Message from a BattleStar
The vast starship was many years away when the transmissions began. Some of the scouts and weapons platforms were already in system, though.The People of Earth speech was aimed at Athens, Alexandria...
View ArticleWhereas
Whereas I know that herding cats during an earthquake in the rain through LA is easy compared to keeping Democrats together,(even if they control three branches of government and have a shot at...
View ArticleSomething wonderful this way comes
A famous curse supposedly says "may you live in interesting times." I suppose we are all cursed as these are the most interesting times that I would like to live through over the past several thousand...
View Article1821 meet 2011
1821, the year of the Greek Revolution and a new Greek relatively high-production-values documentary, can teach us much.The Greek doc and HBO's John Adams are similar in teaching sometimes...
View ArticleHave they just invented the Ansible?
When I first saw this article the thought came that this would be just what the invention of the ansible would look like.An ansible is a hypothetical machine capable of instantaneous or superluminal...
View ArticleAverting catastrophe: the ways and means coming together
Global warming and climate change. Peak oil. Corporate dominance. Rising food prices. Exploding populations. Unsustainable economies. Environmental degradation. Water scarcities and droughts. Peak...
View ArticleHighest pay counterproductive. Please spread meme for free.
There's a video I want you to see. Actually there are two or three, at least. If you don't have the time right now, save them for later but if you can, watch the first one now.Everything that...
View ArticleMisuratah, updated
Update:Spelling error in the title fixed : (Minor other edits.The tale of Misuratah or Misrata or however you want to spell it, is a tale full of woe, blood and heroism, along with an incredible dose...
View ArticleThe one place where folks happily rush to the balcony when bombs fall
Tripoli, Libya. The sound of jets flying high above comes through the open window. Boom, boom, boom. Everyone rushes to their balconies, trying to pinpoint the impact zone. Tracer fire laces the sky....
View ArticleBenghazi Broadcasts with a British Accent
A bunch of Anglo-Libyans have launched a radio station, TributeFM (also available on-line). They just had a live caller on from Tripoli. Some quotes culled from the ChangeInLibya twitter stream:Tripoli...
View Article"Why Are Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh Against Strong Women in Politics?"
Because they are sexist right wing brain dead assholes with about two braincells to share between them, maybe?Link
View ArticleLibya, the endgame
The so-called 'stalemate' in Libya promoted by some news organizations is anything but. True, in the east the front line has remained static for a while now but that is deliberate. NATO has requested...
View ArticleApaches and Tigres go to Libya, oh my!
And for once they are not American. This is a war that America has largely pulled back from and the fighters and bombers are being flown by Europeans and a couple of Arabs. Of course the US still has a...
View ArticleChampions League Final Open Thread
In just a few minutes the Champions League Final between Barcelona and Manchester United will begin.I just saw on Twitter a Libyan supporter of the revolution joke that this is the closest to a...
View ArticleGaddafi's birthday present - Libya update
Moammar Gaddafi marked his 69th birthday today (June 7). Apparently NATO thought they might join the celebrations. We're over 60 strikes today in Tripoli and action is ongoing. Are they going for 69?It...
View ArticleGreece: Prime Minister offers to step-down for National Unity Government:...
UPDATE: Apparently the opposition's demands were too much for Mr Papandreou who withdrew his offer to resign and will proceed with a wide-ranging Government reshuffle.Awaiting developments but it would...
View ArticleNow, for something completely different! How do we get from here to there?...
Self-indulgent rant follows.We all agree that the present system is unsustainable. There is some hope that things could be turned around if we grasp the bull by the horns. However we all suffer from...
View ArticleNuclear Power: You're doing it wrong!
Nuclear power generation, as it is practiced today, is: inefficient, dirty, dangerous and water-dependent. It does not have to be that way.A few weeks back there was a diary by The Anomaly that seemed...
View ArticleA good day for Libya: US recognition for the NTC, oil fields repaired
I'm sort of surprised not to have seen this mentioned here: the United States has officially recognized the leadership of the Libyan Revolution as the legitimate government of Libya, potentially...
View ArticleUpdate from Athens
George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, is actually fulfilling one of his campaign promises, that of green development. A recently enacted real estate tax to be collected via electricity bills has...
View ArticleUpdated x 8: Greek Government close to collapse
Following yesterday's announcement of a referendum on the latest bailout/surrender of sovereignty by Greek PM George Papandreou, discussed here on dailykos, political developments have been...
View ArticleUpdated x 8 final: Greece has a new government
And that is about all that is certain. Papandreou will not lead it. Details to follow.UPDATE 22:30 Athens time.The outgoing prime minister of Greece, George Papandreou and his right of center opposite...
View Article"Elephant mourns friend", updated with more video
"Elephant mourns friend" was one of the headlines I clicked on at newsbeast.gr a Greek tabloid site I was perusing a in search of information about the new Greek government that is to be announced...
View ArticleGreece has a new Prime Minister!
After several days of operatic farce alternating with tragedy, the major non-leftwing parties agreed to form a government led by Lucas Papademos. So, who is he?A cautious, soft-spoken technocrat who,...
View ArticleThe Rules of Revolution.
Revolution is NOT war and the rules that indicate when one should go to war, declare victory or defeat are not the same as the dynamics that govern when a populace will revolt.In the comments to...
View ArticleAn Observation about Interest Rates
When I was growing up in post-Junta Greece in the 70s and early 80s and then when I came back in the 90s, inflation and interest rates were high but the interest rates were always higher than the...
View ArticleUpdate from Athens, December 12, 2011 edition
Since the last time we touched this subject, things have gone south. Kids have fainted in class because they have not eaten in a few days. Consumption of heating fuel is down 50%, even in places like...
View ArticleBenghazi, next stop, Athens, I'm out of here
I have a job offer! Teaching English to young kids in Benghazi, Libya for six months (extendable on mutual agreement), accommodation and car supplied, an allowance for local expenses and salary paid in...
View ArticleBenghazi calling.
I was going to post this yesterday but I was sick in bed and stuck out in the outskirts of town so I really had no personal feel for the celebrations. Now though, while still not terribly well, I am...
View ArticleAn Open Letter to Chancellor Merkel
The following is an open letter to Chancellor Merkel from Thanos Tzimeros, leader of the small liberal party Dimiourgia Xana (literally, Creation Again), a voice of sanity in Greece. It clearly and...
View ArticleShhh... black ops... Clint is one of ours...
On the front page it says that BHO remains a huge fan of Clint Eastwood. Well, of course. Mr Eastwood was an undercover agent who accomplished his mission. Romney's PR movie and speech were completely...
View ArticleBack to Benghazi
I have failed you. The photo rich diaries and insightful political posts I had promised never materialized. I finished my first stint and just went on vacation, neglecting all of you. I am truly...
View ArticlePrime numbers deep connection proof? Updated
Twitter called my attention to this (hastily written and error-prone, according to the comments) post in SciAm. The picture looks beautiful (though the link to a larger version doesn't work) and it...
View ArticleBreaking: Attack on US consulate in Benghazi, Updated x 4 US Ambassador killed
MAJOR UPDATE: Just woke up to this:The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other embassy staff were killed in a rocket attack on their car, a Libyan official said, as they were rushed from a consular...
View ArticleMy uncle, the family legend, took advantage of the GI bill.
I barely knew him so this post by my mother brought tears to my eyes. I won't have much to add and I really think anybody interested should follow the link and perhaps even read some more of her stuff....
View ArticleAssociated Press-GfK poll: Obama up by 15 among all adults, up by 10 among RVs
Changed title and edited to correct a misapprehension.Good Moorrrniiing America. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll has Obama up 52 to 37 among all adults and an approval rating also over fifty....
View ArticleBrutal police intervention in Istanbul. #occupygezi
Turkish anti-riot police are brutally trying to suppress protests in Istanbul, Turkey against the destruction of the city's last remaining green space in order to build yet another mall. They are...
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Cairo! 'Massive' doesn't do it justice.
So far relatively peaceful. All pics from Twitter. A year ago the Muslim Brotherhood's candidate won the presidential election in Egypt. The contest was initially a fourway and went down to a runoff...
View ArticleDo the rich have a plan?
We've been told that Plutistan (those worth more than a million) increased its population by one million last year, bringing it to 12 million, with a combined worth of over 50 trillion. To put that in...
View ArticleHarsh mellows
I recommend reading the fairly short links and not relying on the quotes if you want the full hilarity of it all.A few days ago I clicked on a Maureen Dowd column in the New York Times, by mistake, and...
View ArticleMind-blowing poll: GOP - climate change
Over the last 24 hours I've been trying to fit into my head a statement from the new PM of Greece who said, and I paraphrase, 'I'm going to try to something innovative, to keep my pre-election...
View Article#mazi - together Massive peaceful demonstrations in SUPPORT of the new Greek...
As the finance ministers of the Eurozone gather for a crucial meeting on the future of Greece, thousands of citizens are braving freezing temperatures (yes, it's been snowing in Athens too) to show...
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Israel: "massive late-evening jumps in voter turnout as evidence of fraud"
Brady Kiesling (former US diplomat who resigned in opposition to the Iraq war and the lies of the Bush administration) posted a seemingly innocuous graph from an official website with the comment:...
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Penny wise, pound foolish: budget cuts threaten Opportunity and LRO
We all remember those first words spoken by an astronaut on the surface of Mars: "That's one small step fo- HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT IT'S GOT SOME KIND OF DRILL! Get back to the ... [unintelligible] ......
View ArticleInstead of the Jews, it's the hedge fund managers
Oh my! Apparently an actual living person actually said this on the record, anonymously of course:Instead of the Jews, it's the hedge fund managers I was following the link from the Bernie Sanders...
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Congress: this is a blackout.
We are blocking your access until you end mass surveillance lawsYou have conducted mass surveillance of everyone illegally and are now on record for trying to enact those programs into law. You have...
View ArticleActual journalism: WaPo documents police shootings, more than 2 per day
Finally someone is gathering the information necessary to the debate about police killings and it is not the Federal government. The Washington Post has an excellent article"Fatal police shootings in...
View ArticleWonderful breaking news: Comet lander has woken up
Tweets and the BBC inform us that Philae has woken up:Hello @Philae2014 !!! Is that really you? So glad to hear from you, how are you? https://t.co/...— ESA (@esa) June 14, 2015The European Space...
View ArticleBlack Friday: Attacks in France, Kuwait and Tunisia
Awful, horrible day.In the French city of Lyon a man was decapitated and others were hurt in a suspected IS attack on a factory.The dead man was found with Arabic inscriptions on him and an Islamist...
View ArticleBreaking: Greece calls referendum in response to ultimatum. UPDATED
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced a referendum in response to the ultimatum submitted by the country's creditors, the so-called 'institutions', formerly the troika of the European...
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