New Challenge For The LHC

post from jobsanger on 17 July 2012 01:01:00 AM. © jobsanger

Political Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

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Late, Late Night FDL: Perfect Strangers

post from Firedoglake on 17 July 2012 01:00:32 AM. © Firedoglake

Deep Purple - Perfect StrangersR.I.P. Jon Lord...![...]

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Jesus' Mom Hangs Out in Pornographic Tree

post from Jesus' General on 17 July 2012 01:00:08 AM. © Jesus' General

Some see this as a miracle. I see it as a vile attempt by enviroislamunistofascist Druids to soil Our Lady's reputation by imprisoning her in a tree's naughty parts.

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Tour Standings After Stage 15

post from jobsanger on 17 July 2012 01:00:00 AM. © jobsanger

STAGE 15 WINNERS
1. Pierrick Fedrigo (France) FDJ-Bigmat
2. Christian Vande Velde (United States) Garmin-Sharp
3. Thomas Voeckler (France) Europcar

YELLOW JERSEY (Overall Race Leaders)
1. Bradley Wiggins (Great Britain) Sky Procycling
2. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling..........02' 05"
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy) Liquigas-Cannondale..........02' 23"
4. Cadel Evans (Australia) BMC Racing..........03' 19"
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium) Lotto-Belisol..........04' 48"
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Spain) Radio Shack-Nissan..........06' 15"
7. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........06' 57"
8. Janez Brajkovic (Slovakia) Astana..........07' 30"
9. Pierre Rolland (France) Europcar..........08' 31"
10. Thibaut Pinot (France) FDJ-Bigmat..........08' 51"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinters)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Liquigas-Cannondale..........3562. Andre Greipel (Germany) Lotto-Belisol..........2543. Matthew Harley Goss (Australia) Orica Greenedge..........2034. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) Sky Procycling..........1305. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) Sky Procycling..........127
POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climbers)
1. Fredrik Kessiakoff (Sweden) Astana..........69
2. Pierre Rolland (France) Europcar..........55
3. Chris Anker Sorensen (Denmark) Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank..........39
4. Thomas Voeckler (France) Europcar..........37
5. Michele Scarponi (Italy) Lampre-ISD..........33

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Riders)
1. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing
2. Thibaut Pinot (France) FDJ-Bigmat..........01' 54"
3. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Liquigas-Cannondale..........40' 35"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Radio Shack-Nissan (Luxembourg)
2. Sky Procycling (Great Britain)..........12' 38"
3. BMC Racing (United States)..........17' 46"
4. Astana (Kazakhstan)..........25' 19"
5. FDJ-Bigmat (France)..........34' 22"

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The Nightowl Newswrap

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 17 July 2012 01:00:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

By BG & YD

We'd say they're passing civil war and approaching failed state "Syrian troops and rebels have clashed inside Damascus for a second day in some of the worst violence in the tightly controlled capital since the country's crisis began 16 months ago."

We don't doubt it for a second, but we also don't believe a word anybody from that regime says. "The most senior Syrian politician to defect to the opposition has told the BBC the regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons if it is cornered."

HIV prevention in a pill. "The first-ever daily pill to help prevent the spread of HIV has been approved by US regulators - a milestone in the 30-year battle against the virus believed to cause AIDS."

No-government freedom in the Randian paradise. "A car bomb went off in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing a former trade minister and wounding six other people, officials said."

Sometimes, international pressure works "Eritrea has reduced its support for the al Qaeda-allied al-Shabaab group in Somalia under international pressure but still violates UN Security Council resolutions and remains a destabilising influence, a UN report says."

And why not? We can remember when it was an example for the world. "Prisoners held without trial for years at an American air base in Afghanistan shouldn't be able to challenge their indefinite detention with the help of the U.S. Constitution, Obama administration attorneys argued Monday."

This is beyond projection - it's pathological. "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has called on the Obama campaign to back away from "dishonest" attacks about his time at Bain Capital."

Of course they do - it's logical and appealing. "Florida voters, particularly in immigrant-rich pockets of South and Central Florida, overwhelmingly say they support comprehensive immigration reform that would give people living in the state illegally a pathway to citizenship, according to a new Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times/Bay News 9 poll."

And finally...

He motivated us to try to figure out how to make millions telling people the obvious. "Motivational author Stephen Covey, who wrote the best-selling The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, has died at the age of 79. Covey passed away at an Idaho hospital on Monday from complications caused by an April bicycle accident in Utah. "He was surrounded by his loving wife and each one of his children and their spouses, just as he always wanted," the family said in a statement. Covey reportedly sold more than 20m books in his career .... His publicist, Debra Lund, said at the time that doctors had not found any signs of long-term damage to his head. Covey grew up in a tight-knit Mormon family on an egg farm near Salt Lake City, according to a Fortune magazine profile. After gaining an MBA from Harvard University and a doctorate from Brigham Young University, Covey became a business management professor at Brigham Young. With the success of the 1989 publication of Seven Habits, Covey began a management consulting business that proved popular with major companies and government agencies."

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Progress and The Power of a Plan

post from BeThink - Front Page on 17 July 2012 12:02:24 AM. © BeThink - Front Page

Inherent within each of us is conflict. Generally speaking, we think growth is good. Progress is a sign of achievement. As George Bernard Shaw so aptly articulated, "Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." Indeed, politically, at one time or another, persons within each Party have embraced the label, "Progressives." Even the most entrepreneurial embolden the idea of Progress. Goldman-Sachs boldly bolsters, Progress is everyone's business." However, while we glorify growth, we disdain it. Most of us look back and think, "Those were the days."

The good ole days are commonly defined as "when we were young." It might have been the 1930s, 1940s; the fifties were fine! In earlier eras, schools were vehicles for success. Now, these same institutions are seen and scored as failures. Teachers were principled. Today, throughout the news we read, educators are perverse. Our children come home and tell tales that affirm what adults have come to believe is true; teachers are bad! Public education is worse. Students and parents surmise, home schools or private learning centers would better serve their needs. Cyber classes too must be an option. Online learning tailors a lesson, much more so than a unionized teacher would. The people want Choice!

There is one consensus; tests are good. Accountability is the gold standard. Current conventional wisdom counters what was thought to be exceptional, in the nineteen sixties. Decades ago, those under thirty and even their elders changed the world for the "greater good." The baby boomers were beautiful or were they bad...bad for the country and worse for businesses?
Whatever the point of view, it is clear the revolutionaries transformed the conversation in ways that irrevocably challenged conventions. Even our nation's President, in those years pursued policies that reeked of progress. "The Great Society" brought with it the Elementary and Secondary Act. There was a War on Poverty" underway. However, some at the top thought such a battle might topple Free Enterprise.

Big Businesses did not necessarily embrace the evolution. People in power particularly, took note. Tycoons and their corporate attorneys saw the "60s revolution" as a threat. One brave company soldier devised a plan to take the country back. His name? Lewis F. Powell. His resolve, Infiltrate America's campuses.

The man soon to be appointed to the Supreme Court saw the dichotomy that exists within us all. Change? Is growth good or bad? Is "Progress everyone's business" or is advancement only favorable when it serves the few? Do we characterize change in innocuous ways, and simply say, "The times they are a changin'" or do we take action? Lewis F. Powell put pen to paper; he presented what he envisioned as a better plan, and perhaps it was. If better is defined by policy and principles that endure and become deeply ingrained in the fabric of society, then The Powell Memo is phenomenal. Justice Powell found the keys that open all hearts, "freedom and choice."

As Lewis Powell observed, few among us could argue against the right to choose. Prominent Democrats, disconnected from the damage done to public education, advocate for Charter schools. Vociferous Republicans vote for vouchers. Independents invest in home schools. Parents persuaded by corporate campaigns frequently succumb. Moms and Dads pull the parent-trigger. Only belatedly do people learn that Charters, which pass for public schools, are not. Vouchers validate separate, but equal. While several do, some home-schools may not satisfy a child's need for socialization. Most significantly, regardless of which of these paths we choose, there is a chance that democratization will be lost.

The question we each must ask ourselves is which is more important to us, personal freedom or the freedom we share as a nation? When we think only of our own offspring what do we reap and what will society sow? Thomas Jefferson offered his assessment...
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

Might freedom and choice present another conundrum, an inner conflict of sorts? America's foundation is found in freedom. The three most significant documents in our history are often referred to as the "Freedom Documents -the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. The question is what freedoms we choose, or how we choose to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity." Is our personal freedom more important to us than the freedoms we share as a nation?

Not surprisingly, in the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson thought it best to provide freedoms for the common good, the commonweal, and common citizens, rich and poor. With his entrance into the Oval Office the vision of "The Great Society" was born. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as part of the "War on Poverty" brought together what can be a conflict within us, our love for the past and desire to progress. As President Johnson reflected as he signed the Bill into law, "I felt a very strong desire to go back to the beginnings of my own education-to be reminded and to remind others of that magic time when the world of learning began to open before our eyes.

The assertion was an affirmation. Growth is good. We can progress and still preserve what we loved in the past. Problem arises when powerful people, Philanthropists, people with the ear of politicians, policymakers, and pundits disagree with this declaration.

That is what occurred in 1971. Industrialist and Attorney,Powell was outraged. He thought the laws and the logic as liberal poppycock. More so, the Barrister saw the changes as an attack, an affront. An assault on Free enterprise. Lewis Powell communicated his concerns and composed his clarion call, a blueprint for marketers. He titled it, A Confidential Memorandum, Attack on Free Enterprise System. Powell purported...
Dimensions of Attack

"...what now concerns us is quite new in the history of America. We are not dealing with sporadic or isolated attacks from a relatively few extremists or even from the minority socialist cadre. Rather, the assault on the enterprise system is broadly based and consistently pursued. It is gaining momentum and converts.
Sources of the Attack?
The sources are varied and diffused. They include, not unexpectedly, the Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries who would destroy the entire system, both political and economic. These extremists of the left are far more numerous, better financed, and increasingly are more welcomed and encouraged by other elements of society, than ever before in our history. But they remain a small minority, and are not yet the principal cause for concern.
The most disquieting voices joining the chorus of criticism come from perfectly respectable elements of society: from the college campus, the pulpit, the media, the intellectual and literary journals, the arts and sciences, and from politicians."

Chief Executive Officers, and the esteemed fellows within the United States Chamber of Commerce, all agreed. Each Entrepreneur saw the source of our evolutionary evils as respectable, but wrong.

Academics teach. Clergy preach. Intellectuals invoke. Artists, Journalists, and Scientist evoke. The Media is the Message. These influential individuals whom, according to the then corporate Attorney, Powell changed the conversation for the worse, needed to be stopped. To convert the perceived Attack on Free Enterprise; images needed to be changed.

An honorable profession, teaching, needed to be seen as subversive, if the marketers were to be successful. To convert the conversation, Conservatives had to be seen as intellectuals. Traditional theories need to be floated and substantiated. Research would be done in the College of Right Thought. The clergy and cultural elite too must see the light. Conservative dictums must dominate. After all, Powell proclaimed.

"...Those who eschew the mainstream of the system often remain in key positions of influence where they mold public opinion and often shape governmental action. In many instances, these "intellectuals" end up in regulatory agencies or governmental departments with large authority over the business system they do not believe in...

'We, the US Chamber of Commerce, companies and corporations must make believers out of detractors, convert our critics, win over naysayers and we will' Tycoons had the power to move masses. Powell only told them that they needed to use what was at their disposal. US Steel, GE, GM, Phillips Petroleum, 3M, Amway, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and Columbia Broadcasting Services (CBS) had easily access to the people. Moms, Dads, and the young ones invited these industries in daily..indeed, in every minute of the day.

We turn on "Televisions." Tune into the radio. Read periodicals. "The Scholarly Journals." "Books, Paperbacks and Pamphlets." "Paid Advertisements." Lewis Powell explained, these are our tools. Our techniques need only be honed. Professional public relations firms were already employed by the agencies. Change emphasis within a message and audiences will be moved.

Repeat the results of partisan reseacrh often enough and the pubic too will recite the claims. Teachers are bad. Public schools are failures. Intellectusls comprise a "socialist cadre." "Communists, New Leftists and other revolutionaries...would destroy the entire system, both political and economic. These extremists of the left are far more numerous, better financed." Revolutionaries are educated in public schools.

Thus it is so. For four plus decades now, the American people see no conflict. We, the people were changed as was the way in which we speak. Growth for Free Enterprise is good. Public Education and Educators are perverse. Progress is a sign of achievement. Businesses and Lewis F. Powell proved this. If we have a plan and plod away patiently, we can realize a success that lasts longer than a decade. Perhaps, we, the people can revive The Great Society, Rebuild the American Dream, Restore the principles within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Today, the question is, do we, each one of us feel the strong desire Lyndon B. Johnson did..."to go back to the beginnings of [our] own education-to be reminded and to remind others of that magic time when the world of learning began to open before our eyes."

Please let us Save Our Schools! Let us be On the March to preserve and Transform Public Education.

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Palin thinks she's being punished by not being
invited to speak at Romney's convention

From the DailyBeast/Newsweek:The Romney campaign prides itself on a slavish adherence to script, and Palin cannot be trusted to avoid the impulse to go rogue. That is why, perhaps, the Romney campaign has not asked Palin to speak at the convention nor contacted her about even attending the party?s marquee event in Tampa. Queries to the Romney camp about any possible Palin role at the convention...

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Jay Brannan Will Probably Not Be So Far From
Where You Live This Summer

It's been over a year since we've written anything about Jay Brannan. Over a year and a half! Too long. Wednesday Jay is kicking off a national tour, starting in Boston. Here's the schedule for the summer:

July 18 Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
July 19 Hoboken, NJ @ Maxwell?s
July 20 Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live
July 21 Washington, DC @ U Street Music Hall
July 23 Pittsburgh, PA @ Stage AE
July 24 Columbus, OH @ Basement
July 26 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
July 27 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
July 28 Kansas City, MO @ Czar Bar
July 30 Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
July 31 Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
Aug 2 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
Aug 3 Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
Aug 4 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Aug 7 Los Angeles, CA @ The Troubadour
Aug 8 San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Aug 10 Phoenix, AZ @ Hard Rock Café
Aug 11 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress
Aug 13 Dallas, TX @ Sons of Herman Hall
Aug 14 Austin, TX @ Stubb?s Jr.
Aug 15 Houston, TX @ Fitz Downstairs
Aug 17 Charlotte, NC @ Visulite
Aug 18 Atlanta, GA @ Eddie?s Attic
Aug 19 Atlanta, GA @ Eddie?s Attic
Aug 20 Birmingham, AL @ Workplay
Aug 21 Nashville, TN @ The End
Aug 23 Orlando, FL @ The Social
Aug 25 New York, NY @ Highline Ballroom
Sep 16 Provincetown, MA @ Crown & Anchor (Afterglow Festival)

Above is the new video, just out, for "Rob Me Blind," the eponymous third single from his latest album. Eradicating homophobia isn't going to happen overnight but something tells me that artists like Jay and songs like "Rob Me Blind" will speed up the process even more than anything that gets done in Congress.

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15 Prominent Republicans Who Want Romney To
Release More Tax Returns Right Now

Mitt Romney continues to resist pressure to turn over more tax returns. In an interview today he said he is “simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about.”

The call for more information about Romney’s financial past, however, is bipartisan. A poll released today found fifty six percent of all voters, including sixty one percent of independents, think that Romney should release twelve years of returns.

These fifteen prominent Republicans are calling on Romney to release more tax returns, now:

1. George Will. On ABC’s “This Week,” Will, a long-time conservative commentator and Washington Post columnist, said that “The costs of not releasing the returns are clear, therefore he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.” He even at one point played devil’s advocate to Republican consultant Mary Matalin, who was defending Romney.
2. Bill Kristol. “Here?s what he should do,” said Kristol, another conservative commentator, on Fox News, “He should release the tax returns tomorrow. This is crazy? you?ve got to release 6, 8, 10 years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two. Then give a serious speech on Thursday.”
3. Ron Paul. Unitl just days ago, Paul was the other Republican presidential candidate. He is also one of those calling for Romney to release the returns. Paul told Politico today, “Politically, I think that would help him. …In the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want.”
4. Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley. The Alabama Governor actually went further than others in suggesting that perhaps Romney is hiding something by not releasing his tax returns. “If you have things to hide, then maybe you?re doing things wrong,? he told the AP. ?I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.?
5. Michael Steele. The former chair of the Republican National Committee is pushing for release. He claims it will help voters trust Romney, especially since he claims there is nothing to see in the returns: “If there?s nothing there, there?s no ?there? there, don?t create a ?there.? Put out as much information as you can. Even if you don?t release 12 years worth of tax returns, at least three, four, five.”
6. Rep. Walter Jones. In an interview with CNN, the Republican Congressman from North Carolina said, “I think he should release his financial records and I think if he does it in July it would be a lot better than in October. …whenever you are asking for the vote of the American people that you need to fully disclose what your holdings are, if you have any.”
7. Ana Navarro. “He should just release the stupid taxes and eliminate the Obama campaign tactic of insinuating he?s got something to hide,” the former adviser to John McCain said, “The Obama people are going to keep the issue alive and it has the potential of mushrooming into a bigger issue. …It?s time to just pull off the band-aid.”
8. Rep. Pete Sessions. Sessions (R-TX) leads the National Republican Congressional Committee, and even he called Romney’s tax returns “fair game” and a “legitimate question.” In an interview with CNN, Sessions said that “[Romney's] personal finances, the way he does things, his record, are fair game.”
9. Gov. Haley Barbour. The Mississippi Governor has been outspoken about the need for Romney to hand over the documents. “The advice I would give Romney is: Who cares about your tax returns? Release ?em!” Barbour said in a phone interview. “We need for this campaign to be about Obama?s record.? Earlier this week, Barbour also called for Romney to release the returns on CNN.
10. Matthew Dowd. This conservative commentator called it “arrogance” that Romney was not releasing his returns. Joining forced with Bill Kristol, Dowd spoke candidly about his doubts around Romney’s tax returns: “There is obviously something because if there was nothing there he would say have it?But I think the bigger thing is, it?s arrogance. Many of these politicians think I can do this, I can get away with this.”
11. Rick Tyler. Republican strategist and former adviser to Newt Gingrich’s campaign had this to say about Romney’s returns: ?Mitt Romney had an opportunity to answer these questions during the primary. …He did not answer these questions and now they?re coming up again. …Only [Romney] can provide that information. …Or we?ll just have drip, drip, drip to November.”
12. John Weaver. This Republican strategist had a straightforward message that got picked up as a quote-of-the day. In regard to Romney releasing his returns, he said, “There is no whining in politics. …Stop demanding an apology, release your tax returns.”

13. Brit Hume. The conservative Fox News commentator told fellow Fox man Bill O’Reilly “Any time it’s disclosure versus non-disclosure, you always wonder whether it isn’t better to put it out there. And if it turns out that if people get to hear once again that Mitt Romney is a very very rich man. …I guess the Obama team would have some sport with that for a couple days.”
14. David Frum. The conservative journalist David Frum Tweeted his opinion on the tax release controversy. “Tax returns the next problem. Releasing returns under pressure: more weakness, more pain,” he wrote in one tweet. “Do promptly and cheerfully what you will eventually have to do anyway,” he added.
15. John Feehery. Republican strategist most recently joined the fray of Republicans asking Romney to release the returns. “Might as well get it over with,” he said on MSNBC, “Couple of years, get it over with.”

While these Republicans have downplayed the effects of Romney releasing his returns, they may not be so innocuous to the campaign after all. Several experts have said they believe Romney could have paid little to no taxes at all in past years (particularly 2009).

Read The Full Article:
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want-romney-to-release-more-tax-returns-right-now/

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