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Geographers Measure Impact of Urban Ecosystems
A team of scientists has produced an innovative new study of the environmental impact of major urban ecosystems, published in the April issue of the journal Ecological Applications.
The team includes Joseph P. McFadden and Jennifer Y. King, both of UC Santa Barbara's Department of Geography. They analyzed environmental data gleaned from the "Twin Cities Household Ecosystem Project," a study of 3,100 households in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., and surrounding areas. The article is the first major paper to come out of the project.
The data analysis yielded a huge bank of interconnected information, with many applications. The results will be useful to a vast number of individuals and groups, including economists, engineers, hydrologists, transportation specialists, urban designers, political scientists, lawyers, environmental agencies and groups, NASA, and others. The results will help in the crafting of messages and designing of systems that will assist in preserving the environment, and possibly curbing climate change, the researchers said.
McFadden and King were recruited by UCSB's Department of Geography from the University of Minnesota, where they began work on the Twin Cities project. The highly interdisciplinary nature of UCSB's Department of Geography allows them to manage their part of the project with ease. "This may be the best place in the world for our part of this research," said McFadden, the principal investigator at UCSB.
The researchers explained that the project is unique in both its scale and comprehensive approach to studying urban ecosystems. It covers the whole span of a major metropolitan region, from the city center to the "exurban" fringe, 34 miles out, across two counties.
"We measured an enormous range of different activities that make up each household's impacts on the environment," said McFadden. "All of those measurements were made on the same set of households at the same point in time. That allows us to see the connections between different household activities and impacts."
The team researched such details as airplane and motor vehicle travel, paper and plastic use, recycling and waste disposal, household utility records, and on-site measurements of vegetation and landscape. "The resulting database is a treasure trove of information that can be mined to discover how the interplay of different factors — physical-biological, demographic, or social-psychological — determines the way that household ecosystems function," said McFadden.
King's specialty is biogeochemistry and her research focuses on understanding what controls the cycling of elements through the earth system. The overall goal of her work is to advance understanding of regional and global biogeochemical cycles and ecosystem processes.
King explained that the Twin Cities study is producing critically needed knowledge about how much material — such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus — flows through households, and how people make choices about consumption, recycling, and waste. This provides the information base needed to develop better ways of reducing the environmental impacts of everyday household living. "With the findings of this study, we'll be able to identify the actions that individuals and households can take to improve environmental quality — and reduce their contributions to soil, water, and air pollution," said King.
McFadden's research is aimed at understanding how vegetation affects the climate, air quality, and water cycling of cities and suburbs, and how this knowledge can be used to improve urban design and regional planning. On this project, McFadden uses satellite data, geographic information systems (GIS), and models to extrapolate from the 3,100 households in the metropolitan region.
Although the specific measurements taken in Minneapolis-St. Paul can't be directly applied to all cities, the insights that researchers are gaining into how different factors influence people's choices and ultimately their households' effects on the environment, may apply broadly to other cities. King points out that the choices individuals make every day, such as the things people buy and the ways in which they travel, are important. The Twin Cities project represents a big leap forward in specifically measuring the impacts of these choices.
Other co-authors from the University of Minnesota are Cinzia Fissore, Larry A. Baker, and Sarah Hobbie. Ina Jakobsdottir, formerly with the University of Minnesota, is also a co-author.
The National Science Foundation funded the study as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. UCSB received $500,000, and the University of Minnesota received $1 million.


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About BFEF - Board of Directors
Jose Bautista
President & Founder
José Antonio Bautista Santos is a Dominican professional baseball right fielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Kansas City Royals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Toronto Blue Jays. His professional career began when the Pittsburgh Pirates selected him in the 20th round of the 2000 first year player draft. In 2010, Bautista became the 26th member of the 50 home run club while leading the major leagues in home runs for the first of two consecutive seasons, and, from 2010–15, has hit more home runs than any player in the major leagues. An MLB All-Star selection six consecutive times, he has won three Silver Slugger Awards and two Hank Aaron Awards. In addition, he has received the American League Player of the Month Award five times and the Player of the Week four times. Before being traded to the Blue Jays, Bautista primarily played third base.
Although major league scouts initially noted Bautista while in junior college for his batting skills – including power hitting potential – and a strong throwing arm, his career took detours until realizing his potential in 2010. He made his MLB debut with the Baltimore Orioles in 2004, and, that year, became the first player ever to appear on five MLB rosters in one season. The last of those clubs were the Pirates, where he played at five different positions as a utility player until being traded to the Blue Jays in 2008. After making adjustments to his swing, Bautista broke through with ten home runs in September 2009. He has since been voted in the top ten in the AL Most Valuable Player Award four times and is a leader or among the top ten in numerous offensive single-season and career categories in Blue Jays' franchise history.
Since 2010, Bautista has hit at least 20 home runs each year, and in four of those seasons, has hit at least 35 home runs, has both scored and driven in at least 100 runs, and has drawn at least 100 bases on balls, including twice leading the AL. In 2015, while playing in the playoffs for the first time, his bat flip in the American League Division Series caused a sensation that became a symbol of Toronto's first playoff appearance in 22 years. In 2011, he set up a program that assists athletes from the Dominican Republic to attend universities in the United States.
Fernando Isa
Executive Director
Fernando has served the Bautista Family Education Fund as the Executive Director since its formation in 2012. During that time the BFEF has grown from 3 student-athletes receiving academic scholarships in 2012, to 41 student-athletes receiving help in academic year 2016/2017. The BFEF has helped an average of 29 student-athletes per academic year since its formation.
Fernando hails from the Dominican Republic, where he was born and raised. Fernando attended Chipola College for his Associate in Arts Degree, where he played varsity Baseball. Fernando transferred as a Junior to the University of Louisville, where he earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration, while also playing in the varsity Baseball team. After his collegiate baseball career was over, Fernando earned a Master's of Science in Business Communications from Spalding University, located in Louisville, Kentucky.
Fernando lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his family. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry since 2006. Fernando is currently employed by Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he serves as Senior Diabetes Sales Specialist.
Moises Feliz
Moises Feliz hails from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Moises attended Chipola College in Florida, USA on a baseball scholarship, where he was selected by the Anaheim Angels in the 1999 MLB draft. Moises transferred to Cumberland University as a Junior. Moises signed as free agent to play for the Colorado Rockies Baseball Club in 2002. After his professional baseball career was over, Moises returned to Cumberland University, where he earned his Undergraduate degree in General Business with minors in Management and Marketing in 2005. Moises earned his Graduate degree from Cumberland University in 2007, he earned a Master's degree in Organizational Leadership Science and Human Relations. Moises currently works in the financial industry for Wilson Bank & Trust as Assistant Vice President/ Branch manager in the middle Tennessee area.
James A. Dodds
James Dodds is a Vice President of TD Bank Group in Toronto, Canada with a mandate of brand enrichment, client appreciation, and business development across the bank. Additionally he has represented the Bank internationally in Asia and the Middle East as TD continues to develop its presence and brand in these markets.
Prior to joining TD Bank Group, James held senior positions in banking and politics in the United Kingdom and Canada, notably as CFO and Director of Operations for the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada and former Canadian Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Joe Clark.
James is an active community builder and a number of organizations rely on him for his leadership and fundraising abilities. He currently sits on the boards of the Jays Care Foundation, Right to Play, the Jose Bautista Family Education Fund, and he is the returning Chair of the 2017 Joe Carter Classic in support of The Children's Aid Foundation. In 2012 led a team of 8 business leaders and Canadian Olympians up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in support of Right to Play.
In 2011 James was the recipient of the Children's Aid Foundation Guardian Award and in 2012 received the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Rafael Perez
Since 2011, Rafael has been working with the Baseball's Commissioner's Office as Director of Dominican Operations when he was hired back to oversee the growth and changes in the most important market internationally. In 2005, Rafael was hired by the New York Mets as their Director of International Players Development overseeing their Minor League Academies in the Dominican Republic and Venezuela; coordination of the Winter Leagues; and implementation of International Education Program and special International Projects. While with the Mets, he was promoted to Director of International Operations adding the International Scouting responsibilities under his supervision and direction.
In 2000, Rafael was originally hired by the Baseball Commissioner's office as manager of the Major League Baseball Office for Latin America. Rafael's was required to play the delicate duel role of "rule enforcer," and, at the same time, help Latin American baseball executives to be more effective managers without violating the rules. Prior to working at MLB and the New York Mets, Rafael worked for Scala North America, an international software company, managing the implementation of their accounting and financial software in the US and Latin America. Rafael holds a Bachelor's degree in Accounting University of South Alabama where he also played college baseball. He also played college baseball at Chipola Junior College from 1985 to 1987. In 1989, Rafael signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Juan Peralta
Juan Peralta earned his undergraduate degree from Troy State University in Alabama. Juan attended Troy State on a baseball scholarship. Juan has been an active member of the BFEF Board of Directors since its formation. Juan is currently the Academy Director for the Cincinnati Reds in the Dominican Republic, he has held this role since 2003. During his 13 years with the Reds organization, the Academy that he oversees has produced many top talent Major League Baseball players.
Luis Bautista
Ricardo Nanita

subset: commoncrawl


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Baltimore residents don't see eye to eye with Visions Catering
Visions Catering and Banquet Hall is zoned as a catering establishment but some neighbors said it operates more like a nightclub.
Baltimore city is trying to do to end the dispute this has been going on for about a year. Some at City Hall, who have intervened, said it is one of the most contentious zoning issues they've handled.
The owner of the business in Hamilton, Northeast Baltimore and some of the facility's neighbors aren't seeing eye to eye.
"It hasn't been fun by a long shot. It's been a struggle. If I could have walked away I would have, but if you don't stand for something you will fall for anything," Vision Catering Owner Linda Brown said.
Nearby homeowners are also standing their ground. Complaints from the community include large crowds and loud noise.
"Parking is horrendous. If you don't get home within a specific time you don't have a place to park," resident Pam Wallace said.
The building was formerly an American Legion Hall. The basement bar was transformed into a child care facility. Brown said she has tried to work with the community. Signs in the facility ask patrons to exit quietly and leave the neighborhood immediately after an event.
"I've asked them repeatedly, 'What is it that you want? What do you want?'" Brown asked.
The dispute started in February 2010 after her home, which was on the property, burned down. Then, in December 2010, after an event had ended, someone began shooting outside the banquet hall. A 25-year-old man was killed.
Questions arose about the hall's licenses, permits and the groups being allowed to rent the facility. To end the festering issues, Councilman Robert Curran is offering conditions that call for the banquet hall to close at 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.
"I think the fair chance is to allow these folks to operate there," Curran said.
The maximum capacity will be set at 200, a long-term parking arrangement mandating off-street parking for 25 or more cars and one to four security guards depending on the number of guests if alcoholic beverages are advertised, dispensed or sold.
"Who is going to maintain this? Who baby-sits these amendments?" Wallace asked.
Brown said she will comply with the conditions.
"The neighbors are opposed," Curran said. "If the stringent conditions are violated there is an avenue to revoke the use of the property."
Those conditions will be considered on Oct. 3 during a hearing of the City Council's land use and transportation committee before going to the full City Council.


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Concert. A musical retrospective over our first two decades. The Göteborg Opera's 20th Anniversary Concert will be a wonderfully festive evening, full of well-loved returns.
We are proud to welcome you to our Anniversary Concert!
The concert starts at 7:00 pm. We'll treat you to a glass of sparkling wine, which will be served in the Foyer from 6:00 pm.
Take the chance to view our anniversary exhibition, which is open between 6:00-7:00pm on Wednesday, and from 6:00 pm on Friday. The exhibition is displayed along the wall near the OperaBar two floors up.
From the conductor's podium Henrik Schaefer, the Music Director for The Göteborg Opera Orchestra, will guide us through the past two decades of music performed at The Göteborg Opera. You will experience and remember music from a selection of our most successful productions. Taking part will be The Göteborg Opera soloists and guest soloists Malin Byström and Ann-Kristin Jones, The Göteborg Opera Chorus and The Göteborg Opera Orchestra.
21 and 23 May 7:00pm
The Göteborg Opera Main Stage
The programme contains everything from Bernstein and Léhar to Wagner and Strauss. Besides an aria from her international break-through Thaïs, Malin Byström will also sing the title role's monologue from Arabella, a part which she will perform this spring at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. You will also meet Lohengrin, Macbeth, Don Carlos, Goya, Falstaff and My Fair Lady, and will be swept away by the grand finale of Turandot.
Part 1
Ruggero Leoncavallo
Pagliacci, Prologue
Tonio – Mats Persson, baritone
Richard Wagner
Lohengrin, prelude to Act III
Pjotr Tchaikovsky
Eugen Onegin,
Tatjana's letter scene from Act I
Tatjana – Carolina Sandgren, soprano
Giuseppe Verdi
Chorus of the Scottish Refugees, Act IV
The Göteborg Opera Chorus
Giuseppe Verdi
Don Carlos, duet from Act I
Don Carlos – Tomas Lind, tenor
Posa – Marco Stella, baritone
Richard Strauss
Arabella, monologue finale Act I
Arabella – Malin Byström, soprano
Richard Wagner
Die Walküre, Wotan's farewell, finale Act III
Wotan – Anders Lorentzson
Giacomo Puccini/Franco Alfano
Turandot, finale Act III
Turandot – Annalena Persson,
Calaf – Tomas Lind
The Göteborg Opera Chorus
Part 2
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
La Nozze di Figaro, overture
Franz Lehár
Der Graf von Luxemburg
Angèle's entrance Act I
Angèle – Carolina Sandgren, soprano
Frederick Loewe
My Fair Lady, Higgins' couplet from Act I "With a woman in your life"
Higgins – Mattias Ermedahl
George Gershwin
Porgy and Bess, duet from Act II
"Bess, you is my woman now"
Porgy – Markus Schwartz, bass-baritone
Bess – Malin Byström, soprano
Daniel Börtz
Goya, Josefa's scene from Act I
Josefa – Ann-Kristin Jones, mezzo-soprano
Doctor Arrieta – Lars Hjertner, actor
The Göteborg Opera Chorus
Leonard Bernstein
West Side Story
Symphonic dances no. 8 and 9
(Rumble and Finale)
Jules Massenet
Thaïs, Thaïs' aria from Act II
Thaïs – Malin Byström
Giuseppe Verdi
Falstaff, final fugue from Act III


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NEW YORK - According to a new analysis of past studies, people with the most protein-heavy diets are about 20 per cent less likely to have a stroke than those who eat the least protein.
Since the analysis includes studies with different designs, there is a chance that something other than protein intake might explain the results, said co-author Dr. Xinfeng Liu of Nanjing University School of Medicine in China.
"Dietary protein intake tends to be associated with other nutrients that may prevent stroke, such as potassium, magnesium and dietary fiber," so the findings should be interpreted with caution, Liu told Reuters Health in an email.
Still, the relationship between protein and stroke persisted when the researchers only looked at studies that took those factors into account, he noted.
Close to 800,000 people in the United States have a stroke each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The new review includes seven studies, each of which followed a group of adults for at least 10 years. Participants either periodically filled out diet questionnaires or were asked to recall everything they had eaten over the past 24 hours in order to gauge their protein intake, and researchers recorded which of them had a stroke during the follow-up period.
The studies included a combined total of about 255,000 people.
Four of the studies took place in the US, two in Japan and one in Sweden. Most considered any type of stroke, but two focused on fatal strokes.
Six of the studies found that as protein intake increased, stroke risk decreased. But in three of those studies the relationship was weak enough that it could have been due to chance, according to findings published in Neurology.
All together, the review authors found that people who ate the most protein were about 20 per cent less likely to have a stroke than those who ate the least. An extra 20 grams of protein per day was linked to a 26 per cent lower stroke risk.
Most of the studies accounted for age, sex and diabetes history as factors in stroke risk.
Eating protein may help lower blood pressure, which in turn lowers stroke risk, the authors write. Still, there could be other explanations for the findings.
"The results of this meta analysis should be interpreted carefully," said Dr. Arturo Tamayo, who studies stroke prevention at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. He co-wrote an editorial accompanying the analysis.
Diet can influence stroke risk, but in many ways, not just through protein intake, he told Reuters Health by email. Genetic predisposition for increased cholesterol, age and other medical conditions like high blood pressure or heart disease can also influence risk, he said.
"The results of this study show us a 'trend' of a positive factor in diet that can contribute to decrease the risk of stroke," he said.
Animal versus plant protein
Animal protein was linked to a greater reduction in stroke risk than other sources of protein in the new report. But another recent analysis published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that vegetarian diets are associated with lower blood pressure than diets that include meat.
In the current analysis, there wasn't a big range in plant protein intake - those who ate the most ate only 16 more grams per day than those who ate the least - compared to animal protein, where the daily range was 35 grams, Liu said.
Since there wasn't a big range in plant protein consumption, it was harder to find an association with stroke, he said.
Relatively few people in the included studies got their protein from grains, which could have factored in as well, Tamayo said.
"Among different protein sources, fish consumption has been associated with decreased risk of stroke, whereas red meat consumption has been associated with increased stroke risk," Liu said.
The saturated fat and cholesterol in red meat may increase stroke risk, so red meat isn't the best source of protein for people worried about stroke, he said.
"Thus, stroke risk may be reduced by replacing red meat with other protein sources such as fish," Liu said. "Fish contains omega-3 fatty acids and some other nutritional elements including protein that may protect against stroke."
"As stroke neurologists we aim to change as much as possible all those factors that can potentially be modified, like cholesterol and hypertension, among others and lifestyle factors such as lack of exercise, cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption and diet," Tamayo said.
It is important that people understand how much diet can influence the advent of multiple diseases, he said.
"Global strategies to prevent stroke should start early in life with an adequate diet education for all people regardless of their risk of stroke," he said.
The human diet and stroke prevention are both incredibly complex, he said, but current evidence tilts toward a largely vegetarian Cretan Mediterranean diet high in whole grains, olive oil, fish and fruit, and low in red meat as beneficial for stroke reduction.


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Miley Cyrus and her low cut dress
Miley Cyrus has enjoyed showing off her impressive figure since she became an adult. Here she has a low-cut dress as she poses with her studly fiance. How much time to we give this relationship? Shouldn't she be out there having fun and playing the field? Celebrity relationships don't have a very long track record.
See more celebrity videos at Hollywood CIA.
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ACC/Big Ten Challenge Presents Giant Opportunity For MichiganPosted by Bennet Hayes on December 2nd, 2013
What to Make of Michigan Heading to Duke in the Headliner of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge
Nobody ever said life after Trey Burke was going to be easy. Despite entering the season with both a top 10 ranking and preseason All-American (again) to lead the way, John Beilein had to know that this group of Wolverines would be a work in progress. Gone was not only the transcendent Burke, but also backcourt mate Tim Hardaway, Jr., a highly accomplished player in his own right. Also of concern: The fact that this year's preseason All-American, Mitch McGary, entered the season on the mend. The bruising sophomore is recovering from a back injury, and even with a (relatively) healthy back a season ago, he had averaged only 7.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game as he got acclimated to college basketball. Was he really ready to deliver All-American type production? Every team entered this season with question marks, but Michigan faced as many as any of their preseason top-10 cohabitants.
The Wolverines are now seven games into the season, and the top-10 ranking is gone. The same cannot be said for those pesky preseason questions. Michigan is 5-2 on the year, with an overtime victory over Florida State ranking as its lone victory of consequence (seriously, the average Pomeroy rating for the other four Wolverine conquests is 297). The back injury ultimately caused McGary to miss just two games, but his production since returning has hardly been like that of an All-American: 8.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.0 BPG in 25 minutes per game. I'm not in the habit of judging a guy off of five post-injury games, but the jury remains out on whether McGary can live up to those expansive preseason expectations.
Nor has a verdict been offered on the Michigan point guard situation. Nobody expected Derrick Walton to become Trey Burke, but the freshman has averaged nearly as many turnovers (2.4 per game) as assists (3.3 per game), while also ceding crunch time minutes to backup Spike Albrecht. In the two Michigan losses (to Iowa State and Charlotte), Walton has averaged just 19 minutes a game. Clearly John Beilein is not ready to fully hand over the reins to the talented youngster, but like McGary, there's still plenty of time for Walton to grow into his expected role.


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Reducing Social Media RisksBy Robert Stroud Print
In the mad dash to acquire tens of thousands of online friends for their brands, many companies are not pausing to consider the potential risks.
With Facebook membership now past the half-billion mark and Americans spending nearly a quarter of their time online, business has gotten into the act. Companies plan to spend nearly double the percentage of their current marketing budget on social media over the next year, according to a 2010 study by the American Marketing Association and Duke University. In just a few years, social media networking has gone from something employees did on the sly to an official communications medium championed by marketing and human resources departments.
It's easy to see why everyone is "friending" social media. Organizations are seeing increased brand recognition, customer satisfaction and sales revenues. It is now easy to get customer feedback—often within minutes of a news announcement or product launch. And monitoring what your competition and customers are doing and saying has never been easier. Another benefit of sites such as LinkedIn and Plaxo is the ability to reach potential and former employees.
But in the mad dash to acquire tens of thousands of online friends for their brands, many companies are not pausing to consider the potential risks. Since social media tools are new to many organizations and do not require additional IT infrastructure, they may be introduced to the enterprise by a business unit, marketing team or individual employees, bypassing the normal safeguards and risk assessment provided by the IT, HR and legal departments.
Need for Social Media Governance
For these reasons, it's important to create a social media governance strategy and a plan to address the risks that come with these new communication tools. There are three scenarios that companies should consider when evaluating risk:
1. the use of social media as a business tool to communicate with customers, employees or other stakeholders;
2. access to social media sites while employees are on the corporate network; and
3. employees' use of social media tools from their corporate-issued mobile devices, which are often not subject to the same controls and monitoring as corporate computers.
To effectively manage social media use, organizations should develop a documented strategy—with associated policies and procedures—that involves all relevant stakeholders. This includes leaders from the business units, sales and marketing, risk management, HR and legal departments. This holistic approach helps ensure that risks are being viewed through the lens of broader business goals and objectives.
Five Business RisksM
Here are five primary business risks associated with the use of social media:
• introduction of viruses/malware to the corporate network;
• brand hijacking, such as a brand being impersonated on Twitter;
• unclear or undefined content rights to information posted on social media sites;
• unrealistic customer expectations of service through the ability to communicate with companies online 24/7; and
• noncompliance with record management regulations because of mismanagement of electronic communications.
The introduction of social media can produce significant shifts in both culture and process—particularly in the areas of communications, marketing, customer service and business development. As companies consider setting up a Facebook fan page or a blog—or signing up their CEO for a Twitter account—they should look to established frameworks such as Risk IT and COBIT for clear processes and controls to help them form sound social media governance policies.
Some questions to consider are: What is the strategic benefit to leveraging this technology? What are the risks, and do the benefits outweigh the costs? What new legal issues does it raise? How will customer privacy issues be addressed? How will awareness training be delivered to employees? Does the enterprise have enough resources to sustain this type of initiative?
Clearly, the use of social media provides new entry points for technology risks such as malware and viruses. But what magnifies these risks is the lack of employee understanding of the potential threats. A social media governance strategy should focus first on user behavior by developing policies for personal use in the workplace, personal use involving business information outside the workplace, and business use. These policies should be reinforced through ongoing training and awareness programs.
As social media sites continue to grow in popularity, organizations should embrace them, not block them. But companies that want to succeed at social media governance need to look beyond technology controls and empower employees to reduce risk by getting smart about threats.
Robert Stroud, CGEIT, is international vice president of ISACA, a nonprofit, global association engaged in the development, adoption and use of globally accepted knowledge and practices for information systems.
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by Scott Creighton
UPDATE: Germany is demanding Facebook help their efforts by removing posts that are critical of their efforts to demand refugees are accepted across Europe
"German Justice Minister Heiko Maas wants Facebook Inc. to remove racist posts targeting asylum seekers after several attacks on refugee camps in Germany over the past week."
At a time when everyone was being told we had to STOPKONY from killing all the children, I and a few others braved the rampages of the online thought police and wrote the truth about the fraudulent propaganda campaign. It didn't take long for the leader of that particular marketing campaign to wind up naked and high as a kite on the side of the road and as a result, his astroturfing campaign subsequently crashed into the rocky shoreline. Yet the campaign to recolonize Africa continues to this day unfortunately.
By the same token, a few days after alleged shooting of Malala, when we were being told we HAD to "LOVE MALALA!" or else, I and a few others were writing about the ridiculousness of the story and I even went so far as to suggest it was all about pushing an agenda of global for-profit charter school systems which would serve the interests of the masters of the universe in many, many ways. Turns out, with her fake little scar and her fake Peace Prize, Malala is busy spending her days running around promoting global for-profit charter school systems that will teach poor kids around the world of the wonders of Westernized neoliberal, free market ideology. She now lives in London of course.
Do I even need to mention the "Snowden truthers" and the scores of "alternative" truth-tellers like Dave Lindorff who attacked us for simply investigating and writing the truth about what was really going on? Do I need to mention the "Freedom" Act and the privatization of the surveillance state which is what I said the "Snowden" psyop was all about from the start?
How about the American Gladio campaign, which is apparently still going on today. Or the fake "ISIS" threat always showing up in nations Barack Obama needs to bomb into (or BACK into) submission?
Contrary to how it might appear, I'm not patting myself on the back, though I know my detractors will say I am.
What I am doing is pointing out that whenever a major agenda unfolds, whenever the "crisis" in support of that agenda takes shape, for one reason or another, you can always count on a certain measure of "truth-tellers" to get on board with the official narrative (at least in principle if not in totality) in the early stages of the effort and in recent years there have been very few programs bigger in scope and reach than the recolonization of Africa, the global for-profit "education" of third world populations and the fascist privatization of the surveillance state. Yes, they need to strip US citizens of certain constitutional rights and they need to do that on a very selective basis, hence "common sense" gun legislation via "mental hygiene" laws. And they need an ever shifting continuous threat for the long war, the endless war, the covert drone strike war at all places at all times. Thus, fake mass casualty events and fake beheading videos. But don't let certain "truth-tellers" hear you speak about those.
That's kinda like asking certain "truthers" what hit the Pentagon or what happened to the 80 or so security camera videos the FBI took from surrounding locations minutes after the attack.
Today, there is another "crisis" brewing and a number of "truth-tellers" don't want to go anywhere near the truth of the matter. But I will. Because that is what I do.
So let's talk about the sanctified story of the "refugee crisis" and how it's being used for a number of various globalist agendas.
Who says it's being used for globalist agendas? Well they do of course. You just have to know where to look.
Filed under: #BringBackOurGirls psyop, American Gladio, austerity in America, Charter School Scam, CIA are the Real Terrorists, class warfare, Color Revolution Turkey, destabilization campaign in Africa, destabilization Campaign Syria, destabilization campaign Turkey, destabilization of Afghanistan, destabilizing Turkey, Detroit, disaster capitalism, Drones as Death Squads, economic terrorism, Fake Syrian Revolution, Gay Girl in Damascus Psyop, Global Free Market Wars, Globalization, Greater Kurdistan, How propaganda works, Invisible Children, Kony 2012, Larry Summers, Malala Yousafzai, Murder of Moammar Gadhafi, Neocons = Neolibs, Neoliberalizing Africa, Neoliberalizing America, Neoliberalizing Syria, NSA "Leak" Scandal, Online Manipulation, Operation Cast Lead, Operation Pillar of Defense, Operation Protective Edge, palestinian rights, Refugee "crisis", Regime Change, Sandy Hook Massacre, Scott Creighton, Soros Fascism, The ISIS Crisis, The Truth about Kony 2012, Turkish Color Revolution?, War on Yemen, Yemen Revolution 2015 | 3 Comments »


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(The Root) — Alas, summer is basically over. We all know it cannot last forever. That break from the routines of work is so important. If you are at all like me, then some quantity time in the sun, without a care for schedules or the time of day, is important to restoring a sense of balance in life.
For many folks, however, it is already the season to again punch the time clock. School for many is back in session. People's tans have started to fade. For too many of us, I suspect, that wonderful lightness and freedom of spirit so characteristic of July and early August is yielding to the worrisome demands of an impending busy fall season. Sadly, Labor Day will be behind us before we know it.
Yet, I am smiling as I write this piece. It has been a wonderful summer for me. I am very satisfied. I do hope you can say the same.
Spending four weeks on Martha's Vineyard is a magical stretch of time. I biked more than 300 miles. I've eaten an embarrassing number of wok-fired lobsters and downed my fair share of fried scallops and fish and chips. I've had probably 10 blue fishes hooked on my fishing line and reeled in five of them, including one 18-pounder that put up an heroic fight before Captain Buddy van der Hoop helped pull it aboard the boat and filleted him for dinner.
I've kayaked across Lagoon Pond early in the morning and done a walk near the Ink Well as the Polar Bears — a group of mostly African-American women who exercise and engage in spiritual uplift — did their morning rituals. And every night, I've enjoyed being completely surrounded by refreshing ocean air, gin martini in hand, as the sun sets over the water. Looking back on all this, it is with a measure of satisfaction that I prepare to say goodbye to summer 2012. But before letting go, I will revel a few days longer in the wonders of Martha's Vineyard.
How does one describe what is so special about the Vineyard? In reminiscing with my wife about the Vineyard, it is a true wonder that we even returned after our first visit back in 2000. We left Boston on a rainy Friday afternoon headed for Woods Hole and the Steamship Authority ferry to the island. The drive was an excruciatingly painful four hours long. The trip to Bourne Bridge proved particularly nightmarish, with bumper-to-bumper traffic grinding to a halt a full five miles before reaching the bridge itself.
The friend who had exhorted — indeed badgered — us to come check out the Vineyard had not made it clear that we would need a reservation on the ferry in order to get a car onto the island. As a result, we ended up parking at Woods Hole once we learned the ferry had been fully reserved for months in advance, slogging our luggage through the rain to take a bus back to the ferry and eventually catching one of the many share-ride taxis to our hotel in Edgartown once we got to Oak Bluffs (our dear friend would not come and pick us up for the ride into Edgartown).
These privations notwithstanding, that first trip involved a number of small but pleasurable experiences. We enjoyed strolling through Edgartown and shopping. There are few things as relaxing as sitting in the rocking chairs on the Harbor View Hotel wrap-around porch, with its magnificent flower garden, as we watched the ships head in and out of Edgartown Harbor. There is something simultaneously human-scale and yet majestic about the Lighthouse in Aquinnah. And there is something very sweet and reassuring about all the moms, dads and kids pedaling along the many bike paths stretching around the island.
All of this was just enough that after those first two days, we got over the miserable note on which the visit started — the rain, aging buses and the cramped ferry ride. Perhaps even more so, we got over the stereotype of the vineyard as a stuffy, status-climbing closed society, and we have been coming back for more than a decade ever since.
To be sure, we learned many of the tricks to making a vineyard vacation "work." We now know the cycles of life in the parts of the island we love best. So, we keep that ferry schedule handy now and never attempt to drive through Five Corners when the ferry comes in or, God forbid, when a ferry arrival coincides with the raising of the Lagoon Pond drawbridge. We know to get to Linda Jean's or to the Black Dog Cafe before 8:30 a.m. if we really can't abide a bit of a wait for breakfast. And we know that dinner reservations at State Road, Sweet Life or the Outermost Inn are best made long in advance. All of these careful plans are not necessary, of course, if you are contented eating a lobster bake, fried fish or barbecue at home with friends.
Moreover, we now know the bookstores on the vineyard, our favorite place for chocolates, our favorite place for pies, our favorite place for ice cream — you name it. And perhaps most important, we have a network of friends whom we expect to see every summer on the vineyard. From the daily bike ride to the annual fishing trip and the dinners out, most nights we partake in activities enriched by sharing them with our best friends.
Where else can one attend a chicken and waffle fundraiser for Howard University in the morning, see the intellectual sparks fly at a panel discussion featuring The Wire's David Simon and Harvard's Larry Summers in the late afternoon and take in a special early screening of the movie Sparkle in the evening with U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and White House adviser-Obama friend Valerie Jarrett in attendance?
There are many things that make the vineyard a magical place to summer. For some, it is the shopping. Others are drawn by the food. For others, it is fishing, biking, golfing, sailing or just tanning on one of the many beaches. And, yes, some folks make time for the intellectual events, the book readings and signings, as well as the fundraisers.
Almost everyone who gives it an honest try finds themselves eventually seduced by the special mixture of warming sun, gentle ocean breezes, endless varieties of outdoor activities, wonderful food, friendship and family on a strip of land five miles off the coast of Massachusetts. I will breathe deep the precious hours remaining on this magical venue, take in another sun-kissed 21-mile bike ride with my best friend and eventually depart the island just as Labor Day marks the return to all the regular routines of life.
Lawrence D. Bobo is the W. E. B. Du Bois Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard University.


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New York Comic-Con's Just Dance 3 stage was always filled with an interesting mix of cosplayers, but these are my favorite: A dozen assassins from Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed line dancing to Sugarhill Gang's Jump On It with the help of Ubisoft's other major hit... Just Dance.
It's a tad long, but you should probably skip over to three minutes in to see the special guest appearance.
You can contact Brian Crecente, the author of this post, at email@example.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.


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Rihanna has turned to a classic to help Haiti.
The singer has released a cover of Bob Marley's classic "Redemption Song" online to benefit relief in the earthquake-stricken nation.
She performed the track on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" on Wednesday, telling Oprah, "I feel the people of Haiti need to hear something inspiring.
"This song, for me, any time there was a difficult situation, I always listened to this song. It's so liberating," she continued.
Rihanna will also be among the many musicians performing on the "Hope for Haiti" telethon on Friday evening, joining Jay-Z and U2's Bono and The Edge for a special performance.
All performances from the telethon will be available for purchase for charity, while still more artists are planning on doing benefit songs for the island nation – according to the Daily Mail, "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell is gathering talent for a British effort, while The Hollywood Reporter's Showbiz 411 blog reported that Quincy Jones and Lionel Richie are planning a 25th anniversary re-recording of "We Are The World."
CLICK HERE to download Rihanna's 'Redemption Song!'
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VIEW THE PHOTOS: Celebs Who Give Back
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MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Rihanna - Music - Oprah Winfrey - Charities - TV


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Clinton: 'We are under no illusions'
In a wide-ranging interview taped while she was in Nairobi last week, Hillary Clinton on "Fareed Zakaria GPS" said that her differences with Barack Obama during the campaign were "maybe [a] difference in degree, not kind," and said she had no worries about foreign policy power moving from the State Department to the White House, noting, "I'm not exactly a shrinking violet."
She also defended her husband's mission to North Korea and dismissed the claim by Bush's ambassador to the U.N., John Bolton, that Clinton's trip encouraged hostage-taking and "benefits Kim Jong Il a lot more than the United States," according to an advance transcript of the interview.
Clinton, who laughed when Bolton was brought up, said, "you know, it is absolutely not rewarding them. It is not in any way responding to specific demands. It is recognition that certain countries that I think are kind of beyond the pale of the rule of law hold people and subject them to long prison terms that are absolutely unfair and unwarranted. And maybe it's, you know, the fact I have a daughter, but I believe that if we could bring these young women home, we should bring them home."
Clinton declined to divulge what former President Clinton said about the trip, saying, "I have spoken to him on the phone, but I have this policy, I never talk about what I talk to my husband about, Fareed."
And Clinton seemed to take a harder link in Iran, while also saying that "we, in retrospect, handled it pretty well," by "doing a lot to really empower the protesters without getting in the way."
Clinton also hit out at the "show trial" she said Iran was now holding, and deemed them "a sign of weakness. It demonstrates, I think, better than any of us could ever say, that this Iranian leadership is afraid of their own people, and afraid of the truth and the facts coming out."
And she said that "we are under no illusions" in the American offer for dialogue with the Iranian government and suggested that the window for negotiations may be closing:
"We were under no illusions before their elections that we can get the kind of engagement we are seeking. The president has also said, look, we need to take stock of this in September. If there is a response, it needs to be on a fast track. We're not going to keep the window open forever."
Turning to Afghanistan, she stressed not the American troop presence but the need to build up a viable Afghan army and police force, which would presumably be a precursor to U.S. troops departing:
"We needed to integrate military and civilian assets and try to build up the Afghan national army and an Afghan police force as quickly as possible," she said, later adding that "first and foremost is helping us expedite the training of an Afghan national army that will help our forces hold ground and then take over that responsibility."
And she praised Obama's health reform efforts and suggested that the consensus had shifted toward the need for reform since her bid to remake the system in the early 1990s:
"Back in '93 and '94, when I was on the front lines and taking all the incoming fire on this issue, people didn't really accept in their gut that we had to do this. They kept thinking there's another way out of this, and it's not that bad. And we'll try, you know, managed care, and we'll try more HMOs. We'll try all of that.
"And now all these years later, we realize that we have some fundamental problems with our existing system that have to be addressed. So I actually agree that at the end of the day, with all of this negotiation and back and forth, you know, we're going to come up with something."
She spent several minutes of the interview assessing President Obama, who she said had a "really serious professional operation" for foreign policy, and her role as his secretary of state:
ZAKARIA: And then we get to the unusual circumstances of your becoming secretary of state. There was a lot...
CLINTON: "Unusual" is an understated way of saying that.
ZAKARIA: There's no way —- no way around talking about this partnership or this relationship...
CLINTON: Right.
ZAKARIA: ... with Barack Obama.
CLINTON: Right.
ZAKARIA: Because it is very unusual in the American political context to have the chief rival of a presidential candidate then become part of his Cabinet. And people have often referred to the experience of Abraham Lincoln picking William Henry Seward.
CLINTON: I think that, in many ways, the policies that President Obama and I talked about during the campaign were maybe difference in degree, not kind. We have a —- a worldview that says America should be leading by example. You know, it's not the — I think my husband said, actually, it's not the example of our power but the power of our example that we want to convey.
And so when the president asked me to consider this, I was personally very surprised. And I became even more surprised when accounts of the campaign came out and said that he'd been thinking about it for some time.
But I also believe that what I brought to the job, the real commitment that I have to being not just effective but being part of a team that's effective, which the president knows —- we served in the Senate together — has really worked out better than anybody could have predicted. I think our personal relationship has, you know, certainly deepened and broadened over the course of the last 6 1/2 months. The time that we spend together, the difficult problems that we wrestle with.
But also, the team — Bob Gates and I, Jim Jones and I, others who work with us — are really open. And Henry Kissinger said to me that he was very surprised. It was the first administration he could remember where, if he talked to me and then he talked to somebody in the White House, he got the same story. And it's because we really try to hash out problems in private. We really understand the significance of the responsibilities that we shoulder at a time of, you know, great peril and promise in American history. And the president is a disciplined, decisive interlocutor in the meetings that we have.
ZAKARIA: Do you worry, though, that with a president who is very interested in foreign policy, as President Obama is, with a national security staff which has many of his old campaign aides on it, that inevitably power will move more and more closely to the White House and things will — policy will be made there?
CLINTON: No. I don't worry about that for a couple of reasons. First of all, because I'm not exactly a shrinking violet. And my opinion are not only sought but listened to. And I appreciate that very much.
And obviously we do our homework in the State Department so that when we tee-up something, we can both explain it and defend it. And I have a great team, Jim Steinberg, Jack (ph) Lew, Cheryl Mills and everybody from the political side. And then these extremely professional foreign service and civil service people.
So we are the implementers, there is no doubt about that. The White House cannot implement policy. But the partnership between the White House, the State Department, the Defense Department and occasionally other —- the intelligence departments, both the DNI and CIA, and then others coming in, you know, is truly a team effort.
And I think that the White House, in a complicated world with a government as big as ours, has to coordinate. I mean, that is one of its principal roles. And I think the NSC is really growing into an understanding of how best to fulfill its role.
It cannot implement, it cannot execute. And you need very good, solid relationships with the rest of the government to make sure that your policies and your — the direction you want to set are actually followed up on.
So when it comes to making policy, I think that we've had such a seamless ongoing dialogue about everything. That — you know, I've been around Washington long enough, unfortunately, to know that there will always be people who want to take credit wherever they are or who want to, you know, try to take advantage over somebody's disadvantage.
But there has been so little of that. And instead, it's a really serious professional operation.