el Jacosorio

peterfromtexas: 1000 years of language evolution in the Iberian...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:31:18 -0400

1000 years of language evolution in the Iberian Peninsula [GIF]

"Gentlemen, I’ve only been here five months, but this is the most astounding and most astoundingly..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:21:00 -0400

“

Gentlemen, I’ve only been here five months, but this is the most astounding and most astoundingly disturbing hearing that I’ve been to since I’ve been here. You guys have essentially rewritten the Constitution here today. The Constitution, Article I, Section 8, Clause 11, clearly says that the Congress has the power to declare war. This—this authorization, the AUMF [Authorization for Use of Military Force], is very limited. And you keep using the term “associated forces.” You use it 13 times in your statement. That is not in the AUMF. And you said at one point, “It suits us very well.” I assume it does suit you very well, because you’re reading it to cover everything and anything. And then you said, at another point, “So, even if the AUMF doesn’t apply, the general law of war applies, and we can take these actions.” So, my question is: How do you possibly square this with the requirement of the Constitution that the Congress has the power to declare war?

This is one of the most fundamental divisions in our constitutional scheme, that the Congress has the power to declare war; the president is the commander-in-chief and prosecutes the war. But you’re reading this AUMF in such a way as to apply clearly outside of what it says. Senator McCain was absolutely right: It refers to the people who planned, authorized, committed or aided the terrorist attacks on September 11. That’s a date. That’s a date. It doesn’t go into the future. And then it says, “or harbored such organizations”—past tense—”or persons in order to prevent any future acts by such nations, organizations or persons.” It established a date.

I don’t disagree that we need to fight terrorism. But we need to do it in a constitutionally sound way. Now, I’m just a little, old lawyer from Brunswick, Maine, but I don’t see how you can possibly read this to be in comport with the Constitution and authorize any acts by the president.

”

- Senator Angus King (I-ME) at a Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on May 16, 2013, quoted in “‘Astoundingly Disturbing’: Obama Administration Claims Power to Wage Endless War Across the Globe” (May 17, 2013), Democracy Now! (via thepeoplesrecord)

wildcat2030: Zaha Hadid Architects are designing a new metro...

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:13:57 -0400

wildcat2030:

Zaha Hadid Architects are designing a new metro station in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia described as “a three-dimensional lattice defined by a sequence of opposing sine-waves (generated from the repetition and frequency variation of station’s daily traffic flows) which act as the spine for the building’s circulation.” Basically, that means that the station has a unique, undulating facade that mimics the daily flow of traffic for Riyadh’s 5 million residents.

The King Abdullah FInancial District (KAFD) Metro Station will become a focal point for the city, not only as a hub for commuters, but also as a celebrated public space. The KAFD is scheduled to be completed by 2017 and will help ease the traffic congestion in the area.

See ArRiyadh Development Authority’s modern train station design in the gallery below. Don’t you wish this was coming to a city near you? (via Futuristic metro station planned for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | DVICE)

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:17:24 -0400

hahahahaa

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:06:10 -0400

hahahahaa

Positive Press Daily: Gender-Neutral Restrooms Become the Law in Philadelphia

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:02:09 -0400

Positive Press Daily: Gender-Neutral Restrooms Become the Law in Philadelphia :

transqueery:

When Mayor Michael Nutter signed legislation Thursday to afford equal rights to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, he said he hoped Philadelphia would become “the most LGBT-friendly” city in the world.

One piece of that comprehnsive legislation will forever…

lostsplendor: Russian Royal Headdress, 14th-17th Century: Shown...

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:01:37 -0400

lostsplendor:

Russian Royal Headdress, 14th-17th Century:

Shown and Listed Chronologically: Monomakh’s Cap [14th Century], Altabasnaya (Sibir) Cap [Mid 17th Century], and The Diamond Cap [Late 17th Century].

Image Source: (via)

breakingnews: Greek member of parliament shouts ‘Heil Hitler’...

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:25:37 -0400

breakingnews:

Greek member of parliament shouts ‘Heil Hitler’ during session

Washington Post: A Greek member of parliament from the far-right party Golden Dawn is heard shouting ’Heil Hitler’ during an argument with members of the a far-left party, according to reports.

Here’s what’s thought to have happened: [Panayiotis] Iliopoulos, who had recently assaulted some immigrant vendors at an Athens port, got into an argument with members of Greece’s far-left Syriza party, whom he called “goats” and “filthy, scurrilous” people.

The parliament’s acting speaker, also a member of Syriza, asked Iliopoulos to leave. “Go away before we send you away,” he said, according to the Greek Reporter. As a scrum of Golden Dawn lawmakers filed out of the room, shouting angrily on the way out, “Heil Hitler” is audible at three different moments.

Reuters reports that Golden Dawn denies a neo-Nazi label though its emblem resembles the Swastika and there are published photographs of its supporters giving Nazi-style salutes.

Photo

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:52:34 -0400

thepeoplesrecord: Dr. Vandana Shiva: the “GOLDEN RICE” hoax -...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:46:38 -0400

thepeoplesrecord:

Dr. Vandana Shiva: the “GOLDEN RICE” hoax - when public relations replaces science to promote a technology for creating Vitamin A deficiency
May 15, 2013

Golden rice has been heralded as the miracle cure for malnutrition and hunger of which 800m members of the human community suffer. Herbicide resistant and toxin producing genetically engineered plants can be objectionable because of their ecological and social costs. But who could possibly object to rice engineered to produce vitamin A, a deficiency found in nearly 3 million children, largely in the Third World?

As remarked by Mary Lou Guerinot, the author of the Commentary on Vitamin A rice in Science, one can only hope that this application of plant genetic engineering to ameliorate human misery without regard to short term profit will restore this technology to political acceptability. Unfortunately, Vitamin A rice is a hoax, and will bring further dispute to plant genetic engineering where public relations exercises seem to have replaced science in promotion of untested, unproven and unnecessary technology.

The problem is that vitamin A rice will not remove vitamin A deficiency (VAD). It will seriously aggravate it. It is a technology that fails in its promise. Currently, it is not even known how much vitamin JA the genetically engineered rice will produce. The goal is 33.3% micrograms/100g of rice. Even if this goal is reached after a few years, it will be totally ineffective in removing VAD.

Since the daily average requirement of vitamin A is 750 micrograms of vitamin A and 1 serving contains 30g of rice according to dry weight basis, vitamin A rice would only provide 9.9 micrograms which is 1.32% of the required allowance. Even taking the 100g figure of daily consumption of rice used in the technology transfer paper would only provide 4.4% of the RDA.

In order to meet the full needs of 750 micrograms of vitamin A from rice, an adult would have to consume 2 kg 272g of rice per day. This implies that one family member would consume the entire family ration of 10 kg. from the PDS in 4 days to meet vitaminA needs through “Golden rice”.

This is a recipe for creating hunger and malnutrition, not solving it.

Besides creating vitamin A deficiency, vitamin A rice will also create deficiency in other micronutrients and nutrients. Raw milled rice has a low content of Fat (0.5g/100g). Since fat is necessary for vitamin A uptake, this will aggravate vitamin A deficiency. It also has only 6.8g/100g of protein, which means less carrier molecules. It has only 0.7g/100g of iron, which plays a vital role in the conversion of beta-carotene (precursor of vitamin A found in plant sources) to vitamin A. Superior Alternatives exist and are effective.

A far more efficient route to removing vitamin A deficiency is biodiversity conservation and propagation of naturally vitamin A rich plants in agriculture and diets.

The following is a list of sources rich in vitamin A which are used commonly in Indian foods. (microgram/100g)

(Amaranth leaves) Chauli saag= 266-1,166 -

(Coriander leaves) – Dhania = 1,166-1,333

(Cabbage) Bandh gobi = 217

(Curry leaves)-Curry patta = 1,333

(Drumstick leaves)-Saijan patta1 = 283

(Fenugreek leaves)-Methi-ka-saag = 450

(Radish leaves)-Mooli-ka-saag = 750

(Mint)-Pudhina = 300

(Spinach)-Palak saag = 600

(Carrot)-Gajar=217-434

(Pumpkin (yellow))-Kaddu = 100-120

(Mango (ripe))-Aam = 500

(Jackfruit)-Kathal = 54

(Orange)-Santra = 35

(Tomato (ripe))-Tamatar = 32

(Milk (cow, buffalo))-Doodh = 50-60

(Butter)-Makkhan = 720-1,200

(Egg (hen))-Anda = 300-400

(Liver (Goat, sheep))-Kalegi = 6,600 - 10,000

Cod liver oil = 10,000 - 100,000

In spite of the diversity of plants evolved and bred for their rich vitamin A content, a report of the Major Science Academies of the World - Royal Society, U.K., National Academy of Sciences of the USA, The Third World Academy of Science, Indian National Science Academy, Mexican Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Brazilian Academy of Sciences - on Transgenic Plants and World Agriculture has stated, Vitamin A deficiency causes half a million children to become partially or totally blind each year.

Traditional breeding methods have been unsuccessful in producing crops containing a high vitamin A concentration and most national authorities rely on expensive and complicated supplementation programs to address the problem. Researchers have introduced three new genes into rice, two from daffodils and one from a microorganism. The transgenic rice exhibits an increased production of beta-carotene as a precursor to vitamin A and the seed in yellow in colour. Such yellow, or golden rice, may be a useful tool to help treat the problem of vitamin A deficiency in young children living in the tropics.

It appears as if the world’s top scientists suffer a more severe form of blindness than children in poor countries. The statement that “traditional breeding has been unsuccessful in producing crops high in vitamin A” is not true given the diversity of plants and crops that Third World farmers, especially women have bred and used which are rich sources of vitamin A such as coriander, amaranth, carrot, pumpkin, mango, jackfruit.

It is also untrue that vitamin A rice will lead to increased production of beta-carotene. Even if the target of 33.3 microgram of vitamin A in 100g of rice is achieved, it will be only 2.8% of beta-carotene we can obtain from amaranth leaves 2.4% of beta-carotene obtained from coriander leaves, curry leaves and drumstick leaves. Even the World Bank has admitted that rediscovering and use of local plants and conservation of vitamin A rich green leafy vegetables and fruits have dramatically reduced VAD threatened children over the past 20 years in very cheap and efficient ways. Women in Bengal use more than 200 varieties of field greens. Over a 3 million people have benefited greatly from a food based project for removing VAD by increasing vitamin A availability through home gardens. The higher the diversity crops the better the uptake of pro-vitamin A.

The reason there is vitamin A deficiency in India in spite of the rich biodiversity a base and indigenous knowledge base in India is because the Green Revolution technologies wiped out biodiversity by converting mixed cropping systems to monocultures of wheat and rice and by spreading the use of herbicides which destroy field greens.

In spite of effective and proven alternatives, a technology transfer agreement has been signed between the Swiss Government and the Government of India for the transfer of genetically engineered vitamin A rice to India.

The ICAR, ICMR, ICDS, USAIUD, UNICEF, WHO have been identified as potential partners. The breeding and transformation is to be carried out at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack and Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and University of Delhi, South Campus. The Indian varieties in which the vitamin A traits are expected to be engineered have been identified as IR 64, Pusa Basmati, PR 114 and ASD 16.

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan has been identified as “God father” to ensuring public acceptance of genetically engineered rice. DBT & ICAR are also potential partners for guaranteeing public acceptance and steady progress of the project.

Genetically engineered vitamin A rice will aggravate this destruction since it is part of an industrial agriculture, intensive input package. It will also lead to major water scarcity since it is a water intensive crop and displaces water prudent sources of vitamin A.

The first step in the technology transfer of vitamin A rice requires a need assessment and an assessment of technology availability. One assessment shows that vitamin A rice fails to pass the need test. The technology availability issue is related to whether the various elements and methods used for the construction of transgenic crop plants are covered by intellectual property rights. Licenses for these rights need to be obtained before a product can be commercialized. The Cornell based ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Application) has been identified as the partner for ensuring technology availability by ensuring technology availability by having material transfer agreements signed between the representative authority of the ICAR and the “owners” of the technology, Prof. I. Potrykus and Prof. P. Beyer.

In addition, Novartis and Kerin Breweries have patents on the genes used as constructs for the vitamin A rice. At a public hearing on Biotechnology at U.S. Congress on 29th June 2000, Astra-Zeneca stated they would be giving away royalty free licenses for the development of “Golden rice”.

At a workshop organized by the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Dr. Barry of Monsanto’s Rice Genome initiative announced that it will provide royalty-free licenses for all its technologies that can help the further development of “golden rice”.

Hence these gene giants Novartis, Astra-Zeneca and Monsanto are claiming exclusive ownership to the basic patents related to rice research. Further, neither Monsanto nor Astra - Zeneca said they will give up their patents on rice - they are merely giving royalty free licenses to public sector scientists for development of “golden rice”. This is an arrangement for a public subsidy to corporate giants for R&D since they do not have the expertise or experience with rice breeding which public institutions have.

Not giving up the patents, but merely giving royalty free licenses implies that the corporations like Monsanto would ultimately like to collect royalties from farmers for rice varieties developed by public sector research systems. Monsanto has stated that it expects long term gains from these IPR arrangements, which implies markets in rice as “intellectual property” which cannot be saved or exchanged for seed. The real test for Monsanto would be its declaration of giving up any patent claims to rice now and in the future and joining the call to remove plants and biodiversity out of TRIPS. Failing such an undertaking by Monsanto the announcement that Monsanto giving royalty free licenses for development of vitamin A rice like the rice itself can only be taken as a hoax to establish monopoly over rice production, and reduce rice farmers of India into bio-serfs.

While the complicated technology transfer package of “Golden Rice” will not solve vitamin A problems in India, it is a very effective strategy for corporate take over of rice production, using the public sector as a Trojan horse.

Source

Photos Source

"If he were a woman, they’d be calling him the weakest speaker in history."

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:44:58 -0400

“If he were a woman, they’d be calling him the weakest speaker in history.”

-
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), quoted by the Huffington Post, on Speaker John Boehner (R-OH).

Patriarchy is alive and well in America.

(via liberalsarecool)

They may have also pointed out that he is a lush instead of covering his obvious signs of alcohol addiction and drunkenness at work by playing the “Mad Men” card. (Nearly every news source actually mentioned Mad Men when writing their initial report on then new Speaker Boehner. Of course, that shows that they had been handed talking points and used them willingly, but that does not reduce the travesty of their journalistic integrity.)

"In the 101 top-grossing family films…from 1990 to 2004, of the over 4,000 characters in these films,..."

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:41:27 -0400

“In the 101 top-grossing family films…from 1990 to 2004, of the over 4,000 characters in these films, 75% overall were male, 83% of characters in crowds were male, 83% of narrators were male, and 72% of speaking were male. When the American Psychological Association commented on this research, they said, ‘This gross under-representation of women or girls in films with family-friendly content reflects a missed opportunity to present a broad spectrum of girls and women in roles that are non-sexualised.’”

- Natasha Walter, Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism, pages 69-70, 2010. (via bitemebeautiful)

Bringing this back as people have started reblogging this again and EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW THIS.

(via bitemebeautiful)

thedailywhat: Coming Soon of the Day: Neil Degrasse Tyson Will...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:40:23 -0400

thedailywhat:

Coming Soon of the Day: Neil Degrasse Tyson Will Host the Sequel of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos
Though it’s been quietly in the works since 2011, Fox has officially confirmed that Carl Sagan’s monumental 1970 sci-ed miniseries Cosmos: A Personal Voyage will be getting an updated sequel next year, which will consist of 13 episodes produced by Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane and hosted by one of the Internet’s most celebrated astrophysicists, Neil Degrasse Tyson. Fox is hoping the show will have as much as of cultural impact as Carl Sagan’s original series, which still remains one of the most watched PBS series in the world to this day.

(Image by Richard Davies)

thedailywhat: Coming Soon of the Day: Neil Degrasse Tyson Will...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:36:51 -0400

thedailywhat:

Coming Soon of the Day: Neil Degrasse Tyson Will Host the Sequel of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos
Though it’s been quietly in the works since 2011, Fox has officially confirmed that Carl Sagan’s monumental 1970 sci-ed miniseries Cosmos: A Personal Voyage will be getting an updated sequel next year, which will consist of 13 episodes produced by Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane and hosted by one of the Internet’s most celebrated astrophysicists, Neil Degrasse Tyson. Fox is hoping the show will have as much as of cultural impact as Carl Sagan’s original series, which still remains one of the most watched PBS series in the world to this day.

(Image by Richard Davies)

Photo

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:35:58 -0400

painted-bees: fluffandstuffs: hookteeth: headandstomachached: ...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:29:48 -0400

painted-bees:

fluffandstuffs:

hookteeth:

headandstomachached:

Xylocopa caerulea (“Blue Carpenter bee”). Beautiful.

EVERYBODY HOLD YOUR SHIT A MOMENT THIS IS A TINY BLUE BEE.

MANDY!!

heeyyy, this post is all over my dash this morning :> Rock on, little blue carpenter! Rock on.

its-salah: Following his release from Guantanamo Bay, Sami...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:28:53 -0400

its-salah:

Following his release from Guantanamo Bay, Sami Al-Hajj, a (former) Guantanamo Bay detainee, dashes towards his eight year old son Mohammad and swoops him up in his arms, hugging him and planting tender kisses on his face in their first reunion after seven years.

After being imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for seven years, during which he was repeatedly interrogated and tortured, including being physically, sexually, and psychologically abused, Al Hajj was released without any charges held against him.

Al Hajj, a journalist for the Al Jazeera network, was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 while on his way to do camerawork for the network concerning the war that had recently broken out in Afghanistan. It has been speculated by both Al Hajj’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, and Reporters Without Borders that the main reason that he was incarcerated for so long was due to the US Miliary’s desire to make him an informant against Al Jazeera, as most of Al Hajj’s interrogations consisted of American interrogators questioning him about the (Al Jazeera) network.

While in Guantanamo, Al Hajj wrote a poem titled Humiliated in Shackles to his son Mohammad:

When I heard pigeons cooing in the trees,
Hot tears covered my face.

When the lark chirped, my thoughts composed
A message for my son.

Mohammad, I am afflicted.
In my despair, I have no one but Allah for comfort.

The oppressors are playing with me,
As they move freely around the world.

They ask me to spy on my countrymen,
Claiming it would be a good deed.

They offer me money and land,
And freedom to go where I please.

Their temptations seize
My attention like lightning in the sky.

But their gift is an empty snake,
Carrying hypocrisy in its mouth like venom,

They have monuments to liberty
And freedom of opinion, which is well and good.

But I explained to them that
Architecture is not justice.

America, you ride on the backs of orphans,
And terrorize them daily.

Bush, beware.
The world recognizes an arrogant liar.

To Allah I direct my grievance and my tears.
I am homesick and oppressed.

Mohammad, do not forget me.
Support the cause of your father, a God-fearing man.

I was humiliated in the shackles.
How can I now compose verses? How can I now write?

After the shackles and the nights and the suffering and the tears,
How can I write poetry?

My soul is like a roiling sea, stirred by anguish,
Violent with passion.

I am a captive, but the crimes are my captors’.
I am overwhelmed with apprehension.

Lord, unite me with my son Mohammad.
Lord, grant success to the righteous.

lightspeedsound: thirstrani: lightspeedsound: ragingpeacock: ...

Wed, 15 May 2013 18:22:37 -0400

lightspeedsound:

thirstrani:

lightspeedsound:

ragingpeacock:

tasteslikeangst:

toronjas:

tasteslikeangst:

callingoutbigotry:

basicswearingbindis:

youarenotdesi:

fuckyeahtattoos:

Ganesh tattoo- destroyer of all obstacles. I had the karma previously done, and my artist worked it in amazingly. This is my third tattoo and was done in deptford, nj at headlight 2 tattoo by the greatest artist, Sarah Cortese.

What is Cultural Appropriation & How to Avoid it

oh.dear.god.

this is so embarrassing i can’t

i don’t even know u and i have secondhand embarassment

awkward that you have permanent tattoo evidence of your racism

what if she’s wiccan/pagan/hindu/buddhist? that’s like saying a white muslims not a “real” muslim.

She’s using it as a fashion symbol basically. The body is considered impure and putting Ganesh on your body is VERY disrespectful which means that they are not of that religion.

Ohhh I got you. I thought they meant it was like “oh not Asian not Hindu no Ganesh for you” or something. Thank you for kindly informing me instead of being rude like most about it.

Do you know anything about Hinduism? Are you just taking offense at something not being available to white people? YES getting this tattoo is disrespectful but I wanted to call out what sounded like complaining about a closed religion. AND tone policing. Is good you see the problem but maybe you should take a second to consider why so many you encounter are angry. We encounter this daily.

Oh and PS please do not lump Wicca/Hinduism/Paganism/Buddhism together. Is not part of some interchangeable alternative religion to Christianity. If you want an alternative faith your best bet is paganism which specifically says to respect closed faiths like Hinduism.

oh my fucking god, the white people just won’t stop

btw: GANESH IS STRICTLY HINDU, BY THE WAY, SO ANY WHITE PERSON WHO IS LIKE I’M “BUDDHIST/PAGAN/ETC” AND GETS THIS TATTOO CLEARLY KNOWS SHIT ALL ABOUT EASTERN RELIGIONS

this is just an ugly as fuck tattoo to boot.

& what exactly does Ganesha have to do with ~karma~ pls explain it to me like i’m a fucking infant

p.s. He only has one tusk. If you’d bothered to do ANY kind of research about him and his significance, you’d fucking know that.

I mean basically this is just a nightmare of “I know nothing about eastern religion but I want to show off how *different* I am look it’s exotic”

adlkfja;sldkfja

and that writing it’s like “LET’S MAKE ENGLISH LOOK LIKE HOW WHITE PPL THINK SANSKRIT LOOKS”

like for real what is that

and what is he sitting on?

is that supposed to be a lotus?

Because that looks like fucking yoshi’s eggs to me.

odditiesoflife: Fire Tornadoes The fire tornado or fire devil,...

Wed, 15 May 2013 17:59:28 -0400

odditiesoflife:

Fire Tornadoes

The fire tornado or fire devil, one of nature’s rarest phenomenon, is caused when a column of superheated, rising air comes into contact with a wildfire. Basically its a tornado composed of fire instead of dust.

Film-maker Chris Tangey of Alice Springs Film and Television was filming a wildfire in Curtin Springs, Australia, when a small twister touched down causing it to build into a spinning flame. Just 300 meters away was a 30 meter high fire swirl which “sounded like a fighter jet” despite there being no wind in the area. The tornado that Tangey caught on camera reportedly lasted for more than 40 minutes.

Infowars: Insanity: US Approves Bee Death Pesticide as EU Bans It

Wed, 15 May 2013 12:24:34 -0400

Infowars: Insanity: US Approves Bee Death Pesticide as EU Bans It:

infowarsdotcom:

Anthony Gucciardi
Infowars.com
May 13, 2013

Corporate politics is business as usual inside the United States, as I am once again shocked to report the EPA has sided with industry lobbyists over public health in approving a highly dangerous pesticide that the European Union recently decided…