Robert Nolan, a top editor at the Foreign Policy Association says the biggest story in this weekend’s Wikileaks document release is the extent to which Arab regimes in the Mideast have been pushing the US to take a harder line with Iran. (Nov. 29)
Continue reading …Continue reading the main story Related stories Brazil forces take over Rio slum In pictures: Brazil forces enter Rio slum Rio drug traffickers surrounded Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has praised a police and military operation to take control of a notorious drug traffickers’ stronghold in the city of Rio de Janeiro. President Lula said the occupation of the Complexo do Alemao favela was just the start of a campaign to rid Rio of drugs gangs. “We will win this war,” he said. Some 2,600 police and paratroopers moved into the favela on Sunday, backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters. President Lula said…
Continue reading …How’s this for a mental image ? In an effort to make our synapses sexier to the general public, one enterprising neuroscience aficionado and Ph.D.-to-be cooked up a book of pretty pictures of the human brain as rendered from past to present. Related Entries November 24, 2010 More News, Less Turkey November 17, 2010 Jet Lag Makes You Dumb (If You’re a Hamster)
Continue reading …If Congress lets unemployment benefits expire this week, economists say the overall economy would suffer because the jobless typically spend every dollar they get, pumping cash into businesses.( Nov. 29)
Continue reading …According to networking company Level 3 Communications, Comcast just couldn’t wait for its NBC deal to go through before getting all jerky with the access to online video, telling Level 3 on November 19th that it would need to pay a fee to deliver video to Comcast customers. Level 3 delivers videos from many companies over its networks, but the timing is particularly notable since on November 11th it signed up bandwidth-chewing Netflix as a major customer. While this sounds like exactly the kind of anti-net neutrality nonsense that makes us want to crank some OK Go , Comcast has responded saying it’s doing no such thing, and it’s actually Level 3 seeking a competitive advantage by suddenly sending far more information onto Comcast’s network than it accepts. The cable company goes on to claim this situation is no different than its existing deals with Level 3′s competitors, and that as long as traffic remains in balance it is willing to allow access settlement free, but if they want to push their growth (read: Netflix) onto Comcast’s pipes, they’ll have to pay up. We’ll wait and see if this is all just a simple negotiating ploy or a true strike in the battle over net neutrality, but you may still want to get a refresher course on exactly what net neutrality is all about from our friend Tim Wu just in case. Continue reading Comcast, Level 3 Communications square off over video streaming, network neutrality principles Comcast, Level 3 Communications square off over video streaming, network neutrality principles originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Nov 2010 20:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Photo: meddygarnet / CC It’s the source of energy that drives virtually all systems on Earth , making life itself possible on what would otherwise be a cold, inhospitable rock in the vastness of space — the Sun. And, after what would appear to be a clerical oversight by the whole of humani… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …A 19-year-old Somali-American man has pleaded not guilty to an alleged plot to blow up a car bomb at an Oregon Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland. Mohamed Osman Mohamud entered the plea Monday in federal court in Portland. (Nov. 29)
Continue reading …Click here to view this media Fox News is helping a former Republican congressman spread the myth that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. Appearing on Fox News Monday, John LeBoutillier explained that his new fictional book uses “real things” like Obama’s grandmother once claimed she was present for his Kenyan birth. LeBoutillier’s new book, The Obama Identity: A Novel (Or Is It?) , seems to be referring to a 2008 World Net Daily article where a Pennsylvania man is said to have a telephone recording of Obama’s grandmother. “Ed Klein and I, when we wrote this book, used real things in a book of fiction,” LeBoutillier told Fox News hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade. “There’s so much real stuff in this book. Like you asked me before we came on the air about Obama’s grandmother living today in Kenya. And we have her in the book. It’s fiction but in reality, she has claimed consistently that he was born in Mombasa, Kenya. She said this adamantly on the record. We took that and used it in the book in a very funny way,” he said. “I’m sure that will resonate well with everybody,” Kilmeade replied sarcastically. “I’m sure the White House will be thrilled,” LeBoutillier joked. The former New York congressman explained that his fictional Obama truly believes that he was “the one” Americans have been waiting for. “The day he is inaugurated in our book he goes right from the Capitol back to the Oval Office and goes in there and he is greeted by his staff in a way that you wouldn’t believe. They wash his feet. They have Filipino stewards come wash his feet and fan his smoking and blow the smoke out the White House window,” LeBoutillier said. “It’s symbolic of how everyone around Obama treats him. They treat him as Brian said. He’s like the second coming. He’s the one, the messiah, this man who has been parachuted into this country to save us from ourselves,” he continued. “[T]he only way to handle Obama, I think, is to make fun of him because the guy is a ridiculous creature that we’ve been handed by the left.” “Once again, the book is fiction,” Doocy pointed out. “Or is it?” LeBoutillier added. “I think it’s both,” Kilmeade concluded. It’s not the first time Fox News has given a platform to birther notions. In July 2009, Fox News anchor Bret Baier reported that a US soldier was refusing to deploy because Obama was not born in the US. “Baier never pointed out that Obama’s American birth certificate has been produced and authenticated,” News Hounds noted . In August 2008, FactCheck.org confirmed that it had examined and verified Obama’s birth certificate. In April of this year, Fox News correspondent Wendell Goler asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs , “Do the complaints of birthers complicate the president’s dealing with the American Muslim community?” “I got to give you credit, Wendell, for getting a lot of crazy people in one question,” Gibbs replied. “I’ve said this many times, Wendell. If you’re — if after I asked that the President’s birth certificate be put on the Internet hasn’t dissuaded you from where he was being born, I’m almost positive that no argument is somehow going to dissuade you from that,” Gibbs added.
Continue reading …Light exercises such as walking and bowling and avoidance of knee-bending activities such as climbing and squatting may protect against osteoarthritis of the knee in at-risk people, researchers report.
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