It’s a movie about Hitler stealing art during World War II. My posts on it here. And here.
National Geographic channel is featuring the story with an interview with the book’s writer, Robert Edsel.
The tale is intriguing…in the days before email and computers, tracking down the artwork had to be through footwork—a phenomenal task. I love good mysteries and good detective work, and so wish I could see the movie as it opens today.
Diane Ravitch has a great blog up today on one family’s monopoly on charters in Minnesota and the resulting segregation.
A great comment by Reteach for America explains just how charters actually give parents less choice…and less power…when it comes to their child’s education:
Charter schools have no civic responsibility.
[…]
Many parents don’t realize this lack of democratic representation or really any say whatsoever in their children’s school is a serious issue until they have a concern about the charter and the charter tells them they are welcome to shop for another school. When they turn to the district for help, they’re often told the same thing. You don’t like McDonalds? Go to Burger King.
~~~~~~~~~~
So, imagine that your town no longer has independent restaurants, but only McDonald’s, Burger King, or any other national chain….you dislike the fast food and wish for a home-cooked meal that fits your diet…none of these chains have decent food, so you no longer have a choice. You either eat the stuff that resembles food, or you stay home. They don’t care about you, as an individual, but only YOU as a collective group to profit off of…
….this is essentially what charters like the ones in Minnesota are doing. McSchools.
Warrior Publications has this up on the Munduruku People fighting the centuries old fight against the dark side. I will never understand someone thinking they can just go and take what they want with no regards to the rights of others.
This article doesn’t mention it, but mercury is also a factor in gold mining. It was wise of them to protect their land and kick them off.
If you want to know more about the indigenous fight to be let alone, see Joe Kane’s book, Savages.
…is also a right to decide what goes into our bodies. Apparently, Americans aren’t the only ones battling the bureaucrats who won’t allow us to know what food contains GMO’s…but tell us that good, natural raw milk with natural enzymes and natural Vitamin A and D (not synthetic, which is questionable) that help us digest that milk…is bad for us. Riiiight. Somebody please explain this backward thinking…’cause I don’t get it…
More here.
Additionally, the right to decide what goes into our bodies has a far-reaching aspect–the right not to be vaccinated. It never ceases to amaze me that abortion advocates will call you a nutjob for being anti-vaccine while saying that you have a right to choose to have an abortion…but not have a right to refuse vaccination. Unreal.
Warrior Publications has this up on a report of yet another pipeline rupture that was buried since 2009. Accidentally, of course…/snark
Nathan Lemphers says “it’s hard to guess intentions” as to why this report was buried….
…yeah, I’m not buying it, either, that it was an “oversight” that the damning report was never to see sunlight. There are too many incidents of the oil industry interfering with freedom of the press and freedom of speech for it to be unintentional.
Let’s not forget the Arkansas oil spill that we wouldn’t have heard about, if it were up to the mainstream media. Or the massive devastation of the Gulf that BP tried to hide (and unfortunately, did a pretty good job of interfering with photographers and having dead dolphins carted away before they could document them.)
The tide was turned against the Vietnam war through the media…once one sees how devastating it is, it makes it harder to look the other way.
…and so it is with the devastating effects of the energy companies on the environment….hard to look the other way once one sees how devastating it is to the Earth and to the wildlife.
Neil Young’s song and the accompanying video haunt me–it shows in stark contrast how beautiful this Earth truly is until the oil and gas companies move in…
Ed Shultz (MSNBC) has now two nights in a row yelled into the screen about how we should be in favor of the XL pipeline for *cough* safety reasons. Um-hmmm…
You know, I might have believed him if he wasn’t leaving out one important factor of tar sands: pet coke. Pet coke being the highly toxic byproduct of tar sands….which they want to dump in my already toxic state…
He is adamant that the “oil is going to come out, anyway” so it might as well be us, because if China or anyone else does it, well, it’s just not going to be as environmentally friendly.
I say let them. It will be blood on their hands, not ours.
Better yet, leave the oil in the Earth where it belongs. As the Sierra Club stated, if the XL is not built, then there is high probability that the tar sands will remain in the Earth.
Additionally, I thought it was disingenuous of Ed Shultz not to mention the Mi’kmaq or other First Nations of Canada whom have rights to the lands that are being destroyed.
Not a peep. That speaks volumes!
And it also speaks to why MSNBC and Ed Shultz are still trying to convince people, almost on a daily basis, that Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the 2016 presidential race. Hillary Clinton is all for the XL.
Lastly, Ed and his backers would still like to downplay how devastating XL would be on the environment.
He says we “have to” have XL in order to turn on our lights…and other scare tactics.
I don’t think we have *even* begun to truly use our brain cells to discover sustainable ways of creating energy.
…and Ed, we can always light a candle instead of cursing the dark…
Idle No More has put up links to several folks speaking out against XL and Enbridge Pipelines:
Honor the Earth:
Rise Up Mother Earth:
Note how they characterize Mother Earth as crying–Earth isn’t a big ball of dirt, but a living, breathing organism.
Here’s a list of nationwide vigils.
The Black Snake will face mounting opposition.
What did Big Oil know and when did they know it. Jack Gerard, head of the American Petroleum Institute, thought the pipeline was dangerous to the environment…bwahahahahaha *snort* /just a little joke there, folks
Finally, Democracy Now! featured the XL in a debate with an industry insider and Friends of the Earth:
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/debate_state_dept_moves_keystone_xl
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/environmental_groups_shocked_by_reports_of
And this on Enbridge’s infamous 2010 Kalamazoo spill, with cleanup still not done.
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/michigan_activists_face_up_to_2
I have to hand it to Bob Braun–the hits just keep coming. He has yet another great report up on how the Christie/Anderson plan of trashing public education via closing public schools and pushing children into charters may be illegal, according to New Jersey law.
I am so happy that at least someone is fighting for them. I wish we had them here….Indiana’s public schools will close before Hoosiers wake up to what is really happening…
**note that the 5 principals that were fired…er, put on indefinite layoff…were reinstated. Woot.
This is difficult to read….her pain is evident. I am glad she had good support from those around her–many times victims of abuse are accused of “leading on” their abuser–so they suffer twice…
Good on Mia for finding the strength to hold the family together. Some may find fault with her for not pressing criminal charges, but given Allen’s celebrity and the culture of rape/violence against women that almost guarantees she won’t be believed, I think it was wise of Mia not to press charges and put her daughter through yet more abuse. As Dylan states, she was repeatedly questioned about the abuse, having to tell the story over and over and over again…trying to find some way to get her to flub up.
And for those who don’t know what “gaslight” means…it’s a term used to describe the most despicable psychological games to throw someone off and make them think they are crazy. An example: a woman places her keys on the table next to the door when she comes home. The keys are not there when she goes to leave. She looks all over and finds them in the refrigerator. The next time, they’re in the bathroom cabinet. This goes on until she thinks she is truly “losing it”….when all the time it’s been her psycho husband playing mind games with her. If you need more of an example, see the film Gaslight.
The hardest part to read is her account of cutting herself…sadly, this seems to be standard for those abused who don’t have any other outlet to express their pain.
Here’s to you, Dylan, for the courage to come forward because you already know the flaming will come next from those defending Allen. And here’s to your mama….God Bless the mothers of the world.
City Jackdaw has this up on a hellhole called Angel Meadow. And as I view it, I can’t help but think that America is headed back in that direction…
…but then I catch myself…we have always had a problem, but now it’s a bigger problem.
This from Mother Jones on poverty right on Silicon Valley’s doorstep. I think the folks featured here give the business workers/owners a little too much credit that they “would do something because they’re so smart” if they were only aware. Please. They’re aware. They don’t care because they have the attitude “I’ve got mine, screw you.” This, from people whom have sent tech jobs overseas and/or create nothing (F_cebook).
More here on a tent city in New Jersey where the mayor calls it “disgusting”….but the solution, before a lawyer showed up, was to…wait for it…fine them $1,000 for violations. Unreal.
This in Greenville, South Carolina.
As I read all of these, I have to shake my head at the lack of creativity to find a solution. In South Carolina, with the red clay Earth, why can’t one use that to create bricks and build a dwelling out of that? Perhaps a traditional Native American can show them how it’s done? And, of course, my favorite, Earthships, which are self-sufficient, and sustainable, could be a solution, too.
Note that many of these folks were made homeless circa 2008, after Wall Street caused the crash tumbling us into the Un-Depression. (are we calling it a Depression, yet?)
Diane Ravitch has this up on the destructive policies designed to push for charter schools that will ultimately mean the demise of public schools through siphoning funding away.
By the way, HB1320, has passed. By the legiscan link, it’s hard to tell whether it passed in the legislature or just the committee. Either way, it doesn’t look good.
Eagle 
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