Welcome! "What's Happenin'?" is a casual community diary (a daily series, 8:30 AM Eastern on weekdays, 10 AM on weekends and holidays) where we hang out and talk about the goings on here and everywhere.
We chat about our lives, our health, our families, our social circles, our pets, etc. We welcome links to your writings here on dkos or elsewhere, posts of pictures, music, etc.
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Everyone who wants to join in peaceful interaction is very welcome here.
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Good Morning!
Longwood Gardens, February, 2012, Photo credit: joanneleon
In America everything's about who's number one today.
-- Bruce Springsteen
News
I have no words to express exactly what I am feeling about this. Except that this war needs to end now. Wars have been ended with the signing of an agreement before, in a day, effectively. That is what needs to happen in Afghanistan. End the war. Sign the agreements. Plan the withdrawal and start it now. Bring them home starting now.
American Is Held After Shooting of Civilians in Afghanistan
PANJWAY, Afghanistan — A United States service member walked out of a military base in a rural district of southern Afghanistan on Sunday and opened fire on three nearby houses, killing at least 16 civilians, including several children, local villagers and provincial officials said.
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Villagers in Belandi in the Panjway district of Kandahar, where the shooting took place, said the service member had attacked three houses, killing at least 16 in total. Five other villagers were wounded, they said.
After the killings, villagers collected the bodies, and drove them to a nearby American military base to protest. Burn marks could be seen on some of the bodies, and the villagers said that five of the dead were young girls, age 6 or younger.
Imagine that. Treating people decently creates a better environment. You would think that would be common sense.
Prisons Rethink Isolation, Saving Money, Lives and Sanity
What was surprising was what happened next. Instead of tightening restrictions further, prison officials loosened them.
They allowed most inmates out of their cells for hours each day. They built a basketball court and a group dining area. They put rehabilitation programs in place and let prisoners work their way to greater privileges.
In response, the inmates became better behaved. Violence went down. The number of prisoners in isolation dropped to about 300 from more than 1,000. So many inmates were moved into the general population of other prisons that Unit 32 was closed in 2010, saving the state more than $5 million.
NY Times Op-Ed. Do you think Holder will have a do-over on this speech? Will the president dare to do a speech on it or a full press conference?
Editorial
The Power to Kill
President Obama, who came to office promising transparency and adherence to the rule of law, has become the first president to claim the legal authority to order an American citizen killed without judicial involvement, real oversight or public accountability.
That, regrettably, was the most lasting impression from a major address on national security delivered last week by Attorney General Eric Holder Jr.
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It has even refused to acknowledge the existence of a Justice Department memo providing legal justification for killing American citizens, even though that memo has been reported by The Times and others. It is beyond credibility that Mr. Obama ordered the Awlaki killing without getting an opinion from the department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Even President George W. Bush took the trouble to have lawyers in that office cook up a memo justifying torture.
Japan marks one year since quake and tsunami disaster
Services held to remember the earthquake and tsunami which killed thousands and left communities devastated one year ago
With moments of silence and prayers, Japan has begun marking one year since the massive earthquake and tsunami struck the nation, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world's worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century.
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Later on Sunday, memorial ceremonies to mark 2:46pm, the precise moment the magnitude-9.0 earthquake hit, were planned along the northeastern coast and in Tokyo, where the emperor and prime minister were scheduled to speak at the National Theatre.
The quake was the strongest recorded in Japan's history, and set off a tsunami that towered more than 65 feet (20 metres) in some spots along the northeastern coast, destroying thousands of homes and wreaking widespread destruction.
Green cars at 2012 Geneva motor show – in pictures
A selection of the top green cars at the 2012 Geneva motor show, as selected by Paul Clarke of Green Car Guide
Annan 'optimistic' after Syria meeting
Kofi Annan, the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria has said he was optimistic after a second round of talks with President Bashar al-Assad but acknowledged it would be difficult to reach a deal to halt the bloodshed.
"It's going to be tough. It's going to be difficult but we have to have hope," he told reporters in Damascus on Sunday. "I am optimistic for several reasons," he said, citing a general desire for peace in Syria.
Annan told reporters he had left "concrete proposals" with Assad, and called for an immediate halt to the killings in Syria, where the United Nations says Assad's forces have killed 7,500 people in a year-long crackdown on protests. Authorities say 2,000 soldiers have been killed by insurgents.
Iceland Will Adopt Euro or Other Currency, Prime Minister Says
Iceland started EU-entry talks in July 2010 and will probably vote on accession in early 2013. Of a total of 35 negotiating chapters for EU accession, Iceland has opened 11 and completed eight, the EU said in December. The primary challenges facing the talks relate to agriculture, the environment and fisheries, according to EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fule.
A Capacent Gallup poll last month showed that about a quarter of the island’s voters support joining the bloc, or 26.3 percent, while 56.2 percent oppose EU membership.
Google+ Aims to Double Social-Network Service Users to 200 Million in 2012
Google Inc. (GOOG) aims to more than double the number of people on its social-networking service this year, which has already reached 100 million active users.
The growth of Google+ has surpassed any estimates the company had, said Vic Gundotra, a senior vice president in charge of social initiatives. Google unveiled the service last June, challenging the dominance of Facebook Inc.’s site.