Politics

Merry Christmas! Israel's 'other Bethlehem': have Christians celebrated Jesus's birth in the wrong place all these years? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/11310856/Israels-other-Bethlehem-have-Christians-celebrated-Jesuss-birth-in-the-wrong-place-all-these-years.html

I know all you tourists want to go to Havana for an overnight or two. It is great that Alan Gross was released. I think it is better to have communication with your enemies than not. But the average citizen of Cuba ( basically the only Cubans I care about) will likely not benefit from the US giving much and getting almost nothing in return. They will still be living in a Communist dictatorship with the economy and every thing else controlled by the government. They cannot legally own USD or any other currency other than worthless Cuban Pesos. One of the prisoners about to be released conspired to have two US unarmed planes in international waters shot down killing a…

Fascinating glimpse into the mind of George III. Not really Politics but whatever. George III 'eccentric' drawing discovered hidden in British Library http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11302652/George-III-eccentric-drawing-discovered-hidden-in-British-Library.html

Crazy like a fox? Pope Francis' Machiavellian strategy to liberalize the Catholic Church The Vatican's synod on the family hasn't changed church doctrine. But it could slyly lay the groundwork for a major upheaval down the road. By Damon Linker | October 15, 2014 The Week He's a crafty one. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images) Maybe you can help me. I'm confused. The Catechism of the Catholic Church declares as a matter of binding doctrine that homosexual acts are "acts of grave depravity," "contrary to the natural law," and "intrinsically" as well as "objectively disordered." "Under no circumstances" can those acts "be approved." Although people who feel same-sex attract…

Those darned Saxe-Coburg-Gothas! The funniest Royal Family pictures of 2014 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/11296246/The-funniest-Royal-Family-pictures-of-2014.html?image=7

McCain v. Cheney. The War Hero and the Chicken Hawk http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/12/12/opinion/the-war-hero-and-the-chicken-hawk.html

Earth faces sixth 'great extinction' with 41% of amphibians set to go the way of the dodo Analysis for prestigious Nature magazine sounds alarm on the way that human activity, from overfishing to agriculture, is forcing a vast number of species to vanish from the wild http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/14/earth-faces-sixth-great-extinction-with-41-of-amphibians-set-to-go-the-way-of-the-dodo

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/magic-mushrooms-found-queen-elizabeths-garden-buckingham-palace-n266966

Sex workers protest against the outlawing of certain sexual practices such as face sitting in Old Palace Yard, Westminster http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/11289635/Porn-protest-bring-your-coat-and-wrap-up-warm.html

Hillary Clinton begins weighing details of a 2016 bid, with a spring announcement likely http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-begins-weighing-details-of-a-2016-bid-with-a-spring-announcement-likely/2014/12/11/088bccac-80a5-11e4-9f38-95a187e4c1f7_story.html

Poor Hollande. François Hollande mocked for looking 'like Borat' http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/francois-hollande/11277582/Francois-Hollande-mocked-for-looking-like-Borat.html

Angela Merkel, the queen of Europe As Germany gears up for elections next month, Daniel Johnson explains how a dowdy chemist has fashioned herself into one of the world’s most respected – and influential – politicians Angela Merkel on the election trail last week. If there is one word to characterise the German Chancellor, it is decency The Telegraph 9:59PM BST 18 Aug 2013 Angela Merkel is riding high. As she returns from holiday to hit the campaign trail for the German elections – making a swing today through the south-east – she is not only her country’s most popular leader for a generation, but arguably the most respected politician in the world. How has th…

Extraordinary. Sobering. Chernobyl's eerie desolation revealed by camera mounted on drone http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/29/chernobyl-desolation-camera-drone

Thoughtful interview with an impressive person. More I learn about Pussy Riot members, the more I admire them. Nadya Tolokonnikova: 'I suppose we have nothing more to lose' Nadya Tolokonnikova spent 18 months in jail after Pussy Riot's protests against Vladimir Putin. She is feted across the West but now she just wants to concentrate on the real work of reform in Russia http://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2014/sep/19/nadya-tolokonnikova-pussy-riot-interview-nothing-to-lose

HUZZAH 11.08.14 The GOP Senate: A New Utopia Dawns By P.J. O'Rourke Happy times are here again! Republicans have won the Senate, and they surely won’t screw it up this time. Right? Like all good Republicans, I’m so happy I could frack the moon. I could drone strike the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, I’m flying that high. I’m feeling good enough to lay 1,179 miles of pipe with my honey-bunny Keystone XL. And now that the GOP has bedded the House and the Senate, she is, ahem, about to come – delivering crude oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast and all the wetlands, wilderness areas, and sensitive eco-systems in between. And that’s just the b…

I watched the address in full, not live as I am overseas, but I really like the address. Something needs to be done and I think this is a great start and will at least get the conversation rolling. I hope Obama issues other orders in other areas. I found it odd that no major network carried this live. Is that a slap in the face? I thought so. But, as well all know, Americans are more interested in Honey Boo Boo than they are in politics.

German town tricks neo-Nazis into raising thousands of euros for anti-extremist charity http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/nov/18/neo-nazis-tricked-into-raising-10000-for-charity

Does Our Military Know Something We Don't About Global Warming? http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2014/11/14/does-our-military-know-something-we-dont-about-global-warming/

Too much, mon. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timstanley/100240700/did-you-know-its-legal-to-smoke-weed-in-north-korea-dude-suddenly-it-all-makes-sense/ http://www.vice.com/read/north-korea-is-stoned-all-the-time-which-explains-a-lot http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/09/on-smoking-weed-in-north-korea.html

Why is BO going on and on in today's press conference? Is he trying to suggest his time is worthwhile? Is he trying to make good things from bad? Sorry to say, this sounds like we have lost so we have to go on but where? I don't know if I will be around when BO is "finally" judged as a US prez but right now he sucks. Sorry. Best regards, RA1

La Coakley screws the pooch again, this time in the Mass. governor's race. Peek at a tiny bit of the reason why... Martha Coakley Poured the Worst Beer Ever By Doug Saffir Boston.com Staff November 4, 2014 1:12 PM Oh, Martha. We get it. It’s the night before the election. There’s a governorship on the line. You need to find a way to connect with voters on a human level. So naturally, you head down to Dorchester’s Eire Pub, talk to the regulars, and start pouring a few beers. What could possibly go wrong? Well, when you’re a politician and not an actual bartender, everything can go wrong. When you’re Martha Coakley, everything can go wrong in just six seconds. htt…

538, the poll analysis site run by Nate Silver that won fame and fortune with it's incredibly accurate calls of the last few elections, gives the Republicans a 75.5 % chance of getting a majority in the Senate. Oh well. (sigh)

Most encouraging. Godless millennials could end the political power of the religious right http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/26/millennials-godless-politics-religous-conservatives ...The so-called millennials (Americans born between 1982 and 2000) are far more diverse, educated and tolerant than their predecessors. They're also the least religious generation in American history -- they're even getting less religious as they get older, which is unprecedented -- and the majority of them identify Christianity as synonymous with harsh political conservatism. As older, more religious generations fade away and younger generations replace them, the societal …

Marijuana legalization: University of Oregon economist offers positive take on legal pot (Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian) By Noelle Crombie | ncrombie@oregonian.com Email the author | Follow on Twitter on October 16, 2014 at 12:02 PM, updated October 16, 2014 at 5:17 PM View/Post Comments States with medical marijuana laws saw decreases in suicide rates, particularly among young men, as well as a drop in drunken driving, also among young men, a University of Oregon economics professor told Portland business leaders Thursday. Economist Ben Hansen discussed the potential implications for Oregon if voters approve legal recreational marijuana in the November election. …

Well argued, I think. Obama Is a Republican He’s the heir to Richard Nixon, not Saul Alinsky. By Bruce Bartlett • October 21, 2014 Back in 2008, Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich wrote an article for this magazine making a conservative case for Barack Obama. While much of it was based on disgust with the warmongering and budgetary profligacy of the Republican Party under George W. Bush, which he expected to continue under 2008 Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, Bacevich thought Obama at least represented hope for ending the Iraq War and shrinking the national-security state. I wrote a piece for the New Republic soon afterward about the Obamacon phenome…