Here’s the Real Reason Russia Is in Iraq – Yahoo Finance.

I used to have sympathy for the Chechen cause but all revolutions based on religion are invalid IMHO so I guess I’m on the side of the people caught in the middle on this one.

Ukraine pushes pro-Moscow rebels to final showdown in the last separatist stronghold – The Week.

hmmmm.

Whole Foods Campaigns for Bees – Honeybee Populations – Good Housekeeping.

“Here’s What Would Happen to Your Groceries If Bees Went Extinct

Let’s just say your selection would be limited.”

Yup.

Pssst, Barack. You suck on the environment!

BBC News – Family of punched woman to sue California highway police.

Sue him, fire him, prosecute him, strip him of his pension.
Period.

NEA wants Duncan’s resignation – Yahoo News.

check my first post on the blog….
Me too.

Henry David Thoreau: “I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion.” | The Book Haven.

hmmm.

Gordon College president signs letter asking for religious exemption from order banning antigay discrimination – Metro – The Boston Globe.

…and it begins.

Why I left 60 Minutes – POLITICO Magazine.

hmmm.

U.S. wanted Burma to model democratic change, but it’s not turning out that way – The Washington Post.

sigh….

In disappearing Mexican jungle, it’s tribes vs. biologists – The Washington Post.

Well, not that cut and dry but interesting article none-the-less

VIDEO: U.S. teen, cousin of slain Palestinian youth, says Israeli police beat him – The Washington Post.

hmmm.

In NSA-intercepted data, those not targeted far outnumber the foreigners who are – The Washington Post.

If Snowden’s sample is representative, the population under scrutiny in the PRISM and Upstream programs is far larger than the government has suggested. In a June 26 “transparency report,” the Office of the Director of National Intelligence disclosed that 89,138 people were targets of last year’s collection under FISA Section 702. At the 9-to-1 ratio of incidental collection in Snowden’s sample, the office’s figure would correspond to nearly 900,000 accounts, targeted or not, under surveillance.

“Even if one could conceivably justify the initial, inadvertent interception of baby pictures and love letters of innocent bystanders,” [Snowden] added, “their continued storage in government databases is both troubling and dangerous. Who knows how that information will be used in the future?”

Sigh………

With arrest of six Jews in Arab teen’s killing, Israel confronts its own extremists – The Washington Post.

We’ll see.

Meet The Scientist Who Might End The Climate Culture Wars | Popular Science.

nice.

Israel launches deadly airstrikes in Gaza – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

hmmm.

Six arrested over Palestinian teen’s killing – Middle East – Al Jazeera English.

hmmm

Food Cowboy app helps charities get passed-over produce onto plates faster – The Washington Post.

cool.

Clashes in east Jerusalem after teen’s burial revive intifada fears for Middle East – The Washington Post.

The Israeli government created this tension and now the burden is on its people to reap the poison the government has sown.

BBC News – California police pummelling of woman is investigated .

This monster should stripped of his badge and pension immediately.

Investigate afterwards, remove the clear and present danger to the public first.

Hillary Clinton on Edward Snowden: ‘His decision’ – Jonathan Topaz – POLITICO.com.

hmmm.

Palestinian teen burned alive, autopsy shows – CNN.com.

More coverage of the human impact of atrocities committed by extremists on the Israeli side, I want more!

Tell both sides or don’t bother, you useless hacks.

Panning in protest: Activists mine for gold in defiance of EPA regs | Fox News.

hmmm.

BBC News – Ukraine crisis: Rebels abandon Sloviansk stronghold.

Nice.

July 4th Note to Tea Partiers: Your Politics on Religion Would Baffle the Founding Fathers | Blog | BillMoyers.com.

“They approached religion more or less the same way they approached everything else that interested them: Franklin invented his own, Washington proved diplomatic, Adams grumbled about it (he hated Christianity, he once said, but he couldn’t think of anything better, and he also regarded it as necessary), Jefferson could not stop tinkering with it, and Madison defended, as a natural right, the free exercise of it. That they wanted to preserve religious liberty by separating church and state does not mean they were irreligious. They wanted to protect religion from the state, as much as the other way around.

If the founders had followed their forefathers, they would have written a Constitution establishing Christianity as the national religion. Nearly every British North American colony was settled with an established religion… …Following the faith of their fathers is exactly what the framers did not do. At a time when all but two states required religious tests for office, the Constitution prohibited them. At a time when all but three states still had an official religion, the Bill of Rights forbade the federal government from establishing one.”