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 welcome links to your writings here on dkos or elsewhere, posts of pictures, music, news, etc.
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Good Morning!
A young Hunter S. Thompson...
" . . .You could strike sparks anywhere. There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . .
So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”
Hunter S Thompson: "Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas" 1972
News
NATO: Journalists Tim Pool & Luke Rudkowski Held at Gunpoint for Live Feed
U.S Nuclear Regulator Resigns
Gregory Jaczko, the beleaguered US nuclear regulator, has announced he is stepping down from his post after months of bureaucratic warfare over the safety of America's ageing reactor fleet.
Jaczko had been at the forefront of attempts to bring in new safety regulations in the wake of the the Fukushima disaster.
He had also been accused of an abrasive management style, and was forced to deny accusations that he harassed female colleagues.
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Obama Can Keep Bush Torture Authorization Secret
Of particular note, the Circuit held that letting Americans know who and how the torture program was authorized would reveal the existence and scope of a still-ongoing program.
The CIA has already revealed the existence of this MON (memorandum of notification). The only thing that keeping it secret does is shield President Bush for all the torture committed in his name.
Bolivia Nationalizes A Foreign Owned Company Every May Day
Revenue generated by nationalizations gave rise to voucher programs like “Juancito Pinto” for schoolchildren, “Renta Dignidad,” a pension for Bolivians over the age of 60, and “Juana Azurduy” for pregnant woman and children under the age of 2.
The benefits of nationalization, according to administration sources, are reduced poverty and improved quality of life for Bolivians, especially in rural areas. Moreover, the majority of more than a dozen nationalizations concluded on amicable terms between the companies and the government through compensation.
Solar Eclipse Awes Millions In U.S., Asia
The eclipse was broadcast live on TV in Tokyo, where such an eclipse hasn’t been visible since 1839. Japanese TV crews watched from the top of Mount Fuji and even staked out a zoo south of Tokyo to capture the reaction of the chimpanzees — who didn’t seem to notice.
Air Pollution Warming Atmosphere Through Larger Thunderheads
Pollution strengthens thunderstorm clouds, causing their anvil-shaped tops to spread out high in the atmosphere and capture heat — especially at night, said lead author and climate researcher Jiwen Fan of the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Glass-Steagall And The Economic Crisis
It is understandable that the spoiled brats who run big banks on Wall Street think that they should be able to get handouts from the government with no strings attached, but that is not the way a market economy is supposed to work.
Greece: Endless Austerity Ia A Hopeless Path
The Greeks think that the system is rigged against them, which it is. It was German and French banks who lent Greece huge sums of money, and Goldman Sachs that helped the government lie about its debt load.
Bailing out Greece is really just bailing out these German and French banks. Even as Germans demand cuts in social spending, German leader Angela Merkel isn’t calling for the Greeks to cut defense spending, because Germany sells Greece lots of weapons.
Obama Escalates U.S. Military Presence In Honduras
The United States has, in fact, been quietly escalating its military presence in Honduras, pouring police and military funding into the regime of President Porfirio Lobo in the name of fighting drugs.
The DEA is using counterinsurgency methods developed in Iraq against drug traffickers in Honduras, deploying squads of commandos with US military Special Forces backgrounds to work closely with the Honduran police and military.
Rock Band Arcade Fire Wears Red Square Solidarity Patches On SNL
When Arcade Fire backed Mick Jagger for three songs on Saturday Night Live last night (May 19), those red patches the band were wearing weren't fashion statements, but very pointed acts of protest in support of Quebec students who were quite literally setting fires in Montreal at the same time.
Student Wins Right To Wear 'Jesus Is Not A Homophobe' Shirt
“I just wanted to wear my shirt,” said Couch. “The shirt is a statement of pride, and I hope other students like me know that they can be proud, too.”
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Blog Posts Of Interest
How to Divide and Conquer Teachers and Community in Wisconsin on Daily Kos by Yuri Rashkin
Action TODAY in Chicago against Heartland Institute pseudoscience conference (updated) on Dailykos by shenderson
Air Force Disciplines Dover Retaliators Daily Kos by Jesselyn Radack