Cold this morning! The sun is out so I am hoping it will warm things up a bit.
The Victorian Latte Shawl is slowly gaining length. I had a lot of house chores to do this weekend and I definitely had my fill of running up and down the stairs. By the time I sat down I fell asleep. :)
The UK got battered by a storm with high winds. Glad it wasn’t hurricane strength.
I have been busy all morning and now I look up t the clock and find that half the day is already gone. ARGH!
Have a good one.
Recommended Reading
A Threat to Nuke Tehran - another looney who gives money to the repubs and this one is scarry.
http://consortiumnews.com/2013/10/26/a-threat-to-nuke-tehran/ Bigwigs fingered in Hwange elephant poisoning
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/2013/10/20/bigwigs-fingered-hwange-elephant-poisoning/ The Affordable Care Act’s Lower-Than-Projected Premiums Will Save $190 Billion
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/healthcare/report/2013/10/23/77537/the-affordable-care-acts-lower-than-projected-premiums-will-save-190-billion/ The Kochs' Brazen Buyout of Our Democracy Is Right Up There with the Worst Oligarchs in American History
http://www.alternet.org/economy/kochs-brazen-buyout-our-democracy-right-there-worst-oligarchs-american-history?akid=11081.204376.9txNCI&rd=1&src=newsletter915315&t=5 James Hansen: How We Can Stop Big Oil in its Tracks and Keep Dirty Energy in the Ground
http://www.alternet.org/environment/james-hansen-how-we-can-stop-big-oil-its-tracks-and-keep-dirty-energy-ground?akid=11081.204376.9txNCI&rd=1&src=newsletter915315&t=11 Junk Food Lobby Forced to Disclose Secret Donors in Campaign to Stop GMO Labeling
http://www.alternet.org/food/junk-food-lobby-forced-disclose-secret-donors-campaign-stop-gmo-labeling?akid=11081.204376.9txNCI&rd=1&src=newsletter915315&t=21 Comedian Russell Brand's Surprisingly Good Essay on the Possibilities of a Revolutionary Politics
http://www.alternet.org/world/comedian-russell-brands-surprisingly-good-essay-possibilities-revolutionary-politics?akid=11081.204376.9txNCI&rd=1&src=newsletter915315&t=17 Uniting to Build a National Networked Culture of Resistance
http://www.alternet.org/activism/uniting-build-national-networked-culture-resistance **We'll run out of cocoa in just SEVEN years!
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/343229/We-ll-run-out-of-cocoa-in-just-SEVEN-years Marcia Wallace dies aged 70 - from this piece you would think she didn’t do anything but the Simpsons! You can read more about her on Wikipedia -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcia_Wallacehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24690452 Mount Etna eruption lights up Sicilian sky
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24688230 How to make your TV a touchscreen
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24673444 Lou Reed, Velvet Underground frontman, dies at 71
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24697765 - %22
Iain Speirs bags Glenfiddich Piping crown
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-24685845 Hal Needham dies
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24693257 NYT Tech Columnist David Pogue Marries PR Flack Girlfriend - ethically busted
http://valleywag.gawker.com/nyt-tech-columnist-david-pogue-marries-pr-flack-girlfri-503800144/@sambiddle Dark Money Groups Pay $1 Million In Fines In California Case
http://www.nationalmemo.com/dark-money-groups-pay-1-million-in-fines-in-california-case/ How One Guy Stood Up to the Koch Brothers and Won! - a bit more on the above story
http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/public-interest-activists-wins-million-dollar-fine-against-koch-brothers?akid=11085.1084699.C47iIv&rd=1&src=newsletter915483&t=4 Given the NSA Is Wiretapping the Personal Phones of World Leaders, They Are Certainly Spying on Us
http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/18275-given-the-nsa-is-wiretapping-the-personal-phones-of-world-leaders-they-are-certainly-spying-on-us **Goodbye Free Press? As Europe Erupts Over US Spying, NSA Chief Says Government Must Stop the Media
http://www.alternet.org/media/goodbye-free-press-europe-erupts-over-us-spying-nsa-chief-says-government-must-stop-media?akid=11085.204376.MCHAja&rd=1&src=newsletter915483&t=12 Alzheimer's insight from DNA study
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-24670848 Halloween artist carves pumpkins into the Death Star
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24678803 Humble Clumps of Moss Yield Sobering Climate Surprises
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/imageo/2013/10/24/humble-clumps-moss-yield-sobering-climate-surprise/#.Um3l8ySfLog Social Security and the CPI Cuts: A Solution to a Bogus Non-Crisis
http://mikethemadbiologist.com/2013/10/28/social-security-and-the-cpi-cuts-a-solution-to-a-bogus-non-crisis/ A Very Good Idea!
Click to view
Go sign the petition:
http://climatenamechange.org/ The Commerce Dept's Internet Policy Task Force proposed making it a felony to stream copyrighted content (aka SOPA Section 201).
Interpreted broadly, this proposal would apply to anyone who uploads a YouTube video of themselves covering a song without permission, a video with copyrighted music playing in the background, even your friend's embarassing karoke performance or your family singing "Happy Birthday To You."
The federal government wants to make streaming -- including material which falls under the "public performance" category -- punishable by years in prison.
As was pointed out last time they tried this, many artists depend on uploading YouTube covers to jumpstart their careers (including the young Justin Beiber...), and many others enjoy streaming creative interpretations of existing songs on their own websites or blogs. This proposal would make both subject to felony prosecution.
Click here to tell Obama NO to making streaming a felony, and NO new SOPA-style censorship:
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/streaming/?referring_akid=2268.655732.bYRpA8&source=taf It is best that you watch this:
'We're building a domestic army' -Marine Corps colonel speaks out
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/08/15/1231397/--We-re-building-a-domestic-army-Marine-Corps-Colonel-speaks-out?detail=email ***How Government Cover-Up on Fish Farming Affects Your Health - Canada has a problem. It’s lengthy but worth the watch.
Petitions that need your signature
Subject: Here we go again…
The Monsanto protection act is back and may be included in the new 3-month spending bill!
Though wrapped in a “farmer-friendly” package, the Monsanto-driven rider remains simply a biotech industry ploy to continue to plant GE crops even when a court of law has found they were approved illegally.
Will you join me in telling Congress to exclude this dangerous rider in the upcoming spending bill?
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/1881/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=11974&sp_ref=10142675.65.579.e.2444.2 The USDA is about to slash regulations for poultry plants, saving big corporations millions at the expense of public health and workers’ safety.
If new rules are allowed to go into effect, poultry plants will be able to follow less stringent health and safety rules, speed up their production lines, and police themselves for any violations. That means that chicken will come doused with feces and bleach and that workers will be at greater risk of serious injury.
Now the only person who can reverse these regulations is President Obama. Will you join me in saying that these that these disgusting rules are unacceptable?
http://action.sumofus.org/a/usda-chicken/2/?sub=taf Rep. Darrell Issa is trying to pass a bill that would not only end Saturday delivery by the postal service, but also door-to-door mail service for millions. We must stop this outrageous attempt to kill the USPS and hand its business to FedEx and UPS. Go sign the petition:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/issa_usps?akid=8606.952925.D3Dc4S&rd=1&t=2 They are at it again
The Texas Taliban - also known as the rightwing majority on the Texas State Board of Education - want to revise the state's standards for science textbooks to require the addition of religious pseudoscience when teaching subjects like biology. And this isn't just bad news for Texas school children because the Texas standards will impact the textbooks used by millions of students nationwide.
Texas may want to dumb-down their children by teaching them pseudoscience but I don’t want the children of my state to be taught this way. Tell textbook publishers to stand up to the Texas Taliban and only publish books that are based on sound, peer-reviewed science scholarship. Click the link below to sign the petition automatically:
http://act.credoaction.com/sign/texas_taliban/?sp_ref=7570952.4.422.e.0.2&referring_akid=8622.952925.lJjLf7&source=mailto_sp The Mind Your Own Business Act
http://mindyourownbusinessact.com/?source=Jun13Email America's top grocers are selling fake honey containing carcinogens, heavy metals, and banned antibiotics.
Get grocers to make sure they're selling us the real thing.
http://action.sumofus.org/a/honey-fake-walgreens/4/2/?akid=1806.65932.QE7P4I&rd=1&sub=fwd&t=3 The Wounded Knee site has been held sacred by the Lakota Sioux since the horrific massacre that happened there in 1890. Now, it's in danger of being sold to the highest bidder, including someone who would build a horse slaughterhouse on the plot.
The current owner has offered to sell the site to its rightful owners, the nearby Oglala tribe, for the cool price of $3.9 million. But The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, just a few miles from where Wounded Knee is located, is one of the poorest places in the country. To build a horse slaughterhouse on their sacred site after everything the tribe has already suffered would be unthinkable.
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/AhnMh/zNI6/3R2f And now a word about Monsanto and others like them. These profit-hungry biotech companies have found a way to exclusively ‘own’ something that freely belongs to us all -- our food! They’re trying to patent away our everyday vegetables and fruits like cucumber, broccoli and melons, forcing growers to pay them and risk being sued if they don’t.
Companies like Monsanto have found loopholes in European law to get away with this, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands -- where opposition is already growing -- to call for a vote to stop Monsanto’s plans. Go sign the petition.
http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_loc/?bjeIjab&v=23911 Tell Nestlé: Stop trying to patent a natural cure
In a paper published last year, Nestlé scientists claimed to “discover” what much of the world has known for millennia: that nigella sativa extract could be used for “nutritional interventions in humans with food allergy”.
But instead of creating an artificial substitute, or fighting to make sure the remedy was widely available, Nestlé is attempting to create a nigella sativa monopoly and gain the ability to sue anyone using it without Nestlé’s permission. Nestlé has filed patent applications -- which are currently pending -- around the world.
Sing the petition:
http://action.sumofus.org/a/nestle-nigella-sativa/11/2/?akid=1601.65932.w0DNPx&rd=1&sub=fwd3&t=4 Maddow features PCCC activism
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7LANHts78c Tell Congress Social Security is non-negotiable.
http://act.couragecampaign.org/sign/standwithbernie Amazon is at it again! Please go sign this petition. It is not fair for those of us who make our living by writing. Authors are not libraries and while most of us enjoy the social side of writing we do this to pay our bills. If some one returns an ebook after reading it our royalties get reduced.
I just signed the pe
etition "Amazon Kindle e-Book Return Policy: Stop allowing refunds on e-Books after e-Books have been read." on
http://Change.org/ It's important. Here's the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/amazon-kindle-e-book-return-policy-stop-allowing-refunds-on-e-books-after-e-books-have-been-read North Dakota just passed the most extreme abortion ban in the country. It's just one of some 300 bills across the country designed to take away women's rights and access to health care -- and ultimately to overturn Roe vs. Wade. Don't let lawmakers get away with it, take action today:
http://ppaction.org/WakeUpCall Click here to tell Obama to veto CISPA:
http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/veto_cispa/?referring_akid=a8234599.655732.Af5Ve3&source=auto-taf AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon have all agreed to start spying on their users.
The US's largest Internet Service Providers are implementing a new "online infringement" plan to identify and punish, with virtually no due process, users suspected of downloading copyrighted content.
https://act.demandprogress.org/letter/six_strikes_2013/?rd=1&t=1&referring_akid=undefined Remember CISPA? Well, it’s back - sign the petition
http://www.cispaisback.com/ Oppose Seismic Surveys in the Atlantic - sign it please
http://action.surfrider.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=6937 Tell Congress to Dump Monsanto's Riders!
http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/50865/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=8644 Bury Power Lines in Cities and Towns, Prevent Long-Lasting Outages, Improve National Security
http://signon.org/sign/bury-power-lines-in-cities?mailing_id=7341&source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=913515 Protect Global Internet Freedom - go sign the petition
http://protectinternetfreedom.net/ The Sierra Club has a variety of actions to be taken. Just follow the link.
Send the congress a letter here:
http://action.sierraclub.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=9962
Do you really own the smartphone or computer you’re using to read this email?
If you sold your computer, would you be breaking the law? A federal court in New York says you would be.
It's unbelievable, but trademark and copyright holders really are trying to take away your right to sell things that you own. Please click here to fight back:
http://www.youvebeenowned.org/ The First-Sale Doctrine gives us the right to sell most property we own. But if the Supreme Court supports the lower court’s decision, we won't really “own” anything if it's from a different country. We expect them to issue a ruling later this year.
The President can urge the Court to side with consumers; then Congress will probably weigh in on the issue, no matter how the Court rules.
If we lose this fight, anybody who wants to resell foreign products, from Macbooks and iPhones to our clothing and textbooks, will have to ask copyright holders for permission first. And they'll have the right to deny it!
Just click here to email your lawmakers right away:
http://www.youvebeenowned.org/ There are two very bad internet bills that you need to be aware of. The first concerns making streaming content a felony. Read about it here:
http://act.demandprogress.org/letter/ten_strikes?akid=700.450896.5hVZPC&rd=1&t=1 and the second is the Protect-IP Act that gives the government power to censor search engines and browsers. Read more about it here:
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/protectip_docs Both of the above pages have a petition to sign so please do so.
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