that administers the treaty.

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Shame on Taliban

Afghan Women’s Writing Project | Shame on Taliban.

I am virtuous!

You raped me with force
And called me a prostitute

Newspapers declared
Prostitute Woman Dead

People simply believe it

You raped me, don’t forget!
You are a prostitute, Talib!

I don’t want the people to know me
Who I was, where I was born
What I wanted in my life

I don’t want you to put a stone on my grave
You killed me with stones

I don’t want you to put flowers on my grave
I don’t want you to call me brave—

But if you must, then write this on the stone:

Talib tore my body into pieces
Talib enjoyed watching me killed in public
Talib believed in ignorance as its religion

Write:

I am a victim
Shame on the Taliban
Shame on the Taliban

Remember to write:

I am a virgin!

By Norwan

Editor’s note:  Norwan’s second poem written in the aftermath of the execution of an Afghan woman before a cheering crowd of men in Parwan province north of Kabul on July 7, 2012. My Soul Is Alive was the first.

Sandy Weill says banks should split up – SFGate

Sandy Weill says banks should split up – SFGate.

Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” the 79-year-old Weill appeared to shock the show’s anchors when he said that consumer banking units should be split from riskier investment banking units. That would mean dismembering Citigroup as well as other big U.S. banks, like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.