Via FB:

A LEGAL QUESTION... Is this statuetory rape? Or is it just a moosedemeanor.  Stop laughing! This is serious.

Portland, OR: A Tale of Two Cities

 

In Oregon, Season 4, Uncategorized

 

Portland is a city that some residents praise as a kind of eden: full of bike paths, independently-owned small businesses, great public transportation and abundant microbreweries and coffeeshops. And then there’s a whole other city. It’s the city where whole stretches of busy road are missing sidewalks, and you can see folks in wheelchairs rolling themselves down the street right next to traffic. It’s the city where some longtime African American residents feel as if decades of institutional racism still have not been fully addressed.  In this episode of SOTRU, we spend time in both Portlands: the paradise, and what could be called… the purgatory.


http://stateofthereunion.com/portland-or-a-tale-of-two-cities/

Via JMG: New Site: Fuck You, Congress

 

Enjoy. (Tipped by JMG reader Win)

Labels: internet, shutdown, Tea Party, teabaggers

Reposted from Joe

Earth Song - Belo Monte - Raoni

Via Anti-Republican Crusaders / FB:

Vc já descobriu sua felicidade? O que te faz feliz? Veja esse professor falando numa entrevista que emocionou até o Jô e fez a plateia aplaudir de pé!

JMG HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"There is effectively no Republican party any more. There is a radical movement to destroy the modern American state and eviscerate its institutions in favor of restoring a mythical, elysian, majority-white, nineteenth-century past. This crisis is proving that more powerfully than even watching Fox. We need to see what is in front of our nose: a cold civil war has broken out between those properly called conservatives, defending the credit of the government, empirical reality, and adjustments to modern life and those properly called radical reactionaries declaring our current elected president and Senate as illegitimate actors, bent on the destruction of America, and therefore necessitating total political warfare, even to the point of threatening to destroy the global economy." - Andrew Sullivan, writing today on his blog.

Labels: Andrew Sullivan, Congress, GOP, HomoQuotable, religion, shutdown, Tea Party, teabaggers

Reposted from Joe

WORLD ORDER "Welcome to TOKYO"

Via Mark Twain / FB:

Via Dr. Wayne W. Dyer / FB: The Elephants Knew

The Elephants Knew

And some will say there is no God, try and tell that to the elephants...

THE ELEPHANT'S JOURNEY TO PAY RESPECT, BUT HOW DID THEY KNOW?

Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller, The Elephant Whisperer. He bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003.

On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died.
He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons, and numerous elephants.

Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved 'man-friend'. A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House.

Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only
because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these
elephants sensed about Lawrence's passing, but also because of
the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked
in such an organized way: Walking slowly, for days, making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house. Lawrence's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years!

But yet they knew where they were going. The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who'd saved their lives - so much respect that they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything.

Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back home.

SOMETHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS GREATER
AND DEEPER THAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.

Brazil’s Challenge to US Dominance

October 2, 2013
Exclusive: Brazil’s President Rousseff lashed out at U.S. spying during her UN speech, but there was a deeper message – the days when South America was Washington’s compliant “backyard” are over. The U.S. government now has the choice of forging a more equal relationship with the region or facing damaging isolation, writes Andrés Cala.

By Andrés Cala

There were several factors – both domestic and geopolitical – that moved Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff to blast American spying during her address to the United Nations General Assembly last week. But Washington is missing the most important message: Brazil, South America’s new economic titan, is assuming a role as regional leader.

Brazil, in effect, has replaced the U.S. as the most influential player on the South American continent and its reach can only be expected to increase. By missing the speech’s larger implication, the White House and Congress are making a miscalculation that undermines U.S. interests in Latin America and the world.

Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff addressing the United Nations General Assembly. (UN Photo by Marco Castro)

Brazil’s muscle-flexing is the result of an evolution which began over a decade ago as the resource-rich nation began to experience rapid economic development. The entire region now looks to Brazil, not the U.S., as a model for progress – and that includes Washington’s allies such as Colombia, Peru and Chile. This new paradigm is being cemented geopolitically and economically.
Consequently, Washington can choose to partner up with Brazil and this newly empowered region as a whole or the U.S. can stick to its old-fashioned and counterproductive policies of paternalism and exploitation, which will only increase its isolation.

In the context of this regional transformation, Brazil’s angry reaction to National Security Agency spying, leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, is more understandable. Rousseff unequivocally condemned NSA spying on her government’s internal communications, on Brazil’s permanent mission at the UN and its other diplomatic delegations, on Brazil’s vital corporations including its oil and mining giants Petrobras and Vale, and on private e-mails of thousands of Brazilians.

It is “a breach of international law,” a “serious violation of human rights and civil liberties,” an “affront … especially among friendly nations,” and “above all, a disrespect of the sovereignty of my country,” Rousseff told the UN General Assembly. And Washington’s excuse that the spying is meant to protect Americans from terrorist activity is “unsubstantiated,” she said.

Make the jump here to read the full article at consortiumnews.com 

Via Daily Kos: A political crisis

Sen. Warren on the Shutdown and Why Government Matters

This Week's TIME

This Week's TIME

The Tea People are furious. Good.

Labels: GOP, shutdown, Tea Party, teabaggers, Time Magazine

Reposted from Joe

Via Our Ties with the Cosmos / FB: Earth, Jupiter and Venus seen from Mars

 

Via NPR: Author Interviews

Diane Ravitch Rebukes Education Activists' 'Reign Of Error'

Former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch spent years advocating for an overhaul of the American education system. Now she criticizes changes that she used to support, like charter schools and school choice. She explains her reasoning in Reign of Error, her new book on the pitfalls of privatizing education.

Read this story