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California Should Pay Its People in Pot

California's state finances have gone to pot, and that's what it should use to pay its employees. Right now the state... more

JackHerer
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10 minutes ago

To fix UC system budget failure, UCSD proposes to close UC Merced

The following is an excerpt from the letter signed by 23 department chairs at the University of California at San Diego. The letter was dated June 15, 2009 and was forwarded to the University of California Office of the President:

3. Establish different budget priorities for the profiles of different UC campuses. Every state system of public education save California manages to sustain (at best) one flagship campus. Many, including such states as New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, do not manage even

that. We pretend we have ten such campuses. In better times, there were in reality four flagships (Berkeley, UCLA, UCSD, and – in its highly specialized way, UCSF). Rather than destroying the distinctiveness and excellence at Berkeley, UCLA, and UCSD by hiring temporary lecturers to do most of the teaching (and contribute nothing to original research, nothing to our reputation, nothing to the engine of economic growth a first rate research university represents), we propose that you urge the President and Regents to acknowledge that UCSC, UCR, and UC Merced are in substantial measure teaching institutions (with some exceptions – programs that have genuinely achieved national and international excellence and thus deserve separate treatment), whose funding levels and budgets should be reorganized to match that reality.

We suggest, more generally, that in discussions systemwide, you drop the pretence that all campuses are equal, and argue for a selective reallocation of funds to preserve excellence, not the current disastrous blunderbuss policy of even, across the board cuts. Or, if that is too hard, we suggest that what ought to be done is to shut one or more of these campuses down, in whole or in part. We have suffered more than a 30 per cent cut in our funding from the state, and we can thus no longer afford to be a ten campus system – only a nine, or an eight (and a half) campus system. Corporations faced with similar problems eliminate or sell off their least profitable, least promising divisions. Even General Motors, which for decades resisted this logic, to its near-fatal cost, is lopping off Hummer, Buick, GMC, Opel, Saab and who knows what else.

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Oh the wonders of Facebook notes. . .The following is an excerpt from the letter signed by 23 department chairs at the University of California at San Diego. The... more

TheBrownKid
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My Sister's Keeper reviewed by The Rotten Tomatoes Show

Brett Erlich and Ellen Fox join forces with bloggers, comedians, students and citizen critics to review "My Sister's... more

Ellen_Fox
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12 minutes ago

Dove World Outreach Center: Islam is of the Devil

About 125 people of diverse religions, ages and races gathered in front of the Dove World Outreach Center Wednesday evening for a... more

FallenMorgan
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13 minutes ago

Israel shows its Criminal Guilt: Gaza War Crimes Probe Faces Israel Resistance

The fact that Israel will not cooperate with ANY investigation, is in itself a show of Guilt. This Guilt is for crimes against humanity that are some of the most atrocious acts ever committed against innocent people-here's the story...

Donatella Rovera, who headed a field research mission to Gaza and southern Israel during and after the conflict said that "Israel's failure to properly investigate its forces' conduct in Gaza, including war crimes, and its continuing refusal to cooperate with the UN international independent fact-finding mission headed by Richard Goldstone, is evidence of its intention to avoid public scrutiny and accountability." Donatella Rovera added, "the international community, led by the UN Security Council, must use all its leverage to ensure that Israel cooperates fully with the Goldstone inquiry, which now offers the best means to establish the truth."

The Amnesty International report documents Israel's use of battlefield weapons against a civilian population trapped in Gaza, with no means of escape. The report is based on evidence gathered by Amnesty International delegates, including a military expert, during field research in January and February. The report shows that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups fired hundreds of rockets into southern Israel, killing three Israeli civilians, injuring scores and driving thousands from their homes. "Such unlawful attacks constitute war crimes and are unacceptable," added Donatella Rovera.

In an Amnesty International release, the organization indicates that the scale and intensity of the attacks on Gaza were unprecedented. Some 300 children and hundreds of other unarmed civilians who took no part in the conflict were among the 1,400 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. Most were killed with high-precision weapons, relying on surveillance drones which have exceptionally good optics, allowing those observing to see their targets in detail. Others were killed with imprecise weapons, including artillery shells carrying white phosphorus – not previously used in Gaza - which should never be used in densely populated areas.

Amnesty International found that the victims of the attacks it investigated were not caught in the crossfire during battles between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces, nor were they shielding militants or other military objects. Many were killed when their homes were bombed while they slept. Others were sitting in their yard or hanging the laundry on the roof. Children were struck while playing in their bedrooms or on the roof, or near their homes. Paramedics and ambulances were repeatedly attacked while attempting to rescue the wounded or recover the dead.

"The deaths of so many children and other civilians cannot be dismissed simply as 'collateral damage', as argued by Israel," said Donatella Rovera. "Many questions remain to be answered about these attacks and about the fact that the strikes continued unabated despite the rising civilian death toll."The fact that Israel will not cooperate with ANY investigation, is in itself a show of Guilt. This Guilt is for crimes against... more

WorldPeaceTV
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18 minutes ago

General Audience: Pope explains "Caritas in Veritate"

Dear Brothers and Sisters,Today I wish to reflect on my Encyclical, Caritas in Veritate. Some forty years after Pope Paul VIs... more

jlaws
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21 minutes ago

Evian Roller Babies

ad for their new "live young" campaign

jessilee23
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23 minutes ago

Walking the Last Free Mile with Eddy Lepp

Today Eddy Lepp called me at about 10:30 a.m. and said they were getting ready to pass through Pismo Beach. I hopped into my car... more

JackHerer
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26 minutes ago

Postcards From the Edge---Of Insanity!!!

Somewhere out there this rings true for some elderly middle age folks. No offense of course. I'm not mad at you.

sonjasreality
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29 minutes ago

Politicide or politic: Gillard and the Gaza muzzle

Days after the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was greeted in Israel and thanked for having been "alone in sticking by us" during Operation Cast Lead, the attack on the Gaza Strip in December and January, the Jewish state added piracy to its list of recent crimes against international law. The two developments are connected, and not just by coincidence of timing.

Israel sent six military vessels to seize a ship, the Spirit of Humanity, sailing from Cyprus with relief supplies for the people of Gaza, and arrested - no, make that abducted - 21 people on board, including the Nobel laureate Mairead Corrigan Maguire. After a week in detention, they were released and deported.

At no time did the Spirit enter Israeli waters, so Israel's action could be deemed piracy under the definition of the International Maritime Bureau: "The act of boarding any vessel with an intent to commit theft or any other crime, and with an intent or capacity to use force in furtherance of that act". At least it amounts to an infringement of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which reserves the high seas for "peaceful purposes".

The Spirit's three-tonne cargo included medical and reconstruction supplies, and children's toys. Greece, whose flag the ship was flying, has asked for its return, and Israel says some of the goods on board may be passed on to Gazans for whom they were intended, "subject to security clearance". For now, it is forcibly keeping them from their rightful owners.

The international jurist Richard Falk, who has served as UN Human Rights Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, points out that this compounds an existing and ongoing violation of international law. The boat set sail in response to Israel's blockade of Gaza, which, Falk says, contravenes Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits any form of collective punishment of an occupied people.
---------------there's alot more at the link. The above story is typical. Speak against any thing Israel does, and you will be castrated as a hater or antisemitic, despite the FACT that Israel has broken numerous laws, as well as criminal acts.Days after the Deputy Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, was greeted in Israel and thanked for having been "alone in sticking by... more