News Headlines (499) 1 May - 2 May 2014

ONLINE TODAY

► An argument flares up between you and a friend or colleague -- and it needs to run its course. That doesn't mean pursuing your opponent if they back down, just that closure is a must. Today might leave you wondering why you didn't decide to invest in breath mints sooner. It just doesn't matter who you're with or what you're talking about -- you've got an awful lot to say, and most of it goes beyond merely entertaining to actually encourage others. Everyone who loves you -- and even some who don't yet -- sits and listens with nothing more in mind than enjoying the ride.

"Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about." — Oscar Wilde

► BLOOMBERG 1 May 2014 : U.S. Signals Putin Not to Move Against New NATO Members

► DAILY BEAST 29 April 2014 : Kerry: U.S. Taped Moscow's Calls to Its Ukraine Spies 

► SCIENCE DAILY 29 April 2014 : Mother's diet affects the 'silencing' of her child's genes

► DAILY MAIL

■ 28 April 2014 : Finally! Apple to replace faulty power buttons on the iPhone 5 for free following TWO YEARS of complaints 
■ 1 May 2014 : British marine archaeologist claims to have found flight MH370 3,000 miles from the search zone after spotting debris painted in the colours of Malaysia Airlines 

► WIRE 1 May 2014

■ Russian Diplomats Are Trolling the U.S. Space Program
■ Ukrainian President Admits They've Lost Control of the East to Russia
■ Syria Is Using Its Remaining Chemical Weapons as Leverage
■ Spying, Ukraine Are the Main Topics for Meeting Between Obama and Merkel

► TELEGRAPH 2 May 2014 :  If we can hurt Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, why pull our punches over Syria?

► EURO NEWS 1 May 2014 : Tymoshenko dismisses civil war fears, says Putin’s regime facing its end

► MOSCOW TIMES 27 April 2014 : Separatists in Donetsk Give Khodorkovsky the Boot  || ► HUFFINGTON POST 1 May 2014 : A Sunday Morning in Paris With Mikhail Khodorkovsky

► WEEK 1 May 2014 : Bummed George Bush laments how Putin 'changed'

► SPACE

■ 30 April 2014 : How Albert Einstein Helped Blackmail President Roosevelt Over Manhattan Project Funding 
■ 1 May 2014 : Why Is Mars So Much Smaller Than Earth?

ERIC GARCETTI

■ ESPN LA 29 Aril 2014: LA mayor rebukes Time Warner Cable
■ DAILY NEWS 1 May 2014 : Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti headed to Washington, D.C., for White House Correspondents Dinner, meetings with federal leaders

► SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : CROP CIRCLES The Quest for Truth - HD FEATURE FILM. Uploaded on Mar 17, 2011 by UFOTVstudios

► SCIENCE & ECHNOLOGY : REAL SPIES - FBI/CIA (documentary). Published on Sep 5, 2013 by TheBigbang1001

► PEOPLE & BLOG  : WARNING: WE ARE ON THE VERGE OF NUCLEAR WW3 (RUSSIA DECLARE WAR ON UKRAINE, OBAMA DECEPTION). Published on Mar 3, 2014 by Seho Song

► SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY : BBC Space Documentary - We are the Aliens. Clouds of alien life forms are sweeping through outer space and infecting planets with life. The idea that life on Earth came from another planet has been around as a modern scientific theory since the 1960s when it was proposed by Fred Hoyle and Chandra Wickramasinghe. At the time they were ridiculed for their idea -- known as panspermia. But now, with growing evidence, it's back in vogue and even being studied by NASA. Published on Aug 15, 2013 by Space Vacationers 
    
► ENTERTAINMENT : Scientists make breakthrough on bilharzia. A parasitic disease known as bilharzia, or schistosomiasis, has killed more than 200 million people, but scientists in northern Senegal say they have made a breakthrough in treating it.Bilharzia is carried by small snails that are invisible to the naked eye. It penetrates the skin slowly and destroys internal organs.The Diama dam, built in 1986 to protect farmland from brackish water, changed the Senegal River's ecosystem, wiped out the snail's only predator, the prawn, and allowed bilharzia to multiply and infect hundreds of thousands of villagers.Now scientists are reintroducing prawns into the ecosystem in enclosures and are seeing positive results.Bilharzia is the second most common parasitic disease in the world after malaria.Al Jazeera's Nicolas Haque reports from Lumpsar, northern Senegal. Published on Jan 23, 2014 by Al Jazeera English

► Priorities

► Ukraine detains Russian military attache for spying - By  Matt Robinson
KIEV - Ukraine detained Russia's military attache to Kiev on suspicion of spying and ordered the diplomat to leave the country.  | Slideshow

* IMF approves $17 billion bailout for Ukraine amid big risks 
* Video: Russians shrug off sanctions, IMF says country in recession

► Ukraine begins to retake town held by seperatists - By Maria Tsvetkova
MOSCOW/DONETSK, Ukraine - Ukrainian forces launched a "large-scale operation" to retake the eastern town of Slaviansk, from pro-Russian separatists holding the town.

* Ukraine wins IMF deal, faces $9 billion in debt payments this year
* Slideshow: May Day rallies 

► US Ambassador in Kiev condems events in east Ukraine

► Pro-Russian demonstrators storm police station in Lugansk

► First commercial flight lands at Qatar's $15 bn airport

► 100,000 Russians march on Red Square in patriotic fervour. Some 100,000 workers joined a May Day parade on mosMoscow's Red Square Thursday for the first time since the 1991 Soviet breakup, as the takeover of Crimea boosts President Vladimir Putin's standing amid a surge of patriotism.

► Raw: Over 7,000 Guitarists Attempt World Record. Thousands of guitarists gathered in the market square of the Polish town of Wroclaw on Thursday, and attempted to break the world record for the number of people playing simultaneously the Jimi Hendrix song "Hey Joe."

► NEWS

■ IMF says Russian economy already in recession 
■ India turns to Russia to help supply arms to Afghan forces 
■ China to conduct naval drills with Russia in East China Sea
■ GOP senators: Arm Ukraine, hit Russian banks 

■ Moscow May Day parade lauds Putin as rebels seize more Ukraine buildings



■ Ukraine renews military draft as unrest intensifies.Putin wants troops out of Ukraine's east



■ SLIDESHOW : Moscow revives May Day tradition 

■ Angelinos march for worker's rights in annual May Day protest



■ Cuba calls terrorism designation by U.S. absurd, manipulative



■ U.S. Jewish coalition rejects lobbying group

■ NATO official: Russia now an adversary

► HEALTH : Antibiotic resistance now 'global threat', WHO warns

► MAGAZINE : Marx in Manhattan -  The curious survival of the US Communist Party 

► CULTURE : Fading Gigolo and cinema's love affair with prostitutes

► Quiz of the week's news

Questions:
1. Skype confirmed this week it had removed some emoji symbols which have the potential to offend. Which of these did NOT go?
2. Sicilian capital Palermo is to get a new statue of Christ. Where is it to be located?
3. British musicians protested this week about which item being restricted in prisons?
4. Drag and drop the correct word to complete this BBC News headline: No more free * for Turkmens : bread, petrol, horses
5. A dig in the New Mexico desert has unearthed an unlikely cache of what?
6. Police have warned the public about approaching escaped animals on the loose in South Wales. What are they?
7. Which Norwegian food has won EU protected designation of origin status?


Answers :
1.It was vomiting. Both the middle finger and high-heeled legs were excised.
2. It's on the seabed. It is hoped the statue will attract divers and thus boost tourism.
3. It was steel-string guitars. The restrictions came as part of the government's incentives to prisoners to engage in rehabilitation.  
4. It was petrol. There had been a free allowance since 2008 but it is now being scrapped.
5. It was games for video games console Atari 2600. Much of the dumped stock was copies of a game based on ET and legendary for its awfulness.
6. It was wild boars. More than 40 of the animals were on the loose after a burglary at a farm.   
7. It's the air-dried cod or torrfisk fra lofoten. It joins the likes of Parma ham and champagne in being recognised.

► Today's African Proverb : "A hasty hyena bites the horn" - A proverb from Ethiopia and Eritrea sent by Tarek Mo Alemseged, Glenville, US

► State Guard, police hold night drill in Kiev (VIDEO)
► Iraqi elections: 'Most corrupted one will be the winner' 
► Labor rallies around the globe as world celebrates May Day - LIVE UPDATES 
► IMF gives green light for $17 bn Ukraine aid package
► NSA spies on more US citizens than Russians – Snowden
► BP pipeline sprays 'oily mist' over 33 acres of Alaskan tundra
► Turkish police clash with May Day protesters in Istanbul
► US doesn't care about Ukraine, wants to prove it's still in charge – Lavrov
► Ukrainian troops begin special operation in Slavyansk
► Defiant Apple, Facebook, other firms to inform public of govt surveillance requests
► NATO's second-in-command says Russia is now an enemy, not a partner
► Pentagon says it cannot replace imported Russian rocket engines 
► Fracking-linked earthquakes likely to worsen – seismologists
► Germany drops Snowden's invite to testify on NSA spying in person 
► Fair Russia leader seeks to oust MP for opposing Crimea accession

► OP-ED

■ US-Russia relations need a return to reason
■ Who's really 'presenting lies as facts'? How State Dept. exposes itself to propaganda
■ Scarlet letters: US tool that usurps sanctions?

► BUSINESS

■ Ukraine's gas debt to Russia reaches $3.5 bn
■ Russia sues EU over 'Third Energy Package' - report
■ 'Russia in recession' – IMF

► VIDEOS

■ Locals of east Ukraine cities quit jobs, join protest for greater autonomy. Local administration building, prosecutors office and police headquarters of Ukraine's eastern city of Lugansk have been taken over. Protesters are demanding an amnesty for political prisoners and a referendum on self-determination. RT's Paula Slier met those occupying the administration building in Donetsk, the hub of the pro-autonomy protests.



■ Juice Rap News: Israel vs. Palestine (ft. Kerry, Bibi & Norman Finkelstein)
■ Far-east wildfire ignites military depot, massive explosions rock Siberia, deaths reported

■ Scoring Political Points? NATO bolsters forces in Eastern Europe. Washington repeated its lament for NATO members to boost defense spending. The call has been given greater impetus because the Alliance is stepping up its defense capabilities in Central and Eastern Europe. NATO has sent over 60 more jets to the region. It's also expected to triple its air missions in the Baltic starting next month. Independent researcher and writer Soraya Sepahpour Ulrich believes this is about political points scoring.



■ 'Two steps back: Both EU and Russia should not meddle in Ukraine' - Geert Wilders to RT

■ RT criticized again by US State Dept. for 'false claims' & 'selective editing'. RT has fallen under the criticism of the State Department yet again; accusing the news agency of propagandizing the reports from Ukraine.



■ Guilty by Association? Kerry blames EU for stirring up Ukraine unrest

■ Tear gas, water cannon as May Day protesters clash with police in Istanbul. Riot Police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannon to break up crowds of protesters during May Day demonstrations. The authorities have blocked off Istanbul's iconic Taksim Square. RT's Sara Firth reports.



■ Anti-govt protesters beat police, storm Prosecutor's Office in Donetsk, E. Ukraine

► Economic top dog: will China overtake US?
► People & Power - Israel's drone dealers
► Iraq Election: Will there be change?

► Lifelines: River of Hope. River Of Hope profiles the work underway in the Senegal Basin to combat the deadly disease schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia. The approach is novel and the results impressive.

► COLUMNISTS

■ Tit-for-Tat: Putin's Maddening Propaganda Trick - by : Michael Crowley 
■ Where Democracy And American Zionism Butt Heads - by Michael Scherer  
■ The Part of Your Brain That Made You Eat That Doughnut - by : Jeffrey Kluger 

► Watchdog : U.S. War on Drugs in Afghanistan 'A Failure'

► Report : U.S. Should Boost Consumer Privacy Protections

► LOCAL

■ Sterling furor presents test of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti's leadership
■ Eric Garcetti, L.A.'s back-to-basics mayor. He is building a foundation, but for what?

► FRAMEWORK

■ Pictures in the News | April 30, 2014 - Posted By: Marc Martin
■ Pictures in the News | May 1, 2014 - Posted By: Marc Martin 

In a long-exposure image, embers off burned trees leave long trails in the mountain area near Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. PHOTOGRAPH BY: STUART PALLEY / EPA

Comrade Duch

What can be said about an executioner?

We have already seen Anwar Congo in the documentary The Act of Killing directed by Joshua Oppenheimer: a thug from Medan who proudly claimed to have slaughtered many "communists" people in the mid-1960s, but in the final scene he was almost completely silent. Only his cough sounded at the former site of the murder. Only his tired old body down the stairs.



When the movie ended, there was no story about what happened to Anwar Congo at that time, after that. "Ultimately, human is not complete to be documented," I thought. Anwar Congo is not just one.

Perhaps as well as with Duch. His real name is Kang Kek Iew. In the blood-soaked history of Cambodia during the 1970s, he was an official of the Khmer Rouge who led the Tuol Sleng Prison, which is also called the "S-21". He was a terrible cruelty figure.

During the four years of the Communist Party in power in Cambodia, thousands were held in a place means "the poisonous tree hill"


Duch, director of the "S-21" since 1975 was the taker of life. When Khmer Rouge defeated and he was captured and put on trial, the evidence was demonstrated: there was his written orders, for example, to "hit until destroyed" to 17 detainees (8 teenage boys and 9 children). In the list of 20 female prisoners he wrote the instructions below each name: "take it to be executed"; "continued interrogation"; "for medical experiments".

He was a meticulous math teacher. Almost every victim was recorded and photographed. When Khmer Rouge left Phnom Penh and escaped from Vietnamese troops and establishing a new socialist government, Duch did not have time to burn the documentation, and it was ensnaring him.

Why the cruelty should be recorded? Expression sadism of a butcher? Or part of the future design which is expected to require the massacre evidence is the future that will justify it?

Duch believed, that's what will happen: the future will justify it. For him, violence is inevitable to move history. "No matter the number of victims", Douche said, "What is important is the majesty of the goal".

 He said it in one night, in a corner of the forest to a man who was arrested on charges of "CIA spy" : François Bizot. Bizot, a young anthropologist from France was studying Buddhism in rural Cambodia. It was 1971, not a safe period for anyone. Local communist groups, "Khmer Rouge" emerging, and increasingly powerful because American bombing. Being around Angkor Watt under their control, Bizot was captured. He was chained in a prison camp in the forest.

Two of his friends -- Cambodia people -- were also arrested (and then they were killed). Bizot was allowed to stay alive. Even after three months finally locked up, he was released. About 30 years later -- after a long silence -- he wrote a book about his experience: Le Portail. He wrote it with "infinite bitterness".

The "bitterness" was not coming from Duch. The man he called "torturer" let Bizot bathe in the river and took a walk around the camp. Bizot could speak Khmer. Douch could speak French. Gradually, there was a match between the two of them.

On the eve of the Bizot released, Duch made the party: speeches, songs, and a dinner with 13 chickens. And until the morning, the prisoner and the executioners sat chatting in front of a bonfire which was slowly extinguished.

What can be said about Duch? He is a man who is very confident about the future and at the age of 29 he's ready to be a killer. But Duch also the man who risked his own life when he proposed to his seniors so that Bizot was released. When then Duch was caught and taken to court, Libération reporter asked whether he was willing to be a witness. This former prisoner replied, "Yes, if the prosecution asks him. Yes, if the defense asks him."

Ambiguity. Because, for him, a butcher in the camp "S-21" was a tragic figure: "a boy who dares to live among wolves". In order to live, "he drinks their milk, and learn to howl like them". Since then, terror in power and "persuades him to wear the face of morality and order."

"Morality" means pure communist beliefs, the purest. "Order" means to eradicate what is considered defective. Duch living with the ecology of the Cambodia violent modern history: Colonialism, the Cold War, American bombardment, the Vietnam War, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the ruler of brutality and misery in inland areas. And so was born with the intention to change the world ideology, with absolute faith and bubbling. The world was split into : "old" and "new", "patriot" and a "traitor", "proletarian" and "bourgeois". History is the story of two camps which hit each other to be Red or Black.

But not all of it immediately unfolded to Duch. Bizot said, "When I met Duch, he was not destined to be a killer. He did not know where the revolution would take him. Such as young children in the 1930s Nazi wearing a brown uniform with a swastika. At that time, they did not know what would be symbolized by the uniform."

Douch is a combination of confidence and ignorance. With these factors he went into the process in which about two million people were killed in the name of Cambodian revolution.

What can be said? "I think," Bizot said, "The only answer is to look inward, not to anyone else. Nazis, the Khmer Rouge, Rwanda killer are humans with the same figure as we are."

We will remember all the cruelty that ever happened and presumably it's the basic of "infinite bitterness" which encourages Bizot to write.
***




[CZ-lacalifusa021614]

Congress for Cultural Freedom, CIA, and Cold War Kulturkampf

Does it take vision to understand that in mind, the views and understanding of men -- in short, human consciousness -- changes with every change in the conditions of his material life, in social relations and in his social life? What else is evidenced by the history of thought, except that the changing nature of his intellectual production equal to the production of material things that have changed? The thoughts that dominate in each era is always the thoughts of the ruling class.

When people talk about the thoughts that revolutionize the society, it is nothing but express the fact, that within the old society, the elements of a new society has been created, and that the melting of old thoughts are running with the same steps with the melting of old life terms.

However the shape, the reality is the same for all times in the distant past, namely, the exploitation of the people by a majority of the other part. So it is not surprising that the social consciousness of past ages, and even if there is a whole spectrum of shades, engaged in certain forms of the same, or general ideas, which can not be lost entirely except with the disappearance at all the class antagonisms.

If in the course of development, the class distinctions have disappeared, and all production has been concentrated into the hands of a vast association of the whole nation, public power will lose its political character. Political power, in the proper sense of the word, only the organized power of one class for oppressing another class. If the proletariat during its struggle against the bourgeoisie is forced, because of the pressure of circumstances, to organize itself as a class, if, by way of revolution, it makes itself the ruling class, and, as the ruling class, eliminating the violent relations of production that long, so it, together with these terms will eliminate the conditions for the existence of class antagonisms and the existence of classes generally, and will thereby eliminating its own power as a class.

And as a replacement of the old bourgeois society with its classes along with class antagonisms, we will have a community life in which the free development of each person becomes a condition for the free development of all.
***

[CZ-lacalifusa 021514/to you, dahling]

What is this, Cisca? Please give an explanation, because it is not much better than saying you love him. Is this your kind of love letter to him, hm?

■ Manifesto of the Communist Party  || ■ The Communist Manifesto



■ The Transitional Program ||  ■ Winning Support For Socialism ||  ■ New introduction to The Transitional Programme

Oops, sorry, ... it's like to show you my favorite food menus on the table and now you're looking at me with disgust, maybe? Ehhehe... yups! Yups, sometimes my fiance is a fucking guy! Dahling, you're the Bedbugs! And I am a nerd! Actually a pair of nerds never love each other, you know?...... Why did he look at me deeply as if I was a sufferer of malnutrition after we had sex? "Eyes of a Liberal", he said.

What? ... ... Blah! ...

■ Who Paid the Piper?: CIA and the Cultural Cold War
■ The CIA and the Cultural Cold War Revisited

■ The Congress for Cultural Freedom: Making the Postwar World Safe for Fascist 'Kulturkampf'

■ Cranky Intergrity on the left
■ The New York Intellectuals and the invention of neoconservatism
■ The New Leader
■ Dewey's Aesthetics
■ Dewey's Political Philosophy
■ Towards the Understanding of Karl Marx: A Revolutionary Interpretation
■ Lionel Trilling's Life of the Mind
■ Behind the Moscow Trial
■ October 25, 1917 : The Bolshevik party combined with the soviets of the major cities of Russia toppled the Provisional Government.
■ Arthur Koestler and Ignazio Silone
■ Featured Author: Arthur Koestler - With News and Reviews From the Archives of The NY Times 
■ Croce's Aesthetics
■ Karl Jaspers
■ Jacques Maritain
■ Darkness at Noon
■ James Burnham and the Struggle for the World: A Life
■ George Orwell  : Second Thoughts on James Burnham
■ The Secret Life Of Ignazio Silone
■ The Cultural Cold War - The CIA and the World of Arts and Letters | By Frances Stonor Saunders
■ La révolution prolétarienne et le rénégat Kautsky
■ Nicola Chiaromonte and the Theatre - Mary McCarthy

News Headlines (450) 21 January - 22 January 2014

ONLINE TODAY

► 21 January 2014: Today might not go down in history as the most exciting twenty four hours of your life, but your routine will be thrown on its ear for at least part of the day. This will create quite a bit of frenzy. The good news is that right now you're in the perfect frame of mind to deal with whatever hiccups pop up -- you won't get rattled and you won't get distracted by feelings of resentment or frustration. You have an amazing ability to stay focused right now, which will help you stay sane! Try not to get too crazy about that one little irritant -- it's not the end of the world. In fact, if you spend too much time worrying about it, you are sure to miss out on a golden opportunity! No one likes to be embarrassed, but sometimes that is the price you pay when you gamble on making a big impression on someone. And right now, your luck is hot -- so go for it. Don't worry about looking silly! Being impulsive right now is going to entertain and enchant people, and show them that you are unlike anyone else. And that is a very useful message to send. Strike while the iron is hot and face any challenges head on. It will be a lot of fun.

► 22 January 2014 : Now is a great time to get started on new projects -- especially those that require paperwork or other bureaucratic ephemera. Your ability to navigate such terrain is heightened now. There has been an emotional barrier between you and someone else for a while now, but these walls are about to come down! This is a good time to initiate a new project with this person, because by working together you can truly make a connection. You can use your charm to get anything you want, including high regard from another person. You don't take advantage of your personality enough, and that should change, starting today. Open up and tear the walls down.

If one's in the same place with the one be loves
With neither of them realize that they are
And the only way they findly found out the truth
By candidly seeing a picture of them separated
Yet together in the same place
Wouldn't that feel hurt?
It's just plain reality that you feel like you're losing a shadow of yours
that was supposedly in the first place attached to your feet

Maybe it just isn't the right time yet
When the time is right, that's when we'll see each other again
We've already lost each other once
and that was years ago
So maybe we'll find each other again

I know those years was a long time,
but even if it's another 10 years
It will still be wonderful when I see you again
And if after another 10 years I still don't find you
It will still be wonderful when I finally do see you
Even for another 10 years later
As long as I get to see you
I just really want to see you
I just really miss you...

MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY
■ VOICE OF RUSSIA 21 January 2014 : Lavrov considers "Khodorkovsky factor" insignificant in his contacts with foreign colleagues

Geez, I just noticed it: the distance between Lavrov's two eyes are too close to each other... ehehehhe

■ KHODORKOVSKY 20 January 2014 : Mikhail Khodorkovsky Pays Tribute to Yuri Schmidt at Heinrich Boell Foundation Event in Berlin.

"In front of me was not a very young man, visibly tired, with piercingly intelligent eyes ..." - Head of the Russian representation of Amnesty International Sergei Nikitin spoke about his meeting with Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

■ KHODORKOVSKY 21 January 2014 : Mikhail Khodorkovsky's Prison's People: The Amnesty
■ KHODORKOVSKY 22 January 2014 : Russian Human Rights Activist Tells European Parliament Not To Be Misled by Khodorkovsky's Release

► FORWARD 19 January 2014 : For Some Characters, Communism Is Never Over

► MEDICAL NEWS TODAY 16 January 2014 : Independent working may reduce adult autism symptoms  ||  ► SCIENCEDAILY 14 January 2014 : Employment May Lead to Improvement in Autism Symptoms 

► DAILY TELEGRAPH 16 January 2014 : Michael Schumacher will have to adjust to being a very different person, brain injury specialist warns

► VOA SCIENCE 13 January 2014 : Caffeine Might Improve Long-term Memory  ||  ► NEWSCIENTIST 12 January 2014 : Drink two espressos to enhance long-term memory

► NY DAILY NEW 18 January 2014 : Madonna apologizes after calling son Rocco the N-word on Instagram: 'It was used as a term of endearment toward my son who is white'

► FOX NEWS LATINO 20 January 2014 : Alfonso Cuarón Heading To TV While His Film 'Gravity' Wins More Awards En Route To Oscars

► HUFFINGTON POST 20 January 2014 : How Do You Translate MLK?

► CNN 20 January 2014 : EXCLUSIVE: Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad regime

► USA TODAY 20 January 2014 : Obama cites King in surveillance speech

► FOXNEWS 20 January 2014 : 'I’ve got a pen': Obama raises hackles with executive actions

► DAILY KOS 20 January 2014 : Top West Virginia official: 'We have to trust the science, even though there's no science to trust'


ERIC GARCETTI



■ CBS LOS ANGELES 20  January 2014 : Mayor Garcetti Acts As Grand Marshal Of Kingdom Day Parade



► SCIENCE DAILY 20 January 2014 : People Who Enjoy Life Maintain Better Physical Function as They Age Jan. 20, 2014 || ► SCIENCE DAILY 1 March 2011 : Happiness Improves Health and Lengthens Life, Review Finds Mar. 1, 2011

► BOSTON GLOBE

■ 15 January 2014 : Study says cigarettes have been delivering more nicotine
■ 20 January 2014 : Are some cigarettes more addictive?

► HUFFINGTON POST 20 January 2014 : Lindsay Lohan At Sundance To Announce New Film, 'Inconceivable'

► E ONLINE 20 January 2014 : 'N Sync's Lance Bass Releases First Song in 12 Years—Hear It Now!



SYRIA TODAY

■ GUARDIAN 21 January 2014 : Syrian regime document trove shows evidence of 'industrial scale' killing of detainees
■ AP HOSTED 14 January 2014 : Isolated and misinformed, Syrian refugees struggle || ► Similar topic in FOX NEWS 14 January 2014
■ REUTERS 14 January 2014 : Analysis: Syria's savagery will thwart reconciliation
■ GUARDIAN 21 January 2014 : Assad government should face trial at ICC, Syrian opposition member says
■ WSWS 22 January 2014 : As Geneva talks open, US advances trumped-up torture charges against Syria
■ GUARDIAN 21 January 2014 : Syria talks: Iran and Russia angry over invitation withdrawal
■ INDEPENDENT 21 January 2014  : Syria peace talks: Russian Foreign Minster says withdrawing Iran's invitation is 'a mistake, but not a catastrophe'

■ CNN 21 January 2014 : EXCLUSIVE: Gruesome Syria photos may prove torture by Assad regime



■ DAILY MAIL 21 January 2014 : Syrian regime 'torture' photographs could be the tip of the iceberg, warn human rights experts: Hague says those responsible for 'horrific crimes' must be brought to justice

► NY TIMES 21 January 2014 : U.S. and Russia Discuss Olympic Security

► GAMING : 5 Awesome PlayStation 4 Facts! -- Fact Surgery. Published on Jan 17, 2014 by Vsauce3



► NEWS & POLITIC : Matinee zum Gedenken an Jurij Schmidt mit Michail Chodorkowskij (deutsch) || ► Matinee zum Gedenken an Jurij Schmidt mit Michail Chodorkowskij (russisch). Published on Jan 19, 2014 by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung



► NEWS & POLITICS : Russian Revolution in Color | 2007 Documentary. Published on Jan 31, 2013 by iamamazing03



► EDUCATION : BBC - 1941, Stalin and the Man of Steel. Marking the 70th anniversary of the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, historian Professor David Reynolds re-assesses Stalin's role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which, he argues, was ultimately more critical for British survival than 'Our Finest Hour' in the Battle of Britain itself.

The name Stalin means 'man of steel', but Reynolds's penetrating new account reveals how the reality of Stalin's war in 1941 did not live up to that name. Travelling to Russian battlefield locations, he charts how Russia was almost annihilated within a few months as Stalin lurched from crisis to crisis, coming close to a nervous breakdown.

Reynolds shows how Stalin learnt to compromise in order to win, listening to his generals and downplaying communist ideology to appeal instead to the Russian people's nationalist fighting spirit. He also squares up to the terrible moral dilemma at the heart of World War Two. Using original telegrams and official documents, he looks afresh at Winston Churchill's controversial visit to Moscow in 1942 and re-examines how Britain and America were drawn into alliance with Stalin, a dictator almost as murderous as the Nazi enemy. Published on Aug 8, 2012 by bottacka



► EDUCATION : V. I. Lenin: Where To Begin?  Published on Oct 22, 2013 by Marxist-Leninist Theory

► Seven Days

► U.N. withdraws Iran invite, Syria talks to begin - By Louis Charbonneau and Parisa Hafezi
UNITED NATIONS/ANKARA - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon withdrew a last-minute invitation to Iran to attend peace talks on Syria after the Syrian opposition threatened to boycott this week's conference if President Bashar al-Assad's main sponsor took part. | Video

* U.S. hopeful sides can now focus on ending Syria conflict
* Syria's National Coalition confirms participation

► Human Rights Watch says Obama not gone far enough on NSA reforms

► Ukrainian leader urges dialogue after street battles 

► UPDATE 1-Russia hacked hundreds of Western, Asian companies - security firm

► Amazon developing pay-TV streaming service - report

► Syrian warring sides to meet under world's gaze 

► Fresh clashes in Ukraine, two dead
KIEV - New clashes broke out in the Ukrainian capital Kiev between police and protesters demanding the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovich and demonstrators said two in the crowd had been shot dead.

* Russia says Ukraine may spin out of control, chides EU
* Options narrow for Yanukovich
* Video: Violence in Ukraine protests
* Slideshow: Fiery clashes in Ukraine

► Christie seeks road to bipartisanship - By Victoria Cavaliere
TRENTON, New Jersey - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie turned to themes of small but compassionate government and bipartisan cooperation in his second inaugural address.

► Syrian President Assad in exclusive AFP interview



► Iran invited to Syria peace conference: UN chief



► 'Important day' as UN confirms Iran nuclear freeze: EU



► Famous Spanish bullfighter celebrates win in Medellin, Colombia

► Torture in Syria 

► Karl Lagerfeld unveils sparkling new Chanel collection



► Russia's Lavrov comments on Ukraine violence, Syria talks
► Geneva II parties must avoid 'Cold Was era thinking'
► Human Rights Group: civil society 'under attack' in Russia

► Japanese dolphin hunt continues despite controversy

► UN Withdraws Iran Invite to Syria Peace Talks

► Dozens of Whales Stranded Off Southwest Florida



► New Yorkers Dealing With Second Major Snowstorm

► NEWS

■ Ban Ki-moon withdraws Iran's invite to Syria peace talks
■ West, Iran activate landmark nuclear deal
■ Russian Islamists threaten 'presents' at Sochi Games
■ Christie on his critics
■ Christie speaks, and looks for lessons
■ Russian police kill Islamist militant leader before Olympics
■ Iraq executes 26 people for 'terrorism' offences
■ 2013 another unusually warm year across globe, US says
■ Obama, Putin discuss Olympics security in call
■ Russia says Ukraine may spin out of control, chides EU
■ Sochi forces hunt for 3 potential suicide bombers
■ Iran's military nuclear bid 'will be stopped': Israel
■ Report details 'industrial' killing of 11,000 in Assad jails
■ Russia, Iran criticize Tehran snub for Syria talks
■ Obama to meet Pope Francis in March: White House
■ U.S. says reports of killings in Syria suggest widespread, systematic violations

■ Mysterious rock found by Mars rover: 'We were absolutely startled'



■ "Exceptional" 29.6 carat blue diamond found in S.African mine

■ Storm dumps more than a foot of snow in Northeast

► SHINE

■ 7 Things You Should Never Say to a Dog Owner
■ Toddlers: Why the Bad Seed Theory Is Kind of True

■ Have long hair? Here's How To Master The Sock Bun



■ Why Shapewear, Skinny Jeans, and Stilettos Will Be Our Demise

► GRIND TV

■ Snowboarder Chloe Kim, 13, is good enough to be an Olympic star, but not old enough
■ Ball lightning captured on video for first time
■ Bizarre, see-through sea creature baffles angler

► HOMES : Amazing cat furniture will have your cat climbing the walls and ceiling

► SPORTS : Olympic Icon Carl Lewis Offers Unique Political Perspective On Chris Christie

► TV

■ Kardashian Reaction to In-Law's Scathing Interview
■ Jennifer Lawrence, Super 'Homeland' Fan, Has the Realest Brody Reaction Ever

► CELEBRITY : Donald Trump Jr. and Wife Expecting Baby No. 5!

► SCREEN : What Your Sleeping Position Says About You



► SPORTS : Michelle Obama pulls off an epic, video-bombing dunk with LeBron James

► ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

■ Madonna apologises for using racial slur on Instagram
■ Pussy Riot members to appear at Barclay's Center concert

► FUTURE

■ The puppet show that reveals how you read minds
■ How to fix a car – without a mechanic

■ Sea otters: Saving kelp forests and our climate

► CULTURE : Van Gogh's Sunflowers: The unknown history



► HEALTH : Brain blow leaves life-long dangers

► US and UN express horror at Syria torture report

► Syria peace conference set to begin
The Geneva II peace conference, aimed at finding a political solution to the three-year conflict in Syria, is due to start in Switzerland.

* Wood: Huge divide between sides
* Geneva II - in 60 seconds  - VIDEO
* Humanitarian crisis explained - VIDEO
* Who's going to peace talks?
* What is Geneva II?
* Geneva's historic role in talks
* Photos 'reveal torture horror' - VIDEO
* Guide to the conflict

► ANALYSIS

■ Syria peace hopes -  Can Geneva II talks deliver peace?
■ Davos: Re-shaping the world? -  The unlikely backdrop for the world's biggest business meeting

► Today's African Proverb

■ "When the head gets big, it cannot avoid blows" - A Chewa proverb sent by Geofrey Mustafa Taumbe, Zomba, Malawi
■ "The stone that you see coming should not blind you" - An Edo proverb from Nigeria sent by Samuel Okuomose Izekor in Madrid, Spain and Jerry Onana, Yaounde in Cameroon

► Ukrainian protesters set up catapult to fire at police (PHOTO, VIDEO)
► Geneva 2: UN retracts Iran's invite, Syrian opposition confirms attendance
► Combat zone Kiev: Riot police move to force protesters off streets (PHOTOS)
► Lawmakers accuse Snowden of being Russian spy
► EU, US suspend certain sanctions as Iran halts 20% uranium enrichment
► No EU country would tolerate Ukraine protest violence at home – Lavrov  
► 'Islamist' video claims responsibility for Volgograd terrorist attacks
► Putin orders governors to slash PR budgets
► Indiana police chief accidentally shoots himself for the second time
► America's most popular prescription sleep medication linked to mass shootings
► Ukrainian protesters set up catapult to fire at police (PHOTO, VIDEO)
► Geneva-2 talks on Syria - LIVE
► Iran exclusion from Geneva 2 a mistake, pushed by those who want Assad out - Lavrov
► Syrian Kurds declare autonomy on eve of Geneva 2
► Texans angrily protest fracking after 30 earthquakes hit town 
► Ex-Gen McChrystal : US drone activity causes 'tremendous resentment'
► Pope to Davos elite: 'Humanity must be served by wealth, not ruled by it'

► OP-ED : 90 years after his death, Russians care more about Lenin's corpse than his vision



► Place fit for Lenin's grave suggested 90 years after death
► 'Islamist' video claims responsibility for Volgograd terrorist attacks
► IP address does not prove online piracy, US judge says in landmark ruling
► Kiev mass riots timeline

► VIDEOS
■ Ukraine Pandemonium: Kiev ablaze as protest rages through night
■ CrossTalk: Loser Presidents

■ Historic Iran nuclear deal comes into force. Iran has fully suspended its 20-percent enrichment of uranium, according to the country's state TV, as the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and the six world powers comes into force.



■ Angry Riots: Ukrainians set up catapult to fire at police

■ Going Underground : GCHQ knows your on-line porn habits! Afshin Rattansi goes underground on the government's million-pound relationship with Bahrain, as even royalty head over to show support for its ruling elite. The Campaign Against Arms Trade says our politicians are turning a blind eye to the atrocities in the country to profit from arms deals. Journalist Cory Doctorow says it's time we wake up to the actions of GCHQ - as it's revealed they even spy on your porn and gaming habits. Plus, this week's strangest headlines and how to know you're in a happy place - via Instagram.


■ Euro-Jihad? Radicalised EU citizens raise terror spectre on home front
■ War zone Kiev: City center ravaged as anti-govt standoff continues

■ 'Magnet for Jihadists': Syria turns into terrorist training center. The plague of terror sweeping Syria - especially fighting Al-Qaeda - should become the main focus of the conference, according to the Russian Foreign Minister. Some jihadist militant groups refuse to play by anyone's rules, adopting the 'every man for himself' tactics.



■ 'Magnet for Jihadists': Syria turns into terrorist training center. The plague of terror sweeping Syria - especially fighting Al-Qaeda - should become the main focus of the conference, according to the Russian Foreign Minister. Some jihadist militant groups refuse to play by anyone's rules, adopting the 'every man for himself' tactics.



■ 'Those who want Assad out isolate Iran from talks' - Lavrov. Commenting on the diplomatic tug of war over Wednesday's peace talks, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said revoking Iran's invitation was an obvious mistake. The UN retracted it following an ultimatum from the opposition Syrian National Coalition. Meanwhile its main bloc has quit the Coalition in protest at the umbrella organization's plans to attend the talks.



■ Bonus for Bounce: UK govt staff rewarded for expelling asylum seekers
■ Radicals in Riots? 'Euromaidan failed to separate from neo-Nazis'
■ Ukraine Unrest: Kiev in ruins, protesters build new barricades
■ Terror Tales: Al-Qaeda lures kids & women to expand jihad

■ Frontline Fire: Violence intensifies as cops dismantle barricades in Kiev. Riot police advanced to barricades erected by the rioters and started dismantling them, reports Interfax. The protesters responded with an intensified barrage of stones and Molotov cocktails. This briefly disrupted the police advancement, which resumed minutes later.

► Witness : Bartek's Getaway Bus
► Inside Story : Libya: A failed state or a failed government?

► The Cure - Unsung Hero: Louise Pearce. How the physician risked her life to test a new drug she believed would cure African sleeping sickness.

 

► 7Up South Africa. In 1992 apartheid South Africa we meet 20 lively seven-year-olds who we follow every seven years in times of change.



► Inside Story : US Marijuana: Pot luck or politics? As Barack Obama says the drug is no more dangerous than alcohol, we ask if American society is ready for legalisation.

► SYRIA : New Report Offers Evidence of Syrian Torture - War crimes prosecutors unveil new images just days before peace talks begin

► CHINA : China's Economy Is Slowing - But that's actually a good thing for the country and the rest of the world

► THAILAND : Bangkok Shutdown Explained - Why is the world's most visited city wracked by violent protests?

► DAVOS : A Stat to Ruin Your Faith in Humanity - Guess how much the world's 85 richest people own

► SPORTS : Terrorism threat at the Olympics: A sad but unalterable fact of life 

► THAILAND : The World's Most Visited City Is Again Marred by Violent Protest : Here's Why

* Thailand Declares State of Emergency in Bangkok

► RUSSIA : Edward Snowden Denies Being a Russian Spy

► FACEBOOK : Facebook Is About to Lose 80% of Its Users, Study Says

► RELATIONSHIP : Is This a Date or Are We Just Hanging out? - Most singles don't know, survey finds

► INVESTING : Clubbing as Described to Investors - It sounds hilarious and ridiculous

► U.K. : Hipster Tries Citizen Arrest on Tony Blair - DJ prompted by $3,500 bounty on the ex-U.K. leader's head

► ADVERTISING : Pot Ads Banned on Facebook, Google - Even in jurisdictions where it is legal

► WEATHER : Snow Strands Thousands in U.S. - 2,900 flights canceled as winter storm hits

► INNOVATION : A Sugar Powered Smartphone - Hey that's sweet!

► PENTAGON : China Doubles Carrier Fleet - It's going from one to two

► WORLD : Iran, West take cautious first steps to end nuclear threat

► BUSINESS : Most calls to Calif. jobless agency go unanswered

► LOCAL

■ Construction begins on Crenshaw/LAX light-rail line
■ Eric Garcetti appointees select new L.A. Fire Department watchdog

► OPINION

■ Sex With Glass app promises a brave new naked world of ... humiliation
■ The GOP discovers inequality

► FRAMEWORK

■ L.A. Times' images of Martin Luther King Jr.
■ Pictures in the News | Jan. 21, 2014