Militarized Police A Cause That Might Unite Left
And RightAnaheim Police Shot A Man In The Back

post from Texas Liberal on 31 July 2012 09:00:20 PM. © Texas Liberal

Our increasingly militarized police are more and more out-of-control in this nation. Above you see a picture from Occupy Los Angeles showing ongoing protests regarding militarized police in Anaheim, California. Anaheim police shot a man in the back for no good reason at all. Militarized police would seem to be an issue that folks on both [...]

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t-unite-left-and-right-anaheim-police-shot-a-man-in-the-back/

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Militarized Police A Cause That Left And Right
Can Agree AboutAnaheim Police Shot A Man In The Back

post from Texas Liberal on 31 July 2012 09:00:20 PM. © Texas Liberal

Our increasingly militarized police are more and more out-of-control in this nation. Above you see a picture from Occupy Los Angeles showing ongoing protests regarding militarized police in Anaheim, California. Anaheim police shot a man in the back for no good reason at all. Militarized police would seem to be an issue that folks on both [...]

Read The Full Article:
http://texasliberal.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/militarized-police-a-cause-that-left
-and-right-can-agree-abour-anaheim-police-shot-a-man-in-the-back/

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The Chronicles of Mitt: July 31, 2012

post from Daily Kos on 31 July 2012 09:00:06 PM. © Daily Kos

Hello, human diary. It is I again, Mitt Romney, your better.

Today I was in Poland. I complimented them by saying that I wished America could be more like them, except for the unions and big government parts. My staff apparently got into a small donnybrook with the press units, who did not understand that I had taken all three of this tour's planned reporter questions back in London and would therefore not be answering any others.

We chose Poland as our final nation for this tour because it is close to Russia, thus counting for at least double the foreign policy experience that nations at farther distances would provide. It is definitely an unnerving experience, however. All the people in this portion of Europe have strange names, and all the words here are too long. I believe Eastern Europe could increase their economic vitality by at least 20 percent if they had a culture of using shorter words for things.

The trip is mostly done with now. I am looking forward to being back at home, though I have not decided which one I will be visiting first. I have been missing my bus as well, and have asked the staff if there might be a possibility of further bus-related events in the future.

Regardless, this trip was definitely a triumph, Mr. Diary. A huge success?it is quite difficult to overstate my satisfaction.

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http://feeds.dailykos.com/~r/dailykos/index/~3/UybyymjsueA/-The-Chronicles-of-Mit
t-July-31-2012

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Tucker Carlson Is Looking for a Few George
Zimmermans

post from Firedoglake on 31 July 2012 08:24:03 PM. © Firedoglake

Yesterday someone hacked into Tucker Carlson's MySpace blog (probably using Tucker's PIN: 1234) and posted nekkid stuff and now Tucker wants someone to kill the guy who did it and he'll even give you the gun.[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/FM4z824dXf8/

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The Elwha Dams and the Future of Our Rivers: Hope
Runs Free

post from Crooks and Liars on 31 July 2012 08:00:07 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Taking Out the Elwha Dams: Two Videos

Click here to view this media

[Two videos: The first, a time-lapse video of the deconstruction of the Elwha Dam on the lower Elwha River (YouTube here), the second a video of the blasting of one of the last remaining sections of concrete on the Glines Canyon Dam on the upper Elwha, shot by my brother-in-law.]

Timothy Egan had a superb contribution at the NYT's blog space the other day, describing the effects of the Elwha Ecosystem Restoration project, which is the largest dam-removal project in U.S. history:

It defies experience-hardened cynicism whenever any big public works project is under budget and ahead of schedule. But the Elwha has served up something even better: life itself, in the form of ocean-going fish answering to the imperatives of love and death. Not long ago, scientists were stunned to find wild steelhead trout scouting habitat well past the site where the Elwha Dam had stood for nearly a century. They didn?t expect fish to return this soon.
This biological boomerang is a tribute to stubborn DNA memory, and it is a precursor for what the wild Elwha will be in the not-so-distant future. Beyond that, the restoration of the Elwha, as in the revival of the much-abused southern end of the Bronx River at the other end of the country, is proof that American ingenuity is alive and well and hard at work on with the tricky task of healing parts of the natural world that we?ve trashed.

Be sure to read the whole thing, since Egan is such a fine writer. Here's more about that steelhead run, as well as further good news: the downstream flow of silt is not turning out to be nearly as noxious as originally feared.

But it's not just the Elwha where this is happening. As these structures age, removal is often the sensible solution. And it's creating opportunities for river restoration in a wide variety of places.

A recent Boston Globe piece examined the local benefits of another dam-removal project:

Tim Purinton makes the analogy that removing dams from a river is akin to getting rid of clogged arteries in the body.
"If you're interested in rivers and river ecology, there's no better thing you can do for a river than remove a dam," said Purinton, director of the Division of Ecological Restoration for the state Department of Fish and Game.
Removing the obstruction allows not just better passage for fish and other aquatic species, but also the movement of sediment and a change in water temperature, he said. "If you can clean the arteries and allow for the free flow of water, sediment, and nutrients, you bring back river health almost immediately."

Obviously, dams remain extremely useful things, especially in places like the Northwest, where they provide most of our carbon-neutral energy (though at the expense of salmon runs). But when they outlive their usefulness, it's a wonderful thing to watch Mother Nature come rushing back to her domain.

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/elwha-dams-and-future-our-rivers-hop

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UndocuBus Protests Harsh Immigration Laws,
Demands Comprehensive Federal Reform

post from ThinkProgress on 31 July 2012 08:00:04 PM. © ThinkProgress

Leticia Ramirez

Our guest blogger Andrea Alajbegovic, Immigration Policy Intern at Center for American Progress

Weeks before the Obama administration’s immigration order to protect undocumented students is set to go into effect, a group of activists are launching a modern day “freedom ride” bus tour of the United States to highlight the ongoing civil rights struggles of undocumented people in America. The “UndocuBus,” which departed from Phoenix, AZ on Sunday, aims to protest officials who have targeted immigrant and Latino communities and the increased numbers of deportations and broken families at the hands of the federal government. Their destination is the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.

Prior to the ride, many of the participants had chosen to hide their immigrant status. But, as a recent New York Times editorial noted, ?weary of life in the shadows and frustrated by the lack of progress toward reform, [the riders] will be telling federal authorities and the local police: Here are our names. This is our plan. If you want us, come get us.?

Leticia Ramirez, one of the UndocBus riders, wrote in a Charlotte Observer op/ed:

When I first came here in 1994, families could go to the store or the park without looking over their shoulders. Now the parks in our neighborhoods have police cars just monitoring us?Everywhere we go now, we find harassment. It feels like everyone is looking and pointing at you just because you?re brown.
That environment is what drove me to get involved in my community. Now we?re teaching undocumented people that they have rights and we can come together to get our loved ones and neighbors out of immigration detention centers. In Arizona, we?ve learned that there?s no reason to be afraid when our community is united.?

In two weeks, DHS?s deferred action policy is slated to go into effect. The new order will grant DREAM-eligible youth the chance to apply for temporary reprieve from deportation and will allow them to apply for work permits after going through an application process. But this policy change only helps DREAMers, not their parents, family members, or other members of the 11 million unauthorized immigrants currently living in the U.S. The UndocuBus riders’ aim is to mobilize people across the country in support of comprehensive immigration reform.

Read The Full Article:
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2012/07/31/618111/undocubus-protests-harsh-immig
ration-laws-demands-comprehensive-federal-reform/

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Democrats Adamant on Senate Version of Violence
Against Women Act

post from Firedoglake on 31 July 2012 07:33:49 PM. © Firedoglake

The renewal of the Violence Against Women Act got caught up earlier this year in a partisan controversy. Republicans objected to provisions that would have expanded the anti-domestic violence protections to tribal land, undocumented immigrants and[...]

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/firedoglake/fdl/~3/wBf4TizrVLY/

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BP Reports $1.4 Billion Loss

post from Crooks and Liars on 31 July 2012 07:00:46 PM. © Crooks and Liars

Oh, boo-hoo! BP investors will not be heartened by the unexpectedly severe loss Europe?s second-largest oil company experienced over the three-month period that ended June 30, as the company had already been lacking performance-wise lately. BP reported a loss of $1.4 billion, which it chalked up to a delayed Alaska project, the United States? taking advantage of its shale gas assets, and $4.8 billion in write-downs on some of their refineries. ?This is a very, very disappointing set of results; they missed across all fronts by a wide margin,? said one London oil analyst. BP?s CEO, Bob Dudley, is struggling to perform under the weight of problems he inherited from predecessor Tony Hayward after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

More at the NYT.

Read The Full Article:
http://crooksandliars.com/diane-sweet/bp-reports-14-billion-loss

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Romney Pulls a Lucy

I was waiting for this to happen. Just when conservatives got in the groove and excited embracing Mitt Romney's comments on Palestinian "culture," Romney turns around and disavows the statement. [...]

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Saudi Female Judoka Controversy, from Modified
Hijab to Lower Olympic Standards

Wodjan Shaherkani’s participation in the London 2012 Games had been in doubt after the International Judo Federation said she needed to remove the head scarf for her match. … She and teammate Sarah Attar, the kingdom’s first ever female Olympic competitors, have both signed agreements agreeing to compete only in kit that ‘sticks to Islamic principles,’ Ms Baker told CNN. The decision comes as the inclusion of female athletes for the first time ever in the Saudi Olympic team has prompted a heated reaction among hardliners in the oil-rich Middle Eastern state. [Daily Mail]

WHY SHOULD A WOMAN be allowed to compete in an Olympic event, regardless of country, if she’s not up to the standards of an Olympian? Would such dispensation be allowed for a man?

Or is this a good thing? Saudi Arabia doesn’t allow women to watch, let alone compete in sports, so perhaps this should be seen as a sign of some sort of incremental progress of some sort, though I can’t name what type at the moment.

From the Washington Post:

On another plane of debate entirely are competitors who may be sympathetic to Shahrkhani?s plight, but say she never should have been allowed to compete in the first place because she is not nearly at the level of the other Olympians ? a blue belt in which everyone else owns a high-level black belt. One former medalist called her a novice, and another competitor warned that judo fighters are not trained to go easy.
Some have also voiced concern that the hijab ? if not sufficiently form-fitting ? could lead to choking, or even offer Shahrkhani a competitive advantage, though one she is presumably not skilled enough to take much advantage of.

It all depends on if you believe the notion that the Olympics are an amateur competition created to bring countries together.

What is Olympism?

The three values of Olympism are excellence, friendship and respect. They constitute the foundation on which the Olympic Movement builds its activities to promote sport, culture and education with a view to building a better world.

So, it’s not about professionalism or ability if you look at the Olympic charter and the definition of Olympism. However, as we see the athletes today, many are professionals, gaining sponsors, endorsements and other deals, though only “official” Olympic corporations can be recognized.

It’s all very contorted, a bastardized version of the original intent.

So, having a Saudi woman, wearing the modified hijab and being held to lower standards, may seem like progress to some, but to many it’s somewhere between a joke and blasphemy.

Read The Full Article:
http://taylormarsh.com/blog/2012/07/saudi-female-judoka-controversy-from-modified
-hijab-to-lower-olympic-standards/

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