There is no description for Newhead, except newheadedness. You know it when you see it. http://newheadnews.com en-gb davewest 2003 davewest@gametec.com (Dave West) Sun, Feb 19, 2012 7:46 PM http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss/ Indeed, the irony is that federal intervention may be making it harder for California officials to convince marijuana dispensaries and growers to keep their operations above board and play by the state’s rules. And U.S. Attorneys have even informed city officials in the cities of Chico and Sacramento that they could be prosecuted for setting up licensing schemes; similar messages were delivered to state leaders in Washington and Arizona. http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/97203/Obama-medical-marijuana-crackdown A new federal law, signed by the president on Tue, compels the Federal Aviation Administration to allow drones to be used for all sorts of commercial endeavors — from selling real estate and dusting crops, to monitoring oil spills and wildlife, even shooting Hollywood films. Local police and emergency services will also be freer to send up their own drones. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/18/technology/drones-with-an-eye-on-the-public-cleared-to-fly.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all Rather than the Government holding the information centrally, companies including BT, Sky, Virgin Media, Vodafone and O2 would have to keep the records themselves. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/9090617/Phone-and-email-records-to-be-stored-in-new-spy-plan.html The city has raised taxes on marijuana dispensaries several times in the past few years, and last year it collected $1.4 million in taxes from them — nearly 3 percent of all the business taxes it collected. Now Oakland plans to double the number of dispensaries it licenses, to eight from the current four, in the hopes that it can collect even more revenue. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/12/us/cities-turn-to-a-crop-for-cash-medical-marijuana.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimeshealth&seid=auto Called the Corrections Investment Initiative (sounds so positive, right?), it's a sickening display of exploitive behavior -- perhaps best underscored by the fact that the CCA stipulates in its \"investment\" overture that, as part of the deal, the states need to keep the prisons packed. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nick-penniman/americas-gulag-the-money_b_1279215.html H.R. 3554 would also establish a tracking system to regulate the growing, handling, transportation, and disposal of pharmaceutical and industrial crops, and protect native ecosystems and traditional farms from the unstudied dangers of growing GE organisms. http://www.examiner.com/democrat-in-national/kucinich-bill-aims-to-protect-food-supply-from-monsanto-gmos In exchange, the company is asking for a 20-year management contract, plus an assurance that the prison would remain at least 90 percent full http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/14/private-prisons-buying-state-prisons_n_1272143.html Here's what we know for sure: Study after study, poll after poll, Facebook status after Facebook status reveal one overwhelming truth: the next generation doesn't give a flying condom wrapper about what came before. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/02/15/notes021512.DTL&nl=fix Since 2008, the rest of America has suffered a severe economic correction. Ordinary people everywhere long ago had to learn to cope with the equivalent of a lower bonus season. When the crash hit, regular people could not make up the difference through bailouts or zero-interest loans from the Fed or leveraged-up synthetic derivative schemes. They just had to deal with the fact that the economy sucked – and they adjusted.This ought to have been true also on Wall Street, but in a curious development that is somehow not addressed in Sherman's piece, the denizens of the financial services industry managed to maintain their extravagant lifestyle standards in the middle of a historic global economic crash that, incidentally, they themselves caused. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/why-wall-street-should-stop-whining-20120208?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter Clearly, allotment was a massive grab of Indian lands by the United States, but a key goal of the policy was to destroy the integrity of Indian nations by assimilating Indian people into the body politic of the United States. It was an effort to make Indian peoples no longer understand themselves as nations, and an effort to cut their cultural connections to their traditional lands. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/ict_sbc/the-1887-dawes-act-the-u-s-theft-of-90-million-acres-of-indian-land They were dressed in summery short dresses and tights, but brightly colored balaclavas masked their faces. Dancing frantically to keep warm, they launched into a song that could be delicately titled \"Putin Got Scared,\" though the lyrics in Russian were ruder than that. http://www.npr.org/2012/02/08/146581790/in-russia-punk-rock-riot-girls-rage-against-putin There are lots of possible reasons. The United States Constitution is terse and old, and it guarantees relatively few rights. The commitment of some members of the Supreme Court to interpreting the Constitution according to its original meaning in the 18th century may send the signal that it is of little current use to, say, a new African nation. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/07/us/we-the-people-loses-appeal-with-people-around-the-world.html?_r=4&hp Using an elaborate array of foundations, nonprofits and other legal entities, the Koch network sponsored bus tours, attack ads, think tanks, and hired Tea Party organizers to shape the midterm elections two years ago. Now, they appear to be expanding their effort. http://www.truth-out.org/koch-brothers-convene-super-secret-billionaires-meeting-2012-elections/1328460347 The simple but catchy song was performed at a protest rally for the first time this weekend, but many of the tens of thousands in the crowd already knew the words. http://news.yahoo.com/russias-unlikely-protest-song-rocks-rally-133749937.html The system is able to convert just 0.1 percent of sun energy to electricity — over four orders of magnitude better than previous biophotovoltaic systems — but that percentage will need to be improved upon further before the technology can be useful. The breakthrough “carries the promise of inexpensive and environmentally friendly solar power,” http://inhabitat.com/mit-researchers-find-a-way-to-make-solar-panels-from-grass-clippings/ India announced last month it is pursuing charges against Monsanto for \"stealing\" an indigenous crop -- eggplant -- and using it to create a modified version without permission, a violation of India’s decade-old Biological Diversity Act. It’s the first prosecution of a company for the act of \"biopiracy\" in the country, and possibly the world. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/10/03/monsanto-india-biopiracy-farmers_n_992259.html?just_reloaded=1&ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false#sb=1033180,b=facebook%23sb=969490,b=facebook I realized that the tone has yet to be set for what I have no doubt will become the defining domestic\/foreign policy\/national security issue of the next decade: the specter of the drug war leading to a complete, apocalyptic, social collapse in the southernmost member of NAFTA. Kind of like what happened in Afghanistan after the Russians left. With de facto rule by the mother of all drug cartels, lead by commandos trained in North Carolina to be the paladins in the America’s crusade to tell people what they can do to themselves, sustained by America’s craving for a little escape to get through the week. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/29/americas-next-bogeyman-is-real-and-confronting-it-can-end-the-two-greatest-social-justice-crises-since-slavery/ Although Norwegians may not tell you about this the first time you meet them, the fact remains that their society’s high level of freedom and broadly-shared prosperity began when workers and farmers, along with middle class allies, waged a nonviolent struggle that empowered the people to govern for the common good. https://www.commondreams.org/view/2012/01/26-3 Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/atlarge/2012/01/30/120130crat_atlarge_gopnik?mbid=social_retweet An analysis from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (pdf) suggests that the U.S. could supply 1 percent of its annual gasoline needs by growing such seaweed for harvest in slightly less than 1 percent of the nation's territorial waters. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=genetically-engineered-stomach-microbe-turns-seaweed-into-ethanol Meanwhile, a full-time worker's wage was 11 percent lower in 2004 than in 1973, adjusted for inflation, even though productivity increased by 78 percent. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/otherviews/137789478.html They said the attack is in retaliation for the FBI shutting down popular file-sharing website Megaupload.com and charging the founders for online piracy. http://www.news.com.au/technology/fbi-shuts-down-megauploadcom-charges-seven-with-online-piracy/story-e6frfro0-1226249114650 During the first five months of the war, six peers, 16 baronets, 96 sons of peers and 82 sons of baronets perished in the mechanized slaughter. Within two months, one Lady Desborough lost two sons in France. They died one mile apart. http://www.creators.com/liberal/froma-harrop/how-quot-downton-abbey-quot-is-more-democratic-than-we-are.html the Excessive use of that Newfangled, Abominable, Heathenish Liquor called COFFEE, which Riffling Nature of her Choicest Treasures, and Drying up the Radical Moisture, has so Eunucht our Husbands that they are become as unfruitful as those Desarts whence that unhappy Berry is said to be brought. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/01/10/144988133/drink-coffee-off-with-your-head If the average American family still got the same share of income they earned in 1980, they would have an astounding $13,000 more in their pockets a year. It’s worth pausing to consider what our economy would be like today if middle-class consumers had that additional income to spend. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/raise-taxes-on-the-rich-to-reward-job-creators-commentary-by-nick-hanauer.html “The greedy bastards have rebranded racism, calling it ‘the war on drugs.’ They’ve made it both acceptable and profitable. While the concerns of racism from the 1950s and 60s have improved in this country, if you look at the numbers the war on drugs has become a racist war.” http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/16/dylan-ratigan-racism-was-rebranded-the-war-on-drugs/ In statement, Stefan Marcinowski, a member of the BASF board of executive directors, cited “a lack of acceptance for this technology in many parts of Europe — from the majority of consumers, farmers and politicians.” The company instead plans to focus on plant biotechnology markets in the Americas and Asia. http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/01/basf-abandons-gm-crop-market-in-europe.html . \"The cause of this warm first half of winter is the most extreme configuration of the jet stream ever recorded,\" http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=whats-causing-dry-winter \"There are not even medical terms to describe some of these conditions because we've never seen them until now,\" she said. \"So when I describe it all I can do is describe the physical defects, but I'm unable to provide a medical term.\" http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/01/2012126394859797.html#disqus_thread \"Drones give the government and other unmanned aircraft operators a powerful new surveillance tool to gather extensive and intrusive data on Americans' movements and activities. As the government begins to make policy decisions about the use of these aircraft, the public needs to know more about how and why these drones are being used to surveil United States citizens.\" http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/whos-flying-those-drones-eff-sues-government-find-out At 65, Martha now leads the crusade to save the New Hampshire sugar maples—and the multimillion dollar local syrup and tourism industries they provide—from disastrous climate change. And in the process she's mobilizing a crack team of researchers: a group of elementary school kids. http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/01/no-maple-syrup-2100 Apparently, psychiatric care that is considered appropriate and within responsible professional standards includes diagnoses of ADHD for a two-year-old and bipolar disorder for a three-year-old when the symptoms of those disorders are normal behaviors for those ages http://www.alternet.org/story/153634/7_reasons_america%27s_mental_health_industry_is_a_threat_to_our_sanity/ Thus if Americans today were driving cars of the same size and power that were typical in 1980, the country’s fleet of autos would have jumped from an average of about 23 miles per gallon (mpg) to roughly 37 mpg, well above the current average of around 27 mpg. Instead, Knittel says, “Most of that technological progress has gone into [compensating for] weight and horsepower.” http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2011/cars-on-steroids-0104.html In her ruling yesterday, U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton in Phoenix said the state failed to establish a “genuine threat of imminent prosecution.” http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-05/arizona-medical-marijuana-suit-dismissed-by-federal-judge.html Missoula, Montana; Boulder, Colorado; and South Miami, Florida, have all done it, but you know it's really catching on when the Big Apple jumps on board. http://www.truth-out.org/new-york-city-council-vote-against-corporate-personhood-citizens-united/1325701337 FDIC sought to recover $900 million, but the executives have just settled for $64 million, almost all of which will be paid by their insurers; their out-of-pockets costs are estimated at just $400,000. http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/johnson27/English Brine wastewater dumped in wells comes from drilling operations, including the so-called fracking process to extract gas from underground shale that has been a source of concern among environmental groups and some property owners. Injection wells have also been suspected in quakes in Ashtabula in far northeast Ohio, and in Arkansas, Colorado, and Oklahoma, Armbruster said. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/02/ohio-earthquakes-caused-by-wastewater-well-drilling_n_1180094.html In addition to being a vocal advocate for marijuana legalization, Galbraith proposed a freeze on college tuition and a $5,000 grant to help high school graduates for college. He was endorsed by the United Mine Workers, the first time that union had ever backed an independent candidate. http://www.tokeofthetown.com/2012/01/activist_legend_gatewood_galbraith_dies.php#more The Montana Supreme Court restored the state's century-old ban on direct spending by corporations on political candidates or committees in a ruling Fri that interest groups say bucks a high-profile U.S. Supreme Court decision granting political speech rights to corporations. http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20111231/NEWS01/112310303/Montana-high-court-upholds-ban-election-spending-by-corporations The law redefines natural resources as blessings and confers the same rights to nature as to human beings, including: the right to life and to exist; the right to continue vital cycles and processes free from human alteration; the right to pure water and clean air; the right to balance; the right not to be polluted; and the right to not have cellular structure modified or genetically altered. Perhaps the most controversial point is the right \"to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities\". http://www.pvpulse.com/en/news/world-news/bolivia-set-to-pass-historic-law-of-mother-earth-which-will-grant-nature-equal-rights-to-humans#startOfPageId776 Articles about Goodman have a way of beginning with lists. He was a writer, poet, novelist, critic, anarchist, teacher, pacifist, activist, publicly bisexual father of three, city planner, anti-communist godfather of the New Left. He resisted definition. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20111221/REVIEWS/111229969 The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York upheld a lower court’s decision that the city did not discriminate against Robert Jordan because the same standards were applied to everyone who took the test. http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=95836&page=1#.TwJmzt0kJoj The two men was arrested on Wed on suspicion of killing the girl and offering her liver to the gods in a grisly tribal ceremony. Police said the men had confessed to the crime. http://news.yahoo.com/child-sacrificed-liver-offered-gods-indian-police-074513654.html The park, which is home to two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is thought to have more mammal, bird, amphibian and plant species than any other spot on earth. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/12/31/1050210/-World-pays-Ecuador-not-to-extract-oil-from-rainforest?via=siderecent Even if we correctly respond to the trauma—the failures of the financial sector—it will take a decade or more to achieve full recovery. Under the best of conditions, we will endure a Long Slump. If we respond incorrectly, as we have been, the Long Slump will last even longer, and the parallel with the Depression will take on a tragic new dimension. http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/01/stiglitz-depression-201201 The brutal shakeout is a dramatic reversal for an industry that has seen overall global growth of more than 30 percent annually over the past decade and this year will reach new records for solar panel sales. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/23/us-solar-shakeout-idUSTRE7BM0AG20111223 Revenue Department executive director Barbara Brohl's letter, written Dec. 22, does not come as a surprise. A law passed last year in the legislature required the state to ask for rescheduling by the end of this year. http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_19636149 The hybrid was such a swift success that it and similar varieties now account for 65 percent of all U.S. corn acres — grain that ends up in thousands of everyday foods such as cereal, sweeteners and cooking oil. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45807933/ns/business-retail/#.Tvx-Xd0kKRM A new study in the Journal of Glaciology shows that the glaciers in Peru's Cordillera Blanca mountain range are melting so quickly that the water they supply to the arid region is being threatened 20-30 years earlier than expected. http://www.treehugger.com/climate-change/peru-glaciers-melting-20-years-earlier-expected.html McGraw-Hill, which owns Standard & Poor’s, Northwestern Mutual, which owns Russell Investments, the index arm of which runs the benchmark Russell 1,000 and Russell 3,000, CME Group which owns 90% of Dow Jones Indexes, and Barclay’s, which took over Lehman Brothers and its Lehman Aggregate Bond Index, the dominant world bond fund index. http://www.forbes.com/sites/brendancoffey/2011/10/26/the-four-companies-that-control-the-147-companies-that-own-everything/ The Pentagon's Counter Narco-Terrorism Program Office (CNTPO) -a technically unknown entity created in 1995- just announced a $3 billion contract for U.S.-funded anti-narcotics operations around the world, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Colombia, and now also Mexico. http://www.alternet.org/story/153363/selling_the_drug_war_for_$3_billion_how_the_pentagon_will_privatize_an_international_war_on_drugs In 1895, the Supreme Court ruled that jurors had no right, during trials, to be told about nullification. The court did not say that jurors didn’t have the power, or that they couldn’t be told about it, but only that judges were not required to instruct them on it during a trial. Since then, it’s been up to scholars like me, and activists like Mr. Heicklen, to get the word out. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/opinion/jurors-can-say-no.html Ninety-three percent of soybeans and 80 percent of corn grown in the United States are under the control of just one company. Four companies control up to 90 percent of the global trade in grain. Today, three companies process more than 70 percent of beef in the U.S.; four companies dominate close to 60 percent of the pork and chicken markets. http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/441-occupy/8948-occupy-the-food-system Japan's government admitted this week that dismantling the reactors and the 260-tonne lethal cargo of nuclear fuel will take up to 40 years. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/battle-to-control-fukushima-has-just-stored-up-dangers-6277669.html Recent research, carried out on honey bees in the lab, showed that these insecticides build up in the central nervous system of the insect, so that very small doses over a long time period can have a fatal effect. http://gmo-journal.com/index.php/2011/12/19/beekeepers-and-scientists-urge-a-ban-on-systemic-pesticides/ \"For example, if an anti-regime demonstrator previously unknown to security services is arrested, it will be possible to go back in time to scrutinize the demonstrator's phone conversations, automobile travels, and the people he or she met in the months and even years leading up to the arrest,\" the report says. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/121511-government-surveillance-254137.html?hpg1=bn While almost half the population, 4.8 million, shied away from answering the voluntary religious question, a surprising strong showing was given by those Czechs who described themselves as  Knights of the Jedi and believers in “the Force” as depicted in the Star Wars films. http://www.ceskapozice.cz/en/news/society/czech-census-shows-jump-%E2%80%98moravians%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-and-jedi-knights The bill forces federal agencies to treat non-citizen terrorism suspects as enemies waging war against the U.S. rather than criminals. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/14/white-house-will-not-veto-national-defense-authorization-act/ There is more methane gas released from the Russian cauldron \"than the CH4 emissions estimate for the entire world ocean.\" Methane is a \"far more potent GHG [greenhouse gas] than CO2\" with a greater potential to cause \"abrupt climate change.\" http://www.opednews.com/articles/Oops-We-re-Doomed-by-Michael-Collins-111215-68.html Incredibly, ninety-three Senators voted to support this bill and now most of Congress: a roster of names that will live in infamy in the history of our nation, and never be expunged from the dark column of the history books. http://naomiwolf.org/2011/12/how-congress-is-signing-its-own-arrest-warrants-in-the-ndaa-citizen-arrest-bill/ Mankiw insists that workers are paid based on how productive they are. “Our real wages are ultimately determined by our productivity.” Yet the evidence argues that the proportion of the wealth generated by increased productivity that accrues to labor is highly dependent on the percentage of the work force that belong to unions. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/12/14-0 \"Earlier we found torch-like structures like this but they were only tens of metres in diameter. This is the first time that we've found continuous, powerful and impressive seeping structures, more than 1,000 metres in diameter. It's amazing,\" Dr Semiletov said. http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/shock-as-retreat-of-arctic-sea-ice-releases-deadly-greenhouse-gas-6276134.html Now scientists at M.I.T.’s Media Lab are using an ultrafast imaging system to capture light itself as it passes through liquids and objects, in effect snapping a picture in less than two-trillionths of a second. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/13/science/speed-of-light-lingers-in-face-of-mit-media-lab-camera.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all1 Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy, practices a puritanical version of Islam and is governed by Shariah, or Islamic law. In the deeply conservative kingdom, sorcery, witchcraft and blasphemy are all offenses that can be punishable by death. http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/13/world/meast/saudi-arabia-beheading/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 They were there to learn skills — from seminars on soil fertility, handling sheep, and how to find affordable land — and just as importantly, to meet each other. In the evening, they played music and danced. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/12/12/143459793/who-are-the-young-farmers-of-generation-organic \"The generations before us ... just kind of thought of the world as limitless,\" said Glori Dei Filippone, 13, a plaintiff in the case who hails from Des Moines, Iowa. \"My generation and the one after it are going to have to work hard to fix this mess.\" http://www.grist.org/climate-change/2011-12-08-the-young-and-the-restless-kids-sue-government-over-climate-chan Household net worth fell 4 percent to $57.4 trillion in the July-Sept quarter, according to a Federal Reserve report released Thur. It was the sharpest drop since the tumultuous period after the Sept 2008 bankruptcy of investment bank Lehman Brothers. And it was the second straight quarterly fall. http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_19497443 On the other hand, substantial evidence of Contra-related cocaine shipments out of Costa Rica and Honduras was kept from the American people with Reagan’s Justice Department and CIA intervening to head off investigations and thus prevent embarrassing disclosures. The chief role of the big newspapers in this upside-down world was to heap ridicule on anyone who told the truth. http://consortiumnews.com/2011/12/09/the-warning-in-gary-webbs-death/ \"Well, there are several unusual aspects of our planet,\" she said. \"First is our strong magnetic field. No one is exactly sure how it works, but it's something to do with the turbulent motion that occurs in the Earth's liquid outer core. Without it, we would be bombarded by harmful radiation from the Sun.\" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16068809 The amount of overnight lending reflects how broken our financial system really is. A well capitalized, moderately leverage system does not require this massive liquidity from a central bank — interbank lending should be sufficient. What the data reveals is that the financial sector remains dangerously under-capitalized and overleveraged. http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/12/bailout-total-29-616-trillion-dollars/ Behind the haggling over technical details, the talks boil down to a tussle between the United States, which wants all polluters to be held to the same legal standard on emissions cuts, and China and India which want to ensure their fast growing economies are not shackled. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/10/us-climate-idUSTRE7B41NH20111210 Democratic Sens. Tom Udall of New Mexico and Michael Bennet of Colorado have introduced a constitutional amendment that would overturn Citizens United by granting Congress and the states the authority to regulate the campaign finance system. The amendment would not dictate any specific policies or regulations, Udall said, so that it could garner some support from Republicans, who have blocked attempts to overturn the ruling in the past. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/12/06/los-angeles-votes-to-end-to-corporate-personhood/#.Tt98GDGRgGQ.twitter Over 60 nations have signed the Save the Fraser Declaration, which bans tar sands oil pipelines throughout the Fraser River watershed, an area that was never ceded to the Canadian government, and therefore not legally under the government’s control. http://www.care2.com/causes/bc-first-nations-unite-to-ban-export-of-tar-sands-oil.html “Hemp is low on input, particularly chemicals, because it has a zero chemical requirement. It doesn’t suffer from any pests or diseases that would warrant a spray. And its quick growth in covering the ground would blot out any weed competition,\" he said. “It’s a fantastic crop for cleaning up ground, and profitable for the farmer to grow.” http://www.cnbc.com/id/45566657/ While the involvement of Bahraini soldiers in the drills was a novel phenomenon, the presence of quasi-military Israeli police – whose participation in Urban Shield was not reported anywhere in US media – reflected a disturbing but all-too-common feature of the post-9\/11 American security landscape. http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/occupation-%E2%80%9Coccupy%E2%80%9D-israelification-american-domestic-security The U.S. Supreme Court refused to review a landmark decision today in which California state courts found that its medical marijuana law was not preempted by federal law. http://www.safeaccessnow.org/article.php?id=5614 The agency said in the memo that SmartStax could lose its effectiveness if it’s planted in fields where bugs have developed a tolerance to Monsanto’s Bt gene, known as CRY3bB1. That’s because SmartStax’s effectiveness is predicated on both types of Bt working as designed. SmartStax corn produces the second type of Bt, called Cry34\/35, with a gene licensed from Dow Chemical Co. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-01/monsanto-corn-may-be-failing-to-kill-rootworms-in-four-states-epa-says.html How do APOPO’s HeroRATs measure up to traditional minesweeping techniques? It’s no contest. Two HeroRATs, with human handlers in tow, can cover 300 square meters of land in a single hour. It would take a pair of deminers equipped with metal detectors a full two days to cover the same area. http://www.care2.com/causes/an-army-of-giant-rats-unearth-landmines-in-africa.html?page=1 The field of genomics is caught in a data deluge. DNA sequencing is becoming faster and cheaper at a pace far outstripping Moore’s law http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/business/dna-sequencing-caught-in-deluge-of-data.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1322957277-lixYMl7HqiEm0K0M7n4Cdg The Ohio State University experiments also showed that the drug cut inflammation in the brain and may trigger the production of new neurons or brain cells. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1087544/Cannabis-stop-dementia-tracks.html During the deepest, darkest period of the financial cataclysm, the CEOs of major banks maintained in statements to the public, to the market at large, and to their own shareholders that the banks were in good financial shape, didn’t want to take TARP funds, and that the regulatory framework governing our banking system should not be altered. Trust us, they said. http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2011/11/the_7_trillion_secret_loan_program_the_government_and_big_banks_should_be_punished_for_deceiving_the_public_about_their_hush_hush_bailout_scheme_.html Protesters asked the man whether he worked for the Metropolitan Police. He can be seen in the film nodding and answering: \"Yeah, I'm a Met Police officer, yeah.\"At that, one of the group said: \"Right, let's circle him so he can't go anywhere.\" Protesters duly surrounded the officer, chanting \"shame on you\". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/the-moment-protesters-found-a-plainclothes-cop-in-their-midst-6270908.html# A pair of diamond crystals has been linked by quantum entanglement. This means that a vibration in the crystals could not be meaningfully assigned to one or other of them: both crystals were simultaneously vibrating and not vibrating. http://www.nature.com/news/entangled-diamonds-vibrate-together-1.9532 “This is basically off the charts. Based on past history, you wouldn’t expect to see this happening in maybe 500 or 1,000 years.  One more year and we’re already talking about a drought more severe than anything we’ve ever had. And this will become for them, the drought of record.” http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/11/30/378412/texas-drought-historic-off-the-charts-says-state039s-climatologist/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+climateprogress/lCrX+(Climate+Progress) Since Recology started its composting program in San Francisco in 1996, the city has increased the amount of food scraps and plant cuttings it composts to more than 600 tons per day, more than any other city in North America, company officials said. http://sfappeal.com/news/2011/11/sf-celebrates-composting-milestone.php Citigroup faces a day of reckoning in court after a New York judge struck down a $285m settlement the bank reached with its financial regulator, arguing that the deal obscured an \"overriding public interest in knowing the truth\". http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/nov/28/citigroup-sec-settlement-rejected-judge “The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy,” Bloomberg reported today. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2011/11/fed-gave-banks-trillions-in-bailout-bloomberg-reports/ “They wanted to hear the possibility that that’s the way the constitution would read to them,” said Grayson. “So they picked an issue out of the air that nobody had conceived of [as a First Amendment case] because 100 years of settled law meant that corporations cannot buy elections in America, and they not only allowed corporations to buy those elections, but they made it a constitutional right.” http://www.alternet.org/economy/153201/the_fascinating_history_of_how_corporations_became_%22people%22_--_thanks_to_corrupt_courts_working_for_the_1/?page=entire “We’re getting fantastic results; there seems to be a huge decrease in anemia and the village women say they feel good, no dizziness, fewer headaches. The iron fish is incredibly powerful.” http://www.therecord.com/news/local/article/624229--canadian-s-lucky-iron-fish-saves-lives-in-cambodia The alleged offense that could produce a 15-year prison sentence for Mr. Gordon? Translating -- while living in Colorado -- excerpts of a Thai-banned biography entitled \"The King Never Smiles\" and posting them online. http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2011/oct/12/free-us-citizen-joe-gordon/ In New York, a state supreme court justice and a New York City council member were beaten up; in Berkeley, California, one of our greatest national poets, Robert Hass, was beaten with batons. The picture darkened still further when Wonkette and Washingtonsblog.com reported that the Mayor of Oakland acknowledged that the Department of Homeland Security had participated in an 18-city mayor conference call advising mayors on \"how to suppress\" Occupy protests. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/nov/25/shocking-truth-about-crackdown-occupy The truck was stripped to the frame and rebuilt during a feverish 2.5-month sprint. The team stuffed it with a compound-turbocharged 5.9-liter Cummins straight-six diesel producing 700 horsepower. For fuel, the team used a mix of cottonseed and sunflower oil. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/11/boise-state-veggie-oil-lsr/ If you're going to need hard drives this year or early next year, it would be smart to get your sources locked in now. http://www.infoworld.com/t/hard-drives/the-impending-hard-drive-shortage-and-possible-price-hikes-176453 Despite all the rights of free speech and assembly flamboyantly guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, the reality is that punishing the exercise of those rights with police force and state violence has been the reflexive response in America for quite some time. http://www.salon.com/2011/11/20/the_roots_of_the_uc_davis_pepper_spraying/ The Discovery Channel will broadcast the first episode of “Weed Wars” on Thur. The four-part series offers an inside look at the medical marijuana business at Harborside Health Center in Oakland, the largest dispensary on the West Coast. http://www.baycitizen.org/marijuana/story/oakland-gets-reality-tv-close-weed-wars/?utm_source=Newsletters&utm_campaign=56650a0d19-Nov_25_Daily_Newsletter&utm_medium=email The first \"recount\" of Provo's Municipal Council District 1 ballots --- carried out on the same op-scan systems that tallied them in the first place --- was held yesterday, only to be abruptly called off when the results were found to be \"extremely in favor of the opposite candidate.\" http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8948 Within a few years, hundreds of collectives, large and small,  have deeply embedded themselves in the state, paying more than $100 million in sales taxes, joining local chambers of commerce and better business bureaus, even appearing on “adopt-a-highway” signs. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/us/medical-marijuana-target-of-us-prosecutors.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha23 The data from the fleet of robots is being streamed via the Iridium satellite network and made freely available—in an accessible form on Google Earth’s Ocean Showcase http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/liquid-robotics-wave-gliders-begin-historic-swim-across-pacific As the chart makes clear, commercial grade pepper spray leaves even the most painful of natural peppers (the Himalayan ghost pepper) far behind. It’s listed at between 2 million and 5.3 million Scoville units. http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2011/11/21/about-pepper-spray/ Al Gore won the unadjusted state exit polls (58,000 respondents) by 50.8-44.4%, a 6 MILLION VOTE MARGIN compared to the 540,000 recorded. There were nearly 6 MILLION UNCOUNTED votes – the great majority were Gore votes. http://richardcharnin.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/unadjusted-state-exit-polls-indicate-that-al-gore-won-a-mini-landslide-in-2000/ When was the last time you went to the library looking for a book? How about a 3D printer? The Fayetteville Free Library, a public library in upstate New York, plans to offer its community both options: A traditional, book-filled library, and a Fab Lab to learn new technologies and build new projects. http://www.shareable.net/blog/the-future-of-public-libraries-maker-spaces This event is powerfully symbolic. It is about contempt from those in power and the wanton use of force against the powerless. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/world-wide-mind/201111/the-turning-point-the-moral-example-uc-davis-students The Iowa City police are going to spend $104,984 in federal grant money — in other words, U.S. taxpayer money — to crack down on drugs along I-80 by the end of 2011. Since June 2010, these searches have yielded seizures of 20.97 pounds of marijuana, six doses of LSD, and two grams of synthetic marijuana. http://www.dailyiowan.com/2011/11/15/Opinions/25988.html Where once we measured value when we shopped, Walmart trained us to see only price. Its hard bargaining pushed manufacturers offshore and drove them, year after year, to cut more corners and make shoddier products. As union-wage production jobs and family-owned businesses fell by the wayside, many Americans could no longer afford anything but Walmart's cheap offerings. http://www.grist.org/business-technology/2011-11-11-is-your-stuff-falling-apart-thank-walmart#disqus_thread Former US Senator Russ Feingold spoke to volunteers during an morning strategy session hosted by the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. ”It is unfortunate that we have to do it, but this really is about an unusual attack on the rights of the people, and it has to be answered,” he said. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/11/20/tens-of-thousands-turn-out-for-rally-to-recall-scott-walker/ But the party of Reagan – which understood that higher taxes on the rich are sometimes required to cure ruinous deficits – is dead and gone. Instead, the modern GOP has undergone a radical transformation, reorganizing itself around a grotesque proposition: that the wealthy should grow wealthier still, whatever the consequences for the rest of us. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-the-gop-became-the-party-of-the-rich-20111109#ixzz1eI21nFxD Privatization is the 1% taking public wealth so they can make money off of it for themselves.  Instead of democracy collecting taxes from the 1% privatization leaves everyone poorer and paying rent to the 1%.  http://www.alternet.org/story/153093/privatization_nightmare:_5_public_services_that_should_never_be_handed_over_to_greedy_corporations?page=entire Here’s another thing that boggles my mind: You get busted for drugs in this country, and it turns out you can make yourself ineligible to receive food stamps.But you can be a serial fraud offender like Citigroup, which has repeatedly been dragged into court for the same offenses and has repeatedly ignored court injunctions to abstain from fraud, and this does not make you ineligible to receive $45 billion in bailouts and other forms of federal assistance. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/woman-gets-jail-for-food-stamp-fraud-wall-street-fraudsters-get-bailouts-20111117?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter The crowd were using short range Bluetooth connections to communicate with strangers in ways that in other places would involve the Web: searching for a bassist for a band, promoting club nights or selling personal goods. When Cohen asked members of this peer-to-peer human Web if they were worried about being caught, they laughed. No one over thirty understands this is even possible, they said. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/27345/?ref=rss As Alternet points out, in the past few years, CCA has spent $14.8 million “lobbying for anti-immigration laws to ensure they have continuous access to fresh inmates and keep their money racket going.” Recent anti-immigration laws in Alabama and Georgia keep their facilities full and CCA profits high. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/17/1037544/-Occupy-a-Private-Prison:-Occupy-Corrections-Corporation-of-America?via=siderecent The weapon's explosive power is 10 times greater than its bunker-buster predecessor, the BLU-109. And it is nearly five tons heavier than the 22,600-pound GBU-43 MOAB surface bomb, sometimes called the \"mother of all bombs.\" http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bunker-buster-bomb-20111117,0,3582708.story Historians at the time largely ignored the device for one simple reason - the technology required to make such complex metallic gear systems simply didn't exist back in 100 B.C. It appeared to have an epicyclic, or planetary gear system in it - and those hadn't popped up anywhere else in history for another 1900 years or so. http://www.gizmag.com/hublot-antikythera-mechanism-first-computer-watch/20517/ The experiment is based on one of the most counterintuitive, yet, one of the most important principles in quantum mechanics: that vacuum is by no means empty nothingness. http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-11-scientists-vacuum.html NASA estimates the deposits contain billion of tons of ice which could be transformed into a variety of products the most lucrative and useful being liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen propellants.  Using this enormous supply, Shackleton said it will be able to realistically meet the propellant demand required by an expanding space economy in perpetuity. http://www.networkworld.com/community/blog/energy-company-wants-be-first-mine-moon There are currently 16 states that allow some form of legalized medical marijuana, but only Colorado allows marijuana businesses to operate as such. It’s the first, and for the moment, only, for-profit marijuana marketplace in the U.S. Predictably, Colorado is in the midst of a marijuana boom. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/colorados-marijuana-green-rush-11172011.html Sprenger said that across the region, rates of resistance to last-line antibiotics by a bacteria called Klebsiella pneumoniae had more than doubled to 15 percent by 2010 from around 7 percent five years ago http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/251420/20111117/europe-grip-drug-resistant-superbugs.htm The coordinated sweep involved the raid of five dispensaries in unincorporated Pierce County and at least four dispensaries in Seattle. There was a Thurston County raid as well. http://www.myfoxspokane.com/news/kcpq-dea-raids-seattlearea-pot-dispensaries-20111115,0,1349968.story It’s located in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Gansu, north of the Shule River, which crosses the Tibetan Plateau to the west into the Kumtag Desert. It covers an area approximately one mile long by more than 3,000 feet wide.The tracks are perfectly executed, and they seem to be designed to be seen from orbit. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/china-gigantic/ Over the past 10 years, law enforcement officials have begun to look and act more and more like soldiers. Here's why we should be alarmed.  http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/11/cops-with-machine-guns-how-the-war-on-terror-has-militarized-the-police/248047/ It started with a few experiments with Scotch tape and a pencil. Then graphene, stronger than steel, one atom thick and a super-conductor, was born, a wonder material that could be as revolutionary as silicon, say its Nobel prize-winning creators. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/nov/13/graphene-research-novoselov-geim-manchester It may sound and look like some kind of imitation, but in-vitro or cultured meat is a real animal flesh product, just one that has never been part of a complete, living animal http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/us-science-meat-f-idUSTRE7AA30020111111 I'm beginning to see another angle. Occupy Wall Street was always about something much bigger than a movement against big banks and modern finance. It's about providing a forum for people to show how tired they are not just of Wall Street, but everything. This is a visceral, impassioned, deep-seated rejection of the entire direction of our society http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/how-i-stopped-worrying-and-learned-to-love-the-ows-protests-20111110#ixzz1dVSRW9m2 A young man and a woman were hung from a highway overpass earlier that same month. A sign left with their bodies said they too had been killed for their social media activity. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Blogger-murdered-and-beheaded-in-Nuevo-Laredo-2260814.php This case was similar, but worse. Here, Citi similarly told investors a package of mortgages had been chosen independently, when in fact Citi itself had chosen the stuff and was betting against the whole pile. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/finally-a-judge-stands-up-to-wall-street-20111110 The researchers went a step further and tested the functionality of their synthesized organs by transplanting them into mice with pituitary deficits. The transplants were a success http://nextbigfuture.com/2011/11/researchers-create-pituitary-gland.html A pound of the stuff is now going for about 40 cents, or five times the value of 10 years ago, according to NPR. After being processed, it can be sold for fuel. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/crooks-eye-restaurant-grease-for-biofuel-the-new-copper/article2230568/ Some of the group’s issues, like moving money out of the big banks, are the same as those of the national movement, while others, like protesting against plans to ship coal to China by way of the Columbia Gorge, have a more local appeal. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/06/occupy-movement-reaches-tiny-rural-communities/ \"They repressed us in Bolivia. That has ended,\" Morales said. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2011/11/201111952421468469.html Perhaps what we need is a fourth branch of government, smallish and economical, operating independently, with a mission to build and maintain a friendly user interface for citizens to manage their government. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203716204577014262225551278.html#articleTabs=article The Obama administration will be defending the warrantless use of such trackers in front of the Supreme Court on Tue morning. The administration, which is attempting to overturn a lower court ruling that threw out a drug dealer’s conviction over the warrantless use of a tracker, argues that citizens have no expectation of privacy when it comes to their movements in public so officers don’t need to get a warrant to use such devices. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/gps-tracker-times-two/all/1 The situation has become critical as investors lose faith in the eurozone's third-largest economy and charge more to lend it money. Italy is too big to be bailed out like Greece, Ireland and Portugal were. http://lacrossetribune.com/news/world/article_30446b4d-4c03-5833-809c-246bac6e8f73.html The Treasury Department has forced banks to close accounts of medical marijuana businesses operating legally under state law. The Internal Revenue Service has required dispensary owners to pay punitive taxes required of no other businesses. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recently ruled that state-sanctioned medical marijuana patients can not purchase firearms. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/07/opinion/reefer-madness.html?_r=1&hp Nobody has died in the capital, but a fifth of the city is now under water and tens of thousands of residents of eight of the 50 districts have been told to leave their homes. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-15610536 There are 25 electoral wards in the Square Mile. In four of them, the 9,000 people who live within its boundaries are permitted to vote. In the remaining 21, the votes are controlled by corporations, mostly banks and other financial companies. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/31/corporation-london-city-medieval?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038 About half the political prisoners he met in jail told him police had tracked their communications and movements through their cell phones http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-31/iranian-police-seizing-dissidents-get-aid-of-western-companies.html The prosecutors claimed they were going after “egregious” profiteers and violators of state (as well as federal) law. But less than a week later, an exemplary Mendocino County collective, Northstone Organics, was taken down by the Drug Enforcement Administration. http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/04/asa-sues-feds-to-halt-anti-pot-surge/ \"I said 'The world is watching Oakland and it's our obligation to be responsible for the people and the city of Oakland,' then I asked them to 'do the right thing,'\" implying that workers should take the day off in support of Occupy Oakland's call for a general strike. http://www.truth-out.org/source-port-oakland-effectively-shut-down-solidarity-occupy-oakland-general-strike/1320253405 Among them stands 14-year-old Joe Hudy, a self-professed \"maker,\" with a massive pneumatic marshmallow cannon to prove it. He's been constructing his own fun for as long as he can remember, and the reason is simple, Joe says: \"People just love to build things.\" http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Tech/2011/1101/Maker-Faire-Mad-science-for-the-masses A key part of this re-channeling of tactics has been a move away from both angry protests or passive waiting-to-be-clubbed-by-police-batons to age old carnival-style antics. A festive atmosphere has reigned supreme in all of the successful pro-democracy uprisings of the past two decades. In Poland, Serbia, Georgia, Ukraine, Tunisia and Egypt, music and humor were everywhere. http://wagingnonviolence.org/2011/10/gandhi-meets-monty-python-the-comedic-turn-in-nonviolent-tactics/ What thoughts are going through the minds of those men --- all of whom are undoubtedly also a part of the same \"99%\" for whom Occupy protesters are fighting --- during that moment? http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8876 \"Studies have looked at accidents — individuals in automobile accidents, both actually drivers and pedestrians — and they have increased rates of Toxoplasma as well,\" http://www.npr.org/2011/10/30/141832947/invasion-of-the-mind-controlling-parasites An international group of online hackers is warning a Mexican drug cartel to release one of its members, kidnapped from a street protest, or it will publish the identities and addresses of the syndicate's associates, from corrupt police to taxi drivers, as well as reveal the syndicates' businesses. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Online-hackers-threaten-to-expose-cartel-secrets-2242068.php I traveled the country last year researching urban agriculture for my forthcoming book, and never encountered a farm that had such a global vision for a company that is all about local production. But the Podponics model aims to be just that--a modular system that could be installed anywhere, from Atlanta to Abu Dhabi. They call it a \"local everywhere\" approach. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/10/is-this-the-future-of-farming/247391/#.TqlVE-z7_gE.twitter Although there have been hundreds of pages of reports, Congressional hearings, and inquiries from Washington to Baghdad, no one in Congress, a special inspector general’s office, the Department of Defense or the Iraqi government itself can say with certainty what exactly happened to all of that money. http://www.cnbc.com/id/45031100 \"This is a plea from the free women of Yemen; here we burn our makrama in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried by the tyrant [President Ali Abdullah] Saleh,'' the leaflets read. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/10/20111026164441431354.html That financial models are plagued by calibration problems is no surprise to Wilmott--he notes that it has become routine for modelers in finance to simply keep recalibrating their models over and over again as the models continue to turn out bad predictions. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=finance-why-economic-models-are-always-wrong On eBay and elsewhere, small nautilus shells sell as earrings for %19.95, and as pendants for %24.95. Big ones — up to the size of plates — can be found for $56, often bisected to display the elegant chambers. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/science/25nautilus.html \"This investment will enable farmers to adapt their growth and harvesting regimes to optimize fibre performance, increasing the demand for their crops and resulting in increased profitability." http://www.grainnet.com/articles/Canada_Invests_in_Market_Opportunities_For_Flax_and_Hemp_Farmers-115851.html The post-political information society does not operate on the basis of obedience and conformity to dogma. It is based on individual thinking; scientific know-how; quick exchange of facts around feedback networks; high-tech ingenuity; and practical, frontline creativity. http://www.truth-out.org/timothy-leary-wall-street-occupation-movement/1319050501 The thing that I fear discriminating against is humor and truth. http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/10/charles-bukowski-on-censorship.html In her ruling, Scriven said the testing procedure could cause irreparable harm to recipients, who are required to pay for the tests and are barred from collecting benefits for at least six months if they fail. http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/25/u-s-judge-halts-drug-tests-for-aid-applicants/ Tunisia is a small country of 10.5 million, with 4.4 million registered voters. Astonishingly, almost all those registered voters went to the polls on Sun, with an estimated turnout of 80- 90%. The thirst for democracy demonstrated by such a statistic is mind-boggling. http://www.juancole.com/2011/10/surprises-of-the-tunisian-election.html Scientists figured out from the inflation rate that the pocket of magma beneath the volcano was growing by about 27 cubic feet (1 cubic meter) per second. "That's about 10 times faster than the standard rate of magma chamber growth you see for large volcanic systems." http://news.yahoo.com/rapidly-inflating-volcano-creates-growing-mystery-142805969.html Did you know? Have you already added "chambered nautilus slaughter" to your ever-growing list of bewildering atrocities unleashed by the human race upon this tiny blue dot we call home, about which you can do almost nothing and therefore have almost zero mental or emotional space to fully integrate without, say, imploding? http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/10/26/notes102611.DTL&nl=fix What’s as intriguing as Occupy Wall Street itself is that once again our Establishment, left, right, and center, did not see the wave coming or understand what it meant as it broke. http://nymag.com/news/frank-rich/class-war-2011-10/ When the team further untangled the web of ownership, it found much of it tracked back to a "super-entity" of 147 even more tightly knit companies - all of their ownership was held by other members of the super-entity - that controlled 40 per cent of the total wealth in the network. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21228354.500-revealed--the-capitalist-network-that-runs-the-world.html The processes in the mouse brains have a surprising number of parallels with age-related changes in human brains. So, the endocannabinoid system may also present a protective mechanism in the aging of the human brain. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110712093856.htm The uptick results from the fact that more and more honey bee colonies are being transported around the country via highways in recent years. Local bee populations are rapidly dying off from a little-understood disease called "colony collapse disorder" http://www.livescience.com/16698-bee-carrying-trucks-crashing.html The preparations, when applied to the upper thighs or genitals, were said to induce the sensation of rising into the air of flying. Witches were thought to anoint a chair or broomstick with the devil's ointment, and after self‐application, would fly through the air to meet for devil worship at the sabbat http://journals.lww.com/anesthesiology/Fulltext/1998/07000/The_Legacy_of_Atropos,_the_Fate_Who_Cut_the_Thread.30.aspx They don’t understand that these kids accepted a home mortgage worth of debt before they ever even had a regular income, based on phony promises, and that the debt is inescapable, regardless of life circumstances or ability to pay. http://www.alternet.org/story/152809/the_%241_trillion_student_loan_rip-off%3A_how_an_entire_generation_was_tricked_into_taking_on_crushing_debt_that_just_enriches_banks Trustees of the California Medical Assn., which represents more than 35,000 physicians statewide, adopted the position at their annual meeting in Anaheim late Fri. http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-doctors-marijuana-20111016,0,2723871.story The four U.S. attorneys from California announced a crackdown on the state’s billion-dollar medical marijuana industry Oct. 7, charging that many dispensaries are simply fronts for the sale and distribution of illegal drugs. Since the announcement, federal agents have raided pot clubs and arrested growers. http://www.baycitizen.org/marijuana/story/feds-target-oakland-dispensary-richard/ Roughly 25,000 acres were planted to hemp for the for seed production this year, which is slightly above the seeded area the previous year. Hermann said an additional 5,000 to 7,000 acres were seeded to fibre only. http://www.grainews.ca/news/hemp-crop-looking-good/1000638386/ The Anonymous campaign began Oct. 14, when members of the hacktivist group found a cache of child-pornography websites while browsing a secret website called the Hidden Wiki, a guidebook to hundreds of underground websites invisible to search engines and regular Internet users. http://www.securitynewsdaily.com/anonymous-hackers-child-porn-sites-1260/ Like wine, cacao flavor is influenced by the region where it's grown. The researchers want to catalog Peru's "cacao varietals," analyze their DNA and identify the so-called flavor beans that premium chocolate makers covet. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/10/141153396/in-peru-a-hunt-for-chocolate-like-youve-never-tasted-it Genetic engineering has failed to increase the yield of any food crop but has vastly increased the use of chemicals and the growth of "superweeds", according to a report by 20 Indian, south-east Asian, African and Latin American food and conservation groups representing millions of people. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/19/gm-crops-insecurity-superweeds-pesticides A ban on the agricultural production of hemp simply doesn't make sense. Farmers in places like Iowa could benefit greatly from the production of industrial hemp. In a crippling recession, unemployed Americans could receive a boost from such an emerging industry, from farm to value-added businesses. And many firms here in the United States that sell hemp-based products would reap the benefits. http://www.opednews.com/articles/Time-to-Allow-Farmers-to-O-by-Ralph-Nader-111019-209.html There is going to be a fusillade of attempts from many different corners to force these demonstrations into the liberal-conservative blue-red narrative. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/why-occupy-wall-street-is-bigger-than-left-vs-right-20111017 At least 281 people have been killed in Thailand, and another 200 in neighboring Cambodia. Rescue workers are scrambling to prevent a humanitarian disaster, and Thailand's prime minister is warning businesses not to use the flooding as an excuse to raise prices. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/worst-flooding-in-decades-swamps-thailand/100168/ The article describing the research findings, "The draft genome and transcriptome of Cannabis sativa," will be published Oct 20, 2011 in the BioMed Central open access journal Genome Biology available at http://genomebiology.com. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-10/uos-hhg101811.php The more intensely that governments wage it, the more certain is the defeat. This is because risk determines reward. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/a-little-legalizing-a-big-peace-dividend/article2201408/ So far this year, approximately 1,313,673 individuals have been arrested for drug-related offenses. Police arrested an estimated 858,408 persons for marijuana violations in 2009. Of those charged with marijuana violations, approximately 89 percent were charged with possession only. http://www.rutherford.org/articles_db/commentary.asp Arresting and jailing people because they use a substance which some people abuse is dubious enough on moral grounds.  Even more it fails the test of cost-effectiveness. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2011/10/17/its-time-to-declare-peace-in-the-war-against-drugs/ Among mice that were given the chemo drug, those that also received cannabidiol were much less sensitive to pain than mice that received only chemo. http://articles.philly.com/2011-10-17/news/30289555_1_mice-medical-marijuana-chemo-drug State Rep. Louis Molepske, R-Stevens Point, introduced the most recent hemp bill - 2009 AB 740. While it was the first bill of its kind to pass through the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and High Education, it did not get scheduled for the Assembly. "I'm going to continue to push the issue. I think it's laughable we treat hemp as if it is an illegal substance when the first colonists to this country were required to grow hemp, and hemp farmers in our state provided for the war effort," he said. http://www.twincities.com/ci_19122558 Besides, from early on, Alexander showed signs of fatal weaknesses: witness the vanity, the obeisance he demanded from his followers, the vicious cruelty (he had a record of murdering erstwhile friends around his dinner table), and the infamous drinking. http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/oct/27/alexander-how-great/ The marijuana petition already has more than 55,000 signatures — 20,000 more than any other issue on the site and much more than the 25,000-signature threshold administrators set to warrant an official response. http://www.rollcall.com/issues/57_42/Marijuana-Is-High-on-Americans-Issue-List-209505-1.html So the bulk beans grown in Africa represent just a small sampling of the many flavors of cacao. Or as connoisseurs might argue, it's not the really good stuff. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/10/141153396/in-peru-a-hunt-for-chocolate-like-youve-never-tasted-it The poll showed that support was highest among liberals and adults under age 30, with more than 60 percent of respondents in those categories favoring legalization. Support was lowest, at just 31 percent, among Americans over age 65. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/18/us-marijuana-poll-idUSTRE79H0ND20111018 "That night we devoted to our husbands. The desire was great and we took advantage of it," Luz Marina Castillo, the leader of the protest http://news.yahoo.com/colombian-women-end-crossed-legs-protest-223007316.html Overseas, violence broke out in Rome, where police fired tear gas and water cannons at some protesters who broke away from the main demonstration, smashing shop and bank windows, torching cars and hurling bottles. Dozens were injured. http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-protesters-fill-nycs-times-square-230718896.html The doctor group questions the medical value of pot and acknowledges some health risk from its use but urges it be regulated like alcohol. A law enforcement official harshly criticizes the new stance. http://www.latimes.com/la-me-doctors-marijuana-20111016,0,179189.story A 100,000-year-old workshop used to mix and store the reddish pigment ochre has been discovered in Blombos Cave on the rugged southern coast near Cape Town. At the same site, scientists have found some of the earliest sharp stone tools, as well as evidence of fishing. http://news.yahoo.com/ancient-art-supplies-found-south-african-cave-182951176.html A conservative estimate of its size is $1.5 billion per year. There are more than 1,000 dispensaries. There was a recent account suggesting that 400,000 Californians may be using medical marijuana. http://www.salon.com/2011/10/15/obamas_crackdown_on_medical_marijuana/ With local ownership, making America a 100% solar nation could create nearly 10 million jobs, and add as much as $450 billion to the U.S. economy. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2011/10/11/340358/solar-and-wind-could-power-west-america/ Kansas City's Catholic bishop has become the highest-ranking U.S. Catholic official indicted on a charge of failing to protect children after he and his diocese waited five months to tell police about hundreds of images of child pornography discovered on a priest's computer http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/14/robert-finn-kansas-city-b_n_1011444.html Until then, books about war tended to be serious works, often tragic in tone. Heller's war was a black comedy, filled with orders from above that made no sense and characters who just wanted to stay alive. http://www.npr.org/2011/10/13/141280833/catch-22-a-paradox-turns-50-and-still-rings-true Unlike last month's raid by the Drug Enforcement Agency of a Tempe club, there was no allegation that Sobol's outfit had sold marijuana to an undercover officer. http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2011/10/medical_marijuana_compassion_c.php The seeds are made from DNA tile motifs that serve as letters arranged to spell out a particular word. The replication process preserves the letter sequence and the shape of the seed and hence the information required to produce further generations. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111012132651.htm The amount of oil gushing forth has increased over the past week. Tar and oil balls, some the size of platters, have washed ashore along 16 miles of the North Island’s beaches. It is estimated that 1300 to 1700 tons of oil remain on the ship. The first priority is to pump the remaining oil off the ship. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/10/12-1 President Barack Obama said on Fri he was sending about 100 U.S. troops to central Africa to help and advise government forces battling Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army rebels accused of murder, rape and kidnapping children. http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-politics/20111014/POLITICS-US-UGANDA-USA/ "We are 100 percent compliant," emphasizes the manager, who requests that his name not be used in the wake of seizure. "But when the feds walk in, they can do whatever they want." http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2011/10/marijuana_raid_federal_cherry_top_farms.php Federal agents have seized two large-scale medical-marijuana grow operations in the Denver area and arrested four people http://www.9news.com/rss/story.aspx?storyid=224595 Sonnenschein-Mantel-Debreu theory and the 41-line differential equation were approximately 15.8 metres over my head. But the points I grasped were clear enough. We're stuffed: stuffed to a degree that scarcely anyone yet appreciates. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/oct/10/stop-another-great-depression-debt John Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, the civil liberties nonprofit that is representing Cobbs as he fights the criminal charge, remembers the 1960s when SWAT teams, which stands for Special Weapons and Tactics, were used sparingly– typically in hostage situations or during bank robberies when human life was in imminent danger. http://www.readthehook.com/101282/2-plants-citizen-terrorized-swat-team-pot-raid#.TpagPX6vLxQ.facebook So the cops are getting heavier, the agent provocateurs are out in force, and the protests continue to grow. Now is a most delicate time for the movement. If the protesters react with violence to police, the "mainstream" media will have the opportunity they've been waiting for to disparage and discredit the entire thing. http://www.truth-out.org/delicate-moment-occupy-wall-street-movement/1318336894 The question: Does Colorado's constitution, amended by voters in 2000 to include a medical-marijuana provision, give people a right to cannabis? http://www.denverpost.com/news/marijuana/ci_19084934 “As the U.S. authorities have, so far, failed to bring former president Bush to justice, the international community must step in. A failure by Canada to take action during his visit would violate the UN Convention Against Torture and demonstrate contempt for fundamental human rights,” Lee said. http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/10/12/amnesty-canada-required-to-arrest-george-w-bush/ Today, a global group of scientists released a fresh look at the question. They add a different, environmental twist to it. Can we feed the world without destroying the environment? It's a good question, because agriculture is probably the single most destructive thing that humans do to the earth. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2011/10/12/141278457/facing-planetary-enemy-number-one-agriculture Collected here are a some of the scenes from these protests across the U.S. over the past week, as the movement moves forward with no signs of slowing. http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/10/occupy-wall-street-spreads-beyond-nyc/100165/ Now is a most delicate time for the movement. If the protesters react with violence to police, the "mainstream" media will have the opportunity they've been waiting for to disparage and discredit the entire thing. http://www.truth-out.org/delicate-moment-occupy-wall-street-movement/1318336894 The essence of this particular sort of oligarchic power is its complexity and day-to-day invisibility: Its worst crimes, from bribery and insider trading and market manipulation, to backroom dominance of government and the usurping of the regulatory structure from within, simply can't be seen by the public or put on TV. http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/my-advice-to-the-occupy-wall-street-protesters-20111012 Mountain regions from the Andes to the Himalayas are warming faster than the global average under climate change. Ice turns to water; glaciers are slowly reduced to lakes. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/oct/10/glacier-lakes-melt-himalayas “I think that‘s the biggest load of shit I’ve ever heard. Everyone here loves this country and wants to see it grow and wants to see it better. They love the people, they love their community, their neighbors. There hasn’t been racism here or bigotry. We get along as one big family, and that’s what we want for the rest of the country. All the people who are suffering in debt, who can’t speak for themselves, who are too afraid to voice their opinion, we’re here fighting for their rights.” http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/11/watch-u-s-marines-tell-hannity-to-fck-off/ Urban voters, who bear the brunt of the damage of Americas misguided drug policies, are more liberal and likely to favor reforms like marijuana legalization and needle exchanges, but just like their predecessors who opposed Prohibition, they are forced to acquiesce to the federal war on drugs. http://www.forbes.com/sites/stephensmith/2011/10/12/the-war-on-drugs-is-a-war-on-cities/ Dozens of foreign insects and plant diseases slipped undetected into the United States in the years after 9\/11, when authorities were so focused on preventing another attack that they overlooked a pest explosion that threatened the quality of the nation's food supply. http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/10/10/science-us-pest-invasion_8726083.html The bill would have given farmers the green light to grow hemp a form of cannabis related to pot but lacking the mind-altering ingredients as part of an exploratory program in Kings, Kern, San Joaquin and Imperial counties. Hemp is used in a variety of industrial and commercial applications, including clothing, rope and car door panels. http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/news/local/article_f761bbd0-f420-11e0-84a4-001cc4c002e0.html Vermont is one of nine states that has enacted legislation that would permit controlled hemp cultivation contingent on federal authorization, which the Paul bill would provide. http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20111011/NEWS03/111011022/Welch-endorses-legislation-end-federal-ban-hemp-cultivation The Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2011, allows prosecutors to bring conspiracy charges against anyone who discusses, plans or advises someone else to engage in any activity that violates the CSA, the massive federal law that prohibits drugs like marijuana and strictly regulates prescription medication. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/10/09/republicans-introduce-legislation-that-would-imprison-americans/ The earlier experiment lasted less than 14 years, but todays failed prohibition was declared by President Nixon 40 years ago and has cost our country more than $1 trillion in cash and much more in immeasurable social harm. http://opinion.latimes.com/opinionla/2011/10/drug-war-blowback.html Copied from a prized security dog named Chase, seven cloned Labrador puppies (nick-named Toppies, short for tomorrow puppies) are part of an ongoing study on how genetic reproductions of prized work animals may revolutionize their use in the field. http://singularityhub.com/2011/10/04/four-years-after-cloning-drug-sniffing-dogs-celebrate-remarkable-success-in-south-korean-airport/ The allegations, brought up over the weekend by the Chaos Computer Club, an organization of hackers, have left officials trying to figure out who would have authorized software that not only gathers transmitted data, but opens a back door to let investigators install further spyware on an unsuspecting computer. http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1667873.php/German-spy-software-scandal-focuses-on-Bavaria If you want to look at that in terms of cores, thats 307,200 CPU cores and with 512 shaders in each Tesla chip thats 9,830,400 compute units. In other words, Titan should be capable of massive parallelism of more than one million concurrent operations. http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/99413-titan-supercomputer-38400-processor-20-petaflop-successor-to-jaguar "Federal law clearly establishes that all cannabis plants, including industrial hemp, are marijuana, which is a federally regulated controlled substance. Failure to obtain a permit from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration prior to growing such plants will subject a California farmer to federal prosecution." http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/10/10/1024943/-Gov-Browns-Shameless-Industrial-Hemp-Veto The Drug Enforcement Administration has become a giant intelligence organization whose reach extends far beyond narcotics. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-ed-prohibition-letter-20111011,0,5403885.story In his recent book, "A First-Rate Madness," he went beyond merely restating the old adage that anyone crazy enough to run for public office probably shouldn't occupy that office. http://www.alternet.org/teaparty/152639/study:_wealthy_stockbrokers_more_dangerous_than_psychopaths/ "We're getting to a gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the American government secretly thinks the law says," http://newheadnews.com/SpncrckrmnWRDMy2511.html