Note: Graphic does not properly show First Nation, including Greenland and larger than the USA, with roughly 300,000 inhabitants and in pole position (pun intented) to be the future core for humanity.
Here is an alarming and little considered, until now, effect of global warming. The study referenced in this report is published in the journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
I would not have picked Obamacare as the way to go because it is still a profit based system. It is essentially a program written by Republicans for Republicans. I support a single payer system, essentially Medicare for all. But the ACA is still an improvement on the madness of the current Illness Profit System. Paul Krugman makes this case clearly.
Here in the U.S. 17 million children have food access issues, and the Republicans in the Congress just cut the SNAP program, to their everlasting shame. As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving I hope all my readers will buy some extra food and donate it to the poor. This is how desperate it is getting.
One of the lies the corporate media and the Theocratic Right chant with the passion of medieval penitents is that it is the government's safety net for the poor that is the problem with our economy. It is a perfidious lie and here are some facts explaining why I say this.
The more I read about this Pope the more I like him. It is going to be interesting to watch how the Theocratic Rightist Bishops and Cardinals appointed by his recent predecessors, who seem more at home with Anyn Rand's teachings than those of Jesus, are going to react. Pope Francis is quite correct in his assessment of the vampire capitalism! that is shaping many of the societies of the world, particularly the U.S, to the detriment of those who live here.
Open Government Partnership: It’s Time for Deeper Engagement with the Environment Sector World Resources Institute This post was co-written with Consuelo Fernandez, an intern with WRI's Access Initiative. The Open Government Partnership (OGP)—which held its most recent summit about three weeks ago—has made tremendous progress in its two years of existence. The OGP, a voluntary partnership between governments and civil society, aims to make governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens. Discussions at the summit made it clear that the partnership is already demonstrating impact. Sixty-two governments have now joined OGP, making 1,115 commitments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. The Summit provided a real sense that there’s a growing community who really “gets” the importance of open government to meeting development goals. Yet there was still a gap in the discourse in one particular area—the environment. Continue reading “Jean Lievens: Open Government Partnership and the Environment”
by: Sigfried Gold on November 12th, 2013 | 6 Comments »
Progressives deliver lofty words about embracing people who are different from us, but we often fail to put those words into practice when it comes to religious fundamentalists. In truth, there are many deep forms of spiritual wisdom that fundamentalists could share with us if we approached them with humility, care, and curiosity:
1. Fundamentalists go whole hog. They know what they believe. They know who’s right and who’s wrong. How do they do it? Do they do it about everything? Try asking a fundamentalist: What is it exactly that is fundamental for you? What are the commitments from which you will not budge? Are you able to stay open-minded on religious or political issues outside these commitments? Different fundamentalists will have different answers, of course. But it’s no betrayal of our own commitment to open-mindedness to consider emulating fundamentalists if we find something worth emulating. Which of our own beliefs are we willing to throw ourselves into without reservation? On what are we willing to take a stand from which we will not budge?
2. Fundamentalists have faith. Some of what they believe they believe without objective, empirical evidence, or even against scientific evidence. Are we able to see that they embrace faith not out of stupidity or ignorance but because their faith is confirmed by what they perceive as some deeper spiritual evidence? Can we see the ways that a demonstrably irrational faith can be motivated by entirely reasonable and real concerns and needs? Faith is not simply a choice to believe something without evidence. It begins as an experiment: “What happens if I try believing X?” And when something good happens, it grows. Are we interested in cultivating our own faith? Faith in what?
Steven Tyler captures the essence of open source when he says, “If you have a candle, the light won't glow any dimmer if I light mine off of yours.”
Like a candle's flame, software won't be anymore effective if kept to itself. With that said, in the name of sharing, GovLoop is proud to introduce our latest and free downloadable guide for government:
